December funs

Last post for 2023! And next year I'm going to do a different sort of post. I didn't have time at the end of December or start of Jan, so this will probably be short due to 2 weeks extra memory fade.

Some pretty zinnias from my garden. 

 

Well I had Covid at the end of November and I can't remember if that continued into December as well, but I think so, so I enjoyed this show:

I think I used my recovery days in iso to do some culling, here is what I reduced my jar collection to. I did a similar magic on my container collection.

I binned this very worn out pillow. I now regret this because I found covers this size at HnM. But I have no shortage of cushions. This one came from the op shop with my green velvet couches many years ago.

I sold some shares! Selling shares is a harder decision than buying them, this decision took ages. But I just wanted to move a chunk back into my mortgge offset account, while they were ahead, and I heard December was usually an "up" time of year. I achieved my aim of making a profit while interest rates were low, and now rates are high there is less gain to be made in shares. Plus it has been so volatile, it's a bit more in safety. Still got some in the market though.

Here are some of the Christmas things! Drinks at the homestead on one of the hottest days.

Dinner with my home group friends, Kate is a wonderful cook and host.

Putting up JKs Christmas tree and watching Christmas movies.

 December was mostly full of music, rehearsals, performances etc. I played cello with the counterpoint choir. I also played cello in the church carols. These two events were very high level music. I was very relieved to get through them both.

On the last day of the working year I baked a cake for my colleagues 60th bday which is on 25 Dec. It was a lovely way to end the year with a morning tea with the last faithful workers.

I did music at the 9pm Christmas Eve service as usual. I kept it simple because I knew numbers would be small this year, since we already had a 5pm service. 

Here is the ample table space we now have for Christmas at the parents new house! I brought cheese and snacks, devilled eggs, and the game Dixit to play while we waited for everyone to come for lunch. I improved my devilled eggs production this year.

I put special effort into my behaviour lol. Lunch went well. Here is our Christmas gift time after lunch. I received 2 hammock chairs for my garden! They are great. So relaxing for reading. Sleeping.

After Christmas I had a few days of nothing, except pilates, and I thought a project would be a good thing to do to break up the TV watching. Something involving bunnings or spotlight. And I had the genius idea of curtains for my living room! This has been on my list for years but I just don't use the room much so it didn't need to be done. But when I have my new couch, I will be using the front room for TV. So time to give it some privacy. I went straight to spotlight from pilates as soon as I got the idea, hoping I had the right measurements for the windows in my head.

Turns out I did not, so the curtains I made went in my bedroom, and I went back the next day to return the tracks and purchase more material and rods etc. 

It was extremely tiring to do pilates and make curtains for 2 days in a row. I was physically exhausted. But the results are AMAZING! And really quite affordable. Spotlight had 40% off their curtain fabric. Note that rods and brackets are cheaper at Bunnings, I bought some from both. I think these came to something like $80 per window. More for the bedroom I think.

One change I made (I had curtains in bedrooms already) was to put the curtain rods right at the top of the wall instead of just on the top of the window frame. It's a cleaner taller look.

Heather was keen to kayak while she was here, so we (and mum) went up Wallis Creek, which is a fun little paddle with a lot to see.

Here is one of the hammocks!

And then Elsie arrived on Friday and G arrived on Saturday and we went to the Farmers Wife for lunch!

On NYE we went to 5pm church, shared dinner there, and then picnicked at the river until the fireworks. We had my huge blanket for all the food and for me, G, E, JK, Naomi, Ros and Sweep. A lovely night. Good to be back to normal after all the covids and such.

And we had our traditional swim, although the water and weather were not very pleasant, it meant we got the best car park!

I have started 2024 with a new plan for journalling: using a similar format and questions to the Monk Manual. It's aiming to be more reflective than productive, and I'm also going to keep my prayer and bible reading notes in the diary as well, so it'll be a place for all the growth and reflection. After 2 weeks of semi regular use I am enjoying it.