Goodbye



An iris in my spring garden



From My Garden

We are all family

 and the planet is our home.

 Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

 I have 100% of my life left to live.

Today is my last day of blogging. I didn't quite achieve what I set out to do.

 Thank you to any body who has followed my blog.

 Thank you to the beautiful people whose  blogs I have followed. Life has been more wonderful  for having had you in my life.

 Keep good.

God bless.

 Let us all pray for each other. C

Asking for help

More of those pesky rainbow lorikeets.

    From My Garden

I am keeping my thoughts centred on what I wish to experience more of in my life:

More love,
more happiness,
more positivity,
more enthusiasm,
more motivation,
more inspiration,
more travel,
more communicationa with my family,
more giving,
more excitement,
more LIVING.
I have all of the rest of my life to live.
I have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

It is in admitting to and accepting that I have many weaknesses as well as strengths, that I have many times called on God's help to get me through. And it is in that, that I have found my true potential.
And I am enjoying my new found freedom of getting on with life and not looking back.

 In these last few days we have met up with a young  lady who was part of our lives
for 2 years when she was just a young baby - through the fostercare programme. She was such a lively little being and won the hearts of our family with her love of life. Myssie was lucky to be returned to her family and had a good life .
For a while we missed her bright little nature, but  knew we had to move on and not continue to mourn for what could not be.
Well, through the institution of Face Book and the help of an"Unlikely Genius" we made contact again. And she has turned out to be a lovely person - much quieter than the lively tot we first knew, but that's growing  up-  but none- the- less a nice human being. That's all we can ask of our children. That was what I always wanted for my children, and that's exactly what I got.
 And I can only thank God for the children who touched my life over the years and enriched my life beyond all measure. I am sure that some of them have no idea what they have done for me, and now they are gone and living there own unique lives have little thought for what they gave me and what I have learnt about being a human being, and through them have learned to move on and continue with life in it's present form.

And of course God's help  in moving to that space has been immeasurable. Thank you Lord for being there.

I wish you a day of love and happiness and that you find life worth living every single day. C

A Job well done

Some rainbow lorikeets decided to visit- such great chatter
boxes and such flighty natures. 

     From My Garden

I find that it is much easier to do a good job while I am doing things, rather than do a shoddy one and have to fix it later.
I think that is called having pride in one's achievements.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
 I still have 100% of my life left to live.





My Mum used to say 'if something is worth doing, it's worth doing properly'. And for someone who was never going to be like her Mother, I've done a good job at looking like her in "my living longer" years and living up to lots of her sayings, which I am very good at quoting I must say.

And I'm always saying  'why spend all that time doing something the wrong way when you can spend the same amount of time doing it the right way!'

 A story I love to tell is that one of our kids would be asked to tidy up his room.... and he would - and his room would be spotless. And a week or so later I would go right into his room to put away folded clothes, or some such thing, and all the tidy would be stacked up behind his chest of drawers where I couldn't see it from the doorway. And he would have been given praise for a job well done. How long it must have taken him to stack that mess there when it could have taken the same amount of time to put the things where they went.
Gives us all a good laugh now he is grown up and hopefully knows the value of time.
Another of my sayings is " the time wasted, is life wasted. We can't get it back.'

Today was church day- Father Dan's last day. Father John will be back from his travel to Vietnam.
Father Dan spoke about how we can spend some time with God each day. He gave us 3 suggestions:
1. To look in every day life at the good things we have in our life, to look for the good in people.
2. To spend 5 minutes reading the word. To listen to what God is trying to tell us through the Word. Quite often that is explained in the weekly sermon.
3. And to spend some time in prayer or spiritual mediatation.
 And I thought, how easy is that!

I'm with God when I listen to people talk and hear the goodness in there living.
I am at church and I am with other good people listening to the Word and understanding God's message to me.
I am at home peeling the potatoes and can pray for my sick friend, or a thank you prayer for a good day or the sunshine or a great family.

So I can spend time with God no matter what I am doing. How wonderful!

I have completed my project part of the day doing my most favourite gardening chore - pruning. I can't wait for the new leaves to start sprouting once spring is here. That is my reward for the time I spend in the garden. 
I hope your day has been as happy as mine and that you too did your most favourite thing today.C

I know that if I am to participate in the game of life I really must appreciate each very special moment of it.

Sharing a word



My Love with a rose



            From My Garden

 If I listen with my heart, as well as with my ears,
I will hear so much more and respond differently.





Today is the the first day of the rest of my life.
I have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

I am a lover of words. Last night I attended a church meeting . We always start and end our meetings with  with a prayer.
 Last night Bill,s Prayer began with a word.
 The word Bill used was GUIDANCE.
 I would like to share that word with you. It is by an author unknown.... and very clever indeed.

Dancing With God.

When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God's Will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead in a dance, nothing feels right. The movement just does not want to flow with the music, and everything feels quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that, and lets their partner lead, both bodies begin to flow and move together with the music

One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one directtion or another.

It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidamce from the other.
Then my eyes drew back to the word Giudance. When I saw the "G" I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i". "God" "u" and "i" dance. God you and I dance.

As I lowered my head, I became willing to tust that I would get guidance  about my life. Once again I became willing to let God lead me.

My prayer for today is that God's blessings and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday.

May you abide in God as he abides in you.

Dance together with God , trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

Thanks Bill for sharing this great find. It touched my heart deeply.

"you changed my mourning into dancing"
                           Ps. 30.12

 And so on this beautiful sunny day here in the  great land "downunder'" let us dance with God and trust that he will lead us in the right direction towards blessings and mercies and love and laughter. Life can be so much better with God helping us on our journey through the the seasons.
 And ... when you find your way to dance with God... share it -  pass it on. C

Those precious Moments



An abundant crop of oranges. A reward
 like this makes gardening well worthwhile.



         From My Garden

Even if happiness forgets me sometimes I never give up .... I keep on keeping on.

I am responsible for making my own happiness.

Happiness is Not having things. It's inner peace, a spiritual glow, a reaching out to others, a love of self, and appreciation of the good things life has to offer.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
 I have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

To wake up to sunshine today was so uplifting. After a number of overcast, raining and gloomy days, and still suffering a little jet lag, was not very helpful to my spirits. But today is so much brighter. It was nice to get back to church and catch up.

Father John is in Vietnam for 5 weeks and we have been blessed with the prescence of Father Dan, who has such a sunny disposition. He makes any gloomy gospel reading seem bright and encouraging. Today he spoke about the disciples being sent out to preach wearing sandals and only having one tunic- to travel light. aand Father Dan said......" and when the washed their tunics they sat around in their underwear while their tunics dried"...... which made us all think about how difficult it must have been for the preachers to go out to spread God's word.

And afterwards a cuppa and scone and shared conversation with other parishioners we hadn't seen for 5 weeks. A bit of lightheartedness when, after about a half hour, Bob turned up looking a little flustered, saying that he and Father Dan had spent all that time trying to get out of the church. While he and Father Dan had been deep in conversation the church had been locked up with them still inside talking. Naturally everybody thought that was quite hilarious. But Bob wasn't impressed because he had to go back in and fix the door they had broken out of.
 Even going to church can be exciting as well as rewarding.

If I am going to continue to participate in the game of life I am going to need to continue to  appreciate each precious moment and most especially the lighthearted ones............. come join me in finding and appreciating those precious moments. C

Finding God

Tiny birdseye chillies always make a
lovely display. I use so few of them and
 the bush is always full.

              From My Garden 

                  Each time that I give love sincerely and

unselfishly, I give God, because.... God is love.

This is the first day of the rest of my life.

I still have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

I see God in the love I have for my family.

I see the goodness and kindness in people as the

God part of humankind.

 But most of all I find God in the pure innocence of a small child, and the trust and love

 they have in their parents.

It would be so good to be able to be childlike and trusting in love as little children are,

instead of growing up to be so mistrusting of everybody and everything.

If I am going to participate in the game of life, I will need to appreciate each precious moment that I have here on earth..... join me. C..

Rewards in everyday living

Some mystical creatures who grace my indoor garden.
 A cute gift from my daughter-in-law

       From My Garden

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
 I have 100% of the rest of my life to live.

Some smart employers share both profits and credit with their employees.. This is not always because it is deserved, but because the employer knows it is a way to greater success for a business and for the benefit of encouraging the employee to participate and enjoy the fruits of that success. 

I love my job.

The benefits from working where I work is not only the monetary reward, but the reward of being part of a very successful enterprise. I hear that everywhere I go, when I tell people where I am employed. I am told constantly " that place has a very good reputation". That's so great to be part of something  like that and to know I make a small contribution to it's success in my own unique way.

The other rewards that I reap are:

 that I am much older than all the people who are employed at my place of work, and I am truly grateful that at my age I can still make a contribution to a thriving business;.

my children and grandchildren are a long way away so I am lucky that I work with younger people who are around my children's ages and give me stimulating company as I work; 

 

and of course the nature of my work is with children, so while I don't have my grandchildren in my daily life I can share the joy and excitement and company  of small children as they journey through their lives unaware of the contribution they make to my life;

and the fact that I have other things to contribute to conversation at home other that my garden, housework, my pets, the weather.

So it makes life more exciting to go to a job that rewards me in more ways than with money.

I like the money too. It allows me to travel and get to see my family at least once a year.

So once again the mundane can be exciting if I look at the positives within the eveyday environment of where I live, how I live, why I do what I do, and how I make that all work.

I wish you the joy in finding excitement in the mundane of your everyday life. I know you will find it there if you just look. C.

    

The Ripple Effect

Welcome to my front door.

             From My Garden

Happenings in life are like a series of chain reactions

- just like when I throw a stone into the water and the

ripples circle out. Each event has an effect on the the

 next one down the line. I may remember the end result,

but not all the small choices I made each day that either

 got me closer to my goal or took me farther away.

Well, life is back to the mundane again - washing and ironing and cleaning and cooking dinner. I have done none of these in the last 5 weeks, not even making my bed.

And yet the mundane is important. This brings me back to earth and grounds me into who  I really am. Iam not the served but the server. There is no pleasure or achievement in being served and having no accomplishment other than having a good time. However, there is a accomplishment in having a clean house in making a pleasant, tasty meal, in being able to make someone happy, in being a human being with purpose a and worth.

And my memories are still there from my wonderful holiday, sharing my experience with my work colleagues and listening to their aspirations and dreams for their coming journeys or journeys they have already travelled on. Yes, I am back at work already. I didn't know haow much I missed the company of my younger work mates or the babble of small children asking me where I had been. Even they were interested in the story of being on the plane and the boat.

 I am glad to be back to the mundane. There's excitement and fun even in that. That is who I am.

Hoping all your dreams come true and I can be a part of your sharing of the fulfillment of your dreams as well . C.

Still living the dream



From My Travels

Putting others need before my own
 will be the surest way to personal happiness.

Our travel companions - on the last day of our trip in the Uk
We are at left. Our bus driver at front and tour director in red skirt
near us. This was taken at Bath in England. The next day we were in
Amsterdam. We took the rain with us to there as well.



Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
 I still have100% of  the rest of my life to live.
 The journey home was very long. We left the cruise ship at Budapest
 on Sunday at 10am. We had a 7hr wait till our plane flew out to Munich.
 We had a 5hr wait at Munich until we flew out to Dabai. Slept on the
 plane. Had another wait at Dubai and then an all night flight to Brisbane.
 We arrived in Brisbane at 6.25am on Monday morning. We lost 8hrs on the backward flight.

 We brought the rain home too.. We arrived home about midday, showered, ate lunch and slept
and slept, and washed. We are still washing and because of the rain we are drying
in the clothes dryer.
Well, the trip might be over, but the dream is still there.... and the memories,
people, places, the experiences. It is so incredible. I don't think I will ever come down
out of the clouds. Although I should.... washing dishes and washing and drying clothes, and
making the bed, and cleaning house should quickly bring me down to earth, don't you think!
I enjoyed sharing my dream and excitement with you. If I never get to do that again it won't
matter because that one was so big it will last for the rest of my life. Hope your dreams come
 true for you too.....
 And the sun has just decided to rise. C

Some more new experiences

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
I have 100% of the rest of my life.

One personal success I have experienced outweighs every failure that happened beforehand. 

Didn't Thomas Edison have many failures before he finally succeeded in inventing

the light bulb?

 Here we are today at Killarney in Ireland,What a beautiful part of the country. We have enjoyed our time in Irelan. Galway  was a great place. At Galway we did some walking. We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral. There are two huge Cathedrals in Galway and both of them are protestant. The other is Christchurch Cathedral which was right across the road from our hotel. We got to look at that as well.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Christchurch Cathedral

We did some shopping for ourselves, the first real shopping since we've been here - a couple of scarves and a hat for me and a souvenier shirt of Ireland for Nigel. They have such beautiful unique stuff here. I could spend madly but I guess that wouldn't be very sensible.

The best part of our visit was our tour of the Guiness Factory. It is situated at Kingsgate  on 50acs in Galway, the original site, since 1759. It was so interesting. I got to try a pint of guiness. It's very nice tasting- very creamy. We did the tasting in a glass building we think is the highest bar in the world with 360 degrees view of Galway... followed by dinner which of course was beef and guiness stew- very yum indeed, We are bringing back the recipe of course.

scene from Scarrif Inn

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we travelled the ring of Kerry. Prior to that we visited Adare to see some gorgeous thatched cottages, They are quite beautiful and quaint. We lunched at Scarrif Inn that overlooked a glorious scenery. The whole Kerry Ring journey was totally glorious. Then we went for a jaunty ride on a a jaunting cart which was really great experience.

Thatched roof cottages at Adare

The jaunting cart

In the jaunting cart we visited Killarney National Park and saw Ross Castle and some lovely scenery.

Ross Castle

swans on the river

On the river at the national park

Last night we attended a traditional Irish celebration held at Bunratty Folk Park:
Irish music
Irish songs
Irish dancing
Irish stew
honey mead

Bailey's Irish cream

A truly wonderful night.

The best of this part of our holiday so far has been here in Ireland, It is just such a beautiful place, We've met such beautiful people. Today we met some people  from another tour, who shared our lunch table, also Australians from South Australia. We've come thousands of miles across the world to meet up with other fellow Australians. What a wonderful world we live in. We wish you peace- the same peace we are experiencing is this beautiful part of the world.,,, pass it on. C

new Experiences

Outside the Eiffel Tower restaurant

With Yeoman Of the guard, Phil, at London Tower   

 On the steps of St.Paul's Cathedral  

  

     From My Travels

Today is the first day of the rest of my life

I have 1005 of the rest of my life to live.


Well, what an exciting time we have had so far.
Arrive in London Saturday lunch,Saturday night. travelled by tube underground to 
"The Lion King"- fabulous show.
Tour of London Sunday- tower of London- crown jewels, changing of the guard at Buck Palace , Her Majesty's Life guards, St, Paul's Cathedral,a boat ride on the river Thames, a ride on the London Eye. Fish and chips for lunch,Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower Bridge. Sore legs that day.
Tour of Paris Monday, Lunch at the Eiffel Tower, a ride in the Euro Star under the English Channel- 21/2 hour trip each way,Notre Dame', the Louvre' to visit Mona and Venus- absolutely huge place.
Today,Tuesday, on tour to Hampton Court, Oxford, Stratford - on- Avon, and st
Loads of rain other than in Paris where it was sunny,
We are being positive and looking forward to sunshine ... tomorrow.The place is just so green.
This not my usual blog, A long way from my garden. Took some lovely photos of roses at Hampton Court. Roses grow really well here.

 This has been a fabulous experience so far, I have learned so much. The world is a wonderful exciting place. People are very exciting and nice. History is such an exciting place to be part of. I'm so lucky to have this wonderful chance to enjoy other cultures. 

Thank you world for sharing your wonders with me.C                            

A unique gift for special and unique you

A Shady retreat

      From My Garden

Today:
When the sun comes up and you wake for the day,
And the dew drops, and falls sparkling on the leaves so green ,
land the breeze sings its song and the wind chimes tinkle their joyful sounds,
and the clouds dance in the magnificent blue yonder....
and the mountains echo their wisdom and bird song resounds in the distance,
and the rivers and streams ripple along with merry mirth and tinkling laughter,
and the planets pirouette through space,

                                                                           and the stars tiptoe gently, softly round the moon.....

today is all yours......

made especially for you - to enjoy and admire,

because you are special and unique

 and deserve the vey best life can offer.

A winter's day

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

There is no greater journey than to follow the path of my dreams, to create my destiny, to live my life fully, and experience all that life has to offer me.

I cannot choose all the experiences that will come into my life but I can choose how to handle them.

Well, after a lot of busy days I am at last finding time to blog again this week, and last week we celebrated two important times in our church season.

 Last week was Ascension when Jesus said goodbye to earth and moved permanently to heaven, leaving behind his legacy of love and caring for the apostles to share with the rest of the world.

 And this week is Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles to empower them  with the ability to speak in different languages so that the messages God wanted to convey could be understood by everybody.
And we here are also left with the same legacy of love and caring and peace to share with those we meet in our everday lives.

We have been lucky enough to share our home with our cousins this weekend. We have had an amazing time conversing and sharing our comings and goings and family experiences with each other.
 Yesterday we attended a thanksgiving day to show generous members of our community the appreciation of the citizens in our little town for good things they have done for people in need.  It was sponsored by local combined Christian Churches. We had a picnic lunch, shared some hilarious games. and some guessing competitions ( I won one of those), and children's races. It was a really good reason to get together to celebrate.

Today we said goodbye to our visitors. We are alone again.

We have had some lovely rain, some very cold weather, some gorgeous sunshine and fluffy white clouds in our region today. We have loved warming around our beautiful fire, eating lots of hot soup and stews and enjoying the change in our climate this week.

Sharing our toasty warm fire

What has been good  for me this week?Having our family visit with us, attending the thanksgiving picnic.

What I have been grateful for this week.
Being cared about, feeling well and having somewhere to feel warm and toasty.

God in my life
Attending church, having good and kind people in my life, daily prayer. I no longer have my little white book to read each night, so I am feeling a bit lost. Our next little book won't come out until Advent is on it's way, which is a long way away. I will have to find something else to fill that time.

If I am going to participate in the game of life I will need to appreciate each precious moment.

So till the next time we meet let happiness go with you as you go. And let that happiness grow.... and as it expands and grows within your heart.... pass it on. Peace be with you, C.

Being happy is......

In my succulent patch again

        From My Garden

          Being happy is not owning things.
                    It is having inner peace,
                           a spiritual glow,
                    a reaching out to others,
                            love of self,
          appreciation of the good things in life,
                         having dreams.

Celebrate abumdance of life

 What's in a name?

          From My Garden

                I will try to recreate myself
                to celebrate and enhance 
                what God has given me.

A Beautiful Sunny Day.



A stunning dawning of a new
and beautiful day taken from
our verandah.



Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

I have 100% of the rest of my life to live. What an exciting thought that is. I still have time to fullfil lots more of my dreams and aspirations.

I have decided to release "old " out of my vocabulary and turn "ageing" into living longer. Positive move!

I think the key to creativity is knowing that my own thinking creates my experiences and the even the smallest experience can be an absolute "delight" if my I allow my attitude to be  positive.

Today began as a stunning and beautiful day.  A miracle occurred... I was up very early, for me, to greet this inspiring scene. Yesterday we had a pea soup fog which didn't allow us to see even the house across the way. The fog stayed with us till 9.30am.... and the sun came out to greet the day at 10.25am. How exhilerating it was to see the sun arrive at such an early time today. My body was rearing to be on the move.

                                                      This morning I have been  for my weekly  visit  to the gym. I seem to be improving. This is the best day I have had. I had a couple of puffs of my ventolin puffer and it seemed to improve my breathing. So that was a great thing to know. I work out everyday at home but it is great to spend time with others who are all aspiring to do the same thing.... get fit and lose weight. I am getting there. This week I have seesawed up and down in the 87kg zone. My aspiration is to get below that by this time next week. Considering I started off at 97.9kg it is a big improvement. Thank you to all the people who have encouraged me. I couldn't have done without you. 

Last night we watched " Miss Fiisher's Murder Mysteries."  It was the last of the series. I am going to miss Phrynny. At least it was a bit different from other series.  I loved her eccentricity and her gorgeous clothes and the era the series is set in. Hope it comes back again.

Yesterday, for me, was such a good day. I am progressing well with my scrapbooking project . It is just about finished. My knitting project is not progressing quite so well. I'm up to my fifth pull out and  begin again. Never mind, it's a test of patience. I've never had a lot of that. I'm still praying for improvement in that area.

What  I was grateful for today 

The sun came out and lifted spirits. My scrapbooking progressed well. I was healthy and alive to greet another day. That's a lot to be grateful for.

God in my life

Being loved and cared about, prosperity of spirit, feeling happy, having positive thoughts. Continuing to read my little white book which will finish at Pentecost. I will miss that too. And of course my daily prayers.

 Find happiness within yourself and let it grow. And as it grows and increases......... pass it on. And may you find yourself wrapped in God's unconditional love. C.