I was cactus all day presumably because of the long hard day yesterday. We had planned to go to the Samin's for happy hour but Jean had a headache so I went by myself.
Vicki's mother and three of their children had come for Xmas with their children and dogs which made for quite a crowd, We had a pleasant chat.
There being no watchable TV, we watched a DVD I had bought at the Lion's cake stall. It was a Roger Moore film called Fire, Ice and Dynamite. Jean commented that Roger Moore has a reputation for making extremely bad films in later life and this was certainly one of them.
I got two Xmas emails in the morning which was nice.
We had presents from Santa which made breakfast a happy occasion.
During the morning we had several glasses of Kahlua and cream which made the morning a pretty happy occasion.
We had a fine lunch of roast pork with lots of vegetables and plum pudding with brandy sauce washed down with Banrock Station Shiraz; another happy occasion.
In the afternoon we went to the Samin's for another happy hour.
In the evening, we had a Xmas phone calls from Brisbane which made for a happy evening.
Boxing Day dawned overcast and cool. This is not normal for this time of year. Apparently the unseasonal weather is widespread with snow in the high country in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
We spent the day eating, drinking and watching yacht racing and cricket.
We took another trip to Tamworth. Spotlight were having a sale so we bought some curtains for the kitchen, I needed some hardware that I couldn't buy in Barraba and I wanted to download some more software. We strolled round the usual shops and I found a book called Freakonomics which I hope will improve my understanding of how the world is broken in so many ways. We went to Rivers but neither of us could find anything to buy.
As we were earlier than usual, on the way home we went to Split Rock Dam. We went to see the camping area. It looks pretty ordinary now because the water level is less than 3%. On the way to the dam itself, we had to stop to let two bluetongues cross the road. The dam is quite impressive even without much water behind it. While we were looking at the outlet tower, a couple of young fellows came up. They were from a farm downstream of the dam and told us that the water running from the dam had been sold to the cotton farmers in the Namoi Valley. In fact, they said, more water has been sold than is in the dam at the moment so even when the Manilla River flows again the dam won't start to fill until the present obligations have been met. So much for rational water management.
The water heater refused to fire up. I checked it thoroughly but couldn't find any way to fix it. Everything was working except the supply of gas to the main burners. I rang the Gas Company and they put me onto the Bosch agent in Tamworth who gave me some advice about what to do next. He suggested that the gas supply might be inadequate. I changed over to the other cylinder and all came good.
I put in some time modifying the insect screen for the new gazebo but didn't get it finished. I had to take to my bed in the afternoon.
In the evening, I went to the Lions dinner meeting. I was formally thanked for my contribution to the Lions Xmas Tree project.
I finished the insect screen for the new gazebo. It seemed to wok all right and with access on two sides it is possible to get at the clothes line without too much trouble. There is a minor problem as the insect screen doesn't allow the guy ropes to be in place. In the afternoon a gust of wind carried the whole thing away. Luckily the clothes line stopped it before it went next door and it wasn't damaged. I took the insect screen off and put the guy ropes back in place. I'll have to do some kind of modification before I can install the insect screen again. As there are no biting insects about at the moment all is well.
In the afternoon, I finished the kitchen curtains. They look pretty good and will keep out the sun when needed.