Advertisement
Published: January 2nd 2008
Christmas View
First time we have ever had weather like this on Christmas Day!Christmas morning after breakfast we opened some gifts from various Santas around the world, including Charlotte and Duane. Thank you to everyone who sent little envelopes with us! Charlotte and Duane planned an awesome dinner so we made and enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, a salad, buns, and stuffing. The meal was the closest semblance of a North American tradition as Christmas is not celebrated with as much extravagance here. Christmas marks the beginning of New Zealand's summer holidays and many of the "white Christmas" traditions do not have meaning; people do not seem as consumed with singing carols or decorating. They appear quite laid back about the whole season.
As some of our gifts were games, we are sure to continue enjoying a few rousing games of Tacklebox and Zigity during our time here. Santa brought a lighting storm for Kirby. We also had some cake and a birthday celebration for Charlotte. Boxing day we stayed in, played some games, started picking at the gingerbread house Charlotte and Duane had made, also made some calls home. However, the main goal was to relax, which we are happy to report we accomplished.
The house Charlotte and Duane are
Christmas morning
Slinky and Kirby enjoying the festivities. taking care of is 13km SE of Dunedin and nicely situated on a hill overlooking Company Bay on the Otago Peninsula. The yard is full of plants, flowers, a garden, and a fish pond. They are caring for Nigel the Rooster, Esme and Pearl (hens) and four chicks, two cats named Slinky Melinky and Toby, and some fish. The rooster and hen seem to be into glam-indie rock with spiky punk hair-do's; they are fun to watch. We are enjoying the cats (not something Beta and Sigma need to know). Slinky is affectionate and mostly stays indoors; Toby is a bit cross-eyed and dropped a live bird into Charlotte's purse the other day...maybe as a birthday gift?
We ventured in to downtown Dunedin on Thursday; it is a beautiful city with old buildings and is built around an octagon. We went to the library for some new movies and CD's, Charlotte exchanged some clothes, and we got some groceries. We stayed around the house on Friday did laundry, read books, played some frisbee, and watched a movie.
It has been fairly cool and rainy the last few days, there are sunny times when it gets really hot but
The Season of Pawing
Slinky giving Christina a paw with getting a present open. we have been making use of our pants and sweaters in the morning and evenings. We are often watching for rain when we hang our laundry to dry. Most people in New Zealand line dry their clothes, and many have chickens in their yard. We both agree that we would not have a rooster in our back yard...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.172s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 13; qc: 68; dbt: 0.1452s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Maureen
non-member comment
Dreaming of a White Christmas?
I'd say, "missing you, wish you were here", but that would be a great untruth. What I will say is, "missing you, wish I was There!" Is it just me, or do the cats have longish faces...could be the camera angle, or a breed? The chickens are great! As for the video - kept thinking C was driving, but K was holding the wheel :) Looks like you've adapted well; just zooming along there - what a luscious green view! A great blog - keep them coming!