And so the year ends... and a new one begins

 A cliché I know, but the years do seem to be flying past at a faster rate lately. Perhaps it's because I want to fill these days with as much adventure, fun, reading, gardening, travel and keeping in touch with friends as I can. How on earth did I manage to really live before retirement? Having said all that, it's been a quiet year, although we did get the 'adventure' and 'travel' part in when we went to New Caledonia in June.

But now, with a few days left of 2023, we're still having weird weather with the sun being extremely petulant. Lately, we've had thunderstorms, fierce winds, gloomy skies and rain. One glorious day actually happened a few days ago much to everyone's surprise and became the talk of the town with strangers at the checkout commenting on the 'lovely day', people passing me on my daily walk nodding and saying 'Lovely day', and neighbours chatting across the garden saying 'Lovely day'.You see, the sun came out and there was nary a cloud in the sky.  To make the most of it we drove to Waitpinga Beach not far from home. Here, the endless stretch of sand, sky and surf infused with the warmth of the sun was a balm to the soul. Such peace and quiet (apart from the hammering of the foamy, frothy surf) and a feeling of 'all's right with the world'. 

Christmas Eve was celebrated with a Moscow Mule, courtesy of the Chambord (raspberry) liqueur Kate gave us.

Christmas Day was full of presents, prawns and pavlova, all enjoyed with equal enthusiasm. 

One must never decide that a particular present is 'the best' but it was hard to go past the wonderful surprise of receiving the catalogue from the Clarice Beckett art exhibition of 2021. I wanted to buy it after seeing the exhibition but it was too expensive. Fast forward to Christmas Day and there it was. Steve had bought it but 'misplaced' it for a while. It is a gorgeous reminder of the beautiful paintings I saw and admired. The cover is especially appealing as it resembles one of her framed paintings. 

Here's our annual Christmas photo.

And I've popped this one in to show the lovely top Steve gave me. Sadly, our very cool weather prohibits me from wearing it at the moment. 

And so to my birthday, a wonderful day peppered with emails, texts and phone calls from friends near and far - a phone call from Sharon in Perth and FaceTime with Kate in Melbourne. Then it was off to the Forktree Brewery, a fabulous country restaurant about an hour or so north of us. The food was generous and yummy (especially the dessert of which I enthusiastically partook) washed down with a local sparkling wine. Friends Petra and Gary came with us  to make it even more enjoyable. I tried to look colourful and cheery despite the cold weather.

The last two days of the year were spent marketing - Port Elliot on Saturday and a twilight market on the Victor Harbor foreshore on Sunday. New Years Eve was spent devouring a magnificently calorific trifle, sipping French wine and watching a Doris Day movie. Long gone are the days (and I remember this one particularly well) when I crept home at 5:00 am after a night of eating, drinking and dancing with friends. I mentioned this to someone recently and then realised I was talking of a New Years Eve 55 years ago!

This morning - and it is now 2024 - I woke at sunrise and walked along the bay, meeting no-one, savouring the peace and quiet, and contemplating on what this new year holds in store for us.