Finding joy in the everyday

Gorgeous Ruby!!!  I took this idea from my friend Mary's blog " The Cotton Apron " as I thought it would be fun to do, thankyou Mary for such a fun idea!! Here are 30 questions/answers that tells you just a little more about me.  Why not answer one of the questions yourself — select on and answer it in the comments! *********** 1. WHAT’S UNDER YOUR BED? Cat beds for Charlie and Ruby, box of winter scarves, my husbands running shoes, small suitcase and some dust! Charlie loves her bed under our bed, its like a very cosy cave hidden away from everyone where she feels very safe.  Both cats hid under the bed when strangers come into the house.  2. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING NOW? "All the light we cannot see" by Anthony Doerr (excellent novel about a blind French girl during WW2) and "Let God be God" by Ray C. Stedman (the study of Job which I am reading slowly, a book I would highly recommend) + some books on appliqué and fre...

~ Dirty Dishes ~ I strongly dislike piles of dirty dishes! I never go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink because it is the most depressing sight to wake up to in the morning. Who wants to be faced with a pile of cold greasy dishes. Not me!!! So if you are struggling with keeping your kitchen under control, start with the dishes. It only takes a few moments to wash up and you will start to see a difference in your kitchen. If washing dishes really does wear you down, do what I do and wash along when I am cooking so when the meal is eaten and enjoyed, there is hardly any dishes left to do. I usually dry whilst the food is cooking. Or minimise the amount of pots and pans that you use. There are way of making washing and drying much more fun, why not: rope in the entire family not only is it more enjoyable, its far quicker. take it in turns who washes and dries to create variety play a game, like "I spy" sing songs/hymns make up stories - have one ...

People spend so much time focused on the negative in their lives (debt and financial problems, problem children,  problems with the government, problems at work and even perceived problems that aren't even there) and forget to look at the lovely and the good (like spring as Anne points out!!). Its so important to find good things to look upon, to think about, to listen to and be part of your day as  it helps keep stress and anxiety away, it makes us feel more positive and healthy.  How can one by joyful when only focusing only on the bad and the negative.  Be the like the baby lambs that bounces around the field and always look to the happy and joyful. Have you ever watched kittens at play, life is good and they know it. They are happy and it shows on their faces and how they behaviour. Stop focusing on the negative (it won't fix the problems) and remember that we need to rejoice and keep on rejoicing, not because things are wonderful, but because o...

I spent part of my weekend going through my books and deciding what to keep and what to give to charity. I managed to cull four bags and my shelves are already looking/feeling lighter. Why keep books that I don't have plans to re-read and if I want to, I can simply borrow them from the library.  I am trying to buy less books and so far this year have only bought a few, almost every book I read comes from the library - they can store my "library" for me!! I also went through my linen cupboard and toss out a pile of old sheets, towels and pillow cases that I haven't used in years (since the children were teenagers) and have no plans to use again. Once again, why keep if I am not going to use them. How many towels and sheets do a couple of two really need?! Haven't got to the end of my clean-out, but on the road to simplicity!! I wouldn't fit into one of those tiny homes just yet, but trying to reduce "stuff" that is collecting dust and not ...

*****

Autumn (Fall) is my favourite season.  The days are usually sunny and warm with cool to cold nights. Perfect weather for sitting outside and watching the world go by and cozying up under a throw with a book in the evening. The best of both worlds. On Sunday morning (after driving my son to work) I sat outside and read for a while. The birds were singing and I could hear the flutter of leaves as they fell to the ground. It was all rather perfect and ever so peaceful in this crazy noisy world.  It is so hard to believe that it is April already. It hurts my head just thinking about how fast this year has gone. I am not the only one to comment on the speed and wonder how one can slow down the days.  I don't really know how to make the days go slower, they seem to move at a greater pace than ever before without me doing anything in particular. Perhaps it is the instant society that I wrote about yesterday, it simply doesn't want us to slow down.  We are on a...

~ 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 ...

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

~ 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. *****

~ Afternoon tea ~ There is nothing more lovely than sitting down for afternoon tea with friends or family. There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea (Henry James) Why not invite some ladies over and enjoy a lovely afternoon together with the best china, delicious scones with jam and cream, sweet little sandwiches and warm chatter. Perhaps wear hats like they use to long ago. You don't need lots of fancy china, be creative with what you already own or visit your local charity store and see what you can find for a few dollars. I have picked up some pretty plates for $1 to $2 each and I have even found pretty china teacups. *****

~ Reading ~ What more do I have to say - reading makes the world go round!! I do it daily even when I don't really have time.  I can't imagine a life with out books and reading.  *****

~ Wheel Barrow ~ You may think this is an odd one to include in my random list (random lists are meant to be odd!!) - but I have always wanted an old wheelbarrow in my garden so I can grow flowers in it.  I don't own one and I have never found a lovely looking old wheelbarrow.  Aren't these all great examples. One day perhaps!! I could make one!! What do you think?? Photos sourced from Pinterest *****

~ Vintage Lace ~ Of many Arts, one surpasses all. For the maiden seated at her work flashes the smooth balls and thousand threads into the circle, ... and from this, her amusement, makes as much profit as a man earns by the sweat of his brow, and no maiden ever complains, at even, of the length of the day. The issue is a fine web, which feeds the pride of the whole globe; which surrounds with its fine border cloaks and tuckers, and shows grandly round the throats and hands of Kings.  J acob van Eyck, 1651 I love lace and love wearing it on my clothes. Its feminine and beautiful and for that reason alone, women have been wearing it through the centuries.   Essentially, there exist two kinds of lace: needlepoint lace and bobbin lace. Needlepoint lace is made with a single-thread technique using embroidery stitches while bobbin lace, developed after needlepoint lace, was made with a variety of multiple-thread weaving techniques. The first known lacemaking p...

~ Fresh strawberries ~ The strawberries have been delicious this summer and I have lost count of the number of bowls I have consumed with ice-cream and chocolate sauce!! Strawberries say summer like no other fruit and I love them. Here 11 interesting facts about strawberries. ***** Strawberries are the only fruit that wear their seeds on the outside. The average berry is adorned with some 200 of them. No wonder it only takes one bite to get seeds stuck in your teeth. Strawberries aren’t true berries, like blueberries or even grapes. Technically, a berry has its seeds on the inside.  Strawberries are members of the rose family.  The strawberry plant is a perennial. It may not bear fruit immediately, but once it does, it will remain productive for about five years. Belgium has a museum dedicated to strawberries. Native Americans ate strawberries long before European settlers arrived. As spring’s first fruit, they were a treat, eaten freshl...

~ Polar Bears ~ Why have I selected polar bears for my random Tuesday, no other reason than I think they are simply beautiful and they are under blogged and I wanted to rectify the problem!! So here are 10 interesting facts about polar bears! 1. Female polar bears would rather build their dens in "old snow" from previous years rather than the freshly fallen snow. 2. Polar bear cubs learn to freeze and remain still while their mother hunts.  If they move, the mother disciples them, with a whack to the head. 3. Some female polar bears deviate from the one room den.  They build dens with multiple rooms and even a ventilation system in the roof. 4. Polar bear babies weigh a little more than a pound when they are born. 5. Only humans prey or hunt polar bears. 6. A polar bear's fur is not white!!  It is hollow.  The fur reflects light.  The hollow fur also traps the suns heat to help keep the polar bear warm. 7. Polar bears mate M...

~ Alice in Wonderland ~ Every adventure requires the first step - The Cheshire Cat. Who read Alice in Wonderland as a child? Was it a favourite? What character did you enjoy the most? I loved this book and have read it many times. So much happens in it, its creative, clever, the language is delightful and parts are just plain silly.  I can even remember where I was when I read it the first time!! I think its the perfect book for older child. *****

~ Edwardian woman ~ The Edwardian era is the period covering the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910. Fashion in European and European-influenced countries continued the long elegant lines of the 1890s. A new, columnar silhouette signaled the approaching abandonment of the corset as an indispensable garment of fashionable women. ( Source ) This is an interesting era in history for women. Women began to throw off the shackles of restrictive  Victorian age and started the movement towards independences. Middle class women (those single) entered the work force in greater numbers, commenced the moment towards demanding the vote and other rights that had excluded women.  However, the poor suffered the most (as they always do) and those women who were widowed or abandoned by their husbands and unable to find work (in serve) were forced in the workhouses in droves. Their lives were one of misery, likewise their children. Many died young.   What non of them ...

~ Lighthouse ~ New Brighton lighthouse..Wirral..Merseyside... by jetbluestone I always thought it would be so romantic to live in a lighthouse! Perhaps I have read too many books about lighthouse keepers!! How much reading and sewing could I get done!!  However I would need a little more land than this one provides!! Isn't this an amazing photo? *****

~ Welcome to Random Tuesday ~ I always wanted one blog post per week that was completely random and I have decided that Tuesday is a very good day for randomness.  I don't mind if you don't comment, its just a day where I can indulge myself with a  ~ favourite photo ~ ~ idea ~ ~ art ~ ~ anything random ~ it doesn't need to make sense, it just makes me happy and I hope it does you to.  It might just reveal a little more about me!!! Perhaps not ! So here goes - my first random Tuesday for the year.  51 more to go.  ~ Black cat ~ This is to remember all the cats that died on Saturday 3rd January when a cattery was destroyed during a horrid out-of-control bushfire swept through the Adelaide Hills (not far from where my family live). *****