A QUICK RUN THROUGH OF OUR AUSTRALIAN CHRISTMASES 2004-2011.

A BRIEF RUNTHROUGH OF OUR CHRISTMASES IN MY FAMILY SINCE DIGITAL CAMERAS CAME INTO MY POSSESSION.	How do you spend your Christmastime ?
2004: The setting was KINGSCLIFF  Marine Parade, Kingscliff at the home of my son and his family.  It was a blended family Xmas. Me. My ex husband. our daughter and son. Their partners. The ex-husband’s two sons and my son’s 2 daughters. People slept on floors and in corners and   Xmas lunch was in the park opposite with beach swimming and seafood and various games.
2005: The setting was again Kingscliff. This time there was only a handful of us.  The ones who lived up there on the NSW/ QLD border. It was hot again and the tree was up. Gifts galore but a little short on family. We paid a visit to the FINGAL HEAD LIGHTHOUSE and Dreamtime Beach while out at my cottage in Bilambil the tree snake was “ just passing through “.
2006: ARMIDALE. My son moved with his girls to the highest city in Australia during the course of 2006. Armidale. It left me alone on the Tweed River, doing trips down South to the son in the Mountains and the daughter in Sydney. For Xmas of 2006, I took the coach from Tweed Heads to Casino, the train from Casino to Grafton followed by the Coach up the mountain to Glenn Innes.  Then the Kids drive 100kms to fetch me. December 2006, a hail storm hit as we were driving back to Armidale. It ended up being called a natural disaster and gave us a white Xmas combined with the Heat which came the next day. One weird Xmas with all the family gathered again.
2007 : ARMIDALE AGAIN By 2007, I was familiar with the beautiful old house in Canambe Street and very much at home there. The girls had a backyard and the same the was up and decorated. The Kingscliff tree. The new element in 2007 was Izzy. That probably gave them all a wee surprise. I ‘m not sure that Nanas are expected to have Izzys. It meant some mighty good presents and some music.
2008 : TWEED HEADS Stayed put in Bilambil for 2008 with the daughter’s 30th to come, down South on Boxing Day. It looked like being quiet as but just before lunch my friend Lorraine asked whether we would like to come to her place for Xmas dinner and so we did.
2009 : NORTH BELLINGEN I am NOT a good celebrator.I find something rather odd in all of it. Odd but precious. In 2009,my daughter was about to give birth to her first child. The complete House of Capricorn. Her man  was born Xmas Day. She was born Boxing Day and Baby was yet to come. We spent the afternoon in the Promised Land at the swimming hole and stayed overnight in a pop top camper at repton. The things you do for love.
2010 : BELLINGEN The Baby’s first Xmas and the WHOLE family gathered. We snaffled a Xmas Tree dodgily from down the road and freaked out the 7 year old. It had been raining a lot and the paddocks were filling with water and all plans of camping out in the yard were put aside. But somehows we got to the beach in the afternoon. Xmas – for US.