Today is one of the most loved days on the Australian calendar. Anzac Day is loved and revered by Aussies both old and young. It probably has different meaning for both, for some it is a hard day where they are forced to think back on old memories, remember things that should never have happened let alone be remembered, for others it’s a holiday and a reason to celebrate being Australian, an Aussie flag thrown around the shoulders as proof of allegiance or a sense of belonging – this could be at one of the thousands of dawn services that occur throughout Australia or at a barbeque held at the house of a mate. A reason to buy a Digger a beer or have a few yourself – it is many things to many people and some seem more “right” than others. Few people however can hear The Last Post without feeling emotions of some sort or another – it holds a lot of personal meaning to me and my family as we are a ‘Services’ family from the Navy and the Army and we have losses dear to our hearts. We never forget  but on days like today and on Remembrance Day we especially remember them. I never realised there were words to The Last Post but I found this video which is quite enlightening and worth the watch…..

Lest We Forget.

Our very own Pop Cameron’s medals.

One of the nice ways to uphold Anzac Day at home is to bake some anzac biscuits. Originally these were made and sent to The Front by Mums, sisters and wives to remind their boys of home, they were made of ingredients that kept well and survived the long journey from Australia. I made a batch this weekend and wondered to myself how many women had made these in this very house since it was built in 1897 and who for? Two World Wars and several more closer to home have occurred in that time and if these walls could talk I’m sure there would be stories to tell. In the meantime we have a cuppa and an anzac biscuit on our front veranda and remember all those boys who never made it home…..

We set the alarm for the first time in months and headed out to the dawn service in Gerringong.  It was held on a beautiful headland overlooking the ocean and as the sun rose and we listened to the Last Post I was a snivelling mess as usual. A young Afghanistan veteran spoke about mateship and the struggles that returned servicemen face and how special it is for him on this day in particular when people are proudly wearing their medals and a stranger stops, shakes his hand and thanks him for his service.

In other news, this week sees Cammo with a new office in Berry. Situated in the beautiful old bank building as you arrive in town, now home to Belle Property, it is a large room overlooking the garden where he can chat to his hearts content without annoying anyone and the builders can equally bang and crash here at home without incurring his wrath. It  will be good for him to have a ‘workplace’ and all without the 2 hour drive to Sydney!!

We have had a succession of people at the house – a flurry of people planning and measuring and quoting and it is exciting and terrifying in equal measure. Some kitchen drawings should start to come in next week and as I am halving my current cupboard storage (am I CRAZY???) I have to use every spare inch thoughtfully. Hopefully the beautiful new bi-fold servery window will be worth the culling of my kitchen! We have pruned and weeded and planted the garden and cleaned out the garage, utilising our newly installed stairs into the roof space so we can tuck everything out of sight. Boxes of the kids memorabilia and sporting trophies along with some of their favourite old toys kept for potential future generations. We still pinch ourselves that we have all this space to store things after our little workers cottage in Sydney and it’s bijou interior!

We ventured an hour further south yesterday to share a long table lunch with our friends at Claydon Park in Milton. They were cooking 2 of their home grown suckling pigs and with a couple of dozen people to feed – some of whom had had a big weekend at the local Kidgeeridge music festival – they went down a treat. The buttery soft meat was delicious and all the young girls had overtaken the kitchen to produce lovely salads and a delicious dark gravy that was a match made in heaven with the pork. The rest of the piggy litter ran around blissfully unaware of the fate of their brothers in a paddock far enough removed from our table for us not to feel guilty and the dogs thought it was Xmas mopping up any stray juices and porky fat from under the bbq. A good day with lovely people and lots of good wines enjoyed in the late afternoon sunshine and continued under the stars.

We truly do live in The Lucky Country!!!