Finding joy in the everyday

The East End of London, 1939 ( source ) Too many bloggers bemoan the school system, how bad the government is, how society is slipping into quagmire, the size of the debt and the list goes on.  Some of this is true, but to a non-Christian, it comes across as a lot of unhappiness and complaining.  We need to start looking around for what is good, at people who are doing wonderful things, the kindness, the gentleness, the beauty that can be found. Being positive. Constantly finding fault in society (blaming the government for everything) is not healthy or productive and its depressing. We are told in the bible to " rejoice ", but many a blog I visit is anything but rejoicing.  I have just finished reading " Call the Midwife " by Jennifer Worth.  Some of you may have seen the series on TV (which was excellent), but the book is even better and I would highly recommend it. Jennifer was a midwife in the 1950's working in the East End of London. The East End h

One thing I love about blogland is the ideas you can gather from other ladies. After visiting " The Modest Mum Blog " and reading about a great way to store scarves (the original idea came from Pinterest), I thought I would give it a go as I am tired of my scarves getting creased all the time and not being able to find one quickly.  I already had a portable towel rack (the sort that hangs over a door which I bought from Howard's Storage World) so it was quite easy to do. My rack has three rails, I only used 2. I was surprised at how many scarves I could squeeze on one rail. At the moment it is on my study door and what great colours to look at!! If you don't have a towel rail like this one, you can use a towel rail that you can buy from the hardware store. You can buy the sort that self adhered or screw the rail to the inside of the door.  From now on I won't have any problems finding a scarf and will quickly find what I need in the morning wit

Our Australia Day dinner - healthy and yummy! Photography by Joluise Two years ago (January 2010) I decided to loose weight and change our diet to make sure it was healthy. We had always eaten home cooked meals, but I wanted to further reduce our intake of "bad foods" and limit take-aways, lollies, chips, fizzy drinks, bad desserts etc... In 2011 I cut back on processed tinned foods and only used those that were essential (tomato paste etc). In doing so, I have lost weight (and keeping it off) and we are eating far better than ever before. In the process we have reduced the amount of food we buy.  Instead of wasting money on processed foods, I now buy more expensive cuts of meat, organic foods and we spoil ourselves with healthy treats -  so our overall bill hasn't reduced considerably - its just healthier. I also visit fewer aisles in the shopping centre which makes shopping much faster. I am yet to completely convert my husband - whilst I cook all his main meals,

Source: photo taken by Joluise "IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Two hundred years ago today (28th of January 1813), Pride and Prejudice was announced to the world and the rest is history.   It was going to be called "First Impressions", however publishers (in 1797) rejected it and no copy of the original has survived. It was rewritten around 1812 and is the book we know and love today. Almost, as edition 1 is slightly different to edition 3 - but only slightly - a few grammatical changes have been made. Sadly, Austen's work, including Pride and Prejudice was barely noticed by critics or the general public during her lifetime. In saying this, 1,500 copies of the first edition was sold.  It wasn't until 50 years after her death (Jane died in 1817) that the book started to gain some attention. Her novels were published anonymously until after her death, when her a

The pudding (Alfred) a nd his fri ends: Bunyip Bluegrum (the koala), Bill Barnacle (t he sa ilor) and Sam Sawn off the penguin Artist: Norman Lindsay Australian: 1879-1969 Illustrations from The Magic Pudding Some of you who are familiar with Norman Lindsay may have got a little nervous when you saw that I was including his artwork today. Don't pan ic, only the works from his book " The Ma gi c Pudding " have be included - why, be cause everything else Lindsay painted were a little x-rated, lots and lots of naked women (some quite  young). However , th is set of illustrations are nothing like his painting s - everyone is fully clothed. The Magic Pudding was written and illustrated by Norman Lindsay in 1918. The story about a pudding - a ma gic pudding (that can walk and talk)  - no matter how much one eats it, it alw ays reforms into a whole pudding again. He is called Albert, has thin arms and legs and is a bad-tempered and ill-mannered.   Like

source Firstly, my apologies to all the gorgeous cats in the world. Please don't be offended!! Everyone needs a laugh occassionally . I think I got this from Facebook - source unknown

A pork butchers shop by Edouard Jean Dambourgez If I want a really good cut of meat, I send my husband off to our local suburban butcher and he always come back with an excellent cut of meat.  DH has built up a repoire with the butcher and now gets special treatment. The other night we had a beautiful piece of pork (cooked on the Weber barbecue over coals) prepared by the butcher and it would have to be the best pork I have had in a long time.  And the crackling . . . well . . . that was perfect!!! Our butcher only uses local farmers and hand-selects the animals for slaughter.  We know we are getting quality and surprisingly, it isn't over priced.  Sadly with the growth of the supermarket chain, the local butcher, baker or the fruit and veg shop are being squeezed out and with that we are loosing the personalised service and quality of food.  I often find the local supermarket are pricey and certainly not great when it comes to the quality of their meat or fruit and v

Imagine source Australian Channel 10 TV breakfast show presenter, David Koch made the comment that breast feeding women should be more " discreet and modest " when feeding their babies in public.   What an outburst this has caused, outraged mothers saying he was completely wrong and that mothers "have the right" to feed their babies (uncovered) wherever and whenever they want in public.  Koch replied that breastfeeding women need to think about the environment they are in and be "courteous and respectful" of those around them. Koch was called a "dinosaur" for his outdated views on breast feeding and was told he was making women feel "ashamed" about breastfeeding for wanting them to cover up their breasts.  Those angered by his comments said that breast feeding should be seen as normal and if a woman wants to breast feed her child in public, it should be 100% acceptable to expose her breast for all to see as it isn't done as

There is nothing wrong with taking a well earned rest. It re-charges the batteries and gives us time to wind down, allowing our weary brains a break from solving the worlds problems (or just the household problems).  Don't panic if the ironing isn't done, it will still be there when you rise from your break. Even an afternoon nap is a good once in awhile, mine is often on a Sunday afternoon with some classical music or hymns playing quietly in the background.  So for 2013, don't forget to have plenty of rest . . . a quiet time that is not interrupted by children and husbands.   And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Genesis 2:2

What do you think? Do you like this portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge? This is the first official portrait of the Duchess and she requested that it be natural rather than her "official" self.  I like it, its not regal but it shows a beautiful young woman (and I just love that hair). One critic described it as dull, boring and the sort of thing you would find on the High Street (a very common feel to it). I disagree.  The artist is  Paul Emsley Glasgow born (1947), South African raised Link to the artist's website which contains a brief biography:  http://paulemsley.com Here are some other examples of his works. Self portrait What do you think of these other portraits? I think they are amazing.  For more of his works:  http://paulemsley.com/works/