Very Aussie Christmas
When I was a child I desperately wanted to experience a white Christmas, with snow and candles and twinkly lights in the dark, and crisp cold and knitted sweaters with hot chocolate.. and all the other trimmings and trappings of story book northern Christmasses, but now I think I might just pass on all those things, and keep enjoying our lovely Aussie Christmas season. I really can't imagine it would be properly Christmas without cricket, a BBQ and a glass of wine at the school oval for the school Christmas carols as the children sing about Christmas Among the Gumtrees, as well as Dashing Through the Snow.. then there is seafood for Christmas lunch, and dark chocolate pavlova drenched in cream and fresh raspberries out in the courtyard under the umbrella, and all the dads and kids in the pool after lunch, while the mums drink martinis under the pear tree (this year the recipe included lime juice and pomegranate juice, cointreau and vodka. We try a new one every year..). Then all the kids bash the gingerbread house with the wooden meat mallet and we all sit around on the lawn eating gingerbread and the dads have little naps until the children come and sit on them...
and of course, after the guests go home, the grown ups get to have another little nap, because who needs dinner? and there are always Christmas chocolates if one is getting a little peckish..
Hope your Christmas was as cruisy as ours. Now of course, I have promised to redecorate the girls' bedrooms as part of their Christmas present. I think I will just have another Christmas chocolate. For energy..
Comments
One white Christmas would be nice, and a German Christmas market. But I love how Christmas for us marks the true start of summer holidays. We don't have to rush back, bloated, to work. We can sloth around, nibble on left-overs for days, adding fresh, in-season fruit. Time to play with new toys - I got Miss Fisher Cluedo, lost the first game to my eldest who always wins Cluedo. And time to read new books and watch DVDs.
And then, maybe, disappear for a trip somewhere.
I've experienced a winter Christmas although it was far from white. I've had a white Christmas too but that involved a freezing cold Melbourne Christmas and hail thick enough to hide the grass (they got snow on the hills though). The cold Christmas is fun - hot chocolates, thick coats, scarves and gloves as you say but I tell you what I could not comprehend? A cold New Years! New Years for me (back a little while now) involved skimpy clothing and running around barefoot, half drunk and smoking a cigar. This particular year the skimy clothing simply did not work, barefoot was a killer and although I was more than ust a little half drunk, the cigar had to be smoked outside on a rather chilly midnight. Nowhere near so plseasant as a balmy summers evening. ;)
However, I could no longer survive without an ice cream plum pudding at Christmas. Much like the prawns, cherries (although they were a little price prohibitive this year), fresh local stone fruits and of course, the rest of an Aussie Christmas lunch. :) Nothing like a snooze in the shade either. :)
Jessie, I am loving the image of you smoking a cigar on New Year's Eve. Hope you have kept up that tradition! And I remember the year of Christmas hail. It hailed here too, just on lunchtime. We toasted our first white Christmas, and lit the fire so we could have photos of the Christmas tree next to a lit fireplace for the first time ever. Had to take all the Christmas decorations out of the fireplace first though!
Linda, we were very lucky with the weather this year. As you may have read in the comment above, often it is a bit chilly, and once it hailed to give us a white Christmas! So glad you had a lovely Christmas, bet the 4yo loved having her granny around. My kids had their grannies here this Christmas for the first time in many years, and they were right chuffed!
Katie
It sounds like your family had a lovely Christmas. I enjoy hearing about other people's Christmas day. Everyone celebrates in such different ways, and every way sounds like so much fun.
Being from Southern California, I don't have the traditional white Christmas either. It was high 70s (25 C) here. A beach run was definitely in order. The Spanish language "Feliz Navidad" was all over the airways here - I am 20 miles from the Mexican border.
I think our regional Christmases are unique and special in their own right.
Katie, hope you enjoyed your white Christmas. I might like to experience one once, just as a novelty!
Fran, I'm loving the image of you returning to sweltering Perth in 3 coats:) Reading lots of lovely fiction to recommend to you.
Tammy, your Spanish-inspired Christmas sounds fun. Our very southern summer weather is exactly the same as your nearly-south-of-the-border winter!
Lynda, like you, I absolutely live the books I'm reading. eave a recommendation of any good ones:)
Lucinda, what does NZ have that we don't? We can offer you all the sheep, rain and mud that your heart desires, and we promise not to kill you with an earthquake or live volcano. Tempting, no?
Joanna, have loved 'meeting' you too, and always enjoy your very thoughtful posts.
Here's to another year of sharing thoughts with strangers who are now friends:)xx
Me, I'm glad that Christmas is over. One day I'll have it simple and plain the way I'd like, but I suspect that will be when the children are out of the house, living their own lives, and I'm not really wishing for that day to come any time soon ...
frances
Cousins! That's it. That's what I was looking for.
Oh, and an Art Deco town. Really looking forward to seeing Napier. Am I the only one who wants to visit NZ but who doesn't want to Bungy jump, jet boat ride, white water raft or tramp for days?
Lucinda, there are an awful lot of cousins in Tasmania. Most of them are married to each other. Are you sure I can't tempt you?