Another Great Christmas Day

As per every other year Christmas Day started early. Age has nothing to do with how early you rise in our household on this day. The kids sit on the end of our bed and Mum sits on a chair to the side; we watch as the kids go through their sacks; you're not allowed to look inside - you just put your hand in and see what comes out!

I had some very nice surprises this year. I cried when I opened this one. It was a piece of paper placed inside a rather large box. Now this is something to REALLY look forward to! I reckon by the middle of March (which is moving deadline) I'll be looking for something fun to do. The concert on March 14 should fit the bill perfectly. Not everyone in my household is as big a fan as I am; whoever gets to come with me will have to put up with a crying, laughing, singing, happy middle aged groupie, dancing in her seat and flinging her arms about!!

Other gifts - a new cow calendar. I had one of these many years ago; it's time for another one.

 A chooky door stop, filled with sand.

A camel embroidered bag.

A large candle holder.

An Indian banner - that's G leading the cow; I'm herding the ducks.

A soft scarf/shawl.

A tin chook for the garden.

A pretty bracelet.

I also got a subscription to Earth Garden magazine to go with the continuing Organic Gardener mag from last year. I think a subscription is a fantastic gift; it's a gift that keeps on giving, all year round! We gave the kids one each this year - Real Living for Meg and National Geographic for Drew.

After the exchanging of presents and the quick trip to the farm we set about getting organised for the day. Meg made a fresh wreath from garden greenery and pretties.

We peeled, mixed, tasted, cooked and carved. The food was delicious and plentiful. A new treat this year was prawn cocktails for entree.

Here's the "turducken"; it had a quite strong flavour. An interesting concept; not sure it's one we'll repeat next year.

Perennial favourites - honey soy chicken wings.

Pork, turducken and ham.

Coleslaw, made by Peter.

Wombok salad. There were other salads and dressings and the stuffed eggs as well. Sticky date puddings with ice-cream, custard, cream and caramel sauce rounded out the meal.

My three faves.

With lunch over we all sat around talking, then had the regulation photo shoot. With Meg's camera on the tripod and set on timer there were some shenanigans. Here's a few half normal ones. Mate and Gundi had already left by this time.

After photos and cleaning up I cooked another batch of chicken wings and eggs. The rest of my family left (Mum stayed). Not long after, our 6 other guests arrived. Our Filipino friends came on their pushbikes; they'd ridden up the airstrip to get here. Rachel drove. We played Articulate which provided plenty of laughter and good natured ribbing.

Another Christmas down! They sure come around fast. There's storms nearby and the occasional scud races loudly across the roof but nothing of significance falls. We'd love to see some rain. Steeling myself for tomorrow when our numbers swell by 23!!