1000 Fields of Roses

Morning Tea With Sweet Beans

Last day of school today!!!

(Not that we’re overly excited about that..)

Took my sweet beans to the cupcake place to celebrate, sat and talked, and ate.

Yum! 😀

Afterwards, biggest boy went on to the library, and little bean and I went home through the cemetery… a chance to talk about life, and death, and the meanings of funerary symbolism..
Not to mention enjoying the splashes of colour along the way!

Much brighter in person..
They’re “only” weeds, but their cheerfulness always brightens my day.

So – onwards, in the fading year

Roll on Christmas!

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on December 13, 2013 at 1:12 pm Leave a Comment

Snapshots

I’ve been taking photos at random times, intending to put together a post.. so I now have photos, with nothing really to say. Here’s my last week or so in a few snapshots..

A party at a friend’s place last week – old friends, new friends, and fairy lights..

Baby basil plants. The rain has been good for them, and there’s lots springing up all over the garden!

Slightly bigger basil, invading the thyme.

We originally bought three sage plants.. the one in the back garden is a bit weedy. The other sage should be near this one, but it’s shriveled and gone now. This one seems to be flourishing, though.

The rain’s been lovely, hasn’t it? It’s changed our plans over the last few days, but the grey skies are welcome.
Besides, even grey skies can break for a while to display the gorgeous sunset we had tonight. 😀

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Thinking....

on December 12, 2013 at 7:42 pm Leave a Comment

Carols Under The Tree

My first carol service of the season!
I’ve heard about the carols under the big tree for years, but I’ve never been able to go. This year, we finally got there, although had to leave early because of other commitments. I love singing carols! There was choir singing, and toddlers singing – lovely, although one enterprising little boy worked out how to hog the microphone for a while.. A family band did a beautiful country/folksy rendition of “O Holy Night”, one of my favourite carols. Next year we’ll have to try to stay the whole evening..

Sorry about the poor quality – my twilight photography is not amazing..
The second photo was to show the bright star at the top of the tree.
There were also reindeer..

There’ll be more carols to come –
Enjoy your next carol service! 😀

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on December 1, 2013 at 8:38 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: carol service, Christmas

Gingerbread Night

Just back from the annual Gingerbread House night at my church’s women’s group. I think I can safely say that we are well ahead in our Christmas sugar requirements..
Lots of fun, as usual. Old friends, new friends, and lots of laughs. I love seeing what everyone comes up with, as well – some very inventive houses around.

The beginning – front, back and sides.

Roof! And it’s still holding together!

A fine selection..

Front (with black cat on the corner 😀 )

Back..

All wrapped up and ready to go!

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Creating

on November 30, 2013 at 9:54 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: gingerbread house

Because Everyone Needs An Unexpected Puppy, Sometimes..

We had an unexpected visitor last night – a neighbour’s puppy.. we had to babysit for a few hours.
She’s only a baby, so there was some excitement for a while, and a fair amount of bewilderment – Where was Mummy? There were exploratory forays upstairs, just in case Mummy was hiding up there, and we were followed about whenever we moved. She eventually settled down, with occasional nibbling of fingers/toes..

I think she’s a labradoodle – not sure, though.

😀
(Sorry the photos are a bit blurry – it was hard to find a moment when she was still..)

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Simple life...

on November 29, 2013 at 12:15 pm Comments (1)

Nearly There..

Just over a day to the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special..
Here’s a lovely little animation – made by Richard Swarbrick.. enjoy!

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Music

on November 22, 2013 at 7:55 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: 50th Anniversary Special, dOCTOR Who

Finding The Thin Places

Today, we looked at prayer..
This was the clip used to illustrate it..

It’s funny to watch.. a bit sad too. I think I’ve heard each of these, and probably prayed most. Possibly not in the lotus position, though 😉
As the final bit shows, prayer is as simple (and as difficult) as being open and authentic with God. It’s something we can all do, but which requires us to look at who we really are.. which means we can often tend to shy away..

On a (slightly) related note, I’ve just downloaded an album of instrumental music (which can be found here) It’s rambling, folksy type stuff, and was specifically recorded to use while praying. I’m enjoying what I’ve heard so far.
The title “The Thin Place” is likely a reference to a phrase used in Celtic spirituality, referring to places where it was believed that heaven came close to earth, and there was only a thin curtain between the two. There are many of these places in the world – a large number in the British Isles, but the concept seems to be fairly global.
I’m not sure that there are physical places that are “closer to God” than others, in the same way that I don’t think you have to listen to “prayer music” to be able to pray. I have come across places that do seem to be full of God’s glory, but those have invariably been places with a history of constant and fervent prayer.. which suggests to me that we don’t need to go to a church or other spiritual place to find a thin place.. we just need to keep praying – whether that’s in a large church or a lounge chair 🙂

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on November 17, 2013 at 9:50 pm Comments (1)

Anticipation

Still thunder overhead.
Lightning streaking the clearing sky…
This is what it looked like maybe an hour ago…

Thankfully no hail.

Biggest boy was out there, somewhere – he’d decided to walk home from the library. He said that he started out when he saw the clouds, but they came so fast… he got back here just as the rain started to pour down..

Now I can relax… listen to the thunder… read.
Hear the garden growing…

Update – rainbow (and light)! 😀

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Simple life...

on November 14, 2013 at 5:03 pm Leave a Comment

Happy Bean, And Tomatoes Growing

Hasn’t the rain been lovely, lately?
We haven’t had any hail, so the garden’s growing beautifully – the tomatoes are taking over!

I hadn’t noticed how large they were getting… very different to when they first went in!

Lots of flowers – I’m looking forward to homegrown tomatoes, with avocado and onion on toast 😉

Yesterday I was finally able to take littlest bean to McDonalds – he has had a voucher for a free Happy Meal for a while now, but we hadn’t been able to redeem it until yesterday. He had a lovely lunch, chatted away, played in the play area (briefly) and even got to see Grandma (unexpectedly) at the nearby shop.
A very happy bean!

The coming storm, later in the afternoon, provided the opportunity to catch up with neighbours, who were outside checking out the weather… from the new puppy across the way, to the two little girls at the next house, who “love playing in the rain”, just had to show us how they could do handstands and forward rolls, and wanted to know all about our herbs and what they were for..
…and then it was time for tea, bedtime.. and the cool of the rain, rolling in..

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Simple life...

on November 14, 2013 at 2:22 pm Leave a Comment

Life And Cupcakes

Yesterday I went for a walk.
Sounds such a simple statement… but it’s been a while since I was able to do that. Yesterday was such a beautiful day, wasn’t it? Blue skies.. not too hot. I was a bit wobbly when I got where I was going, but nothing a coffee and a cupcake couldn’t help.. 😉

This was one half of my view – the sign says “Live life with love, passion, kindness and cupcakes.” Sounds good to me…

Here’s the other half of my view.. beautiful skies!

…and here’s the food.. a mini lemon meringue cupcake, a cappuccino – and look at the gorgeous mini bikkie on the spoon!

Sat for a bit, then went home, admiring the dandelions on the way… they grow wherever they are – even if they’re considered weeds, they still brighten my day. 😀

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