1000 Fields of Roses

Adrift, On A Sea Of Paper

I have finally, after holding out as long as I could, succumbed to the call of the air conditioner. It took a while to figure out how to work the remote, and I only had it on long enough to chill the air for the fan to then circulate it, but…
worth it!

Another “not well” day, which is very annoying.
I’ve been doing so well, and even got back into a bit of an exercise routine.
Today – not so much.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but the last few weeks have felt like a bit of a rollercoaster. Not overtly. Just some sort of shift in the air. Part of this has been a lightening of expectation – both put on me from outside voices, and absorbed from my own self imposed schedules.
I have also been hearing a lot about the importance of being still.
Very refreshing 🙂

Outside, the heat has been draining.
The plovers have been squawking when we go near the backyard, but as long as we don’t venture past the washing line, we seem to be able to share.
We’re keeping an eye on a rogue tomato bush.

Who knows where it came from?
It pretty much just appeared, and is fruiting merrily, with abandon.
We shall see what we end up with, and what else in the garden likes tomatoes 😀

One of the things I have been feeling called to do in this season is to sort through my papers. Not so much “paperwork” papers (although that could do with a clean-up), but the random notepads. exercise books, and scraps of paper I have used over the years to write things down. I have transferred some scraps to books, but have also had a bad habit of forgetting what I’ve put where, and starting on another book.

Time to sail the ephemera seas, till I reach the safe harbour of documental organisation.

Or something…

Making some sense of (partially catalogued) chaos, is what I mean.

Another thing I’ve taken time for lately is reading library books. I get the cosies, and sometimes art/craft books, but also the ones that make me think.
This world, as it stands, makes me want to exercise my thinking ability.
Here’s what I’ve read lately.

And there’s more where that came from!!
(seriously – get to your local library. You never know what you’ll find.)

Books. Papers.
Who knows where my ship will land?

In the meantime, I will settle in my comfy chair, and broaden my mind.

Accompanied by a happy little unicorn.
❤

Published in:

Thinking....

on October 8, 2025 at 6:57 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: libraries rock!

Dolly In Springtime

…Parton, that is.
I’ve had a lovely day of catching up with this and that, enjoying the (slightly) cool day, and reminiscing with music. One of those CDs was a Dolly Parton “Greatest Hits” – I don’t know all her songs, but there are some I remember from many years ago (my first cassette tape was a country hits tape 🙂 )
Her voice is distinctive, and comforting. She seems like someone you’d like to meet, too!

I popped in to a bakery down the road this morning.
Indulged in a BBQ pork bánh mì, then saw some Neenish tarts in the display case.

Haven’t had one in ages!
I remember my Dad liked them. I don’t remember the ones he had being quite so violently pink, though.
It was an experience 🙂
The icing was hard (it cracked, rather than behaving as icing should…) The filling is mock cream, with a base of jam, so – a bit richer than I like these days. It also seemed to be a lot bigger than I remember.

But – that was my day.
Bimbling (mentally 🙂 )
Listening to Dolly.
Eating a Neenish tart.

Reminiscing.

It’s not the way I thought my day would go, but that’s OK.

(and if you want to reminisce along with me, as well as feeling the springtime vibe…)

❤

Published in:

on October 4, 2025 at 8:21 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Dolly Parton

Finding The New

Not sure what’s happening to spring.
Bit too summery for me.

We tried out a new (to us) cafe today. It was nice…a bit small. There was one tiny table inside, and some more outside. I can see it would be nice in the cool of the morning, but it was too hot by the time we got there. We had to huddle round the table inside, trying not to knock the pot plants off.
I got to eat this, though.

Pistachio and raspberry croissant.
Yum!!

We checked out a “free shop” after – it’s not far from us, and we’ve passed it quite a few times. Seems like a good place to drop off some food from time to time.

I had a look through what was there, tidied some things, read the various signs.
I will definitely be getting supplies for this.

There was a time, a few years back, when we spent some months homeless.
Food was available, if a bit sparse, but there were other things we had to do without. One of the things that I found difficult to source (and very expensive) was sanitary items. Such a necessary thing, and provides that extra dignity that shouldn’t be so hard to come by.

So – a day of new things.
In this season of renewal, I had expected to find a bit more colour in the natural landscape. There are new things growing, but I was mostly seeing the remains of winter.
This pretty pot plant in the cafe was lovely 🙂

Stripy! And curly!

The fence by the free shop had the remnants of some sort of plant peeking through.

Dead. Papery. But still beautiful.

I had to spend some time outside our house this arvo.
We’ve had issues with the smoke alarms since we moved in – randomly going off for no reason, a couple of times at 2ish in the morning. Today they decided to scream at us every 8-10 minutes for about three hours, until the electrician came and (temporarily) fixed it. It finally got a bit much, so biggest boy and I escaped to the driveway for a bit.
I’d hoped to find some fresh flowers or leaves while I was out there…but there were just more dead ones.
This one was a leaf I picked up on our travels this morning.

Still colourful, and a lovely crisp texture in the light.

In our yard there was a life cycle of leaves…

On another day, I will go out and see new shoots and bright flowers.
Today I will appreciate what I see.
Because a recognition of the beauty that can hide in the corners is another chance to grasp new joy.
❤

Published in:

Thinking....

on October 1, 2025 at 10:39 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Holmes St Cafe, North Ipswich Free Shop

Reflecting On The Journey

Feels like I’m climbing out of the (not so fun) side quest that our life has been lately…
We went out to the shops today, just to see if we could. Went pretty well overall, although a bit tiring. I wore my mask (still unsure if I’m broadcasting germs – I don’t think so, but don’t want to risk sharing to the general public). It co-ordinated nicely with what I was wearing 😀
I’ve been catching up with online classes today, and probably tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ve been ensconcing myself in my comfy reading nest.

…with my coffee at my side, and a lovely breeze through the windows.

Because we’ve been out of action for so long, it feels like we’ve stepped out of the flow of life for a bit. A bit disorientating – it probably doesn’t help that lately it seems like the world has spun off its axis in some ways!
We’ll be back. And moving forward.
Here’s a song to help settle the existential swirl.

Looking at my calendar, I see that it’s been just over three months (thirteen weeks) since we first heard that we had to leave the previous house. It’s been an eventful few months! A lot of changes, and a bit of uncertainty as to where we were headed. Some things are still up in the air.
Time to fly!
❤

Published in:

on September 24, 2025 at 10:39 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Rich Mullins

It’s The Little Things…

Another week of rest and recuperation…
I’ve been up and about more, though 🙂
Did some organising in the art room, which included excavating some tiny things from a soapstone box that I haven’t really seen for years!
Lots of little trinkets – finally figured out what to do with the glass beads I brought back from Venice, many years ago.

It’s a bit difficult to focus properly when there’s glass around, and not much space to maneuver. They’re prettier than they look…
There were shells at the top of the box. I’m pretty sure I picked at least some of them off the beach. Possibly all?

We (briefly) ventured out on Monday. It was our anniversary, so we popped out (suitably masked) to the local bakery.

I celebrated with a lemon meringue tart, and half a vanilla slice.

Next week should see us slowly getting back into gear.
There are things to do! Places to be!
And a song to share, which seemed to fit the “breaking back out into life” vibe.

Dolly always makes me smile.
❤

Published in:

on September 20, 2025 at 11:20 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Dolly Parton, Zac Brown Band

Night Vision

I was trying to take photos of the shadow shapes in my art room the other night.
It didn’t start too well.
I’d thought that the street light coming from outside would be enough for me to just use the default setting, but I found it hard to keep still enough to focus, and there was an overall fuzzy feeling.

So I tried the “night” setting.
I’ve used it before – mostly for trying to capture the moon – but it’s always felt a bit disappointing. And it also requires a steady hand.
Surprise! 😀

Not only did it sharpen the shadow lines, it also picked out light that I hadn’t seen with my eyes.

There was more colour than would seem likely in a night composition.

A delightful serendipity, with sparkles!

I don’t know how it does it.
Difference in timing? Focus?
But I’m glad there’s a way to get a better picture.

This week, for our family, has been one of bed rest and coughing. We’re all at different stages of some sort of flu, and we all tend to deal with it by secluding ourselves with misery and tissues…

I had intended to write this on any one of the last three days, but I just couldn’t make the words work.
Today, I felt cheerful, for the first time in a while. Like coming out from under a heavy grey cloud, or finding a bright warm path after being enshrouded by mist.
We all have seemed to be in a better state today. We had to do an online Coles order (nobody here is likely to go outside the house for a bit), so the boys were hovering to give their lists. Tendency to forgetfulness, foggy minds, and random fits of coughing also led to (slightly fevered) giggling and a lovely family moment ❤

This world has been a bit too foggy lately.
Darkness gathering, and sometimes difficulty in discerning just where the shadows fall.
But the light shone in for today. A bit of clarity for the journey.
Maybe it’s the timing.
Or maybe just focusing with a different lens…

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on September 13, 2025 at 9:32 pm Leave a Comment

Lavender In My Coffee

My art room is looking good!
Everything is…somewhere…

I’ll look at it again tomorrow and reassess – it all looked good today, but I’ll check practicality after I’ve had a sleep…

I read somewhere that interior design shouldn’t have too many colours, or perhaps have one bolder colour as a focus, surrounded by neutrals.

I don’t really do that.

You could say that the chair cover’s neutral?

I also like things with faces…

😀

These last couple of days I’ve been taking it easy, after a day in town on Tuesday.
I ended up carrying too much (lots of books – yay!), so I’ve been a bit achey since. I took the bus home – my first time on this route.
And I started my morning with coffee and cake.
GF orange and almond slice…

…and a “lavender latte”. It was basically a latte with lavender syrup. Should have had lavender cream on top, but they’d run out. Still nice, though.
Very lavendery.

Sweet!
❤

Published in:

Thinking....

on September 4, 2025 at 11:08 pm Leave a Comment

Lighter

I think I’ve said this for at least the last three posts. I’m nearly there with the unpacking/sorting where things go.
It’s just that each time I’ve thought that, another box appeared…

There’s been a sequence that I’ve had to follow, and we needed certain bits of furniture to follow it.
But now – we have a linen cupboard!
Yay!!
And we gave most of the flat-packed boxes away today, so I can sort that part of the house.
Just a few things left to do 😆

We’ve been here nearly a month now.
I’m getting in to a rhythm of days, exploring ways to get the best out of my art room 🙂
Even with the organising – lifting, sorting, pushing stuff into place – I’ve been able to have interludes with a cup of coffee, in my comfy chair, in front of the open window.
Feeling the breeze.
Listening to the cars swishing past.
The birds squawking and chattering.
And enjoying the lightness that comes from a good day’s work.

And still, there are rainbows.
Miniature ornaments.

And maybe even an invitation to a snail’s tea party!
❤

Published in:

Thinking....

on August 30, 2025 at 11:05 pm Leave a Comment

Rainbows On The Wall

…and also on my chair! 🙂

Most of the big things are in place now, and the big boxes unpacked.
I’m pottering around now, trying to remember where things went before, or where they can fit with the new layout of furniture.
I have a lot of little knick-knacks.
Some have been arranged on various surfaces, some are attached to door handles.

My skeleton is brooding over the room from on top of my glass-fronted cabinet (the ceilings here are so much higher!!)

I’ve got a number of crystal things dangling from hooks and curtain supports.
The biggest of these surprised me with a splash of rainbow on the wall (yes, I should have expected it! 🙂 )
It made a faceted pattern on the blinds.

And…rainbows!

❤

Published in:

Thinking....

on August 27, 2025 at 11:30 pm Leave a Comment

Shaping Up

We’re pretty much there.

A box here and there to sort.
A few wardrobe/cupboards to buy and fill.
And some bits that will wait a bit longer to go in a glass case (which is not as high a priority as other things, so who knows when that will happen?)

It’s been quite a few years since we’ve had this up.

Who are those young things? 😆

I took this photo a few days ago, but it gives an idea of our space.

We’re hoping to sort out most of our storage tomorrow, which leaves one (linen) cupboard to get. It needs to be 60cm wide, and enough space in shelves for duvets and blankets, which makes it harder to find.
Of course, all this searching needs a coffee (hot chocolate?) break.