tie dye

Christmas was colourful this year. There was the usual - great food (and too much of it), a house bursting at the seams with family and friends, gift giving, beach going.... and there was the not usual - a family session of tie dying (thanks Heidi)

Tie

Dye

Rinse

Dry

Ta Da

preparation and anticipation

We arrived lately to Christmas preparations this year but are now feeling relieved to be somewhat on track. It is with great anticipation that we await the arrival of all our kids and their partners for a few days of celebration and feasting (our frequent flyer points came in handy to get Johanna from Caloundra to Barwon Heads). Our family tradition begins on Christmas Eve when we all gather to make and eat home made pasta (ravioli). I'm not sure how it has happened but my twenty something children (well one in particular) insist on hanging up their childhood Christmas stockings. And Santa, for some strange reason, keeps filling them up year after year!

This year will be a Duthie Christmas, lunch spent with Colin's extended family. As usual, we will celebrate Heidi's birthday on boxing day, it is a bummer to be born on Christmas day. At least this way she gets a day dedicated to her birthday. This year will also be the first (of many we hope) here in Barwon Heads; it will feature beach, surf, sand and who knows maybe even some sun! I do believe some tie dying is also on the cards.

There is a lot to look forward to and as usual we are sobered by our very good fortune to be able to celebrate and especially with those we love...

surely not

It was with a slight touch of panic that we realised on the weekend that it was only two weeks til christmas and we hadn't done a thing. So much has been going on, the days and weeks a blur, slipping by, that mid December has caught us unaware. We did some menu planning, wrote a couple of lists, and bravely headed to the shops on Sunday. It was less stressful than we anticipated and I don't know how it happened but I ended up in a cycling store for over an hour (no exaggeration) while Colin figured out the basics he would need to join the Barwon Heads Cycling Club. Yep, he has acquiesced, the years of 'no way' have reluctantly been set aside. Cycling is big in Barwon Heads and when you are new and looking to connect with other blokes it really is the best way. A neighbour is lending him a bike, another some gloves, he is not exactly wrapped with the lycra he had to buy, but if you want to ride, you have to look the part! It is a good club with great people, we met some of them at the pub the other night. A whole new world is opening up, I just hope he doesn't injure himself, he does have somewhat of a track record...