An Aussie in the World: WINDING UP THE YEAR

30 th Dec 2016

"There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it. " George Bernard Shaw . Well, I'm not sure if that applies to the gifts I got for Christmas!

I thought I would share the Christmas presents we received, not counting my father helping out during the year with large expenses like her school fees, for which we are very grateful.

Chrissy presents 2016, from family and friends:

Hubby received a small portable radio, two new books in historical fiction, and adventure, a watch, beanie hat , socks, toiletries, and garden hose.

I received three CDs, two by Guy Sebastian, and one by Jamie Cullen, and am very happy! I also received a painting of a deceased friend, Ali, which is beautiful, showing her soul ascending to Heaven in the form of a ballerina, by professional artist friend Karen Schlick, who lives and works in Canada. Getting that framed is a job for the new year.

The family also received a large glass Cmas bauble, and a leg lamp , from a friend. The leg lamp is inspired by the movie A Christmas Story, and is becoming an Internet cult object.

Daughter was given Taylor Swift perfume, daughter bracelet, love heart necklace , star necklace, earrings, ring, dress, t shirts, leggings, shorts, hair accessories, including a ponytail elastic with a Tribble on it , underwear, books, pencils and other stationery, a daypack, a beach towel, shoes, and a hand beaded dog about 3 inches tall made by a local lady, Jing, from Welshpool.

We also put a good camera on the layby for her with a deposit from the grandfathers. It should be paid off by her birthday in February. It has 21 megapixels, by Canon, which will be of interest to those who have seen her photography to date (Acerules).

Daughter shows off her necklace:

I just received a call from my father reminding me its Mum's anniversary of passing away. There were three deaths in the family in fairly close proximity, starting with my first husband. No one was prepared for Mum getting cancer, fighting it, but only lasting six months. She was on hormone replacement therapy at the time, as osteoporosis runs in the family, we don't know if that caused her cancer, she was only in her sixties. Osteoporosis is a long hard road, so maybe she made the right decision, I'm interested in opinions in the comments.

How the garden was looking yesterday , minutes before thunderstorms commenced:

Hubby is in a volunteer organisation in Victoria called SES or State Emergency Service. They assist with most emergencies . Yesterday he was called out on the pager twice, to a flooded cafe, and to a bogging rescue.

The cafe had flooded gutters that couldn't cope with the heavy onslaught of water from the heavens, so water was piling up in the back hall.

The other was a vehicle towing a campervan , a family of four, visitors to the area, bogged up to the doors .

Today he was called out for a "tree down" blocking the road. A picture of another SES unit at a "tree down":