Greetings from Aunty Claire

Hot off the press - I am now an aunt. My brother Greg and his wife Andrea gave birth to a baby girl, Lena, yesterday (Dec 23) in the UK. As yet there are currently no photos available, however we are all very excited about the new birth. Check Greg's website for further details, and I'll post some photos as soon as they are available.

A Bavarian Wedding in Canada

Table decorations, and Right: Greg and Andrea cut the cake

My brother Greg got married last December in Bavaria - complete with Lederhosen, and his wife Andrea in a Dirndl. Because Greg is Australian, Andrea is Canadian, and they were living in Germany, they had three wedding celebrations. Firstly in Munich, secondly in Sydney (unfortunately I was away in London at the time) and then lastly in Canada, in Andrea's hometown of Edmonton. Mum and I stopped into Edmonton for some time and got to meet many of the McLeods.

Left: Greg with Mum, and Right: Andrea's sister Shirley makes a speech for the couple

It was a beautiful sunny day, and was much enjoyed by all. We felt very welcome and it was great to meet so many new people, including all of Andrea's immediate family.



The McLeods also have a beautiful puppy, Koda, a black Labrador. A mischievous and friendly puppy, Koda liked to be part of the action.

Koda

Frohe Weihnachten!

I spent Christmas Day with Greg and Andrea in Munich, where we had collected a group of their friends to spend Christmas Day with. A great day/night was had by all.

Preparations: Here we can see Greg modelling our beverage preparation area. By the end of the day, this was fairly empty!

Presents: There were many presents well received by the recipient... Greg loved his copy of the 'Pool Room Edition' of The Castle, a great Australian film.

Culinary delights: The food prepared was one of the big successes of the day. There was so much, and it all tasted so good! Especially the flaming puddings. Yum!

Photography: It couldn't have been a Holmes sponsored event without cameras around. Greg and I did our best to keep up the tradition of the family Christmas photos throughout the evening.

Exercise: Here we are on the post eating and post drinking walk, posing at the Neue Pinakothek. We did a walk around the block and then headed back. It was quite cold outside after being indoors all day!

Frohe Weihnachten! (Merry Christmas!)

A trip cross-country

The downhill runs at Lenggries.

What better exercise on Christmas Eve when you are in the 'White Christmas' realms of the world is there, than a day's skiing. Greg and I took the BOB bahn from Munich down to Lenggries, not far from the Austrian border. We thought we'd have a go at some cross-country skiing.

I don't think I ended the day as a pro, but was certainly vastly improved. I felt like I was starting to get the hang of it, though it was very hard work... I think I fell asleep around 9pm that night, along with all of the good boys and girls waiting for Santa to come.

Proof that I did spend at least some of my time on skis standing up!



There was a lot of snow at Lenggries - a picnic was a little difficult, however it was very pretty. The world seemed a bit monochrome.

Here I am enjoying the snow, and Greg skiing along.

Greg up to mischief as we got back to town.