Following the wild success of our Xmas trip to Hong Kong, we were planning a similar trip this year and had budgeted accordingly.

But when we attended Sydney Contemporary in September, our travel plans flew out the window. We fell completely in love with a painting by the wonderful Robert Malherbe. Unfortunately the work was the price of a brand new small car.

I’m not going to lie – we really, really agonised about this, so much did we love it. We even signed up to artmoney (absolutely genius initiative that provides interest-free loans to buy art!) just in case we wanted to pull the trigger. But sensibility and the desire to keep to ThePlan prevailed.

We did come away with a postcard of it, which looked at us sadly from the fridge:

some small consolation

But then, of course, we agonised some more. And then we thought, what if we forgo our planned holiday and go for a smaller, slightly less hideously expensive, work? And so we did!

Don had a work trip to Melbourne, visited the gallery and verily this was ours:

We absolutely adore it – and don’t mind a bit that we’re not going anywhere.

Merry Xmas!

Last evening Don and I headed out to King Lear at the Sydney Theatre Company. I’d bought the tickets way back in March and they were by way of a Xmas present to ourselves.

Good production. Utterly adored the minimalist sets. The storm was done fabulously. Should have pre-ordered intermission drinks.

Attending a play would be a Xmas tradition worth developing, I think.

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Xmas day started on exactly the right note with 40 pushups (knees!), 49 situps and 21 lunges (on each leg) and then a 5km run. I have turned into the type of person that I once mocked – what kind of nutcase would go running on Xmas morning?

The babies are Xmasing with the other half of their family and we’re having Joan and Ajax over for a late lunch, feat. roast chicken with the traditional accompaniments at Joan’s request. We were toying with turducken for a time, it proved rather insanely, eye-poppingly expensive.

I’ll be making my very first pavolva (eeeeep! so many versions to choose from – cornflour? vinegar? both? 150oC? 120oC?). Don and I were both staggered when Joan, the Xmas pudding evangelist/nazi, suggested this for dessert.

Will report back!

I couldn’t think of a better thing to do than to spend the day cooking – and I’m not even being sarcastic, passive/aggressive.

I might even succumb to a glass (or two) of bubbles.