Woe is me

Down with the flu...

Hopefully I'll be back soon...

xx

Weekend Words

A Tale of Two Babies

In a mother’s womb were two babies.
One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”
The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.” 

- Útmutató a Léleknek

 

Days of...

early morning winter light...

on the river

coffee buying...

 On a recent trip to my fav coffee outlet: http://leapinggoat.com.au/about-us/

drinking said coffee...

and browsing the latest Aust Country Style mag

colour in the winter garden...

crocheting...reading...

binge watching Longmire

chilling at a local Jazz Concert...

great music at the Empire Hotel Deloraine

And a bit of inspiration from Ralph, to carry with you into a new day...

Be you!!

It's who you are meant to be.

xx

On solitude

"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

first light...

Down at the river early yesterday morning...

And because it is supposed to get down to -1'C overnight, I decided to move all my plants and clutter from around the wood heater...

And do a 'first light' for the year...

Remember this secret project I was working on...

 It's a blanket for Ben and Hayley's baby

I had wrapped it and given it to them when they visited in March to be opened at the Baby Shower, which happened last Saturday.  So...here it is...modelled by...

 mother to be Hayley

and "Baby Bump"

Still working on my India Blanket...

 doing the border rows

And started reading THIS book...

good reading so far

And for dinner...

vegie stir fry...

Eaten by the fire!

With my book!

And crochet!

Doesn't get much better!!!

xx

Weekend Words

Better Than My Best

I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile
All sense of nearness, human and divine;
The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart,
The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;
But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,
The everlasting arms upheld my own.

I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,
The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,
The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,
And all my little candle flames burned out;
But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,
The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.

I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,
A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;
Above my head the skies were black with storm,
And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;
But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice and perfect peace I knew.

I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed
My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,
Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed
Have brought me more than all I asked or thought;
Giver of good, so answer each request
With Thine own giving, better than my best.

by Annie Johnson Flint

Autumn

Down at the river...

And outside my lounge room window...

Last week I picked  up 2 big bags of Fuji apples at a roadside stand in a nearby town...

Which I cooked up with some rhubarb from the garden and a dash of cardamom, cloves, allspice and mixed spice...

And put into containers for the freezer...

Time for a bit of escapism with my morning coffee...

Running Away From Home... Very mixed reviews, but I am enjoying the details.

And an update on the India blanket...

 16 x '4 square' blocks to sew together

Then to add some borders and edging with the yarn that is left...

While binge watching Season two of Longmire (from the library)...

And reading this delightful book: English Lessons by Andrea Lucado (Max's daughter)

(In case you missed it...I've updated my header photo, taken down at the spillway early this morning)

No better time of day than early morning!

xx

New Me

Actually it's only the hairstyle that's new. 

The rest is still the old me (unfortunately)!

xx

Weekend Words

The  Journey

by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

"I have only one thing to do

and that's be the wave that I am,

and then sink back into the ocean."

- Fiona Apple

(I know!  I know!  Late again!!)

xx

May Yarn Along

Linking up with Ginny for Yarn Along.

Working on my 'India Blanket' (so called because my friend Debbie sent me the yarn from India last year)..

Crochet 64 squares and edge in dark grey...

Sew together 2 plain and 2 coloured squares = 16 x 4 square blocks...

Edge in white and light grey...

and hope that you have enough white and light grey to do all the blocks

Package up 12 beanies that Debbie crocheted for charity...

Walk to the Post Office...

and mail the parcel off to KOGO

Home for coffee and a mag browse...

Do some gardening...

Relax and read...it's been on my bookshelf for over a year...waiting...

liturgy of the ordinary...very good!

Did you know there is a name for people like me...

A day in the life...

xx