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Today I made lamingtons for morning tea.

These aren’t my lamingtons.  But mine were just as aesthetically pleasing!

So what does Australia day mean? It’s a nice public holiday. It’s also during a time of the year that usually means nice weather.  It’s also known as “Hottest 100 day” because the national radio station Triple J holds the countdown to their national poll of the 100 most popular songs of the year.  I also found out (after doing my research) that this is a relatively new holiday for Australians.  The day it self (26 January) is when Arthur Phillip landed in Sydney Cove in 1788, with the first 11 convict ships to set up the convict colony that was to become Sydney.

I personally don’t like the way that this day seems to only encompass British occupation of Australia.  I’d like to think that one day our national holiday will be assigned to another date in Australian history.

My suggestions are:

3 June

13 February

Does anyone know why I like these two days??

I’ll give a hint (if you want it) in the comments…

Because it wasn’t cold enough in Oxford, we went north to York for NYE 2009.  We purchased a hoard of fireworks, which Kate thoroughly enjoyed setting off out the back of Danielle and Roger’s house.  I had a big rocket which I set off.  I did like the instructions on the fireworks.

1. Set up in a safe area (away from houses and trees)

2. Light fuse

3. Retire 10-15 meters.

“RETIRE!”… I don’t think I’ve run so fast in a long while…

Fireworks stash

It also snowed on NYE which was lovely, so we walked into the Minster and hung out with all the other idiots who thought being out at midnight was a good idea.

We also went over to Leeds to see Dave, Rach, Archie and Ella.  Archie was very pre-occupied with a new DVD he got for Christmas featuring diggers.  I must admit, it’s good watching!

Some photos (click on the thumbnails)

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In true Australian style (and on Kate’s suggestion) I roasted our Christmas goose on Webster, my Webber BBQ.  Goose is a fatty bird, from our 4.2 kg bird, we got around 900 mL of goose fat.  Even with the fat used to roast the veggies, we still had 3 large jars full. I’m sure that fat will be used in the future.

The goose arrived in a box, following our “crack of dawn” Christmas Eve trip to the butcher.

Then onto the BBQ he/she went. This photo was taken through out back doors so excuse the reflection – I think Kate didn’t want to come out in the cold. Yes it was cold. Mighty cold.

I made a 3 short movies of setting up the BBQ. Here, here and here

There’s also some more photos.

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as it’s a little bit cold in Oxford at the moment (read snowing…) we’ve headed south. to the south of spain. Malaga to be precise. thiis southern spanish port is known for many things, including a particular wine- but let it be said tthat wasnt the reason we came here.. i read it’s a region known for little rainfall- not that i mind the rain in Oxford. Anyway, i think this place is lovely. Everything is open late, and that suits our holiday timetabe! more to come (photos too)

During the festive season, the Winter Wonderland is set up in Hyde Park (London).  Tuesday night we went in for some goodies.  The theme is based around a German Christmas Fair.  There are rides (including an outdoor skating rink), food and drink stalls and craft/Christmas trinket vendors.  We had some bratwurst, wheat beer and roasted chestnuts.  It’s an amazing place as it’s completely fabricated for the event, none of these buildings are permanent.  It is incredible that they construct this place for about 4-5 weeks!  Some of these buildings are 2-3 storeys too!

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Here’s one a video of me marvelling at the buildings, and here’s another

Here’s Kate eating roasted chestnuts for the first time, with commentary…!

and instant Bavarian town

and nothing was stirring, not even our GOOSE!  Tomorrow’s dinner will be roast goose.  We ordered it from our favourite “we hang meat outside” butcher.  This morning was an early start to pick mr. goose up, we wanted to beat the rush or people picking up turkey’s and other Christmas meat treats, so we got our local commonwheels car and headed into Oxford at 6.45am.  Not a lot of traffic at that hour… funny eh?

Photos of mr. goose to come!

UPDATE:  I’ve been thinking of how to cook mr. goose.  Kate has suggested I use my birthday present from this summer – a Weber kettle!  I think it’s going to be BBQ goose for Christmas.  Who says you can’t get your BBQ out for Christmas in the UK??

If you have ignored the Christmas stuff in supermarkets, I found the true sign of Christmas.

Meat hanging in the covered market!

This is a time of year I love. Things get lovely and festive, nice and cold and generally cheerful.
This year, we’ve decided on goose for Christmas lunch. We have to go pick it up on the morning of the 24th. Sometime after 6am. I’m told you have to get there early to avoid the rush. The butcher who we use is a lovely old fashioned butcher, and they are really popular. So we’ll put on our warmest clothes on Thursday morning to head to the butcher nice and early. Probably with a thermos!

I also wondered around Oxford looking for neat things to photograph, so here’s the whole album

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Kate decided to do something different for her birthday this year, so she got a few of us together and we headed to a local outdoor adventure centre.  Here were were put in a 3G swing (a swing that puts you up 10 meters in the air), jumped for a trapeze from the top of a pole 10 meters off the ground, abseiled down a flat wall and climbed a stack of crates.

From this photo, you can see the enjoyment someone is getting from putting her friends through all this!

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You can also watch two videos one of the 3G swing (and Kate screaming)  and one of her jumping off a pole

I know this because the butter is hard at “room temperature”.  Hmm, time to turn on the central heating..

It is lovely though, I plan to visit the market this weekend for some festive spirit.  Hohoho…!!

Kate and I went ice skating with friends last night.  I was surprised to find I could still skate – especially as it’s been about 3-4 years since I was on roller blades and about 5-6 years since I was on ice skates!  The last time I recall being on ice was when Brad and Wolf took me skating in Vancouver.   Yes it involved hockey sticks, and yes I wasn’t very good, but it was good fun.  Last night I didn’t have a stick.  I did have figure skating skates though and that caused all sorts of problems with my turns.  I didn’t fall over though, that’s a start!  Turns out they have an ice hockey team here, and they are quite good.  I’m guessing the team consists of Canadian students studying here…