Simple life… | 1000 Fields of Roses

Silver Lining

…without a cloud in the sky!

Sunday just gone was our 25th Wedding Anniversary – I have now spent half my life married ❤ That seems like a dramatic statement! I am very happy that we have come this far – here’s to the next 25 years!
Our boys are old enough to look after themselves, so we decided to have a long weekend in Caloundra. We stayed in a three bedroom unit, but it was still compact enough for us. The balcony looked out onto the beach, and it was only a short walk to the sand.
The main street was close, so we took in the markets on Sunday morning, and went to Kawana Waters Farmers Markets on Saturday morning to pick up good food for the weekend. We also got to say hi to an old friend as well as getting some great hand made (gluten free) sausages… if you’re in the market for quality sausages (and are on the Sunshine Coast) you can’t get better than Saintsational Sausages! 😀
Hearing the sea so close was good for peaceful sleep. The weather was bright and mild.

Our first sunset there…

Caloundra seems quiet and sleepy, especially in term time. We could just meander, and still feel like we got a lot done. There were bits of artwork dotted about the main part of the town as well, like sparkly gems waiting to be discovered…

King’s Beach was lovely, and not too busy even on the weekends, but we also had a walk along Shelley Beach, picking up shells and looking at the wildlife in the rock pools.

The sea was the most beautiful blue, and there were tiny fish and crabs, as well as bigger crabs, sidling along under rocks…

The weekend was meant to be a chance to spend time together, and we did that. It was also a chance to share good, quality food – whether crisp chips or gelato by the sea, or rich picnic food on the balcony.

Sunday’s breakfast – free range eggs, oyster mushrooms fried in butter, avocado on olive, feta and rosemary sourdough bread, and Saintsational sausages (chicken, lime, coriander, mango and coconut). We indulged in proper full cream milk (there was actual cream on top!) and the juice is “Energy” juice from the markets – based on beetroot juice, with additions such as ginger and celery… There were stops at various cafes for good coffee, finishing with Greenhouse Cafe on the Monday morning before coming home.

Lemon Curd gluten free doughnut 🙂

Such a lovely weekend! We were sad to say goodbye, but happy to be headed home…
Sunrise on our last day…

We had a good run home, and blitzed the unpacking/washing when we got back.
What more can I say?

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on September 17, 2019 at 5:51 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Caloundra, Wedding Anniversary

All The Little Birdies Sing!

At least they’re starting to…
We’re on the last day of winter, and what a non-winter it’s been! A few cold nights and blustery days, but the trees and birds seem to have been a bit confused for the last month or so.
About four weeks ago I took some photos at a friend’s place, and have taken some more at intervals…

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Waiting to open; complete with teeny-tiny spider!

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Some type of nectarine blossom, I believe – looking happy!

A couple of weeks later – sunflower with bee 🙂

The latest phase – waiting for the seeds.

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…and baby offshoots, with native bees.

A promise of more fruit.

The magpies and plovers seem to have been nesting, and we came across the first half a hatched egg yesterday while walking. Spring seems to have well and truly sprung.
Will tomorrow’s sun rise more brightly with the official advent of spring? Probably not. But the warmer days are coming!

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on August 31, 2019 at 3:23 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: spring, sunflowers

The Simple Life

Another Monday morning, with a week full of promise – if I take what’s offered!
I was reading last night about a prolific author, who committed to write 400 words each day. Not a very large commitment, at first sight… a few paragraphs. Those words added up over time, building to greatness with consistency…

I tend to tie myself up, aiming for the big things, and missing them more often than not. What is my version of 400 words?

This morning I have some deadlines to work towards – some things to work on. Well – let’s be honest here. Things to start working on (properly)!
I have made myself a cup of coffee from scratch – grinding the beans and making it in the small saucepan – and have chosen a pretty plate for some quality dark chocolate. I have lit some incense sticks (frankincense and myrrh) and spent some time praying for friends needing a fragrant breath in their day today.
It’s time to dive in and “write” those words!
What words are you writing in your day today?
❤

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on August 26, 2019 at 12:05 pm Leave a Comment

Walking To The Cafe

Decided to jump on into another exercise session today. We’d thought we were going to go regularly, but this is only the second time… It was crisp and cold, with blue, blue skies, and the promise of coffee and cheesecake for afters (I skipped breakfast).
Just down the road from us is a free council exercise program, with walking between stations. It seems a waste to have such a resource so close to us and not use it, especially as it’s not too hot now. There are various pieces of equipment for all levels.

The last photo is a station close to the car park, and is primarily for the elderly (equipment to improve grip and flexibility) and for wheelchair users. There are benches at each station in case you overdo it, and it’s a gentle walk around the circuit. Have a look at your local council Parks and Reserves page – I searched under “recreation”, then “strength and agility stations”

Finished the morning with mocha and cheesecake.

You can tell by my coffee that were sitting at a bit of a wonky table – the cafe was so full that we had to sit outside, and the footpath isn’t quite level… here’s the view.

Obviously the place to be!

Continuing the health vibe with kale chips and chamomile tea… time to sit in the sunshine and read 🙂

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on June 22, 2019 at 3:30 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: council exercise stations, rafter and rose

A Little Bit Of Nothing

…sometimes does a whole lot of good!

It’s that strange week again – the one between Christmas and New Year. We tend to slow down, read books, eat far too much chocolate.
It’s not quite the next year, but it also feels like it’s not quite this year. The rush of Christmas is over, and the bustle of school and everyday life hasn’t yet begun. A lot of places aren’t open (the library won’t be until January) and people are off on holiday or visiting family.

It’s a good time to do nothing. Reset. Bare minimum.
Face forward for the best year ahead.
My day today? Reading. Chocolate. Laundry (because you can’t ignore everything). An unexpected bunch of flowers from my Babe ❤

…and a bit of love from my breakfast 😉

Enjoy your not-quite-but-nearly 2019! 😀

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on December 28, 2018 at 8:03 pm Leave a Comment

Pe-e-e-egs!

Not quite sure what it says about me, but I was extremely excited to get some new pegs (and a peg bag) today – now it will be easy to colour co-ordinate all my washing when I hang it out!

Also – fly swats! With the recent heat has come a multitude of flies. It doesn’t matter how careful we are to keep doors and windows closed – they still get in… Today was another sweltering day, with unexpected breezes at random intervals. We went to Rafter and Rose this morning for coffee and cheesecake, but had to sit outside as there were no seats in the (airconditioned) interior… we were the only ones out there, though.

Worth it! 🙂

We used the time to discuss and plan – Christmas, curriculum…
We also made friends with the resident lizard, Kenny.

Hi, Kenny! 🙂

Looking forward to a cool change tomorrow…

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on November 7, 2018 at 9:12 pm Leave a Comment

Drawing Life

Another beautiful day, with weather to match!
Started the day by taking Sweet Bean into town to take part in The Big Draw, which was set up in a community gallery near the main gallery here. He didn’t really want to go, but it’s only on once a year, so we went just to try it out 🙂 I think this is about the third one we’ve been to, and we’ve enjoyed it each time. All materials are provided. There’s coffee and bikkies as well…

We were among the first there, so we got to start off the collaborative work.

This was fun – there’s charcoal on the end of those sticks, and there were two smaller sizes as well. It’s quite hard to keep it stable, so drawing gets a bit wobbly. It’s also difficult to choose something to draw when there’s a huge expanse of blank paper! I like eyes… thought I’d start there.

Sweet Bean contributed a sort of Greek column (?) He likes patterns 🙂

There were other stations – this one was set up to draw the shadows.

I started on this one, but it was getting a bit crowded by then, and people were standing in front of me.
We sat in the corner at the end. Sweet Bean drew more patterns, I wrote (bad) poetry. Lovely!

Here’s the big floor mural at different stages.

I loved seeing the tiny ones diving into it all – pastels smeared over faces and hands, confronted with an endless expanse to colour at will…

We got some nice things to have for lunch, then made our way home. We’d missed the bus, so decided to walk back, inhaling the scents of random flowers as we went, and noticing a new brilliant pink flower in the communal gardens.

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Caught up with some mending this afternoon. Read for a bit. Watched TV. Generally chilled.

Beautiful.

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on October 20, 2018 at 9:13 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: the big draw

My Beautiful Weekend

Sweet Bean was away over the weekend, so we took the chance to go and have fun together. We were originally going to go away for the weekend, but that didn’t work out… Saturday morning was an early start to the markets, where we stocked up on fresh food before enjoying a leisurely breakfast in the bright, not too cold, air. Also – fresh, colourful flowers to browse through!

Rainbows and roses and a sunflower too!
Disappointingly, none of the flowers appeared to be scented…

I was on my own in the afternoon so went to the library, then looked around the antiques place down the road.

I’ve been wanting to go for ages, but the opening hours are a little different and I haven’t been able to. I enjoyed wandering round – it’s packed full of random things, and can feel a little overwhelming. Worth the trip, though.

Sunday we decided to check out the morning service of the church we go to in the evenings. It starts a bit earlier than we’re used to, so I set my alarm for 8am, thinking it would warn us when it was getting time to go. Woke up to it going off, so had to scramble to get out the door… 😀
The service was good, and we met new people. Went for lunch at a cafe down the road. It was cold (we sat outside) but good food warms you up.
The decor was cheerful

and the food was good (we only had half portions of mains, and shared a chocolate pudding)

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A fun, stress-free weekend.
We picked up Sweet Bean in the afternoon – back to everyday!

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on October 2, 2018 at 12:04 am Leave a Comment
Tags: cafe 63

24

Winding down the day now, thinking about an early night. We were up early to get to the markets this morning – it’s our 24th anniversary today, so we celebrated by getting fruit and veg, followed by breakfast (gluten free pancakes – yay!)

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I haven’t been for ages! I’d forgotten how lovely it is to stock up on fresh food, then sit back and enjoy a cuppa with breakfast, watching the varied world go by.

The place we get out coffee/tea also sells poffertjes, and is surrounded by windmills…

We were home by 8.30am, and Babe took me to see a couple of historic houses round 10ish (he sat outside in the car doing work on the laptop – not a fan of crowded history!) I enjoyed looking round.

Fairy Knoll – very crowded, but I’ve been wanting to have a look inside for ages. The view from the verandah was amazing – I would love to be able to sit out there and gaze across to the mountains any time I felt like it. None of my photos turned out very well, though…

Rockton House – the view was not as good, but it felt more cosy, like a well lived in house. There were paintings of various kinds all over the house, some by well known names, and lots of beautiful tea sets and knick-knacks. It didn’t feel as crowded, even though there were probably as many people there as at Fairy Knoll.

It’s mostly been a quiet day. Sweet Bean decided to mark his recently advanced age by walking into town on his own for the first time. He was gone for a few hours and came home quite tired, but enjoyed his adventure…
We had a special dinner (and the strawberries-and-cream ice creams were nice…) but as our ages are far more advanced than Sweet Bean’s, we haven’t overdone the celebrations.

Maybe next year!
❤

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on September 15, 2018 at 9:51 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Fairy Knoll, Rockton House

Chill Out

So, finally we have a new fridge.
It’s beautiful!
The old one never worked properly, so stocking it fully could be a bit risky. Thankfully we were able to finally get a brand new fridge at a good price, with the option of repair or replacement for a number of years.
Here it is!