December…

River brought her babies outside when they were 2 days old, so so adorable…

River is very proud of her little family. Rich made a great brooder pen for them, (which I will use going forward for the next batch), within the bigger pen. I have let them out with the others for periods of time and River makes sure they are learning foraging skills fast.

For Luca’s birthday we went paint balling. So much fun, if painful!! I tell you when that bullet hits, it hurts like hell!!

Ted, Mahe and Olivia came with us. About 30 turned up on the day, we knew none of the others. We were split into two teams, and set about fighting for each others base camp . Amazing how fast you make friends when others are shooting at you!!! Olivia and I were the only females on the field. Liv did great and was literally one of the last standing, her hunting skills definitely helped, (she goes pig and deer hunting with her Dad). The kids had all wanted to do it for ages ,(watched a lot of Big Bang Theory!), but Rich and I were anxious about how it would go, however once the adrenaline sets in you just go for it! Rich LOVED it!!!!! He and Luca will do it again I am sure. Everyone got hit, Ted the most unfortunate. He got hit on the finger, so painful! Don’t think he will do paintball again ,but they all enjoyed reliving the drama in the safety of home 🙂

After we went to Burger King to refuel…

Luca has been learning sewing at school and I came home from work to find him finishing off this cushion….

We started teaching Luca the concept of cooking early, and he has always enjoyed it…

School finished on the 16th of Dec, the kids were ready for the holidays, they were all so tired, it has been quite the year for everyone.

In the lead up to Christmas hanging at ours was the place to be it seemed…

The warm weather combined with some rain brought on the strawberries fast, fresh ones to pick everyday…

The rest of the garden is exploding!

The fruit trees are coming along nicely too…

Even the olive trees are showing signs of olives….

They won’t of course be ready to eat for another year or two but that these trees survived and are now flourishing is amazing. We had found these trees on the property when we arrived, still in their containers, they had obviously been in them for a long, long time. I did wonder if any would make it, they are obviously very hardy.

Then it was Christmas! I worked Xmas week, including Xmas Eve and my clinics were full up, so I had no time to do much preparation at all. The boys did the shopping and I came home to a house all prepared, including being vacuumed and floors washed! Rich and I are very happy that Luca realizes that this is part of his responsibility too, and does his bit without complaint.

Christmas Day was relaxed, fun and simple, what we always aim for 🙂 Starting out with present opening and Rich made bacon, eggs and bagels, delicious!

He also made a wonderful lamb roast with veges from our garden (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and potatoes), for supper, Rich has really nailed the roast! We went for our usual walk before hand to build up an appetite.

Luca of course had a wonderful day with all his gifts!

We did not get to bed until late on Xmas Day and this was a very fortunate thing! At 11pm we realized that half the house was without power, no water and no working fridge! We moved things about made sure things would be OK for the night. Boxing day Rich got up and began trouble shooting. Turns out it was the pump for the septic tank that was shorting out other fuses. As we are leaving for the West Coast tomorrow it will have to wait until we get back but the tank won’t be used while we are away so it should be fine until Rich can buy a new pump. So grateful, if this had happened while we were away, we would have come back to a fridge and freezer full of spoiled food! I am always in awe of Rich’s ability to fix things like this, our hero for sure!!!!! Talking of Rich , his transformation of this area really coming along beautifully, it is such a lovely place to hang out, amazing to think this entire area last year was an overgrown mess.

During this month the chicks have grown so much! While we are away they will have to stay in their pen, which they will protest about but don’t want any accidents.

I have someone coming to look after the chooks and Vida and Pica will go into a kennel, she does not enjoy it, interferes with her sleeping and general love of luxury 🙂

She always comes home exhausted and sleeps for a couple of days.

She has always believed that the bed was her right as much as anyone 🙂

We have been so lucky with the weather, the boys making the most of it for water fights!! This was at about 6pm last night!

Fingers crossed it will continue for our ride! The west coast is renown for its wet weather all year around! I did not think I would be able to post until the new year, but so much happened this month that I wanted to get it down so I did not forget any of it.

As I write this, having talked over the last couple of days with those in the northern hemisphere and hearing how challenging things are there, I am aware just how fortunate we are to be able to go away. Here is hoping 2021 sees a turnaround with COVID and the world can move past it…