A memorable Xmas

26.12.2011

We did it! Our usual Xmas eve meal took place the in our new house. It was a perfect evening. The day had been hot but we kept the double glazed sliding doors shut and the house stayed lovely and cool. Bo brought over a seafood feast with crayfish, oysters and fantastic scallops. I cooked a turkey and everyone contributed to deserts and side dishes. Even the salad

Bo brought over was a good enough meal by its self!
It had taken a super human effort to get to this stage. Richard had worked flat out to complete the rendering in the kitchen working late into the last evening. Edd and I put the first layer of paint onto the ceiling in the kitchen and then Josh helped us transport chairs, tables, rugs a bed and pot plants so we could make the place like a home.

We even got down the Xmas tree and decorated it with new bobbles that were the right colour. We covered three Bunning’s tables with a long cloth of Xmas design and dressed the table with green candles and table napkins. We were stuck with plastic glasses and chairs but at least everything matched. Edd strung up a rope of coloured lights and everything looked fantastic.

We catered for 18 people but at the last minute Simon felt too ill to come. Peter and Thea brought over Peter’s mother and their daughter so we had several generations represented which was what we wanted.

When everyone had stuffed themselves with too much food and the younger generations had got rid of excess energy swimming in the dam we settled down to produce music. Al had his ukulele and Pia, Bo, India and the rest passed round guitars. Bo sang a love song she had written for Simon that reduced Wayne to tears and sounded as if a visiting angel had joined us.

Everyone agreed that the house was just what we wanted and ideal for our way of life. All together it was just right as a start for life in our new home.

Xmas day was on a different wavelength and demonstrated all the faults in our present accommodation. The day started off stinking hot and the water in the tank rang out. There was also a power cut but just after we had finally got onto the power company to report a problem the power came back on so we had to go through the whole report process again to cancel our first communication.

By this time Bo had phoned us and was taking Simon back to hospital because he was so bad. Edd shot off into Yarra Glen to mind her kids and I tackled the milking and other farm work before starting the cleaning up process. Bo asked us if we would take the kids over to Warby for their Xmas meal so

There was a delay getting back to the farm because three fire engines were dealing with a fire on the embankment half way down the road. The fire was caused by a problem at and electricity pole so when we got home there was no power again. This is a disaster in the donga, as it means no toilet, water, lights or anything else.

It was getting late, and it was far to hot in the donga, so I decided that a good approach would be to do the milking early on the theory that if you have to milk by hand it is easier not to do it in the dark. I had just set everything up when the thunder storm that had been rolling around all day moved up a gear and sent down a massive burst of hail stones.
Some of the stones were an inch in diameter and not the sort of thing that allowed anyone to go anywhere. I did not know it but other places were much worse off. Al and Pia both got their cars pelted with golf ball sized missiles at Yarra Glen and

Bo, who was driving a heavily drugged Simon back from, hospital had to take their van right into their brewery. She reckoned that the stones were lemon sized down there. I am not sure this is an exaggeration either, people in the city found some cricket ball sized!

Amazingly, just as the hailstones stopped the power came back on so I rapidly milked the goats and fed animals. Then the heavens opened and torrential rain drowned everything. Water was going into the tank so fast that it was leaping back out over the edge like the Niagara Falls. The gutter on the shed failed to cope and spewed a curtain of water down just by the entrance of the donga so that there was no choice but to get soaked when we tried to get in.

The thunder was still crashing away and Flynn abandoned his guard dog duties and hid trembling in the shower. We are rather dependent on Flynn to let us know if anyone is around but on a night like this it did not seem a problem. There was still no running water so I came to the conclusion that an early night was called for. The toilet on the veranda had the floor flooded and it could not be flushed, but it was too wet to worry about this and I ducked in there and left the door open so I could see where not to stand. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a large man loomed up out of the dark right in front of me.
He had been dining down the road with friends and turned up towards Craig instead of back towards Yarra Glen when he left.

Apart from the fact the road was just about washed away the creek up in the bush was flooded and he had got his gar bogged there. Edd has to turn out again in the storm with the tractor and struggle for ages to get him out! He could not even have a shower when he got in all muddy. I did not offer to help. I had had enough of Xmas day by that time!