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Everyone welcome - I think!
It was Christmas Day and we decided to make it open to any of our friends who would be on their own. All our family, nieces, nephews, grandkids, were coming and as we lived on a large property , room was no problem. We part cooked the huge turkey and ham the night before and prepared the vegies, as people arrived, including some we hadn't seen for years, friends of friends we hadn't expected, including some whole families who "just dropped in to wish us Merry Christmas" almost on lunch time, we put on more vegetables, put more potatoes in the oven, set more places on card tables, picnic sets and scoured the cupboards for any crockery we could find. Dinner was almost ready to serve.
Then WHAM!
A power pole fell over in the house paddock and total - black out. While Daughter #1 rang Energex, all the males and dogs (yes people had brought them too) got out BBQs, Camping stoves and Hubby lit a fire in the pit.
Everything was moved over to alternative cooking sources while we told the kids to keep the dogs away from the pole and power lines. Daughter #2 organised games for kids and dogs.
The wonderful Energex guys arrived in three trucks and worked in 30 degree heat while I prayed the gas for the BBQs would last and food not overcook. After about an hour or more the power was bypassed from the fallen pole and we got power back on - just as I decided it was 'dish up now or never."
With the 12 new extra guests - (the Energex guys) we had 55 people for Christmas dinner that year - not counting the dogs. Everyone praised the turkey and ham as being the best ever and it went around -just, the vegetables satisfied everyone and thankfully the Christmas pudding didn't overboil and with shop bought minced pies supplementing dessert and melted ice cream supplementing the custard, there was enough for everyone.
That was the most stressful (for me, husband and daughters), but most memorable Christmas Day ever and although some 25 years ago, people are still talking about the fun and the food.
