In my head, I know it’s spring… When I stop to assess the weather and temperature, I’m not as sure.
There have been pleasant mornings – that crisp, cool spring feeling to wake up to. There have also been cold mornings, and afternoons that are so hot I’ve been tempted to put the air conditioner on. Regardless of all this, the garden has quietly decided to fling forth flowers, in various types and sizes. My garden beds have started to look more colourful. Even the succulents are flowering!
At the front, the little plants are coming alive again. This has been helped by my finally tying up the lavender so it doesn’t suffocate them…
The little bright, happy flowers (whose names I can’t remember…) were just budding in the morning
but had fully opened by the afternoon. They do change throughout the day, though.
More red flowers in the back garden – again, no idea what they are. I’d even forgotten they were there, until they decided to make their presence known 🙂
My lavender is flowering beautifully, for the first time, I think. The rosemary also has lovely pale blue flowers.
Here’s where at least some of my lavender ended up. It smells better as it dries.
So there you go. Spring snuck up on me!
One more photo, taken a few weeks ago now. More like summer – colours, dry look about it, the fact it’s a weed (it’s been pulled out now). This is outside a shop we go to. I liked the composition, took a chance and took the photo…
I hope there are flowers coming to life around you, even if they have to break through dry, hard ground to grow… ❤
I was going to do a photo post today on spring (such as it is!). This morning there was an unexpected earthquakein Victoria, and of course there are various disasters, natural and man–made, across the Earth right now. In everyday life it feels like people are biting and snapping at each other lately.
Some days are heavier than others.
These days I hesitate to say that my thoughts and prayers are with those who are suffering and weary, with those who need help. It’s a phrase that has often been used as a way of distancing ourselves from actually doing something – of sounding pious and compassionate without having to prove otherwise that we are. It’s unfortunate that the words evoke those meanings in people. I will continue to send my “thoughts and prayers” for those in need, because I truly believe that bringing those needs before a loving, compassionate, kind God is a powerful first step to healing and renewal. But…it’s still a first step! I do acknowledge that some of us are physically or financially unable to be hands-on with a lot of things. In that case – pray on! It does make a difference 🙂 There are still meals to make, cards or phone calls to send, finances to release, gardens to weed, cakes to bake, houses to raise, kids to love and mentor…and maybe even justice and mercy to extend, laws to change, or conventions to be overturned. Prayer provides the blueprint, and then we build. (Having said that, if your mental and emotional state right now means you’re unable to do any of that – it’s OK! You don’t have to “do stuff” to be worth loving ❤ )
I can’t encompass the whole world, but that’s why we have community. Everyone has a place to sing hope into! I’m going to think and pray, and spend time asking my Father what to do and where.
Our Anniversary – 27 years! – was on Wednesday, so we decided to go away. Sweet Bean was at school camp – we dropped him off, then continued on to our (sedate, not quite riotous) adventure ❤ . We stayed in Bardon, at the Fairy House. It’s apparently a landmark, and is also on airbnb. We rented the studio. There is also a loft (above the studio), which I would imagine is a good size for one person. Everything in the studio was compact, but well laid out, and there were touches of luxury everywhere. The bed was very comfortable, and the towels and bath mat were thick and, well, luxurious! Toiletries were provided as well, so we didn’t have to pack much. It’s on a major road, and there’s no on-site parking, so it’s a good idea to pack smaller bags rather than one big one. It’s not too far to walk – there’s parking in a side road – but you have to cross the busy road without a crossing or lights.
This is what you can see from the road – the door is to the loft. The studio is down a fairly steep set of stairs.
Looking up – there’s my God heart (yay!)
The balcony outside, which we never got around to using, and the doorway to get inside. Yes, it is as narrow as it looks – yet another reason to pack smaller bags! I measured it with a normal sized tea towel – the width of the door is narrower than the length of a tea towel.
The dining nook and compact kitchen are either side of the door as you come in, and the bed and living area are in one long room further inside.
Yes, that is a very large shower. It’s built for two – each side has its own shower head and taps. Interesting 🙂
We were very comfortable, and it was surprisingly quiet for being on a noisy road. There are a lot of places to get food around the area, and the buses are fairly regular. We left the car parked down the side street and took the bus in to Paddington the next day. My Babe went to the Guitar Shop to get some accessories and try out a bass guitar or two, and I browsed the shops along the street. We had coffee/tea at Lil Gypsy.
It was their second birthday so there were free cupcakes!
We spent a few hours out, but were very tired after a while – how can spring be so hot?! Took the bus back, had a sleep, watched a bit of Netflix… One more night, then we had to pack up and leave. Check out time was 11am, so we took our time. Had a lovely lunch on the way home at the Goodfolk Cafe. I’m not a vegetarian, but I enjoy vegetarian food if it’s cooked well and delicious 🙂
Mushrooms in a butter cream sauce with sage, lemon, a poached egg and crunchy maple kale on sourdough spread with goat’s cheese. There were supposed to be capers, but I didn’t see any. Not sure where the maple was either… still, it was very satisfying! I had a kid sized chocolate ganache milkshake as well, since there was no way I could have managed an adult sized one. We took our time and enjoyed the experience. By the time we’d finished, it was time to pick up Sweet Bean from camp, then home to unpacking, washing, and sleep!
Today is his 18th birthday… There are now officially no children in our household. He “celebrated” by doing his Physics mock exams 😆 but we also had a Toblerone cheesecake for his birthday cake.
Very soon he will have finished school completely, and who knows what will be next for him! So proud of my gorgeous young man ❤
After almost 40 years, ABBA has reformed, and are bringing out a new album. I had a listen to the new single. I have to say I wasn’t sure about it at first. The song wasn’t what I was expecting…the digital concert bit at the end was a bit strange… And yet… I’ve listened to it a few times now, and have loved it more each time. The bit with the lights floating off into space made me shed a tear or two – not sure why! I’m not sure what the song means, exactly. I’m hearing forgiveness, and acceptance, and a sense of surviving through a storm. …and it feels like a love song, to those of us who were there the first time around.
Take a chance – whether you’re an old fan, or too young to remember. Listen to the story!
Sunday just gone was Fathers’ Day. We didn’t celebrate riotously, but I think my Babe enjoyed it. We went very early to church for the morning service, as Sweet Bean was on the camera. When we got there, a car was parked in the cafe…
Beautiful, but unexpected… There were other classic cars out the front for the Dads to drool over. I quite enjoyed looking at them as well – they may not be the best choice for economising on petrol, but they are gorgeous to look at! The men (18+) were given a Krispy Kreme doughnut to enjoy after the service. Sweet Bean just missed out – he turns 18 on Friday ❤ Back home for a substantial lunch, then an afternoon snooze – after opening presents!
It was a good day. One of the best things was the morning sermon… Feeling unsure about fatherhood – either yours to your kids, or your father’s to you? Have a listen to some wisdom and experience –
Those are some of the items for last year. There are also sections for previous years. Enjoy! 😀
People are amazingly creative. And weird. I started off just scrolling through to have a quick look, and ended up laughing, crying, and simply being amazed. Right now, as I type, there are terrible things happening to innocent people. A lot of those things are because humans, somewhere, have behaved badly. And, unfortunately, whenever you happen to be reading this, there is likely to be some terrible thing happening somewhere in the world. Some people may think that taking time out to be silly, or create beautiful and strange things, is time wasted. I don’t agree. Yes, just making something new and beautiful in the world is a good thing in itself. But seeing others doing that as well – reminding ourselves that there are good people – funny, thoughtful, weird, vulnerable, loving people with hearts that see brokenness and seek justice? That’s priceless.
Earlier this year I had the chance to contribute to a GISH-related online choir. I’m sad that I never sent my part in, but enjoyed watching the result. Sing along (and look for the rainbows)!
Not sure what’s happening with winter… Lately it’s felt like spring, and sometimes even summer. The last couple of nights have seen the return of a slight chill, though, and the duvet has made a comeback
I’ve been doing a few hours of work – I came in late, so didn’t get a lot done, but it was nice to earn a few dollars 🙂 The job was, basically, making calls online to other people. Pretending to have a conversation about various topics with certain keywords, particularly geared towards an Australian accent. Over the last week I’ve opened various bank accounts, taken out loans, bought a tractor (and a farm!), stocked an organic herbal tea shop, and set up a fish farm. No wonder I’m tired! 😆
I’ve always had problems with phones. There was a time, years ago, when I yearned to be allowed to use the phone like the grown ups, but now I’m happy to text. Over the years I’ve learned basic “scripts” to cover most phone calls, but this job involved an undercurrent of low level terror each time I did a call. I survived!
Today was meant to be a catching-up day, but plans can get a bit wonky. I roamed through various sites, and stumbled across this reminder that all is well – even when tiptoeing over the terror to get to the end of a phone conversation…
Just before lockdown I was able to get my bedside table(s) sorted out! 🙂 It’s different to what I originally had in my mind, but I’m happy with it. I’d bought and put together the trolley with the multicoloured draws from Officeworks, but hadn’t been able to find anything to put my lamp (and coffee) on. Finally found something and put it all together. Yay!
There’s still more to organise to get it just right, but I have a lot of my creative supplies in one place. It’s close enough to reach out to from the bed, so that’s easier for the bad days. I can set up quite comfortably and quickly. And now I’ve got a CD player as well. MP3s take up less space, but I like the idea of setting up my CDs, one after the other. Maybe even dancing, if I’m feeling up to it!
Here’s my new space…
Just enough room for my coffee – I’m still trying to fit everything together…
The days are getting warmer (even though it’s too early), but it’s still nice to snuggle in to bed to do my work. The flowers are growing before their time, so we’ll see what happens to them, but it means my lavender is finally blooming.
It’s that time of the year again – the annual week long GISHHunt. This is my fourth year, with a few minihunts as well over the last year or so. It’s a global scavenger type hunt, so I was put in a team with members all over the world. There were just over 200 items to choose from, so I got to do fun (and challenging) things. For some reason I have come down with some sort of cold every year during this week, and this year was no exception. Added to that was the covid lockdown in my area, which started a few hours before the Hunt started, and ended at exactly the same time as the Hunt. I didn’t leave the house at all, so had to make do with what I had (except for another jar of Vegemite to help recreate the Mona Lisa – that was picked up with the essential grocery shop mid-week). Nevertheless, I completed fourteen items! 😀
Item 52 – A tiny portrait of Marilyn Monroe on a “beauty mark” on someone’s cheek.
Item 112 – Steam Punk Rock.
Item 191 – It’s International Lost in Translation Karaoke night & you’re up next! Choose an English-language song and translate it into at least 3 different languages using Google Translate, then back to English (a language with some of the most arbitrary rules and inconsistencies on the planet). Then sing the resulting lyrics. (Example: English -> Russian -> Russian -> Gaelic -> Gaelic -> English. Got it? Good.) Please caption this video with the final English lyrics.
The languages I translated “Eye Of The Tiger” into – Scots Gaelic, Amharic, Catalan, Welsh, Latin –
Item 90 – Pop culture is taking over everything—even breakfast. Create a yogart (yogurt art) portrait of your favorite pop culture character on the top of a bowl of your yogurt, with colored yogurt and inclusions. Maintain edibility.. Post it on social media tagged #GISH, #Yogart, and the character, actor(s), or series
– Yes – the TARDIS (“sexy” 😆 ) is a character!
Item 147 – Your splendid coat of arms—and I’m not talking about heraldry.
Item 96 – Over 16,000 people have signed a petition to get Jeff Bezos to buy and eat the Mona Lisa. Down with this elitism: delicious art belongs to the masses! Create an exact, edible replica of the Mona Lisa, complete with frame. Feel free to eat it after you create it. Post your image on social media and tag @JeffBezos, @GISH and #ArtFeedsTheSpirit.
Item 19 – You’ve heard of Dad Jokes. Tell a Dadaist joke.
Item 40 – ). Resting B***** Face, The Musical! Write a song with happy uplifting lyrics, and perform the whole thing in a monotone, one chord/one-note fashion, with resting b*tch face the whole time
Item 197 – Baby kneads a new pair of shoes. Create baby sneakers out of bread.
Item 155 – Olympian Simone Biles proved she is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) at this year’s Olympics — not just through her athleticism, but by putting her own mental health first. She had the “twisties,” a phenomenon where a gymnast’s brain loses track of where they are. Metaphorically, we’ve all been there and had times where we feel a little lost. Create a personal compass to help reorient yourself, with the things you value most at true North.
Item 156 – Remember Thorgi, a corgi dog dressed up as the God of Thunder? Loki deserves the same honor. Show us a dog version of the God of Mischief. Lokita? Labradoki? You get the idea.
Item 5 – Flipping your perspective can help you overcome a challenge. Create an ambigram featuring two words that help you regain balance. The first word should be something you struggle with and the second word, one that brings you peace. Bonus points if you also get it tattooed (permanent or temporary tattoos will both be accepted due to covid).
(Courage/Anxiety)
So – there it is… There were many charity and volunteering items to choose from but I was unable to do those, for one reason or another… The items I do complete never look as good as they do in my head. I’m still pleased to have finished them. And next time, maybe you can join me! 😀
a bit of creativity, a bit of eco consciousness, a bit of inspiration.... hopefully not a lot of pompousness and blathering :D
i'm not entirely sure what's going on here... let's travel along and see...
