Holidays at last

Its the first morning of my Christmas holidays and the grumbles of life at work are already fading.......today perhaps being washed away by the steady rain.  Remind me again...this IS Melbourne, and it IS summer...isn't it?  Someone last week pointed out that, based on some research into meteorological records of Wangaratta (or was it Warrnambool?), we should expect alternating decades of drought and rain, so I'm giving up complaining right now.  All I need to do is keep an umbrella by each door, a shower proof coat in the car, and my sense of humour intact.  It was Billy Connelly who said that there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes, and I'm living by that if I can.  Pragmatics over pique.

There is still a week 'til Christmas, and while most of my shopping is done, there are presents to wrap and cooking to start.  I'm looking forward to the freedom of baking at any time of the day, dusting the benches with flour and probably crunching almonds or something equally slippery under my feet.  The old cat will be sitting patiently on the chair with the best view of the kitchen, waiting to see if I leave the room and forget something tasty is still sitting on the bench; the younger cat will be patrolling the doorway and occasionally complaining that I dont sit down often enough.  In other parts of the house a pile of books grows every week (after my conversations with Martin at South Melbourne market's book shop) and the work bench in my busy room is stacked with presents to finish.  

Best go and make a start..........