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Bendoc for Christmas
On Thursday 22nd December we drove to Bendoc. It was four weeks after Will's death; by now he had been dead as long as he had been alive. Christmas itself proved not to be difficult for us, as we had not expected him home by then. When we arrived in Bendoc, we celebrated opa's birthday two days late - fortunately, there was
cake left. We helped opa set up the
flyproof dining tent and
trampoline. After that, Piet and Emma helped opa assemble a digger in the
workshop. Opa had found it at the local garbage tip and fixed it up. With a new coat of paint it looks as new.
Eucalypt christmas tree
All of us walked to the backpaddock to find a suitable
gumtree branch to use as a christmas tree, just like in
December 2008. As the grass was knee high for the adults - higher than opa remembers ever seeing it in that region -
Emma and
Piet happily stayed in their
rucksacks. Later they helped
decorate the christmas tree.
Piet tends to wake first, around 7am. After a little play, he discovered his christmas stocking and unwrapped his presents. When Emma got up - normally around 8am - Piet watched her
unwrap her little presents. Then he remembered he had seen Will's stocking in his parents bedroom and asked permission to check out that one. He discovered it was empty.
Piet and Emma helped grannybunts to stir the
christmas pudding and toss in old coins. After lunch, consisting of a traditional barbecue, we unwrapped the
presents that did not fit into the stockings. Emma had fun playing the
xylophone and keyboard with opa. Then she tried to build a
tower of Babel out of Duplo blocks.
Sarah's cousin Bill read Piet a book. He likes books and can often be found on oma's lap listening to a new story - the children's library is quite diffent in Bendoc. Approaching year end, the weather got hotter and people started squirting each other with water. Piet was most enthusiastic, but opa participated too. We concluded the year with a nudie run round the flyproof tent.
New kitchen window panes
During our visit, we gave opa a hand with the renovation of the kitchen windows. The new glass panes were a thank-you present for grannybunts. Our work culminated in the
installation of the
windows on the final day of our stay. The windows look good from the
inside and
outside, note the butterfly in the middle of the top pane. In the afternoon, Piet and Emma
helped plant
bulbs in the shape of a
W. Nearby are the letters P and E in bulbs planted in
April 2011 and a little oak tree, which Piet
proudly remembers planting.
Weribee zoo
Back home, the first few days were fairly hot, so we enjoyed our pool. Emma has lost all fear of water and does not tire of
jumping in. On Monday, we went to Weribee Zoo. Thanks to
Jordan's map reading skills, we found our way to the safari bus, which brought us past the
wildlife. Then we had a
picnic with ever popular fries.
From the Netherlands we received the happy news that we have a new niece and cousin: Maartje Hanna Willemijn. What a beautiful name.
