Christmas Eve…
Cripes! It’s here already! And it’s wet outside after a massive dump of rain last night so the lawns probably won’t be mowed or the edges trimmed so that when we sit on the patio for dinner tomorrow we’ll just see lots of clover and dandelion flowers. Ah well, the bees’ll love it! It’s their Christmas present.
Old OH has taken off to the farm to see how the contractor’s going with the driveway and to check the rain gauge (again) and to check the sheep for flystrike. Son is frantically re-fencing the oats paddock (fence had to come down when contractor levelled the mess made by the irrigation pipes being laid and the 3 phase power being put underground). We want to turn the mob onto the oats stubble for a few days. That’s their Christmas pressie.
I’ll walk Young Dog on the beach soon as he didn’t get a walk yesterday in the Big Smoke and keeps looking at me with sad eyes and offering me his toys.
I’m riddled with guilt ‘cos he doesn’t ask for much really – just my company. Old Dog is sleeping. It’s her gift…
I’m trying NOT to think about dinner tomorrow. Mum and I always have a battle of wills over Christmas Dinner because I try to encourage her to leave the hot turkey and veggies behind and to go for all the delicious fresh stuff. This is modern summery Australia after all.
But she won’t change and at a frail 89 is beyond doing much more than making the stuffing as her shoulders, knees, back, eyes and hands dishonour her. I can’t digest turkey so I’ll make a watermelon and smoked salmon salad and a glazed peach and feta salad for anyone (including self) who want it.
I do a warm roast veggie salad too which is FILLED with delicious herbs so it’ll all be okay. Thank the stars above, my brother does the turkey in the Webber.
I’ll make the peach glaze today and the house will smell like Tobias’s twelfth century spice market in Constantinople (research for writing a novel never stops).
And because I’m not sure if Heston’s pudding will go down very well with all (Mum doesn’t like dried fruit and brother doesn’t like Christmas pudding) at the table, I’m also making a Berry and Chocolate Mousse trifle.
Hoping the raspberries, boysenberries and silvanberries in the garden haven’t been turned mouldy by yesterday’s rain. I’ll get to dig my own carrots, beans and potatoes and to collect all the fresh herbs from the veggie garden for dinner. Love that hunting and gathering thing-o.
I’ll dust and vacuum the adult kids’ rooms and clean their bathroom in readiness and then daughter will arrive from the farm with Red Dog and Mum’ll arrive from the Big Smoke with my brother and I’ll walk down to visit them at their own beach cottage. Then it’ll be the end of the day and I’ll sit and wonder what on earth all this ridiculous fuss is about and why retailers make us so tense and worried about how little we might have spent and have we got enough food to feed the five thousand!
And once again I’ll wish I could load all the family in a boat with a cane picnic basket and no Christmas airs and graces and pootle across to Maria Island and do Christmas my Swallows and Amazons way.
Ah well…
Maybe one day…
Happy holidays to everyone across the globe! Thank you so much for making my living and writing year so very special. Can’t wait to see you all again very soon!
A picnic sounds just wonderful to me !!! Have a lovely Christmas Prue, the best part of it to me, is spending time with those we love. Heading off to do the prep etc
xxxxxxx
Wondering how all is going, Libby. Ours was quiet, my mother managed to get through it (just) and it was a mild if overcast day. Everything is washed up, the dishwasher emptied and I’m sitting here with the idea that if I ever see food again, it will be too soon. Where’s the antacid?
Merry Christmas, Prue! I’m just about organised here, though the new kitten does tend to use me as a climbing frame while I’m trying to cook. When the hectic season is over I must get the recipe for your Berry and Chocolate Mousse Trifle – it looks delicious! Seeing your Swallows & Amazons cover reminded me what a good Christmas read Winter Holiday is, though more appropriate for us in the Northern Hemisphere. It was reading Swallows & Amazons that first got me into sailing. Must away to the last few jobs. Ann xxx
Ann, have a wonderful day! The trifle was/is heaven. Terribly rich and I am sure I missed putting a layer of whipped cream in the middle but it’s still good. We have a huge trifle bowl still half-full for Boxing Day but truly I don’t think I could eat anything but fruit tomorrow.
As for Swallows and Amazons, what a blissful life those children had. I think the reason I loved the book was that it chimed with my own life with my cousins here at our little coastal enclave in the 50’s. We sailed, messed about in dinghies, had adventures on bikes on gravel roads and thought that riding a bike without adults accompanying us for 7 miles along the coast to deserted beaches with a picnic tucked into the basket and then 7 miles home again was super. How things have changed for the worst for the kids of today. If ever I have grandchildren, my plan is to give them a Swallows and Amazons’ childhood!