Only in the Southern Hemisphere can I write a blog post about Christmas/New Years and making a pie from freshly picked cherries!
It’s been an awfully long time since I wrote a new blog entry about anything at all -- and my excuse is not a novel one. Things have been busy! We’ve moved into a new house in Dunedin (photos to come) and we absolutely love it. We bought a new (to us) car – a simple 2002 Toyota and my absolute thrilled excitement about it is justifiable when I explain that my previous car was a 1989 Toyota that we paid $200 for! I’ve been studying and working and these things are going well… My mom has come and gone – she came for 3 weeks to experience the oddities of Christmas in mid-summer. And last but surely not least, I was recently diagnosed with a health condition that requires some managing. I won’t write about it right here right now, but it has been a significant experience.
What do all these things have in common? They have all greatly impacted and primarily advanced how “at home” I feel in New Zealand. Indeed this last year, overall, my 5th in New Zealand, has been some sort of a turning point in feeling more peacefully settled in this country. More on some of these things later… But for now, a couple of little things. This year, I got to make Christmas sugar cookies with my mom just like the old days, but with some New Zealand flare.
And, on my way home from my in-laws at the end of a lovely Christmas Day, I realized that it didn’t feel quite like Christmas was complete yet – because I hadn’t been to the beach!!! Goodness, I am turning a little bit more Kiwi afterall.
So on the way home, I made a quick detour and felt much better.
And what did I do on New Year’s Day? Well I went for a long, hot tramp (hike).
And on January 2nd I picked gorgeous, fresh cherries straight off their abundantly covered trees at an orchard in Cromwell. And on January 3rd, I made a delicious cherry pie.
Now that’s a good start to a new year in mid-summer that I could turn into a tradition and get very used to!
And Happy New Year!
I like the hand picked cherry pie and visit to the beach as newer holiday traditions! So glad you got to make cookies with your mom and I do like the newly introduced kiwi cookie cutter designs.
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