RESIDENTS' CHRISTMAS DINNER

 Well I'm a bit behind in posting. Having visitors and then getting a bad cough has impinged on my posting. Just before Christmas the residents had a Christmas dinner. At most of our dinners we pick a number out of a container to tell us which table to sit at. This way we get to meet different people at each dinner. However, we mostly know all the residents from mingling at a variety of activities. 

It is a small boutique Retirement Village with about 123 units and 188 residents.

Ian in the blue shirt has volunteered to be the Residents Committee Chairman. He does a great job and gets voted back in every year. His wife next to him is Clover and she is always fashionably dressed with glasses to match each outfit. The couple next to clover is Diane and Bill (The same names as us) and they live in our street. We have known them since she and I were in the same playgroup back in the seventies. The two in front are Robin and Noela, Robin was the principal of our Local Lutheran College. The other couple is Hans and Ros from The Netherlands. They have the best Christmas lights display.

This was our table. In front is Christine and Clive, They are migrants from England and they come from the same place in Yorkshire where I was born, Newmillerdam. The other couple is Linda and Rod. Linda is the residents committee secretary. She is great at organising functions. Gay at the end lives two doors away from us. She was so helpful to us when we were new to the village, she also organises morning tea when we have a residents meeting and she also helps run the Line Dancing Group.

The Three Amigos, David, Bruce and Robin all turned up in matching shirts.

After a traditional English Christmas Dinner, there was much fun on the dance floor.

I forgot to photograph the main meal but here are the desserts, Christmas Cake, Christmas pudding, chocolate cake. (with Brandy Custard)

Traditional Australian Christmas dessert. Australians and New Zealanders always argue about which country invented the Pavlova. It is a meringue base covered in a variety of berries and fruit.

An Italian Christmas Cake

We came home full and merry.

LIGHT UP NIGHT

 Every year in the first week of December, the village community organise a Light Up Night, where all the residents who want can decorate their unit with Christmas lights. We get help from our families and the maintenance man if necessary and of coarse neighbours help each other. On Friday 5 December we turn on the lights and invite family and friends to walk around the village and finish up in the community centre for drinks and Carols. This year was different in that one of our residents organised a children's concert, where grand children and great grandchildren sang Carols for the residents. Unfortunately, I don't have photographs because I didn't attend due to having a bad cough. However, I did walk around some of the streets. The next night our wonderful Residents Chairman, Ian, gave us a tour of the village lights in a buggy, because he knew that Bill is not very mobile when it comes to hills and the village is built on a hill. Ian  offered this  service to all those not able to walk all around the village.

David and Diane open up their garage and offer a drink of Port and sweets/candy, people stop for a drink and a chat. This is the first year that my family attended, Banjo, Sonya and Bernie are on the right of the photo.

 HAPPY HOLIDAY EVERYBODY.

THE TOWN OF THUN (TOON)

Thun is a town in Switzerland in the canton (state) of Bern. It has been described as the prettiest town in Europe and the most untouched historic town. It sits on the Aare River as it leaves the Lake of Thun (Thunersee). It is dominated by the Castle and Church and has the amazing backdrop of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau Mountains in the Swiss Alps.

In 1967, Bill (Wilhelm) and his friend Ben left Thun for Australia so that they could learn English. They were in their twenties and keen for adventure. They intended returning to Thun after the compulsory stay of two years when you migrate for 10 pounds. Both married and stayed in Australia. As the river leaves the lake it splits into two creating an island. It is called, The Balliz and it is where Bill lived. After we were married we lived there for six months. But Bill decided he preferred Australia so we returned in 1971. We went back often to visit his parents and I fell in love with Thun.

The ancient castle presides over the town. It is a Romansque square tower with four corner turrets in Norman Style. It was built in 1186 by Berchtold V of Zäringen. Today it houses a museum including tapestries from the 1300's, armour, weapons, pottery, uniforms and costumes. It also has a restaurant in the courtyard. We climbed up into the turrets, we could see all over Thun, where people have been recorded as living here since 1130.

Part of the view from the castle.

The church which stands on a hill overlooking Thun is not far from the Castle. It is the City Church. It is the Reformed Protestant Church. It has old paintings but it is remarkably modern inside. When Bill was young, he and his friend Roland used to ring the bells by pulling on the ropes. It is automatic now. 

 

Bill often played in band concerts in the church.

If you really want to see how beautiful this town is go to You Tube and type in Thun, Switzerland.