Tennis finals

Thanks to a birthday gift from my four grown kids, I was able to take these pictures over the weekend. A weekend of tennis final matches in the Queensland International Tennis event held at Tennyson (new last year). The weather was hot but no rain, so it was perfect tennis watching weather, and the courts are under cover so we were sheltered from the sun most of the time. Matches were exciting and of a high standard.

The visitor from Gundaroo

New year brought Jim to Queensland for a quick visit and today he returned to NSW. Jim and I go back a long way, in fact we were born in the same hospital five days apart, then shared our high school years at Wagga High School. It was natural that he should include one of his oldest friends in his recent need to 'get away from it all' in a bit of R & R.

We took the City Cat ferry from Bulimba to the city (with the added excitement of my jumping ship after one ferry stop, seasick) eventally arriving at the museum, the modern and contemporary art galleries and Queens Street Mall. Yesterday we drove to the white sandy beach of the Gold Coast at Broadbeach, wandering near a rough sea and swimming in the nearby pool. Before his plane returned him to Gundaroo today, despite the sudden downpour, we enjoyed an Aussie breakfast at Wellington Point park. Look at these black clouds and listen to the easterly winds:

Christmas day

Umbrella's unfolded as we got out of the car and headed for church this morning at 8.30am. As this was such a rare occasion, it was quite fun. Rev Peter Elliott spoke about the struggle of some people being very sick this past year and how the struggle can bring them closer to God in their need for comfort. My daughter listened intently, as we all did, relating the sermon directly to the year she has had. Lincon had to work in Gladstone, unfortunately, but all the rest of the family came for the day - well, almost everyone...

Morning tea had been set up before we left for church, so we enjoyed that and began swapping gifts while we waited for my sister, Judy. The phone rang. She had just returned from the hospital and she's spending Christmas day very sick at home in Noosa. Poor Jude. I'll add some videos of the morning for her to view when she is feeling able to sit up in a not so dizzy state.

The recipes all turned out very successfully, especially the ice cream tiramisu cake. Now I will have to speed up my morning walk a bit to make up for all the food I consumed today.

Roast chicken, a turkey and leg ham, sweet potato, prawns, sorbet, triaminsu ice cream cake, plum pudding. I won't eat again for a week, I promise!

The angel at the top of the tree

The Christmas tree is getting there ...

Ho Ho Ho

Midnight strikes. The first day of December turns me into a Christmas junkie. Ecards save the environment, so if you need to send one, go to http://care2.com/ecards

My newsletter is finished and now I ask one of the boys to erect my Christmas work table in the family room. It gets covered in ribbons, paper, sticky tape, pens, cards, newsletters, gifts, etc very soon and I'm off and running towards the big day - 25 December.

I know I have survived this before, so I can do it again!

Follow your dream

Follow your dream
wherever it leads
don't be distracted
by less worthy needs...

Shelter it, nourish it,
help it to grow
Let your heart hold it down deep
where dreams go.

Follow your dream
pursue it with haste
Life is too precious,
too fleeting to waste...

Be faithful, be loyal,
then all your life through
the dreams that you follow
will keep coming true.

Written by Larry Chugges - not me. I'm hopeless at poetry. Dad's the poet in our family. He writes a poem for every grandchild's birthday and its reading forms a large part of the enjoyment and traditions of our family. Once he wrote this poem when I was wondering what we should call baby number four.

NAME CALLING

'What's in a name', old Shakespeare said.
'A rose seen in a garden bed
would smell as sweet upon your nose
if called a weed and not a rose.'

But name a child if you are able
with a careful chosen label
one it can display with pride
(Not one it wants to change and hide).

If by chance you had a girlie
You may choose to call it Shirley
Kate or Mary-Ann sounds nice
Judy, Jill or Eurydice.

A boy will need a lot of thought
perhaps you'll name him for some sport
Like Norman, Bradman or by golly
Even after our King Wally!

'What's in a name' so said the Bard.
Parents have to think quite hard.
Just put the names into a hat
pull one out ... and call him that!

He signs his work: Grannles 1990.

For son number four's 19th birthday, he wrote:

Recession Blues

The finance experts will confess
The world is in an awful mess
Recession that we can't ignore
Stock Exchanges through the floor.

We're down the drain, there is no doubt
Who can we get to help us out?
Cash is short and banks are busted
Politicians can't be trusted.

Then someone said, 'Now, here's a name
David Marley knows the game
Economics he is good at,
Formulae and stuff like that.'

He'll set us on a course that's best.
Because he passed his recent test.
At nineteen he's a finance smarty
Enough of that ... Let's have a party !!!

Grannles 13/9/09.

Music to cook by

For the longest time .... ohhh .... for the longest time....
(Billy Joel)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7G0KUSoUJc

I just finished cooking some afternoon tea for sons and girlfriends, and a few plates extra for the church morning tea tomorrow morning, as promised. A scruptious recipe if you want to try it ... 1909 original recipe which I cooked for our church centenary this weekend. Now I have to get dressed up as a 1909 lady. I hope I survive the heat, as they covered everything from top to toe with gloves, hat, long-sleeve shirt, long skirt, stockings, ahhhh.... There are 350 people booked tonight for the dinner and over 550 are expected tomorrow at the church service. People overseas in England might think we are excited over nothing much because their history is really something to brag about. Anyway, here's the recipe for the Almond tarts and I hope someone tries them singing the same song I have been singing whilst rolling out the dough this afternoon!

1.5 sheets frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed (how authentic, you say)
1.5 tblsps strawberry jam
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 tsp almond essence
1 egg
1 cup almond meal
2 tblsps plain flour
icing sugar mixture, to decorate.

1. Lightly grease a 12-hole round-based patty pan (1.5 tblsp capacity).


2. Using a 7cm round cutter, cut out 12 rounds from pastry sheets. Line holes with rounds. Spoon 1/2 tsp strawberry jam into each pastry case.


3. Place butter, sugar and essence in the small bowl of an electric mixer. (OK I cheated a little and used electricity!)


4. Beat, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, until fluffy. Add egg, almond meal and plain flour. Beat until combined.


5. Divide mixture among pastry cases over strawberry jam.


6. Cook in a moderate oven (180C) for about 30 minutes (I baked mine at 150C okay) or until tarts are golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.


7. Serve tarts warm or cold. Dust with sifted icing sugar mixture.