Finding joy in the everyday

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.   And he saith unto them, Follow me , and I will make you fishers of men. Matthew 4:18-18  I am with you always , even unto the end of the world. Amen.   Matthew 28:20  As you head into the coming week . . . remember . . . " you never walk alone ". ~oOo~  

I was going for a walk this week and came across what I thought was a die or dying magpie.  Hating to see a creature in difficulties, I stopped and checked to see if the bird was ok.  The bird was still alive and blinking, so I took a couple of photos as one does!!  Mr/Mrs/Miss Magpie looked quite relaxed and restful . . . certainly not dying from anything. It seemed to be enjoying lying in the sun.  The bird was in a protected count yard where there are no cats or other predators, so these birds must feel very safe to lie around in the sun. The other magpie got up when I walked over to investigate . . . thought better than resting whilst I looked on. As soon as I walked away the other bird got up, shakes its features and walks off. Probably annoyed that I had interrupted its rest and relaxation in the sun. ~oOo~

A child wakes up in his Disney character pajamas, rolls out of his Barney sheets, his toothbrush, toothpaste and perhaps even his soap covered in cute licensed characters. Gathering up his Pokemon cards and strapping on his Rugrats backpack, he heads off to school. ( from a paper called Marketing to Children, 2007) In recent weeks I have been shopping for a baby boy and for a young man of six.  Its been a while since I have shopped for young children as my sons are now 19 and almost 24.  Whilst in both the clothing section and toy section of Target something stuck me that wasn't as noticeable when my sons were little - the overwhelming influence of movies and TV on childrens products.   Knowing that neither parent would want Ben Ten, Star Wars or Dora Explorer on their child's clothing or toy I really did have to search around to find things that were not covered in "advertising".   I even found much of the Lego were "scenes" from movies such as Star ...

Artist: Mary Blair October 21, 1911 - July 26, 1978 Born in the USA Mary Blair was born Mary Robinson, was an American artist best remembered for work done for The Walt Disney Company between 1943 and 1953. Blair produced striking concept art for such films as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Song of the South and Cinderella. Mary resigned from Disney to become a freelance graphic artist, working on a number of projects for companies like Nabisco and Maxwell House.  She attended San Jose State College and won a scholarship to the renowned Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. In 1934 she married another artist, Lee Everett Blair. Though much of her art veers away from naturalism toward abstraction, she was one of Walt Disney’s favorite artists; he personally responded to her use of color, naïve graphics, and the storytelling aspect in her pictures, especially the underlying emotions palpable in much of her art.  Her work is fun, witty and colourful - you can't help bu...

Yesterdays post was a little depressing I have to admit ( link ) so today's is simple and lite.  I have been doing a few "projects" around the home that I wanted to share.  One of my little projects on Saturday was sewing a cushion cover.  I bought a tea-towel from eBay, but when I received it I thought it was far too nice to use as a tea-towel (even though DH was eager to wipe the dishes with it!!).  So I folded the towel in halves and with a quick sew on the machine turned it into a cushion cover!! Now it graces the little chair by the front door that Ruby likes to sit on and watch the world go by!  It was a quick and easy job, but I am impressed by the outcome!! I don't know about your laundry, but mine is pretty unexciting. So to jazz it up slightly I hung this picture (the print is from eBay - my favourite online shopping store!).  Just adds a little colour and it amused DH! Cauliflower Pickles (sometimes called mustard pickles) is something my m...

If you want to see how society is changing, just check out statistics on births - its fascinating.  " Times, they are a changin " as the lyrics go, some would say for the better, other would argue that society is deteriorating, becoming more sinful and wandering further from the word of God.  In today's blog I have used a combination of statistics from the USA and Australia to illustrate how times have changed and will leave it up to you to decide if things are getting better or worse?  Unmarried mothers (ex-nuptial births) Unmarried mothers were frown upon once-upon-a-time, in some countries these women would have been sent off to a " Home for unmarried mothers ", a very unpleasant place to give birth, they may have been required (force-ably) to give up their child for adoption and certainly would have been shunned in some communities. There would have been no welfare for these single mothers as there is today and life would have been very difficult.  Howeve...

We have enjoyed a week of rain and thunderstorms after a dry October.  Whilst the dogs didn't enjoy the thunderstorms and kept me awake on a few nights with their barking, the garden loved it. And it didn't take long before the garden responded to the rain (and warm temperatures that we receive in spring) and everything burst into colour and growth .  If my garden could sing, it would have sung loud with joy this week.    As I looked at my vegetable garden and saw how much the vegetables had grown, it reminded me how important the Word of God is.  When we neglect to read the Word of God we dry up like desert and become barren and often die. Washing ourselves in Gods Word, has a similar affect to our garden after rain shower . . . we grow and bloom . However like a garden, it is better it get a regular watering, rather than a heavy burst after a drought. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105) Then spake Jes...