Dec 25 - Christmas Finale!

  To all my friends around the globe Geseënde Kersfees, ¡Feliz Navidad!, 聖誕節快樂, Vrolijk Kerstfeest, Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Fröhliche Weihnachten, Kala Christouyenna, Buone Feste Natalizie, Gledelig Jul, Maligayang Pasko and میری کرسمس !
May your Christmas be warm and filled with the love of family and friends.

  With all the previous four Christmases under our belts, Mr Smart and I were glad to be having a quiet one on Christmas Day.  I headed over to Mr Smart's via the BWS drive-through.  Poor buggers having to work on Christmas Day so the rest of us can eat, drink and be merry.  I grabbed a couple of beers and a bottle of Bailey's then headed off.  Traffic was blessedly light and I arrived just before lunch time.
  Mr Smart outdid himself with the lunchables today.  Prawn cocktails, fresh oysters, saganaki (which I overcooked a little but it was still extremely scrumptious) and a delicious goat curry with rice and roti.  I accompanied that with a couple of glasses of Puddleduck Vineyard Verjuice from our Tassie trip.  That was the last of that bottle so I switched to sugar-free lemonade after that.

  Just before the goat curry was served, we hooked up the webcam I'd brought with me to the system in the lounge and perched it atop the Pictionary box.  We logged onto Skype and made a video call to my family in Adelaide.  Mr Smart got to 'meet' quite a few members of my extended family and it was great for me to get to see everyone on Christmas day.  Dad even carried the laptop into the kitchen so we could say hello to Mum and JoJo who were shelling piles of happy pink prawns.  We had intended to Skype with Mr Smart's sister and her family as well but by then they were eating their Christmas lunch and it just never ended up happening.

  With the goat curry, Mr Smart casually said "I suppose you could unwrap your present now".  Another present!?  I certainly wasn't expecting anything else after my fabulous kindle surprise on Saturday.  Mr Smart explained it wasn't anything big, just something he'd seen he knew I'd get a giggle out of so that I had something little to unwrap on Christmas Day.  He wasn't wrong and I'm looking forward to decorating the newest piggy bank in my vast porcine collection.
  After lunch we settled in on the couch and watched a Doctor Who Christmas Special or two from previous years.  This year's isn't due out until Boxing Day!  Who releases a Christmas Special after Christmas!? Yes he does.  Halfway through the afternoon we went and had a nap.  Oh hell yes, three cheers for the Christmas nap!  It's been so go go go of late it was really lovely to just rest in the warmth of the afternoon.
  Soon after awaking we walked down to the Masterchef's house.  They, like us, were bloated from their big Christmas lunch but still picking at all the leftovers.  If you can't overeat on Christmas then you just aren't human.  The late afternoon headed into evening and night.  We picked away at their leftovers, I had a slice of ham and turkey with some yummy pumpkin and feta salad, a slice of carrot cake (but I left most of the icing), two iced sugar-pepper cookies and a lot of fresh homegrown apricots and other fresh fruit.

  It got quite late and Mr Smart and I walked home in the dark, content with a relaxing day.  We were going to watch Frankenweenie before we went to sleep but after the first ten minutes we both realised the Sandman was on his way and resistance was futile.  Hmmm... I wonder if the Sandman is a Borg...
  Merry Christmas Everyone.
  Jess