FAMILY CHRISTMAS DINNER

Action makes more fortune than caution. 
 Charlotte Whitton

 Unfortunately not much action has taken place with Project 333 which was my quest to sort out my wardrobe which I wrote about in my last post. I have been so busy I haven't had time to move onto Day 2 - but watch this space.

This is my favourite time of year - the run-up to Christmas. But this year is very different for me. This year I will not be going back to work after the holidays. I have received my final paycheck. I have received a redundancy payment which I will have to live on for the next 8 months before there is any question of receiving unemployment benefits.

Life can change very quickly. This time last year I had no inkling that I would lose my job. I had imagined I would work for another 10 years until I was old enough to receive an old age pension. As it is I am in limbo - not old enough for a pension but too old for there to be much likelihood of employment.


On Thursday we - my mother, my daughter R, P:-), myself and the darling grand-dog Jasper- went for our weekly walk around Wollongong Harbour. It was a beautiful morning. For some reason there was a flock of gulls congregated in the shallows along the path.

Gulls

The sun sparkled over the water at North Beach

North Beach

We walked for around 15 minutes to a coffee shop at the harbor, stopped for coffee and then walked back again.

The rest of Thursday and all day Friday I spent madly cooking. P:-)'s five children and their partners and his 4 granddaughters were coming for a pre-Christmas lunch at his place. I was cooking. This was part of my Christmas present to P:-). My big worry was not having enough food so as usual I over catered. But we had a lovely time.

P:-) has a smallish house but we enjoyed decorating it and setting the table.

Table set for lunch

Table decoration

We were lucky to have all of the family together. With such a clan, and some of them working on weekends, it doesn't happen very often. It was a lovely afternoon.

The four little granddaughters range in age from 3 years  to 8 weeks. So it was quite noisy, but in a lovely way.

 P:-) and I are very close and spend a lot of time together but for a number of reasons we currently live separately so meanwhile I hung a wreath on my front door. The wreath itself is plain and I decorate it. This year I just hung four silver ornaments on it and was quite happy with the effect.

Wreath

Wreath

Sunday was quite hot, reaching around 30 degrees and after being so busy for Thursday, Friday and Saturday P:-) and I spent most of the day dozing on and off in front of the television, filling up on leftovers. It had cooled down quite a bit by church time at 6 o'clock.




Interesting sites

1.

Photo source

Click here to read about the Leaf House. An energy efficient Tiny House built for the tundra.

2.

Photo source

My favourite colour is blue. Chefchaouen, the Blue City of Morocco looks beautiful.. Click here to read about it and see some beautiful pictures.

3.

Photo source

 Click here to sea Earth as Art - the most beautiful Landsat Satellite images.

FEEDING THE SEAGULLS

 Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

Dale Carnegie

Christmas and boxing day went well with plenty of family interaction and fun.

It was good to have a day to relax yesterday. P:-) spent some time admiring his new power lawn mower.

 

He was quite keen that I feature it before it gets dirty. He has a steep yard to mow so I hope it does the trick for him.

P:-) spent most of the day working on the van, readying the tow bar for our next trip to Davistown on Sunday.

I spent most of the day sleeping in front of a pile of school work I had taken to his place to do.

In the evening we bought fish and chips for dinner and then went to the boat ramp to eat them and feed the seagulls.

Gulls flying near car window

Gulls on the bonnet of the car

Gulls on the bonnet

Birds out the side window of the car

Gull on the bonnet as it begins to rain

P:-) is extremely good-natured about the mess they make of his car.

The gulls commonly called seagulls in Australia are silver gulls. They are ubiquitous.

This morning when I read my Bible (and I am still reading Isaiah) I read the following words which I found very comforting.

Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.

I've called your name. You're mine.

When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you

When you're in rough waters you will not go down.

When you're between a rock and a hard place

It won't be a dead end --

Because I am God, your personal God.

Isaiah 43:2-3 (The Message)

 Interesting sites

1.

This ultra-minimalist house has a roof ramp that leads to the water. Click here to read more.

2.

 Cacheuta Hotsprings is a natural water park in the Andes. Click here to read more.

3.

 This golden mineral bridge is in the Andes.Click here to read more.