SUMMER HOLIDAYS

 This week I have had my father-in-law (Maurice) staying with us and our four grandchildren have spent a few days and nights sleeping over.


We had a lovely picnic near the beach on Thursday night: 
                              


Maurice lives alone and of course doesn't go on picnics so I think he enjoyed it even more than the rest of us.  There is nothing quite like chicken & salad and soft drink out in the open air.  You can see by the smiling faces that everyone had a good time.  After eating the children decided they should paddle in the shallows as they didn't have swimwear with them. 

Of course the water was so inviting that it wasn't long before the boys were soaking wet and splashing around.  

The next morning it was very quiet - even after I tried to wake them for breakfast. Of course once they are awake the peace is well and truly over.


On Saturday we had a late Christmas lunch.  The children helped with the menu and the food preparation and cooking.  Fish and seafood and salads made a delicious meal - Ally & Ben made a seafood salad with smoked salmon & prawns, Matthew prepared fruit and salads and set the table, Michael showed Ben how to cook calamari and Mike and Michael prepared the baramundi while Ben & I picked the fresh herbs.  It was a lovely family lunch and we all ate too much.


There hasn't been much time for stitching but the children made bonbons (crackers) for the table using some of my hand dyed fabrics for the wrapping and putting little novelties in each one.  We had the proper cracker insert so they were a great success.  The fabric wrappers were then used as serviettes for the meal.