Monday, January 26, 2015

AUSTRALIANS ALL LET US REJOICE


Happy Australia Day!

Today is our national holiday, a day to give thanks for our wide brown land.
As is our custom, I began the day singing patriotic songs with my ladies choir:
at a Citizenship Ceremony for a large number of new citizens from all corners of the globe.  
It is always heart-warming, and we enjoy seeing the happiness of the candidates as they take the Oath of Alliegance, and receive their Certificates of Citizenship.




Little Aussie has been with us for the Aus-Day weekend...


 wearing his Aussie flag shorts...


and playing cowboys in a vest we acquired years ago in Fort Worth, Texas.


He is always a delight, and now enchants us using lots of three or four syllable words - naturally he is gifted  :)


We have been in the pool today - the perfect Australia Day activity.


The colours of our flag are of course, red, white and blue.
 I am wearing my blue lace Christmas top, and these


new little sandals which have come to live with us.
Mr C now calls me his Little Centipede...


Aussie brought his virtual pet bird, which we gave him for Christmas.
He calls him Greenie, which I must admit lacks originality..
but then, he's only five...



As a nation, we are a little greedy in the National Colour stakes,


also claiming the green/gold combination, especially for sporting uniforms.


For our annual Australia Day neighbourhood street party and barbeque, 
I made a green/yellow rice salad:


We had a perfect end to a busy day, sitting around in the evening cool on the street where we usually drive our cars!

Have a great week

xxxx








33 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Hi Suzy, a good and busy day - we slept well! xx

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  2. How meaningful it must be to sing when the new citizens are being accepted into your country. It looks like you had a perfect weekend to celebrate a national holiday. I know you must have enjoyed the time with your grandson.

    Darla

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    1. I always enjoy the welcome to the new citizens, Darla (even if we sing the same songs every year).
      Every time with the grandson is a new experience - how they grow, even in a few weeks.

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  3. Trish, good to see you had a lovely day, and I'm so jealous of your summer colors and pool! Our Spring will be just around the corner.

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    1. Hi Linda, Yes, we are having typical summer weather right now; our pool is similar to many we have seen in Texas. Soon you will have Spring, and we might get our little winter again.

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  4. Ooh have a delicious Australia Day!!

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    1. Thank you! Delicious, fun, and patriotic - all in a bundle :)

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  5. Sounds like you had a great Australia Day. Love the blue sandals and savory rice salad is one of my favourite makes when it comes to buffet food. Have a great week.

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    1. Hello Patricia. Glad you like my new sandals - you can't miss me in them, he he. I noticed everyone had a scoop of the rice salad - a universal favourite!

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  6. Congratulations to you on your Australia Day!
    Once again, a lovely cavalcade of pictures. Oh, those bermudas on little Aussie, mmm!
    And you have a top in my new blue color- great!
    I never knew you had a pool. Just perfect!

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    1. Thank you Mette. I am late to the party with the blue, but now on the band-wagon. Yes, we have a pool. I don't often go in, but it is more fun with a grandson involved. I cannot swim, and am past wanting to learn, but he kept trying to teach me, bless him. Unsuccessful at that, he then demonstrated a beautiful little dive!

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  7. Patricia, I have always wondered if I am an Australian citizen - I took out my citizenship the very hour that the Whitlam government was dismissed. What an irony. I have some friends that have never bothered taking out citizenship, which amazes me - you make a choice and you commit to it.

    I'm glad you had a nice day -it must have been warm if you were in the pool. We are cool and wet, wet, wet. Love the garden pictures - it's very lush.

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    1. Ha, so funny you took the oath when, maybe, there was no Government? I also know people who have never bothered with the citizenship. Suspect they like to keep their options open.
      It was hot, hot, hot! Has to be to get me in the pool :)

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  8. Happy Australia day. This is all new to me, so it has been great to see it on your blog. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thank you Katharine. We have our own weird and wonderful ways of celebrating our nation!

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  9. Sounds perfect Trish. I found myself singing along as soon as I read the first line of your post. Your little Aussie lad is adorable. Our pool has earned it's keep too xx

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    1. Singing along is actively encouraged on this blog, Michelle. Australia Day is always fun, and having the little guy here was the cherry on the cake! xx

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  10. A great way to celebrate the day!!! Love your new sandals and your pineapple napkins! I guess the choice of green and gold for the sporting colours is to differentiate from all the other red, white and blues, but I never thought about that before! Funny hey. Glad for you that you had a fun time! xx

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    1. Hi Amy, glad you like my blue-as-the-flag sandals, and you know I like a pineapple decor. Must admit, I have not sought out the origin of the green and gold, but imagine it is to do with nature.
      Australia Day is the last burst of summer fun, and today was back to school day for the nation's children. xx

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  11. How lovely it sounds. I wish we had an England Day but nobody here seems interested in that kind of thing. We should have citizenship ceremonies etc. too.

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    1. What a good idea, an England Day, Jenny. The citizenship ceremonies fit right in, and there are Australia Day honours, and the Australian of the Year too. All over now, and back to work/school for everybody!

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  12. How lovely it sounds. I wish we had an England Day but nobody here seems interested in that kind of thing. We should have citizenship ceremonies etc. too.

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  13. Such a lovely look into Australia Day! Thank you for sharing your customs my dear! I can only imagine how moving it must be to sing at a Citizenship Ceremony!

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    1. Thank you Tamera, I enjoy seeing aspects of North American culture too! Yes, very moving to be part of the Citizenship proceedings; we should never take our countries for granted.

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  14. I'm glad you had such a wonderful Australia Day, Patricia! The citizenship ceremony sounds like an amazing experience. I have been on the other end of such a ceremony when I got my Canadian citizenship, and I know what a moving experience it is. And I think Greenie is the perfect name. :-)

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    1. Hi Kristie, One of these days our daughter will achieve Canadian citizenship too - perhaps we can go over to the ceremony, which would be nice. Greenie thanks you, and sings a song from his repertoire!

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  15. What a wonderful day to celebrate - Australia Day! The chicken and rice dish looks so yummy. That red rose is so lovely and looks very unusual. I love your pool and all the greenery around your home. When we downsized to a smaller home, I left my big pool behind, and sometimes miss it so much. How nice that you got to spend time with your grandson over the weekend. He must be a delight for you. Those blue sandals are very cool.

    Have a great week, Patricia.

    love, ~Sheri

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    1. With the rain we have had recently, our garden is quite green, even lush, right now. Much better than when it is brown! When we downsize, there will definitely be no pool for us, either. Good on hot days, but a lot of maintenance involved, which we don't need as we age. The delightful Little Aussie started school today - a very big milestone :) xx

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  16. Hi Patricia,

    Thank you for visiting me blog and leaving a comment! What a difference the temperatures in our countries are! I must say the warm weather sounds lovely to me and your pool.......just perfect!

    Hope you had a lovely national day!

    Happy weekend!

    Madelief x

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    1. Hi Madelief, your blog is the prettiest place, and a great pleasure to visit. A little warm weather is very good, but after about 8 months, becomes quite tedious. Looking forward now to the Autumn, whenever it decides to arrive! Happy weekend in your beautiful garden! x

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  17. A belated Happy Australia Day, Patricia!

    Here I am again taking a break from all the winter cold and snow. Nice to see the beautiful flowers.

    And little Aussie is growing up so fast!!!

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    1. Thank you Debra. I have seen news reports of all the snow over in North America - it is a very cold year. We have lots of flowers and grass and shrubs growing very fast in the heat, and quite a bit of rain this summer, even tho the heat can be debilitating. Little Aussie has enjoyed his first day at school!

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