merry jingles

Well…the enforced dieting occasioned by the gastro bug I caught from Skye finally left in time for me to enjoy everything on offer on Christmas Eve, a feast with a Portuguese flavour, mainly their specialty salted codfish dishes, bacalhau (had to look up how to spell it)

There was bacalhau with boiled potatoes and Chinese broccoli, doesn’t sound very attractive but it was delicious as was the shredded codfish mixed with fried potatoes, onions, garlic etc. yummy! Then there were the prawns, the salads, my Mexican dip. If that were not enough, the dessert table groaned with strawberry shortcake, chocolate tarts. Portuguese tarts, Molotov (a Portuguese version of pavlova, soft with a lovely syrup) and my favourite, a sort of baked custard with caramel syrup.

And Christmas hadn’t even started yet.

When we got to Eddie’s house we had to wait until Mathew was asleep before Santa could put the presents under the tree. Finally at 2 am we could retire.

‘Daddy, is that big present mine? Can I open it?’ Mathew at the top of his lungs. His voice can’t half penetrate. Five pairs of bleary adult eyes opened…it was 6.30am.

Lego’s shares must have gone up 50% this Christmas. What with Lego diggers, Lego police trucks, a Lego table put up by dad, and the piece de resistance, Lego Buzz Light which took Melissa’s boyfriend Mark about 2 hours to put together.





Glad I opted for clothes. Mathew never took off his Steven Gerard soccer outfit all day...well... almost. More on that later. 

Annika loved her disco jacket (from the UK) and the dresses Kit and I bought at Braidwood quilt fair in November but her disco pants itched her legs. Too bad.

Annika with itchy dico pants



Lunch consisted of two whole snappers, one cooked on the barbecue and the other in the Hewer’s new oven. Not that it was a competition or anything!!!! There was little to choose between them but we think the oven-baked one had the edge. Melissa roasted a chicken with stuffing to die for. Sorry but I’m going to have to ditch Krista’s grandmother’s recipe for this one. It's the feta cheese that did it. Melissa also made a sumptuous dessert, alas not destined for our table but for Mark's later. Never mind we had more than enough to be going on with.



Melissa lashing on the cream



One by one we catnapped throughout the day although Mathew’s nap had consequences for the couch and the Steven Gerard soccer shorts. Poor kid was so ashamed it took him ages to come and video skype with Skye who was doing Christmas with Oma, Opa and cousins in Taree.

Skye with Oma, Opa & cousins

It took three trips up the stairs to my flat to offload the two pans for my new induction cooktop,(how I love that!!!) the Slogis, the photo calendar, the Merle Regle Crossword Book, the mug, the lotions, the Chai Tea, the chocolates etc.

Boxing Day: Kit and I went to see that marvellous film, The King’s Speech. If that doesn’t win any Oscars I don’t know what will.

Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas as much as I did

weekend from hell

It promised so much: spending time with the grandchildren. I was looking forward to it.

Friday: started routinely enough, cute baby Skye full of smiles, appetitie a bit iffy but no biggy. When she couldn't settle for her morning nap I left her for a while (a la Tizzie Hall's highly disciplined book about settling babies) but she kept whingeing. Poor kid, poo everwhere, the kind where you don't know how to pick her up without being covered yourself. Cleaned her up, changed the bed, topped her up with formula and she slept.

She woke up all smiles (she's so sunny) but low on energy. Ready for a nap after 2 hours. Same routine as before, couldn't settle, found her sitting back against the cot rails in a puddle of you know what. This time she needed a bath. So did I. My top was dotted with the stuff. Yuk.

A phone call: 'Hi Pauline, I've had a car accident, I'm in emergency in RPA. Can you come?' My friend Kit sounded drugged. Luckily Maxine was home, and offered to take care of Mathew and Annika that night (I was supposed to have them over the weekend while the parents went gallivanting in the Blue Mountains)

I raced off to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Fortunately Kit's injuries weren't serious but her little red Mazda sports car did not fare so well. It's a write off.  I took her home that evening.

Saturday: after ascertaining that Kit was okay and had help, I called Maxine and Dirk. I could hear Mathew at full volume in the background, (their house is so echoey). Dirk sounded weary. It was only 9 o'clock. They were trapped, no car seat for Mathew. I put in a call to the parents.They have 2 car seats, surely one of them was around somewhere!  Ed sounded weary, but for different reasons, late night partying with bourbon. 'Sorry mum, we have one and the other is in the other car...locked and we have the keys.' Cris came up with a solution, 'buy another one.' At Big W in Campsie I found the cheapest legal car seat they had, ($60.00)

I arrived at Maxine and Dirk's at the same time as their dog for the weekend. The air was electric, Annika cowering and screaming, Mathew yelling and jumping, the dog running round in circles and barking, and the baby laughing with delight. (did I mention how sunny she is?) We removed the source of the dog's agitation, namely Annika and Mathew to a garage sale next door. After a walk all was calm. I took the kids away after lunch, to their house to pick up swimming gear (lucky I have house keys ) and some Lego.

To the strains of Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story CDs (acquired from Santa at the Day Care Centre party I missed the night before) we arrived at my flat. I was in need of a seriously large and strong cup of tea. The kids obliged by playing quietly and agreeably. After dark I took the kids round the neighbourhood looking at the Christmas decorations. They really turn it on (literally) in Belfield. We all fell into bed at 10pm, I don't know who was more exhausted, but I suspect it was me.

Sunday: 6.30am. Everyone awake. How do they do it? I thought kids were supposed to have 10 or 11 hours sleep a night! Apparently not. After breakfast the fun began...NOT.

Who would have thought a piece of vegemite toast could trigger such an avalanche. I dashed to the toilet...and again...and again...I'd caught Skye's tummy bug. Oh dear. I'd promised swimming pool action, I couldn't let the kids down, figured that if  I didn't eat anything I'd cope. I was nauseated but managed to hold my own (literally) through the 3 hours at the pool. But as the kids munched on hot chips I began to sag, called the parents to pick up the kids as soon as they could rather than me taking them to their house as previously arranged. They left at 4.30 and I slept for 3 hours.

Post Script: Kit is doing okay but probably has a cracked sternum. It has taken 5 days for me to feel 80% alright. Still low on appetite but hey, could do with losing a few pounds. Will I be able to keep up the tiny meals, the bland diet? Probably not.  Christmas is around the corner.

first 'cockie' in the kitchen

Saw my first 'cockie' this morning. Now I know I'm really back in Sydney. It is lying dying from chemical spray on the kitchen floor. I know it's not PC but when it's me or them they gotta go!

Feet haven't touched the ground since I returned. Not sure what I've been doing but the time has whizzed by. Finished the Darwin-Broome video this week in time for the aqua christmas party next week.

Started working on the US road trip video. The video camera cleaning tape got stuck in Nashville and I couldn't tape any more. No worries, I thought, I'll just tape on the still camera. Good idea but when I play it back in Pinnacle it jumps, therefore is unusable. I can use some of the audio, eg my Jason CD playing in the car although on reflection, playing the CD will be better, but from Nashville on it will be still pictures. Ah well I'll just have to download good music, which my new Pinnacle film-making software can do from I-tunes, yeah!!! It was difficult in the previous version of Studio.

View from Greenwich house

Had Christmas lunch yesterday with my writing friends in Greenwich, at a house in a beautiful location. Pity it was pouring with rain. We are off over the Christmas period.

Had a fun day at Braidwood quilt fair last Saturday, took lots of pics especially for my sister Maxine who is a quilter. One of the best bits was stopping at Roses Cafe in Goulbourn for breakfast on the way, and to pick up one of their delicious pies on the way back. It is a yummy place.





In the evening saw Menopause the Musical at Revesby Workers Club. The Barramundi was dried out to the point of not being able to pull all the flesh off the bones. As to the show, it was very funny in places but I felt as though a couple of characters overplayed it.

Seeing John Williamson at the local RSL club this weekend. I'm playing it safe and eating at my place first.