THE CHRISTMAS THREAD.

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Grier said:
I had a lovely Christmas day dinner at my friend's home, sister of of my old pal I was a volunteer companion to. Five other people one of which was a brilliant cook serving up a plethora of delicious Sea food dishes. Beer and white wine and two dogs, one that never stopped barking.

That was all shattered the next morning when my old and dear friend died peacefully in his sister's arms.
Inoperable throat cancer due to his life saving surgery being delayed 6 months due to an underfunding of our health system despite a $6 billion surplus for a state population of just over 2 million.
Hence I'm in mourning and may not be around for a while. I'm helping to clear out his home and busy, busy busy. So much to do and his last art work was to paint two of my garden figurines, one for me and one for his sister, my dear friend too. Keepsakes and reminders of him. His sister allowed me to take one of his paintings too.
A dear friend I loved and so incredibly intelligent and compassionate. He was the smartest student in my School year of 450 kids. I'll miss him dreadfully. We were close friends for 53 years and played Soccer together in various teams, even in State finals. He was centre forward and I was his right winger with the ability to chip the ball accurately to him to head into goals. We practised that move a lot.
Rip dear Michael.
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Sorry Terry I missed this.
So sorry your friend has passed away. May he rest in peace.
 
Jessica said:
True, but have you seen the state of our waters! 😮 Disgusting and smelly!
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That is an outrage Jessica.
Jessica said:
Much prefer to wait for Australia to send over their produce from their crystal clear waters 🦞🦀🐟
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They will be coming some time I expect Jess. We had a notion of having lobster for Chrissie dinner but the $29 cost put us off. They should sell you only the meat minus the shell as that naturally is inedible. Major rip off. So when the Aussie Lobbies and crabs arrive over there insist on buying only the meat.
 
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Ritchie said:
That is an outrage Jessica.

They will be coming some time I expect Jess. We had a notion of having lobster for Chrissie dinner but the $29 cost put us off. They should sell you only the meat minus the shell as that naturally is inedible. Major rip off. So when the Aussie Lobbies and crabs arrive over there insist on buying only the meat.
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Good advice, thanks Ritchie 👍
Our fishmongers usually oblige when asked to take out the bones from fish so if I buy an Aussie lobster I'll ask them to remove the shell.
 
Jessica said:
Good advice, thanks Ritchie 👍
Our fishmongers usually oblige when asked to take out the bones from fish so if I buy an Aussie lobster I'll ask them to remove the shell.
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Jess the body does hold some meat as do the claws but it is the tail that holds the majority meat.
 
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looker-on said:
I know mate. Will do asap, promised, but I've been terribly busy. That's why.
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I'm rushing in to wish you all a healthy, peaceful, and happy new year, my dear friends near and far.🎉🙋‍♂️

As promised, my update on Christmas. It was nearly as nice as the previous one with the exception that my younger daughter did not introduce her new partner to us as we were hoping but was spending Christmas Eve and the next day at the place of his parents. We only learnt of it on Christmas Day. She hasn't seen us since either. Things got pretty hectic when the car of my elder daughter's partner broke down for good after 20 years of service just when they were about to drive off to see us. So I had to go and fetch them. The following days were spent searching for a new car for them. They'd never bought one and didn't know the first thing about the car market. We ended up signing the contract the day before yesterday and I footed the bill.

I'm so sorry to hear about Terry's loss.😟
 
Hi guys and gal, I enjoyed looking at our contributions here. It's a year ago now.
Jessica 🤗 said:
Wishing you all health and happiness for 2024! 🎉🎉🎉
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This is what J Jessica. wished us all a year ago. At that time we were filled with hope but didn't know what was gonna happen. Yet we do now.
1) Let me ask you then: Has it been a healthy and happy year for each of you? What were the ups and downs?

2) What we didn't cover was
  • What time Christmas trees are traditionally set up and how long do you have them?
  • Did have natural or artificial ones?
  • How much are they this year?
  • Are there favourite trees like the Nordmann tree we have?
  • Where do you get them from?
  • Are they imported by the million?
 
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Christmas for me is mostly hunting down presents for my two grandchildren whose numbers hopefully will be doubled by the following Xmas in 2025.

I've had a torrid year in 2024 burying two old mates so I'm taking it easy, not even sending out Xmas cards but a generic e-mail. No decorations, no home cooked chook, no ham, no nothing bar a Christmas dinner at my dear old deceased friend's sister.

The best thing about 2024 for me was buying a beautiful motorbike, the nicest I've ever owned. 😊

The worst thing globally was seeing TRump not getting rejected.
 
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looker-on said:
Let me ask you then: Has it been a healthy and happy year for each of you? What were the ups and downs?
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How about you Thomas?

Knowing my brother had licked the big C made it a special year for me. The downside was him moving several hundred kms north of Sydney to retire, meaning I'd see him far less.

I have always nurtured a Christmas spirit but lost much of it in recent years as my wife has never had one and never helped with the tree or decorations. So I just stopped bothering. I started our Christmas thread to recapture my lost Chrissie spirit. ☺️
 
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My year has been a bit rubbish really. My mum had a fall and was hospitalised, then she had covid and was hospitalised again. Then I started having trouble with my wisdom tooth, and I'm still waiting for an NHS appointment to have it removed 🤦
I've lost an uncle and a cousin in the space of a few weeks. So I'll be glad to see the back of this year! :thumbsu:
 
Jessica 🤗 said:
My year has been a bit rubbish really. My mum had a fall and was hospitalised, then she had covid and was hospitalised again. Then I started having trouble with my wisdom tooth, and I'm still waiting for an NHS appointment to have it removed 🤦
I've lost an uncle and a cousin in the space of a few weeks. So I'll be glad to see the back of this year! :thumbsu:
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You've had a hard year Jessica. May 2025 be a much better one.🤗
 
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