December - Rounding out the year.

The last activities for the year......which were certainly more pleasant than what happened on November 7th.!

CHRISTMAS DAY
December the 25th. was hot and steamy so a planned luncheon of cold turkey, ham and salads, finished with a traditional plum pudding, was right on the ball.

Venette was the hostess and we each brought part of the meal, so the responsibility for catering was shared amongst we five.

The afternoon kicked off at midday with drinks and nibbles and by 3:30 PM, when we were relaxing after clearing the table, an approaching storm-front, and a warning from the bureau of possible hail, brought the festivities to an end.

 

It was a lovely Christmas Day.

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AN EVENING OF CHRISTMAS CAROLS

On the 10th. of December we had a musical evening, under the "baton" of Michele (of Michele Saunders Music Studio - my teacher), with three of us on keyboards & organ and vocalist Connor Wilmore leading the singing.

It was a great night, with everyone joining in and was capped off by the service of drinks, a delicious buffet served up by Venette, Ben and Graham and a dessert of the lightest creamy sponge cakes in the world provided by Gina.

Dramas and excitement we didn't really need.

The last thing that you need to happen a month or so out from Christmas is a house fire....and that is exactly what we suffered on November 7th. - my daughter's birthdate and also the date of this year's Melbourne Cup.
So that is a date firmly embedded into our memories for evermore!

Fortunately, the fire itself - and local damage from the heat - was confined to one bedroom and the immediate external area outside the window............

However, the rest of our home was severely affected by smoke and the subsequent soot deposits, which were carried right through to the front of the building. Ceilings and upper wall areas were black.........

On the Tuesday afternoon the specialist cleaning company arrived and over the next three weeks they cleaned the soot off every surface they could see, including individual items on bench-tops, in cupboards, crockery, cutlery, food packages in the pantry, framed pictures on walls......everything was wiped down and placed back in the cleaned location then covered with plastic........

 

The job that they did was amazing, leaving painted surfaces fifty shades of grey (apparently the soot leaves a microscopic "etching" in the paint surface) but ready to be primed and painted when the restoration work takes place.

Right now our home is uninhabitable, with the living room and main bedroom looking like a furniture warehouse or ready for a garage sale!
But everything is operating....fridge, freezer, washing machine, etcetera....and the computer equipment in my study/office is fine.

All we are now doing is being patient; it is unlikely that building works will start before the Christmas holidays due to the annual summer shutdown.
We are very fortunate in that we are renting a vacant, furnished, house for sale within the resort and which is less than 100 metres from our place.
The view from the front verandah is very relaxing and with a nor-easterly breeze, most pleasant on a hot afternoon.

Panoramic view from three separate photos.

On a final note, the cause of the fire was most probably a short-circuit in either a bedside radio or the power board into which it was plugged.

Every cloud has a silver lining - we were both out of the house when the fire occurred (about 10:00 AM) and the neighbours had the fire out before the brigade arrived.

You can't ask for more than that in a situation like this.