Christmas 2020 Edition
Pre-pandemic I wasn't planning to spend Christmas in Australia, but apparently it's tradition that I spend Christmas in Australia every 2 years. It also seems to have become a tradition for me to put up this tiny tree on Christmas Eve while I watch Carols by Candlelight on Channel 9.
I don't normally put on a festive outfit, but I felt like I needed a little extra cheer.
Since I was wearing a special outfit I convinced Mum to don a special outfit. She did not disappoint.
Although she was missing a Christmas accessory around her eyes, so I lent her my glasses.
Our outfits for the next day were a little more subdued.
I wouldn't normally wear a sparkly dress to lunch, but hey, it was Christmas and it was 2020.
Mum, Eric and I headed to Grandpa's place.
It was our Christmas Day, but it was Christmas Eve at night for Alicia, Carlos and Adelyn.
Addy taste tested the Christmas decorations. The plastic snowflake didn't rate too highly.
The candy cane got a more favourable review.
I was excited to see her dressed in the elf outfit I bought her. It was convenient that she’d recently learnt how to twirl.
Last Christmas I bought her an outfit too.
We farewelled the Bravos after Addy opened her presents from us. Her gift included a gardening set. She was very fond of the rake, and has been seen carrying it around on occasion. Not long after Christmas a wheel barrow arrived, which she proudly wheeled around, but promptly removed anything that her mum put in there.
Mum, Eric, Grandpa and I ate lunch at the Castle Hill Tavern.
Normally they host a buffet, but due to COVID restrictions we ate a sit down meal where platters, and dishes were brought to each table.
I don't think anyone finished all the food that was brought to them.
Sure, the food was great, but the highlight was the incredible gifts we received in our Christmas crackers. Mum was able to pin back her fringe.
Eric was gifted a tiny dog.
Grandpa received a star to which he said, "I got a star because I'm a star."
And I got this bright green paper clip which I used to hold the single page menu together.
I perused the menu and saw the dessert options were going to be given out as alternative dishes. I then saw that children under 12 would receive an ice-cream sundae with festive fairy floss.
I was a little disappointed to see it was just vanilla ice-cream with sprinkles, but it was still delicious.
Here's what the grown up desserts looked like.
Each table also received a tower of tiny desserts.
Santa stopped by towards the end.
Somehow we were the last table to leave. On the way out I asked if I could take a photo of their Christmas decorations.
One of the waitstaff asked if I wanted to have my photo taken. Of course, I won't say no to a photo for the blog. He took about 10 photos, but I selected this one as the winner.
The next day I celebrated Boxing Day by video calling Kyra's family (who became one of my adopted American families when I lived in the US in 2015). I even put on a delightful Christmas hat for the occasion. I feared it might be a little over the top, but Elyse (Kyra's niece) told me she liked me hat. She also asked if my place was decorated for Christmas. Unfortunately, I had to reveal all I had was a tiny tree.
Henry joined in the fun too.
It wasn't long before Elyse discovered the filters.
Kyra was kind enough to send a box filled with presents from her and her family. There were so many lovely, thoughtful things in there, including these stickers, which have given my laptop a colourful upgrade.
Christmas weekend continued the next day with a fancy afternoon tea. Here's a little background story... One day Mum and I were on the Marley Spoon website selecting meals, which I always make because my mum hates cooking with a passion. As we kept scrolling she saw a dish that she wanted to make. What? Really? Yes. Really.
But what was the dish?
Cheese and crackers. Maggie Beer cheese and crackers to be more specific.
Yep, Mum was excited about putting together some cheese and crackers. We decided we would get them for Christmas and she would be responsible for plating them. Then of course I decided it would be an event.
I found a Christmas dish for Eric to put chocolates (that were given to us by Grandpa) in.
I provided some festive tunes. Marley Spoon provided the yellow and white tea towel.
While sitting at the prestigious event I realised nobody had been assigned to provide drinks. I normally pride myself on being organised, so this was unfortunate oversight. Mum grabbed our bottles of water, which we then cheers-ed. We also took a video of ourselves cheers-ing with the bottles, and said, "To Adelyn," because she always likes to cheers with us. Was it a bit weird? Yes. Did Adelyn like the video and want to keep watching it? Also, yes.
That brings us to the end of the Christmas 2020 edition of the blog. Up next is “Bye 2020!”
Castle Hill Tavern
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