Here are some Christmas photos taken in the entrance foyer at my house. My two granddaughters, Lily and Jasmine particularly enjoyed the day. For 2009 we tried something different as a money saving venture and
to make a contribution to cutting back on the commercialisaton of the festive season! Us, our three children and their three partners each drew out a name, luckily no-one drew out their own name. We had a limit of $80 to buy for that person, however, each couple bought for Lily and Jas. I got my son-in-law Luke and as he likes the Twilight series I bought him the board game and a Coles-Myergift voucher. My husband Kim was very happy to get our son, Peter. He is always borrowing Kim's fishing rod so needless to say Kim bought Peter his own rod,reel and tackle box! Kathryn,Peter's partner gave me a gorgeous mask as I have a small collection of Venetian masks and I absolutely loved the Pandora bead which is of a dangling shoe. Hubby still gave me a gift: Chanel perfume set and a Pandora snowman bead. Krystal(younger daughter) was wearing her gorgeous red shoes which she had bought recently in London. They do fit me and are oh, so comfortable! Wonder if I can 'borrow' them, as she does mine. Melanie also has the same shoe size but prefers not to wear high heels so I guess most of her shoes are safe from being borrowed. Recently she gave me a couple very nice pairs as she found they were a little high for her.
The most exciting thing that happened on Christmas Day was the birth of a female cria. Cria is the word for a baby alpaca. Had to call her Mary of course! Our herd is SerenityView so her full name is SerenityView Mary. She was born in the morning. Other alpacas were huddled around her dam (mother) Claudia. Straightaway one knows the herd is welcoming a new member! Claudia is a solid blue/black female and the sire(father)is medium grey as I wanted to see what colour we might get. Mary is black with white face, very sturdy and looking very nice indeed!
The other alpaca pics are of Poppy on a halter. She was recently sold to a very nice couple who have quite a few acres in the Huon Valley region of Tasmania. Before you ask..yes,it is not easy to sell them. We can only keep so many and we have several babies due so need to sell others. The buyers already own other alpacas, otherwise I would not have sold only one to them. Alpacas are herd animals and one is not a herd. They can pine away and die without another to keep them company!
I have also put up a pic of my light sussex chickens. Here in Aus we refer to them as chooks. Australians love slang and shortening words. Aahh..now there is another blog post topic I will discuss shortly. My daughter Krystal recently came back from Hamo by the way. Hamo= Hamilton Island which is off the Queensland coast. I digress, back to chooks! The light sussex were incubated by me with my Animal Studies Option class at school mid October in 09. Unfortunately, we are unable to keep animals on site at school (my work place)
Also pictured are zucchini plants and potatoes. One only needs a plant unless you have a big household full who all love zucchini! I eat them and so does Kathryn (son's partner)but that is it so if someone visits they are not allowed out the door unless they take some zucchini. Actually, little Lily who was one last August, eats them also,whereas Jasmine (aged 7) avoids all vegetables, aside from potato. Lets hope that changes as she gets older. I like them steamed or cooked on the barbecue with salt, pepper and garlic..yummo!
You must agree though,there is nothing like fresh vegetables picked from one's own garden. I have also been picking cucumber, lettuce, spinach and potatoes. I have had a few strawberries and am waiting on tomatoes.
My holidays from teaching are drawing to a close and I return to work on Friday 5th Feb. I am working four days a week this year and therefore will have Mondays off. Monday 8th is a public holiday, here in Hobart, for the Hobart Regatta(yacht racing etc) as well as the Hobart Cup (horseracing). I have 'worked' at home though with alpacas which included catching up on paperwork, matings and halter training. There was also housecleaning, doing a really good cleanup! I have done some babysitting of my granddaughters (and no, I still cant believe I am old enough to be called Nana!)
Had a lovely day in Swansea, on the east coast of Tasmania with friends for lunch and managed to get sunburnt. Then there was a great party put on by Ian and Rose, English born friends of ours who live on 3000acres here in Tasmania, having moved from England some years ago. Ian and Rose run "Twin Lakes".
Went to a wedding and am sharing some pics here. Wedding was on January 23rd, a lovely summer day. Friends, Peter and Amanda were married at the Hobart Botanical Gardens, whilst the reception was held at The Old Woolstore. They then honeymooned in New Zealand.
Today is Australia Day. It is a public holiday and people celebrate in various ways,often with friends and a bbq. The problem is of course it is also the day our forefathers invaded the land so perhaps another day may be more suitable to celebrate our unity as Australians, in order for all people, including Aborignal people to feel as one and that they have something to celebrate.
We used to go to Swansea for quite some years and join in with others who had an onsite van at the caravan park for a barbie! (we sold ours in June08) The past couple of years we have gone to friends for a pool party. This year we took it quietly, went for a drive and took our dogs for walk around the historic township of New Norfolk. We then called in to visit friends who live there. They run a local accommodation business called The Shingles. It is a beautiful spot beside the river.
Adieu
