Our Christmas Story

January is beginning to run away and I realise that I haven’t posted an update about our Christmas.  In short, it was fantastic!!  I came home so relaxed and chilled out, it was really wonderful.

We went up to my in-laws in a country town, not too small and not too big, they have a large block (um, almost an acre I think) with plenty of space, chooks, a poddy calf and 2 working dogs down the back and 3 spoilt cats up at the house. They also have a beef cattle property just out of town and we did a trip to the farm while we were there.

We loaded up the car on Christmas Eve complete with big huffing dog in the back seat and not-so-happy cat in a carrier on my lap.  We had bag loads of presents, two bags of clothes for a week, drinks, food… it seemed to be never ending!  The cat was staying in a lovely pet motel for the 5 days so we dropped her off on the way.  The dog comes with us and hangs out on the front verandah forever hoping someone will throw his ball in the big yard – he gets heaps of exercise up there and has a fabulous time!

So Christmas morning A woke to find Santa had left a sack full of goodies on the end of her bed so she climbed up with us and proceeded to unpack it all. Then sister-in-law (SIL) and mother-in-law (MIL) came in with a large stocking full of stuff so she unpacked all that too.  This was the result.

She got some awesome stuff and all quality items, not a bit of junk amongst it (whew!).

Then we had a nice breakfast and headed off to church. It wasn’t hot there this year so the service was pleasant and I wasn’t looking for the nearest door to sit near hoping for a breath of air. The minister came up with a new sermon this year – we’ve heard the same one for the last couple of years so that was nice – and A enjoyed the hymns as she always does.

Okay, so back to the house and then we opened the presents under the tree. I was very spoilt and got some great things for the kitchen which I don’t normally like, I prefer something personal, but it was all good and I didn’t mind a bit.  T gave me an electric 3-tiered steamer, a large wooden cutting board and A gave me a silver photo frame (okay not all for the kitchen!) into which I’ve put my favourite photo from our wedding day.  MIL and FIL gave me a bamboo towel set – can’t wait to try those out!  SIL gave me a mini-chopper which is kind of like a small food processor. I love it already, I’ve used it about half a dozen times since I’ve been home and it’s great for finely chopping… well anything really… I’ve done onion, garlic, herbs, capsicum, nuts… you get the idea.

A is the in-laws only grandaughter so she gets a little spoilt there, fortunately we don’t go up so often that it’s a huge problem. They have a big old house that she loves to play in so I get lots of time to relax. I’m a fast reader at the best of times but I even amazed myself by reading four entire novels while we were there!  I took three up and had to go to Big W and buy one more

Lastly we had our trip to the farm and I mucked around with the camera trying to take some interesting shots. This first one is my favourite and the rest are some of the animals and such in the home paddock.

Rusty the horse

Ginger Megs - retired from farm duty

Clover and her baby

Picking beans and digging potatoes - some weeding required!

So a lovely holiday, very relaxing and fun. There’s nothing better than spending time with family you get on well with!