G'day, Lizzie. You've made it early today!
Fran, I hope difficult child copes with the change in routine at Christmas.
It's just after midday Christmas Eve here, I've cooked a pot of Greek-style octopus, I still need to make biscotti and tzaziki. We're doing kangaroo satay for dinner tonight - anything goes! I was hoping to make chocolate pots, I might need to leave them until New Year. I think we'll have enough food tomorrow. Meanwhile my niece is getting set to ice her grandmother's traditional Scottish Christmas cake, and there is the family Scottish/Irish pudding for tomorrow. I just popped in down there with the bottle of brandy.
While walking back, a neighbour of mother in law's, the wife of our artist friend (she's also an artist) gave me a lift back up the hill. I grabbed the opportunity to ask about my favourite dog in the town - their golden retriever - to find he's NOT died, he's just hiding in his kennel on the cooler days. I suspect the fluffy dog of their daughter's friend probably also has something to do with the old dog staying in his kennel.
I need to drop in on difficult child 3's godmother; we're having drinks on her balcony tonight, I promised to lend her some of my special ice cube trays. I'm running out of time here.
I'm a bit horrified by the octopus - I'd forgotten how much it stinks out the house. We need to keep someone in the house so we can keep all the doors and windows open, to let the place air. I've also got some biscuits to bake, I will be busy this afternoon.
A good thing it's a cloudy, cool day and not fit for a beach visit. Maybe tomorrow. More likely Boxing Day, we'll get to the beach. Today is the coolest day of the week, weather-wise. It's only 22 C (77 F).
We're aiming for an early dinner tonight, then drinks on the friend's balcony overlooking the bay, then once it's fully dark we'll drive around the village looking at the Christmas lights. There may be a group of carollers doing the rounds - nobody asked me this year, so it's probably nobody I especially want to sing with anyway. I think everyone's just too busy. A lot of our local traditions do change over time.
Then tomorrow morning, we go to church. The cousins go to the Catholic church, we go to our inter-denominational one on the beach where difficult child 1 was married so recently. The cousins are going to walk over to our church once their service is over, then we'll all go home together to unwrap gifts. We always wait until after church on Christmas Day, before we open gifts. We take turns and wait while each gift is unwrapped. Meanwhile we have snacks (fruit, biscuits, cheese). Lunch is always late but by then we're not so hungry anyway.
Enjoy your Christmas Eve!
Marg
Good morning everyone! 
