Finding joy in the everyday

Dear blogging friends, I write to you from a very grey and cold location - it really does look bleak outside (ssh don't tell anyone, but I am still in my dressing gown and warm slippers!), but according to the weather bureau, once the clouds lift it should be a lovely sunny day.  Sometimes life is like this - all around us looks bleak and cold, but if only we trust in the Lord and lean on Him, we will see the sunshine through the clouds.  What a week, it was so busy, with book club on Tuesday evening, working late on Wednesday, vet on Thursday and car service on Friday.  I don't like being home late during the week, fortunately it rarely happens and  I thank the Lord as He gave me the extra energy I needed to get through those two long days (God never lets us down when we need that extra energy). However I wasn't looking forward to Friday - I was nervous about taking the car to be service as it isn't something I normally do and I am car illiterate (of ...

Good morning ladies,  Husbands are very sweet.  Mine thought I needed shoes that were strong and sturdy for walking in wet and muddy areas. He didn't like the idea of me slipping and falling. So off we went this morning to find a pair of walking shoes - he wanted to be there to make sure I choose the right ones. Whilst these were not my favourite colour (my husband couldn't understand the whole colour thing), they are very comfortable and fit the definition of "sturdy".  Sadly the red pair that I really wanted weren't in my size so I went for practicality rather than style and colour!! Whilst we were out, we stopped off to have a coffee (which DH didn't like) and hot chocolate (which I thought was pretty good) before quickly dashing to pick up some Easter eggs for my son and his wife.  What do you have planned for today? Once I have done a few chores around the house (the bathroom does need a quick wipe over and I have some hand washi...

Its balloon season and every morning I get to see these lovely balloons gently glide over the city. It is a very beautiful sight.  Good morning ladies, oops good afternoon as it is now 12:30pm.  Almost time to think about lunch. What plans do you have for the weekend?  I popped out first thing this morning to visit Bunnings (hardware/garden centre) to pick up 2 bags of cow mature (yes, it made the car smell!), 1 bag of composting soil and 1 bag of sugar cane mulch. All used in my raised garden bed in preparation for my autumn/winter veggie crop.  All done (and ticked off my list) and next week I am hoping to plant my first crop of Kale.  After visiting Bunnings, I thought I would visit the local charity store - love to see what they have. Picked up these 3 green glass flutes (aren't they pretty). Not sure what I will do with them - any ideas?  I do like green glass and even better at $1 per flute.  I also picked up these li...

Dear friends and family, If only you all could come and visit, I have freshly baked chocolate chip muffins cooling the shelf (far too many for just me) and the tea is ready.  Sadly that won't happen so I have sent a message to my son and his wife to visit and enjoy the muffins instead!  How are you all?  Did you have a lovely week?  I know one particular reader is very excited as her husband's family is visiting (just arrived in Australia) from the USA - I am sure they will have the most wonderful few weeks together, very precious weeks for sure. This was also the week to remember the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attack in New York.  Whilst we are such a long way from the event, it has touched us all in some way and we can all remember where we were at that tragic moment.  Whilst most of us are never directly touched by these horrible events, death and destruction seems to be happening in some part of the world ever day, with Syria being ...

Dear friends, Another week has gone and a new one about to commence. Its been a quiet week for me, however my poor husband has been very busy. As I mentioned last week, our washing machine was playing up and after attempting a load of washing on Monday, we decided it was time to replace it (it would spin when it needed water, add water when it was meant to be washing and then decided to do nothing at all).  The new one arrived on Tuesday (works beautifully) and for the rest of the week DH spent replacing the taps, washers etc and making sure they didn't drip or leak. It might sound like an easy job, but it wasn't . . . it also involved a number of trips to the hardware store and finally the plumbing store. All looks good now, I had complete faith in him that it would work in the end - DH had his doubts!! My son has completed his first week in his new job. He bought a new outfit last weekend and looked very smart on his first day.  So far, so good which is such great ...

Dear friends, What a morning - I have been busy tweaking my study and the rest of the house, moving bits and pieces from one room to another (and sometimes back to where they came from) plus tossing things out that I no longer want (bin or to charity).  My son has just come over and I gave him a few things for his house that I no longer wanted - its good to have someone to pass things onto!  Have I got things "just right", probably not - decorating seems to be an on-going task in my house as I change my mind!!   In between the work inside the house, I was able to plant 24 snow pea seedlings and 16 English spinach seedlings in my veggie garden bed. Unfortunately the nursery didn't have any kale so I will need to pick that up during the week (probably Thursday).   Other news from garden - I am very happy that the bulbs I planted a few months a go are all popping out of the ground and will flower in late August/early September.  How was your week? ...

Life is like this sometimes! Dear friends, What a cold, wet and grey weekend we are having. The only thing to do on days like this is to stay indoors and keep warm. And that is what I am doing.    Yesterday (Saturday) a couple of guys came and pick up the very heavy 6 foot fish-tank (it was horrible conditions for moving the tank as it was sleeting and freezing). This is exciting news (for me anyway) as now I have my study in full and not sharing it with the ugly tank. My husband has cleaned the walls and carpet (where the tank was sitting) and tomorrow all my bookcases will arrive. This means I can do some major re-arranging of all our books and that is one exciting task!!  Hopefully in my next week's update I will be able to share some photos of my new study. I don't have any new recipes to share this week as I haven't made anything new - I have been try to eat up pre-made meals in the freezer, some of which are poorly labeled so I am not entirely sure w...

L ots of sunshine over the weekend which we enjoyed by going for a long walk not that far from our home (I took the above photo on our walk). It feels like winter might just be coming to an end and I even saw daffodils in the garden and blossom on a tree down the road. I am not sure if it is just me, but even the birds sound more chirpy at the moment!  Maybe they know its getting warmer.  Charlie cat and I sat in the sunshine on Sunday afternoon soaking up the rays and it was so delicious.  I didn't want it to end!  I certainly got my dose of Vit D.   Another beautiful weekend.  It wasn't a busy weekend as I had done all the grocery shopping on Friday afternoon and the house didn't need anything major done.  And thanks to the invention of the washing machine, washing is quite a simple task these days - and with the sunny weather and a bit of wind both loads dried very well.  I did get out into the garden and planted the b...

Well, thats the end of another weekend.  Always a little sad when my weekends come to an end as I enjoy them so much. How was your weekend?   The weather wasn't great, it was very cold, windy with a little sleet but it was sunny not that you would want to be outdoors for very long. However I did have a lovely weekend regardless . . .  I found some time to do some work in my new vegetable garden extension before it got to windy and icy, still have a little more work to do ( almost ready for the board beans ) . Made some chocolate brownies for my son, but they didn't rise quite as well as they could have - but still taste pretty good. Discovered how to make vegetarian bolognese sauce and a vegetarian chilli con carne - both of these have been frozen into individual meals (8 in total) for my son to eat when he is in a hurry, both taste great I must admit (yes, I little surprised as I didn't use a recipe!).   I even started my son's we...

What have you been up to lately?  My weekends are very special so I make the most of every minute - but that doesn't mean I work madly for 2 days, far from it as much of the housework has been done during the week.  Its time for all those enjoyable activities that I don't have time to do during the week. I had morning tea with my son and his future wife and her mother, I had dinner out with my dear husband, gardening ( almost finished the extension to the vegetable garden ), sewing, cooking, shopping ( I needed to find a pashmina ) and even found time to sit in the sun and read. To me this is a perfect way to spend the weekend. I thought I would do some simple sewing projects in the afternoon - Ruby was quick to help. I had to get cross with her as she kept on playing with my pin mouse (the little mouse I stick pins in)!! My husband likes to have "draught excluders" (sausages) at the bottom of the doors to stop the cold air coming into the warm part ...