Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.....

I debated with myself about how to do this post, and whether it should be divided into smaller ones, and then decided to make it just one long report. But I will do subheadings.

THURSDAY

My last post declared that I was not ready for Christmas, and I usually work right up until a few days before the big day, but this year turned out to be different. It was planned for our family to gather on Thursday evening for our celebration, as Christmas Day was not going to work for some of us. So this meant that I needed to plan a bit sooner than normal! (well, my normal anyhow!)

 It was fortunate for me that I had seen items online that might be good for the grandies, and I had purchased these back in November. I still had a little bit of shopping to do, and was at the local shops early on Thursday morning to do this, before my planned departure time of 11am. I was a bit frustrated that the first shop I went to, was rather late in opening their doors, and so I headed to the bank to use their ATM. But a sign on this said it was temporarily out of action!! Not looking good, but I was trying to be patient. So I then went to the Post office, which was open, and then back to the other shop, which was now open. And by this time, the bank ATM was back in action, so it was all good. What should have taken me half an hour, took up more than an hour.

I packed the car, and was ready to leave by 11am. This meant I had plenty of time before I needed to be at the airport to pick up DD3 and DSIL who were arriving from Melbourne.  I just hoped that they could fit their luggage etc on the back seat!

Because I had plenty of time, I decided that I would do the tourist  thing on the way to the city. I had heard of a small quilt show that was on in Tailem Bend, with a display by the Coonalpyn group that was hanging in the Council Chambers. Decided today was a good day to check it out. It is a pity that there was no signs out the front, as I would not have known it was there, if I had not heard from one of the local girls. But it was nice to see their local council supporting them and put on the display.

While in Tailem Bend I found another amazing display that has just opened, the Tailem Bend Uneek Animals. There is some very clever workmanship in this shed, and I have more photos, so will do another post about this another day.

Not too sure just how much lawn mowing is happening here!!??

OUR FAMILY CHRISTMAS

I arrived at the airport in plenty of time and picked up my passengers and headed further on to the home of DD1, where our family Christmas dinner was to be. It was a lovely evening, sharing a BBQ meal, Christmas pudding, and much excitement with the cousins all playing together.

GD1, GD2 and GD3........

GS4, GS5, and GS6.......

 GD7..........

and G?8!!!!!

The 3 boys received a tent, which I thought would be good to play in on the back lawn!! Not in the kitchen!!

They had some fun, and one little man slept in his that night.

I wonder where I shall put this plant, and can I keep it alive???

FRIDAY

Friday morning it was time to pack the car again, and reverse the previous day's drive and take DD3 and hubby back to the airport so that they could return to Melbourne. I then had a few hours to spare, as GD3 was coming home with me, and she wouldn't be ready to come until later that day. I did have a quilt to deliver to a customer and that was duly done by 9.30am. I had a few other jobs to do, and decided I would visit Raylene, and spend some time with her. We went out for coffee, and she took me to some shops I needed to go to, and then we thought we would "do" lunch. It so happens that Raylene lives 5 minutes from the beach, and I decided that as we were so close, that a beach visit would be in a good idea. And what goes with the beach?? Fish and chips, of course. Well I think so anyway.

(I will mention here, that because my phone had been used to direct me to various places that morning, and it had not been charged overnight, that the battery was very low by now. So a decision was made to leave it on the charger at Raylene's house while we went for lunch!)

It was a short drive to the beach, and it was a beautiful day, so decided to eat our meal on the tables outside the kiosk. The meals were delivered, and looked fabulous. Raylene said I should photograph it for the blog!? But, no phone, and my camera was packed in my suitcase in my car. And who did NOT have her phone with her either?? A lost opportunity, and you will have to believe me that it tasted as good as it looked! And of course this meant that I could not take a photo of the beach either!
After lunch, we headed back to my car, and when we pulled in the drive, someone decided she would race inside and get my phone, and take me back to the beach for a photo opportunity! So hope you enjoy the following........

Of course you have to have seagulls at the beach, and there were lots more, but they flew away before I got the phone ready......

and the beach has to have a pine tree too.

It was a lovely relaxing way to spend time, with a good friend, on a beautiful sunny, not hot day. I picked up GD3 soon after, and headed for home, with a brief stop at Murray Bridge to visit with mum and dad. And my bed felt so good, and I even slept in until 7am next morning!

SATURDAY

Most of Saturday was spent with Max, and I still have a couple of quilt to finish this week yet. But the afternoon was in the kitchen, cooking with GD3, making some biscuits for gifts. This was her first experience with a biscuit forcer, which had belonged to my grandmother. It's not something i use very often, and I think the biscuit mixture was a bit sticky, so we did not make many of these!

I was very thankful for her help, which made the job much quicker. That evening, I also managed to do my personal Christmas cards, and the newsletter that goes with these. Maybe Christmas is coming, and I could be nearly ready?? I usually do a Christmas mailout for my customers, with a newsletter, but have decided that as I am so late already, that a New Year newsletter will be in order instead. That decision feels like a good one.

SUNDAY

There was more baking this morning, and this is the result of all our work. 

After that, I spent time at the sewing machine, and made some Soup Bowl cozy's and placed some biscuits in each bowl and wrapped them for gifts. Another job to cross off the list! 

I have an early morning appointment tomorrow, as our Bible Study girls are meeting for breakfast. Then it is off to the shops to buy a bus ticket for GD3 who leaves on Tuesday. And the rest of the day will be spent INSIDE with the air conditioner going, as it is forecast to be 40deg, and I need to finish a custom quilt. 

Will be back soon, it's time for bed.

Blessings, From Jude