The inchie country for this last week of the year was left blank, so participants could choose any country that was not visited on the "official" list. I have chosen Switzerland for my visit, simply because a kind and generous YouTube friend, Manuela, lives there...of course all those fabulous alpine plants, mountainous terrain and Winter snow were a wonderful attraction as well...
For the flower I decided on the Schleicher’s gentian or Gentiana schleicheri , a brilliantly hued little gem. The photograph I have used comes from a plant found on Rothorn Peak, Zermatt, a much visited peak accessible by cable car. It is 3100 metres high and gives tourists a wonderful view of the Matterhorn.
The list for next years inchies, which starts on Monday 7th. 2019, is listed as "Thank God It's Monday", so it will be very interesting to see how the topic is interpreted by the participants...I am going to have to think about this next year, both how I will interpret each weeks topic and also how I will present the inchies...Last year I added the 52 little pieces into two dimensional frames (still at the framers, BTW, so I can't share how they look just yet). This year my little recycled album worked very well... so well in fact that I think I may simply make myself another of the same size, it is neat and practical, taking up little shelf space to store...
e still have some edible bits and bobs about...the ham, of course, will take us a little while to finish off, about half of the chocolate truffles remain uneaten along with several fruit mince pies...I am munching on one with a cup of tea as I write this...they are so delicious! All in all we have been very circumspect and have not over indulged, well, very much, anyway.
I tried a few new recipes which were all successful...breaking the custom and practice of the past can sometimes be quite difficult, but this year the old and the new melded well.
Indeed, we had a lovely day on the 25th. The weather was great, good food, good company, including young Mungo and the rather grumpy Hollie, and a few glasses of wine all sped the day to a very happy conclusion.
New Years Eve today...Tim and I have not celebrated this event by going out since the smalls started arriving, so for many years now! A glass of wine and some reminiscences are about as celebratory as it gets...for me it is an evening when I tend to think about those friends and relatives who no longer share the world with me, a sort of gentle signing off as time moves forward...
Here's a link to our local fireworks display around the Hobart waterfront courtesy of the ABC....added after the event, of course! Luckily locals gathering to view the event did not experience the awful train delays experienced by many Sydney folk...but that's another story...
Bye for now,
See you next year!
Di