"Neighbours....everybody needs good neighbours"!!

It's the 5th of December and I'm still not feeling festive! The weather has been 30C the past few days and I'm struggling a little at work, I'm just so lethargic in the afternoon even with the air conditioning on! Having watched the news, and heard from friends and family back home though, the cold snap seems to be continuing in Scotland, can't believe there is an avalanche warning for Arthur's Seat! Even though the snow is a pest, the photos we have seen on Facebook have been glorious, would love a mulled wine from the Christmas market! I shall, however, appreciate the summer and stop whinging about how hot it is as I know how cold you must be at the moment. Get your thermals on!

Once again, it's been a busy week at work for me - don't think Bob is too snowed under as he is into his final two weeks at work and appears to be on the internet quite a lot, emailing people and reading the news. In fact, he managed to download a virus when trying to get onto the Guardian newspaper website which resulted in him having to close down his computer and send it away to I.T. He is now in the naughty corner counting the paperclips and trying to behave himself until his last day on the 10th! Myself and the girls from work, Renee and Nat, decided to reward ourselves with cocktail hour at the local wine bar at 430 on Friday, this could become a rather nice habit! Feet up in the beer garden with the sun shining, brilliant. Then it was off home for me to make some mulled wine to take to the netball gathering at another Nat's house, which no one was game to try (most of the girls had never heard of it). Ah well, more for me!

The MO is finally off! That thing was horrendous, even Bob would say it himself. It was very strange to see him with a smooth face!! I've put some photos up so you can check out the transformation.

A trip to Dandenong was on the cards for Saturday morning to get the haggis! Can't believe a round trip of 2 hours and $1oo was what was required to prepare for the Scottish party but I must admit, I had a fun time in the british butchers getting some haggis and square sausage and some tattie scones, hurrah! Also got some macaroon bars and pickled onion monster munch, yum yum. A detour via Chadstone (love that place) for some final christmas pressies before heading home for 11am. When the sun shines, it's easier to get up earlier and get things done!

Sportswise, we've managed to get a couple of games of tennis in after work, it really is not weather for the gym! Bob played with the Dingos in twilight golf on Thursday which resulted in a loss sadly but he managed to tee off at 730am on Saturday morning for the monthly medal in 30C heat before heading to the tennis club to play our match from 1-5pm, he was wilting towards the end and is sore today!! Our tennis match was mediocre; Bob played well in his men's doubles but we didn't play well together in the mixed, although we do think we're getting a little bit better....a sweaty palm does not make for a good grip on the racquet!! Think i'll need to do something about that

It's now 9pm on Sunday evening and I'm absolutely knackered as we've had an eventful day of Scottishness from haggis eating, irn bru tasting, whisky drinking and ceilidh dancing with neighbours, netballers, golfers and work pals! Most people were willing to at least try the haggis, but unfortunately there is a tv show on at the moment, hosted by radio celebrities Hamish and Andy, which showed how haggis was made and what it is made from so I don't think that helped sell it to our friends! (You can check out Skye and Stacey's reaction in the video when Bob is cutting open the haggis, it's quite amusing)

With the music playlist sorted and bbq ready to go, our first netball visitors Liza, Skye, Stacey and Ashlea arrived followed by Renee, the myotherapist from my work. A relaxing couple of hours in the sun with a glass of wine and some irn bru was enjoyed by all, before we decided it was time to crank up the Runrig and show them how to dance - there were 6 of us so the Dashing White Sergeant seemed like the obvious choice - very very funny although actually harder to dance in a pair of flip flops compared to high heels! (If you're reading this Lindsey and Margaret, Bob still doesn't know how to teach the correct dancing techniques!! - I didn't intervene this time though)

Square sausage and black pudding rolls were given out for those who were feeling a little hungover but I don't think they were enjoyed very much. Stacey decided that if she had to try the haggis, Bob would have to try the Vegemite on toast, which I don't think was enjoyed very much either! Maybe we'll keep our haggis and the ozzies can keep their Vegemite, that way everyone will be happy : )

Bob's golfing buddies David, Peter, Penny and Anna arrived later on, along with our immediate next door neighbours Tess, Brendan (who are in their mid 20's) and 7 month old Lincoln. Tess was keen to ask how many huntsman spiders we'd had in our house as they had had quite a few. The conversation went some thing like this - Tess: "So have you had many spiders in your house?" Me: "Only the ones with the small bodies and big legs, see about 2-3 per day, that's enough for me!" Tess: Wow, you're lucky, we've had quite a few big hairy ones" Me: "Well we haven't seen any yet but I think I'll probably bypass the screaming and simply pass out and die if I do" Tess: "Even worse, we had a wolf spider in our house, they're even bigger and they're more aggressive, they actually run towards you not away from you" Me: Silence (the blood is now draining from my face) "Hmm, that's interesting, isn't the weather nice today".....

Em, thanks love but I really really didn't need to know that! The conversation turns to snakes, apparenty if we see one (which is likely) we've to hit it over the head with a shovel (which I've heard is illegal) but you can't miss otherwise you'll make it mad. Why did we move to this country again??

Debbie, who works with Bob, and her partner Tony arrive later, they've brought their little Scottish policeman mascot teddy thing and tell us tales of their Scottish relations, including the stories of the clash between the Macdonalds and the Campbells, and the Bannockburn and Culloden battles. Someone asks about Saint Andrews "well, he was cannonised, he must have done something good?" - hmmm, something I should really know but don't - so I tell him he was famous for creating the first golf course in Scotland. Then Bob comes along and tells the real story about Saint Andrew being the first guy to get a hole in one, which was met with much hilarity! Then he tells the real real story which makes me think I should've listened more in History lessons....ah well, everyday is a school day!

The day goes well, from sunshine outdoors to inside for a sit down dinner. Anna has made a lovely pavlova and Penny brought some local cheeses which were delicious. We met our neighbour Marion, a 70 year old Londoner who has been out here for 52 years. Her son plays tennis with us in Drouin so he came along too, she enjoyed the haggis and got tucked into the whiskey too! We think we'll like Marion.

A random mix of people made for a random day, but it really was good fun and we've realised we have made some fantastic friends. Here's some videos to enjoy, I'm off to bed! x x x