This year,we planned an ambitious Christmas at Inglewood for the whole family. We had done it once before (Christmas of 2011, but that was much smaller, lots of family members had other plans, so there were just 13 of us - us 4, Helen, Mum Michaela & Xavier, Sarah, Brian & Clare, Becky & Elise)
We were planning on about 25 people this time - but there could have been a few more, or a few less - with those numbers it didn't really matter ( ie initially Zac and Curtis weren't coming, and Victor, Becky & Elsie were).
Unfortunately Helen and kids weren't going to be with us - as they were up in NSW, however just about everyone else was - so firstly we had to organise rooms and beds for everyone.
Justin and I had our room (Fraser thought we should have been in a tent) , Mum was in the downstairs green room, Alex in the Garden room, Jan & Peter in the Red room, Penny & Gavin in the Lime Parfait room, Sarah in the yellow room, and the girls - Madeleine, Ceski, April & Amber in the big upstairs room. The boys - Fraser, Zac, Rory, Curtis, Martin & Charlie were in a large tent that Justin had just purchased specifically for this. So, all up, accommodation for 19, not bad, and just with one bathroom (thank goodness for the new bathrooms across the road at the Town Hall). Nin and Clare were at the motel, as we didn't have any further double rooms for them. And therefore 21 for Christmas, and Justin could still be head of the table.
Anyway, Mum and I were the advance guard on the Friday. And I did a bit of preparatory cooking - a quiche lorraine and an onion tart. Also put up the Christmas tree in the front hallway.
It was a nice warm day, not too hot, so Mum and I had a G&T on the veranda, and also had our dinner up there.
Justin and the kids arrived (Madeleine driving to get her hours up) early Saturday afternoon (he was getting a haircut), and his next job was to erect the new (10 man) tent with Fraser's help. Unfortunately Fraser wasn't too keen on staying in the tent, felt a bit miffed at being turfed our of his room and bed, especially when the girls got to sleep inside. That said, it got pretty hot upstairs, and even with the electric fans it was hot, so some of our guests (Gavin) didn't end up sleeping that well at all. (partly because they couldn't open the windows as there were no fly screens, and plenty of nocturnal insects)
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| Mad driving to inglewood |
Unfortunately, it had become quite a hot day (muggy also), so it was a bit of a slog. Justin also made a nice BEWARE sign
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| starting off |
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| getting there |
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| looking good |
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| Jan visiting - despite the BEWARE sign |
And, so the guests started arriving - everyone but Nin, Clare and kids (who came on Christmas Day) And I kept on cooking ie pavlova (failed, for some reason, didn't crisp up, so turned it into a dessert with jelly and cream, a riff on an Eton Mess, however we didn't end up eating it, as it was overlooked, same with a Chocolate Mousse that I made - just too much food. Prepared the turkey, stuffed it and wrapped it with bacon, etc.
And with all of this food, and with this heat we obviously needed some additional cooling. We had our travel fridge, but that was full, and I had already asked Enzo if we could borrow his bar fridge again (as per Christmas 2011), so he dropped it around in the afternoon. Turns out it was a full size fridge that he had previously lent to another friend. Filled that up also - had to have a good supply of cold drinks too. Justin had to clean it though....friend didn't return it to Enzo in tip top condition
Dinner was at the pub - as I hadn't felt like cooking, we had a large table and it was a good night
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| Christmas Eve Pub dinner |
Afterwards, we went back to the house, and set up the data projector and watched The Money Pit under the stars - which was well received. Few mosquitoes though. Kids tore around the neighborhood on scooters - all good.
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| lovely evening on way back from the pub |
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| mvie screen under the stars (pretty crap photo really) |
Christmas morning, and there was still plenty to do - including watering the garden, as it was pretty dry.
Snuck a look at the boys sleeping in the tent, looked comfortable enough to me - and had an insect net.
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| Sleeping boys |
Had a very light breakfast outside - staggered, as people got up at different times
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| Staggered breakfast |
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| Justin thinking about watering |
Gavin assisted Justin in setting up the dining room, first vacuuming, and then setting up the tables.
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| Gavin vacuuming dining room |
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| setting up |
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| more setting up |
Sarah and Mum assisted me in the kitchen, as did Justin and Gavin later.; And of course I had to put the turkey in the oven around 8am
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| Sarah stirring the Chocolate Mousse |
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| me - with the beetroot cured salmon - washing off the cure |
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| Gavin looking guilty? |
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| Mum mixing the potato salad |
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| Justin and Gavin carving the salmon sides into thin slices |
Meanwhile, the girls slowly got up....
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| Girl's room - with a few boys playing a video game |
And I followed my run sheet, as I had a list of things to do on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.....
The proposed menu was as per below
For starters we had dips, nibbles, nuts, cheese & crackers etc (from Penny & Jan), plus my red dip.
This was followed by my beetroot cured salmon, smoked salmon rounds, danish pate (bought from the Danish Club in town)with remoulade (also bought from the Danish Club) and pickled cucumber (made by myself, from Ann's Mum's recipe) on pumpernickel, and my two tarts - quiche lorraine and onion tart.
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| Danish pate - the surprise hit of the spread |
These were initially arrayed on the dumb waiter for people to help themselves, but because of the throng, we put them on the table - and they were passed around. Worked out better that way.
Main course was the turkey & stuffing, roast potatoes, potato salad, asparagus, and a big delicious ham from Nin & Clare, plus a fancy coleslaw, and a yummy big green salad made by Gavin, and lots of breads from Jan & Peter. And finally dessert was pavlova (Alex had saved the day and bought a couple of shells, Chocolate Yule Log made by Ceski, and Plum Pudding with Brandy Butter from Sarah. My desserts were left in the fridge - had plenty. Didn't even get to Mum's vanilla kipferl.
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| 2016 Christmas menu |
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| Lunch #1 |
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| Lunch #2 |
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| Lunch #3 |
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| Lunch #4 |
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| Lunch #5 |
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| Lunch #6 |
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| Lunch #7 |
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| Lunch #8 |
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| Lunch #9 |
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| Post Lunch |
It was a long long lunch, punctuated by a well deserved siesta ( I think I did this on Christmas Day, but it might have been Christmas Eve) on my part.
We didn't really have dinner, it was more a continuation of lunch...
And Maile and David also dropped in and sat under the Hoop pine with us
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| Lunch Part 2 |
Nin and Clare relaxed on the veranda
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| Nin & Clare on the veranda #1 |
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| Nin & Clare on the veranda #2 |
And another movie under the stars - this time Shanghai Nights with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, an oldie but a goody.
And, the boys - Gavin/Justin/Nin/Aex made sure that there were always plenty of cold drinks on offer - buying plenty of ice each day, and filling the plastic laundry basket with the ice and drinks - lots of ciders and beers and soft drink. Not much red wine was drunk this Christmas at all - too hot for it.
Flies, lots of flies....
The nest morning there were lots of dead flies on the kitchen table. Charlie had pointed out these funny little flies on Christmas night - all around the kitchen light, and then in the morning I found them dead on the kitchen table. They weren't normal hosue flies, not little grass flies, something in between - and presumably attracted by the light. Jan & Peter, and Alex also had them upstairs
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| dead flies #1 |
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| dead flies #2 - Justin wiping them up |
Boxing Day, and a sleep in, and then a visit to the Loddon River in Bridgewater, as it was a hot day. and the pool wouldn't open til 2pm
This was the first time that we had swum there, and it was great. All of the kids went in, accompanied by a new large inflatable swan. And of the adults, myself and Clare went in. Was so nice to to get wet and cool down, as it was very muggy by this stage - and it was before lunch.
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| Loddon River #1 |
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| Loddon River #2 |
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| Loddon River #3 |
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| Loddon River #4 |
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| Loddon River #5 |
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| Loddon River #6 |
Back to the house for a late lunch of Christmas leftovers, and then some of us wanted to go on a road trip somewhere. We had thought about the Lake at Boort, but it was considered too far, so we went to Dunolly instead - with Madeleine driving my car for more practice. Was a bit rainy by this stage, as a change had come, but it was still warm.
Wandered around Dunolly for a bit, and then also stopped at Tarnagulla for a look around
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| Tarnagulla #1 |
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| Tarnagulla #2 |
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| Tarnagulla #3 |
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| Tarnagulla #4 |
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| Tarnagulla #5 |
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| Tarnagulla #6 |
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| Tarnagulla #7 |
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| Actually this is Dunolly (probably something like what we should have at our front door0 |
Justin, Gavin and Mum had stayed back at the house (as well as the boys), and Justin had been trying to call me to see if I had any ideas for dinner... However the phone reception was pretty bad in Dunolly, so I didn't get his message until Tarnagulla - and the IGA was closing in about 10 minutes... Given that we were still a lot of people (only Curtis and Jan & Peter had gone home) I suggested a spaghetti bolognaise as a good crowd pleaser.
I was also pleased to see that Gavin and Justin were already cooking it when we arrived back at the house
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| Gavin cooking up a storm |
Given that it was still wet, we didn't want to set up for another outdoor movie. After dinner some of us sat out on the veranda, which was very pleasant. And the kids tore around the garden with some glo sticks, and played murder in the dark etc. Had a fab (and noisy) time.
I was tired, so went to bed after the veranda. while most of the others went into the Music room. Justin played guitar, and Penny, Rory, and Nin sung - everyone had a great a time (so I'm told)
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| The Christmas band #1 |
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| The Christmas band #2 |
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| The Christmas band #3 |
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| The Christmas band #4 |
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| The Christmas band #5 with Glo sticks |
The day after Boxing Day....and everyone else started leaving and the house was a lot quieter. Given that it was still hot, Alex decided to go the motel for the night (he couldn't open his windows because of the bugs), and Sarah moved into the red room.
Once again we thought we might go to Boort, however, given that Sarah, Nin & Clare, and Alex, April and our kids were heading on home/to Woodend after this, it was decided that it would be a better idea to picnic somewhere on the way back to Woodend/Melbourne. Consulting the tourist guide - we decided on a place with swimming and picnic grounds - Laancoorie Reservoir.
I had made up some rolls, and we picnicked in a stone cabin - as there was a large table inside. Wasn't the most salubrious of settings
None of us swam, although there were water skiers and knee boarders on the lake.
The others left after lunch, and Justin and I returned to a very empty house - just Mum (and Basil our cat).
More leftovers for dinner, and an early night.
Justin left relatively early on the Wednesday (28th), and Mum and I pottered around some more. I did a couple of loads of washing etc. It was still very hot, so I went to the pool in the afternoon. Once again lovely to cool down, missed Helen and the kids though as they would have normally accompanied me.
I should also add that there was also an extraordinary number of hay rounds in the fields. Lots and lots of them. Had wanted to take some photos to show the vast quantities, but couldn't really stop at the best examples - so below is an example of one of the lesser fields
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| Lots of hay bales |
And lastly, Alex (and others) took lots of photos, and I have to work out how to get them via WhatsApp- so will probably post them in a separate post - as I want to get this Christmas one out
