Can I Have A Word?

At this end of the year, I do a bit of a change-and-tidy – sorting out the remains of the previous year, setting up the new year in whatever way seems best.
One of the things I do is pray over a “word” for the year. It’s not in a weird way -just asking God what He wants me to focus on. Sometimes the word is clear, sometimes a bit maybe/maybe not.

This last Sunday we broke up into little groups, to be prayed over by older/wiser couples in the church. We were asked to briefly explain what we wanted prayer for, and had a bit of time to ponder that before the groups got together.
I was pretty set to ask for clarity for the new year…maybe healing – all the good stuff!
And then, I felt the word “challenge” drop down in my spirit.

That’s one of those words, really.
You can decide that you must have heard wrong, and pretend it never happened.
That never goes well.
Or you can take a deep breath, and go for it.

So, I asked for prayer, and there was good feedback to ponder on. Some things aligned with what I already knew would be in focus this year. Some I’m still thinking about. I was excited, if a bit unsure of details…
Monday morning, I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck.
This was not the challenge I was looking for!! 😆
No, I don’t subscribe to magical thinking. The most likely scenario is that I’ve been doing a bit too much overall, and it’s caught up with me.
Made me laugh, though! 😀

I’m not sure how the challenge is supposed to look. I feel it will be a “good” challenge.
There are steps I’m taking while I’m waiting for some things to coalesce – just one thing, then the next, then the next. One foot after the other.
I know there is something to do with writing, and have some ideas about that. There are other creative pursuits to…pursue 🙂
And all wrapped up with rest times, meditation, prayer…
I will be using my art room more effectively, and at different times of the day.

To that end, I have obtained a duck.
A pastel lit, resting duck, by which to dream.

Behold – the duck!

May your year be restful,
and may you find your own pastel duck to dream by.
❤

Published in: on January 6, 2026 at 9:42 pm  Leave a Comment  
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(Half) Speed Ahead

So we’re out of the in-between week, and into the new year.
I feel like I should have already taken off running.
It’s been a bit strange, factoring in the weekend. I’ll start…stuff…on Monday 😆

I’ve started the new diary. And the other new diary.
Here are the old ones (and the book I was reading).

I like to colour co-ordinate.

That top diary was started in 2022.
My handwriting tends to be tiny – I generally fit three lines into one ordinary-sized ruled line. It can take a while to fill a book!

Here are my new diaries. And the book I’m reading.

The book underneath is one I’ve had for years. It’s beautiful ❤ Which means I haven’t wanted to mar its beauty with my writing.
The cat diary has spaces for a drawing a day, and a written musing. The book is about writing.

Yes, every word matters, in the sense that it’s good to think about what we say, or write.
So, this year I will write. And draw.
I’m hoping to expand a bit from these books!
I don’t “correct” whatever I do each day – once the day is finished, I don’t touch it again. I also draw from memory, which means I end up with some strange images 😀

And so, I will cope with imperfection, and push past to good. Maybe even great!
I don’t know what’s up ahead.
All I can do is mosey on in to the spaces I’m supposed to be in, and see what I can do there.

So can you. It’ll be fun!

Published in: on January 3, 2026 at 10:47 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Here We Go!

Published in: on January 1, 2026 at 1:01 am  Leave a Comment  
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Betwixt

Well, here we are again, in that weird in between week.
It’s New Year’s Eve, and the rain is cascading down outside.
We spent part of the morning talking over the year just finishing, and what we’re looking at for the year to begin.
I’m not big on New Year resolutions, but it is an opportunity to rethink and reset…

I’ve been working my way through the Christmas food. One of the things I indulged in this last week is Reindeer Bao Buns.

Cute.
Quite tasty (vegetables in hoisin sauce).
They’re meant to look like reindeer – the brown things are antlers.
I just can’t help seeing them as very cranky reindeer! 😀

I went for a wander the other day. Just down the road and back, which I’ve been meaning to do since we moved here (5 months now!), but haven’t got around to.
I still miss the cold, dark Christmas days of the U.K. – hot sunshine still feels a bit…wrong.
I do like that we can sally on into the new year with sunshine and flowers.
The neighbours have provided a variety of flowers to enjoy 🙂

It’s still raining.
The garden will be glad!
❤

And yes – there is an (older) English language version...

Published in: on December 31, 2025 at 8:20 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Milk And Cookies For Santa

By “Santa”, I mean – me!

How’s everyone going with Christmas preparation?
We’ll be having a quiet day (again) – not even doing stockings this year 😦
The tree is up, the pressies are wrapped, and there are choccies in the fridge!
I like to have things clean and tidy, so that’s pretty much sorted.

Time to rest a bit.
Have a cuppa, and a nice little treat.

The “milk and cookies” (I would say “biscuits”, but it doesn’t sound right…) were on a doughnut I had a little while back. I’d seen them in the cabinet a few times, and thought they looked good.

A fairly ordinary doughnut with icing, a squidge of cream, milk bottles, and a couple of tiny choc chip biscuits.
A cup of tea to go with it…
What could be sweeter?
❤

Published in: on December 22, 2025 at 11:24 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Peace On Earth

It was a hard weekend.
Being reminded of the darkness (again)…
The hatred bubbling over into terrible action.
Choices – actions – that are hard to understand –
and some reactions that inflamed rather than soothed.

I don’t know what to say, really.
This is a season that heralds peace. Joy. Hope.
But it has always been in the context of a darkened world.

And so, I will pray.
Because I believe that to be a powerful place to start.
But I will also pay attention to the marginalised, and oppressed. The ones who don’t live in the same level of ease and safety as I do.
I will question the tendency to blame a whole community for the actions of one.
Look for what is true, and challenge unthinking reaction – whether mine, or others’.
And remember the words of One who came as a baby, to bring reconciliation.

This is what Jesus said (quoting Isaiah) –

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

****

There is still light.
Hope.
And peace for us.

Published in: on December 16, 2025 at 9:49 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Feet Up!

It was a lounge chair, feet up kind of day.

We had nowhere to be today, so I caught up with some work at home.
Feeling a bit weary, although not entirely sure why. The days have not had quite the same shape as they usually do, so I may have been doing more than I normally would.
Today, I slept in. Read a bit. And finally finished off some mending that’s been sitting waiting for me 😀
I’ve done most of the time sensitive things – at least for this week!

We went to our favourite cafe yesterday.
Haven’t been for a few weeks.
There was Christmas in the air…
A tree of lights, a few poinsettias in pots,
and a “sugar plum” flavoured cappuccino

Vaguely fruity/sweet?
It was quite nice.

Tomorrow there will be more errands to run.
Today was a time to recharge.
❤

Published in: on December 11, 2025 at 11:17 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Under The Big Sparkly Tree

We finally made it to the Carols Under The Big Tree last night!
It’s something I’ve been wanting to get back to for a while – the last time we went was 12 years ago.
Apparently the service has been run for 50 years now, and the family who owns the land (and tree 🙂 ) has been putting lights on it for 60 years.
There had been forecasts for storms in the evening, but when we got there about 6.40ish it was still fine.
This tree was lit up in my favourite colours ❤

A bit blurry.
Still very pink/purple.

We stayed, and sang (at least, I did!), even though the rain did start slowly, just before the end.
This was our view for the last few songs.

And, of course, the big tree itself…

😀

We left just as the rain was picking up, and got home before the storm.
I rarely go out at night these days.
Glad I was able to get to this!

Published in: on December 8, 2025 at 9:11 pm  Leave a Comment  
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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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The Season Begins…

It was a busy/weird week last week, but I’m glad to be back in action for the start of Christmas imaginings…
We had a fractured night last night.
The smoke alarms went off around midnight – for no reason that we could see.
I had not long slipped into a lovely sleep, which was something that has been hard to come by lately.
We got that alarm sorted.
Then it went off again seven minutes later.
My Babe deactivated our bedroom alarm, as that seemed to be the one that was triggering the others.

Back to bed.
And back up around 2ish, when they all went off again.
We were all stumbling around like zombies…decided eventually to deactivate all of them, and waiting to see how soon the electrician can come and fix them – they’re meant to be hardwired into the electrical system, which in turn (I think) is supposed to continually charge the batteries.
Because when the batteries run down, the alarm goes off.

Until they’re fixed, we’re following a roster as “human smoke detectors” – someone stays up all night to check for smoke. Seems like overkill, but even though we think there’s no actual fire hazard, we’re not completely sure what’s setting them off. And we’d all be lying awake wondering.
It’s Sweet Bean’s turn tonight. ❤

Well. In other news – we got the tree up today. I haven’t decorated it yet. I have put snowmen, Santas, baubles, and angels around the place 🙂 I’ll probably post pictures when I’ve done the tree 🙂
Sneak peek!

Yay!

The day was dry, but cool enough to do stuff (not something that’s been common lately).
I potted some plants. Organised some things. Did some washing (which seemed to dry almost instantaneously…)
I got another rainbow tie-dye dress at a Lifeline sale recently.
It certainly cheered up my backyard!

I already had the rainbow throw/cape thing.
You would think that wearing them both together would be a bit too much.
I would say that, in my opinion, you would almost certainly be wrong!
😀

Published in: on December 1, 2025 at 11:39 pm  Leave a Comment  
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