BOXING DAY

Sandy from Teacup Lane asked me what Boxing Day was and I was at a loss what to tell her!
It's one of those things that have always been there, you know, and it's just Boxing Day !

It's the day that comes after Christmas.
I  HAVE  wondered about it from time to time but never bothered to find out what it means.
So .....
I've looked it up on the internet and here's the drill .....

( No, it has nothing to do with boxing ! Ha ! )

"Boxing Day, December 26th, is a public holiday celebrated in Australia, New Zealand, Britain and Canada.

The holiday's roots can be traced to Britain. The exact origin of the holiday isn't known for sure. There are many theories, but all agree that the holiday began with the practice of giving cash or durable goods to those of the lower classes. Gifts among equals were exchanged on or before Christmas Day, but those less fortunate received theirs the day after ( in a box and often including left-overs from the day before ). This included gifts from employers to their workers.

Only in the last century has Boxing Day become a holiday. Combining Christmas Day and Boxing Day as holidays encouraged the tradition of families getting together at Christmas time. (It's also the start of the post-Christmas bargain shopping season and the start of the famous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. )"
http://alldownunder.com/oz-k/date/boxing-day.htm


So there you are! You learn something every day!

Cheers

ANYBODY OUT THERE ?

Wooo................ Hoooo......................

Hellooooooooo............

Is anybody out there ?

I feel like I'm out here all on my own. !

I've been looking .... looking ....... looking ....... but the only persons I've heard from are Kate and Sue.

I haven't known you all long but gee I miss you.

Makes it a bit harder when I'm a day ahead of you and I'm ready to go and you're all still doing Christmas stuff !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you are all blogging again soon.

Cheers

LOOKING BACK ON CHRISTMAS

Thought I would include a few photos of the celebrations at Mount Tamborine on Christmas Day before I go any further.

SIL Roe is a pink lady so her beautiful little house is filled with pink things.

Table all set and ready to go.

The hungry hoards attack the buffet....

..... forming a queue that snaked through the kitchen !

Let the feasting begin !

Thanks to our terrific hosts, Roe and Pete.

Since I visited my SIL on Christmas Day I thought I  you might be interested in some examples of her mosaics.
She loves little bird houses and has quite a collection of them. (and lucky me has one of her own now !!)

I love this little one that looks like a church.

Notice all the tiny ornaments she decorates them with.

This pretty stand is beside her front door.

She scours markets, garage sales and op shops for the plates she uses and the ornaments to decorate them.

Within her little arty community at Tamborine Mountain her friends know that if they break a piece of china they just save it for her.

She will often open her front gate and find a pretty chipped plate or china ornament which has been broken propped against it.

But bird houses are not the only thing she does in mosaics.

a shelf to hold a plant ....

...or a pretty wall plaque....

and her latest is this whimsical hanging "basket".

Want a closer look?

It 's made of all the scraps - cup handles and all !

Next she's starting on a bird bath.

Can't wait to see it!

Cheers.

BOXING DAY - AUSSIE STYLE

It 's Boxing Day here in sunny Brisbane but there's no sun !
Our christmas present was rain. Lovely rain.
No, not the usual tropical summer storm with thunder and lightning and an inch of rain in half an hour.
Lovely steady cool rain !!

For the first time in memory our Christmas Day was wet........

and warm..

not hot and sticky...

just pleasantly WARM ..

Yipee !!!

SO it's a lazy, lie around the house and eat left-overs day in this house today.

We really don't need to eat at all today after the feasting that went on yesterday but the leftovers will beckon throughout the day and we'll nibble as we feel the urge.
Stop playing with new ipods,
.... reading new books,
... trying on new clothes
..... and admiring new things that now adorn our house and nibble a little more delightful Christmas food.

And outside the lovely rain continues to fall, sometimes lightly, sometimes heavily....
Lovely , welcome RAIN.

............

I haven't told you before about my SIL.
She's one very talented lady.
Artistic you know ?
Knows all about colours...
what goes with what...
how to put them together ....
like Lucy at Attic24....
and she makes things .... knits, crochets,...
and works with mosaics..
and this is what she made me for Christmas.

Isn't it gorgeous ? I love, LOve, loVE  it !

It's in my favourite colours - blue and lemon....

It looks lovely in my bedroom.

Just waiting for me to finish my new blue and lemon patchwork quilt.

I'll show you more of her wonderful mosaic work tomorrow .

Cheers

OH WHAT A FEAST

Oh what a lovey Christmas feast we've had.
We did ourselves proud on Christmas Day.
A lovely cold buffet lunch where everyone contributed their specialties.

We had ham - glazed on the BBQ with a lovely marmalade and mustard glaze.

and a huge range of lovely salads.

There was ...

tossed lettuce salad

rice salad....

my new kumera and noodle salad

cous cous and  roasted vegetable salad

coleslaw

potato salad

and chicken

Then came dessert......

ice - cream  Christmas pudding...

Steamed Christmas pudding ....

and trifle with mango ...

! ! ! ! ! !    

Not to mention Fruit Mince pies, Christmas cake, and chocolates galore.

We really won't need to eat for a week.

But I bet we do !

Cheers

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Today is going to be busy.
Daughter will be here tonight. She likes to wake up on Christmas Day at home. Thank goodness for that !
Beds to make up with sheets.
A quick once over with the vacuum cleaner and tidy the house.
Cheese ball to make for tomorrow's nibbles.
Veges to prepare for dinner tonight.
Ham to prepare for dinner tonight. I'm trying a new glaze this year - a plum  glaze ( made with plum jam ) - then it goes into the BBQ for an about an hour. We will eat it hot with roast veges tonight then cold as part of our Christmas lunch buffet tomorrow at SIL's at Mt Tamborine. There will be 14 of us this year - not my parents who are up in Hervey Bay and not my son and his partner who are in Sydney.
So everything is organised. Hope you are too.

And here is the final Christmas card. It's a special one - 2 sided for a bigger picture.

MERRY  CHRISTMAS  EVERYONE

PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIMENT

Tonight I thought I would try some night time photos around the house but I have found it is not so easy to get that dimly lit, twinkly look.

I've experimented with the flash - no good - just like daytime!

 

I've experimented with the lights out  - no good too dark!

I've tried with the lights on no flash and that gives me the best effect though not perfect so I'm going with these.

Just wanted to show you our pretty fibre optic Christmas tree.

This is it in the daytime.

...and this is it at night !

The lights are part of the tree so no more fussing with Christmas lights and they change colour all the time.

  It is quite beautiful, don't you think?

.......................

And it's almost time for lift off !

Only 2 more sleeps !

Cheers

3 SLEEPS TO GO !

I'm coming to the end of my Aussie Christmas card collection but I have enjoyed showing them to you . They're all by an artist called Richard Gilbraith.

I love the humour in them all.

I'm keeping a special one till last - for Christmas eve so call back to see it if you can.

.........

My lovely neighbour called with this for me today.

Isn't it great? I love it.

She sewed tiny bells on all the branches.

So then the search was on to find just the right place to hang it.

Here ? Off the Ned Kelly sculpture?

or here on the fridge?

or here in the entry?

I settled for on the fridge where I can see it all the time ( guess I'll be in the kitchen a fair bit in the next few days !)

Thanks Kathy!

Cheers