All posts in a little CELEBRATING

Our gingerbread house was so much less stressful this year, usually it’s a battle against nature to get it up before it all melts in the heat. I have discovered the secret is in the icing mix. This recipe that I posted earlier is a winner.

It’s become somewhat of a tradition, I have been assembling a gingerbread house with my Dad the last few years. I love doing these things with him. Without putting a lot of forethought into it I guess I have started some Christmas traditions for my boys. I’m sure they will remember them with joy in their hearts. The excitement of waking up to see what’s in the calendar each morning, the smell of the gingerbread house, the Baby D Martin Christmas album I have on repeat for the whole of December.

I’ve been thinking about what Christmas traditions I had when I was small. I can’t think of anything traditionally Christmasy. Growing up in the Northern Territory there were no real Christmas trees, (too hot for them to grow), no gingerbread cookies on the fake tree (the ants would get them) and no swimming at the beach (crocs and jellyfish had it to themselves). With Christmas falling in the Wet Season we would have a big breakfast on the verandah and by 10 am the day would already be heavy with humidity. In spite of the weather, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without the serving up of baked ham and hot roast with gravy at lunch. After lunch, when we were all drowsy from overeating, just when we the heat was getting too much to take, the sky would erupt with an afternoon thunderstorm.

There’s nothing like the monsoon rain, quickly the air changes, there is a coolness to it that hints at the relief that is to come. You can smell the rain coming. The sky shifts from light blue to deep violet and the colours of the trees and grass become more vivid. You hear the drumming of the raindrops on the tin roof before you see them, and then suddenly the heavens open and within minutes there are channels of water gushing over the earth. The raindrops are so generous and the relief is instant. You can’t resist running out into the yard looking skyward and spinning around it. We always ended up playing backyard cricket in the afternoon rainstorm on Christmas day.

So maybe not your typical Christmas, but it was magic nonetheless.