Christmas Cheer.

The advent calendars are almost spent, as the annual festive countdown closes in on the big day. I find myself wondering just where the last 12 months have actually gone, as the passage of time seems to quicken every year. This illusion may be connected to the fact that I am getting older – it only seems like yesterday that I was the age of my oldest daughter, Olivia, and thinking that the 3 days until Christmas was an eternity away. Now I feel it will be over in the blink of an eye. As I quietly ease into the middle years of my life, so dawns a growing realization that those carefree younger years will not be coming back.  It's when I relent to this reality that this illusion of time only seems to worsen. I am sure I am not alone in feeling like this and I would be better served in celebrating what I have achieved in my life, rather than what I have lost. The problem is that Christmas and then New Year is naturally a time of reflection, whether of the past year, the previous Christmas or previous years gone by... It is also a time for family and celebration. This will be the third Christmas in a row that we have been away from what we call our true home and is the time both Caz and I yearn for family, old friends and the familiar sights and smells of Cornwall the most. So anyone reading this (so far) rather philosophical ramble, should be cheered that you are all in our Christmas thoughts.

To be honest, it is only now that I have been able to spare the time for such gloomy and dour reflection. With a huge sigh of relief, last Friday signaled the end of a long and extremely busy first term at school and ushered in the Summer (for us in the southern hemisphere ) and Christmas holidays. The last 2 weeks have been especially busy: Evie has appeared in both the key-stage 1 nativity and the local pantomime, Cinderella; Olivia and Caz have been away on the year 5 camp and work has been a crazy mix of observations, meetings and data collection. Add to this potent cocktail, the Girl Guide and Rainbow Christmas fetes and parties, more birthday parties, a school staff Christmas party and a marathon training schedule now in full swing, and you have one very tired and stressed teacher. Tis the season to be jolly…

Oh well. I would probably complain of boredom, if I didn't have all of the above swirling around my life, and with the frenzy of the last 2 weeks complete, the cupboards and fridge bursting at the seams and Father Christmas hopefully on his way, laden with toys and sweets, I can relax a little more and enjoy the remainder of the year (whatever is left of it anyway). One thing that is for certain is that this year's Christmas experience should prove to be a very different one to that of the last 2 years. Firstly, we will not be woken up to the sound of the local mosque calling everyone to prayer, at 4 am on Christmas morning. Being firmly rooted back in a Christian-dominated world, the day is a public holiday, so it will also feel like Christmas when we venture outside – the shops will be closed, roads relatively empty and no hint of working construction sites, turning the already dusty atmosphere into a desert sandstorm. We are kicking off the festivities at the whale bone arch on Christmas Eve for carols and mulled wine; and there is whisper that Father Christmas may put in an appearance – that is if the weather plays ball! The big day promises to be the usual combination of presents, a visit to the local drinking establishment, enough food to feed a small African village and the obligatory afternoon and early evening TV. I predict this will be all rounded off nicely by me falling asleep on the sofa in restful slumber as it tries to comprehend the Total War of consumption I have continuously waged on it all day. I can categorically state now, however, that I will be staying well and truly clear of Jagerbombs this Christmas Day! All in all, it promises to be a good day, especially as I will be spending it with my beautiful family. In fact, sitting here now, my Christmas spirit appears to be rising by the second, as I slug down large measures of Harvey's Bristol Cream and listen to Top of the Pops 2 blast out those old Christmas classics. I better be careful as I was planning on running in the morning… 

A short, but reflective blog entry for you today I am afraid. I will be blogging at greater length about more exciting news very shortly, as we are off to Volunteer Point to see the King Penguins next week. All that is left for now is for me to wish all you all, wherever you are in the world, an extremely merry and happy Christmas. 

Bird Brain!

Well, as I sit here and merrily tap away on the keyboard, the wind outside is doing its very best to prize the roofs off the houses of Stanley. Looking through the living room window, herds of white horses are prancing out by the Narrows, while every now and again the view is obscured by the odd shower of rain – which doesn't stick around long, due simply to the strength of the wind! Tonight's weather is in stark contrast to the blissful conditions of yesterday. In fact I even went running with shorts on for the first time since arriving here. The radio had predicted a sultry high temperature of 20° in some parts and although the wind had crept up again by the afternoon, it was really rather pleasantly warm. This is what it's like here. The weather changes at a drop of a hat - one day, the most beautiful songbird, the next, a roaring lion. Tonight we are definitely listening to a lion, and a grumpy one at that.

Again I must apologise for the lateness of another blog. Again my excuses are dominated by the amount of work I have to do. The Christmas holidays are rapidly approaching, when I will have 5, yes 5, blissful weeks to blog to my heart's content. The highlight should be our visit to Volunteer Point, to see the King Penguins, which we have booked already, and there are a few other trips planned, including New Year's Eve at Elephant Beach Farm on the west coast of the east island. That however, is for future blogs. The nature of this episode's content is of the feathery kind.

We have at last welcomed some new arrivals to the household, in the form of the webbed-feet, feathered variety. I arrived home from work on Wednesday evening to be greeted with a very excited Olivia, clutching a small, brown, fluffy duckling peering at me with its long neck. 3 more of the same were waddling around in the back passage way, along with another chick, to keep the already resident and rather bemused looking chick (now named Rita) company, which Olivia brought home from school a few weeks prior to this. Oh my god! The house had become a farmyard while I was away.

What can I say? Well, I have to admit the ducklings are incredibly cute. However, they are extremely messy! Not only do they defecate (putting it politely for blog purposes) everywhere, but they spill their drinking water everywhere as well, which only serves to make the stuff coming out of their back ends even messier. Add to this rather noxious mix, we had the chicks also doing their best to resemble industrial fertiliser-producers. This scenario was not going to continue long. The birds were going outside tomorrow.

During the day, the birds are out. They do not wander far from the coop structure that we have already made, preferring to stay near the food and water. In fact when they are left on their own, they quite often hide around the back of it or inside – I think they feel a little vulnerable being so small. We get some big, intimidating birds soaring around the skies here. During the night they are safely bedded down in the rather posh and brand new eco, flat-pack chicken coop we have also bought. I am not saying how much this thing cost us, but it's safe to say that Caz has now received her Christmas present for this year (Merry Christmas Caz!). These damn birds better produce eggs, and lots of them!

 Ducks, being ducks, do like the water. We have buried a kitchen sink (courtesy of a local builder) in the back garden for them to bath themselves, however it appears their favourite time of the day is the special bath Caz has been giving them in our own bath. In fact, they have enjoyed this so much that they all decided to bring themselves in through the open back door the other evening, and start heading straight for the bathroom. Bird brain indeed! Watching them paddle, duck and even swim lengths of the bath underwater is admittedly extremely funny, however I do wonder about the practical logistics of such an exercise when they get bigger… let alone the mess in the bath! This slap-stick comedy of a scene all happens under the watchful guidance of the new chick perching on the side of the bath. This chick has spent so much time with the ducks that it thinks it is a duck - to the extent of actually jumping in the bath with them at one point. Definitely bird brain!