A Gishy Weird Weekend

Another GISH minihunt – this one was the Wizards and Weirdos minihunt. It started on Sunday morning, 2am, here – I meant to have a sleep, then get up to have a look at the list and choose some items before going back to sleep again until morning. I ended up staying up…
Seemed like there were lots of knights/dragons/unicorns/fairies type items this time around, but maybe that was just the ones I picked.The hunt was hosted this time by Felicia Day. I haven’t quite finished watching the replays of the Zoom calls, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far 🙂
When the hunt is on over a Sunday I still go to church in the morning, so that’s the first part of the day out… this one seemed shorter than others I’ve done – it finished 2pm today (Monday), so I probably had about 16 hours to finish my items, once you take out sleeping, eating and whatever else I had to do! I tend to speed up a bit towards the end, so I get more done, but it might not be so great.

Here are my offerings this time around –

10 – The Sword in the Scone. That’s not a typo.


53 – The world around us is filled with small moments of magic, if you remember to look for them. Be still somewhere and contemplate the world until you notice something magical — a particular blade of grass, the way ants seem to greet each other as they work, a shiny coin on a dirty city street…. You get the idea. Write a poem about what you observe and your relation to it that is titled “magic” but has no direct reference to magic — just references to what you experienced.

62 – The fae love art, and empowering people to be artistic is a kindness: Create a tiny free art studio in a public place that is just the right size for fairies to visit. Make sure there is a human-sized hand-sanitizing station! Leave art supplies and tiny notepad or postcard-sized works of art. Add a sign encouraging others to contribute tiny works of art, too. (If you are quarantined or homebound, you may create this in a corner of your own home instead!)

66 – THE KIDS MENU
For Kids & Kids-At-Heart
(I did this one for an earlier hunt but there was no way to submit it, so I decided to put it in here. No points for it, but I was happy to share it 🙂

22 – Email isn’t as secure as it should be, so I used a charm to hide a poem in your books. To retrieve it: Pick up the first 9 books that catch your attention and record the 9th word on the 9th page in each book along with the first and last words of each book. Use the 27 words to write the poem. (You may employ many additional “and”s “if”s “but”s, “a”s “or”s or “the”s as you like.)

84 – Need a clue? Your guild leader, Felicia Day, would tell you to consult her character, CodeX.

Solution – “In Felicia Day’s “The Guild”, the gang’s favorite restaurant was Cheesybeards, obviously named after you, its founder, and your magnificent cheesy beard and mustache. You must eat your beard after you take your picture.

I didn’t end up eating all of it – some fell on the floor. It’s surprisingly hard to keep cheese stuck to your skin…

31 – We know it sounds fantastical, but the GISH Seer provided you with this glimpse into the Year 2021 AD: Something called NASA made a “Perseverance Rover,” which arrived on a planet called “Mars” and sent back its first image. But YOUR team intercepted the REAL first image. Show us what NASA didn’t want us to see, in a photo Mars deniers will always claim was faked. (Photoshop allowed.)

😀

88 – I’m finishing writing my book of poetry & my publisher, Andrews McMeel, gave me a deadline of tomorrow for the title. I’m stuck, so I’m outsourcing it to you: Name my poetry book. Submit your suggestion in font (handwritten or digital) that’s emblematic of the tone or spirit that you think my book will convey.

The end of the hunt was looming by the time I got to this one – I got it finished and submitted five minutes before it all shut down.

55 – Unicorns have a hard time in this economy, so like a lot of us they’ve picked up a side hustle in the fantasy realm. Create a commercial advertisement for the latest unicorn ride-sharing app: U-ber.

Time to think about a good sleep now…

Published in: on March 8, 2021 at 8:59 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Making The Choice

…sit out, or dance?

So tired today…
Went to my first exercise physiology appointment the other day. The exercises I was given are not too hard, and I would have been fine if that was all of the exercise in my day…
My Babe is at uni for quite a lot of hours during the week, so that means he’s often not around to drive me places. On Wednesday that meant that I had to walk home from the appointment. It’s pretty much downhill, and not a huge distance, but I haven’t been able to walk much lately. It was painful and exhausting. Ideally the next day would have been a rest day, but I decided to get some stuff done in town with the expectation of taking the bus home afterwards.

My travel card has expired.
I don’t have an updated concession card yet (not sure why), so I couldn’t renew my travel card.
I only found this when I was in town with no other way home.

I wasn’t sure what to do (I don’t have a phone, and there wasn’t really anyone I could think of who was available to give me a lift anyway!) so I decided to do what I’d come in for, with the option of buying a full price paper ticket on the bus, as advised by the train station attendant.

So – I wandered around town, getting inspired by random beauty as I went 🙂
Ate at a 50s type diner – the food was not great, so I won’t be going back, but the decor was fun.
Here are some of my dining companions –

🙂
I had a look through the charity shops, where I found some nice things

A dream squirrel!
That’s in the front garden now, where it joins two turtles and a fairy garden.

A candle holder thingy!
Dragonflies are a kind of a motif for me at the moment…

Beautiful things cheer me up, and I looked forward to getting them home.
Got to the bus stop.
You can no longer buy tickets on the bus…

Thankfully the bus driver very kindly allowed me to get a ride home – I didn’t have the energy to walk home, or even back to the train station to get a ticket. Glad there are still nice people about! 😀

So – back to today.
It’s tempting to go back to bed when everything’s a bit overwhelming, and sometimes that’s the best option. There were things to do today, though, and places to be.
Every day the choices are to sit back – or dance.

When it’s necessary to rest and reset or heal, then that’s the best option to take.
But if it’s a choice between stepping out, or drawing back in fear –

I hope you choose to dance!
❤

Published in: on March 5, 2021 at 6:49 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Steps, Finally Taken

This year I’ve signed up for an online prophetic creative academy, which consists of various online classes and Facebook group communication, as well as a Zoom call and teaching each month. This month our homework was to practise each of four contemplative disciplines – Sabbath keeping, speaking in tongues, Ignatian meditation and Lectio Divina.
I’ve tried Ignatian meditation, and I can see where it could be helpful… I just have difficulty really “getting” it. I could possibly try listening to someone reading the passage I’m using, rather than reading and trying to remember while I meditate on it – I’ll look into that!
This morning I had a go at Lectio Divina. First impressions are that I can see myself getting more out of it, although I find reading out loud to myself a bit strange! This morning the verse that stood out to me was from Psalm 6, the first part of verse 2 –
“Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint“
Not the verse I thought I’d focus on!
“Faint”, meaning “lacking strength”, but also perhaps lacking in colour and boldness, or being too quiet, not heard…
“Mercy” – unexpected, unmerited, pouring out…

I am also part of a group doing a study at our church. This week involves starting a new daily habit, which we choose according to our situation. It took me until today to figure out what mine would be. I’m a perfectionist. I’m also a procrastinator. The fact that it took me most of the week to come up with a habit would seem to indicate that! 🙂
So – my habit will be to push past the procrastination block on something each day, even if it’s small.

To that end, I’m trying out a few different things… one of those is to have a pile of stuff that I can use to do some of the things I’ve been putting off. The idea is to have no excuse, because the book/pen/paper etc is right there, rather than somewhere else that would require a special trip to obtain.

I’ll see how that works out…

As part of my “things I’ve been meaning to do but haven’t got around to so why not have a look” today I got a book down from the bookcase that’s been lurking away for years. It’s a daily inspiration type book, and I’m not sure how I’ve gone quite this long without reading it.
What I normally do with this type of book is to flip to my birthday to read what it says, and get a sense of what the book’s like. Most of the entries take up the whole page in some way, so I was expecting my birthday entry to be the same.
It just said “Permission to complete (write yourself a permission slip)” with a couple of little notes in the corner (“learn your tools of completion” and “develop habits of completion”), and a recommendation for a book called… “Procrastination“

I think someone’s trying to tell me something…

Published in: on February 26, 2021 at 10:18 pm  Leave a Comment  

Sweet Sunshine

🙂

Published in: on February 19, 2021 at 10:47 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Love!

It’s Valentine’s Day, and a Sunday as well, so we could spend time at church singing of God’s love…
I was given a beautiful bouquet of roses by the lovely lady who makes bouquets to hand out Sunday mornings. Mine was a belated birthday gift 🙂
Here it is, settled in at home…

A close up, just because…

I am fortunate to have a loving marriage and family, so Valentine’s Day is a favourite day for me. We haven’t gone overboard with the celebrating, but we did pick up some nice cake to share.

GF rosewater and pistachio – yum! Tasty and romantic! 🙂

Sometimes it may not look like it, but there’s so much love to be had in this world…
Some families are difficult, some situations (health, finances) are wearying. Days like today can make it seem like everyone else is enjoying life while you’re stuck outside in the cold. It’s OK to separate yourself from people that hurt and belittle you, and it’s OK to ask for help when the world is overwhelming. Find the ones who love you because you’re you! Our door is always open if you need to get away for a bit.
❤

As for me – I’ve just been enjoying Songs of Praise, and this is one of the songs they played.
Here is the Love that brings all love into my life… available to anyone who asks!

Published in: on February 14, 2021 at 3:56 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Putting On My Dancing Shoes

It’s been a long but happy day.
On my birthday I like to take the day to go out somewhere, mostly to shop at op shops and have a good coffee somewhere. The last couple of years I’ve gone back to my past haunts, taking the train on my own, and getting back later in the afternoon. This year I didn’t think I’d manage the travelling, so my Babe took me in to have a look at some places I’ve seen as we’ve passed by on the way in to town but have never had the time to stop…
My morning started with a cup of tea and heart shaped chocolates in bed. My sweet boys got me another pop vinyl – this time Hedwig (I still need to get a Harry Potter!)

So cute!

We went fairly early to start the day, while I still had energy.
It seems a bit superficial to spend my day shopping…
I tend to buy second hand for most purchases – I like re-purposing things, and you can find all sorts of weird and wonderful treasures. Today I picked up some books I’ve been looking for (yay!) as well as other bits and pieces.

Stopped for a coffee and a GF brownie (hadn’t had breakfast!)

This was the food…
This was the view ❤

We went down the road to another shop I’d seen often but never had the time to go into. No second hand stuff here, but lots of lovely handmade things! I splurged on some dragonfly metalwork.

Dragonflies and leaves…
with a little sweet sounding bell at the end!

Cake when we got home – another unicorn in my day 🙂

Yum! (but very sugary)

I found a little Harry Potter ooshie, so that can keep Hedwig company until I get a bigger version 🙂

And my Mum sent me a clip of “my” song…

It’s been a full day, and I kept going longer than I thought I would.
The world is well…
and now it’s time for bed!

Published in: on February 4, 2021 at 10:46 pm  Leave a Comment  
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A Tale Of Two Vases

…and other random thoughts.

Today my Babe got me some flowers!

It’s my birthday tomorrow, but we’re planning to be out for the morning. He was off to the shops today, so decided to get me an early present ❤
I trimmed them ready to put them in a vase, but found the stems were too big to be able to fit in the vase available. I tried! Eventually I realised that I would hurt the flowers by squishing them in, so found another vase.
I prefer to use just the one, and get a full hit of colour all at once, but I think they look OK.

Here they are in their final home…

My other random thoughts?
More a wandering around the internet again…

I stepped back in time a bit to relive my love of Enya, even though that could be considered uncool…
I had a look at a Little Free Art Gallery, which is similar to a Little Free Library.
I listened to Seth MacFarlane sing a couple of Cyndi Lauper’s greatest hits in the voice of his characters – and in front of Cyndi Lauper!
And I listened (quite a few times!) to Reckless Whisper… 😆

Tomorrow I’m planning on more fun! 😉

Published in: on February 3, 2021 at 5:25 pm  Leave a Comment  
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A Day Of Small Things

I’ve been having a good run of things lately. Going down to the pool in the mornings, doing bits and pieces around the house… starting to feel like I might get back to “normal”. That’s until last night – pains that I haven’t had for a while, keeping me awake, and then in bed most of the day.
I’VE GOT THINGS TO DO!!!
😆

I’m not entirely sure why – lugging stacks of large, heavy books around yesterday may have something to do with it. I struggled with the “shoulds” today, then eventually realised it would be a day of resting, not doing much… small movements and small joys where I can find them!

I didn’t get to do the laundry, or finish organising my bookcases. I did do a bit of photography – little vignettes of my small things dotted about to make the place bright.
🙂

Little vases, with little bouquets…

A brightly coloured insect I fished out of the pool the other day

…and a single frangipani with a yellow-tinged feather!

Published in: on January 28, 2021 at 5:11 pm  Leave a Comment  

Putting Out The Welcome Mat

Yesterday we finally got a new mat for the front door. It’s just cheap and cheerful, but we’ve been doing without one for a while, as the last one was years old and shedding bits into the house…

🙂

We like to think we’re welcoming, and enjoy having people over for a cuppa. Covid has changed things over this last year, but anyone is still welcome to come visit!
Today is Australia Day, a day that has various meanings for different people. I remember celebrating as a child without much thought, but have come to see that the date is not a celebration for many First Nations peoples. There are varying views on changing the date – it’s worth talking to people about their views, listening to what they have to say, and thinking about what the best option is for all Australians. Personally, I don’t see a problem with changing the date. Maybe I’m missing something, but I can’t see how it could hurt anyone, and I don’t see why it would be a problem. The day has had its changes over the years…
I’m all for celebrating what’s good about Australia. For remembering where we’ve come from – both the good and the bad of that history. Acknowledging the contributions of newcomers to our shores over the years, and working to help those who need shelter here. We don’t necessarily need to do that on the 26th January.

Come over for a cuppa and we can talk about it.
My new mat says hi!

Published in: on January 26, 2021 at 11:01 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Catching Up

The holidays are drawing to a close, and I’m feeling the start of the new school year breathing down my neck…
Thankfully I’ve had a few good days, at least good enough to get stuff done! We’re ready to leap in to lessons again – me as well 🙂 I’ll be doing a year long online course, so it’s all students in our house this year.

My beautiful new dollhouse bookcase is now full, as is the bookcase below it. All my mysteries are there, apart from my Cadfaels and Trixie Beldens – they’re in the bedroom. I’ve also moved some of my stuffed toys and Pop Vinyls up to those shelves.

Sorry about the photo quality – the light got in the way.
Here’s another angle…

That strange looking red and green thing up the top is the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I’ve also been receiving some treats in the mail – things I sent away for as a Christmas present to me, but that have been delayed by the present shipping situation (I’m still waiting for some things from the US that were shipped in November). One thing I bought from Ebay was a T-shirt that seemed to be something I could wear. Unfortunately, the company that makes it seems to think that a Women’s size M should be smaller than a Youth size M (which would probably have been OK). I can’t really send it back, as the original sale post did include measurements. I just drastically miscalculated…
Thankfully, I have a very large teddy that can wear it!
The design is based on Futurama’s heads in jars, but with “all the doctors” – see how many you recognise! 😆

I’ve already started some of my course, and also some other mini classes I signed up for before I knew I’d be doing a larger programme…
We’ve still managed to get some coffee, to enjoy some time together before everyone’s busy with other things.
❤

Latte, with the ever-present mask, ready for service…

Onward, to a new phase in my life!

Published in: on January 23, 2021 at 8:05 pm  Leave a Comment