Finding joy in the everyday

Would you name your child after a disaster  — personally I wouldn’t.  Several babies were born during Cyclone Yasi and I believe two were not named after the cyclone, however one couple did “ Dakota Yasi ”.  I am not sure if this is a good thing as she will be forever linked to the cyclone and I’m not sure if this is positive.  And knowing how kids get teased at school, I wonder if she will be teased for being named after a cyclone.  Kids can be so cruel. ~oOo~ Did you know you can request a name to be added to the cyclone list of names —would you? I thought about my son’s name which is quite unusual and he would think it was really cool —but according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology it can take up to 50 years before your requested name is allocate to a cyclone — my son would be almost 70 and I would be dead!! This link is quite interesting if you want to know how cyclones are named and selected ( information) . I like to keep everyone informed!! ~...

 How do you clean your house? Do you  do it all in one day or do you allocate (schedule) chores to each day e.g. washing on Monday, ironing on Tuesday etc..  or do you do what I do. I start making the beds and notice some dust, this leads to dusting (bed almost complete), I walk past the bathroom and decide the sink needs a scrub and so on.  In the end everything is done, just not in any order or planning. I don’t think it takes me any longer this way, however it is full of surprises as I am never quite sure what I will do next!!!  There is some cleaning I do daily — vacuuming the living areas of the house (cat hair is bad at the moment), washing dishes (I don’t own a dishwasher) and keeping the kitchen clean and tidy.  However, even daily I will get side-tracked and go from washing dishes to cleaning window seals.   It might surprise you, but I am not fond of schedules, rosters or lists (if you are, here are one that looks quite good - it conta...

Rene Lalique (1860-1945), Glass designer As perfume became popular during the Edwardian times in Europe there was a need to “package” the expensive perfumes in something beautiful and this is where the exquisite glass designs of Rene Lalique came into being.  Lalique was asked by Francois Coty to design bottles for his perfume collection, he created over 250 different perfume bottles for the leading French perfumeries  which are now highly collectable, one empty bottle sold for $216 000! He was not only known for his perfume bottles, but also vases, jewellery, chandeliers and clocks.  In his lifetime he created works that fall into the categories of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. I think this work is stunning, but it isn’t to everyone’s taste.  Below are some examples of his perfume bottles and vases.  Some examples of his jewellery design

From Secure in the Everylasting Arms by Elisabeth Elliot A young mother asked how on earth she is to learn to love the Lord, grow in grace and be truly holy in the midst of general chaos - hard work, very limited means, little chance for fellowship, and her own children disobeying, screaming, and frighting. It is tempting to imagine that, given a different lot in life, circumstances other than those in which we find ourselves, we would make much greater strides in holiness.  The truth is that the place where we are is God's schoolroom, not somewhere else.  Here we may be conformed to the likeness of Christ. It takes adversity of one kind or another.  There is no other way. " For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake " (Philippians 1:29).  This dear woman had not thought of the word "suffering".  To her it was just the awful "dailiness of husband and children, the same dishes and clot...

Redwork embroidery is believed to have originated in Europe in the early 1800’s and traveled to America around 1850 with the availability of color fast red floss. The availability of color fast red thread and inexpensive cotton fabric led to an abundance of interest in this type of embroidery. From the 1860’s through the 1920’s it became popular for young girls to be taught to embroider using red thread floss on cotton squares using simple patterns. These "penny squares"—the simple cotton and floss could be purchased for a penny in dry goods stores across the country—were quickly stitched and often put together block by block into lightweight bed covers. I decided to complete a piece of redwork as part of my gift making this year - and here is my first completed project. It has been placed in a timber frame and some trim added. The little girl to whom will be receiving this has been learning her Proverbs 31 so I thought it would be nice to add the verse " wortheth wil...

I'm waiting for Thee, Lord, Thy beauty to see, Lord, I'm waiting for Thee, for Thy coming again. Thou'rt gone over there, Lord, A place to prepare, Lord, Thy home I shall share at Thy coming again. 'Mid danger and fear, Lord, I'm oft weary here, Lord, The day must be near of Thy coming again. 'Tis all sunshine there, Lord, No sighing nor care, Lord, But glory so fair at Thy coming again. Whilst Thou art away, Lord, I stumble and stray, Lord, Oh! hasten the day of Thy coming again. This is not my rest, Lord, A pilgrim confess'd, Lord, But glory so fair at Thy coming again. E'en now let my ways, Lord, Be bright with Thy praise, Lord, For brief are the days ere Thy coming again. I'm waiting for Thee, Lord, Thy beauty to see, Lord, No triumph for me like Thy coming again.   by Hannah Burlingham, 1842-1901 ~oOo~

South Coast, New South Wales  (we stayed in a cabin looking at this view)   My Family DH has finally recovered from a nasty bout of hay-fever.  I fully recovered from my headache.   The youngest son finally got his 6 foot fish tank, we bought it second-hand and the nice man also delivered it which was wonderful as it is very difficult to transport a 6 foot tank.  Getting it into his bedroom was very tricky as the aquarium has thick glass (10mm)  and doesn't bend around corners!  We also have many baby fish in a smaller aquarium and these are fun to watch grow, which they are doing very quickly. Weather  (source) This week we have had extreme heat followed by high humidity (which is very unusual for us) and thunderstorms with very heavy rain.  The latter part of the week was the result of Cyclone Anthony (the first cyclone to cross the Queensland coast) becoming a rain depression - and heading south east towards us.  The rain has...