Christmas Eve set the scene for the day to come. No white Christmas here, instead a sizzling day in the thirties. It was perfect for a walk in the shade of the great trees in the Botanical Gardens. No this is not an elephant, just the magestic trunk of this old tree!
Walking along by the River Avon was heavenly - cool and calm. It was hard to imagine the frenzied buying going on in the malls only ten minutes away.
I was theilled to meet up with a family of paradise ducks with adolescent ducklings. I had seen the chicks and adults, but not this inbetween stage. The ducklings still have some down feathers but have shed most of the black and white duckling down and are starting to be more recognisable as Paradise Ducks.
We do a fairly low- key family Christmas, though I must say cooking rosti and pancakes was hot work! All worth it though as we were all set to start serving up
Even at 9.30 in the morning we were desperate for shade, and alcohol was not really so sought after! Great to have Emma, Mark and David there and also Pam.
It was so good to sit down and enjoy the rosti with bacon, mushrooms, egg and tomato and also the buttermilk pancakes with fresh fruit. Not a traditional breakfast, but nonetheless delicious and relatively healthy.
After waiting till the cooler plate afternoon, we headed to Hagley Park to fly my Secret Santa present, a stunt kite. I haven't flown one for decades, so it was fabulous fun and quite exciting in the blustery northwest winds. David did a fine job of teaching Pam, in the photo below, and me how to fly it.
By late evening on Christmas Day the temperature had started a rapid descent from the day's high of 31 degrees to an unbelievably cool 11 during the night, with a high of 13 on Boxing Day. I started to feel human again and out came the merino tops and raincoats. How good to see the clouds open and soak the parched land.
It was a perfect day to visit Mark and Emma and, of course, my grandkitten Stormy, who had also come to life with the cooler temperatures. What a gorgeous animal he is, though he is somewhat distracting if you want to follow Boxing Day cricket!Personally, I know which I would rather watch.
Whilst the thousands packed into the malls we visited a lesser known, new mall called the Tannery. It was really lovely and reminded me of some of the Cardiff arcades. The prices were , in general extortionate.
This is a perfect, or imperfect, example. I thought it was some sort of a joke, but they were actually wanting 499 dollars for the masterpiece below. Even with a good iron, I cannot imagine that it would ever be a striking piece of clothing! Call me old- fashioned.
After flying a kite, we were in for another lesson, this time disc golf, using frisbees. David makes it look easy and Pam and I just looked farcical! It was huge fun though and I am sure I will play a lot in the future.
The next day David and I joined Mark, Emma and her family for lunch at West Melton, where Mark and Emma will marry. Great meal, lovely place. No photos sadly.
So, Christmas is over and New Year around the corner.
This photo of Stormy, as a kitten, just about sums it up. It was great to be with family and friends and to enjoy wonderful food, wine and new sports and now it is time to rest 🙂
No comments:
Post a Comment