Producing for Christmas lunch, a few outings and lots of singing

 Since I posted last Alec and I have had a lovely time harvesting the potatoes we planted a few months ago.

And there were bananas too. Lots of them. I had to dry a whole bunch because they all ripened at once.

We had a Good and Fugly box of fruit and veg delivered and guess what? More bananas and potatoes.

Cathy and I met her son Jamie at my church on Wednesday evening and we went to the jazz concert Alec was playing at. It was a Christmas concert and was amazing. Thanks Alec.

Saturday and Sunday were spent singing Handle's Messiah and also our normal Sunday morning church service. Lots of singing - 2.5 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday and I had no troubles with my voice. I had actually attended all rehearsals for Messiah which I have not been able to do for a long time.

On Monday this week Stephanie and I met Janice and Mick in at Circular Quay and went on a discovery tour. After a walk past Susannah Place and the archaeological Big Dig site we stopped for drinks at the Australian Hotel. This is a beautiful old pub and well worth the stop.

Then a walk along on this level until we could go no further. We came across an amazing reconstruction and renovation of parts of the old terrace houses that had been demolished.

Even the toilets were there, or at least the hole where the can would have sat.

We finished our tour at the Well at the back of the Surgeon's house near the old Sydney hospital. The man who runs a bike shop there gave us a potted history of the place and allowed us to look through the house too.

On Tuesday I joined my friends from playgroup over 40 years ago. We now catch up at breakfast once a month and have kept in touch for all those years.

Ahh! A tall young man is boarding with me so we were able to harvest all my grapes. The birds and bees have always taken them long before I was able to get them and I can't reach them anyway.

What to do with all those grapes that don't really ripen to sweet off the vine? I made chutney and especially made it without onion so that Alec's Dad can have some. He is allergic to onions.

This morning I was able to remove some of the banana stumps from my garden that had already produced and some others that were encroaching on my other plants. 

In doing so I noticed that my custard apple tree is now doing much better without bananas taking all the water and shading it completely. There are quite a few flowers on it. I hope I get some custard apples next spring.

As well as the produce I have photographed I have also had a lot of beans from my climbing bean pot that used to be the old pond where the shed now has been erected. They'll be for Christmas lunch when I'll have quite a crowd here. There have also been plenty of tomatoes, just the small ones.