1000 Fields of Roses

All The Colour In The Mess

I went to a Women’s Creative Day at church this afternoon.
There were three tables to choose from – I chose painting.
We had a canvas board, paints and brushes, and painted what we felt God was giving us to create…

I had something I was going to do – right up until I picked up my pencil to sketch. Then it changed, and I ended up with lots of bright colours.

Paint palettes can be serendipitously beautiful 🙂

Generally, I will sketch an idea.
Think about it a bit.
Sketch a bit more.
More thinking…

Sometimes, I even start painting.

Today, it was a “slap some paint on the canvas” sort of day – not that I didn’t do some sort of planning. I tried to do the best I could with what I had (I forgot my “other” glasses, so it was a bit of a blur 😆 ) And I only dipped the paintbrush in my coffee once!

Gloriously messy, bright, and fun 😀

It’s helpful to let loose sometimes. I like to be more precise, but that can easily veer into perfectionism, which then translates to procrastination.

My painting is not finished.
But it’s certainly started!
It’s taking shape. Exuberant. Needs some more light, I think.
I will be happy for today, and work on it tomorrow.
A bit like life, really.
❤

Also – we saw a steam train today.

Yay!

Published in:

on March 21, 2026 at 10:28 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: catalyst women

Green

How did we get to the middle of March?
(Wasn’t it just January??)

Well, the year is marching on, and it’s (finally) getting cooler.
I don’t have much to say, really, so here are some “green” photos for St Patrick’s Day 🙂

Ok – not all green – but I do like pumpkin leaves.
And bees.

Also not entirely green.
But they are lettuce leaves.
Which are greens.

Delicate greens…

Deep, dark greens.

Subtle greens.

…and a riot of varying greens.

And after galloping through the greens of nature, why not sit and quietly enjoy a green (matcha?) bikkie.

Hope your day was flourishing!
❤

Published in:

Thinking....

on March 17, 2026 at 11:40 pm Leave a Comment

Slowing Down To Fast

It’s been a good day.
I took the 7.25am bus into town, got a (yummy) coffee-and-hazelnut croissant. Browsed the Handmade Markets (which I’d thought were on last Saturday), then sat with my cappucino, chatting with a lady who was also waiting for the library to open. Shopping after, then home (all before lunch).
That’s the sort of morning I want to be having more often!

Picked up a little duck tea strainer in my travels.
Here it is, providing a lovely cup of hibiscus tea.

🙂

Also – here is the cabinet I was faced with this morning.

Reckon I’ll be back.

Today was a day of good food…
Our church has been talking about fasting lately.
It’s a discipline that I haven’t done regularly for quite a while, but one I’m enjoying getting back in to.

I’m not doing long stretches of fasting – I take medication that needs to be taken with food – but I’m using the time to stop, still, and focus on God.
That encompasses prayer, Bible reading, sometimes other reading or writing.
The last time, I was praying and I felt God was saying to me, “Have a sleep”.
Not what I was expecting.
But a persistent thought.

So, I had a nap.
It was lovely!
And when I woke up, something that had been frazzling my nerves seemed to have unraveled, and I could start on a path to sorting that thing out. I’m still figuring out each step as I go, but I don’t feel bound up by it now.

Every day has the potential to be an adventure!
And every fast has the potential to bring about breakthrough.
The best bit, though, is the stillness, and peace with God.

Surely a good day – every time!

Published in:

on March 14, 2026 at 10:57 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: rafter and rose

Not On Me

Following on from the musings of yesterday –
a bit of balance in my thinking, and a reminder of where to focus…

❤

Published in:

on March 7, 2026 at 7:48 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Jess Ray, rend collective

Laying The Table

What sort of tables do you have around your house?

A handy prop for a quiet cup of coffee?

Or maybe a quick stop for a chat, between one place and the next.

Maybe you have a lot of tables, but they are all empty.

…or maybe they are cluttered with all the things still to do.

We don’t have a dining table, and haven’t really used one for years.
When people come to eat (and talk) the kitchen island holds the communal dishes, and the lounge area becomes the dining (and talking) area.

There are many “tables” in the world that I will probably never get invited to.
Global, political, financial spaces – closed to the people who are most affected by the decisions made there.
Sealed doors, only opened to the privileged. Not enough chairs. Blinkered vision.

It can be overwhelming when you look at how much there is to do in the world. At the injustice that sees the most vulnerable take on the burden from the most influential. And at how little changes from decade to decade.

Still, I can sit down at the table with others for a coffee, or a meal.
I can pull up a chair, listen, and stay aware.
And I can give where I’m able to locally, and learn, pray and give to help others who do the things I can’t.

We are now in the middle of the season of Lent, the period in many Christian churches that leads up to Easter, and I have been reading Tearfund‘s Lent devotional series.
I will finish with a quote from their recent magazine…

“This Lent, may we overturn the tables of injustice, refusing to settle for exclusive chairs and seats of power. Instead, let us join together in circles in the dirt, creating space where everyone belongs. Because at God’s table, we are all welcome.”

Published in:

on March 6, 2026 at 8:19 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Common Grace, Easter, International Justice Mission, Khan Academy, Kiva, Lent, North Ipswich Free Shop, Tear Fund

Honey, Honey

…aha, Sugar, Sugar 😆

I was going to muse on some serious things tonight (have you seen the state of the world??) but it’s been a busy day, and my brain is settling into sleep mode…

So, I will tell you that tonight I started the first jar of the local honey we bought on Monday.

Sweet!

It was at one of the places we stopped at on my birthday – also a street library.

Hello! 😀

I can’t storm in to an international gathering somewhere and demand that someone Sorts Things Out.
But I can support the place I’m in, and the people who make/collect/harvest locally.
Honey from someone’s backyard.
Eggs from the chooks down the road.
Fruit and veg from farms round the place.

Contribution to the local economy.
Also – delicious!
❤

Published in:

Thinking....

on March 3, 2026 at 9:54 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Clint's Farm Fresh Produce, Little Free Libraries

Easy, Rainy, Day

It’s been lovely and grey today.
Cool, comfortable, and dreamy.
The rain didn’t seem to be sure of what it was supposed to do – bucket down, or just drizzle…
still, a day to wander down the years, and dream into the future.

Have a bit of a sit down, and rest 🙂

Here’s another one.

I’ll be honest – this probably won’t make my playlist.
I just felt like I’d tumbled back a few decades while listening to it…
for those of us getting on a bit – maybe like a bit of a shrug and a smirk to the 70s.
Which is when I think I first heard Suzi Quatro 😀

Don’t know if I’d look good on the dance floor.
Would be fun, though.

Published in:

on February 27, 2026 at 10:25 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Suzi Quatro, We The Kingdom

Taking In The Terpenes

…in other words – the vast array of compounds found in plants and flowers, some of which are the primary constituents of essential oils.

I have been reading about the effect of nature on our health, mood and longevity.
That also relates to the colour and form of plants, as well as natural landscapes.
We all live in some sort of environment. Maybe if we take a “sense walk” we might be able to work out how to add some nature to our urbanisation 🙂

I don’t have much of a garden.
Just stepping outside seems to be a start, though.

Here’s a tiny little spider who might agree.

I don’t think it’s there for the aromatherapy.

I planted out the sage – it’s taken ages to put out one root, so I’ll see how it likes a potted existence.

It’s surrounded by three of the rosemary sprigs I planted around Christmas. Those ones have grown to about three times the size they were. There was another one that suddenly dried up and died. I have no idea why – it got the same water as the others, and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the roots when I pulled them up to check.
Oh well.
Three out of four ain’t bad!

I also picked up a leaf the other day.
Pretty sure it wouldn’t be part of the nature/turpene etc. study, as it was dead.
Still beautiful.

I don’t know why some things call to me, and others don’t.
There were other leaves on the ground, but this was the right one for me.

Here’s the other side.

You can also see most of the ingredients of our washing powder…

I’ve started looking at perfume oils, and have found some I like.
Roses are good!
And my peppermint tea shows promise.
Time to get back to (more) nature!
❤

Published in:

on February 24, 2026 at 10:52 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Good Nature - Kathy Willis

Colour Matching And Global Musing

Sometimes I find that I have matched my food to my clothing.

Although, looking at it again – it’s not an exact match.
More like picking out the “brights” in my oatmeal…

I have had a bit of a cough lately.
This is partly annoying me because I am making an effort to eat better (hence the oats and berries 🙂 )
Coincidentally, I have also been reading this book.

😆

It’s an interesting and confronting read.
Far from being a long-ago illness of fainting poets and drooping Victorian ladies, tuberculosis is still taking many lives – over 1.2 million last year alone.
John Green discusses the “beautiful disease” trope, as well as the historic and geopolitical effects on tuberculosis incidence globally. He weaves the story of a young man he met through the book, illustrating the personal challenges and tragedies of contracting tuberculosis. That man (Henry Reider) was able to access treatment, and now uses his YouTube channel to help his community with health and other issues.
We spent a (very) short amount of time, 30 years ago, in a community that was (and is) rife with tuberculosis.
It’s not pretty.
I appreciated being reminded that the world is bigger than my four walls, and that I am called to look at it and see what my role is there…
Have a read. I found this copy at my local library – always worth a visit 🙂

…and here is a song for the weekend ❤