Purpose

I went to a friend's place yesterday and saw the most incredibly beautiful collection of trees that I have seen for years. I didn't take a photo though which is a bit unusual for me, but it was a place so full of grace and spirit that it felt like I was in a cathedral. I was! Mother Nature's cathedral that man has yet to improve upon. I was too overwhelmed and moved to even think about my camera. Maybe I will be lucky enough to see it another day.

A magnificent magnolia from a tree that I saw yesterday.



Whilst I was talking to my friend we came to the subject of 'life's purpose'. She gave me an answer that all the self help books that I have read have failed to do. She said 'your purpose is to be a joyful and positive energy on this planet.' Wow! That is so true. To strive to live a life that is lived with joy and the ability to be positive and to find that positivity in all aspects of your life is our sole purpose. I love that answer.

The other thing that I have discovered
today is that many people feel the need to be perfect but become very happy when they learn to embrace their imperfections. I wonder why we have this need to be 'perfect'? I suspect it comes back down to the media images we see all the time of people who we may perceive to be perfect on the outside but that is not what gets us through each day. To feel happy with what we are on the outside and the inside is what really matters. Sadly it is a lack of feeling good on the inside that makes people bully or put people down. I have recently seen a very good example of a young girl who seems to have all that she wanted, but is still being nasty to someone whom she obviously still sees as a threat. That can only be because she isn't recognising her own positives both externally and internally. I don't think that those feelings can be given but have to be learnt. This can often take many years and much pain. I speak from experience and it is a good reason to value my age. It brings so much more than grey hair and everything heading south!
It gives me a greater chance of achieving my purpose in life and that has to be a good thing.

Blogging and the Seasons.

I love reading all the various blogs. It makes me happy to read all the people out there who have the same thoughts as me and the same desire to express them to those who want to listen, or should that be read? In one the writer has asked about Christmas and how do people celebrate or otherwise. The comments are interesting. I celebrate with very simple things like walking in the Australian bush early in the morning with my daughter and dogs. We even saw 'Rudolph' one morning who thought he was safe from being seen because of the early hour.
 This year for the first time it will be just one dog which will be very sad but the other one will be with us in spirit. She loved her walks. I feel sad just thinking about our little family being one short.                                                 



Walking the tracks in earlier days.



But then we go to our friends' place for Christmas lunch and their dog loves it and makes sure he gets plenty of good food by asking very nicely for it as you can see in this photo!

Those two small things have become our little family Christmas traditions. My daughter and I treasure them and I hope we can continue them for many years to come. We are lucky to have such wonderful friends. We are grateful for such wonderful friends. Even when one of our dogs has gone, or if we should be away for that day, we will always have that feeling of fun and sharing in our hearts and that is what matters most.

I do know that Christmas can be a very lonely and depressing time of year for many people who don't have a good relationship perhaps with family or due to family splits which means that the usual way of enjoying Christmas is no more. I think the other thing is  that people feel incredibly pressured into spending huge amounts of money. This is a really difficult one and it took me a very long time to come to terms with my feelings of guilt, shame and unworthiness and realise that those feelings were ridiculous. If I didn't have lots of money and refused to go into debt for the sake of one day then I had to understand that a small gift, a hand made gift or no gift, when given with love and real thought was as worthy if not more so and that I did NOT have to buy into the commercial 'sell'.

One has to be very organised though to be able to give handmade and I have not been that this year. I am also a really big fan of giving people gifts 'just because I can' so to speak. In the Disney movie version of Alice In Wonderland the  Mad Hatter sings a song called a Very Happy Unbirthday to You. That appeals to me. I am going to start giving people UnChristmas presents. Or maybe I can give people Summer Equinox presents to celebrate the passing of the seasons. I am not big on Christianity  so that might be more in keeping with my views of reasons to celebrate.

All I really wish for everyone, known and unknown, is that they have a safe and happy time with those they love and that the New Year is a time of hope and expectancy of good times. For those who are dealing with loss and sadness, try and allow the depth of the grief to be replaced with the happiness of memories of Christmas days gone by. 

Preserving.

I finished work today and went to the local green grocer and there I saw boxes of 'rain marked' cherries for five dollars. I had lent my bottling pan and bottles to a friend just yesterday as she wanted to bottle cherries again as her mother used to do . I was on the phone to her as quick as can be to say that the cherries were there at that price. We decided that we really couldn't go wrong with them being that cheap and I quickly bought two boxes. I went and got new rings for the bottles at Dahlsens. It gives me hope that they are so available as that means there is a demand for them.
Well I went around to my friend's place and we sorted through all the cherries. She washed and sterilised the pan and the bottles and prepared syrup, while I checked each cherry and took out those that had a mark on them but were still good enough for jam and pulled off the stems. We washed and put into the bottles the best of the fruit.



Rain marked cherries -yum!

It was such fun to be doing something so useful and it was great fun to be doing it with a friend. I was so grateful to have someone to ring and say 'look how cheap the fruit is' and she got where I was coming from and was excited too!
I was also really pleased that I had kept the old bottling outfit that I was given, along with lots and lots of bottles, probably about 18 years ago! I kept thinking that I should get rid of it over the last few years but I just couldn't bear to part with it. Now I am glad that I have it, as I don't think you can buy stove top ones anymore, only electric. That means I can use it on a gas stove or for that matter a wood stove. I bought a new thermometer and that was pretty cheap at Dahlsens. I am now busy looking in my books about preserving and conserving for recipes for various yummy things to make.
I am at my happiest when I am doing homemaking things and I often wish that I could find the best path to having enough income to live but still have plenty of time to care for things. I am an earth mother at heart but I only have one child and she doesn't live with me anymore.
So I will enjoy my cherries and share them with friends. 

It is such a warm feeling to be making things to enjoy over the coming months. I also love the fact that I am using a bottling outfit that has been really well used and is really very old. That makes me feel the connection with my elders and their wisdom. I have asked my 94 year old mother to let me know her secrets about living through the depression and I can't wait to read the letter and learn some things that will be of use to me.

Well I am off to walk the dog in between the storms I hope! I am bound to see something of interest in the park as I nearly always do. Here is a honeyeater I saw last time I took the camera with me.

I write this blog with the intent of preserving my experiences in the hope of encouraging others to also remember and preserve their own memories and/or food.



Time will tell!

It is a very windy day today and it can't make up it's mind if it is warm or cold. Maybe it is just me that can't make up my mind. I got my front lawn done today but didn't get all the back done. It is a constant chore at the moment. All the trees are shooting beautiful new leaves and even the largest older trees are putting forth new growth.

I think the bright green new leaves look very pretty. They let you know that those leaves are new and tender.

I think growth in everything is quite lovely. Do you notice when your children 'grow?' If you could put a colour to their new found ideas, knowledge or understanding it would be bright new green and it is often tender. They know it, but it is only with practice that they gain faith in what they have learnt. When you think about it, that is the way that it is, or at least should be, for all of our lives! As the saying goes 'we do not stop learning/playing because we grow old but we grow old when we stop learning/playing!'

I feel sorry for adults who stop listening to the music, ideas, etc. of the younger generations. We may not like all of the new stuff but there is always some magic in amongst it if we choose to take notice of it. I am a big believer in having respect for our elders, but those same elders must be worthy of the respect. In the  same vein I think we should have respect for the new generations if they deserve the respect. It is about respect for each other and being aware of what is happening outside of your own little world. We cannot fix the world on our own but then also 'no man is an island.'

That is where the growth comes in and if we are intent with always growing and learning, then we will automatically see and understand wisdom no matter from where it comes.

There is a very interesting book that came out many years ago called 'The Indigo Children' and I found it quite fascinating as it put forward that there are many children being born that seem to have an innate wisdom in them. I see that often with very small children who will have a distinct aura of having been on this earth before. Some parents find this quite intimidating but I think it is a challenge that we all need to rise up to.

The post war generations are leaving behind a very uncertain future and the inhabitants of this future will need all the wisdom and skills they possess in order to navigate the challenges that they are bound to face.

It will be a very different world in the latter part of the 21st century that we cannot even imagine. Just as those people of the 19th century could not imagine the technology, etc. of today.

Yet it is all growth -it is just that some growth is not necessarily of service to others - that we can see! Time will tell!

Simple Things

Well we have had a very wet weekend but it was also quite warm when the wind was not blowing. I had my daughter at home this weekend and we went to Tarra Bulga Park where we volunteer and had a fun day there. We found ourselves very amused by these somewhat friendly rosellas. When we first had them come near us we were impressed by the close vicinity of them but by the time I was taking the video they were sitting all over my car and had been sitting on my camera. I couldn't work out how to take a photo of them on it!

I have been taking a few videos lately as I have had a few birds around the place. I have a magpie family come along for some food for the baby and I took this video of mumma feeding big squawky bubba. Don't you love the way the baby squawks but then has to muffle squeak while the food is being stuffed down it's throat.



I am finding that I am very fascinated by birds and think that I may well have a bird as my next pet. I currently have two canaries that I really love but I would prefer to have a bird that you could let out and allow some free flying too. I would love to have a raptor as a friend. Wow it must be awesome to have an eagle land on you. It is pretty amazing to have a rosella land on you. Very humbling and makes you feel very grateful that it should trust you enough to use you as a landing spot.
I have some lovely affirmation cards by Twigseeds and one of those says that 'Words have wings so speak good things.' I think that is probably true and it is amazing the words that do wing their way back to you. They are not always good words though.
My daughter has been away working and she was telling me that the crew of people that she was working with were trying to work out what sort of bird each of them would be and I was fascinated to hear that they were doing this. That was a game I used to play with friends when I was very young. I loved trying to imagine what sort of animal someone would be. You have to know the person and the animals or birds pretty well. It is lots of fun though. Try it yourself sometime. It can be the cause of great hilarity amongst a group.
It warms my heart though to hear that such simple things that were enjoyed so many years ago can still be enjoyed today. It is the simple things of life that last and continue to be valuable to our every day living. May you have a day of fun giving simplicity today. Don't underestimate that simplicity though as it is very very valuable on many different levels.

Being Brave

Well I seem to have had trouble putting finger to keyboard for the last two weeks or so but here I go today. I have so many things that flow through my mind in any one day about many many things. I have a few wonderful friends who get me through times of confusion, or at least times when I find it hard to sort out what it is that I really think about life and issues that catch my attention.
I seem to have had many images put in front of me lately with regard to the likely state of the future and that has made me confront my thoughts about my future. 

A 1000 year old Myrtle Beech in Tarra Bulga National Park
Will it be there in another 1000 years?
Will it be there in another 100 years?

I have spoken to quite a few different people and all have had a slightly different view on the way forward for themselves, but the conclusion that I have come to for me is as follows: I must continue to live my life to the greatest extent as I have always done, which is mindfully. I was brought up by a woman who had endured the great depression and the second World War and all the hardships and restrictions that those two events caused.

That meant that I have never left lights on in lots of rooms or wasted water or anything else really. I can look back on my life and truly feel that I have always been unintentionally, reasonably 'green'. I have used petrol like it will always be there though. It never occurred to me when I was young that governments would allow the actual land that it takes care of to be so abused and damaged. I guess the first inkling of that was the Franklin River issue in the 70's but that has been repeated in many other forms and places ie the clearing of old growth forests and the growing of crops in the dry areas and using ridiculous amounts of water to do so. I was not intending to be green as such but I love the earth and all that it is i.e. trees, animals, water , plants, etc. so I tried to be aware of the seasons and the state of all around me.

In hindsight I see that this was really the start of my belief in a greater power than man! I used to say I didn't believe in God but I believe in Mother Nature and I still feel the same way. No man or woman that I have ever met has the ability to invent anything as beautiful as the Web of Life that we exist within and all it's wonders, like sunsets, mountains, rain forests, hedgehogs or hummingbirds.

The Beautiful Blue Planet.

It has always been easy for me to live in harmony with the elements of Nature but I have often struggled with the complexities of people and how general social behaviour has changed so rapidly. A friend said to me recently 'Life is hard and we have to be brave!' That really struck a chord with me and I thought to myself how right she is!

So I am going to be brave and put this blog out for, hopefully, many more people to read and comment on and I am going to be brave.If people like what I write I hope they say so and if people don't like what I write that is good to hear also, as it is often through adversity that we learn our greatest lessons. So please, if you like what you read pass this in to someone else who you think might like it too!

Thank you all Walnutters.

Remembrance

Today was the 11th of the 11th of 2010. I always try to have a minutes silence at 11.00am on this day and I am always very moved by The Last Post. It is a beautiful piece of music and I always think what pressure it is on the bugler to get it note perfect. Wouldn't you feel like a fool if you  got it wrong?

I don't think that we should be involved in wars at this point of time as all those who made it through the world wars say that war is useless and a waste of life and time. I believe them as they have lived it and they fought in a war that really did involve us, at least in the 2nd World War.
I am not going to get too bogged down in those controversial topics as I haven't thought it all through enough and governments will do what they do. I am fairly sure that those who join the services do so in order to fight so I guess they are happy. Who am I to query it then?

I am very tired at the moment to the point of being quite weepy. I get like that when I am overtired so I need to take some time to meditate and still myself. It is so easy to get back on the mouse wheel and start running in order to survive. I have started drinking some beautiful herbal teas that really do seem to be helping me settle.


Try some and learn about them by going to this web site. Lovely lady and lovely organic or wild grown herbs.  http://www.inaleafherbs.com

I hope you took time today to be quiet for a minute and remember! Remember whatever you want. I nearly always remember my school days on this day as I can recall so clearly the announcement coming over the sound system and the lessons being suspended and everyone standing quietly and respectfully - not even any giggling from the girls or jostling from the boys.

So if you haven't stopped today, do so now and stand in quietness for one minute and be grateful for the life we have and the freedoms we have.

Poppies in Flanders Fields.

In Flanders Fields

Lieut-Col John McCrae, 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amidst the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

My respects to those whose efforts have allowed me to be here in this wonderful country called Australia.

Lest We Forget!

Red Sky in the Morning Shepherds Warning...

I was nearly late for work this morning as I just had to get a photo of this spectacular sunrise! Remains to be seen if the 'warning' is justified.

I had lunch with a group of women yesterday who were so interesting. They all come from very different backgrounds with different reasons for being in the grou,p but that is what makes a group so good. I am very pleased that this group has been started and I certainly hope it will continue.

I believe that in this society we miss out on the community and support of other women. Everyone is so busy trying to earn a living that we are losing sight of the real riches of life. I know that it is becoming very hard to earn enough just to live a simple life, let alone if you are trying to raise a family and buy a house to live in. I listen to all the talk on TV about the banks and the huge profits they are making for the share holders and the utility companies who just keep putting up their costs but no-one is actually addressing the fact that this behaviour is really hurting people. I wonder where it will all end.

Will there be thousands of homeless people and will Australia become a place of poverty and desperation? I find that I just don't think about it as I don't have an answer, so I might as well just get through each day and enjoy the little things that don't cost money - like beautiful sunrises!

The company of great women also helps me to enjoy my day and I have terrific friends who make me smile. So really I am rich and so are you if you have people who love you and care about you. 

Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find
That money cannot be eaten.
CREE INDIAN PROPHECY.

I try to keep these words in my mind always and they help me keep positive about the future. Then we will all be equal except that if we know how to live with very little and without relying on money then we are the ones who are rich. Teach your children the wisdom of your elders. It was a mere 80 years ago that the Great Depression had the world in its grip and people took care of each other and themselves. We can do that too!

Money isn't everything though I understand that it does make living easier if you have enough to feed and warm yourself inside a dwelling.

Spring and Flowers

I have been picking many of my roses as they are so full of open flowers and buds that the branches are hanging down to the ground. I try and have only plants and trees and shrubs in my garden that are edible, useful or have a lovely scent. My roses are filling the house with their perfume and it is wonderful.




Sweet smelling roses.

I have lots of herbs and they are all flowering and growing with vigour and strength with the great rain we have had. The long range forecast for Victoria is to be a wet and cooler summer. As I am very human I feel a little groan inside me as that means lots of grass mowing and work in the garden to me. Now there are lots of people who will be very glad of such a forecast and for many different reasons. I am not a big fan of great heat but I am looking forward to sitting under the tree in the shade and it being hot. Even as I write that there is a little voice inside my head that knows it is weather and it will do what it wants to do, so I should just accept it and get on with it!

I think it is another lesson like the one I have learnt in my latest job. I have finally got the hang of the fact that it will take as long as it takes and that there is little likelihood of any changes happening that will improve the situation, so I might as well get on with it and not even think about it! Like the weather. So if I can do it in one situation then I can do it in another. So I will just fit in my day around the weather and not worry about it.
I am busy trying to figure out all the things that I can make for people for Christmas. I have decided that I have more time than money and I want to give of myself to friends. I love giving presents but I am very much a person  who loves to give 'Unbirthday" presents and 'Unchristmas' presents. I think it is fun to give someone something randomly. I love the presents that are given to me for no reason except that the person was thinking about me and thought that I would like the gift. I find that to be a lovely thought.
I am also busy sorting through the stuff that I have and sorting out what needs to go and if I want it to stay then I need to be very clear as to why I want that. My mother always used to say ' a tidy room,house, desk, etc. is a tidy mind. ' I am starting to believe that now and I find that as I am finding myself again after being firstly a mother for so long, that I am able to look at things and say no I want that gone as it no longer fits me. I find it fascinating how we seem to continually change and grow and maybe go back to what we thought we had moved on from. Life is so short that we must remain flexible and tolerant, of ourselves and others. There but for the Grace of God go I. That is a truth of life I believe and I am grateful that I only have my life to deal with and not the life that some other people have. It is all relevant though isn't it? Be good to yourselves and enjoy your day no matter the weather. Keep in mind that Christmas is very close though.

The Moon The Moon The Beautiful Moon

As you can see I have put a cute little moon phase thingy on my blog. I have been hearing so much about how if we live our life with reference to the moon then everything will work better. I have known about this for years with reference to gardening but I have always been too lazy I guess, to really put in the time to work out what I should be doing when. I have promised myself that I will give it a go in 2011 so thought I would start with this little moon widget thing. If you are interested you can go back to the website and read more about it all. People who grow things bio dynamically do so with the moon. If you have seen some of the produce then you know that it works for them.
One of the main reasons I decided to take more note of and interest in the moon is because I seem to spend a certain amount of time where I start to feel a bit down and feel like I need to review many aspects of my life. It occurred to me the other day that this actually seems to happen on what may be a regular basis and I thought perhaps I should take note of what day of the month, which led me on to think about the phases of the moon. I am over menopause so that is not an issue except perhaps we still have something happening to the old hormones even then. So I will wait and see what my observations, if anything, show me. This photo is taken by me when I have been captivated by the beauty of the moon in the night sky. Not very good though.


Full Moon shining down on me.

The day or two of feeling a little reflective has been a really good thing because it has made me look at what I am doing with my time and I feel like I am now ready to take on some more challenges. This is an interesting thought as I seem to have spent my life making changes and accepting challenges which is a good thing in one way but not so hot in other ways. It has made for many interesting experiences and a great deal of learning but it has also meant that I am a 'jack of all trades and master of none!'

I have done lots of different jobs but I have never packed up and left my country to go to a new place just to try and get on in life. It seems rather odd that we have so many people leaving their home in order to try and find a country where they can make more money and have more stuff and yet the trend in those countries is to simplify and reduce in order to keep the planet going.

It is a funny old world we live in folks. Maybe that is because the moon is pulling us all in its tidal pull!

I must go as I can hear the baby magpie out the front squarking at it's mum and she will be hoping that I put out some mince and make her life a little easier. Isn't it wonderful that when I arrive home in my car the mama magpie arrives on the fence? Who ever says that birds are dumb? Magpies certainly aren't!



Wise Words

If you are like me you are often inspired by words. I have just read somewhere the following "Confidence comes from not always being right but from not being scared to be wrong". I read these words and went 'yes!'. I have often wondered what it is that 'makes' self-esteem as I have seen young people who have been brought up with positive messages and as young adults seem to have grave doubts about their abilities, whilst I have seen others who have not necessarily had such positive feed back but they seem to have all the confidence and assurance they could want. I also read somewhere that self-esteem cannot be given to someone but must be earnt by the individual. That also makes sense to me.
Raising children is such a hard thing to do but in hindsight it needs to be done with confidence that is accumulated by the above mentioned method.
The same sentiment relates to writing a blog on the Internet. I have been reluctant to put this blog 'out there' too much as I was aware that I need to be ready for the negatives and not just the positives. I am always very interested to hear differing points of view provided that they are not accompanied by vitriol. I love to have debates and discussions about all sorts of subjects but I am not interested in anger or hate or any of those sorts of attitudes. I think life is too short to be lived like that. On the other hand I also think that anger is a very valid emotion. I have read so many things that say that we should not be angry and my immediate reaction to that is, then why do we have that emotion? It is within us for a reason I have no doubt and just as we should control our other emotions, so we should with our anger. There is a lot that can be written about these thoughts but I will leave it at that for now. Have a great day and remember it is just fine to be 'wrong'. It is part of being human.



A place for peace.



Being Aware and Grateful

It was a beautiful day today and I took myself down to the beach. It was lovely and my best mate loved it. He gets great pleasure out of chasing the waves and the seagulls and just running with the wind in his hair, on the beach.


Is that a seagull over there?

I don't get to the beach very often and I wonder why I don't make more effort when I do get there. I strolled along the beach keeping an eye on the little guy, like a child, in case he went in too far and got caught in the undertow. To listen to the rhythmic sound of the waves is very calming. As I walked I wondered how many generations after me will see what I see. I am probably, on the surface, seeing much the same as previous generations of white people. There is probably a lot missing under the waves but that is another story for another day.

As I drove down there I became very conscious that we, the people alive today, may be the only ones who have the opportunity to see so much of this world. We have had the privilege of not only the finite resources of oil to fuel our cars and planes, but the knowledge of how to use these machines. I personally have done almost no overseas travel but I know lots of people who have done huge amounts and some still do!
It has been a very resourceful century and a half or so hasn't it? The result of all this may end up being that the glorious coastline that I looked at today may be gone in the future.
All of these thoughts really just made me so aware and so very grateful that I can see this beautiful environment. I believe that we must all go through our days much more aware than perhaps we have in the past. If the majority of scientists  are wrong and the climate change is not man made, it doesn't matter what the cause if the beach is many metres inland.
There are many houses on the coast and many people will be affected.
The real gain though is that we will benefit in our hearts and minds if we live our lives consciously and with gratitude. We will feel better and we will be happier. Everything around us has a message if we bother to look for it. My message for today was that the sea will keep on rolling in, the same or further, no matter what is happening in my life so I might as well just roll along with it and don't sweat the small stuff but be grateful for the small blessings in your day.


A beautiful view.

Close your eyes and imagine the sound of the waves rolling in. Clear your mind and give yourself ten minutes of 'me' time to meditate and feel right with the world.   Better still take the time this weekend to drive down to the coast if you can and listen to it for real. It is still 'me' time and good for all the family to do. Please be mindful though and really stop and appreciate what it is that you are seeing, smelling, hearing and feeling. Enjoy!

Using Time Well.

I have a week off work and it has been amazing how much I value this time. I have been busy trying to find the balance between not wasting my precious week and not trying to do so much that I go back to work for a rest. So I did all the boring things yesterday like washing and ironing so that I don't have to think about work until next Sunday. I had a visit from a friend and we sat under the walnut tree and drank a cuppa and chatted. I think that was the start of my holiday! To take the time to appreciate a good friend or perhaps having the free time to do so. Then I decided that I wasn't going to stress about the lawns, plus I am old enough to remember that you weren't allowed to make noise on a Sunday as that was everyone's day of rest! Wonder what happened to that concept? So as I had a few hours before dark, thanks to daylight saving, I headed off to the bush. There I visited my friend and her various animals. The geese and the chooks, her little dog and the peace and quiet of the bush. My day was made perfect by the privilege of seeing a baby echidna.



Very cute and so innocent.

 As I drove home I got to thinking how we seem to be constantly striving for balance in our lives. What happened that we are all rushing around and half the women in the world are feeling guilty about whether they should be working and leaving children in care and they have very little time to actually enjoy themselves. The men likewise are working and expected to work longer and longer hours. They too are constantly striving for some time to themselves when they are not doing something that they 'have' to do. Even the children are being rushed off to sport or some other activity. Whatever happened to daydreaming and just spending time 'mucking about'? 
I think we all need to work on that 'simple life' that is so beautiful and fulfilling and try hard to find the work/life balance within that lifestyle. 
 I know, so much easier said than done, but if I say it often enough and with conviction then maybe we will all get it and the world will be a nicer place for that.
I suspect that if advertising was totally banned in the world we would very quickly become not only more balanced but more sustainable and very likely more humane to not only people but all the other inhabitants of this earth eg animals, birds, insects, trees, rocks, air and everything in between. Think about that. I would be interested to hear if others get what I mean by that statement.
Have a great day and try to find the time to truly see and hear and feel everything in your day.


Mr Gander who didn't bite me!



Crab Apple blossom.



Different Paths to the Same Place

There are many things happening that seem to be emphasising the differences between people. It seems that there is a lot of TV coverage of the major Catholic event of a new saint and perhaps especially so because she is Australian. I didn't think that saints had nationalities? What is the nationality of Saint Christopher? Does it matter?


Personally I find that there is perhaps a lack of respect and value given to the natural world by Christianity. I have not read the Bible from cover to cover though! I also have never ever since I was a little girl, understood why there can be so many factions of one belief. I have never had that question answered satisfactorily. I guess it is the same as the extremist Muslim groups and it is as wrong to judge all in that religion as to judge everybody by some of the things that have been done in the name of the Christian God over the centuries.


I do however believe in a greater power because I am very sure in my mind that no human has the capacity to produce the beauty and wonder that is our natural world.
To look at the pregnant belly of a woman or a horse or a dog and then to see the resulting infant is miraculous. We don't know how it begins for all man's fiddling with gene's and DNA etc. I don't believe the answer to the chicken or the egg has yet been found! That is Great Spirit's little secret and long may SHe keep it.
 

Three very pregnant mums!



A very proud mother with the result of her big belly!


I also personally think that it is very important that we do have a spiritual belief as I think it makes life and death much more pleasant and easy to deal with. If you have thought about and come to a firm belief, then living and all it's ups and downs becomes much easier to accept and be positive about and death is not just inevitable but a place we will reach in its own good time. We will all reach that place but all by our own individual paths. I believe that there are as many points of view as people on the planet.

Enough of serious matters now. I haven't written for a little while as I have been very busy doing double shifts at work which leaves me with minimum time. So I bought someone else's beautiful handmade jam this week. I thought it looked so beautiful that I took a photo to show you. It also served a double purpose as it was purchased from a school fund raising stall. It will last me for many months! Yum yum.
 

L to R Passionfruit & Melon Jam, Lime Marmalade, Quince Jelly, Crab Apple Jelly, Blackberry Jam.



The flowers of the Crab Apple!

Another instance of what I find a natural wonder is this!

The start of the contents of the jar second from right

 is shown in this photo.
This is my beautiful Crab Apple tree.

I was given a tree such as this by a very dear friend who died

suddenly and though this is not the same tree - I had to leave that at a previous residence - it still reminds me of the love and preciousness of the friendship she gave to me and my family. I think of her often and feel grateful for having known her love.

That is another whole discussion for another day! Friendship and what it means.

Ah what a wonderful and multi dimensional world we live in.

May all the Catholics enjoy their day of great significance tomorrow!



We Must Have Rain in order to Have Rainbows.

I had to rush outside last night and  take a photo of the beautiful complete rainbow that shone in the sky after a heavy downpour. It looked so beautiful and reminded me that there is always beauty if you look for it.
The rain and the warmth is certainly giving me (and everyone else) plenty of work in keeping up with the lawn mowing but just think how the worms, the yabbies, the plants and the trees are loving it and feeling so relieved that they have some water.
The drought may be over officially but don't forget that one year of rain does not make up for fourteen of drought. I do not understand why water restrictions have been lifted in Melbourne.
Melbourne businesses and residents should remember that in order for them to have water they are taking it away from other places. To bring water down from the Murray means less in that river and its systems. To have it piped down from the Thompson dam means that there is little flow in the Thompson River. The beauty and the ecosystems of the Wonthaggi area have to be affected in ways that cannot be known yet in order for cities to have water. Would those people who use the water with little or no thought be happy if a huge structure was built in  their street to take care of some rural area? I don't think so! All of us need to be more aware and grateful for what we have.
My daughter gives an example of this awareness as follows: think about the resources required to make a takeaway coffee cup. You need the man and the trucks etc. to cut down a tree and take it to the processing plant. Then you need the many people required to put it through the processing plant to make it into paper and then send the paper off to the processing plant to make it in to a cup and coat it with plastic so that it is heat and liquid proof. You will then need a transport and driver to take it to the coffee shop and then you will need someone to make the coffee for you. So far all of this has probably been a process that has taken many hours over weeks and now you have your take away coffee! It will take you all of maybe 10-15 minutes to drink it then you will throw it away. This is why you have people talking of sustainability. How long can we use all this energy and time and cost for so little reason? That is not taking into account the further cost of taking the throw away cup to the tip and how long it takes to break down in the soil.
If you do enjoy a cup of coffee think seriously about using a 'Keep Cup'. To buy these go to the following link: http://www.keepcupstore.com/ . Thank you for being aware and taking care of this wonderful blue planet.

Well I have got off track from rainbows but you know it is all a great big web that we are in whether we like it or not! So enjoy and we will talk again soon. Have a great day.

Marbles - Tom Bowlers?

This was sent to me by email and I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with everybody!

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broad casting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.

A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.

And so, as one smart bear once said..."If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." - Winnie the Pooh.

 

New Life Abounds -or does it?

The new year's growth on the walnut tree.

It has finally warmed up and the grass is growing too quickly! The new leaves are coming through on the walnut tree. Well the catkins - the male and female parts that will become the leaves and the nuts. The wonder of nature. I love to be in a space where I can observe these things.
You know when you think about it there is nothing new in the world. When the tree closes down for the winter it already has the new buds and flowers and leaves within it. That is the true wonder that man doesn't really understand. Nor should he in my opinion.
If you think about it we have the same capacity within us. We can blossom and grow at any time that we choose or we can close down and hibernate within ourselves. We still have that capacity to blossom and grow though even if we choose to hide it. It is all within us and we all have different 'flowers' or 'seeds' or 'nuts' or whatever it is that is our particular talent or passion or personality trait even.
I had the profound pleasure of being contacted by a wonderful person who was my best friend and my 'sister' when I was in my early teens. She and all of her family nurtured and supported me at a time when I desperately needed it and my memories of that time are all of laughter and a loving family atmosphere. See they are the seeds of happy, carefree and sunny times that have been hidden within me for more than forty years and now they are blossoming forth again.
Life is an amazing and wonderful journey that is sometimes difficult and sometimes easy, but if you allow it and don't fight it, always interesting. Have a great day watching your hidden seeds blossom forth.

Grey Days

It seems that we here in West Gippsland, Victoria are just not getting much in the way of sunshine.I usually love the cold and the wet as it is a contrast to the heat of summer.
However I find that I am having to be very conscious of not letting myself be dragged into that feeling of  depression or S.A.D (seasonal affective disorder)  For weeks we have been having what I believe the Scots call 'dreek'. I love that word! It sounds like it is.
I am so hoping that we have a real spring where it is not too hot and the sun is shining. Days like that are ones to inspire 'spring cleaning', to get the veggie garden going or to just get out in the sunshine and soak up the Vitamin D.
To keep happy I am knitting myself a jacket of many colours and I am loving the feeling of creativity that it is producing. I have been given the secret of how to produce this cornucopia of colour and texture that unfolds like a painting as you go! If you wish to learn more about this email me at thewalnuttree@dcsi.net.au and I will try to explain how to go about it.It is very easy once you know how, though it is best if you have some knitting experience.  I might even have a go at doing a quick video on my camera. It is nice to sit whilst you construct something of use and relax.


My Jacket of many colours in construction!

A good way of getting rid of that S.A.D. feeling.
It is fun though to balance it out with a rugged up and rapid walk with the dog. That gets the blood circulating and the dog is happy and you feel lighter too!

Reconnecting With Nature

I finished work early yesterday so I decided to get some Vitamin D into me. I went to a friend's place and lay on a hill top and watched the lambs play "King of the Castle" on the dam wall. The sheep are all quiet and friendly so they just got on with their eating, playing and feeding their new babies, while my friend and I plus our three dogs sat and watched. It does the soul good to just sit and listen to the breeze in the trees, the black cockatoos calling, the lambs bleating in reply to their mothers' loud blah checking where they are.

I think we all need to touch and reconnect with Mother Earth. I have chosen to live a quieter life that is not so driven by work demands and I still find that I suffer if I don't find the time to 'be' with nature.

If you are working long and hard and always busy, then the saying 'take the time to smell the roses' applies to you.
Most people have a park somewhere near them if they don't have a garden of their own. Just find somewhere that you can touch a tree or sit on some grass and listen to the sounds. Perhaps you need to sit and really look at the sparrows or the pigeons. They belong to nature and if you allow yourself to really be a part of them you will feel better for it. Imagine what their personalities are like. Who is the boss? What are they saying to each other? Do any of them remind you of any people that you know? I bet there is at least one that behaves like your boss or your mother or the ticket collector on the train.
Try it! You might like the experience!

Where To Start?

I set up this blog some weeks ago and have kept putting off the actual writing. I have been outside mowing the grass which is starting to grow quite quickly and came in for a drink of water. I thought that my starting point could actually be to comment on the 'starting point' of spring. As I am mowing I see that I have the tiniest little grape hyacinths poking their heads through the grass. They have been quietly struggling along for many years apparently, as the person who lived here some time ago planted them. They have no doubt been mowed over countless times, but they never give up. We can learn a lot from nature can't we? I have also noticed that I have a lot of cape weed in the lawn and that shows a deficiency of some sort. That will be my homework - to find out what it is! Well I have done it! I have made a start with my blog.