Finding joy in the everyday

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. (Albert Camus) Tomorrow is the 1st of March - Autumn has arrived. I have even noticed that a few leaves have started to change colour, probably confused with our weird weather at present. I love Autumn, it is my favourite season.  However I think this Autumn will be a continuation of what we have had for the last three months, cool days and lots of rain. A wooded path in Autumn by Hans Anderson Brendekilde Autmn Rain by Alfremov "Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile" William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) Autumn by Paritosh Of course, in the other half of the world, spring is arriving - enjoy. Spring at Crawford Notch Spring Blossom by Anna Razumovskaya Spring blooms anew by June Dudley. You will see more of June's work soon as her paintings are just lovely.

The other day I gave a review on the book “ Kisses for Katie ” and mentioned that it wasn’t a book that had changed my life.  The reason why I made that comment was due to the many comments on Amazon where people had said it was a life changing book and they were raving about it. This got me thinking . . . why does one book affect a person in one way, but not another person.  I found “Kisses for Katie” to be inspirational and interesting but that was all, others found  it “ shock them to the core ”, “ they couldn’t put it down ”, “ the book was beyond amazing ”, “ This was absolutely the best book I have ever read ”. It didn’t have that affect on me at all.  I wondered why. Some books I read stir me emotionally . . . the other book I reviewed “The train in winter”, did just that.  My heart broke for those women in the concentration camp, I struggle to understand their pain and suffering and it brought tears to my eyes. I found it to be a very sad emotion b...

The art of conversation When I was young my mum would embarrass me (not intentionally) by talking to complete strangers.  She could chat to anyone. She just seemed to be a natural whilst I was too shy to even consider doing this. As I get older, I find that I am turning into my mother and talking to complete strangers myself. I was in line the other day at the supermarket and I started up a conversation with the lady in front of me and the one behind. It made the wait far more enjoyable and I walked off with a little bounce in my step. Whilst at the Theatre on Saturday evening (waiting in the "toilet line") I had a lovely conversation with two elderly ladies behind me.  It now seems so natural and normal . . .  that shyness I once had is long gone!! I am a " people person ", I love being around people, I love talking to people (and that is why I love blogging as it involves people). I would hate to be at home where I didn't see people during the day.  I am o...

It appears everything is going up in price, no matter where you look the cost has risen. This is why I was thrilled this afternoon to visit my local shopping centre to find a temporary bookstore (filling in one of the empty shops) selling books for $5 (Aus/USA) each - no book was more expensive. Not that I needed any more books, but how can a booklover (with an addiction) not buy a book when they are so cheap. And a girl really should not miss a bargain . . . as long as she buys something useful and practical!! This is a lovely book full of colour photos and easy to follow recipes - and as it says, contains 500 soup recipes.  And how about this - 11 books in this boxset for $5 - what a HUGE bargain - just check all the different tiles, I'm particularly keen to investigate the one on ice creams and "divine desserts". I might go back and see if I can find any recipes books for my son.  And I had a chuckle the other day when Jeanne from A peaceful day posted this pi...

G is for guilt Mothers feel guilty over almost everything. We start even before the baby is born. Are we eating the right foods, avoiding the wrong foods, getting enough sleep, staying fit enough, avoiding coffee?  I am sure our great-grandmothers a century ago didn't fuss as much as we do today and I doubt they felt the guilt as we do. Part of the guilt is comparing ourselves with others. We see other mothers and if their children are smarter, kinder, better behaved, healthier or go to sleep all night by 8 weeks we assume that we are doing something wrong and the guilt sets in.  But this is rubbish. What we " see " is often not the truth.  It is a bit like blogging. I have never shown you a photo of a burnt roast . . . that doesn't mean I don't burn my roasts, it's just that I am not going to share my failures with you!! Likewise, I am not likely to tell you about the " bad " things my sons have done.  Why . . . because as humans we all like to ...

Clouds Artist: Ruth Sanderson Born 1951 - Massachusetts, USA Children's and young adult illustrator From Ruth's website: " I have always enjoyed a challenge and decided to teach myself oil painting when I was around 13 years old. The first thing I painted was a horse head, shown here on the left. I took art lessons from a woman in town, but she said I had natural talent and she really could not teach me anything more. " " For my Senior Art History project I copied a Manet painting, The Bar at The Folies-Bergeres in its original size- almost five feet wide. I decided I wanted to make a career out of art and after spending a year at a liberal arts college I transferred to an art school so I could take a combination of traditional drawing and painting courses and commercial courses as well. I really wanted to make a living and decided that illustration was the way to go. The fine art scene was also more abstract and did not appeal to me, though I admired older...

Google imagines The occasional thunderstorm is quite enjoyable, every night is just a pain. Summer at my place is meant to be hot and dry.  Summer this year is grey (overcast), cool, slightly humid and wet (it's raining as I write).  I feel like I am living in the tropics!  On Saturday night we had an impressive thunderstorm followed by an even more impressive hailstorm.  My son and I stood on the front porch and watch the amazing show (no photos sadly), at one point it was raining leaves as they were being shredded from the Gum Trees. My poor zucchini and pumpkin plants look worse the wear now and aren't likely to recover. The major problem with thunderstorms is our dog (Gaia). The moment he hears the noise he barks.  He will stand in the pouring rain and bark.  He will run about wagging his tail and bark.  And he will bark non stop until the thunder has past us.We can't quite work out why he barks as he doesn't appear to be scared - we think he i...

My old printer wasn't working and no matter how many times we cleaned it it didn't make any differences. I suppose 6 years is very old for a modern printer . . . it was time to replace it!! So on Saturday we went shopping and bought a brand new Canon printer that does a beautiful job.  Now I can print off my photos and turn them into cards . . . the quality of the print is very good, making them ideal for cards. Here are 2 that I made and over the coming weeks I will make more for birthdays this year. This was a sunset that we had a couple of days ago. It looked like the sky was on fire. A few months ago I bought a butterfly punch (Martha Stewart) and have been having fun making 3D butterflies (each butterfly is 3 layers).  I really like the card, but not so sure about the canvas.  Perhaps because I have painted the canvas black, maybe a different colour would be better.  I painted a small canvas black and made 3D butterflies - each one has 3 layers. Still d...

Google imagines In the centre of the whirlpool, while the waters rush around. There's a space of perfect stillness,  though with turmoil it is bound, All is calm, and all is quiet,  scarcely even a sense of sound. So with us - despite the conflict, when Christ, His peace is found. Author unknown  May you find this place of perfect peace with Christ in the coming week.  Prayers to you all . . . for those looking after loved ones (big or small), going on a journey, returning to work . . . may Christ be with you each and every step.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

Fires in Victoria, 2009 (ABC News) F is for Fire If there was one thing I feared most, it would be fire, bushfire.  I grew up in country South Australia . . . in the Adelaide Hills, a very fire prone area of the state. As a child, every time I heard the fire siren go off I would become frightened. . . I knew the power of fire, I knew what it could do and I was terrified of it.  My dad was part of the volunteer fire brigade and when he hear the siren, off he went and helped out.  But one day, the fire came to him and he was alone.  The fire was so bad, no fire fighting team could come to his aid . . . and as a result my parents fought this fire alone. I cannot imagine what it must have been like.  On the morning of the 16th of February 1983, a series of bush fires started in both Victoria and South Australia.  Within 12 hours, more than 180 fires fanned by winds of up to 110km per hour caused widespread destruction. These were firestorms, no ordinary fi...