Resuming normal transmission...

My house guest (Benjamin) left on Friday, after being here for 2 months, so now I am resuming 'life as I know it'...

I'm not sure that I'm cut out for having someone in my house 24/7 (it's the 96% introvert in me !), but we had some good times, survived the ordeal, and didn't kill each other.  And more importantly...we parted friends :)

Ok...I know you're all dying to see it...so here's a pic...

And a general update...

Christmas was quiet but we did family stuff (with Marnie, Phil and Denver) either side of it.

We don't really do presents, but every so often one of the family surprises me.  This year it was Jefferson and Anushka, and they sent me this...

It's Jefferson's photo (The last pic. No...not the spider!!) from THIS post that I really liked.  They had it printed on a wood block from Memory Block.  Such a unique gift!

And I also bought myself a book (no Christmas is complete without a new book)…

and my friend Vicki gave me some Australian botanicals soap :)

In the garden...

 the apples are growing

the blueberries are flourishing

 the thornless blackberries are ripening

and see the tiny beans?

I also have an abundant crop of weeds, but I'm not showing you those!

I'm continuing to read Us Against You.  It's good, but if you're going to read it, read BearTown first as Us Against You follows on.  I'm pretty hard to please where books are concerned and have trouble finding ones that I really like, but I really liked these two!!

And to while away the hours, when it's too hot and sunny to go outside...

 using up my 'bits and pieces' to make granny squares for charity blankets

knitting more baby cardigans (for charity)

Oh...and I finished this one (that I had to make from a square to a rectangle)…

also for charity

So that's you all caught up! 

I'm continuing to enjoy the solitude and recharge my batteries.

The joys of routine… :)

xx 

Weekend Words

As we approach the start of another year, I will again read this poem...

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
― Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude 

And a few more quotes that I like, to take you into the New Year...

"Do not be too moral.  You may cheat yourself out of too much life.  Aim above morality.  Be not simply good; be good for something" - Henry David Thoreau

"And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." " - Isaiah 30:21

"Walk joyfully on the earth and respond to that of God in every human being." - George Fox

"There will come a time when you will believe everything is finished.  That will be the beginning." - Louis L'Amour

"Others can give you a name and a number, but they can never tell you who you really are.  That is something you yourself can only discover from within." - Thomas Merton

"Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream." - Malcolm Muggeridge

"A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." - George Moore

"Groan and forget it." - Jessamyn West

"It's good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula K Le Guin

"I find television very educating.  Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." - Groucho Marx

"Weeds are flowers too once you get to know them." - A A Milne

"Masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausting." - Anon

That's more than enough from me.  You've probably heard them before, but sometimes it's good to be reminded...

Do you have any favourite quotes?

xx

The Christmas Post

Another year almost over. 

It's had its ups and downs, but mostly ups.  I hope your year has been good for you.  If you've been reading my blog over the past year, you'll have kept up with most of my doings, and I thank you for taking the time to read and comment. 

If you do read, but have not commented before, do say hello, as it's always nice to get some feedback.  I know Blogger makes it difficult to be able to comment sometimes (Hey Natasha!), but if you'd like to say something, you can always email me direct (lyndahkay@hotmail.com).  

I've 'met' some really nice people via my blog.  And I also have blogger friends who's blogs I enjoy reading and commenting on regularly.  I don't do Facebook or other social media, but I do like my little Blogger community, and I hope you'll come back and read in 2019!

Enough chatter from me.  Here are some family photos.  It's Christmas, so you have to indulge me :))

In Connecticut, USA (although this was taken on their way to, or in, Quebec City, Canada, where they are spending Christmas/New Year)...

back - Patrick, Natasha and Dylan

front - Zak and Oli

In Canberra, ACT...

Jefferson, Anushka, Rafe

In Deloraine, TAS...

Marnie, Phil, Denver

In Robina, Queensland...

Ben, Hazel, Hayley

In case you are wondering, Natasha, Jefferson, Marnie and Ben are 'mine' :))

And because I'm usually behind the camera and not in front of it, and also hate having my photo taken, no pics of me.  But if I get one over the holiday break that meets my critical appraisal, I will post it for you...but don't hold your breath!! :))

From Stillmeadow Sampler by Gladys Taber…

We always think of Christmas as a time of icicles hanging from the old well and snow over the valley. But I had a friend who was newly married and went to live in the tropics. She felt sorry for herself as Christmas drew near…

And it came to her suddenly that Christmas was not a place, nor was it weather, it was a state of mind. After all she thought, Christ was not born in the north, He was born in a stable in Bethlehem. And so she got a small palm tree and put flowers on the flat leaves, and was gay and merry. It was, she said, one of the best Christmases ever…

It is certainly true that Christmas is only seasonal in the heart. The snow may be clean and deep outside, or you may be in a dingy city apartment or you may be in a steaming tropical country. But it is still Christmas. Whether you serve the plump crispy turkey, or something exotic wrapped in pandanus leaves, the feeling of Christmas is there. It is in the mind and in the heart. The faith we have in the good rises like a tide and wherever we are, we feel it.

Christmas graces any board and gives a new lift to our life, and as we hear once more the familiar carols, we thank God for the birth of His Son.

“O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie-

Above thy dark and dreamless streets the silent stars go by.”

I hope Christmas is 'merry and bright' for you, but if you're feeling lonely, reach out to others...it does wonders to lift the spirit!

"The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace"

Numbers 6:24-26 (NKJV)

Thanks for reading...

xx

The Christmas Song

My favourite Christmas hymn and my favourite version.  

Enjoy!

xx

Weekend Words

1 Corinthians 13 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Greatest Gift

13

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body ^[a]to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not ^[b]puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, ^[c]thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰ But when that which is ^[d]perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

¹³ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Our delicate little Tasmanian Waratah, much smaller than the better known and larger mainland one (in particular the New South Wales Waratah which is that states floral emblem), but I love ours for it's daintiness :)

Brings to my mind the book title by E F Schumacher 'Small is Beautiful'. 

 Love doesn't have to be shown in wildly extravagant ways, but can be displayed in the small intricacies of daily life, by a simple thought, word, touch or action.

Try it!!

xx

Home Alone - Week 8

My house guest is off on some solo travels this week, and this morning I read this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

'Let us not rove; let us sit at home with the cause...

They who made England, Italy or Greece venerable in the imagination did so by sticking fast where they were.  Travelling is a fool's paradise.  The rage of travelling is a symptom of a deeper unsoundness affecting the whole intellectual action.  The intellect is vagabond and our system of education fosters restlessness.  Our minds travel when our bodies are forced to stay at home.'  

So my mind is 'travelling' while my body stays at home :)

Although getting out for my morning walk is still a daily occurrence...

storm clouds

And the local duck population is ever expanding...

Enjoyed some Sunday afternoon jazz...

even though I'm not a great jazz fan, live music is always good

I've worked out how to add the strip to my square blanket to make it rectangular...

 finished article next time

And completed the baby jumper...

except for sewing on 3 small buttons at the shoulder opening

My book I ordered from Book Depository arrived today...

 It's the sequel to BearTown which I read recently and really enjoyed.  Looking forward to starting Us Against You tonight 

Baking: Boiled Pineapple Fruit Cake, and Ginger and Macadamia Shortbread, for Christmas, and a couple of pre-Christmas luncheons coming up...

And I've discovered a new Aussie muso - Dean Lewis...

check out his videos on YouTube.  They are good!!

And that's more than enough to keep me busy :)

But wanted to add another quote I read recently:

"If at first you don't succeed...

Congratulations.  Welcome to life.  It is hard sometimes, but also mostly okay."

Hoping if it's not actually good for you at the moment, it's at least okay!


(Addendum)
And now the week is over and it's Friday again and I am off to a luncheon with the folk from my previous (Uniting) church, then I will drive in to pick up my 'house guest' who is returning from his travels.
Where did the week go!?!?

So will publish this now as I have 2 more posts waiting in line...

xx

Out and about - Week 7

Saw us taking a day trip to Bridport on the coast in the northeast of TAS.

We enjoyed the coastal views as we ate our lunch...

 see the fisherman on the rock?

Then we went into the township on Andersons Bay at the mouth of the Forester river estuary...

We also found a walk track, in the bush on the edge of town, to explore (plus a spot of Geocaching)…

And finished with a walk along this beautiful beach...

deserted, but very windy

And on the drive home, a stop off at Sideling Lookout near Springfield to take in the view...

and the clouds

This week (8) my 'house guest' has taken himself off for some solo exploring so I am taking advantage of the 'home alone time' to relax and catch up on...  

whatever I like :)))

xx

December Yarn Along

Not much time for yarn work and reading with all the walking (see the various 'Out and About' posts on blog), but...

Working on the crocheted cot blanket for charity.  At the moment it's a square, but I need to make it a rectangle, so will add some smaller granny squares to one end which should work...

And a baby jumper in a self patterning yarn...

 both items for KOGO

Still reading...

but am three-quarters through it.  It's good, I just haven't had much reading time

And linking in to Yarn Along!

xx

Out and About - Week 6

This is my second attempt, as I lost the previous Week 6 just as I was about to publish it, so you're just getting the photos...

Wednesday we went walking in Cradle Mountain National Park...

 which is also the starting point for the world famous Overland Track

 across the flat

 into the rainforest

past Crater Falls

 to Crater Lake

 where we ate lunch

And continued walking...

I think this is Lake Lilla and Dove Lake

 Wombat Pool

iconic Cradle Mountain

And a couple of shots of Dove Lake...

reflections

This weekend, son Jefferson and some friends were walking in Main Range of the Snowy Mountains/Mount Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales (mainland Australia)

They were doing the '10 Summits' over three days and he sent this photo through to the family which I had to share with you because I just love it!

Mount Twynam - Australia's second highest (Mount Kosciuszko being the highest)...

4.30pm - rocks, alpine grass, snow, mountains, clouds...and the subtle colours!!!

And just so you don't get bored, he also sent this photo (don't look if you have a spider phobia)

The poisonous Funnel-web Spider...

They had seen quite a lot of them, and didn't realise they were funnel webs until they googled them (three cheers for Mr Google),  and one had decided to sleep the night under Jefferson's pack!!

 I think they were sleeping out in the open, but have decided tents might be in order for the next trip, with sewn in spider proof floor and zips :))

I did see a small snake on our Cradle Mountains walk, but I'll take a snake over a spider any day!!

Ok...so you got a few words with the pics...

xx