New Years Eve and Day

Well Godmother Sophie and her sister (also my long, longtime friend) Rose did come over for a visit.  Sophie always finds beautiful, ethical gifts from a shop in Fairfield (also North Carlton) called Fairground Child, which stocks gorgeous items like fair-trade toys, organic clothing and eco-friendly wooden toys.  A great place to go gift-shopping!

In the early evening, my best friend Amy came over to spend NYE with us, since her plans were all for NY day.  We had a few amazing bottles of Champagne, my favourite of which was a 1999 Pol Roger.  Sadly, of course I could only drink a few half-glasses throughout the night, as I wanted to make sure there was no alcohol in my breastmilk.  Incidentally, the Australian Breastfeeding Association has published an excellent guide to drinking alcohol and breastfeeding - you absolutely CAN have a drink or two, and this guide is useful for understanding when and how much you can drink.

The Daddy and I got out our Tiffany toasting flutes, which were an engagement present from one of my bridesmaids, my beautiful aunt Annette:

We got a load of cheese from Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder, which has an excellent cheeseroom.  We all got a little carried away and ate far too much Clarines, which is an exceptional but very rich cheese (also amazing baked with some pinot noir and garlic - see this recipe from the incredible Master of Cheese, Will Studd, who was a client of mine in my former life as a PR strategy manager)

It was over 40 degrees yesterday - our younger cat, Possum, who is only around 9 months old, looked like he was dying.  It was his first really hot day in his short life so far!

Tabitha ate a prawn - she really liked it, and likewise really enjoyed waving it around!  She managed to actually eat a fair amount.  We ate WAY too many prawns.  I have never felt ill from eating too many prawns before today, and I am a massive seafood fan!

We blew up the wading pool that Tabitha got for Christmas, and she enjoyed being dunked in it every time she got too hot.

I also enjoyed dunking my legs in it!  I predict we will all be spending a fair amount of time sitting in this little pool over Summer...  WARNING:  At this point in the evening, The Daddy started taking 'artistic photographs'!

Note the half-dead poor Possum cat in the background!  I really felt for him - but unfortunately he is not the brightest cat.  The older, wiser cat, Pudding, was lying on the cool floors inside.

Amy complained that her 'very comfy' Gorman dress was unflattering, but I think it's quite sweet.  At least it's more elegant than the cotton nightie I was wearing for our NYE celebrations!  Well that's what happens when you only have your nearest and dearest around, and are not leaving the house - PJs and not a scrap of makeup!

Tabitha on to prawn #2...

Oh, here is a photo of the Trampoline Ice Cream Christmas Pudding that I won last week in the Twitter competition!  We had a little of that last night.

Amy looking pretty happy with her cray:

I ate nearly as much melted butter as cray meat.  I think the melted butter is my favourite part:

The Daddy grilled his cray on the barbecue with loads of garlic butter.  I was too greedy to wait for that!  Here, Possum is somewhat revived (the sun was setting) and decided to finish off the crays and melted butter:

Well, we may not have gone out and partied, but we had an excellent and memorable night with Tabitha at home!

In the late morning, we walked to Friends of Mine in Richmond (so pleased to read it was open!) for brunch.  With a walk of around 40 minutes each way (Tabitha snug in her Ergo), I started to feel better about the butter/cheese/Champagne/mountain of prawns overindulgence of the night before.  Sadly, the very young man behind the counter cheerfully noted that I have another baby on the way, gesturing at my stomach.  Erm.  No, sorry son.  This is just what happens when you have a baby.  Boooo!  Perhaps time to lay off the Clarines.

At the end of today, we visited our friends Jasmine and Sam for a BBQ / pool party.  Too cold to swim, however enjoyed some excellent meat from Jaz's family farm!