2012 - a big year....

2012 was a big year for us - here's a round-up of some of my favourite photos from each month:

January - a rainy start

February - our favourite beach - Putsborough

March - Easter Egg Hunt!

April - Back to Devon

May - a secret trip to Perth to validate my visa

June - Jubilee month

July - the Red Arrows at Weston Super Mare

August - a trip to London

September - The Big Move!

October - Australia!

November - finding our feet..

December - our first Australian Christmas

A pretty good year! All the best to you all for 2013 - let's make it a good one!

An Australian Christmas

Now, it would be a lie to say I haven't spent the last few weeks moaning to anyone that would listen that Christmas just isn't really Christmas if it's not dark, cold and probably raining...

I TAKE IT ALL BACK!!!

Christmas in the sunshine is really quite OK.

Sitting out on the back verandah with a cold beer and your feet in the paddling pool..
Three generation water fights...
Watching a mob of Moody cousins rampaging with water pistols...
Scoffing loads of salad and seafood...
Getting up the next day and going for a swim in the river with the dolphins....
All good stuff!

(But we still may go back to the UK for next Christmas)

Travelling Camel

We overtook this grumpy camel on the freeway this morning - he didn't look too impressed! 
He had two friends with him and I think they are the official Wise man camels we've been spotting in the Christmas pageants! I hope they were off home for a well-earned Christmas break.

Wishing you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas - see you in the New Year!

Crimbo...

I was nominated for a Leibster Award over on the lovely A Little Bit Country blog, and these were the questions she posed.
The other part of the award is to pass it on to 11 other blogs you feel are worthy - I'll do that bit after Christmas though I think...
Home or away for Christmas this year?

In a new home far away!

Gifts - store bought/homemade or a bit of both?

Bit of both this year 

Summer or Winter Christmas for you?

My first summer Christmas.. feels very strange... (actually we were here for Christmas 2007 on holiday too)

Christmas tree - real or fake?

None so far! Would like a real one if we get around to it in time..

Favourite Christmas food?

Christmas pud! With loads of cream...

Have you been naughty or nice this year?

No comment

What would you like Santa to leave under the tree for you?

Something to read and something to wear

Do you have any family Christmas traditions?

My parents used to live in Austria so when we were growing up we opened our presents on Christmas Eve. When I left home though I reverted back to present opening on Christmas Day.

Worst Christmas pressie you have ever received?

One Christmas my mum decided I needed to learn to cook so every gift I opened was some kind of cooking utensil.... so depressing considering at the time I hated cooking!

A favourite Christmas childhood memory?

Wishing and hoping for a pink Care Bear, and then unwrapping one.. I didn't need any other presents that year!

Will you be making any New Years resolutions?

Ummm, my resolution for next year is to make the most of our new life and embrace all the new challenges and opportunities that come my way!

The Big Christmas Pageant

After the warm-up act earlier this week, we joined the hoards at the train station heading into Perth for the Christmas Pageant. It was heaving - next year we plan to get there a lot earlier and stake out a good spot - the boys managed to wriggle through the legs and get a good view but I didn't get any photos of the actual parade as it was dark and they all came out blurry...

Words of Wisdom

Society 6

You can now buy prints of my photos over at Society 6 - other products coming soon!

The Christmas Pageant

The Christmas Pageant is a big deal in these parts - Bill's just joined the Cubs so he was in the parade with all the scouts etc.

Tom and I watched from the kerb - it was pretty good!

And then there were fireworks.
You've got to love a town that puts on a good firework display.
And after the fireworks, everybody drove down to the beach to watch the epic lightning storm out at sea! A good night's free entertainment :)

WHSmith Christmas cards

These are some of the Christmas designs I did for WHSmith this year, which are in shops now!

(Apparently they are - I made my mum go and buy some for me..)

Wrapping it up

Christmas wrapping is like a competitive sport in my family.. and it's possibly the only competitive sport I enjoy.

I spent a happy afternoon wrapping up our presents to send home - this year I went for a recycled brown paper theme (we have 130 brown paper wrapped boxes in the shed), with crochet accessories and a few pompoms for added oomph.

I suspect it's the added oomph that has carried my parcel over the threshold from acceptable postage costs to the kind of prices that make your jaw drop open and the post office staff look at you sympathetically. Sympathetically but at the same time thinking what an idiot you are...

Next year's wrapping - tissue paper with feathers.

Summer Christmas?

A slightly surreal moment this morning - whilst walking around the supermarket in my shorts and t-shirt I found myself singing along to White Christmas...
I'm slowly coming to terms with the idea of a summer Christmas - it just isn't normal but I'm sure it will be very nice in it's own way!

(I popped some mince pies in my trolley on the way to the checkout - Coles own, not Mr Kipling's - too expensive...)

Absolutely normal craziness..

Mark's dad has rainbow lorikeets who think they're human...

Life is a new version of normal now - Mark goes off to work on the train, I drop the boys off at school and then the dog and I head down to the beach - bit different to our old dog walks in wellies and waterproofs! 

I potter around for the day, usually getting lost at some point, then we do it all again in reverse.

Spotted this weekend...

I wonder how much they charge per koala?

In the city

Yesterday Mark had a job interview in Perth (he got the job - yippeee!) 

So I went along for a wander round Subiaco, which is probably my favourite Perth suburb

 It even has it's own Regal cinema - an Art Deco one just like Evesham!

A walk in the sun

I walked home from town today and this is what I saw...

 Yarn-bombing!

Nice squiggles and sculptures...

A runaway shopping trolley...

A cute little caravan...

A horse in a window...

I paddled the last bit - hot feet..