Yep... this is what Boxing Day is really all about: recovering from eating and drinking so much! Well, did I eat!
On Christmas Eve, I had most of the day to myself. All of my presents were wrapped, in a box, and ready to be loaded into the car. The Cranberry and Blueberry Christmas Cake was ready to go as well as a gorgeous fruit salad (of 3 mangos, 4 bananas, 4 yellow nectarines and 5 bunches of red globe seedless grapes and the juice of a whole lemonade tree lemon - OMG! Yummo!). Yes, my work for Christmas was done and dusted on 23rd, December... so I could chill out on Sunday for most of the day in the air-conditioner of my home office.
At around 3pm or so, I turned off the internet and the computer and got myself ready... had a shower, dressed in a dress my ginger-sister, Tutasi, brought from the USA and did my hair then loaded up the car and the eskie and headed on over to my folks' house to car pool with them to Kate's house.
We got there around 5:30pm and grazed on nibbles... but we at outside and not inside simply because it so much cooler. We didn't wander inside until it was time to eat... or until we couldn't see outside anymore... whichever came first.
Dinner was wonderful! There was so much food... and dessert was just gorgeous! Blueberry Trifle, Pavlova, and fruit salad (which somebody took a look at and left the lid off of while it was in the fridge), then we were all too full to do anything; and nobody really wanted to give out gifts. So, I volunteered, and the kids got a lot of gifts from a lot of people.
Soon, though, Mum, Dad and I were off - along with Gabe and Kat - to Gabe and Kat's place to open pressies there. We arrived there and got in and opened presents together and found that they didn't put up a tree, tinsel or anything (they're not really into Christmas; but that's them... not us, or me. I love Christmas)
Well, Riley loved her Obsidian, and was stunned that I bought her something as strange as that. Gabe took a look at it and said it was purple, no blue, no hang on... purple.. no... well, we weren't sure about the colour, but it's cool! Riley then opened her two other gifts and found I had bought an art piece by Marnie Linger and framed it... she loved it! And then, she opened her third present and found I had bought her a fold-up table easel; and loved that she could take it everywhere with her!
I knitted Kat a towel, and she loved that it was so well-done... and soft. I said that once it wears out, she can just throw it in with the other rubbish and it'll break down in land fill as it's made from cotton, and that's a natural fibre. She was thrilled about that!
Gabe received a framed AC/DC 'Back In Black' vinyl I had spent 2 months working on... it was a right bitch trying to find the right frame for it; then realising I had to paint the brown frame black, and then work on the backing board too... it took 2 days to pull together.
Everyone loved their goodies - and all of them were either from op-shops or hand-made. This was a great plan of mine; and I'll be doing this more often in future.
The next day, was Christmas Day... I had a light breakfast, washed up, packed the car and closed up the house completely to make sure if a storm hit during the day, no rain got in while I was out.
I headed over to my Aunt's house to pick up my eskie - as I had left it there the night before - and then to my folks' house to open presents. We had a great morning in the nice cool air-conditioning for a few hours.
By around midday, I was off to Crestmead where I had been invited to a Christmas Lunch by a great friend of mine, Tutasi, and her husband. This was their first family function and I represented her side of the family; as she was meeting his side of the family (well, part of it) and this was going to be a big day.
I helped out with serving up a delicious tuna dip that Tutasi had made and then set out some of the meals as well. Then, people started to show up. Tim, Tutasi's husband pulled out a large ham from another relative's box of mangoes and accidentally dribbled oil and fat all over the white table cloth, and I helped out cleaning that off the cloth - and by the time I was finished with that, it looked like nothing had happened at all; well almost nothing.
The day went on, and became hotter. Tutasi made sure we had plenty of nice cold bottles of water and attended to Tim's Uncle - as his Uncle is the head of the family. Blessings were said, prayers as well and a song sung by the family - in their own wonderful language - and then we all ate! Oh man, so much food! Then, there was dessert. The adults sat outside, in the heat and the children sat in the living room in the air-conditioning (lucky them!), but it's how Tim's Uncle wanted it for the day.
By around 5pm or so, I could see storm clouds gathering down near Beenleigh and coming up towards Brisbane, I said that I better get going; if I wanted to beat the storm home - and I had to drop by my folks' house to pick up my presents as they were left there for the day. I thanked them all for lunch and that it had been a pleasure meeting them all, wishing them a Merry Christmas. And then, I was on my way... it didn't take long to get back home, after picking up my presents.
By the time I got them inside and took a shower, it was really dark outside and thundering with rain! Yep, I left at the right time! But man, I didn't eat anything for dinner, just mineral water and a bit of chocolate, and fruit... that's all. Well, that was my Christmas. How was yours? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.
On Christmas Eve, I had most of the day to myself. All of my presents were wrapped, in a box, and ready to be loaded into the car. The Cranberry and Blueberry Christmas Cake was ready to go as well as a gorgeous fruit salad (of 3 mangos, 4 bananas, 4 yellow nectarines and 5 bunches of red globe seedless grapes and the juice of a whole lemonade tree lemon - OMG! Yummo!). Yes, my work for Christmas was done and dusted on 23rd, December... so I could chill out on Sunday for most of the day in the air-conditioner of my home office.
At around 3pm or so, I turned off the internet and the computer and got myself ready... had a shower, dressed in a dress my ginger-sister, Tutasi, brought from the USA and did my hair then loaded up the car and the eskie and headed on over to my folks' house to car pool with them to Kate's house.
We got there around 5:30pm and grazed on nibbles... but we at outside and not inside simply because it so much cooler. We didn't wander inside until it was time to eat... or until we couldn't see outside anymore... whichever came first.
Dinner was wonderful! There was so much food... and dessert was just gorgeous! Blueberry Trifle, Pavlova, and fruit salad (which somebody took a look at and left the lid off of while it was in the fridge), then we were all too full to do anything; and nobody really wanted to give out gifts. So, I volunteered, and the kids got a lot of gifts from a lot of people.
Soon, though, Mum, Dad and I were off - along with Gabe and Kat - to Gabe and Kat's place to open pressies there. We arrived there and got in and opened presents together and found that they didn't put up a tree, tinsel or anything (they're not really into Christmas; but that's them... not us, or me. I love Christmas)
Well, Riley loved her Obsidian, and was stunned that I bought her something as strange as that. Gabe took a look at it and said it was purple, no blue, no hang on... purple.. no... well, we weren't sure about the colour, but it's cool! Riley then opened her two other gifts and found I had bought an art piece by Marnie Linger and framed it... she loved it! And then, she opened her third present and found I had bought her a fold-up table easel; and loved that she could take it everywhere with her!
I knitted Kat a towel, and she loved that it was so well-done... and soft. I said that once it wears out, she can just throw it in with the other rubbish and it'll break down in land fill as it's made from cotton, and that's a natural fibre. She was thrilled about that!
Gabe received a framed AC/DC 'Back In Black' vinyl I had spent 2 months working on... it was a right bitch trying to find the right frame for it; then realising I had to paint the brown frame black, and then work on the backing board too... it took 2 days to pull together.
Everyone loved their goodies - and all of them were either from op-shops or hand-made. This was a great plan of mine; and I'll be doing this more often in future.
The next day, was Christmas Day... I had a light breakfast, washed up, packed the car and closed up the house completely to make sure if a storm hit during the day, no rain got in while I was out.
I headed over to my Aunt's house to pick up my eskie - as I had left it there the night before - and then to my folks' house to open presents. We had a great morning in the nice cool air-conditioning for a few hours.
By around midday, I was off to Crestmead where I had been invited to a Christmas Lunch by a great friend of mine, Tutasi, and her husband. This was their first family function and I represented her side of the family; as she was meeting his side of the family (well, part of it) and this was going to be a big day.
I helped out with serving up a delicious tuna dip that Tutasi had made and then set out some of the meals as well. Then, people started to show up. Tim, Tutasi's husband pulled out a large ham from another relative's box of mangoes and accidentally dribbled oil and fat all over the white table cloth, and I helped out cleaning that off the cloth - and by the time I was finished with that, it looked like nothing had happened at all; well almost nothing.
The day went on, and became hotter. Tutasi made sure we had plenty of nice cold bottles of water and attended to Tim's Uncle - as his Uncle is the head of the family. Blessings were said, prayers as well and a song sung by the family - in their own wonderful language - and then we all ate! Oh man, so much food! Then, there was dessert. The adults sat outside, in the heat and the children sat in the living room in the air-conditioning (lucky them!), but it's how Tim's Uncle wanted it for the day.
By around 5pm or so, I could see storm clouds gathering down near Beenleigh and coming up towards Brisbane, I said that I better get going; if I wanted to beat the storm home - and I had to drop by my folks' house to pick up my presents as they were left there for the day. I thanked them all for lunch and that it had been a pleasure meeting them all, wishing them a Merry Christmas. And then, I was on my way... it didn't take long to get back home, after picking up my presents.
By the time I got them inside and took a shower, it was really dark outside and thundering with rain! Yep, I left at the right time! But man, I didn't eat anything for dinner, just mineral water and a bit of chocolate, and fruit... that's all. Well, that was my Christmas. How was yours? Until my next post, take care, stay safe and remember, I'm always here.
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