I had picked up some free carry cages from Freecycle that I thought Penny could use, so we dropped them around to her and whilst we were there adopted 2 gorgeous rats! They have been at the sanctuary for some time now and now we have a play room especially for the rats we thought we could give them a loving home. Their names are Cookie and Ratty. Ratty is a boy, but he has been desexed so he can live happily with the girls. They are adorable and settling in well. They are a bit wary, but love having their free range time and are getting more confident every day.

Penny took us to the plant nursery next door to the sanctuary and it was so much fun. They provide plants to big stores like Bunnings and Aldi and all the plants that are not sold are returned and go on the compost heap. We were allowed to take whatever we wanted!  We took plants off of the trolleys by the compost heap and had even more fun climbing all over the heap finding plants and throwing them to each other. We filled up Penny’s van with about $1000 worth of plants and have spent this week planting them in the garden and in pots. They are all very healthy and were just a bit too big for the stores to sell. It felt like we had hit the jackpot when we drove home with our car full to the brim with plants and two cute little ratties in a carrier on our laps. Penny says we can go back and get more plants whenever we like! Check out the photos of our treasure…

I know Dad has been wanting to see some photos of our house and garden in Dundas Valley, so here they are!

The children’s fireworks were at 9pm and were quite stunning, but the main fireworks really were breath-taking. All the boats had different coloured bright lights all over them and it looked beautiful. It is a shame our photos of the fireworks didn’t come out, but most of you probably saw them on TV anyway.

A group of teenagers were near us just before the midnight fireworks and were dancing to music from the pub. I have never seen dancing like it. Kind of like a mad, Irish rooster. Lots of arm flapping and pointy foot movements, a bit like a jig. I thought it might be just them, but I saw another group of teens doing it too. Is this the new thing? Looks like I will need to practice my rooster moves. They were also very photo ready. Every time one of them wanted to take a photo they would all run into a group pose and stick their fingers up at the camera. Nice! My favourite was a boy who had a shaved head except for one piece of long flowing mane down the centre of his head. He was also the best rooster jigger.

So apart from the hour-long queue for the toilets and 2 hour battle to get out Sydney at the end it was a great night. Definitely glad I did it, but probably be happy with a nice quiet bbq next year at home with the animals.

We had our first barbeque together (I’ve only been in Australia for 5 years!!!) and as well as throwing a couple of vegan snags on the barbie, David made pepper and tempeh kebabs and yummy sweet chilli mushrooms. I could eat like this every day! It turns out David is quite the chef. Here he is all proud of his new barbeque. Thank you Maura!

Poor David was ill with a horrid cold on the day, so I went to Fur n Feather animal sanctuary to help out. When I got back he was feeling better, so we went to Green Gourmet in Newtown for dinner, which was as delicious as ever and then went for a lovely walk around the harbour.

I wore a dress that Mum bought for me. She chose it on one of our last shopping trips together. I thought it looked horrible on the hanger, but as soon as I put it on I loved it. Good on ya Mum!

Melissa had sent me a stocking and I was so excited to open it. It was filled with all kinds of goodies. So thoughtful! Plus now I have a One Direction CD. Yessss!

Me and David spent the day at Fur ‘n’ Feathers animal sanctuary feeding and cleaning out the animals. What a wonderful way to spend Christmas Eve.

In the evening we went to Maura’s house for a celebration. Clare and Louise had made a beautiful vegan roast dinner. It was amazing!

He was one of those really big moths that almost look fluffy.

I parked my car about 10 minutes walk from work and looked for a dry place to put him. There was nowhere, so I decided to leave him on my green bag in the car, where he seemed quite happy.

Yesterday someone took my umbrella from the umbrella holder at work, which meant today all I had was my rain coat for the 15 minute walk to work in the torrential rain. By the time I got there my skirt was so wet I had to ring it out, but I was pleased to know my little moth friend was safe in the car.

After my shift I returned to the car where Mr Moth was still happily sitting on the green bag. He drove all the way home with me and when we got home I found a perfect spot for him on a tree trunk in the garden , where he was perfectly camouflaged.

I had recently been involved in a large rescue of battery chickens and it was wonderful to help with rehoming the girls.