Happy New Year!

Best wishes to everyone reading this blog!
Ken and I had a quiet New Year's Eve. It had been a horribly hot day (I think it got to nearly 40 deg.C/110 deg.F in some parts of the state) and after being out driving around all day, Ken was stuffed when he got home. He had a rest until we had dinner (ham and coleslaw salad) about 7.30 pm, and then we headed over to see his Mum. When she lived at home, she always celebrated New Year's Eve by sharing ham sandwiches and shortbread with anyone who was there at the time (and we called in to visit most years), so in her first year at the aged care hostel, we thought it was important to continue her little tradition. I didn't bother with ham sandwiches, but I bought a box of imported Scottish Shortbread (Maclean's Highland Bakery) and we took it to share with her. She was delighted, and we spent a happy hour with her before returning home to wash dishes and relax in front of the t.v.

In the hour we were with MIL, the temperature dropped about 10 deg, from 35 to around 25 deg. It had started raining heavily, and thunder and lightning was competing with fireworks around the suburbs. We stayed up until midnight, to see the fireworks on t.v., but Melbourne didn't rate a mention, so I'm assuming it was a washout, cancelled due to the rain. Sydney staged yet another spectacular show on the Harbour Bridge, prompting Ken to remark again, that the Bridge will collapse one day with all those explosions.

The rain has been heavy and constant, so our tank is filling up again. I just hope the catchment areas got enough to top up Melbourne's water supply; our storage is lower than any of the other capital cities, and if it doesn't improve, God help us if we have bushfires again like last summer. Poor Western Australia have had a bad start to 2010; bushfires near Perth destroyed 40 houses yesterday. Ken and I were watching people over there being interviewed on t.v. and he said "It looks familiar, doesn't it?" and I agreed. I'll be popping into the Bendigo Bank next week to donate something. The rest of Australia was so good to Victoria last year, the least we can do is reciprocate to those who need help now.