Finding joy in the everyday

In The Garden ( written by C. Aus­tin Miles, 1912 ) I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses.   And He walks with me,  and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own; and the joy we share as we tarry there,  non other has ever known. He speaks and the sound of His voice, is so sweet the birds hush their singing,  and the melody that he gave to me with my hear is ringing And He walks with me,  and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own; and the joy we share as we tarry there,  non other has ever known.

Why did I wake up at 4:30am this morning (without an alarm clock) when I didn't need to get up early - however on Sunday morning when I do need to be up at 4:30am to take my husband to the airport to catch a 6:30 flight and I bet I will struggle to get out of bed. Why do my family empty food items (eg milk) and put the empty cartons back into the fridge. I wonder if they think the fridge eats the empty items! Why can I spend hours watching my cats play and only manage a few minutes of ironing before I came completely bored? Why do trades-persons, who promise to be at your home between 1 - 5pm, always turn up well after 5:00pm? Why do I bother reading the newspapers or watching the news on TV when I am fed "dumbed down news" that includes unimportant trivia on actors! Why was I so excited with the release of the "iPad" from Apple - silly question - I love Apple products, which is why we are an Apple household:) (excluding eldest son who strongly dislikes App...

Exciting news - today Tristan went for an interview (10:00am) today and by 1:00pm he had been offered a full time permanent job (in our nearby retail centre).  The work will be in retail but along the IT line - with standard hours and an opportunity to earn a bonus each fortnight if doing well. He had been hunting for months with no success (getting more stressed and unhappy), then on Monday I opened Seek.com (employment website) and the first job I found was one I thought he should apply for (which he did).  He was contacted yesterday regarding the interview.  Only on Saturday we had searched the newspapers with no success. Some would say this was just good luck - not me - after months of prayers (from me and others), our prayers have been answered.  Only yesterday I wrote two verses in my bible study book " With God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27) and " In the Lord, I put my trust " (Psalm 11:1).  The Lord has been wonderful - but didn't answer tho...

I found an interesting article the other day about the lack of sleep in children and how it is affecting their mood, their behaviour and their academic ability at school - with a growing number of children suffering from lack of sleep. A doctor from the Sleep Disorders Clinic at Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney believes electronic media and mobile phone use take much of the blame. Until my sons hit their teens, sleeping was never a problem - they went to bed at set times, were allow to read for awhile or listen to audio tapes (stories) then off to sleep.  This all changed when they became teenagers - 14 onwards.  Now at 22, Tristan (my eldest) has very poor sleep patterns - often struggling to get to sleep (he has been known to hop in his car and go for a drive - which I don't like him doing) - he has tried different herbal teas with mixed results.  He wakes up early so he may only get 6 hours sleep per night.  It will be interesting to see if this poor ...

Yesterday evening (Sunday) my husband and I went for a walk (7:30pm) to the suburb next to us. By the time we had finished the walk the sun was setting and there was a beautiful cool breeze.  I am a big fan of summer walks at dusk, I love watching the sunset and drive my husband mad as I take the long way just so I am at the top of the hill by the time the sun is setting over the mountain range.  Last night was quite good - but some nights the sun creates the most magical orange and yellows and it is just magnificent. I have invested in a smaller Canon (fits in my pocket) as my large SLR Canon is just too big to take on walks.  I think these photos turned out ok.     This is a new suburb (above) with lots of houses cramped into small spaces with tiny gardens - I wouldn't like to live in any of them. Each household lives almost on top of the next household - horrible, I like my space - it isn't like we are short on space. My husband didn't want me to tak...

Why do I waste money buying soft comfortable beds for my little Ruby to sleep in when she prefers this:   She has been sleep behind this photo for hours and very happy so wasn't overly thrilled when the flash went off in her face.  The photo below is another of her favourite places to watch the world - the top of the chair.  Even though Charlie (3 year old) isn't happy with Ruby's arrival she does get great pleasure in playing hide-and-seek and chasing her.

Mustard Pork Chops (fast, simple and tasty to make) Serves 2 2 pork chops 2 teaspoons garlic oil (if I don't have any, I just add garlic when I am cooking the chops) 125ml of apple cider 2 teaspoons of grainy mustard (more if you like) 75ml of cream (I use lite cream) Gnocchi (enough for each person) 1. Bash pork chops briefly (but brutally) between clingfilm to make them thinner ( this will make you feel good if you have had a stressful day ). 2. Heat oil in pan and cook the chops over moderately high heat for about 5 mins a side.  Remove them to a warmed plate. 3. Pour cider into the pan, still over the heat, to de-glaze the pan.  Let it bubble away for a minute or so, then add the mustard and stir in the cream. 4. Let the sauce continue cooking for a few minutes before pouring over each plated pork chop.  leave some in the pan - add the gnocchi (that you have already cooked per instructions), make sure you have turn them in the pan to absord any spar...