We've got chickens

First of all Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you've all made your resolutions for 2010 and are all set to break them too. No point making them if you can't break them occasionally.

It's also our wedding anniversary today but as usual, we'll be celebrating it at home. Going out on NYE doesn't really appeal to me because there are always too many people around which takes the excitement out of it for me. Dodging hot sweaty bodies is not my idea of fun.

We finally got around to taking some photos of the chicken coop lovingly built for me for Christmas by Ben and the hens we managed to track down finally. It seems that the local supply of chickens had miraculously dried up over Christmas. We had to drive a bit of a distance to get these beautiful girls but they've proven worthy of it. They've eaten almost every snail in the garden and already given us an egg each day. I'm about to try them out for breakfast!

It's rained here everyday for almost two weeks now. This has been very welcome because of the drought conditions but now I'm a little tired of it. The backyard is muddy and the clothes dryer has been working overtime. The grass and plants however have loved every minute of it.

It will probably all stop when I return to work next week - of course the sun couldn't show it's head while I was on holiday could it?

Best Feast Ever!

Each year at Christmas my mother spends at least one whole week cooking. She lays on a three course meal several nights in a row for her friends and family. Last night it was our turn. She is a perfectionist - nothing is left to chance - not even the table decorations. We were served a lemon, feta and ricotta tart for starters, roast pork, turkey, vegetables and a delicious polenta cake wrapped in proscuitto for mains. This was all followed by a wonderful home made Christmas pudding. We all come home so stuffed full of great food that we sleep like angels. And last night, despite us agreeing to not buy any presents for each other this year, we all scored something small but meaningful.

Today I will begin preparations for our own Christmas lunch. It won't be anywhere near as extravagant as my mother's meal but it will be lovely all the same.

I'll be home for Christmas

I know I promised to update this thing more often and if updating it once every three months is more often then so be it. The thing is, life is hectic, busy and full of stuff. Henry, at five years old is much more demanding than he was at even 6 months. As well as being bored ALL the time, he never shuts up. For every second that he's awake he utters a word. Every second! He barely stops for breath and the minute I sit down to do something at the computer, he's suddenty in need of everything he didn't need two seconds before. I know I'm not alone here and that every parent the world over is, has or will be suffering in the same way.

What have we done to the house since we moved here in Sept - not much. I've not even managed to completely remove all the wallpaper glue from the walls in preparation for painting. Ben has built a chicken coop however and it's grand and ready to house some chickens, problem is, the house repayments have left us wondering where we'll get the money to buy the chickens. Plus, it's Christmas time and it seems all chickens stop breeding around this time because no one has any.

It's rained an awful lot in the past few days which is nice but we've not caught any of that water in our tank because we lacked a diverter until yesterday. Ben and his friend installed one but it's not really done the job it was supposed to do. I did however manage to catch three bucketfuls of water and pour those into the tank so that's a small start.

Christmas will be here in a few short days and we're looking forward to being able to celebrate in our own home. It will be quiet and we're planning on a ham and seafood lunch. The rest of my large clan have all gone off to join the families of their partners this year so it's just us. Ben is as excited about that as he would be if he received an extension ladder for Christmas but Maya and I are all "how boring" - it means the quiet will probably kill some christmas spirit in us because despite the chaos that 23 extra people bring it's preferable to us. We love it when everyone is talking at once, the spilled champagne all over the unwrapped presents, The Pogues singing Fairy Tale in New York at 6AM, the mountain of discarded wrapping, the water fight after lunch and the evening wind down after everyone has drunk their fill of holiday cheer.


What would be more preferable still would be to have all of our American crew come join us for an Aussie summer Christmas or for us to join them for a white one. That would make this Christmas perfect. Still, watching the kids unwrap their stash will be joy enough as will watching Ben's face contort in disgust when I put on Randy Travis' Christmas album as I open the first bottle of champers on Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas everyone. Whatever it is you're doing I hope it brings joy and happiness to you and yours.