christmas part deux

The fantastic thing about our Christmas day every year is the beautiful contrast between our families. We have a full-blown traditional lunch with my family and finish the day with a seafood vegetarian feast by the sea with extreme amounts of blue cheese and red wine in one of the original homesteads in Inverloch, the beautiful 'Shirwell'. I love it.

Mr M's brother and his girlfriend created the happiest Christmas tree I have ever seen on the front verandah of Shirwell with some gumtree branches, orange and yellow nasturtiums, purple flowering chives and daisy chains. Very much summed up the vibe of Christmas at the beach.

Christmas dinner was a feast of whole snapper, barbequed prawns with chilli and lime and an array of vegetarian delights. Guitars and singing on the front verandah followed by a bit of yoga and tai chi on the lawn is always welcome with Mr M's family. So very chilled out. Lots of incense wafting through the kitchen, Bollywood tunes in the background and political banter over the dinner table.

Mr M and I went for a long(ish) walk on the beach Boxing Day morning with Tessa and Mr M's sister's new dog Gracie. We do a round-robin type of Kris Kringle game where everybody contributes three gifts of $10 or lesser value. This year I cleaned up with this cool shopping bag from India care of Matt's aunty and uncle who frequent there, as well as some Margaret River lime and vanilla marmalade and a mint bush.

I hope your Christmas was sprinkled with as much love, good cheer, yummy food and relaxation as mine!