Sunday 31 December 2023

Week 52 of 2023

 


CHRISTMAS EVE

Up at 4.50am another cool start to the day. By around 8.30am it started raining and has been raining on and off all day.

Did the grocery shopping it will be delivered Tuesday afternoon between 1 & 7pm I will ask Tasha if her, Blain or Sam can be here when it arrives and unpack the cold stuff.

A quiet day spent waiting for the computer to load and work like I wanted it to.

CHRISTMAS DAY

I have been up since 5am, sent a Christmas text to different family members, have received some replies and had to restart my frozen computer before doing anything but I cannot get my email program to open, make one want to scream.

Sent Christmas messages to my siblings, niece and Jonathon and received replies.

Had a video call from Kathy and that really made me happy seeing their lounge-room looking like mum & dad's on Christmas morning.

Jess & Sam came down and gave me and Tim a present each, a coffee cup for dad and a nice black necklace for me. The best present was although a photo of me and Sam.

Tasha cooked lunch and brought it down and we ate here all except Blain who wouldn't get out of bed. He did eventually come down for his gift which was just a $50 gift card.

All in all it was a good day.

BOXING DAY

I have been up since 5am as usual and I am drenched in sweat, while sitting here Jessica came over and dropped off a chocolate muffin for me.

The shopping should be delivered around 6.40pm.

I feel frustrated this morning with the shaking and sweating and other things not going the way I would like, aka my computer.....

Went over to Kathy's for lunch which was nice Michael made sow cooked ribs and a baked ham with spuds and carrots.

Just as we were leaving it started to hail and we had to pull over for a bit.

Came home to a hot house and Tim saying he should have turned the air con on before leaving.

Not as hot this morning, I have been up since 4.30am had a good nights sleep.

A busy morning working at the computer which took longer then is should have but I was chilled and just rolled with it. I did get things done even if it took a while.

Kathy rang as she does every Wednesday but as I had seen her only yesterday I wasn't expecting her to ring. We chatted about nothing much.

Another hot day, I turned the air con on around 11am and shut the house up to block out the heat.

Had a good night till about 3am when after getting up to pee I struggled to settle down again. Tossing and turning and after what didn't seem very long I looked at the time and found it was 4.50am so I got up.

I was in the kitchen getting breakie ready when Jess turned up looking for bread but sadly I didn't have any bread.

I decided to watch one of the many things I have recorded between 8.30am and when Tim gets up which is usually between 9.30 & 10am.

Another hot day, I am not handling the heat well it is giving me headaches and an unwell feeling.

I had a mostly good night sleep till 4am when I started to feel restless, I also started to feel like I couldn't breath and needed to take my Cpap mask off, so I ended up getting up at 4.30am.

Tim was up at 9am and of course turned what I was watching on telly off so he could watch his show.

Had to turn the air con on around 10.30,at least Tim isn't complaining about it going on, maybe he can see how bad the heat is affecting me.

Saw Kelli she came to borrow the wheelchair she was in a car accident yesterday and wrote off her father's car, she will need surgery on her right leg but not sure when. The kids were with her when the accident happened but are ok. She looked ok which lessened my concern. Her friend Jay who is down visiting drove them over to pick up the wheelchair by them I mean Kelli and her dad Rex.

Up at 4.30 again after a slightly restless night, had to get up during the night and eat some cheese & crackers as I was feeling unwell with hunger pains.

Had an early morning visit from Sue she isn't in a good place feeling she is poison and toxic and the world would be better without her, I gave her a hug well a few hugs and told her I don't like to hear her saying such things. I said a lot more to her gave her a stern talking to in fact

I am so tired I fell asleep while trying to watch TV so went and had a lay down for an hour. Did a bit of research and discovered the new medication I am on causes sleepiness and sudden onset sleep.

Friday 29 December 2023

Just some thoughts for 2024

 


Well it's Friday and it's hot again but it is Summer as my daughter reminded me.

A new year is fast approaching and what do I hope for the new year, I have been giving this some thought and what did I come up with..........

I would like to see Tim return to work, and if that's not going to happen I want to know what is going happen next. At the moment we just don't know what is going to happen, there is a meeting next Month that might give us some answers.

Both Natasha & Blain want jobs so I hope that happens for both of them. I feel that neither of them are really happy with how their life is going.

I hope that 2024 see's me still improving in regards to my health. I hope to also lose a little more weight.

I want to see Sandra move into a 4 bedroom home so she has more room.

I also want to see the differences between Kathy & Tasha can be worked out and their relationship can improve.

I am also trying to decide if I will post 6 days a week, like I have done this year or should I drop a day and post 5 days a week.

How about everyone else, do you have any idea what your hopes for 2024?



Thursday 28 December 2023

Photos of my Christmas








The photos above are of my brother's house and yes that is a photo of my brother and sister in-law















                        This next  lot are my house with decorations and presents ready to hand out.





                                                                 Christmas Day lunch










                                       Photos taken of Kathy's  house and what she had for lunch





      A few photos of me with sister Sandy, Granddaughter Sydney-May and one of one me & Sam





Wednesday 27 December 2023

My Christmas

 

Well here I am at Wednesday 27 December, Christmas is over for another year and for the most part it has been a good one. Starting on the 23rd when Tim and I went over to my brothers for the Jenkins Siblings Christmas get together as well his sisters also in attendance was long time as in childhood friends Colleen & her husband and their child, a total of 15 people which had more the feel Christmas at our parents place which was good.

Christmas Day saw Tim and I stay home and our daughter Natasha cook lunch for us as well as Jessica and Sam, the morning was wonderful with Jess and Sam here.

The yesterday Boxing Day Tim and I went over to our eldest daughter's place for lunch and to exchange gifts. We got caught in a hail storm just after we left Kathy's to come home, as like a minute after leaving we were still in her street and had to pull over due to the hail.


Now is the 27thaday spent at home seeing no one and going nowhere. I hope.


I will shar photos tomorrow after I go through what I have.

Monday 25 December 2023

Father Christmas

Here we are at Christmas Day here in Australia, and this is the last post using the book Christmas in the Colonies.


Santa Claus is a mixture of Saint Nicholas and Sante Klas and other magical gift-bringer of early folk lore. By the mid 1800's he had become an elderly figure known also as Father Christmas, with a snowy white beard and a cap wreathed in holly or mistltoe, dressed from head to foot in fur trimmed clothes.

He would either deliver presents and rewards or punishment and coal to children depending on how good or naughty they were. He could squeezed down a chimney, drove a sled led buy a team of reindeer and thanks to Clement C Moore in 1848 with the story The Night Before Christmas became so well known around the world.



By the later part of the 1800's he was firmly established as part of Christmas, his image appearing on Christmas Cards, and as illustrations in story books.

He first appeared in Australia in his tradition get up in 1864, some will say he swapped his reindeer for kangaroos but nope didn't happen. Other's believed he swapped his sed for an oxen cart laden with festive eucalypt branches and Aussie Christmas tree.





Sunday 24 December 2023

Week 51 of 2023

 


Up at 4.45am and it is much cooler then yesterday I do have both sliding doors open and there is a nice breeze.

It has reached 25 degrees and even though I am sweating I don't have the air con on .

Sam had their eye sight tested and they need glasses.

Managed to get through the day without the air con on.

A good start to the day up at 5am it isn't hot and there is a nice breeze blowing throughout the house.

Tim shut the back sliding screen door which meant I had to turn the fan on but at least not the air con.

Had a visit from Saint Vinnies with a Christmas Hamper of stuff this was a surprise, I said what we don't want or use we can pass on to someone else such as Tasha or Sandy.

Blain brought down a bag of stuff that Tasha didn't want so I could pass it on to Sandy.

My new bras came as well as the ¾ length pants, I hope they fit.

Up at 4.30am due to being hot and mostly awake, I opened the house up but by 8.30 I had shut the house up and turned the air con on. I also had developed a headache, the type that feels like it is caused by the weather.

The headache finally went away around 10am it is a pretty damn hot day, I turned the air con on early before Tim got up.

Tasha is in another mood over her rent and Blain, he doesn't want to go on Centrelink benefits but because he is able too, the Dept of Housing will charge him rent as if he is getting the money. This has pissed her off and I get it, it is wrong and I told her to explain to Blain how it is, as the guy from the Dept of Housing said it is their policy. I think if he went on Centrelink Blain would be ok with it he just thinks it is not worth it and that Centrelink messes you around

A new day up at 5.20am after a rough night, it is much cooler and it is wet outside not sure if it is raining.

I have someone coming to take my blood and the tests are fasting tests so no breakie for me till after that is done just water to drink.

The lady turned up at 8am to take my blood, this was followed by breakie.

It has rained on and off all day, Tim went into work about extra time off and came home with the thought that he may end up losing his job. I said it may happen but no point in stressing over it. It is a bridge we will cross when we arrive at it.

The cleaners didn't come which didn't surprised me.

A much cooler morning, I am wearing light weight ¾ pants as the only shorts I have left clean are the above the knee ones that ride up and annoy me, if it gets warmer I will change into them. It started raining around 10 am and looks like the rest of the day will be wet.

While trying to type up tomorrows blog post I had problems with my word software and I lost all that I had written when I went to save the post. This is always frustrating when it happens and in the end I decided to write it up tomorrow.

Another cool start to the day and I am in ¾ pants again as it is cool with the sliding doors open.

Dawson rang around 10ish asking if Tim could pick him up and to some place a street away from us as he had no way to get there.

My mouth is so sore I am having trouble eating today.

Tim went and bought the prawns and went to have the paperwork filled out about his eyesight for his drivers authority.

At around 11ish Dawson arrived here to wait for a friend to come pick him up. We told him if he wants us to drive him to his dad's tomorrow to let us know.

Saturday 23 December 2023

Christmas in the Colonies

 




Here we are at Saturday and this Saturday I have extracts from the book Christmas in the Colonies.

So identified is England with Christmas and Christmas with England that it seems as though they were made for each other. The Englishman in Australia hails its recurrence with feelings particularly his own.

It reminds him of olden times, never to be recalled and of pleasant scenes, never perhaps to be revisited and of old familiar faces that have passed away for ever, years may have rolled by but still when Christmas Day comes around the sense of separation from native soil and from friends and companions of early days, returns to the heart with scarcely diminished force.



Of Englishmen it has been truly said that dinner unlocks the heart and with equal truth the same may be said of the majority of Australians. We delight in keeping up the sacred festival of Christmas, not only in decorating houses and churches and repeating the message of peace and good will first hymned by the angelic host at Bethlehem.

We kept up the mystery of Christmas gifts as thoroughly as we sing our Christmas carols and we have transferred as a national heritage the home “bill of fare” for merry Christmas as the proper cheer for Christmas.



What though we garland our family portraits with ferns in place of laurels and replaced holly berries with scarlet geraniums, we nevertheless send our plum pudding to the table in a blaze. Even though the sun was shedding his hot rays over the parched grass or well-watered flowerbeds, instead of struggling through dense clouds to light up the snow laden landscape of Old England.

Friday 22 December 2023

Christmas Decorations

 


Well here we are at another Friday and another coldish day here in my part of the world. Today we are looking at decorating our homes and churches for Christmas.


Well way back when it was common place to decorate houses and churches with evergreens such as rosemary, bay, mistletoe, holly and ivy, you get the picture. Houses would have leafy stuff around ledges and shelves. Well that is what it was like back in the old countries.


In the colonies it was different, for starters it was hot and some of those plants were not common place, so things like gum leaf saplings, and branches of wattle. The gum leaf saplings were dragged in and spliced through verandah posts and tied along railings to decorate homes and shops.


Towards the end of the 19th century interest in decorations started to take off again influenced by the women's journals of the day with instructions on how to fashion wreathes, create bon bons , paper chains and such.


I remember making paper chains with my mum as a child when we had little money for bought decorations.



Of course the Christmas table had a vase of Christmas bush, and it was possible to buy artificial evergreens which could be threaded into chains.


Of course the Christmas Tree added the final touch, Christmas trees were an old German custom, which spread to England when Prince Albert had them in the royal palaces. Here settlers happily used almost any species including she-oaks, gum, wattles and even a small olive tree said to be the earliest recorded Christmas Tree in South Australia.



Parents would often decorate trees as a surprised for their children often with paper stars, miniature toys and other ornaments. The large trees had a lot of ornaments on them with large gifts unwrapped for all to see placed under the tree.



If the tree was a small one it would be placed on a table surrounded by unwrapped gifts, and small presents hung from their branches.

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