The sky was was the bluest blue I could imagine, and there were literally no clouds in the sky as I stepped out of the Munno Para shopping centre and into the mild but warm wind of the car park.
It was going to be a hot day.
I’d just bought 2 litres of Pepsi Max and 1.25 litres of Lipton’s Peach Iced Tea and was putting the bottles in my backpack as I waited for the others to bring their shopping back to the car. We were going to party like it was New Year’s Eve.
The ‘others’ mentioned above were my friend Dave, his girlfriend Michelle and three of her four kids. We were expecting Steve to come over later in the evening. As it was just after lunch so there was a lot that needed to be done before then.
The first task to put all of the shopping away, then because the kids got a swing set for Christmas that had to be set up.
Speaking of Christmas, I largely just stayed home and played Splinterlands and ate a self-saucing chocolate pudding. Diabetes be damned; it was Christmas after all!
The best tasting chocolate pudding ever!
In order to set up the swing set, the backyard needed a bit of work. Why this wasn’t done before New Year’s Eve is beyond me, and even though I was a guest, I soon found myself with rake in hand scraping up weeds. Then we needed to get some pegs to make sure the artificial grass matting was tethered to the ground. Also, probably not something you should attempt on the last day of the year, as of course, the pegs we needed weren’t found at the nearest hardware store. We made do though. It was hot, dry and dusty work. Good thing I got the Pepsi Max and the Peach Iced Tea earlier.
Michelle, even though she was wearing sunscreen got severely sunburnt I found out later. I won’t show the photo, but imagine a woman’s back covered in line drawing tattoos, on a background of red flesh. Not pretty.
Steve turned up and we were soon setting up the swing set. Michelle went back inside to start dinner.
Steve and Dave assembling the swing set
The innuendoes flew thick and fast, and I wish I had been recording video instead of just taking photos. There were some nice zingers in there too.
Nothing suspicious going here. Nothing at all. Shifty eyes.
Caught in the act!
I don’t know why but these images trigger gigglefits every time I see them. I hope you also find them funny.
After several restarts we eventually got most of the swing set completed. It just needed the bottom part of one of the swings attached and the slippery dip to be installed and we would have been finished.
But the sky had long since become overcast and there was the mild threat of a suggestion of rain, which didn’t eventuate, but it was enough to drive a flock of sulphur-crested cockatoos squawking and screeching into the nearby trees looking for shelter. It signaled that dinner was ready.
Sate chicken and rice, salads, meats and other nibbles.
Chicken and corn dippers in tiger bread
The chicken and corn dippers were made by mixing sour cream, cream, and cream of chicken soup mix and corn kernels.
The meal was quite filling and we spent the rest of the night playing quiz based card games, drinking alcohol and exchanging belated Christmas gifts. I don’t drink alcohol personally.
Midnight clicked over and pretty soon there were fireworks going off. Not too many though as I think as last year was one I am sure many people wanted to see the back of.
I know I most certainly did.
Steve, after sobering up somewhat, drive me home and we continued to talk for a few hours more about future plans.
2020, for me, will hopefully be a year of rebuilding my momentum here on the Steem block-chain and having all sorts of adventures! I hope it’s the case for you too!
Until then, see you in the kitchen...
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