In tune

It was such a beautiful day yesterday and I spent my time pottering around the house - a perfect antidote to the tired, listless weekend I'd experienced. With stunning blue skies and gorgeous sunshine in which to eat lunch, read (Hard Times by Charles Dickens), hang the washing out and sweep the garden paths, my attention was turned indoors and to the lack of natural colour there (ie. fresh flowers).

"Oh", I thought, "wouldn't it be lovely if my darling brought some flowers home with him this afternoon".

From time to time he does surprise me with a pretty bunch, and lo and behold, jammed into his back pack as he arrived home (he cycles) was this lovely arrangement wrapped in textured paper of a delicate lilac shade, bound with a raffia bow. How delightful!

It was perfect, not only the flowers, but that we are of one mind... how did he know? He is so kind to think of me as he does.
Thank you, darling.

Rumours

I have just finished reading Rumours of Another World by Philip Yancey - what a challenging book! He is so honest in his writing which I'm sure enables his readers to identify far more readily with what he is saying. So much was thought-provoking, moving and inspiring. All that now needs to happen is to turn this motivation into action.

The reading of this book co-incided with a very special service last night - the confirmation of our charming son. All our family gathered in the church which was full of loving, supportive members of the congregation who have, along with us, watched his faith grow over recent times. He gave a beautiful, heart-felt testimony which moved a number of us to tears but we were so thrilled to hear it, giving thanks for the joy in his life and for his eternal salvation. My darling and I had made promises at his baptism when he was just a baby and we rejoiced to hear him, now an adult, confirm them himself.

It is a glorious day, full of promise... what precious hints of 'another world' are so generously given - let's be whole-hearted in thankfully receiving them.

Fireside

It has been another cold and windy day so a cozy evening by the fireside is in order, this 'Brambly Hedge' illustration by Jill Barklem is quite fitting for our chilly evening. My darling has settled with The Age crossword and I with my knitting at hand - doesn't that age us! Actually we had a wonderfully enjoyable meal with both our charming and delightful sons present (my darling baked a delicious moussaka and the charming one prepared crepes for dessert).

My knitting is progressing quite well. I am completing a shawl for the precious babe - the same pattern I did for dear daughter when she was a baby - and I'm nearly ready to start the edging. It's lovely to be knitting again, especially for such a special reason.

We saw 'An Inconvenient Truth' at the Rivoli this afternoon and although I had read quite a bit about what Al Gore actually presented, it was still quite confronting and impressed upon me the urgency to continue making changes. We do try ... my darling always cycles and I cycled to 'work' most days this week (only driving once) and I was out again on my bike this afternoon; we have bought an old car which can be run on biodiesel which will make me feel a lot better about driving; fitting a water tank is next on our 'to do' list for the Melbourne house (we already have tanks at our cottage and provide for all our own water needs there); increasing our production by growing more fruit and vegetables is also being discussed and although we are currently with 'Green Energy' our long term plan is to install solar panels. These are only little changes but from what I can tell many more our now becoming increasingly aware and are also doing what they can. It is very encouraging and I'm now hoping politicians will follow suit.
From little acorns mighty oak trees grow!

Tea times

The glorious days during the week made it difficult to resist the cycle/walk to 'work' and then the walk/cycle return in the afternoons especially as we had experienced such high temperatures and hot, northerly winds the previous week (36.3°C, an October record second only to 36.6°C in 1914). The temperatures steadily decreased and continued to drop over the weekend. We spent two nights at out cottage and slept under layers of quilts with hot water bottles, our fire ablaze and were greeted by a heavy frost this morning with snow on the mountains opposite. So strange! It is difficult to adjust to such swings and consequently many are succumbing to various ailments.

Even with the chilly weather the countryside is stunningly beautiful and it was so enjoyable to spend the weekend relaxing. We walked to our friends, the W's, with a basket of food and drink to share a lovely meal with them ... I wonder if we will we still be doing this in our dotage? I hope so.

With our children growing older, a family meal is less common but on Thursday we all gathered together, with some comings and goings, but it was good to have everyone there. My darling provided some beautiful roses (one is pictured above) from our blossoming garden as a table decoration - dear daughter is also blooming with the growing babe inside her. She is keeping well. Her prince has recovered after a back problem and our boys are busy preparing for their university exams. The charming one is to be confirmed next Sunday evening, so that will be a special occasion.

"God's in His heaven - All's right with the world".

An afternoon in the city

My darling needed to collect some items for the "Around the bay in a day" cycling event in which he is participating tomorrow, so I took the opportunity to attend the NGV's Charles Blackman 'Alice in Wonderland' exhibition at Federation Square.

This is Feet Beneath the Table (1956), showing his wife as Alice and himself as the white rabbit.

Charles Blackman grew up in a home without books and it was when his wife was going blind and listening to 'talking books' that he first heard Lewis Carroll's famous story. It seemed to parallel their own lives with his wife's loss of spatial awareness and changing view of the world similar to Alice's experiences. The works are engaging with clear strong colours and a whimsical, surreal presentation. I joined a tour lead by a passionate volunteer and found it very informative along with a video of an interview with the artist. It is 50 years since he did his 'Alice' series.

He described drawing as putting a line around your dreams with the eye and the hand working as one. He also believes if you have a talent you must use it, otherwise it is a complete waste. It reminded me of how we are not to bury our talents nor hide our lights under a bushel. I wondered ... do I have any talents I am wasting? I once heard that a talent is when you find something is quite easy when others do not. I believe we all have our own unique talents and the challenge is to put more creative efforts and energies into our talents, use them more, develop and share them. I'm feeling quite inspired and looking forward to it!

P.S. As soon as I 'published' this post, my darling and I quickly took the dogs for a walk as it was starting to get dark - a tawny frogmouth greeted us as we set out, what a bonus! We do live in a lovely area. Also I forgot to mention that my darling gave me a 'dub' home on the back of his bike from the station ... maybe we will end up with a bicycle built for two some day after all.

Joys and responsibilities

"Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing."

As we enter mid-spring, recent mornings have been filled with beauty and anticipation. I love that sense of restlessness that is apparent at this time of year. Each new day holds the promise of excitement and adventure, the feeling that change is in the air. In the past this was reality when the long university holidays stretched ahead, or a move to another town with new employment was being arranged or even more joyfully - the birth of a precious child was being patiently awaited.


This morning I was reminded of the above quote from one of my favourite books, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame but over recent days I have been pondering on

"The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings"

from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is so true. This wonderful creation we enjoy as children of the King contains so much for our pleasure we should be overflowing with happiness. Yet the wrongs of mankind have marred its beauty and this affects our joy. Sometimes we're not as happy as kings, princes or princesses (as I like to think of myself) should be.

Last night my darling and I attended a public forum at the local library, it was on global warming and climate change and political representatives spoke on their parties' policies. Although I felt a tad despondent over the little being done by those who seem to have the power to do so much more, I was heartened by the number in attendance and realized we are not alone in our efforts to 'lighten our footprint'. A growing number of ordinary citizens of the world are concerned and are trying to have their voices heard. I believe this groundswell will continue and ultimately major changes will be implemented to care for our wonderful world. I was pleased to hear there is a 'Walk Against Warming' planned for the 4th November, leaving from the Melbourne Town Hall at 1 p.m. I want to be there, I want to see for myself how many really are concerned and I want the public and the politicians to take note. I know it sounds like a lot of "I wants" but it is not really for me as

This is my Father's world,
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light,
the lily white,
Declare their makers praise.

This is my father's world,
O let me ne'er forget,
That 'tho the wrong
seems oft' so strong,
God is the ruler yet.

Have a happy day, giving thanks that we are part of this beautiful world!

Moonrise

It had been several weeks since we'd been to our cottage, but what a greeting we received last night. My darling took me out to our front verandah to watch this stunning moonrise. Since we have had little rain and the air was dusty with a slight smoke haze the moon was very red as it first emerged from behind the mountains. Sometimes we've climbed to the top of the hill to watch the moonrise, many times we've taken night walks just to enjoy the moonshadows and other nights we've dragged our mattress out into the backyard to sleep under the stars.
Life is so full of the most wonderful pleasures.

P.S. I'd like to thank all of you who have been so encouraging about this site. I'm glad that you are enjoying my record of the passing days.

The past week (c)

With the first week of term 4 underway I didn't have an opportunity to finish recalling out trip. Here at last is the final installment ...

Our next stay was with my sister and her family at Lorn in the Hunter Valley region of NSW. On the way we visited friends and met their sweet little baby daughter and enjoyed a tasty lunch on a balcony overlooking Lake Macquarie. It was a very warm day but refreshing to be by the lake.

Our warm evening arrival at Lorn was only the beginning as the next day it was 35°C with a hot wind blowing – a bit of a shock as we were only just emerging from a Melbourne winter. It was great to be with the C family though and they had done some amazing work on an extension of their lovely old home since we visited last year. Their family also increased in size when Dottie (a cavalier King Charles pup) joined them a few months ago. We mostly stayed inside, playing board games and chatting although my darling and my brother-in-law still took the time to go cycling in the heat.


Fortunately it was cooler the following day so my darling and I took the opportunity to walk a 23 kilometre route through the flood plains of the Hunter River to Morpeth, an old river port. The scenery was beautiful in the sunshine and we picnicked by the river, absorbing the views and accompanied by a bearded dragon sunning itself and this brazen, battle scarred dragonfly who decided to rest right beside me on my darling’s arm.


A stitching day was another treat. This particular friend and I had spent many hours, days, weeks ... together in the past happily crafting away and now she too has moved to Lorn. How lovely to have my sister and my friend living in the same little country community. We didn’t complete our projects but made a good start. Our husbands joined us for lunch in a nearby cafe.

Our last evening was filled with lots of noise, much chatter and many relatives who happened to be passing through the area. It was great to see them all. Then the next morning my sister and I finally had some time together at a very attractive nursery and coffee shop. She introduced me to this haven last year and I was inspired. This year was no different as we enjoyed our delicious morning tea in the creative shabby chic style interior. Our time had passed so quickly and too soon we were waving good-bye and driving down to the coast to stay with my brother and sister-in-law.

It had been a while since we had seen T and T and we had a great time with them. We especially enjoyed meeting J, my brother’s lovely daughter. She had been born when he was 18 and contact had not been kept with J’s mum. When older, J wanted to meet her birth father and a wonderful outcome was realised. She now stays with T and T regularly and is gradually meeting up with other relatives. To me this is a real, ‘good news story’. We said good-bye to T and T on the morning of my darling's birthday. It had been a memorable time away.