A MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

We had a wonderful Christmas in our new Cardinal Nest.

Our first visitors came soon after 9 am, with gifting and brunch for all...

The new living room was perfectly suited to gathering around the Christmas tree, with children, grandchildren and grand-puppies all having a great day.  After presents and a fine lunch, the swimming was the main attraction for the afternoon.

Mr Red Cardinal gave me a longed-for bird bath for the new garden.  We are working hard to put our own stamp on this garden and have started feeding the local birds.

There are lots of lorikeets about, but they are hard to catch in a photo..

Google image

These are some old favourite ornaments, gifted by blog readers of long-standing.

I hope you know who you are :)

In the spirit of the Red Cardinal Blog, I have been researching the Royal Christmas fashions for 2025..

Queen Camilla and Princess Anne in chic red coats and a red hat

This is the first year I have noticed colour theming among the royal family and their guests at Christmas morning church in Sandringham:  Tones of red and brown were very co-ordinated, and had a lovely Autumnal feel...

Catherine, Princess of Wales, looked beautiful in a brown tartan coat, over a pleated check skirt, with a silk scarf, all in tones of brown, with a dark brown hat...

Princess Charlotte in a camel coat with dark trim, and red flowers too!

Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice continue the theme with ruby toned hats, and warm coats in check and camel..

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, in a light check coat with burgundy trim..

Zara Tindall, the daughter of Princess Anne, in a pretty hat (she will be here in Queensland next week!)

Well done all for this picture-pretty turnout.

And I thought it was all happenstance....

I hope you are all enjoying the peaceful space after Christmas.

Unless you are going to the sales....

Happy New Year to you.  May 2026 be filled with happiness and peace on earth.

XXXXX

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

 

Best wishes for Peace on Earth, and a very Happy Christmas and great New Year to all readers of the Red Cardinal blog.

XXXXX

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM THE RED CARDINAL

 

Greetings from the new Red Cardinal nest.  I hope you are all well, and I hope to get around all your blogs before Christmas.  We moved into our new home in November, and it is indeed very different from our previous and much-loved house, high on the hill with lovely views.

On arrival here, one of the first things I did was put up the Christmas tree, in the front room looking to the enclosed garden outside.

We now live on one level, bungalow style with no steps, a life-time first for me.  The garden area is smaller, but we still have a swimming pool, this time much closer to the house:

I have set up my sewing corner overlooking the pool, to get good light on my work.  However, only a bit of mending has happened to date...

We gave away a great deal of our accumulated possessions in order to downsize: months of donations to local charities, to friends, or sold online in a few cases.  I tried to keep all that I particularly love although find I now am missing a lot of items that need replacing.  

I soon found the very neutral palette of the new house uninspiring, so bought this fun pot with a cheeky parrot to brighten up the kitchen bench.

We just celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary, and this is our fourth home together.  After we sold our previous house, there were 2-3 weeks before we could settle purchase of the new place.  This made life very hectic for a while, as a lot of things we had planned to move ourselves to keep them safe, had to been sent to family and friends.  As well, our furniture was separated into containers in two separate locations.  Altogether we had items in nine different places (I am glad I have five siblings!).

We spent a few days a two different beach locations, and with our two Brisbane sons.

I find it difficult to get clear photos in this house, I think because all the windows have been tinted to protect from the sun.  There are many other things to get used to, but essentially the house fitted the brief for old age:  no steps, walking distance from the shops and churches, lots of friends living quite close, a study/workroom for each of us, plus two bedrooms.  We love a garden, and are planning to put our own stamp on what is here.  This garden was professionally done a couple of years ago in a very modern style with a lot of native grasses and succulents.  

I brought cuttings of some of my favourite flowers:

Little by little we will insert them around the house wherever the sun factor is appropriate.  We are having a heatwave, which always makes things tricky.  I have received two pink roses as birthday gifts, so am nurturing them.  Sadly, I was unsuccessful in all of my ten attempts to strike a new plant from the prolific pink rose at our old nest (pictured at the top of my blog page).

I think almost all our belongings have now rejoined us (although I can't find a few items).  The house is beginning to look like home, and we enjoy walking around the friendly neighbourhood.  I have found it difficult to settle, and I am not sure why.  It was a long a difficult operation over six months to get to where we are, so perhaps my body is just catching up.  Getting back into normal routines and activities is my aim, but it was impossible until over 100 boxes were unpacked and places found for everything.  

The grandkids love the pool, which is a great joy to us both!

In a few days it will be Christmas.  I have been to choir practice and will sing on Christmas Eve.  We will have family here on Christmas day and will celebrate our new Red Cardinal nest.

I hope you are enjoying the Season, and your Christmas prep is going well.

Love to all

XXXX

THE CARDINAL NEST

 

Greetings from the Red Cardinal nest..

Four months have flown by since we returned from our gorgeous Musical tour in Europe...

Four months during which we made a decision to downsize from our beloved home of 21 years, high on a hill on the Western fringe of Brisbane.

It is a large home, and we have filled every corner of it with our collections of books, art, collectibles, and memories of our lives, our family and our travels.

The 'Garden of Neglect' has always been a particular pleasure and challenge, but the time has come to find a less challenging place.

We have gradually worked our way through every part of our house, and via the usual downsizing methods, have donated, sold, given away or otherwise disposed of a large portion of our possessions.

I have had to cull, then pack, my collections of fabric and general haberdashery, and sold off a couple of sewing machines.  My art and journal supplies and all my sheet music have been edited considerably in size, and are packed in moving boxes.  We still have too many photos, but we are working on that.

About 50 boxes have been packed to come with us, and there will be many more.  

We have worked at it every waking moment that we can, while maintaining our normal commitments in the community.

As well, we have been searching for a suitable new home.

I have taken hardly any photos over the months: too busy!  These views were taken by a professional photographer.

Half of our furniture has now gone into storage, and what remains has been professionally styled for sale.  It no longer looks like our old Red Cardinal nest.  It is chic, but impersonal, as is the requirement for sale these days.

Everything personal has been secreted away...

And this weekend, we had our first Open House as our property went onto the market for sale.

A lot of people came, and we are looking forward to feedback from our agent.

Every day since May I have spent 30-40 minutes going through real estate websites of houses for sale in our preferred areas.  It is a soul-destroying exercise after a few months...

Most weekends we have been to several carefully chosen Open Houses, only to find some insurmountable obstacle when we see them.

Nothing seemed to beckon us as suitable.

But we did eventually find out about a special house, which was being prepared for sale.

Finally, last week, we were able to see it.

It was The One!

Perfect on the important levels, charming and inviting, and within walking distance of my church, local shops, and many friends in the area.  

Reader, we made an offer immediately!

And after a bit of negotiation, our offer was accepted.

Legals have been worked on this week, and all is well.

We just need to find a keen buyer for our lovely old house.

Hope you are all well, and I hope I can get back to more blogging when the pressure is off a bit.

Love from The Red Cardinal

BACK AT LAST

 

Hello from the Red Cardinal nest.  I hope you all are well.

I know, it has been a long break from blogging.

We had the most marvelous trip to Europe in April for the Easter Music Festivals in Salzburg, Munich and Baden Baden.

Our flight from Brisbane to Dubai, over 14 hours, went very smoothly and I managed to sleep for seven hours. 

I then watched the film Conclave, not knowing that in a few weeks a new conclave would be held in Rome, and a new Pope would be appointed.

We spent 24 hours in Dubai to rest and re-set our body clocks.  Our hotel overlooked the famous Dubai Creek where we watched busy little Arab boats come and go.

Palm trees decorated the foyer...

Then it was off to Europe, a much shorter six hour flight to Munich.

It was a great relief to see our pre-arranged driver waiting, with a sign just for us.  We then enjoyed a very comfortable two-hour drive to Salzburg.  The autobahn followed the Alps all the way, the first time we have seen them.  Bright green meadows lined the road, then the snow-capped Alps reared straight up behind the cute little farms.

I loved Salzburg.  Our hotel was situated on the main shopping street, and faced the river at the back.  It was a very historic building, with quaint little inner courtyards, unexpected staircases and large rooms, and it was very comfortable.

A few yards away was a house where Schubert lived...

and a little further, Mozart's childhood home.

Of course, we had to take the horse-and-carriage City Tour..

Mozart: Salzburg's most famous son...

Up on the fort overlooking the city which appears many times in the background of the movie 'The Sound of Music'..

After two days exploring, we were joined by the other members of our Music Tour group, and we enjoyed a welcome dinner at the hotel.  We were a small group of 15 music lovers from Australia, with a tour leader and manager.

Day tours included visiting Mozart's house where we inspected the fascinating original manuscripts of hundreds of his compositions including from childhood.  We also saw his piano and violin, and other memorabilia.  

And then it was time for the concerts to begin:

Here I am in the late afternoon arriving at the Grosses Festspielhaus for our first Opera: Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina. 

I have some other news to tell.

On return from our journey, we have decided to sell our Red Cardinal nest.

Our lovely home has become too difficult for us to look after in our advancing years, and we are looking for another house, closer to amenities and services, on one level and with a much smaller garden.

It will be sad, but we know the time is right.

I have been extremely busy turning out my cupboards, looking at other properties, and generally getting ready to sell.  We will have a big garage sale in a few weeks and will keep only what is necessary and important in our lives, and what brings us joy.

I will try to get around to your blogs whenever I get a little rest time.

Keep well and enjoy the season.

XXXXX