2022 The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

I had planned to do a good, bad and ugly post but realised that too many things fell into all three categories, or at least two of them!

• Family and friends definitely in all three
• The death of mother in law - again all three ... good she is finally at peace, bad the fact that she is no longer here, ugly the behaviour of certain members of her "community"
• Wee Henry - good obviously that he is here but bad he has had to face health issues at such a young age.
• Politics were definitely all three

Nutting it all out, though, I think the good will usually win out if we take the things that make us happy and focus less on the things that make us sad and angry because at the end of the day we do have a choice over the balance of positive and negative.

I am so glad I have continued with my yarn crafts. They bring me so much joy and I have made some really good friends though them and have enjoyed some quiet solitude as well.

I am over the moon that I resurrected and continued with my blog - it has given me an outlet and has led me to so many wonderful people waaaay across the world and right around the corner.

I am thrilled with my venture into vege gardening and am looking forward to learning more and growing more next year.

It sucked that I had so many bugs this year (including the spiky virus) but I am still here and my health is, to a huge extent, up to me and my choices.

I am grateful that Himself and I are still as strong as ever after nearly 48 years of knowing each other. (This could also be under the bad and the ugly!).

So as we settle down for a quiet night in I wish you all a very happy New Year. Be kind to yourself and to others. Laugh more and stress less and remember that the older we get, the less shit matters.

 And I won scrabble for the year!

Sad stuff

One rang me this morning. Their Australian bulldog, Goose, has cancer. She has had surgery but it has come back. She sleeps all the time, is deaf and probably has some dementia. She is 12 which is pretty good for the breed.

They have made the decision to have her put to sleep next Wednesday and would I look after Lily and Ivy because the other grandmother who usually has babysitting duties would get everyone worked up and over the top upset.

I think he paid me a compliment.

Of course I will have the girls. We will work out where but the girls and I will have fun crafting or baking or playing in the park. We can talk about Goose if they want to and not if they don't. The loss of your first pet is always hard. The loss of any pet is hard but the first is that wake up call that not everything is forever. Ivy at three probably won't be that clued in, but Lily at five is a very switched on kid.

On a different note, Amy has Covid. Obviously Three wasn't patient zero in that situation as her parents tested positive yesterday and none of us have. We think it was someone at their large family Christmas Day gathering. This is the first time Amy has tested positive - the others have had it before.

Another warm day today. Himself went to the Shed for their tech afternoon and I decided that if I was going to let myself sit and knit I needed to do something else first. So I pruned the roses. 

Three games of scrabble. He is leading by one game. Tomorrow is the last day to play for this year (obviously!) and it will be down to the wire.

There is so much churning through my brain at the moment. Hopefully it will all gel into stuff I can actually write about and make sense.

Stay warm, stay cool but above all, stay safe.

Done

It wasn't the worst of days but it wasn't the best of days.

There were no harsh words. There were no uncomfortable conversations although it came close.

My tension levels were through the roof and still haven't really subsided.

I love Himself to bits. He is my best friend and I cannot imagine life without him. I know he loves me and would do anything for me but there is a glitch in his matrix that brings out something when he is around certain people. I could see he was trying but that pot was stirred. Fortunately the others had the kindness to ignore him. 

Or maybe I am over-sensitive at the moment. 

I have written and re-written this post and will leave it here.

At least we had none of this ...

 

Random stuff

Does anyone else find the days between Christmas and New Year a rather blurry mess of nothingness?

The cool change came through but the house was still hot and I stayed in bed way longer than I should have.

Himself took the dogs for a walk and his phone rang. It was the number from the aged care facility that MIL lived in until her death early this year. I had a brief visceral reaction thinking what has happened until I remembered it all happened in February. It turns out MIL had $107 left in petty cash. So we went and picked it up. I stayed in the car and all Himself had to do was go up to the front desk, collect said money and leave. They wanted him to do a RAT and wait for the result before they would let him walk less than 2 metres inside the building. In the end they gave him the money through the front door!

Three tested slightly positive yesterday. Today the test line appeared before the control did. He is not well. I have tested twice as I am not feeling 100% but weather will do that to me. I did contact the brothers with the information and gave them the option to cancel tomorrow. Other Brother is happy to come, we are waiting on Dr Teacher. I will test again before bed and first thing. Mrs Other (ie fave SIL) has a heart condition and I don't want her to get sick. The problem is everyone is rather vague about the incubation period of this virus so we don't know when Three is likely to have picked it up and if he was potentially contagious when he was here on Saturday.

When I was at the deli getting cold meat for tomorrow's lunch there was a family there at the same time. One of the deli dudes placed some sliced salami on the counter in front of us all and said try this. They did. They took the whole lot and walked off with it!

My vege garden is looking a bit sad. That is to be expected considering the time of year and my initial plantings were all a bit of an experiment. I planted some strawberry plants that want to take over the vege pod. I don't know if they will just keep sending out baby plants or if I will get a mass of strawberries. Peas have been a real loss this year and I put it down to the crazy weather. I will pull them and plant lettuces in their place as that spot also doesn't get as much sun and lettuces can cope with a bit less than those veges that flower and set. My zucchini plant is like something out of a horror movie. The beans I planted are doing well. I need to rethink some of my herbs. My tomatoes are still a bit of an unknown quantity. Those that have set are a bit deformed but I will put that down to crazy weather. We'll see what the newer ones do. Carrots are great. Once this week (tomorrow) is out of the way I will redo everything and plant for late summer into Autumn. And the spuds should be ready to harvest as the greenery is dying right down.

If I plant nothing else ever again I will plant carrots for the grandkids to harvest and take home for the reindeer on Christmas Eve. That made my Christmas.

I will be back tomorrow with the results of the family get together. 

Bleh

I am still in shut down mode. 

It is disgustingly hot (I told you it wouldn't be long before I was complaining about the heat!) and I really just turn into a blob of mushy nothingness at this time of the year regardless of the weather. I wish I had invited the brothers for next week when I usually start to perk up but it is done now.

Three has had a faint positive Covid result. I was almost tempted to use his photo as an excuse for getting out of Thursday but I would have to reschedule so I might as well get it over with.

This is such a shame as I used to love getting together with my side of the family but things and people have changed over the years as they do.

Himself got up early and took the dogs for a walk. He kindly turned on the aircon in our bedroom when he came back as it was starting to warm up and I was planning another lie in. 

The control said 18*C but the unit itself was set to heat at 27*C. SOMEONE obviously felt chilly during the cooler months and decided to use the aircon rather than get up and rug up. Once I am up I don't generally go back to bed so up I was. 

I spent the day on the computer, doing word puzzles, knitting and playing scrabble. 

The minimum temp tonight is forecast to be 26*C. This is obscene. It is currently 36*C at 7pm. Tomorrow we (read Himself) will be shopping for lunch on Thursday and making a potato salad. I will give the house a quick going over and melt elegantly until the cool change comes through. It will inevitably come with a significant drop in barometric pressure so I will feel off and very cranky.

Be grateful you don't live in this house.

Done and dusted

Yesterday was lovely. We sat outside and played move the umbrella to chase the shade. We drank lovely drinks and ate delicious food.

I gave the Mermaid the zucchini I grew just for her. She is almost vegetarian so this will be well used. 

I gave her the socks I finished knitting at 11 am on Christmas Day - and then found a dropped stitch that I had to fix. I have no idea how long they will last but they fit so I can repeat the process - hopefully without the numerous frogging and tinking I did with this pair! She has very wide feet which I was able to accommodate.

We came home and played a game of scrabble (it is getting to the pointy end of the year) and had leftovers from Christmas Eve. I wonder if I could ever get sick of cold chook, ham and salad.

I sat and watched telly and knitted (yes I am a glutton for punishment and have started a pair of socks for Himself). Mother Nature turned on this sunset ...

... and then gave me this ...

Today I slept in. Like REALLY slept in. I did have to get up and let the dogs out because Himself had a blocked ear and vertigo but instead of staying up I went back and dozed on and off cos I had promised myself this luxury. (And might have had a few too many adult beverages yesterday).

I then faffed around on the internet and was, once again, so grateful for the blogging friends I have made this past year and a bit. It is a wonderful community.

Himself went to the supermarket for dog food and dinner for us. He came home saying we would have BLTs if I could bake some rolls - so I did. 

Another couple of games of scrabble (one all but I am 4 games ahead as we race to the finish line), some relaxing knitting (no pressure), watered the very dry garden and now I am having a glass of red before having dinner and then watching the last two episodes of Wednesday.

So many thoughts running through my head around Christmas and the expectations thereof - hopefully I can remember for future navel gazing content.

On Thursday we have my brothers and their wives for lunch. 

Breathe, Sparkling, just breathe.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From my family to you and yours. May you be surrounded by love and laughter. Or immersed in peace and tranquillity. Whatever rocks your boat.

Christmas Eve

Welcome

Ready and waiting

Excited girls waiting to open their presents.

Old enough to know what this present stuff is all about

"Best cousin friends ever"

Zooming with the NSW family

 Brothers rocking the man bun thing

Jinx supervised the girls while they were eating.

The local fire brigade escorted the bearded one around all the parks in the suburb.  

                                                

There is always at least one dog lover in every crowd

                                               

Someone was less than impressed.

 

Post Santa face (she wouldn't even wave goodbye)

You're welcome.

Finally

I wrapped the kids' and kidlets' presents. Must be done with a glass of fizz.

The tree was assembled. It will look better tomorrow, I promise.

Himself went to the shops. I asked him to grab a couple of chooks for tomorrow (along with some ham and other cold meats) and he decided he would order them for pick up tomorrow. I'm not sure if the chook man actually laughed but we now have two chooks in the fridge for tomorrow. Himself was told if he wanted a chance of getting a chook tomorrow he would need to be there at 7 am and no guarantees! The chooks will be served cold so I see no reason why buying them today was an issue. Three dropped over on his way to his in-laws for their regular Friday night dinner. It was lovely to have a chat with him on his own. 

We played a couple of games of scrabble and someone (not me) didn't want to put the lasagne in the oven when someone else (me) suggested it would be a good idea. He is head chef so I am not rocking that boat but dinner will be very late tonight!

Tomorrow I will do what has to be done before the kids get here then I will enjoy the first family Christmas chez nous in a very long time.

A bittersweet day

Wee Henry had his scope today. The results are a tad inconclusive (he does have an issue with his epiglottis and something else but I couldn't hear them as they were in the car) and he is being referred to a paediatric ENT specialist in Sydney. Worst case scenario is he will require surgery. Best case is he will grow out of it. He is eating well and gaining weight (poor little tacker is only 5 weeks old). We are coming into Summer so that is a good thing but his sisters go to day care and that is a bad thing as we know how germs spread in day care. The objective is to keep him healthy and bug free. If he gets sick then he must go to hospital asap. I might have shed a tear quietly where no one could see me. I plan to head up there in February. January is a bit of a lost cause in many ways so we will aim for Feb but I have said I will go up in a heartbeat if I am needed sooner.

I had planned to bake anyway today but it was something I could do mindlessly while listening to music and not think too much about the family up north. I think I was quite productive! Sugar crusted chocolate Christmas trees and a swag of pfeffernusses. I doubled both recipes. I nearly had a disaster as I was just sifting the dry ingredients for the pfeffernusses when I realised I hadn't doubled the spices. They would have been very bland!

Last night mother nature turned on a beautiful sunset.

I am now going to have a gin and try and get some more of that sock knitted. Himself has a psychologist appointment at 6 so will pick up pizza on the way home.

I will leave you with this ...

Three's brother in law works as a baker in one of our large supermarket chains. Guess what these are? They will be on the shelves on Monday.

 

Better than expected.

I did it. I went to Karingal and I survived!

We hit Aldi first and got the deli meat slicer that Three has said he wanted. I also finished off the big girls presents with some age appropriate jigsaw puzzles. 

Then I went to Big W and bought a couple of dresses for Alice and a Pokemon stuffed toy. Sally loves Pokemon so I am sure she will approve of her sister's present.

I then went to the $2 looking for round cake tins. There are none to be had anywhere. By this stage I was getting overwhelmed so Himself and I sat and had a coffee in a not very full cafe (bonus) and nutted out our strategy for the rest of the kids. Supermarket vouchers to their preferred supermarket, a bottle of whisky for One and some smellies for Ebs and Amy. I also got a bottle of green ant gin for The Mermaid's daughter and her fiancé. They love gin, it is a nice gin and has the quirkiness of the green ants.

Baking ingredients for tomorrow, nibbles for Saturday, coleslaw and the makings for a potato salad also purchased. 

Home in one piece with my sanity intact. I kept thinking of Ms Moon's funny about Mary's waters breaking. It made me smiled and I shared it with other shoppers. All in all it was a much better experience than I expected and everyone seemed to be trying to be kind and considerate to all around them which almost felt like a first. Maybe we are all feeling it this Christmas.

A couple of games of scrabble and it is now time to change the shitty litter as it is bin night. The sock is coming along well and, bar any unforeseen incidents, should be finished by Sunday.

A brief chat with One cemented my plan to make Christmas Eve low key and calm. The littlies will be hyped up enough over the next few days so I am sure everyone will like to start the festivities with a few drinks, family and little fuss.

I think I will win Christmas this year.

A mixed day

The phone rang and woke me up. OK, it wasn't early but I have started going to bed after midnight and reading and then sleeping in. Shoot me.

It was Mads. She and Henry had spent the night in hospital because a few people had commented on his noisy breathing. She hadn't been too worried as he is feeding well and gaining weight and is otherwise a content baby. She saw her GP who told her to go to emergency to get him checked out. They did a whole lot of tests and kept them in to rule out sleep apnoea. 

They think it might be laryngomalacia but he isn't presenting typically for that and if it is then it is a severe case. Kids usually grow out of it.

As of 6pm they were still waiting to hear if the ENT dudes were going to get to them today. Sounds like a mess but it is the public system and costs them nothing and they will get excellent care.

J and C and I had plans to go to our favourite yarn shop today. C was picking me up. She then messaged us to say she had some bowel issues and couldn't make it. She ended up in hospital being ... unplugged shall we say. She has had some pretty horrific bowel issues in the past and is understandably twitchy when things don't go according to plan. She is now home with an appointment with a gastroenterologist tomorrow (and, yes, things have cleared).

J and I had a lovely time at the yarn shop and only bought 3 skeins of new sock yarn. This hobby is NOT cheap!! But the yarn is just too gorgeous to leave behind. I could easily have spent $800 on sock yarn alone so I am justifying my $83. Each skein gives me a pair of socks with yarn left over which I can use to make scrappy socks or beanies or mittens.

We had a really yummy lunch at one of Hastings newer cafes. It has replaced the coffee shop which I used to go to when I worked in Hastings. They make everything on the premises from relish to ice-cream. The menu isn't huge but changes regularly and they prepare from fresh.

We popped into a manchester outlet and I was able to tick some gifts off my list.

Himself picked Sally up from her last day at school. Mum picked her up just after I got home. She is very excited about Christmas.

A game of scrabble and Himself is now making homemade hamburgers for dinner. I am enjoying a wine and thinking that I might just make it through the season in one piece.

Tomorrow we will head to Karingal (not a huge shopping centre by any stretch of the imagination but enough to send my anxiety levels through the roof). 

I will have a list.

Lists make me feel I have control.

Breathe in, breathe out

The stress levels are starting to rise.

I have to keep reminding myself to breathe. 

Went to the local discount shop and bought a tree. You just plug it in and it has lights that change colour. The great thing is I can put it up and take it down as I wish so the cats don't get to wreck play with it.

I couldn't find round cake tins for the cake I am taking to the Mermaid's on Sunday. I did find some jars on which I have etched the kids initials for their popcorn to go with their popcorn makers. I bought some Italian nougat for Fave sis in law. I was going to get some Italian olive oil in a pretty container but Himself baulked at the price. The container alone in a fancy gift shop would have cost the same but it is all about keeping the peace at the moment. He has sanded and re-oiled the outdoor setting so we can use it when the brothers come over. I think that is his way of saying he is trying.

I should be knitting the second sock but I am here procrastinating instead.

I shall go and knit.

************

And I did. If I don't get the sock finished I will be so close I will take it on Sunday and finish it there!

Tomorrow I am going to the yarn shop with J and C for a bit of knitting and a bite of lunch (not at the yarn shop but in a really nice cafe round the corner). There is a new homeware shop so I might find something there for gifts. If I haven't bought by now I usually know what I am getting but I am a bit stuck this year.

Anyway, in keeping with the spirit of the season and the fact that, when all is said and done, it is about the children I will leave you with the following. I crops up every year and I am sure you have seen it but it makes me smile every time I see it. 

Peppery nuts

I do have other grandchildren and I do love them all but I don't get to see them as often nor get sent photos! One sent me this on Friday. Lily has finished kindergarten and goes to big girl school next year. (As does Audrey in NSW). One is actually a good foot taller than Ebs not that you would realise in this photo which I cropped to hide identification in Lily's certificate of graduation. There were tears from the educators as she is a popular wee thing. I wonder how Ivy will go without her big sister next year. 

I tried the other recipe for pfeffernusse where you cream the butter and sugar and molasses together rather than melt them. This also has an egg. I think the texture is better although Himself pronounced them dry (that might have had something to do with him stuffing something the size of a small egg covered in icing sugar into his mouth). I had planned to glaze them but this recipe called for the warm pfeffernusses to be tossed in a bowl of soft icing mixture and I am thrilled with the result. They sort of glaze themselves with a bit of dusty sugar left as well. I shall double the recipe and make smaller rolls for next weekend. That will be plenty for the kids on Saturday and to take to the Mermaid's on Sunday.

I wonder if pfeffernusse are to Christmas what hot cross buns are to Easter. Would I be vilified if I made them all through the year?

I recently read that the tradition of giving gifts at Christmas predates Christianity by eons. My atheist soul (is that an oxymoron?) is starting to feel more comfortable with the upcoming weekend.

The week in between this weekend and the next, though, will be busy if my list is anything to go by. Not busy by others' standards but this black cat doesn't do too many things in one day without having a quiet meltdown. 

My brothers and their wives are coming here for lunch on 29th. After the debacle that was our last family get together in February I am not looking forward to this. I am sure everyone will be on their best behaviour but the tension will be there. At least it won't be a long lunch as the Teachers have a long drive back home.

And then we can all relax and enjoy the summer. As I have said before, I am not one for NY resolutions but next year is going to be so different in so many ways.

CAKE

The kids dropped in. They tried my pfeffernusse and we played guess the spices. They guessed them all bar the white pepper. Interestingly there is no ginger in the recipe but a strong sense of ginger from the bite of the pepper. (Hence pepper nuts I suppose).

I had to warm the dough in the microwave to make it malleable so will try the other recipe tomorrow but with the same spice mix. If that works I shall make more during the week and ice them appropriately.

I offered them a taste of my fruit cake. Three isn't a huge fan but his daughter is. Although I'm not sure about sticking it in the ear. Maybe it adds to the flavour. 

 

She ate the whole slice, shoving the final bits in her mouth cos mum was eating a pfeffernusse and she wanted to try it. She didn't.

After running around chasing a speeding toddler Granny was knackered. 

The kids went home with zucchini, carrots and a cucumber. Sally was given a rose. Tequila sunrise - one of my favourites. 

Two games of scrabble and I am just holding my lead for the month. Himself got 7 letters out in both games, thrashed me in the first but I redeemed myself in the second.

I have made my list which will be added to but at least now I have a plan. One and Three et al are set for Christmas Eve - and the great bearded one will be just up the road at the local park at 5.15 thanks to the local fire brigade. Our next door neighbour sponsors them so he often stops outside our place to say g'day to the neighbour. It will be a lovely end to the afternoon for them.

Now I must go and try to finish the first sock of a pair I plan to give The Mermaid on Christmas Day.

Friday

I have started to dread calls from Three in the middle of the day! 

Day-care rang him to say that Alice had something in her eye and needed to go to the doctor. After previous experiences there was thought that they might be trying to offload again but they sent him this photo. 

This is not a happy baby!!

He was asking if he could drop her off to me if he couldn't take the rest of the day off. He had forgotten he now works for a company that gives a damn about their employees and their families. 

I said I would meet him at Sally's school so I could walk her around the streets if she was fractious so he and Amy could watch her final assembly.

She had slept a bit and was in a good mood so I was able to see Sally get an award for being awesome. Well, that was Grany's interpretation.

The preps then sang a song thanking their buddies for all their support during the year and wishing them well in high school and beyond. Sally took this task very seriously.

I then came home to complete the cake and make the dough for the pfeffernusse. 

Unfortunately the dough is very hard so I am not sure how I will be able to roll it out. I might have to warm it a bit. Probably serves me right for mixing a couple of recipes together and swapping honey for molasses and guesstimating the grams in 6 tablespoons of butter. The cloves worked well being crushed in a pestle and mortar so if I have to redo I know I have ground cloves!

We then had a couple of games of scrabble and Himself got this ...

Double letter with the Q, double word score and all letters out! 111 points. He was rightly chuffed!

Alice saw the doctor. Nothing in her eye. Maybe conjunctivitis. Maybe irritation. She is happy now but didn't like the doctor.

Sally got her final report for the year. It is excellent and she is very advanced in the three Rs. But more importantly she is confident, well liked and very caring of her peers. 

Grany and Grumpy are very proud.

 

Sunset glory

This was the view from the couch last night. They might all seem the same but the clouds and colours were constantly changing.

Three rang at lunch time. Could we pick Sally up from school. Don't have to ask twice, kiddo! The excitement on her face when she saw Grany made my heart sing.

This is how you know your grandchild goes to school in a rural area!

It turned out that Amy had overslept (Three drops Alice at daycare on his way to work and leaves around 7.15). She didn't wake until 8.35. She drops Sally at school at 8.40 and starts work at 9.00! She worked back to make up the time, hence the pick up request. 

When she picked the girl up we talked about school holidays. There will be two weeks when she is back at work so I said we will have Sally as often as is necessary. No need for her to go to school holiday program. 

Pfeffernusse were something I bought for the kids at Christmas. Not for any particular reason although Two loves them. When Three dropped over at the weekend he was full of glee that he had found some - I had no idea they meant something to him, too. So today I decided that I would have a go at making some. I sent Himself off with a list of ingredients. To my surprise we don't have ground cloves in the local supermarkets. He came home with whole cloves and we will try grinding in a pestle and mortar but if that doesn't work I'll pop one in whole with the other spices when I melt the butter and molasses and hope I remember to remove it!

Cloves always remind me of Dad. He hated them because his mother put oil of cloves on his teeth to relieve a toothache! In the same way that it took me a long time to start to like cinnamon after mother made us drink cinnamon oil in milk to prevent colds on the assumption that the girls who worked in the cinnamon factories during WW2 didn't get colds.

So tomorrow I will bake another Christmas cake - this time with whisky - and prepare the dough for the pfeffernusse which should sit in the fridge for a couple of days to let the flavours develop.

I need some netflix suggestions. I watched Merlin and loved it. I then watched the first series of Knightfall (about knights templar) which was ok but series two was leaving me cold. I am now watching Irreverend, a gentle comedy set in beautiful Mission Beach and it is pleasant enough but I want something to get stuck into. Suggestions please. Anything but horror. Blood and gore is ok as long as it isn't gratuitous (which is why I ditched Knightfall).

One day I might post photos of the sunrise but that would mean getting up before ... well ... the sun rises!