Hot Town, Summer in the City

Not!!! LOL. Am sitting on the couch at Mum's looking out the window at the tide which is full in. The sky is grey, it is very windy and the tidy is grey/brown and choppy- not hugely inspiring. I am still in night attire with winter dressing gown on though do not need sox on feet, LOL. It's nearly midday NZ but of course only 7.45am WA time so in fact got up early this morning having been up for nearly 2 hours. Hopefully I will get the time difference sorted out by tomorrow.

Had a very nice evening yesterday (that sounds a bit irish to me but you know what I mean). I went to the annual Christmas party for the Kariaotahi District held at the old Kariaotahi School and had a great time. The school has been the community gathering space since it closed over 30 years ago and always brings back lots of memories as I went there from aged 5 for the next five years.

The place was decorated with tinsel, balloons etc with a REAL Christmas tree where the old fire place used to be. My sister Kay and I went along and arrived in time to see the local children in attendence playing some games (musical chairs etc) before the arrival of Santa. As per the last 50+ yrs, our neighbour Noel Bulte was playing his saxaphone joined by daughter (and friend) Viv on the guitar. Got caught up in a game of statues but wobbled when it was time to stand on one leg, though Kay did better than me for another couple of rounds, LOL.

The beauty of attending these gatherings is the catching up of people you have known all your life and the possibility of meeting new people to the district. I met up with a 'girl' I haven't seen for over 35yrs who has come back to Waiuku to live. She lives on her family property which can be seen from the sunroom of our old family home, so my future old age community is growing, LOL. One of her sisters has taught with Kay so the links continue. It is wonderful to see the old traditions have endured - we had to practice Jingle Bells numerous times to get it loud enough so Santa knew where to come - I can remember doing the very same at 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 yrs,LOL. Santa this year had previously introduced himself to me as growing up on my great grandfather's property that was up our road. His parents were sharemilkers and his younger brother was in the same class as me for awhile. We had Santa give out parcels in between a finger food dinner and desert and then it was time for a coffee followed by and a beer and a yarn with a mate of my brothers' . Not a bad first night home.

Called into friend Viv's for a coffee and debrief of the evening on the way home and caught up on some of the most recent family birthdays via photos on the laptop. Also saw photos of the Waiuku Christmas parade held the previous day. Mum and her Red Hat group won 2nd prize in one of the categories with their float. They have won a placing every year they have entered!!!!! Go the Red Hatters, LOL. As we drove back into town saw some of the Christmas lights - the Norfolk Pine town Christmas tree, the Fire Brigade buildings and then of course Mum and Clive's. I am not sure how much of the National grid they have tapped into but if I say you could probably read a book outside in the dark, you will get my drift. The highlight is possibly the sled with several reindeer on the front lawn this year. Clive has been decorating the house for Christmas as part of a competition for several years now and as the house is at the end of a cul de sac, the traffic is phenomenal as the season gathers momentum. The houses entered are published in the local newspaper so people can go for a drive at night and not miss anything.

Got my highest score on tetris last night and got Mum hooked into it. She beat my score that took me a week to reach from when I first started!!!!!! Obviously not as spatially challenged as I am when it comes to fitting shapes into spaces to fill all squares required!

Have just booked tickets to Wellington in Jan to catch up with No 1 son and family. As luck would have it, there was a sale on tickets when I opened my email this morning so was glad I hadn't booked earlier.

Am feeling a might peckish - will go foraging for sustenance as I can have breakfast in Oz time and lunch in NZ time heh, heh. Gotta love this festive season.