Aside from discovering Banrock Station Sparkling Shiraz during a delightful Christmas Day lunch on the verandah at Bagshot, it was a pretty subdued holiday break really. I suppose you could add the fox that we roadkilled which left a few scrapes on the front noseguard of the car while doing 80k down Clays Road also. But really, the rest of it was spent on doing a big jigsaw, crossword puzzles, regular shopping trips to Bendigo and a whimsical Swan Hill haul through dry, flat fields of countryside that most people want to forget. The trip that provided memorable moments such as missing the Pyramid Hill turnoff, wondering why people find Lake Boga so interesting and us getting snappy at each other over future budget plans. A section of our driveway at Bagshot had been eroded away by the rains in the last month, as the excess snuck round the north side of the dam and left long bare patches with no topsoil. So much for revegetating those bits. Everything was pretty green and lush and we had our first honeyeaters in the garden – a triumph! We got back home and I just knew I had to make a start on the plaster repairs in the computer room. It got stripped out, dust masks were purchased and I spent a few days trying to make the best of it. Why we originally painted a small room such a dark color is beyond me. In the new look of tainted undercoat grey, it’s so much brighter and summery. The dogs were mystified by the clear plastic door film which kept the dust contained, and would try and bury underneath it to reach THEIR MOST FAVOURITE PERSON IN THE WORLD. But I was too busy trying to not steam up my glasses and keep all that muck out of my lungs. Kim was ok about temporarily setting up the PC after my first coat – after all it had been 3 days, we did have a good lot of thunderstorms brewing, so instead of a wondeful night’s sleep before my first day back at work, it was radar watching at 3am, and 4am, then a massive headache all morning. What a crap way to start work in January.