And then even more

This is what the actual Christmas weekend celebration looked like for us this year.....Ros and Pete able to cross the border and be with us here in Canberra - free of quarantine, and masks even, - at last, and all the "kids" away - and just us adults left to enjoy a quiet Canberra Christmas, with gorgeous locations, beautiful mild weather, plenty of joy and love and too much food, sweet treats and no doubt too many glasses of fine wine.

Ros and Pete drove up from Geelong on Thursday and we started the celebrations together that evening at "our table" on our beautiful Aspen Island.........

Such a happy gathering, in this beautiful place ..........

We had an uncomplicated Christmas lunch on Friday, allowing us time for an early morning lake walk, while still being ready to crack our fave Majella, served with some nibbles, by a little after midday.

Claire and Peter prepared some magnificent salads to accompany the turkey, ham and fresh prawns .........

Christmas evening was made extra special by being able to Facetime with London family. We shared the excitement of the kids opening their presents on their Christmas morning, quite oblivious to the anxieties around them in London under strict Tier 4 lockdown.

We had a late night that night, bingeing on four episodes of "The Queen's Gambit" which we all thought was brilliant.

But after that late night and the previous day's excesses we approached Boxing Day cautiously - a morning walk for Ros and me around the lake on a cool, grey morning, and a cycle around the wetlands for Rob and Pete. We were relieved to find our fave cafe Elixir (on the lake) open for the Boxing Day early morning crowds

We rounded off the day with another feast of food and wine and a final session with the wonderful Queen's Gambit.

Sunday (yesterday) dawned sunny and mild - perfect for our morning walk, coffee and cycle in this beautiful part of the world

One of the joys of our lake walk is being able to show off our beautiful National Gallery environment along the way. It looked especially beautiful on this fine sunny morning.

We managed to get a booking at Poacher's Pantry for lunch on Sunday - quite the achievement in these times when restaurants are at half capacity and restricting their menus to make ends meet.

Ros and I picked the vegetarian set menu - which was a welcome change of pace after a few days of excess.

Although the grass fed eye fillet option did look rather good too........

Rob took some great pics of Ros and me after lunch - against the backdrop of the old farmhouse "barn". We're both wearing our beautiful Gorman dresses so we look very well coordinated (and colourful!).

And it's amazing how similar our hair colour is these days - we are sisters after all!!

Ros took this great pic of the two us....... capturing the amazing and beautiful leather goods made (by hand) for us by Kay's Dad in Seoul, South Korea. My blue leather bag is so beautifully made and finished - and perfect with my Summer wardrobe. Rob loves his new wallet too - such a neat and compact design and beautifully finished too. What a clever man is Mr Kang and how lucky are we to receive these beautiful gifts!

Ros and Pete returned to Geelong today. They got an early start and weren't held up too long at the NSW/Victorian border. In these extremely strange times we felt very grateful we could be together over Christmas while all the young things, spread near and far for the time being, are nevertheless happy, healthy and in good spirits despite all the challenges.

And more

We've had a (pre) Christmas celebration with the L and F families for almost twenty years now. They started when the L. kids were really young (about 2 in Sophie's case) and up until this year they have always been hosted by Jennie and Wayne at Murrumbateman. The L kids have always joined us for our celebrations, despite the fact they are all adults in their own right now. This year was no exception - lucky us!

We thought we'd mix things up a bit this year by hosting the celebration here at our place in Campbell. We started out with drinks in our ground floor, very spacious Common Room and then moved up to the apartment for our main meal and dessert. Judy and I prepared a rare beef roast and some salads - with sides of fresh prawns and beautiful Poachers Pantry ham. 

We fitted everyone around our table + extension and our Mt Ainslie backdrop looked pretty spectacular right up until about 9pm - on these long summer days.

We didn't feel quite as relaxed this weekend as we'd hoped with the bad COVID news coming out of Sydney - but it's all relative isn't it, compared to what's going on in the rest of the world.

Maddie brought her new puppy Poppy to the celebration. Poppy fitted in very well and spent most of the night being cuddled by everyone. Adorable!

Sophie has more than survived this challenging year too (and without her own puppy). She's worked from home most of the year and got most of her Economics degree done and dusted. Clever girl!

We had the usual Secret Santa event too. Jenny won the award for the best reaction to her gift - a case of plum size cherries from Young

Anke provided a beautiful cheesecake for dessert with fresh seasonal berries to end off a happy night of great company, beautiful food and wine and time for a bit of sober reflection on this most unforgettable year, when the love of family and good friends has been more important than ever!

More Christmas

The young ones are heading north (Byron Bay) next week so we got in early and celebrated our own Christmas with them Tuesday evening this week.

Buying presents for the girls was extra fun this year. We took them shopping with us (separately) after school a couple of days so they could show us their preferred items - Abi to her favourite Horseland Emporium (where she tried out every saddle in the shop I swear!), and Ella to IKEA, as she had some very grand plans for a bedroom makeover this year.

So they pretty much knew what they might be getting from us at present opening time ... but there were plenty of other surprises in store....

A Summer favourite emerged (to share) .........

And a new "lead rope" for Polly..........

Look at this girl's beautiful smile (free of braces at last!).............

Abi loved this unusual gift of a tin of vintage horseshoe nails .......

And this girl loves everything fluoro! ..............

There was a Polaroid camera in this parcel - great excitement!

A proper saddle pad for Polly!!!!

And Ella is already planning where those IKEA shelves are going!

Polly did well this Christmas!.......

We had a lovely meal together after present opening with all our fave Christmas treats: Majella Sparkling Shiraz, beautiful fresh prawns, ham and turkey and Christmas cake and custard. The girls had a late night but with only a few days left of school and most of the pressure off it didn't do them any harm.

Rob and Ella had the pinboard, the shelf unit drawers and the hinged door inserts successfully installed in her new bedroom layout by Thursday afternoon .... Christmas well and truly delivered and looking good!

Joshy sent us this beautiful pic of him and the girls - in the new/old Commodore VK - as he picked them up from school yesterday - BREAK UP DAY, no more school, no more work for the rest of 2020!!!

Abi had her last horse riding lesson of the year today too. It was such a thrill to see her in all her new riding gear (our Christmas present) setting out on today's trail ride on Pumpkin (her favourite horse).

Abi would have few complaints about 2020 at the moment!

Christmas is here

The joys of our extended family Christmas celebration started early for Abi yesterday, with a ride on one of her favourite ponies at Forest Park - the very photogenic Tinker

And for the first time: riding BAREBACK! So exciting - but not so comfortable apparently - Tinker has a very bony backbone!

But, back to our Christmas celebration, this year at Claire's house at Jerra... one of my goal's each year is to get a picture of the beautiful young things together.

Not so easy given Abi's reluctance to "pose"...............

but how about this as the shot of the day?

It was a rainy afternoon in Canberra, so the kids had to entertain themselves, quietly indoors.

That's no problem for these beautiful young people .......

Joshy and Angus share a love of (and conversations about) collectible cars these days ....

And then it was time for Secret Santa gift giving - Abi was in charge, especially now with her excellent card reading skills.....

Ollie was in charge of Paddy - who can go a bit feral apparently when there's a party on.......

Secret Santa chose well for Abi ......

Our Christmas feast was amazing - the best ever we thought. Peter was the chief cook - and he has really upped our standards a lot: ribs, turkey, prawns and ham, with Maxie's Pesto Pasta dish beautifully prepared this year by Jody - YUM!

Paddy stayed under control all evening with Abi and Ollie taking their supervision duties very diligently.

Dessert was also amazing!

Once again Peter delivered the goods - so professional.......

And this last picture.... just for fun...taken 10 years ago: Christmas 2010 at Maxie and Rod's house in Jerra. That's Maxie (and Claire) lighting the Christmas cake. Abi wasn't on the scene then but look at these gorgeous three kids - and see how they've grown and changed!