Christmas in July from years gone by...............................

In the last few days, I have realised that this weekend, in a "normal" year, it would have been the annual Christmas in July retreat, here in Bordertown. While I have kept very occupied in the last few months, I have missed those amazing retreats with the girls. There was always lots of laughter and good times. So this morning I have been back into the photo files, and remembered those good times, and compiled a post of years gone by. Warning..... photo heavy post!

For those new to the blog, a bit of history. I purchased the house across the road in 2010, and spent almost a year renovating this house for quilting retreats, and it was was named "The Sanctuary. I started the newsfromjude blog in July 2011, and thus all the retreats have featured in posts for the years after that. I am so glad that I have had the blog printed each year, so have a great diary of all the events.

                                               The first Christmas in July retreat was held in

 2012, 

and the lovely Faye Packham came and taught the ladies to make small Christmas themed items. I dug out the Christmas decorations and made little Christmas stockings for the attendees.

My neighbour has a talent with the guitar and he came to sing Christmas carols to the ladies........and I am not too sure what Faye's intentions were with the rotary cutter?????

The girls all had red hats to wear..............

                      The evenings were spent  chatting in front of the wood fire.................

Saturday evening we mostly dressed in Christmas colours, and all enjoyed the traditional Christmas dinner.......

........and this is the obligatory group photo all proudly displaying what they had made.

2013

Rudolph biscuits were made and all disappeared, without a crumb left on the plate...........

.........................and Pat helped the girls make some stockings,..............................

.................evenings by the fire, one of the good parts of having Christmas in July, during our winter......................

                     ..............and the group photo taken before dinner............

2014

For this year there were 2 Christmas in July retreats, with the first one being early in the month with my 3 granddaughters, and their Aunty. It was a fun time of eating....................

                        ...................cooking activities.....................

                      ..............................cooking marshmallows in the wood fire.....................

                  ........................ making Christmas trees, and memories!

The decorations were still up, and 2 weeks later, another group arrived .....

        A few more decorations were added, Santa left some stockings, and those red hats (that they all       love to wear, NOT!) appeared again!...................

One talented lady came with red paper flowers in green bottles, to add to the atmosphere.................

..........................which led to the girls going to the shops to buy tissue paper for an impromptu lesson on how to make their own!!

A sunny afternoon, and timeout for a cuppa in the pergola.

Some more Christmas trees were made by some.

A delicious baked ham was cooked (not by me!) for Christmas dinner........

..............and another group photo!

2015

Beautifully decorated bikkies in the appropriate colours arrived from the city....................

.                  ....................and the decorations came out again..........................

                           ..................Laughter with the silly jokes in the bonbons at the dinner table!

This was the first year that we were able to have Santa make a special visit in the middle of the year. It had been an idea "brewing" for awhile, and once I located a Santa suit, I then needed to find a "good sport" that would wear it. I am so thankful for this Santa, he did an amazing job, and it was a great evening, as the ladies had no idea he was coming!

I think this lady would have loved to do more than hold Santa's hand!

                                                  And of course the group photo!

It was only a few months after this that The Sanctuary was sold. Life had been so busy and a few health issues for me meant that I was struggling to maintain the houses I had on both sides of the road. 

2016

After the sale of the other house, retreats still went ahead at my house, although usually on a smaller scale, and it made the catering of these weekends much easier as I was on hand and not having to take things across the road. I was also able to participate more fully in the weekend's activities.

In 2016, Santa was away in July, Helen was a good sport and stepped into his shoes, as Mrs Santa!

Looking at this photo, I wonder if Mrs Santa was telling this lady she might be on the naughty list, as she looks a tad worried?

..............................And of course, the group photo!

2017

                       It was in 2017 that the girls from the Barossa introduced us all to Sable! (The Barossa is an area famous for grape vines and the production of good wines).

I had managed to secure the services of Santa again, and he was running a bit behind schedule, so Pat organised the girls for a few exercises, and I think they ended up doing the "Hokey Pokey" and this is the right hand in bit!!

Santa was welcomed back with lots of smiles!

I had needed to talk really hard to Santa to get him back again. He is normally a very shy young man!! In desperation I asked him what he wanted and he jokingly said a tractor and a cow!! (He has a small property just out of town). He laughed when he opened his present to find a little toy tractor that was a replica of the real thing, purchased from the local farm machinery place. This tractor even had a functioning front end loader. And he also received a little bit of a cow as there was a piece of steak with the tractor!! ..... You might note that Val is standing by with the naughty list to let Santa know who should get a present or who might be on that list.

....................This is one of those...."you had to be there" moments when she opened her extra gift!

.................And the group photo again.

2018

This was a work on your own projects weekend, and sometimes these were more of a social occasion with more opportunity for sharing life stories.

                           The group photo taken while waiting for Santa......................

Santa arrived in his trusty ute, and says he received a few waves as he drove along the streets on his way! (I think there might be an Aussie Christmas song about an old Holden ute??)

I did not have to twist his arm at all this year, as I think that "tractor and the cow" has purchased me many visits from Santa. (He used to get a box of chocolates only!)

The girls checking out Santa's gift!

2019

This year the Sable came dressed for Christmas!!

                                .....................................Waiting for Santa!

2020

And that brings me to 2020, and a different world. With restrictions, and social distancing the retreats are not possible. Looking back at all the photos of the years this morning has made be feel very nostalgic. There can be no more standing alongside each other or even sitting close to someone. Even the sharing of meals is "out". And there would certainly not be any sitting on Santa's knee, putting your arms around him or holding his hand!!

It has just hit me how much I am missing the weekend retreats and the camaradie of being with other quilters. Phone calls are nice, but not quite the same as spending time with each other. But with the sadness, I have remembered all those fun times and the laughter and enjoyed the trip back down through those years. As with a lot of world events back through the years, they are not always easy while in them, but we will come out the other side. And a year or two is not a lot of time out of a whole lifetime.

I do have one photo for 2020 Christmas in July, as I put this nativity set up at Christmas, and had made the decision to leave it up for Christmas in July this year. (I was probably too lazy to wrap and package all the little fragile pieces back into the box, so now I am glad it's still up on the piano. It is for my solitary Christmas in July! And also a reminder of trusting that God is in control of this situation.) Tomorrow I am looking forward to our church meeting together for the first time since March, and know that even this will be different).

*********************

I had lots planned for this weekend as I have 2 bindings to put on, one to hand sew, and a border to finish on Miss Billie's quilt. My morning has not gone as planned,  as this post had not been on the schedule, but I went with the idea and am glad I did.

I was woken before 5am this morning with a noise of running water, in my ensuite. I got up and found a torch to check places for a water leak and couldn't find any. Although there was no water anywhere in the house. I got dressed and wondered how early was too early to phone the plumber on a weekend?? While I was sitting in the front room doing my study, my neighbour came to the window, and called out to me. He asked if I had any water, because he didn't!! I was quite relieved to discover that it was a town problem and not mine, so I wouldn't need to phone the plumber. A report says that the fault should be fixed by early afternoon, so here's hoping, as I would love a shower! At least I have water to drink. Now it's lunch time, so better head to the kitchen and then start on all those jobs I had intended to do, before I headed off in another direction.

Blessings, From Jude