I just had to tell you...

It's been a dull old day - not at all like summer!  Temperature has barely reached 20C (average for this time of year around 26/27C).  For a long time I had promised myself I would sort out all of my embroidery threads and 'catalogue' them.  Today was a great day to do it.

As I was sitting at my kitchen table sorting and winding and labelling I heard a bit of a commotion outside.  Got up to look and saw the funniest antics I've seen in a long time - just had to tell you!

Over the past week or so there's been a family of magpie birds around the yard.  Mum and possibly Dad - with 3 big babies.  I say big because they look big - but they're still getting food from Mum as well as picking around the garden.

Three youngsters were having a total scrap!  I got my camera and got a few shots!  They were more like puppies or kittens than birds.  I was laughing to myself so hard!

One of them found an old corn husk in the compost heap and was playing with it like a dog would a bone.  Sibling arrives on the scene and tries to take it away.  No way, Jose!  First baby runs quickly to my laundry trolley and hops up into the peg basket.  Deposits the husk in and picks up a red peg.  All the while the other two siblings are trying their best to antagonise and get up to the corn husk.  Eventually when the three of them were back on terra firma, another little tussle ensued.  Biting each other's tails, rolling on backs, pecking, pecking!  Oh it was such a delight to watch!

I stood there at the kitchen window and hubby joined me - thoroughly entertaining!  Eventually the scuffle broke up and they continued their meandering around the garden.  I looked out a little while later as it seemed quiet and one of the babies had fallen asleep on the fence. So cute!

Love all of God's creatures!

Anyway I did manage to get all of the floss sorted and even ended up with a bag of duplicates.  Felt satisfied that the job that I'd put off for so long was done.

Blessings!

PS (sorry about the spacing of the photos. I don't seem to be able to do anything about it this time)

New Years resolutions?

What better New Years resolution could we make - Paul's words say it all!

Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Blessings on this first day of 2012 dear friends!

Up in the middle of the night!

Well, it's almost the middle of the night here - just 20 minutes before midnight. Have had a couple of those nights where I haven't been able to get to sleep - or in the case last night, slept for about 30 minutes then was wide awake for hours.  Managed to drop off about 4am then slept late till nearly 8.  I guess when  this happens, one tends to just try too hard at getting to sleep - then it never seems to happen.

Well I think the last couple of days my mind has been overly active - at least more than usual - and I was kind of 'wound up' and things were going through my head at a real rate of knots.

Yesterday I spent the day on the computer trying to sort out some information for DIL's family tree.  I did get quite a bit done though for which I  was pleased.  Today the morning was fairly quiet with watering the garden and grocery shopping but after lunch DH and I decided to go to the movies.  I had library books to return as well so we got seat bookings online to go to "The Iron Lady" which I've been wanting to see since I heard it was being released.  I really enjoyed it - and Meryl Streep's acting was superb as one would expect.  I love her movies - she is so skilled.  We talked about the movie later in the day, and about Margaret Thatcher, where she lives now and how old she is and of course  my mind stayed pretty well active until bedtime.  But despite doing a little reading to relax, sleep has evaded me again tonight. 

So after a warm drink I'm planning to head back to bed and hope I can drift off to sleep this time.

Tomorrow is the last day of 2011.  It's hard to believe, the last week has just zipped by so quickly - I guess that's what happens when DH is home from work between Christmas and New Year break.  Looking forward to seeing the wonderful fireworks display tomorrow night to mark the end of the year and the beginning of 2012.  Hopefully will stay up and see the 9pm show but it's debatable whether I last the distance for the midnight extravaganza.  We won't be heading off into the city to see it live - it's pretty good to watch on the television!  Sydney is well renowned throughout the world for its New Year's Eve fireworks display and I have no doubt tomorrow night's will live up to expectations.

Happy New Year everyone - and blessings in abundance through 2012!

Sydney Opera House 2007



Long time catch-up

Christmas Day is over!  It seems such a long time in preparation then so quickly, food is eaten, gifts are opened and it's clean-up time.  And we'll do it all again next year I'm sure.  We will have forgotten all of the negative things about Christmas and the lead up to it, but in our hearts I believe we can remember the most positive aspect of Christmas for the whole of the year. 

Yes, the fact that Jesus was born, died at Calvary and rose again is an amazing thing - the way it all happened and was planned by God the Father is something our finite minds find difficult to grasp and hold - but the most amazing thing of all I think, is that God loved us all so much that he not only planned it immaculately, but carried it out - just so that we have the opportunity of eternity with Him.  Oh how I long for that time!

Happy Christmas dear friends and a bright and wonderful 2012.

Blessings!

 Carving the turkey

 E with new camera

 L with new camera (and a sticky mouth)



C, C, L and E waiting for the turkey!

Convicts and bonnets

The craft group I belong to are making Convict Bonnets as part of a living sculpture called "Roses from the Heart".

Conceptual artist and Artist in Residence at the Cascades Female Factory, Hobart, Tasmania and Christina Henri have designed this as a tribute to the convict women of Australia.

The "Roses from the Heart" project aims to have 25,566 bonnets made, one for every woman transported to Australia between 1788 and 1846 when tranportation ceased.  To date about 20,500 have been collected from all over the world.   Many of the bonnets already made have been adorned with a convict woman's name, the ship in which she arrived and the date of arrival.

This link will give you more information. 

http://www.christinahenri.com.au/index.php?/ongoing/roses-from-the-heart/

There are 3 convicts in our family from my husband's side (must have been a bad lot! LOL) however they were all male so to honour a convict woman on my bonnet I have chosen a person with the same surname.  She was Elizabeth Double who was sentenced to transportation on 14 January 1818 and sailed in the "Maria" to Sydney in NSW.  She was in Sydney until 1820 when she was sent to Tasmania and shipped on the "Princess Charlotte" to Hobart. 

It's been a really interesting exercise for me to check out not only this woman but the three rellies who were sentenced two years apart - Joseph in 1842, Edward in 1844 and John in 1846.  Although from the same family name of 'Double's', none were directly related however Edward was a nephew of Joseph.

It's hard to imagine what life must have been like in those days - so hard - most of the crimes punishable by transportation then, would not even rate a mention today - although one of the above was charged and sentenced for arson - burning down a barn of hay! 

Some of the records make interesting reading!

Blessings!

Baby birds and birthdays

I rushed out to rescue the washing from the clothes line - it certainly wasn't dry, but too dry to get wet in the rain that was threatening.  I was casually watching out the kitchen window at the rain as it absolutely hosed down and to my great surprise I saw a brilliant flash of fire then smoke rising from behind the trees not far from our back fence.  Almost instantaneously our power went off.  The lightning must have hit a transformer supplying electricity to our area.  At a guess I'd say a good inch and a half of rain fell in the next hour.  Absolutely pelted down!

The power was restored a couple of hours later.  At least there was enough light by sitting close to the window, to read for that length of time.

But no matter what the weather, baby birds continue to feed, and birthday parties happen.  For the past three days, Mr and Mrs Scaly Breasted Lorikeet have brought baby SBL to my window.  I simply love their huge black baby eyes as they stumble around the tray trying to make out what they are supposed to do with this stuff that mum and dad seem to be wolfing down their throats.  It hasn't taken long and he/she has gotten the idea of what to do, but despite that still needs some from mum as well.  It is amazing thing to watch at such close range!

And parties!  Grandson E had his today to celebrate his 8th birthday. Daughter had asked me to make the cake so after trying to decide how to decorate it, finished up with a 'Mario' theme since the kids at the moment are all crazy for DS and Wii games featuring this cute character.  The water is really too cold at this time of the year but the new pool has a heater installed and after 12 hours switched on overnight, the kids were able to swim and play in 30C warmth!  A bit chilly getting out though! 

The storm has now gone and the skies are clear-ish but tomorrow we are promised from the weather bureau a bit more of the same - and rain throughout the coming week.  At least we won't need to water the garden or top up the pool!

Blessings!

It's Monday!

Monday - public holiday - Labour Day!  Has been a kind of 'nothing' weekend I guess - weather foul, wet, windy, cold - first time I can ever remember having the fire going in October!!

Despite the weather our Mr & Mrs Butcher Bird are still waiting each morning for a hand-out!  I hope they will bring their offspring to visit soon - they must be about to fly the nest I would guess.

Blessings!

Floriade 2011

Weather was not great!  From warm Spring temperatures a few days before, it had zoomed backward to winter - cold - windy - rainy. Still we ventured out into it, after all this is what we'd come for - to experience Floriade 2011, an annual Spring event in our Capital, Canberra.

We had  been fortunate indeed to secure an overnight accommodation booking so our first port of call on arrival in Canberra was to check the whereabouts and get keys and address of our apartment.  We were surprised and delighted to find it was in a security block, and very new.  Beautifully appointed close to all tourist attractions Canberra offers, it was all we could have hoped for.  After surfing the net for over an hour and almost giving up hope of finding anything under $400 per night available, this was amazing!

Wrapped up in winter woollies and armed with camera we joined the thousands of people all heading for Commonwealth Park.  It didn't disappoint.  The colours, sights, smells were all we'd imagined.  For the most part we stayed dry - the one huge downpour struck just as we entered a huge marquee where we sat and enjoyed a cooking demonstration for the time it took for the rain to stop. Fortuitous indeed!

So many photos taken, which to choose?  Just a few of the amazing colours we saw!

Blessings!

Would an anaesthetic do that?

I guess I'm just looking for an excuse to blame for my slackness!  I'm doing well in terms of recovery and rehabilitation - just lacking in things to say.

Have had a couple of nice outings in the last week or so however my life at present is still rather mundane.

We travelled to the city to join with about 60 others to help a very 'young in heart and mind' 80year old celebrate her birthday.  It was a 'high tea' event but held at 1pm which I guess was more like a luncheon.  We gathered in a big city hotel which was all very 'swish' and spent a couple of hours mingling and nibbling with her, her rellies and friends.  It was a very happy time and her daughter was so pleased it had turned out so well.  It had taken her 18 months to actually persuade her mum to have the celebration.  'Do you know people treat you differently when they know you're old' was her comment.  Now if ever an elderly lady didn't look her age it is this one!  So I'm sure that no-one will be treating her any differently now that they know her real age!

The Bible Study I attend on a Tuesday is run from the local Anglican church (not my regular worship place) and is held during each 4 school terms.  Towards the end of each term, we forgo our study on one morning and join at a garden centre which isn't too far away, for a social get together and morning tea.  It's really nice to just chat.  This morning was our last day until after the school holidays are over. 

Have started making some Christmas cards too.  On our recent trip to Perth our niece showed me a really nice design for a card which opens up like a shallow box.  I'm doing some to give as gifts this Christmas and will place a small remembrance inside.  Once I have some finished I'll get a photo up.  After I'd put my camera up on the shelf last week, it fell out and onto the floor.  I did check it and it seems OK but I'll have to really give it a good run soon and make sure it hasn't been damaged.  Fortunately the lens was locked! 

Many blessings! 

 

It's Monday

Despite the inclement weekend weather, the last couple of days have been good. On Saturday morning we attended a Spring Fair at a local retirement village - our real motivation was to view one of their units currently for sale.  Although we feel we are probably not quite ready for village living, we are trying to think ahead to get an idea of what it might be like, what the accommodations are like, what charges we'd be up for etc.  Although lovely and in beautifully set out grounds with so many facilities, the actual unit was very tiny.  Two reasonably sized bedrooms, small living area and two huge bathrooms. We felt the bathroom situation was rather overkill however it may be that they were planned with wheelchairs in mind.  We'll keep looking over the next few months to get a feel of values but truthfully, I'm not sure that kind of living is for me - just yet.  Ideal for a single person probably.

Enjoyed getting out to our worship service on Sunday morning - my first time since surgery.

Put the fire on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons as temps still quite chilly. This is the first September ever I can remember being cold enough for fires. Global warming eh?

This morning's U S Open win for Aussie Sam Stosur was a great feat - today was just her day!  Shame about her oponent losing her cool at one point and would certainly not go down as good sportsmanship in the eyes of many.  Good for Sam to overcome when her emotions might have easily over-ridden her calmness.

Our Butcher birds are back - cheeky as ever!  Normally a shy and fairly elusive bird, they perch themselves on the pool fence just outside the back door waiting for the ground beef I throw out for them.  They take the morsel in their beak and fly off to the next which I've discovered is in a neighbours high tree. I look forward again to the time when they will bring their babies to visit.

Have a blessed day!

Back to wheels

I'm so happy - I'm allowed to drive again!  No, I didn't lose my licence to drive but had to have a break after my surgery however I've now been cleared to get back behind the wheel and my first 'outing' today is to the public library to get more reading material.

I'm feeling really good and although I still have to be very careful and cautious of what I do - no lifting, twisting etc - I'm doing well and so grateful for such a terrific recovery.  I am confident that if I 'stick to the rules' I'll be 'up and at it' in no time at all.  Of course I'm not going to be silly about those things like vacuuming and putting washing on the line at present - especially when DH is such a darling and so willing to do it for me!

Thanks for all your good wishes dear friends!

Blessings!

Fathers Day Downunder

It has been a perfect Spring day!  Temperature warm and sunshine. Beautiful! What has made it more special is that today in Oz is 'Father's Day'!

Talk about being waited on - a visit at lunch time by son and DIL with gifts (gold pass for both of us to the cinema) plus a beautiful roast dinner for us each for tonight.  We were just finishing up lunch with them - home made chicken and vegetable soup which DH made yesterday, when in came daughter, SIL and two grandboys.  More Fathers Day wishes and chocolate cake to celebrate.

We are so grateful for such a loving and caring family.  Thank you Lord!

Blessings!

Took a little wander this morning

I'm getting stronger each day.  Took a visit to the library today - my book needed returning and I need some extra reading material.  DH drove me and did the shopping while I mooched.  Was good to get out of the house for a little while.

Thanks to those of you who have cheered me with your kind comments.

Blessings!

I'm so glad to be home

The surgery's over and I'm back home. I'm so pleased everything seems to have gone extremely well and the surgeon was happy with what he did.  I'll have a better idea what that actually was when I see him for my post op appointment in a few weeks.

Meantime I have a wonderful (DH) nurse and cook looking after me and all I have to do is now slowly get back to normalcy.

Thank you Lord for a (so far) great recovery.

Blessings!

A legitimate excuse

I'll be missing for a little while and since only just returning you'll be wondering why in fact I'm 'off line' again.  Tomorrow I enter hospital for my spinal fusion surgery so I'll literally be 'on my back' for a little while.  Hospitalisation probably about 5 days then at home to slowly get back to 'better than ever'! 

I'm a little apprehensive about the procedure - although I've had this kind of surgery twice before, it doesn't alter the fact that it is surgery after all and quite a long one at that (3 hours).  I know though, that my Heavenly Father has everything in His control so from that point of view I am totally confident that I'm in His hands and He will be guiding all that happens in that theatre tomorrow. 

So although I'll be able to look in on my friends in a week or so, it'll be a bit longer than that before I'm up to actually writing anything here.

Take care my blogger friends - blessings!

Just another showery day

Yesterday was so beautiful - sunny with a cool breeze.  Today is one of those misty, rainy kinds of day - snuggle up by the fire kind of day.  Four or five daffodils are poking their heads up - Spring definitely is just around the corner. 

Saw the funniest thing this morning (at  least I thought it was funny)!  In the lounge room opening up the venetian blinds to the dullness of the day when up the driveway strode a duck.  Now there was once when a pair of ducks flew in to our back yard and promptly dunked in the pool - salt water pool that is. Anyway  it was a rainy sort of day then, and they proceeded to peck around the grass looking for the odd grub before they winged their way again to who knows where.  As far as I know, the nearest place to us where ducks may congregate is around 4 kilometers.  Maybe this lone one came from there - perhaps on its way to another watering hole.

Anyway I digress!  From the waddling position on the driveway it suddenly lurched into upward flight and perched on a large branch on our huge gum tree.  There it sat, peering around in all directions. I wonder if it was looking for a mate maybe lost along the way to who knows where.  Anyway I left it to its own devices in that high perch - can't imagine it would have stayed long with so many native birds invading using the tree for their own romancing.

Got a lovely surprise yesterday in the mail - a beautiful 'Welcoming Angel' (Lordi) gift from our Texan DIL - a thankyou after their stay with us recently.  Entirely unexpected and appreciated!  Thank you so much R - you are a treasure!

What to do today?  A few things cross my mind - grocery shopping (now out of spuds), card making (got some new cardstock yesterday), laundry (no - out of the question today with the sprinkling happening), I'm sure I'll think of something!

Have a wonderful Friday with blessings!

I was just thinking...

I was just thinking... do they kick you out of blogger if you don't blog enough?  'They' would have every good reason to do that to me if my recent non appearance had anything to do with it.  Over 8 weeks since I was here and you know when I think about it I really don't have a very good excuse.

Well, l must say our USA family (the Texas Connection) did come stay for over 4 weeks and in that time we drove to the Gold Coast in Queensland and spent 10 days in a lovely resort.  There were about 16 of us all told as we had planned it to be a family reunion holiday and we had such a great time.  It was so very sad to see the family leave for their home - this time with no plans in place to go visit - that was an eerie feeling not knowing when we might see them again. 

During that time DH has finished work, had a few weeks break, then a few weeks working two mornings a week, then finally 2 weeks ago after being offered another job, began working full time again.  Quite a whirlwind of emotions for him considering he is now past the official retirement age by a few years.

We have purchased another car to enable him to take one for work transport. We were'nt looking for a hybrid but came out of the dealership with a Toyota Prius. It's 2 years old but like brand new - beautiful to drive and so quiet - so far is proving to be quite economical as well.

Over the past months my lower back has been acting up again and is now at the stage where I require more surgery.  Have been seeing my Professor neurosurgeon over the last 3 or so months and last week we made the decision to have an extension to the fusion in my spine which was done in May 2 years ago. The surgery will take place on 23rd August and I'm hopeful it will relieve the pain.

It's been quite a cold winter and we've been so grateful for the lovely cosy fire.  Mostly we use it for most of August but we're hoping by September we can clean it out and not use it again until next winter.  One can never tell in Sydney, already a couple of weeks ago we had a few days of 23/24C degrees - was a bit of a rude awakening to go back to 17C or so which it has remained. 

Some of our Spring bulbs have flower buds emerging and I'm looking forward to seeing the cheerful yellow daffodils - a sure sign that winter is almost over.

Blessings!

 Four brothers and their wives

 Beach fishing sunrise Currumbin Beach

 Waves



Family Group

Funny that!

A niece sent this to me in an email and I thought it worthy of passing on - I love it!


Ode to English Plurals

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!
Let's face it - English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and
get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and
in which an alarm goes off by going on.


 A Language for the Verbally Insane

Let’s face it—English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England. We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham? Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? We ship by truck but send cargo by ship. We have noses that run and feet that smell. We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway. And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?

by Eugenie A. Nidia
It seems that it first appeared in the EFITA Newsletter in January 2006...
The original title is “Pluralities.”

Photography excursion

I recently joined a local service club for those who are considered geriatric those who are over the age of 55.  One of the benefits of being a member of this particular club is being able to join any of the many groups which have been formed and which members coordinate  - one such group being photography.

Yesterday I joined with some of them and armed with our variety of cameras, visited a local park.  It had rained overnight and the prospects of good weather didn't look promising but the sun began to shine eventually and although it was quite windy, the morning proved to be most enjoyable. My attempts at photography are purely amateurish however I do enjoy using my camera and even though many shots are deleted on editing, here are a few I saved.  The park offered so much variety and was divided into gardens of international interest  including Italian, English, American, Japanese, Chinese, Dutch, Australian. 

Just had to show these

Mothers Day gift 2011 - Asiatic Lilies

Wedding Anniversary flowers 19 May

 

I feel truly blessed!