Finding joy in the everyday

~ Easter eggs ~ Every Easter my Auntie Helen would give my brothers and I one Easter egg each (and one each for our parents).  Whilst we didn't celebrate Easter, it was her way of making sure we didn't feel left out and looking back it was so very special of her.  I still love Easter Eggs, perhaps because I love chocolate. My son and daughter-in-law came around in mid March with my chocolate, they just couldn't wait to give it to me later!!  Its already been eaten.  Whilst most of us are happy with a simple chocolate egg or bunny, how about a Faberge Egg!! Tsar Alexander III gave his wife Marie an egg in 1885 and this started a tradition followed by his son Tsar Nicolas II who gave his wife an egg each year until 1916. The most expensive egg was 2,460 pounds at the time, which in current terms would be around 1.87 million pounds. Now that is one expensive egg for Easter!! The same egg was sold in 2002 for US$9.6 million. Of the 50 eggs Faberge made for the Imp

Why do I work? The reason why I am going to share this with  you is because some Christian women jump to conclusions about women working and they are generally wrong. Whilst their comments don't generally hurt me, they can be very upsetting (and pressuring) for other women to be called un-Christian because they work.   So why do I go to work every day and my husband stays at home?   It is very simple, to allow my husband to do something he feels very passionate about. I can’t think of a better reason to work and isn’t it my job to help my husband as his helpmate? And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. (Genesis 2:18) It isn’t about me , it is about my husband.  Love . . .  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7) Our home hasn’t fallen apart whilst I have been at work (and nor is it being neglected) and i

Art Friday: Richard Macneil Some brightly coloured paintings to cheer up your day. *****

In the middle of the 1800s, 42% of American women and 25% of British women were in paid employment. By the end of the 19th century, 50% of Dutch women were in the work force. We have an imagine of women in the past at home caring for their families living in a tranquil environment. Life was anything but for the majority of the population, they were working out of necessity, men and women. It was the differences between food on the table and starvation . . . or the Workhouse.  We can thank the myth to the literature of the day and the artists who have painted beautifully dressed women gliding about at home. These of course were the middle to upper class women and even at home, they had maids to do most of the work and nannies to care for the children. Life was leisure, something unknown to 100's of 1,000s of women.  Throughout history women have moved in and out of paid labour, however, I am probably the first generation (Generation X) to make this deci

~ Icecream ~ What is your favourite flavoured ice-cream? I love caramel with chocolate coated almonds with fresh strawberries *****

The Laundry What is your laundry like? Mine is a small, tiny, shoe box size unattractive space that I don't really like but it does it's job and as someone said on my Facebook page " it could be worse " and that is so true.  Even though my laundry has many faults, I have tried to make it look as attractive as possible. The walls are bright yellow (to add cheerfulness) and I have added some art to the walls. On the door leading to the laundry I have added a sign to make it a little more "fun"!! It is a work in progress and with some time and money, it could be improved. My laundry doesn't look like any of the pictures below - these look like fabulous laundries but I am unlikely to ever have one like this. But whilst I will never have one like these, they do contain some very good ideas that I could use for my tiny space.  We all need a place to wash clothes, however not everyone has a laundry. My friend Cathy has her front loading

Artist: Gail Kellett Linocut art Australia artist ******

Room by Room: The pantry Poet Emily Dickinson would write poetry whilst sitting in her pantry. Her cousin Louise Norcorss wrote:   " I know (she) wrote most emphatic things in the pantry, so cool, so quiet, whilst she skimmed the milk " The pantry in my childhood home was big enough for my mother to iron in it! It was the coolest room in the house on a hot summers day. It was also the room that the carcass of the cow would be hung before my dad cut it up for freezing and it was where the milk was separated. Lots of things can happen in pantries! This is a fabulous pantry, I would love one like this!! Its not mine, my pantry is not a room, just a series of cupboard and baskets. We all have different places to store food, some small, some large and some in many different locations.  I don't own a pantry as such, my food is stored in a variety of places. Whilst a pantry or larder would be wonderful to have, my home just doesn't have the room to fi

~ Elephant ~ Did you know that elephants grieve? Elephants grieve when one of their own dies or they visit their ancestors burial sites. This is understandable considering they can survive up to 70 years and live in very tight knit communities. The females of the herd are known to grieve at the death of a baby or still born. So just imagine how these majestic creatures must feel when humans treat them so badly. Whilst we can't understand what goes on inside an elephants mind, it would be arrogant to assume that humans are the only ones with emotions. Just look at a cat with his or her own or a lost dog when finally found. Animals certainly show emotions, perhaps not the same as humans but they do feel something. *****

The internet is a fabulous resource but beware, it is also full of MYTHS and LIES.  There is a myth floating around that I have now read in a number of blogs (spreading the fear) that Muslims in the USA will outnumber Christians by 2050 because they have larger families.  This is created to demonise Muslims and to create fear.  It simply isn't true and when you think about it, it doesn't add up. Don't take these sorts of "facts" at face-value, it doesn't take very much to look at the data and see that it can't be true.  The average family size in the USA (total population) is 2.58. In Australia it is 2.6. The international average size of a Muslim family is 2.9 (in 2010) compared to 4.3 in 1995. The current figure is probably even lower. Muslims living in France and Germany are now having only 2.2 children per family, barely above the national average of those countries. In Turkey the average family size in 2.15 and in Lebanon

Good morning dear friends, Just wanted to share my morning visitors that drifted ever so gracefully across my front driveway. I do hope none of my neighbours saw me in my dressing gown and scruffy hair!! But these were worth jumping out of bed for.  On the down side, these balloons made every dog in the neighbour bark as they heard the sounds of the flames roaring!!  Now that I am out of bed, I will make the most of the day - the weather is perfect, it is sunny and warm - ideal for some sitting outside with a book.  May you all have a wonderful day. ******