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December 2006

1st December

28th December

I’ve been home for 10 weeks now. In some ways it seems like a very long time, in others just moments. Working through the pile of mail that was waiting for me took awhile – and I’m still trying to deal with some of it – and more keeps coming so it seems sometimes that it will never end, but it must.

Part of me was left behind in Italy, I think, because I am not as organised as I know I used to be. Or perhaps I am still in holiday mode. I tried to hard boil some eggs and managed to boil the saucepan dry. At least, this time, I knew enough not to put the pan under cold water. I did that once and ended up with egg all over the place, not just on my face!

In the lead-up to the Christmas/New Year break, I had attended many (too many) lunches, dinners and one breakfast. Belonging to so many different groups is a blessing (at least I get the chance to socialise a bit) but a curse too, because I have gained back some of the kgs I lost while I was away. My good intentions, to walk every day, have gone where all good intentions go, although I’m not exactly sure where that is. First it was too hot and dry to walk anywhere, and the flies were a pest, and now it is too wet!

Speaking of the weather, when I arrived back home it was to dry, burnt grass, where puffs of dust rose up around my feet as I walked over my property. Cracks have appeared in the ground, and the creek now consists of a series of mud holes. My dam was dry and cracked, and many of the plants in my garden had finally given up the struggle for life. It was so sad, especially after seeing the lush green of Italy and the UK.

Since then, we have had 3 periods of rain. The first two were heavy downpours that included hail, and they did more damage than good. Yes, they did put some water in my badly depleted water tanks, but the rain came down too fast to help the thirsty land – the water just ran away. But just after Christmas Day we received some good soaking rain. It has lasted for 3 days. With it came some very unusually cold weather – the coldest temperatures on record for this time of the year we’re told. It even snowed on the mountains near Melbourne. Unheard of in summer!

Apart from playing catch-up with my mail and other things here, I have been getting some writing done. I have ideas for two books that I am sketching out. I am also blogging now, and you can read my work at www.blogfeast.net/blog/TeeBug.

I’m also continuing with my studies of the Italian language, and my conversations with my two dear friends, Erika and Marco, who live in Bologna. Skype enables us to speak for 2 hours or more at a time, for nil cost. Such a wonderful invention. In February, I am also hoping to begin an Italian language and conversation class at the Dante Aligheri School in Brisbane.

The 2,000 odd photos I bought back with me from my travels also need attention. Thankfully they are all digital. I have used them in a slide show, but am keen to arrange them into a coffee table book, which I shall have published. There is a wonderful computer program – Momento – that allows one to do this. (www.momento.com.au) I’ll let you know how it goes.

I bought myself a car when I got back, my other having been sold before I left. Partly because I spent over my budget while I was away, and partly because I don’t want to eat into my super funds, I bought a second-hand car this time. Apart from my first car, and one other, I’ve only ever had new cars so this is a change for me. It’s a little Daihatsu Charade, an automatic, and it’s 14 years old. It goes well, but it has an oil leak that the mechanics can’t see to trace. My son-in-law, Dave, knows a bit about cars so he’s promised that he will look at it for me when he and Michelle come down to see us on New Year’s Eve. That will be their first wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe that it has been a full year since my family were here for our reunion, and for the wedding.

That folks, as they say, is it, my year as it was. Now that a new year is approaching it’s time to assess the old and make some decisions about the new. I don’t make New Year resolutions but I do try to set some goals for the coming year. While I aim for bigger and better at all times, it’s hard to know what I can do to top 2006. It has been, for me, a wonderful year.

That’s my wish for you all, a wonderful, safe, happy and prosperous New Year.

See you in 2007.



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