Christmas in July 20 -22 July 2018

Well, this time, we actually did have Christmas in July in July (for the last few years it's been in August)

Caught the 6.30pm train to Bendigo on Friday night, and then the 8.45 coach to Inglewood, got there around 9.30, curled up in bed and watched an episode of Monarch of the Glen

Terry came and picked me up around 8.30 on Saturday morning, as we were going to be cooking for the Christmas in July feast at Arleen's place this time.

Heard a disembodied voice call out to me when I arrived. It was David with his hand stuck outside the window, feeding a baby magpie some raw oats

I went inside, and he offered me the experience also, which I took up  - curious feeling having a bird pecking gently at your palm

Below are some photos of the magpie hoping for a bit more

We were basically on peeling and chopping duty, peeling lots of potatoes, carrots, chopping herbs, garlic etc, and June and Chrissie made mini pizzas

Got the chickens ready by inserting a mixture of butter, garlic, & herbs between the skin and flesh (were spit roast later)

 And the cooked pizzas looked great

It was also lovely and warm in there, with the wood fired stove on, I had been freezing back in our house - although there was a only a light frost in the morning

I guess we finished around 11 or so, and I went back to Terry's and helped him make a Gabriel Gate recipe Christmas pudding, complete with grated apple and carrot

The plan was that Justin would come and pick me up, which he did after 1pm.  Terry then invited us to stay for lunch - which was very nice of him, especially as it was his home made lasagne which is one of my favourites

We would have left around 2 or 3, and went back to the house for a few hours.  I bought some eggs, and saw Steve and Denise, and Steve came around a bit later, dropping off a very nice poster/photo of Major General Tivey (from the 1st World War) who was the son of Joseph Tivey who built our house.  Forgot to take a photo of it, so this is a photo from the web 

Drove up to St Mary's for a 6.30 start

There were 23 of us, not the biggest, nor the smallest that we've had

Some dips, cabana, and herbed cream cheese filled celery  to nibble on - plus Damo and Nicole had made some warming mulled wine to share 

Then a hearty soup

Main course was the chicken, veg, pork etc (forgot to take a photo of this also)

And dessert was of course Terry's plum pudding with white sauce

And of course - Maile and David had made some of their Christmas egg nog

The crowd thinned out towards the end of the night

Justin kindly drove us home - as I had enjoyed the Christmas drinks

Sunday, and a long lie in, as it was warm in bed. Read the paper on the ipads, had breakfast in bed, and eventually got up after 10am - very indulgent

  

The weather was also not conducive to going outside, being grey, and drizzly at times.

It was a surprisingly sunny day in Melbourne, as Madeleine had sent me a photo - normally we have significantly sunnier/bluer days in Inglewood than Melbourne

Despite it being quite cold and a bit wet, I put my overalls on and did a bit of weeding around the veggie patch, transplanted some calendulas etc found some self seeded poppies and also sawed some more wood.

While I was out the front, some people asked if this was my house, and becauue they were so nice, I showed them around