Christmas Report From Canberra
This year, Christmas in Canberra at my sister's place. We celebrated Christmas over two days (Christmas Day and Boxing Day) because two members of the family were driving up on Christmas Day. So Christmas Day, those who were awake early enough went to church, then we had a delicious cold lunch (twice-baked ham, Moreton Bay Bugs, Tiger Prawns, three different salads, bread rolls, fruit punch) followed by Proper Traditional Christmas Pudding Made To A Family Recipe (by brother-in-law to his mother's recipe) with all the trimmings (ice cream, custard, cream, Hard Sauce).
Then there were games; in my case, Puerto Rico.
Then Boxing Day; a quiet morning, and then the Traditional Hot Christmas Dinner. The weather was cooperative with a cool change and rain. Turkey, potatoes, pumpkin, peas, carrots, gravy, all very traditional. And yummy. Though I suppose the purple carrots weren't very traditional. 8-) There were party hats (which I was commissioned to decorate with a sparse number of sticker) and home-made "Christmas Crackers". The crackers didn't crack, but they did have "popper" things in them. The "fortunes" were all quotes from The Lord of the Rings, and there was a dispute about the exact wording for one of them - ah, we're all nerds.
After lunch, we all repaired to the lounge, the Christmas tree, and the presents. LA was the "Santa", passing out the gifts with sufficient pauses to open and exclaim. She occasionally had to be reminded to open a gift for herself.
Presents I received:
* cross-stitch bookmark, hand-stitched by MA
* a "biblestudy kit" (everyone got one of these) consisting of a magnifying bookmark and highlighter high-tech crayons from FA (in the name of making sure we didn't have heavy things to take back)
* Two adult colouring books from NP
* Darth Vader plush toy from LA and family
* Cheese board, American Rock Maple, handmade by SP (!!), plus cheese knives
* White flower tea-light holder (plus tea lights) from JA and family
* replica Olivanders wand (!!!) from LA and family
LA was basically the gift-buyer for her family this time around, and all of her gifts were bought on her recent trip to Japan. So there were all these cool gizmos like toothpaste-less toothbrushes and staple-less staplers, so it got to be a running joke about "Japanese high tech" so by the time it got to my wand, it was a "Japanese high tech wand". I was floored by the wand. She bought it in Universal Studios Japan. I opened the wrapping, and there was this bag... with "Olivanders, Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC"
O_O
Inside was a long slim box, and inside that, on bed of (flocked plastic) velvet, was a wand. LA said "Guess whose wand it is!" I didn't realize that it was a specific wand. I inspected it. The handle had carved vines on it, and I remember that Hermione's wand was made of vine-wood, so I said "Hermione Granger" and I was right, as LA pointed out the end of the box, which I hadn't noticed, which had "Hermione Granger" on it.
I'm so surprised and pleased. If I had a replica wand, it would either be Hermione or Snape that I would like to have, so yay!
Presents I gave:
* for FA: loom-knit fingerless gloves, Alpaca/Merino/Acrylic blend made by me
* for MA: loom-knit blue ruffle-scarf cowl-scarf made by me
* for JA: maille-wrapped pen made by me
* for DA: autumn-coloured maille necklace made by me
* for SLWA: "The Sand Reckoner" by Gillian Bradshaw
* for VA: crocheted green ruffle-scarf made by me
* for EA: a "Water on Mars" t-shirt
* for LA: a purple robot ninja t-shirt
* for TDA: an aluminium and rock trivet made by me
* for SA: from me and TA, a loom-knit and crocheted shawl and scarf made by both of us
* for LA: three pairs of key earrings made by me
* for TA: loom-knit mobius scarf (cotton and Alpaca blend) made by me
* for NP: a set of four placemats and coasters, Tunisian crochet made by me AND a lucet-cord and bead necklace and earring set, both made by me
* for SP: "Ultraviolet" and "Quicksilver" by R.J. Anderson, signed by the author
* for MP: a stainless steel and bronze maille key chain, made by me
I declared to the room that next year I was taking a year off and that everyone would be getting one salted peanut.
After the presents, there were games, particularly those games which were presents. I participated in "7 Wonders", which was rather complicated, and we got the rules wrong. But we had fun. And we'll figure it out.
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Then there were games; in my case, Puerto Rico.
Then Boxing Day; a quiet morning, and then the Traditional Hot Christmas Dinner. The weather was cooperative with a cool change and rain. Turkey, potatoes, pumpkin, peas, carrots, gravy, all very traditional. And yummy. Though I suppose the purple carrots weren't very traditional. 8-) There were party hats (which I was commissioned to decorate with a sparse number of sticker) and home-made "Christmas Crackers". The crackers didn't crack, but they did have "popper" things in them. The "fortunes" were all quotes from The Lord of the Rings, and there was a dispute about the exact wording for one of them - ah, we're all nerds.
After lunch, we all repaired to the lounge, the Christmas tree, and the presents. LA was the "Santa", passing out the gifts with sufficient pauses to open and exclaim. She occasionally had to be reminded to open a gift for herself.
Presents I received:
* cross-stitch bookmark, hand-stitched by MA
* a "biblestudy kit" (everyone got one of these) consisting of a magnifying bookmark and highlighter high-tech crayons from FA (in the name of making sure we didn't have heavy things to take back)
* Two adult colouring books from NP
* Darth Vader plush toy from LA and family
* Cheese board, American Rock Maple, handmade by SP (!!), plus cheese knives
* White flower tea-light holder (plus tea lights) from JA and family
* replica Olivanders wand (!!!) from LA and family
LA was basically the gift-buyer for her family this time around, and all of her gifts were bought on her recent trip to Japan. So there were all these cool gizmos like toothpaste-less toothbrushes and staple-less staplers, so it got to be a running joke about "Japanese high tech" so by the time it got to my wand, it was a "Japanese high tech wand". I was floored by the wand. She bought it in Universal Studios Japan. I opened the wrapping, and there was this bag... with "Olivanders, Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC"
O_O
Inside was a long slim box, and inside that, on bed of (flocked plastic) velvet, was a wand. LA said "Guess whose wand it is!" I didn't realize that it was a specific wand. I inspected it. The handle had carved vines on it, and I remember that Hermione's wand was made of vine-wood, so I said "Hermione Granger" and I was right, as LA pointed out the end of the box, which I hadn't noticed, which had "Hermione Granger" on it.
I'm so surprised and pleased. If I had a replica wand, it would either be Hermione or Snape that I would like to have, so yay!
Presents I gave:
* for FA: loom-knit fingerless gloves, Alpaca/Merino/Acrylic blend made by me
* for MA: loom-knit blue ruffle-scarf cowl-scarf made by me
* for JA: maille-wrapped pen made by me
* for DA: autumn-coloured maille necklace made by me
* for SLWA: "The Sand Reckoner" by Gillian Bradshaw
* for VA: crocheted green ruffle-scarf made by me
* for EA: a "Water on Mars" t-shirt
* for LA: a purple robot ninja t-shirt
* for TDA: an aluminium and rock trivet made by me
* for SA: from me and TA, a loom-knit and crocheted shawl and scarf made by both of us
* for LA: three pairs of key earrings made by me
* for TA: loom-knit mobius scarf (cotton and Alpaca blend) made by me
* for NP: a set of four placemats and coasters, Tunisian crochet made by me AND a lucet-cord and bead necklace and earring set, both made by me
* for SP: "Ultraviolet" and "Quicksilver" by R.J. Anderson, signed by the author
* for MP: a stainless steel and bronze maille key chain, made by me
I declared to the room that next year I was taking a year off and that everyone would be getting one salted peanut.
After the presents, there were games, particularly those games which were presents. I participated in "7 Wonders", which was rather complicated, and we got the rules wrong. But we had fun. And we'll figure it out.
This entry was originally posted at http://kerravonsen.dreamwidth.org/1055615.html. (Comments
) Respond here, or respond on the Dreamwidth post, as you prefer. You can use your DW login or OpenId there.