Taking The Night Shift

We’re still waiting for our smoke alarms to be fixed – hopefully tomorrow.
Because we had to deactivate the alarms (to stop them going off incessantly), we have been following a roster of one person staying up (to check for smoke/fire), rather than everyone having a sleepless night.
Yes, the likelihood of a fire is tiny, but we’re in the position of not being covered if there is a fire, since we deliberately turned them off…

It’s my turn tonight.
I have a painful shoulder(blade), which helps keep me awake, but I’ll also be watching shows online, or reading.
Right now, I will while away some time sharing photos I’ve had sitting, waiting to be seen 😀

Firstly – what have we enjoyed at cafes lately?

A hot chocolate and a matcha/pistachio (or maybe matcha/white chocolate?) “cookie” (biscuit, for us Aussies)
I think this was a franchise type cafe, that we wouldn’t normally go to, but we had been chasing down a particular item, which involved driving all over town. We were tired, and this was refreshing.

Last week we tried out a cafe down the road, next to a nursery.

A cruffin…

and a red velvet hot chocolate.
Very nice. I’ve tried cruffins a couple of times. For something that’s covered in sugar, it’s not overly sweet.

This was our dining companion for a time.

…as we (almost) sat under the light of the disco-ball pot.

I have been noticing the different flowers around me.

These beauties by the mailbox.

Most of the petals on this had fallen off, but it still looked sweet. The centre bits almost look like little pink bow ties!

And here are some cheerful marigolds in our church garden, radiating the sun.

❤

Are you feeling Christmas-y yet?
How about a song!

Time to take a turn about the house!

Published in: on December 4, 2025 at 12:00 am  Leave a Comment  
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Rest, In The Quiet

I wanted to share a song, by Roma Waterman – it’s from the album “When God Sings”.


Just in case you need to sit in the quiet space for a while…

Published in: on November 13, 2025 at 9:08 pm  Leave a Comment  
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On Salad Bowls, And The Coming Of The Light

I’ve been trying to ramp up my leafy green consumption lately.
Summer seems like a good time to do it.

Isn’t it pretty!
More pink than I’d expected.
(And yes – it’s not just salad…)

I could say “Sumer Is Icumen In”, but it’s more like summer has come barrelling in, flattening all before it.
Still, the days have become brighter, and the sun picks out flashes of colour and light.
I have (finally) got around to displaying some of my jewellery – including a new “cat” badge.

Can you tell which one it is? 😀

I don’t really wear jewellery much. I prefer to decorate with it.
The different metals catch the light, and glow contentedly in their space.

Glass sparkles on the shelf…

Even seemingly plain feathers find their colour in the light!

A shy little glass flower reflects…

And the rainbows continue to sing – sometimes captured…

Sometimes on their own, dreaming.

Summer is here, and we can bask/dream/sing in the sun.
We were made to live in the light!
❤

Published in: on October 23, 2025 at 10:06 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Dolly In Springtime

…Parton, that is.
I’ve had a lovely day of catching up with this and that, enjoying the (slightly) cool day, and reminiscing with music. One of those CDs was a Dolly Parton “Greatest Hits” – I don’t know all her songs, but there are some I remember from many years ago (my first cassette tape was a country hits tape 🙂 )
Her voice is distinctive, and comforting. She seems like someone you’d like to meet, too!

I popped in to a bakery down the road this morning.
Indulged in a BBQ pork bánh mì, then saw some Neenish tarts in the display case.

Haven’t had one in ages!
I remember my Dad liked them. I don’t remember the ones he had being quite so violently pink, though.
It was an experience 🙂
The icing was hard (it cracked, rather than behaving as icing should…) The filling is mock cream, with a base of jam, so – a bit richer than I like these days. It also seemed to be a lot bigger than I remember.

But – that was my day.
Bimbling (mentally 🙂 )
Listening to Dolly.
Eating a Neenish tart.

Reminiscing.

It’s not the way I thought my day would go, but that’s OK.

(and if you want to reminisce along with me, as well as feeling the springtime vibe…)

❤

Published in: on October 4, 2025 at 8:21 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Reflecting On The Journey

Feels like I’m climbing out of the (not so fun) side quest that our life has been lately…
We went out to the shops today, just to see if we could. Went pretty well overall, although a bit tiring. I wore my mask (still unsure if I’m broadcasting germs – I don’t think so, but don’t want to risk sharing to the general public). It co-ordinated nicely with what I was wearing 😀
I’ve been catching up with online classes today, and probably tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ve been ensconcing myself in my comfy reading nest.

…with my coffee at my side, and a lovely breeze through the windows.

Because we’ve been out of action for so long, it feels like we’ve stepped out of the flow of life for a bit. A bit disorientating – it probably doesn’t help that lately it seems like the world has spun off its axis in some ways!
We’ll be back. And moving forward.
Here’s a song to help settle the existential swirl.

Looking at my calendar, I see that it’s been just over three months (thirteen weeks) since we first heard that we had to leave the previous house. It’s been an eventful few months! A lot of changes, and a bit of uncertainty as to where we were headed. Some things are still up in the air.
Time to fly!
❤

Published in: on September 24, 2025 at 10:39 pm  Leave a Comment  
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It’s The Little Things…

Another week of rest and recuperation…
I’ve been up and about more, though 🙂
Did some organising in the art room, which included excavating some tiny things from a soapstone box that I haven’t really seen for years!
Lots of little trinkets – finally figured out what to do with the glass beads I brought back from Venice, many years ago.

It’s a bit difficult to focus properly when there’s glass around, and not much space to maneuver. They’re prettier than they look…
There were shells at the top of the box. I’m pretty sure I picked at least some of them off the beach. Possibly all?

We (briefly) ventured out on Monday. It was our anniversary, so we popped out (suitably masked) to the local bakery.

I celebrated with a lemon meringue tart, and half a vanilla slice.

Next week should see us slowly getting back into gear.
There are things to do! Places to be!
And a song to share, which seemed to fit the “breaking back out into life” vibe.

Dolly always makes me smile.
❤

Published in: on September 20, 2025 at 11:20 pm  Leave a Comment  
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The Purpling Cold

The skies have been beautiful lately.
As the year starts to chill into mid-winter, the evenings fade into shades of pink and lavender.
The other day was a lovely purply-to-blue sunset.

This evening, the clouds took up the hue.

Our housing future has been looking a bit cloudy.
We had another open house last Saturday. There didn’t seem to be anyone who put an offer in, but an investor from the first open house did…twice. Both offers were refused.
This Monday we got our notice to leave.
It seems the owner wants us out anyway.
We’ve looked at one place so far, which looked good online.
It…was not.
There are others bookmarked, so we’ll see how that goes 🙂

In the meantime…
we wait.
And trust.
And probably, at some point, pack.

But the moon still rises, bright in the purple blue.

And the sun throws out its fire, as it leaves for another day.

Whatever the day, there is always hope in the world.

Published in: on July 9, 2025 at 10:50 pm  Leave a Comment  
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A Sign, And A Promise

That’s a big sign.

We got a call on Monday to say that the owner of this house is putting it up for sale.
The agent came round Tuesday for a chat, and the photographer came round Wednesday to take photos for the listing.
Which went up Thursday.
This morning was an open house – not sure how many there will be.
My laptop charger decided that connecting to my laptop was no longer in its job description…

It’s been…a week.

Still, I spent last night and today at an online conference, which has been inspiring.
It meant that I was sat on the sofa with my headphones on while people were traipsing through the house.
Worth it!

There weren’t many visitors, but it’s possible that one (an investor) might put an offer in. If that happens we might get to stay here. Yay! 😀
Our lease is up first week of September, so hopefully we’ll know by then.

Last Sunday, on our way to church, there was a rainbow through the clouds.
It was bright, and a timely reminder that we are never forgotten, and that we can trust God with whatever comes our way.

It was brighter on our way in.
But it still lingered, arching over the prayers outside the church building before the service.

❤

Here are a couple of songs we sang at the conference.

I don’t know what the next weeks/months will bring.
Rain, or rainbows?
Either way – it’s all good!

Published in: on June 28, 2025 at 9:17 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Taking My Old Body To Sing

The beginning of last week was great!
I did stuff.
I even did more stuff!
And then my body said, “No.”

Somewhere towards the end of the week fatigue whacked me over the head, and I’ve been trying to sleep/rest enough to replenish.
I’m glad I did all the stuff last week 😀
Just might have been a bit more than my recuperating self was expecting! 😆

So, the boys are in varying stages of recovery from the “virus-that-has-no-name”. And my Babe started coughing Friday morning, and stayed in bed for a couple of days. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have caught what we had. Or he just heals really quick…

Today was a new day. Yay!
I still needed to sit and rest.
But I also managed the washing, and my share of the cleaning/dishes. Double yay!

In my sit-down-before-I-fall-down time I read some Mary Oliver.
Then I put my headphones on, closed my eyes, and listened to a CD I picked up a few weeks ago ($1 at a charity shop!)

Here are two poems that sang to me.
And two songs that spoke to my (weary) heart.

I Worried
Mary Oliver

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.

How Would You Live Then?
Mary Oliver

What if a hundred rose-breasted grosbeaks
     flew in circles around your head? What if
the mockingbird came into the house with you and
     became your advisor? What if
the bees filled your walls with honey and all
     you needed to do was ask them and they would fill
the bowl? What if the brook slid downhill just
     past your bedroom window so you could listen
to its slow prayers as you fell asleep? What if
     the stars began to shout their names, or to run
this way and that way above the clouds? What if
     you painted a picture of a tree, and the leaves
began to rustle, and a bird cheerfully sang
     from its painted branches? What if you suddenly saw
that the silver of water was brighter than the silver 
     of money? What if you finally saw
that the sunflowers, turning toward the sun all day
     and every day – who knows how, but they do it – were
more precious, more meaningful than gold?

Published in: on June 2, 2025 at 10:08 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Having A Laugh

I’m still climbing out of the dark chasm of feeling-absolutely-horrible.
Probably sitting somewhere between ordinary-icky-take-a-rest and ooh-let’s-go-to-the-shops-(if-we-don’t-take-too-long) right now.
Biggest Boy is not too well at the moment, although his 4-in-1 test was also negative. So, we have/had something. Just not something with an easily identifiable name 😆
I’m able to read and watch YouTube (and enjoy both!) without overdoing it. I was even able to watch church online yesterday – yay! The week before it was too much to stay upright for that long…

The weather is still cooling, and I’m hoping to do some work this week. I’m booked for a Micro Business Skills course later in June, so it makes sense to get some work done towards the business itself!

No interesting photos to share.
I have a variety of views from my window (as seen from the bed), not sure anyone wants to see a range of cloud formations…
But I have a couple of new songs I’ve enjoyed over the weekend 😀

No Beyonce.
Enjoy anyway!

…and here’s a way to have a laugh at yourself, while gently teasing your fans…
(you’ll need to put the captions on [that little “CC” button on the bottom])

Here’s to a brighter week!

With interesting cloud formations.

Published in: on May 19, 2025 at 6:56 pm  Leave a Comment  
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