So the opening line of the Andy Williams song from 1963 reads, although midway through Friday I was not in agreement with Andy.
I had finished work for the year on Thursday, because I have learned from years of bad experience that the last working day before Christmas is chaotic around Auckland. I had a relatively quiet day planned, with just a few simple tasks on what turned out to be a glorious summer’s day.
Having despatched her indoors off the work (with cries of “you are so lucky” - not luck at all…I had just stored my annual leave up and had enough to take the extra day off), I started the day basing up some Franco-Prussian artillery, knowing that in the heat of the day the basing compound would dry quickly and I could finish these units off.
Next I was charged with doing a supermarket run for a few essentials (and a few treats too). I was dreading this having been caught in chaotic pre-Christmas supermarket runs before, but to my surprise the traffic was not too severe. The whole process was done and dusted within an hour and was quite pleasant (apart from the evident price gouging on popular Christmas produce like strawberries, raspberries and cherries).
For rest of the morning I was engaged in cleaning up around the outdoor dining area, nothing too heavy just sweeping the loose sand off the paving then washing off the bird mess and cleaning the BBQ. By the time that was done it was time for lunch. I had a nice fresh bread roll and planned to fill it with a bit of Brie, some bacon cooked on my clean BBQ, some pickled onions and lashing of ketchup…yum.
Now we live in a relatively quite neighbourhood, but there is this one family… Just as I started to cook the bacon the noise started - the mother yelled at one of the kids, the kid answered back, the mother yelled louder, the kid answered back again and the mother screams at him, the baby starts wailing, the shouting goes on…that’s when I thought of the Andy Williams song, especially the first line of the second verse “It’s the hap-happiest season of all”. For a few moments I thought of finding that song on YouTube and playing it at volume. But I thought no, I just shut the back door, enjoyed my lunch and let the fracas die down.
Work has finished for the year for me thankfully (it has been a very trying year) and I am not back until 4 January, although I have left myself on call since all of my staff have taken leave across the period. The plan is to do very little other than tidy a few things up around the property. Christmas Day for us will be quiet. We have the in-laws coming for lunch but the rest of the day will be ours.
So with no more ado, SEASONS GREETINGS to you all. Stay safe and warm (no problem with the latter here).
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Merry Christmas, Mark. Your holiday sounds idyllic (well, besides the neighbors). We have been plunged into brutally cold temperatures, lots of snow, and very hazardous driving conditions. Mountain passes to the west and east have been closed intermittently. I long for a warm day eating bacon straight from the BBQ.
ReplyDeleteThankfully our noisy neighbours tend to go away after Christmas so we can enjoy the peace and quiet in our back yard.
DeleteMerry Christmas, Mark. Illegimiti non carburundum, or however it goes.
ReplyDeleteThank you Joe…nothing is going to grind me down…for a while anyway.
DeleteA Merry Christmas to you and yours , Tony
ReplyDeleteThanks Tony. Same to you and yours.
DeleteMerry Xmas to you and yours too Mark. Xmas in Summer I still can't get my head around but here no chance of any snow or even frost to make it feel seasonal!
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve. Strangely although a summer Christmas is embedded with us the traditions of the cold Christmas persist, with heavy turkey dinners, ham, Christmas puddings, decorations that feature snow, etc. At least it is easier for Santa to get down the chimney because no fires are lit.
DeleteI still find it incongruous Steve, and I have been here over half my life!
DeleteBest Wishes Mark - and thanks for a year of great posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you Norm. All the best to you too.
DeleteMerry Christmas Mark. We noticed the fruit prices have doubled, and in the case of watermelon gone up five-fold from what they were last weekend. Hope you and the other half have a great day.
ReplyDeleteAnd to you and yours Lawrence. The worst example of gouging for me was the cherries at nearly $40 a Kg or $12 for a small punnet of may be 15 cherries. So are we going to see you over this side of the ditch in the New Year?
DeleteHave a good one Mark....sounds like you pre Christmas tasks weren't too onerous....I went to the super market Christmas Eve and was surprised how painless it was, although I was only buying a few items and was able to use the self checkout ....the checkouts with tellers may have been busier, I didn't notice.
ReplyDeleteThe worst - the visit by the in-laws - is over and the rest of the day is ours!
DeleteMerry Christmas Mark…
ReplyDeleteI have had a very chilled day…
My celebrations start tomorrow… when I probably get trounced on the Boxing Day game..
All the best. Aly
Thank Aly. It is chilled for us here today. I did a few tasks outside in the early morning, but it is scorching hot outside now and 26C in the house. I am spending the afternoon making models and reading and making the most of the silence!
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