I'VE DONE IT... DECEMBER

A Merry Christmas to all who come by this little blog and a safe, healthy and happy new year to you and yours. Not a lot has changed fro...

A Merry Christmas to all who come by this little blog and a safe, healthy and happy new year to you and yours.

katiecrackernuts.blogspot.com || vintage glass christmas baubles

Not a lot has changed from one month to the next. Early November saw one of the first 'catastrophic' fire days of the season. From that day, the days and weeks have been a blur. Since the start of this fire season, some time back in August, we've seen more than 800 houses burn. That's 800 households facing a very different holiday season and rough start to 2020.

On top of that, with no rain forecast for some time, we have communities still struggling with the impact of drought. Add fires, and, what can you say... my heart goes out to them all.

Here at home, we're bucketing water from the sink, laundry and shower onto the garden, but plenty is dying and I'll have to wait to see what recovers when rain comes.

Not too far down the road, my folks are packed and ready to leave their home, built in a small, peaceful, sleepy little village that just happens to sit on the edge of a tinder-dry national park. They've not slept for days and are trying to maintain a sense of normality through a Christmas spent without family.

My sister and brother-in-law were expected this week, but with roads closing at the drop of a hat and heatwave conditions expected for the drive home we decided they were safer where they were.

IN DECEMBER:

I WENT TO... Work. Thankfully, family and good friends, as well as extraordinary workmates have made the long days easier.

I ATE... Again, friends have really chipped in to make this easy. Some have come around for a spread of fruit, cheese and biscuits at the end of a long working day. Others have invited us up to their deck for a quiet glass of wine and a delicious home-cooked spread.

The best meal though was an impromptu picnic of lush french toast, fresh fruit and yoghurt by the beach at Toowoon Bay. Again, a friend and I filled our baskets, put in a Thermos and met for an early breakfast, walk on the beach, swim and a coffee. A perfect morning.

I OP SHOPPED... A car boot sale at the start of the month netted me three beautiful Judy Barrett pottery bowls and a hunt for cocktail glasses was also fortuitous.

I READ... a rather terrifying fictional piece on what our societies could be like for us in a post-climate change world. After the Flood, by Kassandra Montag, is unsettling, and offers very little hope. While I liked the story, I wouldn't recommend to anyone showing signs of climate or disaster fatigue. Charlotte Wood's The Weekend, did little to cheer me up. You know these characters, all four of them. You probably are one. But the brutality of age on women was more than I could bear. Again, not one to pass on to your mother, aunt or any woman suffering a crisis of confidence in middle age. I'm now zipping through short stories in Debra Adelaide's Zebra: and other stories. The next book I pick up will need to be a little more light-hearted.

I MADE... it to the end of the year. Phew. High fives all 'round. See you in the new one.

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