Australia
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The word for the day is “chauffeur”. AD
has fallen in love with Paul’s (Michaels dad) golf cart. He
has turned into the chauffer by driving everyone around the
cottages 16 acres, either sight seeing or down to the beach.
It’s great terrain for a ride with slopping hills and tree
lined paths. He is also in charge of garbage transport to the
entrance of the property. He spent over an hour today
scrubbing and cleaning it.
TD and I spent the morning sweeping the outside porches and cleaning lawn furniture. Then he relaxed while the rest of us went into town for supplies. Michael bought a tube for the boat at AD’s recommendation. His new air compressor worked like a charm and blew the tube up in nothing flat. We were joined at lunch time by another couple Linda and Michael who have come up for the New Years celebration. We have found an abundance of Andrews and Michaels since arriving in Australia. Those must be he two top boy names, although our newest Michael is from Italy. We were just discussing his Romanesque features and teasing him about being so sexy!
After lunch Michael Inman and I went for a
nap while the others went swimming in the neighbors pond. It
was marvelous! Then we went down to the lake for some tubing
and a swim. AD set up a video while we drank wine and prepared
dinner. We had crab and duck sausages, and lamb chops cooked
on the Barbie. Crab sausages are delicious as was the rest of
the meal. We ended the night with a bottle of dessert
champagne and Linda’s fig and raspberry cake. A yummy end to a
wonderful day.
Finished another book, Sons of Fortune by Jeffrey Archer this morning while waiting for others to awaken. The house has a covered patio across the lakeside. It’s perfect protection from the hot morning sun. Skiers are out on the lake around 6:30 just like at home. Australian birds are so loud in the morning. I don’t know why no one else seems to hear them.
AD & AKC (Andrew Carnegi) left to go horse
back riding before 9. It’s nice of AKC to take him. They went
on a 2 hour trek into some of the foothills of the Snowy
Mountains. We stayed back at the house and relaxed. The
neighbors, Lee and Anthony, are having us for New Years Eve
tonight. It seems strange to not have to be involved in food
prep or cleaning. Michael has marinated lamb and pork roasts
to grill and Linda is fixing a salad. The party starts at 7.
We all drove to Goffs Bay to meet the horse riders. MI & AKC know some artists there and want to commission a painting. The boys looked pretty tired when we connected at the general store. AD’s mouth was covered with chocolate ice cream residue. After a visit at the art studio, we headed off to Mansfield for some shopping, leaving the buyers to their task. Mansfield was still busy with holiday shoppers. The IGA shelves were stripped bear of popular items. I was buying supplies for “Aunt Josie’s Chocolate Chip Cookies”. MI had requested that I make them.
It was late to eat lunch when we returned. AD rested on the sofa for most of the afternoon. We went down and swam in the lake for a while. It had been 37C (98F) or higher most of the day. Fortunately a nice breeze moved the air. The grilling meat smelt delicious. We drove to the neighbors in 2 cars so I could take AD home early. Driving sounds strange but the houses are quite a distance apart and the terrain is uphill and too dark to be walking at night since there is no moon. (I’m going to let DW describe the party)
The word for the night is “PARTY”! The
evening began sitting on a lovely porch overlooking the lake
drinking watermelon daiquiris. Jane, Linda and Anthony passed
hors d’oeuvre trays with oysters on the half shell, smoked
trout dip and watermelon cubes topped with goat cheese and
mint. We then switched to wine to drink and sat down at the
table for yabbies (small crayfish) with remolaude sauce.
Shelling these delicious morsels did a real number on my
perfect fingernails, which were polished in a tangerine color.
Oh well no one noticed.
Dinner was then served and consisted of roast lamb, roast pork, turkey breast and a standing rib roast all cooked to perfection on the grill. An array of salads completed the meal which of course was accompanied by more wine. For dessert we had coffee and a raspberry cheesecake made on top of a oatmeal cookie with a sliver of ginger inside. It was fabulous!
Shortly after dinner it was time for AD
and TD to hit the road (drive next door) as it was nearly
11:00 and the party was starting to heat up. AD wanted me home
by 12:01 and I felt like Cinderella. Dance music began to
pound from the stereo speakers and everyone got up strut their
stuff around the make shift dance floor. Soon Christmas tree
decorations became dance props and a third, Andrew (better
known as Coque) had us all in a very festive spirit. Champagne
glasses were consistently kept filled to quench our thirst and
the dancing and celebrating continued well past the midnight
hour and saw me getting into bed at 3 am.
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