Happy New Year!

It's a beautiful first day of 2012 where I am. Last night we celebrated our fortieth wedding anniversary with a few special friends, old and new, and one of them quoted from this poem by Robert Browning:

GROW old along with me!

The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in his hand
Who saith, ``A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!''

I hope 2012 brings you peace, health and happiness and the chance to bravely and trustingly reach for your dreams.

And here's a pic I love of my grandson Tom and his dad in Paris for New Year, and appropriately overawed.

The best is yet to be...

How was your Christmas?? ...

I'm so sorry that I didn't get to actually write this post the other day. Now, I can't even remember what happened to call me away from the laptop. So, as you can guess, it was a busy but fun Christmas for fifteen of us on beautiful Magnetic Island, where the usual feasting and gift giving was interspersed with lots of swimming in both the sea and the pool, as well as attending church (partly outdoors) on Christmas Eve.
Our son Richard baked the most scrumptious ham, which was served with barbequed eggs for  Christmas breakfast. (That's Bob in the background on egg patrol.)

Mangoes and lychees were a must -- so sweet and juicy and tropical.

And here's what our tropical Christmas plateful looked like. Turkey roasted with proscuitto. Beef capaccio, Roast lamb and vegies. Tomato and basil and bococini salad . Beans tossed in butter, garlic and champagne. Roasted cherry tomato relish on the side. It was all delicious and we were truly blessed.

Amidst all the fabulous presents, simple little glow toys (from a special friend in Melbourne) were a big hit! At night I went up to say goodnight to the girls who were lying in the dark gleefully squishing their glowing chickens and rubber balls.

But it was hot my friends -- very hot -- and the neighbour's dog found the coolest spot. However, this lawn was cool and shady in the afternoon and we had a great game of Italian bocce.

And now we're back in our cool misty mountains and I have a book to finish writing, but I feel refreshed and am keen to find out what happens next. :)

3 Outback baby stories...

Already available at the Mills and Boon website -- three Australian stories about my favourite combination -- outback cattlemen and babies.

Gorgeous cover, isn't it? The books included are my story, Adopted: Outback Baby, plus One Small Miracle by Melissa James and Their Newborn Gift by Nikki Logan. And today Mills and Boon are offering a special 10% discount if apply the code xmas09p for paperbacks or xmas09e for ebooks.

T'was the week before Christmas...

December in North Queensland ... mangoes and lychees and a dinner of fish and chips on the beach with a balmy breeze blowing in from the Coral Sea... the glowing red of poincianas and the fragrant whiteness of frangipani blooms among glossy green leaves (PNG frangipani). 

We're in Townsville now and later in the week we'll head over to the island (that's Magnetic Island, of course, otherwise known up here as Maggie, to spend Christmas with half of our family.

Took E for a lovely walk along the beach at Rowes Bay this morning... now back into the airconditioning to plod on with the WIP.

Hope your lead-in to Christmas is hassle free and happy.

This is where we ate our fish'n chip dinner last night. Nice one.

Two of my favourite people...

Your chance to win...

Today, my Christmas dessert recipe (with the yummy caramel sauce)  is the featured recipe at the Harlequin Romance author's blog, with a chance to win a signed copy of Bridesmaid Says: 'I do!'

Don't forget, there are featured autjors with favourite recipes and giveaways every day from now until Christmas.

Christmas shopping...

We're heading off to Cairns today to do our Christmas shopping. We're going via Mareeba where we'll call in at Coffeeworks, which has the most gorgeous gift shop. I said to E this morning that setting off for Christmas shopping is quite an adventure when you live in the country.

Of course, I could have done a lot of it online, but I like being in stores and touching and feeling potential gifts.
Mind you, I didn't mind Christmas shopping in the city either, when I could head downstairs from our apartment into Flinders Mall and do all my shopping within one or two blocks.
What I never enjoyed was trudging out to suburban shopping malls. Don't know why they were ever inented. They've destroyed so many city hearts.
I've also written a mountain of Christmas cards, as I missed sending them last year while we were packing up and moving.
We'll be spending Christmas with family on Magnetic Island. It's all getting close now, isn't it? Hope your preapartions are going smoothly.
Writing wise, I'm about to tackle a sex scene, so I'm quite happy to take a day off to take a deep breath before diving between the sheets. So to speak.

Tom and Lucy see London...

My grandchildren, Tom and Lucy, are on holidays in London. I just love this pic of them in their brand new jackets. What fun it must be to be there with them, sharing their excitement. Their parents are musicians, so they have a host of wonderful concerts and other exciting experiences lined up.
Go kids!!!

Harlequin Romance website...

Harlequin Romance authors (that's Sweet Romance authors in Australia, or Cherish/Riva authors in the UK) have a fabulous new website (thanks to the hard work of the energetic and amazing Donna Alward).

All the news about our books will be there in one place, with author bios and fun pages and giveaways.

Right now, there's a Chrismas giveway with masses of books from the fab authors in our line -- plus lots of mouthwatering Christmas recipes. So check it out!!!