365:365 Spiral bark

Lois was keen to show me some huge gum trees that lose their bark in a spiral pattern. Massive gums line a road where Lois walks.


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364:365 The Vines

The grape vibe has been on the pergola for 10 years. This year sixth first year it gas really grown well.
It's meant to provide shade and coolness in the summer but let the sun through in the winter.





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363:365 Umbrella up at last

It's been a long time since the umbrella was up out the back. Usually it goes up in October and provides lovely shade. I like the ambience it adds to the outdoor dining room.


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362:365 Blue wrens

My family gave me a beautiful painting of three wrens on a barbed wire fence. It found a place easily above our bed. Now we hear the blue wrens outside and see them inside as well.


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361:365 Pudding

The pudding was very nice although we did have to watch out for sixpences and threepences which were traded in for dollars.



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360:365 What was on your plate?

We were fortunate enough to have a lovely meal for Christmas. This year we had turkey, pork and beef with roasted veggies and beans. Pudding followed of course.


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359:365 Prawns

Nothing like a prawn dinner on Christmas eve and these were lovely king tiger prawns.



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358:365 Summer living

I finally put up the umbrella about a month later than usual. We have had to dinners outside but felt the bite of mosquitoes like whenever had before. All the rain has made it perfect for mosquitoes.


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357:365 Shortbread

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without shortbread. I made two different recipes this year. The top picture is the melt and mix recipe; the bottom picture shows the rub in method and use of a baking dish with patterns. The bottom shortbread had a far superior taste. I just have to get the oven temp lower as the top cooked before the bottom and had to be put back in the oven. This also caused the shortbread to stick in the terra-cotta plate.






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356:365 Christmas Cards

We are still receiving and sending Christmas cards. We did received one via email but they are certainly not the same as the real 3D item. I like being able to display the cards and family members enjoy reading the cards when they visit over Christmas. However I have also enjoyed the many best wishes given over twitter from my PLN around the globe and their
pictures with views of cold winter weather.


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355:365 Locusts

Bill gave me a nice early Christmas present and took my car and washed all the locusts off. It's much cleaner now. Thanks Bill.





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354:365 The Hallway

Sometimes I can't think of what to take a picture of for my daily pic. There is a website that gives suggestions and so the hallway was their suggestion on this day.


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353:365 1994

So who was born in 1994? Dale was born in 1994 and so this is his Christmas ball. We hang up all the special Christmas balls each year.


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352:365 A special Christmas ball

This is Katherine's special Christmas ball. You can see that the muppets were big back in 83.



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351:365 The Tree

Dale brought home the tree this year. His ute is very handy.



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350:365 Christmas time

The decorations are out and the tree is up. The Santa koalas are a favorite. Rosie like them also as she like the bell.



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349:365 Dale's graduation

Dale also graduated, from BSSC this year and after successfully completing year 12 he hopes to do engineering at La Trobe in Bendigo. Dale isn't in the picture as he didn't want to have his picture taken.


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348:365 Suited up

This is Simon my 16 yr old all suited up in his new suit. We did buy Simon a suit for Katherine's wedding 4yrs ago but it's way too small now. From 12 to 16 hrs of age Simon has had huge growth. What a handsome fellow.


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347:365 Yr10 Graduation

Simon graduated from BSE with his form group 10a. The forms went up to 10N and as Simon was the first person to come out we had a long wait. The boys were all suited up and the girls had spent many hours glamming up for the night.
Congratulations Simon! Simon now moves onto Bendigo Secondary College which is a senior college for just year 11&12 students.


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346:365 Full dams

Featured this dam earlier in the year. Now it's full as I have ever seen it.


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345:365 Catnapping

Rosie loves to help make the bed by diving in under the sheets.


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344:365 Contrast

Take a photo today that shows contrast.




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343:365 Agapanthas

The agapanthas have grown more this year. Even though they are hardy they haven't grown very much over the years they have been planted. There are more flowers budding this year.













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342:365 The bull ants

Will it rain? The ants think so and have been building mounds again. These ones were right next to a trunk of a tree.
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341:365 The trail

This is the bull ant nest trail that runs between two ant hills. They certainly have made a good path.


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340:365 Pears

The pear tree behind the shed is full of pears. It is like the apple tree and fruiting for the first time in years. Simon's comment was, "Where's the pear tree?"


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339:365 Apples

This year is the first year we have had apples grow on the tree in many years. I use to pick a fridge full in April. We'll see if they continue to grow.


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338:365 Paddocks

The paddock is so wet that when you walk down to the dam you feet sink in the mud. The tractor almost was bogged and made deep furrows in the mud.


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337:365 Squirrels

In London and the UK along with Europe it's snowing more than other years for decades. These squirrels were put up on to twitter and I had to take a shot of them to share. I wonder how they survive the freezing temperatures? I hope the early flurry of snow means there will be less in January when I visit London or we may never land.




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336:365 Tractor and slasher

I finally got someone to come and slash the grass then had some days cancelled due to rain. t last the man arrived and the slashing began. is large tractor wheels sunk into the ground. After two hors of work he reported that his steering had failed and he could no longer work. The reactor is still here but has not been fixed even though the man has had two goes to fix it with numerous tools.




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335:365 The suit

The suit we bought Simon 4 years ago just doesn't fit anymore. So we went and bought a new suit for Simon to wear to the year 10 formal. Luckily they make suits for tall thin people. Very nice Simon.


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334:365 The Mall

In Melbourne pedestrians share the mall with trams. A ceiling has been created with stars for Christmas and colored banners fly in the wind. Buskers play, sales people sell and shoppers cross to other stores. This is what used to be Bourke Street and it's where the saying "As busy as Bourke St " comes from.



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333:365 Rialto

My old-time favorite building in Melbourne that now isn't the tallest. 25 years ago I took a class of students down to the Rialto before it was open to the public. The top level was the Education Department. The workers were very surprised to see children in their office.


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332:365 Towering up into the clouds

City buildings high up on the sky. It's hard to stop in the pedestrian traffic to get this picture in Melbourne.


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331:365 The Spillway

Today we drove over the spillway at Lake Eppalock. This time last year Lake Eppalock was down to 6% now it's full. The last time the spillway overflowed was 14 years ago. So for many today was the first time they had ever seen the spillway overflowing.


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330:365 Full tanks

We have had double the rain total of last year. So it was no surprise that our tanks are now over flowing. If only we had more tanks.



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