Australia Day Weekend - Sunday 25th January 2015

Today I rejoice gratefully in the blessing it is to be Australian.   I awoke this morning with my beloved who graced me as he does each day, with a cup of tea in bed.  The Baby Cino, released from her overnight incarceration in the laundry, covered our faces with kisses.  I showered in hot water and drank a green smoothie of vitamins from local gardens, went to mass where the congregation who knows and respects me, showered me with compliments on my outfit, style and sense of colour, and then carried the offertory to Fr. Ronan - one of my favourite people of all time.

I bought fresh bread in the famous SourDough Cafe, local milk in the grocery store, and drove home along peaceful roads, surrounded by hills and cows and sunshine.  I was greeted with hugs from Gerald and a One Dog Welcome Parade by Cino, and after changing into bathers and sarong, we went to our local beach, a pristine stretch of several miles of bleached sand and crystal water.   Little Nippers was in full swing with dozens of small people wearing pink, battling the sand and the surf, and further along, in the Doggies Allowed vast expanse, were a dozen dogs and their owners swimming, chasing balls and smiling, yes, even the dogs.  The fishermen were reeling in whiting, a stingray and bream, and Gerald was so inspired, he returned home for his rod, and spent the next couple of hours happily throwing his line in - and catching a shovel nosed shark!  Next week, Cino and I will be the only ones there.  It's nice to see so many people out in the sun and fresh air enjoying our  beautiful land.

Now we are waiting for Rebecca and Maya, Zac and Noah to arrive.  Bec could have been our daughter in law.  Joshua's first girlfriend, the closest we have to a daughter, the ultimate mother, hard worker, mover and shaker. We love her.   They too, have been to Little Nippers in Coogee, and are coming down to stay overnight, and to spend Australia Day with us tomorrow.  This is how we get to practise our grandparenting before The Real Thing Comes Along one day.  I have made Rocky Road, Banana and Berry ice cream, we have prawns and oysters and a huge leg of lamb, chicken sausages, pork sausages, salads, veggies, two kinds of bread, cakes and biscuits, juice and wine.  The boys will sleep on mattresses upstairs and Bec and Maya share the king size bed, as poor Michel has to work.   We have the river at the door, the beach minutes away, the kayaks, the bikes, the dingy, and the Big Attraction, especially for Zach - is Cino!   

We have our Australian Flag flying on the gate at the front, the tree on the river side, and yards of bunting waving on our verandah.

I am so happy my parents came here on holiday in 1972 and raved about this land.  Without their 'enrolment conversation' which could be really irritating as they were so passionate about Australia, I doubt we would be here.    Neither would my brother Ian, my sister Susan, nor Gerald's two sisters, Verna and Lynda, their husbands and their children.

That was a 'karmic' holiday for my parents because it shaped our future,

Now we are Australians.  I feel so grateful, so happy, and so blessed to live here.