Stewart had volunteered to take care of the cooking and he did a good job of it. There was roasted turkey crown, beef, ham, roasted potatoes, parsnips and carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts, red cabbage, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings, gravy, cranberry sauce and various stuffings including chestnut stuffing made from the chestnuts that Shirley and I gathered for free from the floor of Sherwood Forest at the beginning of October. They were falling even as we picked them.
Afterwards there was Shirley's excellent vegan Christmas pudding with brandy cream and scrumptious chocolate cake that Cheryl had made.
Gifts were exchanged and everybody was happy. It was a chilled-out, stress-free day. A few alcoholic beverages were consumed but nothing excessive. Our son Ian has not drunk any alcohol throughout this calendar year so when the time came to come home, he volunteered to drive Butch back up the hill through traffic-free streets. It made sense.
A highlight of the day for me was when I got Richard talking about his work as a senior geologist with an international mining company. Essentially, that is why he went out to Australia in the first place.
As you can imagine, there's much more to mining copper, nickel or gold than might at first meet the eye. Assessments have to be made about the viability of a mine, environmental factors, access to water, international competition and demand as well as the basic geology of the target area. It is never about heading for the hills with a pick axe, a few sticks of dynamite and a heart filled with hope. Richard is clearly both passionate and knowledgeable about his vocation that began with a degree in Geology from The University of Leeds.
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