Wednesday, June 27, 2018

North to Alaska

No...not me...unfortunately

But The Texas Team are holidaying there at the moment, and sent me some photos

Exit Glacier at Kenai Fjords National Park near Seward...
 Zak, Natasha, Oliver, Patrick, Dylan


 Fishing at Homer, Alaska, with the Aleutian Mountain Range in the background


And cinema night in Homer...
reminiscent of cinema night in Deloraine :)

It all look so beautiful (sigh!)

Alaska is on my 'go to' list, along with Canada, Scotland, Scandinavia and New Zealand.  Guess it's about time I started crossing them off!

So I've pencilled an Alaska trip in for next year, incorporating a visit to the family, who will then be The Connecticut Connection, as that is where they are moving to.



Dreaming of Alaska, and a life less ordinary, while enjoying my morning ritual...


And knitting more winter woollies...
a wide/tapered headband in beautiful organic Treliske/Bio-Natur wool from Ecoyarns


Of course no post would be complete without a quote...
from the book mentioned above...the words of Alex Legendre


a life less ordinary

don't just dream it

do it!

xx

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Weekend Words

Making the most of morning’s predawn hours can be the best way to start the day, whether it’s for reading, ruminating or romanticizing.
Stanley, Tasmania
The early winter mornings are dark and quiet. Although your warm bed beckons you to climb back inside, starting your day before the day can leave you enlightened and ready to meet life’s later requirements that rise with the sun. It’s not a time to get ahead at work or skim your social media feed—those can wait, as can the laundry, the shopping list and the call to your mother. These things will get done, but the predawn hours offer you the chance to do something for yourself and should therefore be protected.
Countless other early birds have refused to let menial daily tasks bully this golden time. Before entering her studio for the day, Georgia O’Keeffe woke at dawn to her dogs barking, warmed up with tea and then took a walk. Henry David Thoreau ventured out into the frigid morning to hear the first birdsongs. While his wife slept in, P.G. Wodehouse did calisthenics on his front porch before reading pop fiction over coffee cake, toast and tea.
Others rose early to pursue their passions before beginning their normal life. Sylvia Plath woke at 5 a.m. to write before tending to her two young children, as did Toni Morrison, who raised her two sons while working in a publishing house. (“It’s not being in the light,” she said. “It’s being there before it arrives.”) His days filled with business, Frank Lloyd Wright developed his architectural designs from 4 to 7 a.m., and Immanuel Kant meditated over a pipe and weak tea before heading to the local university to teach science.
Rising at the same time every day with ceremony can establish a ritual (plus, the consistency helps prevent you from giving up). Whether you wake to work on a passion project or indulge in doing nothing, beginning with a routine makes this time distinct. The night before, prep your French press or set out your loose-leaf tea so all you have to do in the morning is stumble in and blearily boil water. Listen to Glenn Gould’s version of Bach’s Goldberg Variations—or Daft Punk if you prefer. If you crave a more ascetic start, put on a sweater and slip over to your desk without a sound. The morning may be cold, but you’ll warm as you awaken and devote a fresh and unadulterated mind to your fascinations.
And if you can’t rouse yourself despite your best intentions? Perhaps you incessantly push the snooze button or decide that no amount of predawn enlightenment is worth the lull you fall into by midafternoon. Thankfully, the fullness of life is not proportionate to how early you rise. Proust slept during the day and worked through the night, George Gershwin came home after evening parties to compose music until dawn, and George Sand often left her lovers’ beds to write in the midnight silence that inspired her.
Whether their gravitational pull was toward morning or night, these visionaries all established a daily space only for themselves and refused to let their creative spirits hibernate. Their efforts were both large and small, but always deliberate. If all you do is wake up 15 minutes earlier to sip and not gulp your coffee, then you’re opening yourself up to a more intimate life. As the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “The early morning hours have gold in their mouth.” And who doesn’t want to be dusted with gold?
(From Kinfolk - words by Margaret Everton)

The Nut, Stanley, Tasmania


Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Blanket love


When Jefferson and Anushka were here recently, they chose this blanket I knitted, to take home with them...
looks like Rafe has already claimed it :)


And while we're on the subject of blankets, remember these crocheted squares that I didn't like the pink edging on...


They now have brown edging...


And some quotes from this beautiful book...
 enjoyed while drinking my morning coffee


"The secret is balance: instead of doing everything faster, do everything at the right speed.  Sometimes fast.  Sometimes slow.  Sometimes in between". - Carl Honore


"People look for retreat for themselves, in the country, by the coast, or in the hills...
There is nowhere that a person can find a more peaceful and trouble-free retreat than in his own mind...
So constantly give yourself this retreat and renew yourself". - Marcus Aurelius


Retreat
Renew
Refresh

xx

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Weekend Words





Stay on the high road with Me. Many voices clamour for your attention, trying to divert you to another path. But I have called you to walk ever so closely with Me, soaking in My presence, living in My peace. This is my unique design for you…


I have called each of my children to a different path, distinctly designed for that one. Do not let anyone convince you that his path is the only right one. And be careful not to extol your path as superior to another’s way. What I require of you is to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Me – wherever I lead. (Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)


Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Family Fun


A visit from family for the weekend...
son Jefferson and partner Anushka from Canberra


So we did a road trip to Sheffield...
on the road to Mt Roland/Sheffield area



Then on to Devonport for lunch at Drift Restaurant...
Mersey Bluff Reserve - Devonport


And back to Deloraine for dinner at the Empire Hotel...
Jefferson, Anushka, Adrian, Marnie, Denver


A good day was had by all...

But so much food!!!

xx

Friday, June 8, 2018

June Yarn Along

Joining Ginny and others at  Yarn Along

And for those who visit from there, and haven't seen my finished India Blanket, here it is...


Now I've resurrected this unfinished project...
80 squares in natural coloured wool

The edging row is a dusty pink (and not as bright as it looks in the photo), but not 'natural' coloured wool, so I think I'll undo it on all 80 squares (sigh!) and edge them in some dark brown natural I have.

Then I thought, to brighten it a bit, I'd add some random squares with cream centres...


And in between all that, I'm reading The Pyramid (which is a prequel to the later Wallander books), about his early days in the police department...
And binging out on Justified.


Winter is here...

But it's fine by me!

xx

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Weekend Words

 A Winter Walk 

It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing upon something. ~Charles Dickens

Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow. ~Henry David Thoreau

       An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day. - Henry David Thoreau



If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk. -Raymond Inmon

 There is nothing like walking to get the feel of a country. A fine landscape is like a piece of music; it must be taken at the right tempo. Even a bicycle goes too fast. -Paul Scott Mowrer


If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and perish. -Charles Dickens

 My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing. -Aldous Huxley


But the beauty is in the walking – we are betrayed by destinations. -Gwyn Thomas


“[Walking] is the perfect way of moving if you want to see into the life of things. It is the one way of freedom. If you go to a place on anything but your own feet you are taken there too fast, and miss a thousand delicate joys that were waiting for you by the wayside.”
Elizabeth von Arnim, The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rügen

Well...what are you waiting for???

Get out and walk!!!!

xx

Friday, June 1, 2018

Back...

...feeling much better...still coughing a bit...but ready for a catch up...

Last week I made a big pot of chicken soup (the magic cure all)...
 garlic, onion, leek, celery, carrot, chicken drumsticks (skin removed), barley, brown rice, a piece of ginger and a bay leaf (for flavouring and removed after cooking), salt, pepper, and lots of chopped parsley added just before serving.


Also did quite a bit of this...
as well as sleeping


But when I was feeling up to more, I read...

 Reading People - very interesting and challenging, but not a relaxing bed time read

So at night I read Anxious for Nothing - very 'Max' if you've read any of his other books.



Watched and listened...

Finished Series 1 - 4 of Longmire (as recommended by Marnie and Denver).   Really enjoyed it...need to get Series 5!

Have now started Justified (as recommended by Ben and Hayley). I seem to be in cowboy/sheriff  mode, and think I will like this series too, although it's a bit 'quirkier' than Longmire (think Coen Brothers).

And picked up this Van Morrison Duets CD at the library.  Good, good!!

Something to fill in the long winter evenings :)



And (wait for it!!!) I've finished my India Blanket...
 Ta Da!!!


Hey Debbie...bet you thought I'd never get it finished :)) 


And speaking of Debbie, she crocheted these lovely baby blankets for me to mail off to one of the charities I support.  So today, they went in the mail to KOGO...

Thanks Debbie!


Ok...time to light the wood heater for the night, soup (this week it's lamb and veg) for dinner, then some knitting while watching an episode of Justified.


And tomorrow I must get back to my river walks!!

Hope your day is full of good things...for body, mind and soul...

xx