Wet and wild… for Christmas!
It is raining here again…
…that kind of slow drizzly rain that makes you want to snuggle under the doona and watch movies.
*sigh*
Oh how I wish I could do just that…
Instead I have been decoratin’…
Well… WE have been decoratin’. Not at home yet though – at the teeny tiny little ‘town hall’ in our teeny tiny little ‘town’ which has a massive FOUR streets in its town plan. I have lovely memories of old-style dances being held here regularly – with ‘Pops’ sawdust being spread on the floor before the Gypsy Tap or Pride of Erin were danced by local farmers and their wives.
The old hall hasn’t been used for a few years, standing by a little sadly as people drove by (on the grandly-named Queen Street) and used other venues for gatherings. No-one waltzes around here anymore – at least not on sawdust-spread floors.
But with the efforts of the council to mend a broken window and banish the dust and cobwebs and wasps nests…and with the hard work put in by some keen parents (and one grandpa) to festoon it with fairy lights and tinsel…. well, I’m hoping that a little seasonal magic might be evident tonight.
Tonight is our teeny tiny little school’s Christmas Tree.
To explain, the Christmas Tree is an EVENT rather than a shrub. It’s where the students perform Christmas plays and sing Christmas carols and generally make us all go ‘Oooooooohhhhhh!‘. The amazing young principal will also hand out the student awards and we shall all indulge in those most AUSSIE of activities – eating burgers and having a beer. (Those of us not driving, of course!)
As we clambered up ladders and hung garlands and decorated our little hearts out this morning, the rain kept softly falling. Which means that grass is growing and the temperature in the old hall will be kept nicely cool (often it can feel like a sweatbox in December)… and that the vehicles parked out front will be mostly four-wheel-drives.
And they will look a little like this:
You know, after spending three hours scrubbing and polishing this thing last weekend, I could tend towards being a tad melancholy with it’s current state. But I think the Christmas spirit is beginning to take hold…
Darkness and tinsel and fairy lights will make me forget this looming chore – for tonight at least… and maybe tomorrow if its still raining. I wonder if anyone will let me watch a movie…
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How bout you?
Are your Christmas decorations up yet?
Or don’t you and yours celebrate Christmas?
Feeling festive? Or not?
And while we are at it…
How bout that weather?
Is it sunny where you are?
Or snowy and ‘real’ Christmassy?
24 Comments
A Novel Woman
I put up exactly one decoration – a garland of mitts and mini-snowshoes across my mantel. Then I sat back and admired my handiwork.
Not festive yet. We need snow for that. We had a few flurries last week, then pounding rain. Rain does not make me feel festive.
Now, what the heck is a doona?
A Novel Woman´s last blog post ..Chicken Tikka Masala
Bush Babe
Doona = eiderdown = feather-filled quilt
🙂
BB
Leenie
It seems so weird to me to read about a building feeling like a sweatbox in December. Warm and Christmas just don’t go together in my head.
The rain looks wonderful. And I’m glad to hear about the decorating and working to bring the old hall back to life. I miss dancing like that. So sad such things seem to be disappearing. Fun to hear about the Christmas program. That’s another thing that seems to becoming a victim of political correctness.
And sorry Auz didn’t get the soccer FIFA bid. But neither did the U.S. Russia and Qatar? What are they thinking?
Leenie´s last blog post ..You Thought THAT was crazy
Sal
Rain, rain, rain and a little more rain. The second big clean out for our gullies, creeks and rivers this year. Our Christmas tree is up and this year it is a Gum Tree – couldn’t get close enough to the river for a River Oak. The kids don’t mind – they are in full swing of the festive feel and our little boy sits under the Christmas tree every morning just happy to see it up! Enjoy your community event tonight, maybe with the hall clean out a group of the locals might be tempted to host a dance and bring out the sawdust one day soon… those dances our good for the soul – and the waistline! Have fun 🙂
Leonie
Lights up on windows, Tick. Xmas tree up, Tick. Deco’s on tree, Tick. Think we’re done with that side of things. Only started feeling a little festive today after lunch at the work barefoot bowls xmas party….bit more enthusiasm needed though. As for the weather, it’s lovely and raining on and off – keeping the heat at bay, just the way I like it. Love to you all.
PS If they ever decide to have a dance again in that hall, let me know, I’d love to come – I love that style of a night out!! xoxo
Catch the Kids
This weekend is the big unravelling…of all the cords of the fairy lights! Our tree is going up and our garlands will be hung. Yay! I love Christmas!!
(…Let’s not think of the craploads of glitter we clean off the floor in January) 🙂
Tara
No decorations up for us. We (as in, me and the boy) are heading back to Zimbabwe for Christmas with my Parents. We’ll also be spending a week at Kariba so the decorations will likely only go up right before Christmas…
The rain looks lovely!
Tara´s last blog post ..Thinking…122-365
debby
It’s Christmassy here. We’re supposed to get three more inches of Christmas today. That added to about four inches of Christmas that we’ve got already.
I’ve not got Christmas things out of the attic yet. That will have to wait until school is out.
debby´s last blog post ..D-Day
jeanie
I am still trying to work out the other two streets – Queen Street and Ferry Street (which, to my recollection, is dirt and goes around the back)…
Have a great night at the Christmas Tree!! And no sneaking out the back.
jeanie´s last blog post ..Paris bid
Margaret Pengelly
Found your blog tonight. Enjoyed sharing your preparations. Ubobo is as tiny as your town apparently and our school has its Christmas Tree next Thursdaynight. It’s rained all day here so hope it dried up for you and you had a lovely night with lots of OOOHHHH…AAAhhhs!
Lydia
I love Christmas — but no decorations up yet. I always wait until the last minute then leave them up into January so the winter doesn’t seem so blah.
It is cold and a little snowy here.
Bragger
Not the first decoration up yet. Last night’s post lamented (or celebrated?) that fact. I probably will decorate, though, if for no other reason than to avoid being compared to my “bah humbug” mother.
Bragger´s last blog post ..To Decorate or Not to Decorate
Bill
Light snow in the valley of the great Ohio River (USA). Christmas is close and I get soooo excited! Joy to all of you and enjoy being in a teeny-tiny place where folks say hello and you’re still allowed to have fun. Oh, I hear jingle bells! Gotta go. – Bill
jeanie
Margaret – we actually used to drive through Ubobo – would it have been to get to Mt Perry?
jeanie´s last blog post ..Paris bid
Margaret
Jeanie… If you were going to Monto and then on down to Gladstone or Calliope you would have travelled through Ubobo.
jeanie
Ah well, it must have been on the bus on the way home from boarding school in that case!
jeanie´s last blog post ..Paris bid
Kelly
I’m not feeling all that festive yet, but we are decorated.
Kelly´s last blog post ..My Word!
Jayne
How lovely that the hall is getting a second life 🙂
We’re having Qld weather – storms, humidity, heat, showers, etc.
Ya wanna send the cool temperatures back down here? lol
Audrey
Here in southern Manitoba, Canada (we’re about 20 miles north of the North Dakota/Manitoba border) everything was brown and yucky until 8 days ago. And now? We have nearly a foot of snow on the ground. It’s snowing again this evening. The tree is up and decorated! 🙂
I do have one question… We are grain farmers, growing barley, wheat, canola, oats, corn and other crops. My farmer-man follows the world markets and tells me that some of Australia’s wheat crop is in jeopardy due to excessive rainfall and flooding. Would love to hear your take on the situation. Is it as dire as some are reporting?
Bush Babe
We are not farmers Audrey so I am not really qualified to comment here – I know th rain has been devestating for our local crops (esp lucerne farmers who cannot get hay baled).
It is pretty bad according to our news – so hard to get that happy medium these days. Seems to be either drought or flood.
🙂
BB
Margaret
Audrey…We were down on the Downs in Southern Queensland in October and the paddocks were awash with rain. The wheat was lush and green and just about ripe. My cousin who is a huge wheat farmer was unable to get headers to their crop as their fields were waterlogged and anyway the headers had been unable to leave Central Queensland and move south to harvest. I heard on the TV on Sunday that this rain we are having is delaying the harvest right down the east coast of Australia in a snowball effect with harvesters unable to move down the usual harvest trail.
Audrey
Thanks for your comments Margaret!
Pencil Writer
Oh, you sound like you’re having way too much fun! Love the pictures of the dripping leaves of . . . is that a bottle bush/tree? The leaves make me think of olive trees. So, I’m pretty much clueless–not surprisingly! (Enjoy that rain!)
Temp here today about 70 degrees, low supposed to be about 53. Tomorrow (Saturday) suppose to be high of 73, low of 39. Then Sunday . . . our high is supposed to be what our low tonight is: 53 with a low of 29! It’s fun, this roller-coaster ride. Well, you have to find your fun where you can.
As for decorating, I hope we can accomplish the Christmas tree, at least, this weekend. I know the grandchildren would be delighted!
Y’all have fun–sounds like you have lots of it to look forward to!
Kate
I like your word for a throw blanket. No decorations, yet. Hopefully I’ll be in the mood this weekend. I could force myself, if necessary.
Bitter cold here in Maryland but I hear Sunday’s supposed to climb to about 50!
Kate´s last blog post ..Afternoon surprise