Family Time

They are all out, but I was in need of some 'home alone' time, so have a chance to get a post on.  Some went visiting friends, and some to the movies.  They saw Yesterday, which looked good, but maybe I'll get to see it when it comes out on DVD.

They are slightly crazy (I've no idea where they get that from!), but lovable...

with some of Marnie's macramé work in the background

And they say women can talk!!  The boys...'chewing the fat'...

Denver, Phil, Ben, Patrick

Cousins...

Oli, Dylan, Hazel, Zak

And so they don't feel leftout, this is my Canberra family who unfortunately couldn't make it down this time...

Anushka, Jefferson, Rafe (4) and Jaya (nearly 4 months) 

The family have been coming with me on my early morning walks (and probably waking up half the town!), so here are some pics from yesterday morning (in case you are having withdrawal symptoms)...

by the time we got half way, the colour was fading from the sky

So we had a stop at the playground...

 And the skate ramp...

And then it was home for breakfast!

Speaking of which...it's lunchtime for me :)

Will try and get back again soon...

xx 

The Invasion

The invasion has begun...

Family from Connecticut arrived today...

Patrick, Oliver, Dylan, Natasha, Zak

They are still a bit jet lagged, so had an early night, but are here for 3 weeks so there will be plenty of time for catch ups.  The family from Queensland arrive tomorrow.


I imagine I will be saying goodbye to some of these blankets I've crocheted as the family claim them...

I'm still trying to get this one finished.  It's almost done...

And I bought The Beekeeper... recently which I'm keen to start, but  The Tattooist... that I'd reserved from the library arrived, so I'll need to read that first...

Still working on my knitted blanket squares too, although I doubt I'll have much time for knitting, crocheting or reading over the next few weeks.  Also not sure when I can get back with a  post, but will try and keep you updated with a few photos of our family outings.


And no post is complete without a few pics from my walks.  This morning...

 the path takes me under the road bridge

 past these trees

the geese were out this morning too

This is the Catholic church I walk past each day...

it's a lovely old bluestone building

At the river late yesterday afternoon...

And sunset tonight...

  I should have some company for my walk in the morning :)

xx

Weekend Words

"...As one who writes and speaks publicly about my faith, I have also learned to accept that I am a "clay vessel" whom God may use at a time when I feel unworthy or hypocritical.  I can give a speech or preach a sermon that was authentic and alive to me when I composed it, even though as I deliver it my mind is replaying an argument I just had or nursing an injury I received from a friend.  I can write what I believe to be true even while painfully aware of my own inability to attain what I urge others toward.

Exercising faith in the present means trusting God to work through the encounter before me despite the background clutter of the rest of my life.  As the recovery movement has taught us, our very helplessness drives us to God."

(Reaching for the Invisible God - Philip Yancey)

Weekend Words

Home from church, drinking a cup of tea, and trying to decide what I can write for Weekend Words, and Anne Lamott came to mind.  Have you read any of her books?

I have pretty much all her non fiction books.  Couldn't quite get into her fiction though.  The first book I read (Travelling Mercies) was about 5 years ago, and I just kept reading...  She has "quotes" in her books.  Gotta love an author who uses quotes.  Such as...

"I don't know Who - or what - put the question, I don't know when it was put.  I don't even remember answering.  But at some point I did answer Yes to Someone - or something - and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal."
 - Dag Hammarskjold

"I think I already understand about life: pretty good, some problems."
Sam Lamott (Anne's son) - at age 7

And these ones from Anne herself...

"I love ritual and repetition.  Without them, I would be a balloon with a slow leak."

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write.  It was due the next day.  We were out at our family cabin in Bolinus, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead.  Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy.  Just take it bird by bird'"

"It's like the old riddle: What's the difference between you and God?  God never thinks He's you."

"Almost everything will work if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you."

If you haven't read any of her books...give them a try.  She's funny and wise. 

 A bit like me really :))

And now I'm off for an afternoon walk...to clear away the cobwebs. xx

C K R W

This week I've been...

Cooking

A lentil loaf.  It was supposed to be patties, but making it into a loaf and cooking in the oven is much quicker and easier...

The recipe...

Taylor-made lentil patties

HINT: These patties freeze well uncooked; thaw before cooking. Vary with a mix of red and green lentils. canned lentils may be used to save time
1 large potato, cubed
2 cups cooked brown or green lentils
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup finely chopped almonds
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
pepper, to taste
olive or canola oil spray

Cook potato in a large saucepan of boiling water until soft, drain and mash until smooth. Add lentils, breadcrumbs, egg, sesame and sunflower seeds, almonds, onion, garlic, parsley and pepper. Mix well. Divide mixture into portions and form into patties. Spray a a nonstick frying pan with oil and heat. Fry the patties over moderate heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until crisp and golden on the outside and heated through. Serve with a crusty wholemeal bread roll and salad.

Note: You can pretty much add whatever vegies, etc. you want.  I had some leftover cooked sweet potato, pumpkin and carrot that I mashed up and added.  Also some nuts and pumpkin seeds, and a dessertspoon of flour just to help hold it together.  It's a good way to use up leftover cooked vegies.  A dash of cumin and tomato relish.  I will slice some of it up and put in the freezer.

And today I made Ki Si Min.  I'm not adding a photo because it actually tastes better than it looks, but you can always google it if you want to see a pic.

This is the recipe I used...

click on it to enlarge 

Knitting

Continuing the knit/crochet projects mentioned in previous posts, but also started (and it's almost finished) knitting a moebius cowl...

picked up this book at the op shop this morning

Reading

the reading corner

Still reading books mentioned in previous posts, have 3 on the go, which is not a good idea, as it can get confusing :)

Walking

Despite the sometimes cold, wet, foggy weather, we are having sunshine in between.  A few pics from my walks this week...

 early morning sunrise from my back garden

late afternoon jet stream through the bare branches

And when I'm not gazing at the skies, I'm enjoying the river serenity.  A few pics from a walk this week, very early, before it was even fully daylight...

 still quite dark when I arrived at the river

 getting lighter

early morning...THE best time of day!

And now I'm off for a late afternoon walk before it gets too cold, then back home to light the fire and get cosy :)

xx

Weekend Words

Some thoughts to ponder...

"Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems that we created with our current patterns of thought."
- Albert Einstein

"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we are going."
- Irwin Corey

"It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching."
- St Francis of Assisi

"I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God.  That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."
- Minnie Louise Hoskins

"Quiet minds can't be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace like a clock during a thunderstorm."
- Robert Louis Stevenson

"In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy."
- Albert Clarke

Jesus often took himself off to solitary places (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; Luke 6:12; Mark 6:46; Matthew 14:23)...to pray.  More food for thought perhaps?

June Yarn Along

Winter has arrived here.  Some mornings on my walk are foggy...

Others are clear and frosty...

The sunsets have been beautiful...

And in between there is the late autumn/early winter colour at the river...

So no better time to be joining in for Yarn Along.

I'm still working on this crocheted blanket...

Dipping into the Kate Humble book as mentioned in a previous post, and collected these two Reeve Lindbergh books (Under a Wing and No More Words) from the library this morning.


Continuing to knit my diagonal blanket squares...

I have 16 done, and probably need another 10, depending on whether I join them in a square or rectangle.

I picked up this Henning Mankell book at the op shop yesterday (another one to add to my collection!).  A rare find, as you don't often see them.  Since his death they have become a bit of a collector's item.  He is a favourite author of mine, and I hadn't read this one.  I was drawn in from the beginning...

"Frozen snow.  Severe frost.  Midwinter.

Early in January 2006 a lone wolf crosses the unmarked border and enters Sweden from Vauldalen in Norway."

Many of his books are set in isolated places.  I love the seclusion and Scandi landscape, but also his style of writing.  It's my bedtime read, and no...I don't have nightmares :)

My daytime dip is the Kate Humble book.  It's written in diary entry form, so makes it easy to read a page here and there.  I can't take too much of someone else's musings, so only read in small doses.  Even though it's good and I am enjoying it, after a bit, I need to get back into my own thoughts.

I read this yesterday...

"But, I've discovered, on overcast mornings the woods are quiet...

This is what I love about experiencing the world at walking pace: the small but significant luxury of having the time and headspace to notice details that make me feel a part of my surroundings.  A sense of belonging, rather than passing through."

 I took this photo tonight, from my back garden,when I got home from my walk...

It's going to be another cold, frosty night.  No better time to snuggle up by the fire with a book and some knitting :)

xx

Weekend Words

"Let's start at the very beginning...

...a very good place to start..."

Monday was a trip to Launceston with Marnie.  Denver had given me a gift voucher from Koorong (Christian Bookshop) for my birthday (back in February), and I finally decided to buy this...

it will hang on my lounge room wall when I can find someone tall enough to put a hook in above my lounge room window :))

Tuesday was Denver's 17th birthday.  We went out for dinner at the local restaurant...

Phil, Marnie, Denver and me

Wednesday was a home day so I got in a bit of gardening.  Mowing lawns, transplanting some ground cover plants to a raised bed on the shady side of my house.

my hellebores are flowering

Thursday I made a trip to the op shop and picked up these books.  Have read Keith Green's book many years ago, and enjoyed it, and the other two looked interesting...

Friend Debbie was passing on this blanket, crocheted by her grandmother,  so I put my hand up :)

Friday involved more garden work as the late autumn days have been lovely and calm with a soft sun shining.

I've also been getting in at least one river walk each day, some days two.  Here are some photos from my walk this morning.  It's usually just getting light when I start out...

 see the tiny moon?

 walking down my street - a chilly 2C!

love this time of day!!

By the time I get half way around the river track...

the sky is a soft pink/blue, there is a light mist on the river, and another day starts...

First day of winter here, and although it's been such a nice sunny day, the sky is again a soft pink/blue as it sets on what will be another cold frosty night.

The beauty of God's world!

xx