And so that was Christmas

Christmas Day morning began with bagels with avocado, tomato, goat cheese and salmon (for me) or prosciutto (for Him Outdoors)

Christmas Day breakfast

The weather has turned pretty grim, but we went for a Christmas Day walk up Mt Painter anyway.

A friend called in on Christmas Day and we shared dinner with them, but there are no photos of it, so here is the evening supper cheese-board instead.

Cross section of the goat-cheese strawberries

Keeping a watchful eye on the cheese board

I really enjoy the family zoom call as we all get a chance to share festive greetings from wherever we are across the globe and several time zones. 

The Boxing Day meal is left over roast pork loin with a fresh green potato salad and a peach and doughnut trifle with spiced berry syrup.

A friend of ours loves trifle but no one else in their family does, so I made them a mini one and we dropped it round so they could still enjoy the sweet treat. I managed to pop out for a post-prandial perambulation between the (very heavy) rain showers. 

Another friend wanted a red filing cabinet. We had a spare that one that we didn't need, but it was green so we bought some spray paint and made it into the preferred colour. 

The Belconnen Fresh Food Markets, where I used to work, has undergone a face-lift, so we went down to have a look. I think it is generally an improvement (although the queueing system at my favourite bakery is bonkers), and I like this particular alteration, which feels like a European covered food market.

It seems it is agapantha season in the front garden.

Getting in a couple of trigs before the end of the year, we snuck in a drive to Namadgi National Park and bagged Boboyan Trig and Shanahan's Mountain.

Clear evidence of the fires that came through here

Boboyan Trig

The fires cleared the undergrowth, and the recent rain has created thriving growth opportunities for a plethora of wildflowers.

I promise we got to the top, but we couldn't find the trig or an obvious marker, so we just took a random sh*te selfie

And then we observed a mob of swamp wallabies.

Later that evening we were back down at To All My Friends with Original Gravity - well, they say routine is useful. 

Rounded out the year with a final trig point, walking up Mt Ainslie with Design Diva, followed by breakfast at Poppy's. 

For New Year's Eve we had some friends around to eat, drink, play silly games and be merry.

Calamity Sue is not keen to share

And it's Happy New Year and Goodnight from Him Outdoors, Melantho and Penelope.

Are We There Yet?

The lead-in to the silly season begins here. We don't really do it in a huge way, but I do like the trimmings - the tree and the food. For some reason red and green seem festively-themed, so here is meal number one: roast beef with jalapeno dressing served with radish and edamame salad with horseradish sour cream.  

Roast beef with jalapeno dressing 

Radish and edamame salad with horseradish sour cream

Meal number two is also rocking the red and green theme.

Spicy Thai-style red curry chicken and noodle soup

 

On the morning of Him Outdoors' birthday, we went for a walk around a new-ish track, the Ian Loiterton Track. Named in honour of Ian Loiterton (surprise!), the walk features information boards which explain the history, flora and fauna, and geology of the land. Ian Loiterton majored in geology for his BSc degree at the Australian National University.

Another information board tells us that the first European settlement of Aranda Bushland was in the mid-nineteenth century, when Francis Mowatt was granted land here, in the distyrict known as Weetangera. There was never a homestead in this area, the nearest being at the foot of Mount Painter. Cattle and sheep were grazed, and several old fence posts are still visible on this walk, as well as two farm dams and a low stone wall, probably built to control erosion.

Finneran's Road divides the forested upper part of Aranda Bushland for the woodland and grassland below. It was one of the earliest roads in the district, servicing the farms along the Molongo river, including this area, later called Glenloch. From the 1960s, when the suburb of Aranda was established, the forested slopes behind the houses were progressively excised from Glenloch and added to Canberra Nature Park. Later still, part of the lower grassland was excised to protect a patch of snow gums, rare survivors of the many that used to grow at this level in pre-European times.

"This walk is located on Ngunnawal Country, occupied by the Ngunnawal people for tens of thousands of years. We recognise the special relationship and connection that Ngunnawal people have with this Country. For time immemorial they have maintained a tangible and intangible cultural, social, environmental, spiritual, and economic connection to these lands and waters.

"Within this forested landscape evidence of Ngunnawal occupancy can be found. This evidence includes stone tools, scarred trees, and a nearby 'ring tree' signposting an ancient pathway. Our walk has been designed to avoid recorded Aboriginal Heritage sites, and any Aboriginal artifacts seen must be left undisturbed. 

"The area contains a major creek running south west from Black Mountain, edged on the east by a stee rocky ridge. The predominant underlying rock is the Pittman Formation-Acton Shale, which contains bands of chert, a hard rock used by the Ngunnawal for making cutting and scraping tools. There are also bands of quartz, which also were used for scrapers, though more difficult to shape into fine designs."

As we finished our walk, we were farewelled by this fellow. 

Eastern Bearded Dragon (Pogona barbata)

Later in the day, we went on a tram-based pub crawl for birthday celebrations, taking in six drinking establishments, with several friends and fellow imbibers. I'll write a full post elsewhere, but here are the highlights.

North-side birthday tram crawl

We had planned a Christmas Eve event, but unfortunate events meant we had to cancel. We did have a couple of friends (Dr Kay and Patience Itself - oddly not pictured) drop by to share in the canapes and festive drinks we had prepared. 

Salmon and beetroot bites

Goat-cheese strawberries

Truffle chocolates homemade by Patience Itself

Canapes with rosé sangria

While we had friends here, we were able to share the birthday boy's cake, which is great, as we will be eating it for weeks!

Christmas tree mud cake