Cloudbusting

Rob Ryan

2012-01-06T03:50:00.000+11:00

I just so love Rob Ryan's beautiful paper-cut pictures! I'd love to buy one of his creations for my wall. I found this little video and it made me smile :) Oh and Happy 2012!

Handmade Portraits: Rob Ryan from Etsy on Vimeo.

Do You Want to be a Librarian?

2011-01-26T20:58:00.001+11:00

Yes I do!

My hero, Kate Bush

2011-01-07T23:18:00.000+11:00

I found this article on the wonderful blog of Josephine Pennicott, who is also a fan of Kate!

My hero: Kate Bush by David Mitchell

I admire Kate for being her own person, unique, talented and brave! My husband thinks she is "weird" and I know many people find her too "out there" and I have had strange looks when I mention that I am still a fan, but I dont mind, in fact I kind of like it ;)
Nice to see her mentioned in a current article, she is such a private person who takes years to write albums, you dont often find much info on her these days (which is also good, the press seem to leave her alone)

Yay For Kate!

Reading Challenge

2011-01-07T01:35:00.000+11:00

via doe-c-doe

I love reading, but over the last few years Ive been so occupied with kids or even my own thoughts, that Id momentarily forgotten the amazing joy and satisfaction you get from reading.
Buying, borrowing or finding a new book is exciting, then glancing at the first sentence, reading the dedication, the feel, the smell. Ive even read two books on my ipad's kindle, but I have to say I still love a foldy, touchy book.
Anyway! this year I am challenging myself to read 50 books, that's almost one a week, but that will be enough I think!
Ive been listing all the books I've yet to read and the ones Ive read on "Goodreads"

So it's now 2011 and Ive just completed one book and now onto the second....Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

What are you reading?

New Year

2011-01-03T15:09:00.000+11:00

Candy

2010-09-20T01:33:00.001+10:00

It's funny...even after 20 years and marriage and children, I still remember my first love, and my first real heartbreak. This song always triggers the memory from 1990, life is crazy!

Peter and The Wolf

2010-08-25T20:26:00.000+10:00

I'm taking my 5 year old to see Peter and The Wolf on Friday at La Mama Theatre in Melbourne. I remember being excited but also scared when I first saw a tv show of the production shown sometime in the 1970s. Prokofiev's music has a haunting feel, something I love still.
Its very dramatic and beautiful, and Im pretty sure my son will enjoy it, he doesnt scare easily and he quite likes being frightened in that half laughing hysterically half terrified kind of way! This is recommended for 4-11 yr olds and I think its been given a bit of a comic twist!
Did you see Peter and The Wolf as a child?

Do the Bus Stop

2010-07-29T23:28:00.001+10:00

Ive been watching a great documentary on the Islands surrounding Britain.. My cousin has moved to one of these islands in the last 5 years so I was interested to see what life is like in such a remote part of the world! I was touched by the strong support systems they create, they have to all pitch in and get along! It was amazing. I also love the way they make sure they celebrate their community on Saturday nights at the town hall :)

On the Island of Unst, the most northerly island in the Shetlands..they have created a famous bus stop! Over the last 10 or so years it's had different themes. Ahh now wouldn't this make you smile waiting for the bus!

We Miss You

2010-07-20T00:23:00.000+10:00

We Miss You

waking up to the reality of dawn

the cupboard echoing my thoughts
we miss you
even your clothes-hanger
looks forlorn and lost

I scrunch my eyes together
trying to kid myself that its all a dream
your smell lingers
and my dreams
are scattered all over the floor

I take the hanger and twist it
much like you did with my heart
we need you
but we wont lie adrift
we will be reshaped and reborn

: Doc Martin :

2010-07-18T22:51:00.002+10:00

Well this week's obsession has been "Doc Martin" Being so cold and dreary this weekend I managed to watch 10 or so episodes of the Doc, and have fallen in love with the series! Even the kids and husband have enjoyed it!
First you have the salty seaside town in Cornwall, steep hills, narrow lanes, whitewashed walls and lots of beached seaweed, then the people who live in the fictitious town of Portwenn..all slightly eccentric and hilarious!
And of course there is the Doc, Dr Martin Ellingham, a rude, gruff, but highly skilled GP who has had to give up a promising surgical career because he freaks out at the sight of blood! You see him on many occasions hurling into a paper bag while trying to clean up some one's bloody wound! I just love this character, he is amazingly played by Martin Clunes, because although he is so so rude, so pompous and seemingly without any personal skills whatsoever! there is something endearing about him, his vulnerabilities and awkwardness, especially around women, is just so sweet (oh gawd!) Even the town dogs seem strangely attracted to him, one fluffy mutt seems to follow him everywhere, much to Doc's annoyance! Now I'm not your classic romantic girly girl...I tend to find most overly romantic films or books a bit cheesy! I never wanted a man who would worship me and throw rose petals at my feet, I like a bloke who'll fix your car, read a book, argue with you if he thinks you're wrong, and of course be slightly marshmallowy on the inside while still being burly and blokesome!
Well Doc Martin is pretty much the antithesis to a romantic man, and I guess that's why I just love the dynamics between his character and the character of Louisa, his love interest. Louisa is a pretty school teacher, sensible, intelligent and not afraid to speak her mind, but with a sweetness that has most of the town bewitched! (one exception being the neck brace wearing pharmacist who has her own designs on the Doc)
Their relationship is very slow going but lovely to watch, he so awkward and still quite rude, but softening whenever he sees or talks to Louisa, and you can tell he infuriates her but also fascinates her at the same time.
Over the weekend Ive watched them shyly clasp hands at a concert, which made me want to cry???? (I shudder at my own weaky soppy crybaby ways!) argue when after a lovely kiss, he tells her that he can smell her pheromones and they smell slightly of urine! He manages to insult her often, never realising his Doctorly advise is sometimes better left unsaid, especially after they spend their first night together and the next day he offers her a nasal clip to help with her snoring!
He does finally ask her to marry him, but ahhh....the course of TV drama romance never runs smoothly, and the wedding is a disaster with both realising they really don't think the other could make them happy.

Now I'm on to the 4th series, where Louisa, who had fled to London, comes back to Portwenn 6 months pregnant with the Doc's baby. Yay another series where they fumble, mumble and generally dodge each other until I presume things are ok again..well I hope so?? They better be!! I wont rest until Martin and Louisa are happily married and I can move onto the next show!

Anyway...give it a look if you'd like :)

Tea Making Tips from 1941!

2010-07-14T02:54:00.000+10:00

Dont we all love a perfect cup of tea? Well this lovely old clip from 1941 will show you how! I just love viewing these vintage clips from the British Film Institute's channel.

Electric Car - They Might Be Giants

2010-06-19T01:20:00.006+10:00

Ive always liked They Might Be Giants amd last year they released Here Comes Science Good way to introduce kids to science.
This song is cute, me thinks!

The Envelope Project at Meet Me At Mike's

2010-06-16T02:32:00.003+10:00

image via Meet Me At Mike's

One of my all time favourite blogs Meet Me At Mike's always makes me happy! Just visiting Mike's inspires me on many levels, and Pip, who writes the blog, is so full of ways to get the creative juices flowing!
The new project at Mike's involves filling an envelope with any goodies you can find, pretty pics, paper, cards, buttons etc, then decorating the envelope and sending it off to Pip's shop in Melbourne. Eventually (august 1st) someone will win all the envelopes and all the lovely stuff inside them!
What makes me love this is the feeling of being a kid again and being allowed to do something fun and creative as an adult.
Pip has already posted lots of photos of what has been arriving on her doorstep. If you're interested look at the flickr group here :)

Designs for UNICEF

2010-06-09T02:53:00.002+10:00

This lovely card has been designed for UNICEF by Ingela P Arrhenius. It just makes me smile to look

at it!

She really does some lovely illustrations.

Book Covers

2010-05-24T22:29:00.000+10:00

Dont you just love a gorgeous book cover? I can be walking past a book shop and be drawn in by a striking illustration or book design.

Here are some lovely ones voted as winners in The APA Best Book Cover and Design Awards

2010-05-03T01:19:00.001+10:00

blog bogged

2010-04-23T20:06:00.006+10:00

Not sure where to head with this blog! I feel at a complete crossroads, it could be a midlife crisis.
Who am I?
Anyone else know? :)

Casueway Hotel. I love Melbourne's Laneways

2010-03-16T22:01:00.002+11:00

Celtic Myth Podcast

2010-02-02T22:17:00.000+11:00

If you love a good story and beautiful music you might like the Celtic Myth Podcast...run by Gary Colcombe and Ruthie Smith, its a lovely way to relax and imagine a time and place from long ago.

2010-01-28T19:38:00.000+11:00

I think Kate Rusby has one of the lovliest voices!

You're never too old for dolls!

2010-01-19T01:32:00.002+11:00

How Id love one of these dolls and the lovely caravan! Have a look at.....Du Bah Du Designs

Hand

2010-01-04T02:25:00.000+11:00

a shining web of my own

a radiant shape of hope
a mere moment of bliss
is what I hold in my hand

a craving so raw it twists
a desire so lonely for life
a lament often heard from my mouth
when will my hand be full

a woven stream of life

running from childhood to grown
is what I stuggle to fit
in this hand I clasp to my heart

a happiness born from the past
a memory too painful to share
a wish for release and end
my hands be together as one

making stuff in 2010!

2010-01-03T00:39:00.002+11:00

GoingSewCrazy's Clothespin Doll Tutorial!

Last year I spent many hours sipping tea and reading blog after blog of amazing people and their amazing crafty things! sweet, clever, unique and amazing designs.

SO I think this is the right time to try and make something myself (gulp)
I am fairly new to craft, I can knit a little, sew a little (badly) and I guess I can cut and paste and stick pins in things, but thats about the extent of my crafting up until now! Well it's time to move to the next level.....

and what a good place to start

The Long Thread has a wonderful blog post of Top 100 Tutorials of 2009

My pick for first craft project of 2010 is Going Sew Crazy's Clothespin Dolls! I can even enlist Mr 5 yr old son to help me with these!

What would you like to start in 2010?

The grass is greener...thats why I want to be there! :)

2009-12-31T15:04:00.000+11:00

Do you believe that someone can be born in the wrong place? Can someone really have a connection to another place without being born there or even having lived there?
I am almost obsessed with moving to the UK. I'm driving my husband mad.
When I say moving, I mean staying a year and then deciding what it's like, renting our house here so we dont throw away our future in one flight of fancy.
We visited the UK in 2002 for 4 months, we went over just before Christmas so I did exprerience bad weather, low light, dark dark nights and bronchitis caused by bad Birmingham air and dampness and still it didnt put me off the idea of living there. Everything about England appealed to me, the history, the beauty, the towns, villages and cities, the people, the laneways, cobbled streets, moors, dales, fens, broads...*sigh* I am obessesed I know. I even listen to UK radio, watch UKTV, download UK shows, books, plays...My Dad was Scottish so that fueled my first magical images of Scotland, and my Mum was a lover of British literature, history and Royalty, was that where it all started?
Anyway, my poor husband who loves his job here, earns a great wage, has a real love of his own country that I lack, said he may give it a go if I can prove to him that we wouldnt lose everything or be much worse off! So Im now scouring job sites, immigration sites, real estate etc trying to see if this could work.
I should mention I have many relatives in England and Scotland who I'd love to know better, BUT I also have my best friend and cousin here in Australia and basically she is the one doubt I have about moving...I would miss her soo much!!
BUT should I do it? am I living in a dream world, grass is greener etc...I like Australia but I simply hate the heat, I dread Summer, the depressingness of the parched earth, straw coloured grass and red earth, the sport culture, bad educational standards compared to Europe...the isolation! People by the score move out here for the very things I dont like ;) As I sit here in 38 degree heat...I just want to leave :( Maybe it's me, Im in a rut, I feel like something inside me is squeezed shut and cant be released here...

Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T19:25:00.000+11:00

I have 4 children sitting around the table tonight..my two boys, and the two girls from across the road. The excitement is palpable and makes me happy! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with no stress!! :)

Handmade Handbags!

2009-12-03T15:46:00.000+11:00

My new bag!

I love it when spontaneous things happen and you end up having a lovely moment with friends :) I was standing outside my house tonight, talking to my husband about where to put the Christmas lights, when one of the ladies down the street pulled up in her car and said "Come and look at some handmade handbags!" Well the words handmade and handbag both caught my attention, so we picked up another lady across the road and ended up a few streets away in a really creative ladies house and surrounded by bags!! You should have heard the three of us trying to decide which one to chose...I think we all changed our mind many times.
So if you'd like to have a look at some really nice stuff made by a nice lady in her house....please go here!!!
Victoria Goodridge (--- even her name is nice!

Rima Staines

2009-11-11T22:51:00.001+11:00

Since reading about a wonderful handmade clock on my cousin's blog I have become transfixed by the life and works of Rima Staines. Rima and her husband live a nomadic life, travelling in a wooden van around the UK, what a lovely life :)
She is so brilliantly creative and clever, her blog is fascinating. If you feel like a good read visit
The Hermitage :)
Here is a beautiful blackberry wedding necklace she made for a bride! Covet covet.....

Living on Slim, Blonde Street!

2009-11-06T17:25:00.001+11:00

I really really really want to lose weight...really really! Ive now got to the point where I am now bigger than I have ever been, and with that comes depression, embarrassment and the wanting to lock myself away feeling!

I went to a lovely Melbourne Cup Day BBQ on Tuesday. It was at a neighbours house. I seem to live in a street predominated by slim blonde woman!! egads! Where's the fat, dumpy, mousy haired Street?? Anyway these woman are very nice, and also very pretty, and also rich enough to wear different clothes every time I see them, unlike me in my same old hugey size clothes! (yes Im whinging ;))

I'd already been dieting for a week at this point, so I tried to resist the scrumptious cakes, dips and fried stuff! I felt annoyed but strong. Last night I weighed myself and I'd lost two kilos...hip hip hooray! I treated myself to 2 chocolate gold coins I found in the back of the fridge. I want to be slim, brown haired girl in slim blonde hair Street, I hope I can keep it up ;)

2 kilos down........lots to go! (I feel embarrassed to admit this but to get to my ideal weight I need to lose one 11 yr old and one 4 yr old...my children combined!) *sigh*

Days when you feel like a pin cushion :)

2009-11-01T03:30:00.002+11:00

picture by the wonderful Nicoletta Ceccoli

Do you ever feel like this little butterfly girl on a wheel, being stuck with pins......

I have just been reading the blog of my lovely cousin, Sue, you can visit her at Discombobula! She happened to have a really horrible exchange with a young guy at the station the other day, one of those moments when you want to run away and cry and not face anyone for a few hours! It made me think about the deep hurt and shame we cause each other on a daily basis, the throw away lines said in anger, the cutting words spat out when we feel crap about ourselves and want someone else to feel it too, even if it means making you feel worse in the long run. Why do we do it?

I sometimes feel mad at the world, I know many people do! maybe all of us at some point or other. What scares me is becoming more and more bitter as I get older, letting those hurts of the last 40 years eat me up and make me someone I'm not! I seem to get hurt by the same things now as I did at 10, I thought you were meant to grow a thicker skin as you got older!!

Its made me realise how important blogging can be, to blog and to read other people's. It can change your mood, getting a nice reply, a confirmation that someone thinks you are ok, and sometimes reading about other people's lives makes you forget your own nagging troubles or doubts, or maybe realise you have a lot to be thankful for! I love delving into other people's lives, Im nosey like that :) Yay for blogging!

This week :: Missing my Boy but enjoying the colour!

2009-10-28T01:00:00.014+11:00

My garden has gone crazy this week! Spring is here with a vengeance. I'm sure the plants are rejoicing in these perfect conditions, unlike our hot dry summer earlier in the year that just about wiped out gardens everywhere (not to mention what the fires did)
I'm feeling like a bit of a sooky Mum this week, my eldest son Alex has gone on school camp for a week and I really miss him! The house just doesn't feel the same without him and Campbell my 4 yr old boy is following me everywhere...at one moment lost without his big brother and the next relishing his chance to have all the attention :)
I'm sure Alex is having fun, so I will try and be brave ha!
Here are some pics of my crazy garden that needs a good prune!

This is Mr Plod, he has been around for many years, I'm pretty sure my Dad found him for our garden when I was just a kid, anyway I love him!

My Place and Yours : "Bedside"

2009-10-25T16:06:00.005+11:00

I love this Meet me at Mike's meme , last week was "on your shelf" this weeks theme has been chosen by Pottymouthmama "Bedside"
Here's mine...

On the Shelf

2009-10-22T01:56:00.006+11:00

Pip from Meet Me at Mikes is one of my favourite bloggers! Her latest meme is very cool and is called "My Place and Yours" this week's subject is "..on the shelf" and I do love shelves, I love to see what people cram onto them, books, food, toys, collectables!
If you would like to have a look at some lovely things go here.
Here are a couple of my shelves!

Above this post is a picture of the top of my book case, I like to rotate the books around so I can appreciate all my lovely vintagey book covers. It also reminds me of being a child and going to the school library every week. I used to love to see what books the librarian, Mrs Webb, would put out on display, all the titles and cover illustrations made it hard for me to sit patiently and wait until we were permitted to go and explore! On the left is a lovely old scotty dog with a tartan jacket! He was given to me by my cousin when I was pregnant with my first son, it had been her husband's toy as a child and I was really touched that they passed it along to me. This little dog means even more to me now because my cousin passed away suddenly early this year.

The above picture is in my kitchen, an old set of scales that were my Grandma's are now a perch for a little plaster hen, above that is a spice rack with three old milk bottles that belonged to my parents, and a lovely green spotted bowl made by Grindley of England, found in an op shop! Im trying to decide whether to leave the milk bottles empty or fill them with something colourful!

Moss Graffiti

2009-10-09T02:56:00.006+11:00

I love the idea of moss graffiti. Im not a fan of your old everyday spraycan tagging type graffiti, but I do admire some of the more artistic stenciled wall art! BUT even better is something non toxic and living.

I might just make me a moss shake and paint my shed wall...see what happens!

I found this recipe on the wonderful www.storiesfromspace.co.uk

________________________________________________

1 can of beer
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Several clumps garden moss

You will also need a plastic container (with lid),
a blender and a paintbrush
_________________________________________________

To begin the recipe, first of all gather together several clumps of moss (moss can usually be found in moist, shady places) and crumble them into a blender. Then add the beer and sugar and blend just long enough to create a smooth, creamy consistency. Now pour the mixture into a plastic container.

Find a suitable damp and shady wall on to which you can apply your moss milkshake. Paint your chosen design onto the wall (either free-hand or using a stencil). If possible try to return to the area over the following weeks to ensure that the mixture is kept moist. Soon the bits of blended moss should begin to re-couperate into a whole rooted plant – maintaining your chosen design before eventually colonising the whole area.

Real Late Starter - Nerina Pallot

2009-10-06T03:38:00.002+11:00

This could be my theme song!

Love the clip too :)

Yippeee, a blog award for me!

2009-09-28T19:39:00.005+10:00

Let’s Be Friends Award

Thanks to lovelylissie for my very first blog award!! Im so excited!
Please visit lissie's very lovely blog Vintage Joy

Postcrossing

2009-09-23T14:55:00.003+10:00

Despite my love for the internet and the quick fire way you can connect to people all over the world, I do love to get snail mail! A postcard, a letter, fancy writing, nice paper, stamps and stickers :) My cousin and I used to send bumper letters to each other, packed with news & questionnaires and the envelope was pretty much covered with the bands and pop singers we were totally in love with ;)

I recently joined Postcrossing, I thought it would be fun for me and the kids! You get 5 random addresses sent to you from all around the world, you check their preferences and likes, and pick out 5 interesting postcards to send to them...and of course 5 random people get your address!
Today we received our first postcard from Finland, the postcard has a gorgeous picture of the Moomins from Moominsummer madness. I first learnt about the Moomins a month or so ago on Loobylu's blog, and since then Ive been caught up in their magic :)

Anyway, if you feel like a little postcard exchange..please click the postcrossing banner! :)

Babooshka Babuska

2009-09-18T00:56:00.005+10:00

Well as a fan of the song, and a fan of the dolls, I just have to enter this lovely Little Snoring blog's contest and win a Babushka necklace! They are children's necklaces, but I think I'd be asking for a longer one for me!! Cant decide which colour I love most.

and now...I just have to include some Kate!!!

Vintage Style

2009-09-08T02:59:00.003+10:00

Make yourself over in pure Mad Men vintage style! :)

Aurelie Guillerey

2009-09-06T23:47:00.006+10:00

Really love this French illustrators work :)

Dancing fruit!

2009-09-02T23:08:00.005+10:00

I just had to post this kitchen! Who wouldnt want this 1948 kitchen with dancing fruit wallpaper border? How could you ever stagger, sleep deprived and hungover, into this kitchen and not feel instantly cheery ;) (click for bigger pic)

Home Sweet Home

2009-09-02T22:39:00.005+10:00

Wow, buy this kit home and you can enjoy a summer's evening among the faeries and sprites, SOLD!

I love looking at old photos and advertisements for houses and household products, especially around the 40s and 50s. There is a great blog called Retro Renovation, I always love to browse their pages and pages of retro houses and adverts. Instead of buying an old house and ripping out everything that gave it style 50 years ago, retro renovation shows you great photos of houses updated but not completely stripped of their old charm and beauty. They have a "Save the Pink Bathroom" campaign, which I love!
Anyway if you're like me and love looking at houses and suburbs from the turn of the century through to the 1950s have a little looky at Clarke Historial Library. It has a wonderful index of old Aladdin Home sales catalogues, apparently a well know kit home manufacturer in the U.S. I love looking at the covers and the amazing illustrations of how houses developed through the years.

Wall Art at Blik.

2009-08-24T23:01:00.006+10:00

I would really love some wall art..I have a back room that needs redecorating. A big picture on one wall would be something different! What do you think? Is it for you? If so, I'd love to know what you would have on your wall. Have a look at Blik
I quite like this thwarted cat

Something With Numbers - 89 Freedom St Video

2009-08-21T01:05:00.002+10:00

Aint this clip cute? I just like the idea of everyone having a perfect match :)

Something With Numbers - 89 Freedom St

Bookcase to heaven

2009-08-16T00:10:00.003+10:00

IM in love with this amazing staircase/bookcase! There are so many nooks and crannies that can be great places for books! I found this on Apartment Therapy

Plastic fantastic!

2009-08-11T00:57:00.006+10:00

I found this wonderful craft book at the local second hand shop "Plastic the wonder handcraft" I just had to buy it.
How nice would crochet plastic earrings and a lovely spray of plastic flowers on a brooch back be? not very, me thinks!
But am I dismissing this too soon? I tend to think melting and crafting plastic would be the least likeable craft activity, just think of those fumes! and I'm yet to see a good picture of plastic craft, so maybe I'll reserve judgement
Anyway it's all fun and the lady on the front cover looks pretty impressed with her plasticy bouquet! I'm guessing this booklet is from the 1950s? There is no date, and the lady on the front is the only real clue!

Tuesday "Im Coveting." (but on a Wednesday)

2009-07-29T01:30:00.006+10:00

Pip at Meet me at Mike's has started a fun game of posting things you covet!
There's some great lists of lovely things on her site!

I'm Coveting...

I love these blocks
and I really want Regina Spektor's CD "Far" and music from Bat For Lashes
the whole set of Miroslav Sasek's "This is" series of books..looking forward to the upcoming Australian edition :)
Id love two of these for my 4 & 11 yr olds..would be handy for our next holiday.
and a never ending supply of printer ink so I can print out all of this free stuff at Feed Your Soul
and as I like clouds...this raincloud from Corky Saint Clair

that was F.U.N!

Spoonflower

2009-07-25T21:02:00.004+10:00

If you love fabrics and design and prints and colours, then you might like Spoonflower. Its one of my favourite places to waste some time! You can also make your own fabric prints or vote on the fabric of the week.
Its a lovely site!
cheers

Some people are so clever!

2009-07-20T01:39:00.005+10:00

I really love this stop motion trailer. It was made by the author and artist Maggie Stiefvater for her book Shiver, out in August. The book is apparently about a girl who is in love with a boy who becomes a wolf each winter. The illustrations look gorgeous!

This really makes me want to write!!

Book labels

2009-07-17T00:59:00.004+10:00

I really love the little "This book belongs to" book plates and illustrations inside books. Some of the loveliest pictures in books seem to be placed around a book plate or on a label! So I went looking...looking...looking and found Oiseaux
I think I'll buy some, they are gorgeous!

Florence and the Machine

2009-07-16T18:40:00.001+10:00

Im really loving this young female singer! So many good female singers coming up through the ranks. (Hope triple J take note! imagine having a top 100 songs list without any female singers/bands!)

Richard Pleasance

2009-06-09T02:22:00.005+10:00

A favourite of mine from 1991

My First Dictionary

2009-04-26T23:49:00.003+10:00

have a look at this Blog :) My First Dictionary
As a school girl who loved putting words in sentences often to the point where they ended up as paragraphs...I love this! I always wanted a job as a sentence writer for school dictionaries :)

Aurora

2009-04-21T01:11:00.004+10:00

Did anyone else read the Aurora series?
I remember reading and enjoying them when I was about 9 or 10! I think what first appealed to me was that Aurora and her family lived in a high rise apartment, something I found so much more exciting than living in a suburban family house! The other interesting feature of the Aurora series was that Aurora's Mother worked and her Father (who was studying ancient history) looked after Aurora and her little brother Socrates.
The books were written between 1966 and the early 70s and in Australia I would think this type of living arrangement would have been quite rare at that time. Not sure about Norway where the books were written, and set, but Aurora's apartment building seems to think it's odd too.
Anyway!!Id forgotten about these books until recently when I spotted an ex-library (and quite grotty) edition in a second hand shop. Hurrah!. Have read a couple of chapters and can still see why I loved Aurora as a child :)

Timmy, Toby and Teddy!

2009-04-18T02:48:00.009+10:00

Ive found a couple of lovely vintage children's books at the Op Shop.
One, Tales of the Countryside has the most gorgeous illustrations.
Im in love with this picture from "Timmy, Toby and Teddy: The Three Gnomes"

These three lovely little chaps do good deeds throughtout their forest home but alas as the author tells us "The three little men had no one to look after them, No one to cook them nice dinners, or bake jam tarts. No one to kiss them goodnight and tuck them into bed warm and cosy"
Well as karma plays out, the little gnomes help out poor Honey Bee who has lost her wings! They take her home to Mushroom Cottage and with the help of a magician restore her beautiful wings..in return Honey Bee decides to look after her three new friends, doing everything from making them all new sets of clothes to making a new counterpane for their little bed! Heaven!

Lyric of the week!

2009-04-11T12:48:00.002+10:00

Ive been listening to British band, Elbow over the last week or so, I really love their lyrics! Some of them are quite poetic..

One song I like is The Bones of You...it reminds me of how often Im taken to a different time, place and feeling when a song comes on the radio!

The Bones Of You - Elbow

So I'm there charging around with a juggernaut brow
Overdraft, speeches and deadlines to make
Cramming commitments like cats in a sack
Telephone burn and a purposeful gait

When out of a doorway
The tentacles stretch of a song that I know
And the world moves in slow-mo
Straight to my head like the first cigarette of the day

And it's you and it's me
And we're sleeping through the day
And I'm five years ago
And three thousand miles away

Do I have time? A man of my caliber stood in the street
Like a sleepwalking teenager I know
And I dealt with this years ago
I took a hammer to every memento

But image on image like beads on a rosary
Pulled through my head as the music takes hold
And the sickener hits, I can work till I break
But I love the bones of you that I will never escape

And it's you and it's me
And we're sleeping through the day
And I'm five years ago
And three thousand miles away

And I can't move my arm
For the fear that you will wake
And I'm five years ago
And three thousand miles away

And I'm five years ago
And three thousand miles away
And I'm five years ago
And three thousand miles away

Colouring & Mandalas

2009-04-03T00:44:00.003+11:00

A book Id love to buy!

I love colouring! I could honestly say that its a form of meditation for me, it keeps me in the here and now and lets me feel like a child again (which is always nice!) Mandalas are wonderful to colour! You can give the same mandala to dozens of people and the different ways in which people go about colouring them is fascinating!
There are tons of great mandalas to print online and some good books to buy too...yay for adult colouring!!
My 40 yr old self is off to gather my pencils and paper...hurrah!

There are some nice pages to colour at the Printable coloring pages blog!

and you can watch someone else colour one at the cool 5min art site

Will it be a new me!

2009-04-01T13:27:00.003+11:00

What a strange feeling...I feel alarmed, amazed and also a little excited about being the big 40! What will it mean? Will it be the magical entrance to a whole new world of self discovery! Please please let it be!!
I think I'll wear this badge with pride! :)

40

2009-04-01T13:25:00.001+11:00

A toilet stop and a bit of Melbourne History

2009-03-23T21:36:00.005+11:00

I have to admit to being a bit dismissive when it comes to our Australian heritage. After visiting the UK I was blown away at the history greeting you around every corner! Wherever you went there were castles, churches, abbeys...hundreds and hundreds of years old, Saxon, Celt, Roman, it was just everywhere!
When we returned to Melbourne I remember grumbling about how new everything was, nothing very interesting! Well yesterday when I least expected it I saw a glimpse of something that intrigued me. On the way back from a weekend in the beautiful and historic (I am now much more appreciative) Ballarat we had to stop along Hoddle st in inner Melbourne because Mr 4 yr old, Cam, had to go to the toilet right NOW!! We pulled into a little street to find a tree or a vacant block, anything...we ended up parking next to an old factory with a big clump of bushes nearby and Dad took Mr 4 to do his business. While that was all going on I happened to notice a funny little house on the other side of the street! It was made of very rough looking timber, unpainted and raw, the windows were covered by old wooden shutters and the roof looked to be made of iron with little flourishes of Asian inspired decoration around the gables. I turned the car around when the boys got back in and noticed a blue heritage sign on the gate reading "Singapore Cottage"
When I got home I decided to look up the great Internet and found that this little house would have been brought out here to Melbourne in pieces around 1855. It has markings on every plank and board so someone would know which bit went where and often these were in Chinese! The demand for housing was so strong after the gold rush that the government imported these houses from Singapore due to the lack of skilled builders and building materials available at the time.
This house is made from exotic Asian timber apparently. There are not many left now, but this one in Collingwood has been saved and heritage listed! I'm going to keep an eye out on any open days! Id love to look inside..something about people making these tiny places their home fascinates me! We are such a land of bigger is better when it comes to housing! as viewed by the miles of soulless Mc Mansions around...I find this little house warm and comforting (very impractical, I'm sure!) but lovely all the same!

Cosy = My Dad

2009-03-19T21:23:00.006+11:00

When I think of the word cosy my Dad immediately springs to mind. Its not as if he was particularly cuddly or warm, he was 6ft and rather skinny most of his life. Its more the safe "cosy" I felt whenever we were together. Dad worked in an office and for as long as I can remember he carried musk lifesavers around in his suit jacket pocket. That lovely musk smell would greet me every time I hugged him around the waist, and so forever more that smell will make me smile, make me feel loved, happy and cosy. His lap was cosy too, his laugh big and expansive..I would sit and watch old British comedies tucked up on Dad's lap or scrunched in next to him as close as I could be! When I hug my boys now I just hope they feel that same amazing feeling of belonging that my Dad gave to me. When they curl up on a couch with their children I hope they'll remember the cosiness they felt as a child just as I do. Now that Dad's no longer alive, I really miss him but I hope wherever he is now he knows what a lovely legacy he left me! Hope he's cosy too :)

Read more Cosy stories here! Words and Pictures

argh! I want all of these

2009-03-19T01:37:00.006+11:00

At Bride & Wolfe they have the most beautiful timber silhouettes! I just couldnt convince the lovely husband to part with that much money for something to hang on a wall! maybe one day, because I really am in love ;) There are such creative people out there!!

no comment :)

2009-03-16T22:19:00.001+11:00

Just testing! are comments showing at the end of this post? Ok I can see they are but something happened with the comments to my previous two posts! Oh well, it must have been the code I used. Carry on.... :)

fun with colour at Polyvore

2009-03-16T16:31:00.004+11:00

I spent a lovely day chatting with my bird catching cousin discombobula and the lovely Jane! It was fun to watch them try and sort a set of derwent pencils in colour order, while marvelling at the full spectrum of blues and greens and reds.....
If you love colour, collage and just creating stuff you'll love this site....here's a set I made earlier :)

trees of green - by Cloudbusting on Polyvore.com

mushroom retro - by Cloudbusting on Polyvore.com

Nesty bed

2009-03-16T16:27:00.000+11:00

How I would love this bed!

Hurrah! for dead fish sandwiches

2009-03-11T14:30:00.006+11:00

There are many things in this world that I'm unsure of but one thing I can say without any doubt whatsoever is my sons would rather clean their rooms than eat sardines! But I remember a time back in 1978 when sardine and onion sandwiches featured heavily on my school lunchtime menu! How did my Mum ever get me to try this sandwich filler? I wish Id asked her when I had the chance, but anyway, next to curried egg and lemon butter, sardine and onion were my favourites! Of course along with their tastiness came the big problem of their rather strong odour! My poor classmates would howl in protest as I opened up my lunchbox "Mrs Marinoff, Andrea's eating dead fish sandwiches again!!" and my poor teacher used to smile apologetically at me as she made me sit at the back of the room while the other kids sat out front on the mat.
The funny thing is, I secretly liked freaking the other children out with my disgusting sandwiches! Always being one to enjoy the limelight I grinned broadly as the others screwed up their faces and moved away!
I look back now and think about how I must have had much more courage and confidence than I do now. The thought of people having that reaction to something I do now doesn't appeal to me, but at 9 I quite enjoyed it! Wish I could channel that 9 yr old Andrea some days, a bit of her sardine eating courage would really do me well!

This story was inspirded by words and pictures
read some of the wonderful school lunch stories!

What makes me happy

2009-03-08T05:53:00.005+11:00

Have been enjoying reading the blog The Happiness Project

and in an article about enjoying childrens lit the blogger quotes C.S.Lewis

Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

This made me smile, (as so much of what this great man said often does)

I have been reading a few childrens novels lately, one with my son and one because I enjoy being immersed in something I know will make me feel good!

Alex and I have been reading Jackie French's Fair Dinkum History books. The current one "Crims and Convicts" is proving to be really interesting but terribly sad as well! It is written in a humourous way, the illustrations are full of vomit, farts and poo (10 yr old heaven) but even Alex was shocked at hearing about the conditions the poor prisoners had to tolerate! This is also tying in nicely with his school work which is Australian history, each child in Alex's class has been given a new identity as a convict. Alex is a blacksmith who stole something...which he cant remember! ;)
Anyway a good book and next in the series is Squatters and Rotters

Im also revisiting a book I picked up for a dollar at the local second hand shop years ago, "The Children of The New Forest" by Captain Marryat. Its set in the 1600s during the English civil war and is basically about 4 children who are left homeless and parentless but learn to fend for themselves thanks to a nice woodsman.. so many of the good childrens books are sans parents who either die or desert them ;) Probably why I loves the Famous Five too..

I also get caught up in the beautiful descriptions of the countryside in and around the New Forest and with the four children.

What childrens books do you like to revisit?

Wordie love!

2009-03-05T20:38:00.002+11:00

I love this! enter your blog address, play with colours and fonts and make a little wordie pic!

Knitting Nancy I miss you!

2009-01-24T02:36:00.006+11:00

I wonder why I have a sudden yearning to knit something. I haven't knitted anything since I was a teenager, and then I got so frustrated I never finished it!
We have two second hand shops (op shops) at my local shopping square, one is cheap and junky and one is dearer and has much more order and shop dressing. I like both for different reasons, but the second one has a gorgeous old cabinet full of haberdashery. On Tuesday I rummaged around through the stack of old Paton's pattern books, a few I remembered from childhood as my Mum was a big knitter. The problem is I need a beginners pattern book, Ive forgotten everything except maybe casting on and knitting pearl and plain! and I was never that good at those anyway..Mum was always rescuing my lost stitches! Now Mums not here what will I do now? I have told a very knit savvy friend to expect me on her doorstep at anytime...she said " of course" but I could tell she really isn't expecting me to get past buying the wool and then leaving it in the cupboard for years. Ha!
We shall see, but I would like to give it a go again. Anyone have any beginners books or patterns they can recommend?
If my husband is really lucky I may even knit him one of these beauties!

ahh if all else fails I'll just have to bring out the treasured Knitting Nancy and knit a few rows on her.

Blondie and Twinings

2009-01-15T01:25:00.008+11:00

When I was 17 I wanted to be Blondie, well Deborah Harry actually, not the other guys in the band Blondie...that's just weird! ;) Ive always been a huge fan of their music, At 17, I just KNEW that life would be so much better to be someone else, someone gorgeous, talented and sort after by every teenage boy in every bedroom in the world!

Thinking about that today on what was a rather hot Melbourne day I decided to listen to some Blondie while enjoying some English Breakfast tea and browsing through Country Living magazine with all it's beautiful interiors and grade II listed country houses and wishing I lived in the colder parts of the world (namely England)

Why do I always want to be someone else or live somewhere else, as if that will guarantee 100% happiness!

I feel as I if I spend quite a lot of my time feeling frustrated about ageing and at the same time wanting to finally grow up and deal with life! Listening to Blondie and delving into the world of country interiors is quite representative of my life at the moment! One foot in adolescence and the other in adulthood. While I don't want to lose the adolescent part of me completely I do need to only let it surface in a positive way, not in unrealistic fantasies of life as someone else. I do like being me, but if I could encase me in someone fitter, prettier and more dazzling, wouldn't life be better? ;)

2009 must be my year of letting go of the past and embracing the here and now! There is so much that is still wonderful to do and be....I want to be the person who doesn't wish they really did look like someone else or want somebody else's life or house or hair....etc etc...or want to be somewhere else as I so often do! I do feel I can do it, I do feel it's withing reach (even if it sometimes hides behind the curtains)

Let's raise our cup of Twinings to the present and our unique selves!

Our lovely spider friend...

2008-12-20T02:44:00.003+11:00

Alexander, my 10 yr old, was given a book on spiders at cubs recently, and both of us have found it quite interesting. It was comforting to know that most spiders around the place are not too nasty and at the most may give you a nasty painful bite or a bit of nausea.

Two days ago I noticed a really lovely looking spider stretched out among the roses on my front fence. I called to Alex who came to have a look and after close inspection announced the spider was a St Andrew's cross spider...never hearing of one of those I was a bit sceptical until he ran and got the spider book and sure enough there it was!

So we've discovered our new spider pal is a female and makes a gorgeous St Andrew's cross in her web. I have decided to name her after me haha...as Andrea is the feminine (unless you're in Italy) of Andrew.

This morning, after a huge downpour, I was a bit worried that Andrea may have been washed away but my 4 yr old ran to the fence shouting "Andwea is not gone!"

Hooray for Andrea!

here's a photo (sorry to all you arachnophobes!)

letting go

2008-12-20T02:27:00.003+11:00

I had a strange dream this afternoon...I had nodded off on the couch while the kids were outside with their Dad and before I knew it lack of sleep had taken me off to dreamland..
One minute I was fine, happy, drifting off and the next I woke up suddenly and started to cry....It was one of those dreams thats almost as real and clear as if it was happening to you in waking hours. I was a child and my Dad had dropped me off at a friends house to play..no idea whose house it was, I didnt recognise it when I thought back over the dream..anyway! In my haste to run off and play I hadnt realised Dad had said goodbye at the door and left to go home, at this point in the dream I could see my Dad's face smiling as he quietly closed the front screen door of this friends house and got in the car to go home.
Next thing he was back at the door to collect me and I was running to him, crying and leaping into his arms, hugging him with all my might...I said "Dad, Im so sorry I didnt say goodbye to you"
Then I woke up.
It wasnt until I went over the dream a couple of times that I realised what the significance of the last line was. I didnt get to say goodbye to him when he died and now 12 years later it can still cause a physical pain in my heart as losing him did 12 years ago.
My shrink ( yes I have one) thinks I have a disjointed feeling at times because I didnt get to grow into being a full adult with my parents still around, he thinks it explains why now at 39 I still get stuck in my own little world of childhood and adolescence...especially when the real world feels too hard to cope with.
Anyway, Ive cried quite a lot today and Ive also laughed with my children...the past and the here and now. Ive really got to try and live more in the latter.

Confessions of a Christmas tragic

2008-11-19T04:52:00.006+11:00

I love Christmas! I love the songs, the decorations, the kitschness, the fake snow everywhere when outside it's 40 degrees...I cant stop buying Christmas cd's! Every year I buy a few more and they all end up in my car, so at the moment there is a constant stream of Christmas songs coming from the Cd player!

I love the memories it brings...I love driving my children all over Melbourne in the balmy Summer nights, trying to find houses with more and more lights! tacky yes, fun, yes! last year my kids spent most of their time at a house with a Winter Wonderland theme and every minute or so a big blower thingy would blow fake snow all around them! They loved it!

I love talking to the neighbours as we all wander up and down the street looking at each others lights, and the children run from house to house!

Its funny how I feel almost guilty for enjoying this time of year, should I be more grown up, cynical, Im well aware of all the downsides to being a Christmas tragic, Im a dream to merchandisers, Im willing to part with money for something cute and sparkly! puh...I dont care! It makes me happy, it makes me feel like a kid.......:) Hooray for Christmas!

2008-11-14T01:52:00.004+11:00

Today would have been my dear Dad's 76th birthday! Its such an emotional day for me, and it seems to get a bit harder the longer he's been gone. He was my best friend in the world for many years! I remember my Mum telling me that the nurses commented when I was born that they'd never seen such a proud Father when meeting his daughter for the first time. I remember waiting every day by the window counting the minutes till he came home. He had a booming laugh that made me feel good, he smelt of musk lifesavers that he kept in his work jacket pocket, he had big soft hands and beautifully shaped nails, but terribly flat feet and a big nose :) all of it I loved!

I used to worry that something would happen to him from very early on...the thought that Id have to be in this world without him one day would make me cry at night in bed. I loved him more than anything, I still do. But Im still here, even though he has gone, and Ive somehow still wanted to live, even though I'll forver have a Dad shaped hole in my heart.

I miss you Dad, I thankyou for everything and every moment and all your love! Happy Birthday wherever you may be

xxx

Sleep then my princess

2008-11-02T04:23:00.004+11:00

I had a memory come to me recently, one I hadnt thought about for many years. I was singing to my 3 year old and suddenly rememberd a song my Mum used to sing to me when I couldnt sleep. She would stroke my forehead and sing these words

Sleep then, my Princess, oh, sleep!

Slowly the gray shadows creep;

Forest and meadow are still;

Peace falls on valley and hill;

Luna appears in the sky,

Holding her lantern on high;

Stars now their night watches keep,

Sleep then, my Princess, oh sleep!

Goodnight!____Goodnight!

Sleep then, my Princess, oh, sleep!

Calm flow the waters so deep;

Soon shall thy weary lids close;

Sink to a gentle repose;

Mother shall leave her Princess;

Heaven thy slumber shall bless;

Angels their watch o'er thee keep,

Sleep then, my Princess, oh sleep!

Goodnight!____Goodnight!

Now I couldnt remember every word at the time, but the trusty internet soon found them courtesy of my search of "sleep now my princess" I then discovered it was a well known Mozart piece called The cradle song or Wiegenlied.
I love the words above, and they used to conjure up magical visions in my head as I tried to sleep.
So I went looking for the song and was really happy to find a gorgeous version by Hayley Westernra, who in my opinion, has the most pure beautiful voice! She does a brilliant version of "Wuthering Heights" the number 1 song in my Top 100 list of best ever songs :)
ahhh Mum, thanks for giving me a lovely memory!

Did your Mother sing to you at bedtime? or any other time?

Did I really make these creatures?

2008-10-22T01:19:00.006+11:00

My boys, my darling hearts, my chatting lots when Mum needs peace, angels, My "lets tell Mum at the last minute that I needed a cowboy hat/library book/picture of an occupation for school" babies.

What would I do without your chattering, laughing, screaming, singing selves. I cant imagine what my life would be without you both.

My 10 yr old teetering between childhood and teens, wanting to be cool and accepted but still wanting to watch "Matilda" at any time of the day. My boy with legs that are growing longer and longer by the day, with shoelaces untied and breakfast on your face, you leave me every morning with part of my heart, wishing you happiness and experience and mindfulness of this time of your life.

My 3 yr old, my baby, my sunny boy with the temper of a devil! My kooky one who has spontaneous outbursts of laughter at the strangest of times, my cuddly boy, a little voice calling to me during the day "hug and kiss, Mum?" Yes, of course, anytime, anyplace! hugs and kisses are what I crave, little arms around my neck.

I love you, love you, love you!

Slowing down to Nature

2008-10-16T01:03:00.006+11:00

After reading my dear cousin's blog "Discombobula" I decided to do what she suggested and go outside. Ive been trying to make myself leave the house everyday, even when I dont want to or feel like crappola. Just concentrating on a flower or a tree, as simple as that sounds, has been really beneficial for me lately.

First I decided I needed a new non fiction book, so off I went to a nearby op shop, bought a book, and went to the local park with my lunch and said book. Im really liking the idea of going straight to the charity shop when I need new books. Ive seen so many almost new, best selling books on offer, and old well loved treasures that Id probably pay a fortune for at retail book shop. After reading so many blogs lately, many on being thrifty, I really want to try and recycle and reuse! I cant believe some of the amazing things people find, Im becoming addicted to thrift shop blogs! (as you'll see my blog roll is increasing rapidly!)

I try to limit myself to one or two new books, otherwise Im going to end up losing my husband and children behind teetering piles of ex op-shop stock.

Anyway I opened the $1 book, it sounded interesting, "Slow Up, 199 to calm your mind, body, and inspire your spirit" and was pretty much struck by one of the first quotes given in the book. It was by Anne Frank, who is an inspiration anyway. Because of her circumstances I find this quote even more amazing.

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be quiet, alone, with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes people happy, amidst the simple beauty of Nature.

I'm going to go out again today, I think I'll take my little boy to a new park, somewhere with a pond or lake, I feel like watching water...

Cam, Lizzie and me

2008-10-10T01:51:00.009+11:00

It was a beautiful day today, one of those days that make you feel content and happy, even if you havent done all the housework you wanted to, or your hair is having a bad day. (both apply by the way)

Cam and I took some books and a drink each and sat on the back decking. I felt like my body needed to soak in the sun, get a fix of vitamin D (it is D isnt it? )

I had been to a couple of op shops and had some books to read, and Cam had his big army jeep, and was chasing Lizzie. Lizzie looked resplendent in the midday sun, her chocolate brown fur catching every beam of light, she looked like she was wearing a very rich velvet coat.

I ended up buying 4 books and a pink spotty bag today...these were all cheap at my local second hand shop. I love spots! so I just had to have this bag. I think it's a nice bag to celebrate Spring. One of the books I bought was an old "BBC Children's Hour Annual" I love the illustrations and stories, all very British, which I also love.

I also added to my Wind in the Willows collection, I now have the grand sum of 4 different editions and 10 in my Wuthering Heights collction. It makes me smile to think of how much I used to roll my eyes at my parents, who collected many things between them, and now Im doing the same thing, cluttering up the house with books and old bits of whatever. Ahh well, its good for the soul.

Lizzie quite liked sniffing all the old smells on the books too, I wonder what she makes of it all.

King Grisly Beard

2008-10-04T03:49:00.004+10:00

Today I took the three kids, AB & C to look around some old junk shops and a nearby second hand book shop. This particular book shop has so many books stacked to the celing, you take your life in your hands just walking in the door!

Still, the kids eyes widened as they scooted down a very narrow aisle heading for the children's books! I told them that they could each pick one book under $10, and so they spent the next 20 mins deciding on and then discarding many many books before I told them "pick one now or you dont get any!"

I found a gorgeous vintage children's book called "King Grisly Beard" published by Renwick of Otley. It has no date but Im guessing it's from the 1940/50s. It includes gorgeous pictures by Arthur Mansbridge and another story called The Fairy Horseshoes. I must scan some of the pics and put them on here. I am obsessed with vintage children's books and toys at the moment!

Alex ended up with a 2000 Guiness Book of Records to add to his collection, and Belinda picked a Mr Men activity book full of puzzles. Cam chose a Madeleine book, it's lovely!

After we got home it started to rain which was perfect reading weather so Cam and I curled up on the back couch and read about Madeleine and the dog Genevieve who rescued her from the waters of the Seine. Cam was quite taken with the 12 girls Madeleine lives with.

We then read old King Grisly beard and looked at the pictures of another story in the book called Country life.

I really feel sorry for people who dont enjoy books!

Domestic Harmony

2008-10-04T03:41:00.002+10:00

I feel very content with things at the moment, very content with my family, my house, being home. Sometimes these very things make me feel restless. But lately I find a deep rooted peace, a sense of being a boat anchored to something solid even though things in my life and my head sometimes push and pull me about, like the boat above the water.

"I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.... I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby." ~Nancie J. Carmody

Goodness - To Sue

2008-09-14T04:39:00.001+10:00

This quote made me think of you dear cuz.

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends, and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind. Think big anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed over night. Build your dreams anyway. People really need help but may attack if you help them. Help anyway. Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you got anyway.
-Bishop Abel Muzorewa, Zimbabwe Prime Minister (1925)

Ordinary World Duran Duran

2008-09-06T03:05:00.004+10:00

This song has been going around and around in my head, it makes me sad, but also hopeful.

Ordinary World

Came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue

thought I heard you talking softly

I turned on the lights the TV and the radio but still

I can't escape the ghostof you

What is happening to me crazy some would say

Where is the life that I recognize, gone away

And I won't cry for yesterday

there's an ordinary world somehow I have to find

And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world

I will learn to survive

Passion or coincidence once prompted you to say

pride will tear us both apart

Well now pride's gone out the window cross the rooftops runaway

Left me in the vaccuum of my heart

What is happening to me crazy some will say

where is my friend when I need you most gone away

But I won't cry for yesterday

there's an ordinary world somehow I have to find

And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world

I will learn to survive

Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and grief

Fear today forgot tomorrow beside the news of holy war and holy need

Our's is just a little sorrowed talk, just blown away

And I won't cry for yesterday

there's an ordinary world somehow I have to find

And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world

I will learn to survive

Every world is my world (I will learn to survive)

Any world is my world (I will learn to survive)

Any world is my world, every world is our world, every world

Moments of Pleasure

2008-08-31T06:31:00.003+10:00

Its been one of those days when I keep thinking of Mum and Dad, especially Dad....and I still miss him as much as if he left yesterday. Where are you? I love you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5P0v0kGauc

My boy

2008-08-29T22:03:00.002+10:00

2008-07-30T00:01:00.002+10:00

“When I drink tea it’s very pleasant to be aware I am drinking cloud.” Thich Nhat Hanh

Adrian says it again

2008-07-28T09:08:00.003+10:00

Im in a strange place betwixt Jesus and Buddha. Spending a whole day with the beautiful Geshe Doga yesterday was a blessing, but I also found myself thinking of Jesus at different times. I actually felt he would be agreeing with many many things the Buddha taught, love, compassion, patience with each other instead of anger.
There was also fun in the Gompa...Geshe Doga has a gorgeous sense of humour, It remninded me of why Christians and Church frustrate me sometimes...humour seems to be somehow disprespectful.
Reminded me of this post by someone else who makes me laugh Adrian Plass.

OmmmmmAaaaaaaaaamen

When I say I'm a writer people look fairly interested. Then they say, "Oh, what sort of thing do you write?" And I miserably mutter, "Well, it's sort of religious humour," and their eyes glaze and they say, "Oh, how interesting." But like the girls I talked to in kitchens at parties when I was seventeen and a half, they just want to escape. I don't blame them. Some Christians seem to specialise in presenting God as humourless and out of touch with reality.
Even among those few dear souls who do actually part with money in exchange for my wretched outpourings there are sundry brethren who find humour inappropriate. They accuse me of flippancy, would you believe? That's why it was lovely to get a letter from a lady called Margaret telling the following story.

Margaret's husband David, who has M.S., got very edgy and bad-tempered during a course of steroids. One despairing Sunday Margaret had a good weep in the garden shed, then wondered back into the house and happened to pick up a copy of New Daylight, a daily bible-note periodical I write bits for. In this edition I'd bemoaned Jesus' strange oversight in omitting "Blessed are the irritable for they shall be given claret" from the beatitudes. Remembering that claret is her husband's favouite tipple (hallelujah - we are one with you, brother David) Margaret hurried to the mini-supermarket and queued for the only remaining bottle of claret on the shelf. When she gave it to David and explained why she'd bought it they had a good laugh together, and, as Margaret herself put it, "All the tension was released" And that was before they drank the claret. Wonderful!

Don't kid yourself. The Jesus who made his comeback by cooking breakfast for his friends instead of organizing a sky-filling Spielburg spectacular is still in touch with the real world
Adrian Plass

Meditation

2008-07-14T23:06:00.001+10:00

Meditation is bringing the mind back home, and this is first achieved through the practice of mindfulness.

Once an old woman came to Buddha and asked him how to meditate. He told her to remain aware of every movement of her hands as she drew water from the well, knowing that if she did, she would soon find herself in that state of alert and spacious calm that is meditation.

Sogyal Rinpoche

Falling Awake

2008-06-29T14:07:00.003+10:00

Do not pursue the past.
Do not lose yourself in the future.
The past no longer is.
The future has not yet come.
Looking deeply at life as it is.
In the very here and now, the practitioner dwells in stability and freedom.
We must be diligent today.
To wait until tomorrow is too late.
Death comes unexpectedly.
How can we bargain with it?
The sage calls a person who knows how to dwell in mindfulness night and day,
'one who knows the better way to live alone.'
Bhaddekaratta Sutta

Mountain and Me

2008-06-17T01:12:00.003+10:00

Adrian Plass

2008-05-24T08:32:00.002+10:00

I love Adrian Plass. I love his humour, and I love how he sees God.
I hear he's coming out to Australia at the end of the year!

Off The Boil

By Adrian Plass

I've been reading the book of Job lately. Poor old Job. There were only really three phases in Job's life. Pre-boil, boil and post-boil. At one point he looks back nostalgically to the good old pre-boil days, and remembers addressing the people. He says, "When I smiled at them they could scarcely believe it." One of the things that struck me as I talked to people after a series of meetings one weekend was that lots of them seemed to think that - far from smiling at them - God is somehow out to get them.
We used to know a lad whose mum was ferociously house-proud. She made the family get deckchairs out and sit on them in the living-room so they wouldn't crease the three piece suite. The sort of person who runs around the garden in the autumn trying to catch the leaves before they mess the lawn up. She was a fanatic. Steve liked our house - probably because we - well - tended towards the other end of the spectrum.

One day we bought four very old chairs - all our stuff was third or fourth hand in those days. Local people used to come in and say, "Oh, there's my wardrobe!" or “You’ve got my table!”

Anyway, these four chairs were only about five pence each, and old Steve sat on one. It collapsed beyond repair, and I can still see that lad lying among the wreckage, waiting for Armageddon. In his house you got half-killed for sitting on a chair. He'd destroyed one. We watched his face move from pallid terror through amazement as he realised that we were falling about laughing, to profound relief. He could scarcely believe we were smiling at him. Please - if you're lying amid the wreckage of your life (note the smooth transition to a serious point) sorry to mess about - it is a serious point - don't assume that God's going to put the boot in. You may be amazed to discover that he's smiling at you.

Gimme Shelter

2008-05-13T02:44:00.005+10:00

This song seems so appropriate at the moment, earthquakes, cyclones, ongoing wars around the world, desperation..and its all only a moment away at anytime. Lord, Gimme Shelter!

GIMME SHELTER - ROLLING STONES

Oh, a storm is threatning
My very life today
If I dont get some shelter
Oh yeah, Im gonna fade away

War, children, its just a shot away
Its just a shot away
War, children, its just a shot away
Its just a shot away

Ooh, see the fire is sweepin
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost its way

War, children, its just a shot away
Its just a shot away
War, children, its just a shot away
Its just a shot away

Rape, murder!
Its just a shot away
Its just a shot away

Rape, murder!
Its just a shot away
Its just a shot away

Rape, murder!
Its just a shot away
Its just a shot away

The floods is threatning
My very life today
Gimme, gimme shelter
Or Im gonna fade away

War, children, its just a shot away
Its just a shot away
Its just a shot away
Its just a shot away
Its just a shot away
I tell you love, sister, its just a kiss away
Its just a kiss away
Its just a kiss away
Its just a kiss away
Its just a kiss away
Kiss away, kiss away

Trees

2008-05-06T14:38:00.002+10:00

I took my three children (well one is not technically my child, but she could almost be!) for a drive to the Dandenongs on Sunday, and it was glorious. We drove down dirt roads and country lanes and the kids were really excited about the beautiful bright reds and yellows of the Autumn trees. We even stopped at the side of the road to look closely at a Japanese Maple that was a beautiful scorching red! One of the kids said "I just want to get out of the car and run free" and I felt the same...it was one of those spur of the moment days that just feel so right! We mooed at cows while running along slippery planks of wood that covered a little stream. We said "soooo cool" at the house made out of two trams stuck together, and marvelled at the huge tudor style mansion near Sassafras.
We ended the day by having a twlight play in the Emerald train park before snacking on a yummy roast potato with all the trimmings at a nearby cafe.
As I used to write in my diary when I was 12, I give today an A+!

The Refiner of Silver

2008-04-27T23:20:00.003+10:00

I was talking to a friend about my crisis of faith at the moment. Mentioning the problems I have with God letting us suffer and wanting us to come to him, meanwhile being able to stop the pain, but not doing so.
She mentioned this story and it really helped me to see things differently. I like to think of myself as silver being refined, and that one day God will see his reflection in me.

Malachi 3:3 says:
"He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says:
"He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered,

"Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

The temple of Dave

2008-04-27T23:12:00.002+10:00

Saturday night I went to worship the coolest dude in rock! Dave Grohl. He and the other Foo Fighters put on a brilliant show, lots of grinding, crunching guitars, loud drums, Dave's screams and pounding choruses!
Rock on Dave! I'd have your babies :)

of Dragons

2008-04-26T15:01:00.003+10:00

I dont know what's going on in the subconsious of mine, but it's really screwed up judging by my dreams :)
Last night I dreamt that I worked in a caryard/garden centre and had noticed a guy drive up in a sandman panelvan, he was quite cute so I sprinted out of the door of the glass fronted office building to serve him. Seems he was after a new pet, one that ate meat. So I, in my infinite wisdom, recommended a Komodo Dragon! Just as soon as I mentioned it, it appeared! scrambling along grey concrete stones looking fierce.
hmmmmmm

The Futureheads

2008-04-13T17:44:00.002+10:00

Id heard a song from The Futureheads a little while ago and really loved it..then upon further investigation realised that they cite new wave postpunk bands and Kate Bush as one of their influences! They have a new cd out soon and I may just buy me a copy! They definitely have an 80's feel about them, I can hear and XTCish/The Jam sound too

I'm pretty fussy about Kate Bush covers, but I love this one!!!! probably as much as Kate's original version.

apparently it's become a bit of a cult favourite at music fesitvals! I can imagine everyone shouting oh oh oh!

Lyric of the Week

2008-04-05T02:10:00.006+11:00

gorgeous song, written by Mikc d'Abo who was the frontman with Manfred Mann. My Favourite versions are Rod Stewart and Stereophonics. They both have that raspy character to their voices and it adds to the song.
I think it also got noticed when they used it in the credits for "The Office" (the original British one, not the crap US one)

mmmm Kelly

Handbags and Gladrags

Ever seen a blind man cross the road?
trying to make the other side
Ever seen a young girl growing old?
trying to make herself a bride

So what becomes of you my love
When they have finally stripped you off
The handbags and the gladrags
That your poor old Grandad had to sweat to buy you

Once I was a young man
And all I thought I had to do was smile
well You are still a young girl
And you've bourne everything in style

So once you think you're in you're out
'Cause you don't mean a single thing without
The handbags and the gladrags
That your poor old Grandad had to sweat to buy you

Sing a song of six-pence for your sake
And drink a bottle full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds in a cake
And bake 'em all in a pie

They told me you missed school today
So what I suggest you just throw them all away
The handbags and the gladrags
That your poor old Grandad had to sweat to buy

so you missed school today
So what I suggest you just throw them all away
The handbags and the gladrags
That your poor old Grandad had to sweat to buy you

Joshua

2008-03-25T01:52:00.002+11:00

There is a little house near me with a sign outside saying "House of Books". Ive driven past many times and until now have never stopped to investigate further. I dont know why not, sheesh! a house full of books is more or less heaven on earth!
Well last week I took myself off for a child free date at the bookshop, and it was bliss! I met a sweet man sitting at a table in what would have been a front loungeroom when the house was sans books. He had a lovely smile that reminded me of my Dad, so I immediately felt fond of him! He was sitting next to a stack of books on theology and Catholic saints. He explained that the shop was run by the nearby Catholic diocese and most books were around $1 to $2 dollars! Bliss again! I ended up sitting in the religious section for an hour just thumbing through books on every type of religious dogma you could imagine. I ended up coming away with 4 books for me and 10 for my children ;) I just couldnt help myself!
One of the books I am now reading is a book called "Joshua, A parable for today" by Jospeh Girzone. Now I have to say when I began to read this book I almost put it back down again, the first few pages are really quite awkward and I winced at some of the dialogue, but I continued on. He is not the best writer I have ever come across, but I decided to keep going, after all, this is a classic book written in 1983 and still popular! There must be something in it?!
Well Im now three quarters of the way through the book and I will probably take myself back off to the "House of Books" first thing tomorrow to get the second in the "Joshua" series. There is something so simple and yet remarkable about this book..it's basically a book about a man called Joshua (Jesus) coming to live in a small American town and changing everyone around him. There are, as with any book claiming to represent what Christ would think or do, some things I may or may not agree with, but on the whole it's an insightful look at how man has got it wrong! Jesus is love and freedom, and Joshua has that in spades! I cant put it down now!

Dogsitting

2008-03-24T01:55:00.005+11:00

I love this blog: ;)

http://www.headrambles.com/2008/03/23/dogsitting/

Lyric of the week

2008-03-24T00:49:00.005+11:00

Hounds Of Winter - Sting

Mercury falling
I rise from my bed
Collect my thoughts together
I have to hold my head
It seems that shes gone
And somehow I am pinned by
The hounds of winter
Howling in the wind

I walk through the day
My coat around my ears
I look for my companion
I have to dry my tears
It seems that shes gone
Leaving me too soon
Im as dark as december
Im as cold as the man in the moon

I still see her face
As beautiful as day
Its easy to remember
Remember my love that way
All I hear is that lonesome sound
The hounds of winter
They follow me down

I cant make up the fire
The way that she could
I spend all my days
In the search for dry wood
Board all the windows and close the front door
I cant believe she wont be here anymore

I still see her face
As beautiful as day
Its easy to remember
Remember my love that way
All I hear is that lonesome sound
The hounds of winter
They follow me down

A season for joy
A season for sorrow
Where shes gone
I will surely, surely follow
She brightened my day
She warmed the coldest night
The hounds of winter
They got me in their sights

I still see her face
As beautiful as day
Its easy to remember
Remember my love that way
All I hear is that lonesome, lonesome sound
The hounds of winter
They harry me down

Schools out for Easter

2008-03-24T00:21:00.002+11:00

Well it's the end of the first term of school for 2008, and Alex has finished his roughest school term yet! Have I done the right thing? Have I chosen a path for him that will mess up his entire future?
In the four years he was at a private Christian school he was sent to the sickbay once or twice, once was a wasp sting and a couple of other times were playground related. In the first term of a public state school he has been sent to the sickbay 5 times, all related to playground incidents, only one of which was his own fault. He now has a broken finger as a result of a football being kicked at him, he also had a lovely red mottled chest for a few days after another boy threw a rock at him.
Am I being too precious with my first born? Does this sort of thing make a man out of a boy? It worries me, it makes me want to whisk him back to his previous "safe" private school.
*sigh* He is also had the worst term academically, but I did expect this to happen with a change of school and all the stress it causes. I guess we shall batten down the hatches and walk into the next school term with a positive attitude (I think!)

I remember this quote and it is so apt
Having a child is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body. - Elizabeth Stone