Christmas Dowunder in the Adelaide Hills

We've had the grandchildren for a couple of days and had a great time in the countryside picking cherries and then driving them back home to Mannum on the River Murray.

Here are a few photos of our day out, but I didn't take any of the cherry picking as we were too busy picking and eating!  We had  great morning on the cherry farm and picked 5.5 kg, probably too many but they won't be wasted.  I have made some jam which will be given away as gifts and tomorrow I will make some sauce as well as some Danish pastries and the rest will be eaten.  The cherries were lovely and juicy and I don't think I will ever be able to eat too many, and apparently they are supposed to be of benefit for arthritis so I hope I feel better soon.

View of the cherry farm property

The lovely property, the cherry orchard is over the hill

This old shed had a Willys Overland Whippet Four

Interesting car display

Cows grazing peacefully

The girls loved the bear and tree

 

 

Out to lunch in the Jags

 

 

Lunch with friends

 

 

Christmas Downunder

I have been struggling to get into the Christmas spirit this year, partly because I just haven't had the energy and also because half of our family will be away for Christmas and we will not be having the rest of the family here for lunch.  We will be going to our son and d-i-l's for Christmas tea and we are looking forward to seeing them and the grandchildren but I do love to do the "big" lunch and usually enjoy all the preparations leading up to Christmas. 

We have been very fortunate that both our adult children live within an hour of our place and I know that as families grow it isn't always possible to be together and we have planned to all get together after Christmas.

Last week I decided to try to get into the spirit, and no I didn't get into the Chivas Regal, but got out all the decorations and made an effort to decorate the house and put the tree up.  This was quite a task, and even trying to find everything was interesting as I thought I had put all the decorations together in one cupboard but not everything was there so then I had to have a clean out of other places and of course this took more time and energy, but it also gave me time to think about all the good times we have had at Christmas and a few not so good, but life is like that and I try to focus on the good things in life.

Some of my favourite Christmas tree decorations -

A Christmas ornament from our Baltic holiday

As I was unpacking all the decorations it brought back great memories of our holidays when I  buy an ornament to decorate the tree.

As you can see this one is from Harrods in London

A cute little wombat from our holiday in Western Australia

From London

From a Zurich market

 

From Canada

Another from a cousin in Canada

 

 



When each of the grandchildren were born I bought an ornament and had their names put on them so they now have a spot on the tree and they love looking for their bauble.

Now the tree is up and decorated, and the front of the house has new flashing icicle lights and looks so pretty.  A few houses in our street have decorations too although ours is definitely low-key compared to many in our area, but we're happy with it and don't need to compete for the best lights in the suburb.



 Once the decorations were up I decided to get some baking done and  invited some girlfriends over for afternoon tea.  In my group of friends a few have lost their husbands in the last couple of years and it is difficult for them at this time of year so I thought a get-together  would help make the time a bit easier.  Today they all came over for champagne and nibbles and we had a great afternoon, a lot of talking and laughing too.

We have had our two little granddaughters for a sleep-over and it has been great fun spending time with them.  We decorated some ornaments with lots of sparkly stuff and wrapped a few presents for them to give their mum and dad.  After dinner we drove around to see the Christmas light displays in our neighbourhood.  Some streets were fantastic with almost every house lit up with wonderful lights.


Two of our little grandchildren enjoying the lights

 

I think  that I have definitely got into Christmas now  and am really looking forward to the big day.

Home among the gum trees

This little chap decided to hang around our tree for a while.  These are not the type of trees they prefer but koalas will eat other varieties when their favourite is not available. 




 

 

Breakneck Cutting, Tea  Tree Gully

 

 

 

Breakneck Cutting is on the road from our house to our son's house in Mannum, so we are often on this road.  Breakneck Cutting was originally named Blyth's Cutting in 1863 but I have always called it Breakneck, seems to fit better as in the 1860's it would have been a terribly steep hill to climb with bullock carts and according to records there were many accidents.

 

 



The galahs are always coming down for a drink



We usually only get two galahs coming in to drink

The Australian Magpie - Bird of the Year 2017

Having a good look at me

Camera shy

How do I get through here?

 

Hope you enjoy my photos.  I do love to get out and enjoy nature and take a few photos too.

 

See you again soon.  Enjoy your week.

Port Vincent, South Australia

 



Port Vincent with the tide out

 

 
 
 

I oouldn't resist taking a few photos her at Pt Clinton as this reminds me of a watercolour landscape painting

We spent a few days in the beautiful little seaside town of
Port Vincent.  This little town is on the eastern coast of

On the road with a few trucks

Yorke Peninsula, South Australia.



Port Vincent is about 200 km from Adelaide and on our way we passed through a few small towns.

Port Clinton

Some signs along the way

We stopped at Port Clinton for morning tea and I managed to
get some photos before the rain set in.


Port Clinton






Port Clinton mural



We arrived at Port Vincent before lunch and after meeting our friends we set up the caravan and were happy with the site as it was level, had a cement slab and some grass as well, so we are happy campers!  We don't always get 3 out of 3.



Foreshore at Pt Vincent

We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with the rest of our group of friends and having a few drinks before we had dinner.  We all did our own thing for tea and then met in the Camp Kitchen for a few more drinks and coffee.

Golden Canola on Yorke Peninsula

On Sunday we drove to another town, well not really a town anymore, Bublacowie,  and had a visit to a private museum.  It was incredible and the work done by one man and a few volunteers was amazing.  Chris showed us through his collection of military, world war 1 & WW2 as well as the Korean war artefacts and the Vietnam war memorabilia.  The photos are only a small part of his huge collection.

DAY OUT AT BUBLACOWIE MUSEUM

The bbq area where we had lunch

Inside one of the buildings - thought this sign was a good one

Petr & Bob cooking lunch

Panoramic view of part of the museum

Another view of the museum

Chris giving us some facts and figures

Chris has such an amazing collection and he has done it all without much outside help or without any Government funding.  I am not sure how he will keep it going, but it is definitely a credit to him and the few volunteers.  He also has accommodation for war veterans and has school students come for day visits.  He is a wealth of knowledge and every single artefact has a story which he tells with great enthusiasm and humour.


BACK AT THE CARAVAN PARK

Foreshore caravan park

Back at the caravan park

Pt Vincent caravan park