Thinking…. | 1000 Fields of Roses

Staring Down The Century

Today is the central day of my personal century… I can look back with kind assessment on the previous half, before squaring my shoulders and facing forward to the unknown years.
I also realised today that I have just entered my sixth decade. That feels both scary and oddly liberating!
It’s been quite a while since I cared much about how others see me. As I get older I’m more able to be “me”, without pretence. There’s scope for fun and frolic – singing randomly in the supermarket, dancing down the street – as well as the serious adult business of life. I’m unsure what I’ll be doing this year, but the possibilities are endless!
It’s a little odd to realise I’m now eligible for all sorts of “over 50s” opportunities, and I’ll have to remember to pick the next age group on the drop down menus on surveys…

Celebrated this morning with my Babe, having breakfast at our favourite cafe.

I asked my Babe to take a photo of me… didn’t like the first one, so asked him to take another.

I look like I’m about to cry!
This called for a selfie…

I ended up looking slightly terrified of… something. (Look at my lovely necklace, though – it’s a sonic screwdriver, a gift from Sweet Bean 🙂 )
I ended up taking a selfie while laughing at the previous attempts. This shall be my official birthday portrait!

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Here’s breakfast – bacon, avocado, haloumi, poached egg, sweet potato rosti and greens. Yum!

❤

On the way out, beautiful fragrant flowers. It had been raining earlier.

Spent the rest of the morning reading my Bible and listening to worship songs.

I plan to continue celebrations tomorrow by taking a trip in to the big city. We’ll see how it goes!

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on February 4, 2019 at 10:58 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: rafter and rose

An Unexpected Windfall

We’re relaxing under the fan on this hot, hot day… we’ve watched the cricket (yay Brisbane Heat!), had lots of cool drinks, had a small walk through our part of the country. We’re not really ones for the beer and barbie. It was nice to stroll with my Sweet Bean, even if it was just to a garage sale up the road, which had closed by the time we got there…
I enjoy my part of Australia, both the wider walking paths and our ecosystem in the back yard. This only really exists because we don’t mow as often as we are supposed to, but we do have various insects and inquisitive cats roaming through from time to time. It’s peaceful, and often interesting.

The weather station hasn’t been much use as a rain gauge or weather vane for a while, but the thermometer still works. I just checked it and it’s hit 50C, which is as far as it goes (it is in full sun, though). Did I mention it’s hot?
My unexpected windfall today was being able to gather Queensland nuts from the tree down the road.

I was surprised to see them, as it seems a bit early in the year. Nevertheless, we’ll sample them to see what they’re like 🙂 .
Back to school Tuesday. A new year, with new challenges.
Bring ’em on!

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Thinking....

on January 26, 2019 at 3:09 pm Leave a Comment

BOOKS!!!

It’s been a busy weekend. Yesterday I went to the markets, which meant an early start. After that I took the train to South Brisbane, where the Lifeline Bookfest is on at the Convention Centre. It’s on for just over a week – go and buy books! There’s a $1 section, a $2.50 section, and a High Quality section with varying prices. I hadn’t been for a few years, so I was excited to get there this time. It can be a bit daunting – books are laid out on tables and tend to be in some sort of order (there are different genres) but there are SO MANY!! You need to have a good amount of time to browse properly.
I spent more than I’d planned, but was happy. Went out towards South Bank, stopping to revive with an iced coffee on the way.

Had a look at the South Bank markets. Enjoyed the shade under the bougainvillea arbour.

I thought about going in to Brisbane, but standing for hours looking at books, then dragging them around in a shopping trolley wore me out a bit. Got home and laid out my bounty…

On the left there is a t-square – I found it under the stationery table in the $2.50 section. The elbows up the top belong to Sweet Bean, who had started reading soon after I unpacked (The complete scripts for Fawlty Towers). There were quite a few books I would have bought, but I was trying not to spend too much.
Also on the stationery table were these. I thought I could use one and give the other to Sweet Bean – we both have a streak of perfectionism, and I thought this might help…

I was so pleased to have gone.
Also pleased to get home.

There’s still time. Go and buy books!

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Thinking....

on January 21, 2019 at 12:20 am Leave a Comment
Tags: Lifeline bookfest

Song For The Evening

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on January 14, 2019 at 10:09 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Aint No Grave, bethel music, Molly Skaggs

Good Little Car

Said goodbye to our old car yesterday… we’ve had the new one for a couple of weeks but I still wanted to say goodbye before this one goes to the wreckers.
It’s been a good little car, and I wanted to tell it so.
We’ve had that car since we moved back here – just over sixteen years now. It’s taken us many places and kept on going with minimal need for repairs, up till now. It’s about twenty years old, which is apparently a good age. We were reluctant to part with it – it’s always better to repair where possible – but there was a point where things were breaking at too great a rate, and fixing them was like plugging holes in one place while the next one sprang a leak…
We still have some of the good bits from this one in the new one, so it will still live on, in a way!

Thank you, little car.
You served us well.

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Thinking....

on January 12, 2019 at 9:47 pm Leave a Comment

Looking Up

I think I may have figured out the reason (or at least one of them!) that I like my favourite cafe so much.
There’s always something to look at – lots of knick-knacks, new decorative touches, books in odd places. This includes higher up on the walls, where you may not think to look at first.

I felt a bit down when I went in, but started to feel better after a while. Normally I would attribute that to the coffee and muffin (which I’m sure helps), but I noticed that I was spending a large proportion of my time gazing…up.
At the bottles in the window. At the plaster. At the lightbulbs. And the very act of looking upwards was also making me feel more “up”! I’m not sure what the other patrons thought of me staring up at the light through green bottles and grinning like a loon, but it made my day!

Here’s another of my views – a bee, I believe…

…and some words to journey by.

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Thinking....

on January 9, 2019 at 7:04 am Leave a Comment
Tags: rafter and rose

Velvet

Time is marching on, even though we’re only in the second week of the year. The flowers that my Babe got me have mostly died and been thrown away, but the roses dried nicely. I’ve put them in a little vase to keep for as long as they last.
It’s comforting to know that beauty continues even when the colour has faded and age starts to creep in.

What was once fresh and new becomes velvet. Softer. Gentler. And perhaps longer lasting…

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Thinking....

on January 8, 2019 at 8:46 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: roses

New Colours

The new year hasn’t yet burst into full flower, but we’re only three days in…
Still enjoying the holiday languor. Noticing colour, achieving small victories. Still reading.
I was having my breakfast yesterday and was pleased to find my favourite dress matched the mango in my bowl. It’s ridiculously pleasurable to colour co-ordinate with your food. Not something I go out of my way to do, but enjoyable when it happens.

I see a lot of birds fly through when I’m sitting on the patio. Mostly they’re small, passing by on their way to a meal, or chasing each other about. We don’t often get something like this monster, which flapped in over the patio onto next door’s roof and proceeded to try and look inconspicuous…

And yesterday we finally tidied out the garage, which had been strewn with boxes from the cupboard under the stairs (no, we don’t keep Harry Potter in there. He wouldn’t fit). It was good to have a clean out, and better to get it all out of sight again!

‘

Space! Just in time to host a bit more colour in our year.
Our poor old car has served us well over the years, but finally gave up just before Christmas. We now have a “new” one – same model, one year younger, but less mileage and more life left in it. We’re able to have it courtesy of a friend who helps people who need their cars fixed but can’t really afford it – this is running well, at a price we can manage. It’s almost exactly like the old one, except without power windows. Apparently the air conditioner and sound system work better, though! And it’s a beautiful green colour!

Pretty! 😀
Can’t wait to go for a drive…

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Thinking....

on January 3, 2019 at 9:44 pm Leave a Comment

Hello, 2019!

Last day of the year!
I was talking to my Babe this morning about the past year… we agreed it’s had its ups and downs. It didn’t go the way we thought it would… some of that was good, some not. We will focus on the good and look up.
So – a new year. What’s to come? Nobody can say, really, so it’ll be interesting finding out.
I did one of those “word of the year” things recently. My word is apparently “courage”. I’ll see how that fits with the next year! All sorts of possibilities – different paths to follow, new songs to sing. I see new colours to come… new voices. I have some plans, but I’ve never been too good with New Year resolutions.
Here’s a few songs I’ve been listening to the last couple of days – maybe the start of a new soundtrack…

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 😀

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on December 31, 2018 at 10:23 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: bethel music, Dayspring Word of the Year, Jesus Culture, New Year

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 ❤