Simple life… | 1000 Fields of Roses

Coming To A Standstill

The school year is pretty much over – we’re just making sure the work is finished this week. We decided on the spur of the moment yesterday to go and see “Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them”. I thought it was beautiful – from a well-lit and imagined 20’s New York to various fantastic beasts. The story was sweet as well (apart from the destructive parts…) I’m glad we decided to go as a family.
A little while back we went to the Japanese Gardens near us for some quiet stillness, and I filmed a short clip on the iPod. It’s not spectacular – just a fairly ordinary bit of running water, maybe a dragonfly or two… but isn’t that the way we mostly relax? With traffic noise, in a backyard type setting, dreaming because we can…
It’s apparently going to be hot this week. Have a listen to some water, insects and crows – some of the sounds of summer.
Dream on! 🙂

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on November 30, 2016 at 1:54 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Japanese Gardens

A Refreshing Interlude

Both today and yesterday! 🙂
The year’s coming to an end, so it felt like a good time for something different. We went down to the Japanese Gardens in Queen’s Park to spend some time, individually, being still and quiet. It was lovely – running water, birds, lots of dragonflies… Not sure Littlest Bean understood the idea – he spent the time darting around, counting all the animals and insects he encountered. Even turtles!

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I sat outside the teahouse, listening and watching.

There was a lone lotus flower on the other side of the lake.

We went to the library afterwards. It was a refreshing break in our morning…
In other news, our thistle has probably reached the stage where it should be chopped down.

It’s getting a bit wild.
The flowers are still beautiful, though.

I chopped some branches off the mugwort today, and found a little ladybird.

I put it in the grass so it could fly away when it was ready. 🙂

So – what was my refreshment today? I didn’t know which to choose – a good old mystery, or a bit of nostalgic sci-fi. I decided to go for both – Blakes 7 – Mission To Destiny… Agatha Christie in Space!

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on November 19, 2016 at 4:14 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Blakes 7, Japanese Gardens, Ladybird, thistles

Take A Break (…And Dance!)

Just spent the morning watching a lesson on geology with the boys – informative, interesting, but veeery long! We had a break in the middle by watching this –

I’ve blogged about this bloke before – it’s a bit chaotic in this world at the moment, isn’t it? It’s nice to be reminded that we can still just take time, and dance together. 🙂

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on November 8, 2016 at 12:46 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Matt Harding

A Very Aussie Morning Tea

Went out to Urban Pantry with Hubby ❤ for morning tea…
Coffee/tea, with a lamington (filled with hazelnut cream) and an iced vovo slice (gluten free!)

The thistles received a visitor today 🙂

Why stick to one flower?

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Simple life...

on November 4, 2016 at 5:59 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Butterfly

An Evening Out

Here’s where we were this evening – the Twilight Markets at the Railway Workshops. It was lovely just having a hot chocolate, listening to live music (even though there wasn’t much live music…)

Even though I think it’s too early for Christmas decorations to come out, the twinkly lights were nice…

The next one’s in December – it’ll be warmer and probably lighter then. 🙂

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Simple life...

on October 21, 2016 at 9:26 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Twilight Markets

A Piece Of Cake

It’s been a funny old week…
We started off on Monday with a sick little Bean – temperature, “icky” tummy, headache. By Wednesday we had two… it’s been an easy week as school goes – neither one has been able to do anything while they’ve been sick. They didn’t even want to watch TV! They’re not sick often – they don’t tend to pick up viruses that much. They seem to have made up for it this time…
While I’ve checked on coughing, shivering beans from time to time throughout the week, I’ve also been able to spend a lot of time reading textbooks, as well as novels, with my coffee at my side.

And, on occasion, a mango Tim Tam.
I also indulged myself with some Choc-chip ice-cream…

Little Bean decided to buy some plain vanilla ice-cream for himself and his brother, so I got some, too 🙂 I know… not the healthiest of treats… good for the boys this week, though – helped them feel a bit cooler, and good with scratchy throats. Thankfully, they have had some proper food as well, in the last couple of days.
(I always seem to be posting pictures of food. Not sorry…)

Where does the piece of cake come in? It was Hubby’s birthday today. A quiet day, mostly. The boys had recovered enough to do some breakfast in bed for him 🙂 I took him out for a piece of cake (Maple fruit cake) and a cup of tea. I forgot to bring a candle to put on the cake, for which he was very relieved!

Brought the decorative snapdragons back, to show the boys how they “snap”.
And then – we had a restful day. No stressing about unfinished work today. Reading. Even a little snooze.
Roll on the weekend!

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Simple life...

on October 14, 2016 at 7:31 pm Leave a Comment

A Quiet Retreat

It’s Tuesday today… we’re still on holiday, although home now. We went away for the weekend, just to Windsor (near Brisbane) while the boys were away at camp. We rested, went to markets, drank coffee – a refreshing and peaceful stay!
It was touch and go if we would get there at all – Little Bean had been feeling “icky” during the week, then stressed up to Friday about ruining everyone’s weekend… right up to the bus left, he still wasn’t 100% sure. We would have been fine staying home with him, but he decided in the end to go…

Our first view… we stayed at PJ’s on Fifth, which we found through Stayz. It’s a site for holiday accommodation of varying types and prices. This one was someone’s house – the downstairs was modified as a self-contained flat. The owners weren’t there while we were, although they apparently are most times.

The bedroom 🙂
The place was pretty much two rooms (bedroom, combined kitchen/dining/lounge room) connected by a hallway with bathroom/toilet off the hallway.

Bathroom

View from the loo!

kitchen/dining/lounge

Looking through to the back yard – this was our view over breakfast…

We got there Friday afternoon and got food in for the weekend (chocolate! 🙂 ) Had a Thai takeaway, then off to Glory City Church for Friday night service. Lots of worship, lots of prayer – just right to start a great weekend!
Went to the Fortitude Valley Markets on Saturday morning (a bit of a disappointment) but enjoyed a brownie and coffee in Bakery Lane, which made up for it 🙂

We were hoping to see Riverfire from the house, but the houses opposite got in the way. Watched it on TV while eating another takeaway. (posh miniburgers and chips, which means they had lots of herbs, sea salt and a bit of aioli…) 🙂
Took in Northey Street Farm Markets on the way home Sunday morning, after another morning lingering over breakfast on the back patio. Home, kept the holiday vibe going until we got the boys home later that afternoon. Still feeling in holiday mood, even though I’m back to studying 🙂

I’ll finish with a photo of the flowers outside our holiday place.
Sweet and fragrant, just like our weekend!

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on September 27, 2016 at 8:04 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Glory City Church, I Heart Brownies, PJs on Fifth

Rising To The Rafters

This has been a good week in a lot of ways – some things have become clearer, and there’s been glimpses of light in the future… It’s also our 22nd Wedding Anniversary today -yay for us! 🙂

We went to a lovely little cafe this morning to celebrate. I’ve been there twice before -once on my own, once with hubby. It’s called Rafter and Rose, on Ellenborough St, across from the cinema. It’s down a little alleyway with lots of greenery outside. The food is great!
The first time I went I was on my own… I’d forgotten how nice it is to spend unhurried time on my own with a cuppa.

This was my view…
This was my food 🙂

That’s a hot chocolate and something called a breakfast muffin – basically croissant dough plaited and covered in cinnamon sugar, then baked in a muffin tin. Very sugary, and I couldn’t eat it all. Took it home for later, though.
The second visit was with hubby. We needed some down time, and sat outside with the flora and blue skies…

We shared a sour cream and blueberry scone with our cuppas.

And today… I wasn’t feeling my best, but it was worth taking time. We sat and chatted and enjoyed each other’s company. Lovely!
I like the bits and pieces on the walls…

…but especially the food!

Pumpkin pie – yum!

A good week…
and a good Anniversary! 🙂

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on September 15, 2016 at 7:00 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: anniversary, rafter and rose

Smile! :)

It’s been a bit wet today…
we’ve had an almost miniflood – the quick unplugging of a drain and the use of brooms and shovels kept the house from being wetter than it should be!
Apart from that, it’s been a reading, cuppa tea, keeping warm sort of day.
Hope your day has been good, despite the greyness and rain…
If not – here’s some puppies-in-a-basket to cheer you up!

🙂

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on June 4, 2016 at 4:26 pm Leave a Comment

Free For The Day

This was our view for breakfast this morning… 🙂

…and this was my companion. ❤

The boys were out all day at Mini-Camp, so we got to do whatever we wanted to! We went to Colleges Crossing for breakfast and checked out World Harmony Day at Springfield.
It was a good day…

And a lovely breakfast was thoroughly enjoyed!