Beautiful Rosedale

We heard the news yesterday........... so many of our south coast beaches, towns and forests are alight - and North Rosedale was one of the worst affected beach settlements. 

We've heard that Judy and Jurgen's house at Rosedale has been lost to a brutal fire that went through Yowani Road early afternoon yesterday!!

This is all that is left of the house!

The human and environmental costs of this current drought and shocking fire season are immeasurable - and in that context losing a beloved holiday home is a small event in the big picture ... but it is still a big loss to this family and all the people Judy and Jurgen have invited to share in this beautiful place on earth.

I took this picture of Sophie, Maddie and Thomas on the Rosedale house verandah, overlooking the beach and ocean, in 2006 (on the occasion of Jurgen's 50th birthday). That was the year our annual "lobster lunches" started.

 And this happy picture was taken 3 years later in 2009 at another wonderful "lobster lunch".

 And this one, two years later in 2011 ........

 And this one three years later in March 2014.......

 and a pic taken in 2015 - showing the beautiful Rosedale setting - which just makes me think of all the amazing birds and other wildlife - and how/where are they now ???

 2016

 2017

 And such a happy picture taken in February 2019 - happy birthday again Jurgen! ......

 Jane's Bombe Alaska was always such a feature of the lobster lunches too!

 This last pic of us at Rosedale was taken nearly eight years ago. We always felt very happy there in the company of dear friends - in such a beautiful setting.

 We 💓💓you beautiful Rosedale. Our hearts go out to Judy and Jurgen and the kids ........

Our very Aussie Christmas

Our very Aussie Christmas Day started early - this pic was taken at 7.00am in front of the Christmas tree - Ella and Abi excited and  ready to open presents (and we hadn't even had a coffee!).

 For Abi, this was the Christmas of "the horse"......

 .. but water pistols are always a popular present too - ready for backyard battles!

 For Ella - it was the Christmas of the bedroom makeover.......

 .. but she's always up for a backyard pistol battle too (dressed in brand new PJs & socks) ........

 Lunchtime guests arrived at noon. Ella and I each did a welcome cheeseboard. Ella wanted to make a real competition out of it!  I went for quantity/volume....

 and Ella went for a great combination of salty, sweet and sour taste sensations. They each had their admirers!

 Ollie had just got back from his basketball trip to the States - and was full of great stories about his travels and the differences between the two countries.

It was a different Christmas for all of us this year. The Canberra family has had a very difficult year. The kids are all travelling well and make us feel full of joy. But us grown ups are finding things hard work at times! 

We all did really well on this beautiful Christmas Day together.

And  Secret Santa brought more horses!!!

 We had a great music soundtrack (thank you Spotify) on the day. Ollie did his great Tom Cruise dance routine (from Risky Business) ......

And we had a beautiful lunch with everyone contributing their specialties - and so much of everything!!

 After the main course it was hot enough for the great Aussie Slip & Slide to come out ........

 The addition of some detergent made the slides much more spectacular.....

 Then time for dessert: chocolate brownies, German Christmas cookies and our family favourite: licorice allsorts

 Abi took this family portrait. You'll note she was careful to include the horses.

 And Abi also took this pic of Joshy at a thoughtful moment. He and Jody hosted a happy, wonderful Aussie Christmas yesterday at their house - helping us all to experience the joy of each other's company, in these difficult times 😍😍

Murrumbateman Christmas

There's a lot of worried, anxious people around Australia at the moment (with the exception of Scomo!!). There are no fires in Canberra yet but the big one burning near Braidwood has spread all the way north to Nowra (at least 80klms) and there is no end in sight with this and all the other fires across the land - and no rain on the radar either!

We've had the smoke from the Braidwood fire hovering over Canberra (on and off) for over two weeks. I took this pic at midday today - very similar to one I took at the same time about two and half weeks ago. Last Friday there were a few hours where we couldn't see any part of nearby Mt Ainslie at all because of the smoke.

 So this year our annual pre-Christmas celebration at Murrumbateman (last Saturday) had to take account of the (now usual) smoke haze AND a maximum temperature for that day of 40oC!!

I took this pic of the distant vineyards at Bush's Lane just as the sun (softened by smoke haze) was going down. The vines are the only green thing in this vista - in the worst drought in the region since anyone can remember.

 But the haze did give us some nice soft lighting for these beautiful pics of Maddie and Sophie in Jennie and Wayne's front garden (with Rob and me). 

 Lucky Rob!

 We coped very well with the heat - even with the air con going on the blink... but we enjoyed catching the cooling outside evening breeze when it started.

 I felt emotional taking this pic as we all knew who was missing on this lovely night!! But Maxie would have been proud of us all doing our best anyway!!

 Jennie and Wayne are always amazing hosts. They make the night very special, with a beautifully set table, fabulous wine and food and the warmth of their company. The Christmas crackers were very memorable this year. Jurgen and Rob really enjoyed playing to their audience with the contents of their crackers!

 Jennie had baked a whole salmon for main course - a stunning centrepiece for our special meal together.

 And to end off the meal Anke had done her usual run to Bowral to pick up one of the luscious chocolate cakes from the Gumtree Cafe.  Maddie did her usual great job of cutting and serving the cake.....

 We think it's getting close to 20 years since these pre-Christmas celebrations started at Jennie and Wayne's. Maddie, Sophie and Thomas weren't much bigger than toddlers when it all started. We're so lucky to be a part of this tradition - and long may it continue .........