Sunday, January 08, 2012

Two Weeks

Well hello there! Happy New Year. Hope you all had a dandy Christmas and are now working off the podgefest with a few ab crunches and a detox diet.  Today's the last day of 2 weeks leave imposed by a compulsory closure at work so here's a brief introspective:

Last day at the Quarry near Goulburn, NSW and we put on a barbecue for the Civil Contract boys. I was having dinner with a few that evening and telling a lovely man sitting next to me how much I liked a  photo of three filthy plant mechanics sitting on a rock....turned out to be the guy in the middle!

Men can barbecue apparently. However Engineers seem to have some trouble.
Steak came only one way.....incinerated!



Christmas with the Taylor/Bainbridge Clan.



Yeah we're a little 'touched'. The theme "Superheroes" was taken to the extreme with: Toxic Tinsel, Supa Santa, Bendy Elf, Rudolf the Nuclear Reindeer: Jungle Girl; Beer Man; and Hit Woman

Of course we had to Skype Clare Bear in the second half of her 4 month "What Country is That" trip. After 8 weeks in South America (Equador, Galapagos, Columbia, Argentina), then to London, Scotland, Newcastle, Manchester, Madrid, Granada, Seville, Barcelona and on to Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich....next? Not sure but can't wait for her to head home in Feb.




Lithuanian Christmas with the In-Laws.  They're awesomely hospitable and lovely people. I'm very lucky to have them in my life and they take Christmas VERY seriously. Their house is like the Rothenburg Christmas Shop and seriously, I can't do it justice but promised Siobhan some pics.




Their family room....there's more, so much more...



 I could do an entire post in this alone!


 Well done Dalia...21 people for lunch and it was fantastic. I resisted Vic's shots and managed not to fall over by the end of the night.



Great people, interesting food and a pile of hay beneath each plate. Apparently the man I'm going to fall in love with will be tall, thin and have a leaf growing out of his ear.



The Bainbridge in-laws' Christmas, low key but great people. Awesome fun. Congrats to my Nephew Jack who did really well in his HSC (our final school exam). 


And a great day for my MIL who had major heart surgery, not without its complications early this year, a wonderful opportunity to celebrate. Although I question the synchronised dropping of ice into your Champagne - a travesty I tell you!


The second week slightly marred when I went to fill the horses' water trough and tripped in a bloody rabbit hole. Instead of finding wonderland, I sustained a nice sprained ankle that saw me 'feet up' for three days watching porn for women.


Poor thing's insomnia works to my advantage! Thanks lovely boy,  for keeping me company while I've been off my feet


Lovely Merry Widow's daughter returned from London for five weeks to attend a friend's Wedding. The time went all too fast and culminated in a pool party of sorts on one of the few fabulous days we've had this December.





The ankle recovered enough to be strapped more tightly than a US air drop and, sustained me through the opening night of the Sydney Festival which commenced on the 7th January and runs for 2 weeks so hopefully, there will be more photos of goings on. We figure over 100,000 turned up for the free Concert in the Domain.



St Mary's Cathedral wore Zebra Stripes



Dancing in the streets to the Trocadero in Martin Place.


Well that's about it...Happy new year, may it hold all you wish for. Back to work on Monday.


Time to clean the lens, recharge the batteries and photograph 2012.


The end

19 comments:

Brian Miller said...

ugh on the ankle hope you are all better...and you crack me up with the superhero christmas

Roy said...

Except for the ankle, you seem to have had a great little vacation. Thanks for taking us along!

Elisabeth said...

Ankle all healed? Good for you and what a Christmas.

RLM Cooper said...

Great post. Take care of yourself! No crunches goin' on here, I can tell ya. Lazy, I be. :)

Kathy G said...

Always interesting to see Southern Hemisphere Christmas pictures. Instead of our winter gloom, you have blooming plants and pool parties! Thanks for sharing.

River said...

Ab crunches and detox programs??
Not here, never have, never will.
I like your Christmas tree and I see little clip on birds on the Lithuanian tree. That brings back memories, my mum had birds that she'd brought with her from Germany, most of hers were blue and silver. The Lithuanian house certainly is VERY Christmassy!
I hope the ankle is much better, I injured my right forefinger earlier today, had an encounter with a door handle....
Keep well in 2012.

Mim said...

Seems to me you have a lot going on - so many people and dinners and decorations ( love the in laws house).

I'm wondering about the porn for women. More details please unless its soap opera and home shopping - yuck

Lovely happy new year to you Hels. You look lovely

Carolina said...

Man! That superhero Christmas is hilarious! What are the special powers of Beer Man (nice uncomfortable costume by the way)? Rudolf the Nuclear Reindeer obviously glows in the dark. That one was easy ;-)


Party on!

Ouch about the ankle.

hokgardner said...

Looks like a lovely two weeks - food, family, fun.

Janice said...

You know how to have a good time! What a fun bunch of pictures! Happy New Year to you, too!

Kath Lockett said...

No detoxing for me - too much good cheese, wine and chocolate in a winter climate to resist!

Love the engineer photos - it looks very Australian from this side of the world. I hope to do a bit of photographing 2012 too. K xo

PattiKen said...

I love this. So much fun. That's what Christmas is all about.

Well, all except for the ankle-rabbit hole encounter...

Jay said...

Happy New Year!!

"Apparently the man I'm going to fall in love with will be tall, thin and have a leaf growing out of his ear."

Okay, you're going to HAVE to explain that one! LOL!

Looks like a fun time was had by all, except for the rabbit hole incident - sorry you hurt yourself. I know all too well what sprained ankles are like - the air usually turns blue for half a mile around me when I do mine!

e said...

Loved all the superheroes,,,your family certainly knows how to have good times...I hope the ankle will be okay and a wonderful new year to you!

Jill from Killeny Glen said...

Well if I don't feel like I have been to a fabulous party after reading this lively post! What fun...well...minus the ankle bit of course!

Happy New Year!

kj said...

hells, i love those pink comfy shoes.

your family celebrates like nobody's business. i think your adam is going to be a master party contributor for his whole life.

i am always happy when you post. so many happy faces in this one.

my word verf is wingerl. that's a good approach for the new year, don't you think?

see you soon, loosely defined.

love love
kj

Anonymous said...

Great post Helen! Loved it! Sorry about your ankle though - damn rabbits - thank god it was a rabbit hole and not a wombat eh?

Vagabonde said...

I see that my comments were lost and did not show on your last post. I was also wishing you a happy new 2012 so I’ll stop now in case the comment is eaten up again.

laughingwolf said...

welcoming the year of the dragon... not YOU... the chinese new year :P lol