Living in the moment.The ever changing scenes of a week gone.
A Diary of sorts

31 May being the last day of Autumn.
Remnants of Roses. A fleeting glimpse of Summer gone.

1 June the first day of Winter.
Braving the cold wind in the garden

2 June
Mending day with 60 year old faithful

3 June Saturday
Grey skies so I always go looking for colour in the garden

4 June. Sunday
Sharing Birthday lunch with family and friends.
Boys…Friends and cousins showing off their trampoline skills
Then hurrying off to fish in the dam over the hill

Driving home through the always beautiful countryside.
Worrombi and Cobbity- my favourites
Observing the low sun created shadows as it hastes to bed amongst the hills


5 June Monday
Taking deep into the soul brilliant blue skies and warm hued Autumn leaves
Finding sunny nooks amongst Winter shadows for a slow morning tea
Sitting in a warm sunroom before dusk approaches
Seeing a molten gold sun slip silently behind the western hills

6 June Tuesday
A mending, bed linen washing, soup making kind of day.
Starting off clear and windy for line drying but changing to cold and wet. Needing a cheerful fire and happy flowers kind of day recently enjoyed at our friends home.

7 June
My beloveds birthday
Wet and cold. Double bar gas heating start to damp morning
Boys in school uniforms to be picked up
Happy birthday to be sung to grandpa….we love our grandchildren. Big and small.

I love these sorts of weeks
The plain, the mundane, the grey, the ordinary mixed with the extraordinary
Find exquisite beauty where you can
However small or humble

Linking up with What Joy is mine

31 May, Autumn 2017, Australia.

The sun is shining its last golden rays.
Beams angling through the neighbouring trees.

Ripening Lemon crop illuminated on escaping skywards tree.

Our neighbour is ageing and not permitted to climb ladders anymore so the tree grows and grows. Certainly careful consideration needs to be undertaken as we age when gardening.

We don’t bounce like a child anymore.

Instead we creak a little or a lot.

Lemon fresh from the farm

The distant mountain range with its accentuated high points…Mount this and Mount that- I can never remember their names! I just know that they are part of the Blue Mountains and my eyes are constantly drawn to them.

So defined, clear and blue today in the cold crisp breeze.

Not Winter cold yet though.

*****

I am sitting in our Sunroom with large windows which in these cooler months is beautifully warm and light….only in the afternoon though when the sun shines. Then we open the connecting door and let the heat warm the Family room too.
The reverse in Summer though. Pleasant in the morning but once the sun peeks in there we close the door.

*****

How swiftly darkness has descended.
As I type by the light of my iPad I can feel the chill starting to creep through my jumper…time to leave this magic room and close the door into the house and turn the gas heater on low.

Winter is on its way

Walking past the Grandchildrens play area I ready the house for days closing. I peek out the windows for one last glance and see the twinkling lights on everywhere in the distance. All the way up the hill and moving as cars wend their way home in the darkness.

*****

It is mesmerising watching the sky changing as it prepares for night….colour, brightness, dazzling touches, brilliance….
Then plainness as the light show disappears and is gone abruptly.

Sunset over Largs Bay , South Australia

Sunset and Moon rise

Is it morning yet!

*****

The heater’s warmth has created a light beautiful Rose perfume. Some end of season roses stolen from my garden.
It was a hard choice. Leave the roses on the languishing bushes for a bit of colour or bring them into the kitchen to enjoy!

My Roses last lingering scented gift of colour

Whilst I sit here in comfort I know my man is sitting out the peak hour traffic somewhere till it thins out and he will wend his own way home.

*****

Are there not many blessings and comforts in life?

I rang my dear mother in another State to keep her company over her evening meal.

As we chatted about the nice warm heaters and warming blankets over her oil heater for the coming nights rest she commented how blessed we are…down the road there is probably a person saying “oh how cold it is, and how can I keep warm”

Everything is at our fingertips.
So easy.

May we never forget our blessings.

Autumn leaves in Wagga Wagga N.S.W.

“>

Memories of a recent school run whence I picked up and drove home two of our grandsons

Question – Bailey, are there puddles at school after all the rain?

Answer – Yes, a big one on the Basketball court. But last week is was REALLY BIG!

Question – Bailey can you climb into your car seat without stepping in this big river of water in the gutter?

Answer – Look Grandma, as he carefully dips the toe of his shoe in the water…the water goes around my shoe.

Boys and water are attracting poles on magnets.

Boys of all sizes loving the Beach!

~*~

So on we drive through the country

“Grandma, did you know it isn’t Summer anymore?

It is”. ..pause…

I help with the starting syllable, Au…

“AUTUMN” is the response

“I have to look at our house for the coloured leaves ” was the wise comment from Mr5yr old who has just started school.

~*~

Having completed my grandma love errand and remembering Bailey’s words I then made this observation.

It being March 2nd, the leaves on the Manchurian Pear trees not two minutes from our house are changing colour to the brightest red and falling.
What beauty surrounds us if we can but see it

We had heat wave maybe a week past then cool change.
Presently sunshine, grey skies, rain and humidity

Poor nature is so confused

Lawns are growing so lush and fast they look to be on steroids.

Maybe the rain will ease enough for the lawn mowers to go out to work…it has been very quiet on that front in the neighbourhood!

A note for hubby. Buy fuel for the mower before the can is empty and lawns are humungeous . He discovered this for himself having gotten changed into gardening attire ready for action.

But a feast for the eyes is the greenness everywhere on hills which would normally be brown.

A benefit too is the fact that there is no need to water the garden…the postman delivered our latest water bill …need I say more?

Even though our Australian summer was very hot and dry I could not starve the garden. I love being out there too much.

Thankful for our beautiful surroundings which creates food for the soul.

Joining Our World Tuesday

Impressions from my sister in law.
Memories of 1978.

#farmergetsawife
Agriculturalists gets a wife
City bride new to the country
City spouse new to the country
City girl marries her farmer
City miss weds her rancher

All of the above are depending on from where you live in this world.
Different expressions….same meaning

“I married my beloved farmer or rancher as the Americans say. A young lady who lived nowhere near the country but by the sea. Near Semaphore in Adelaide, South Australia.

Well all this came to nought. No happy catch up time. No time for chit chat.

Country life line

Rather, a call had been received from my parents in law asking that we return to the farm property immediately for my husband to help with the grain cleaning. In those days you needed to wait having made a booking for a man to go to your property or ranch on a set day to do this job …well that time slot had come early!

There was no new bride to be carried over the threshold. I ventured into our stone cottage myself.

But I love our life here. Over the years we’ve lived in a few different houses. First was that stone cottage.

Cycles of family life.

Alexa back here again.
Our cycles of life
The years roll by
Silently but ever moving

Our family visiting the Farm

Now I must search out that pastie recipe from an old school book when we did Home Economics at High School. My sister in law bakes an awesome one.
Best eaten on a cold day which is the opposite to what we have here presently in Australia. Summer heat waves. Yet I guess you could eat it with a salad.
I think I will wait though so that the oven does not over heat the already warm house.

What a pity I did not keep my copy when I culled all my books during our recent move. The modern copy is rather pricey now.
Live and learn.

Recipe of pasty…….
Page 7 of 8
“Cookery the Australian Way” 50 some years old and still serving and teaching our young.

Memories are the threads of life
A tapestry in the making

Winter is on its way

Wishing with all my heart that I could paint…
Longing to paint and capture that emotion

Holding our youngest grandson recently

At one with the calm Australian bush scene before me

Quietly standing sheltered from the rain
Under the pattering metal roofed verandah

Falling big plops of rain
Dripping from the corrugated iron roof edge
Splashing on the bottom step
One footstep away

Little fingers outstretched and reaching
Little brain processing that new-found sensation
Cold rain in an endless stream of splashing
Splashing on a tiny hand

Watching
Escapee hens enjoying new-found freedom
Speckled, black, white
Iridescent red with browns
Leading endlessly long charmed lives
For now
No fox getting near enough for a taste

Escapee Long Legs

In the rain
Sparkling orbs of reflected light
Rain drops on lush green grass

Clucking hens pecking merrily away
Beady eyes endlessly searching
Then darting for that perfect morsel
Around and under and over
an abandoned for now toy car
Brightest of primary hues
Yellow, red and blue,
Little Tykes, a pedal powered car

Like a artists paint palette before us
Those vibrant and clashing hues
Eye popping in the ozone charged air

Nature versus man-made
It’s own tapestry creating

My arms were full of a sweet munchy little boy
…so precious

With no room for camera
…so sad

No candid shots today

Memory snap shots will have to suffice
So too that all surrounding Earthy, clean washed and lingering remembered scent

No “wow” for all the world to exclaim over

But

A simple still moment

Try it

Savour it

Food for the soul

Balm

Savour that moment today because these ever rolling years have wings and stop for none…they run without a pause button

Time is like a child, it runs

Indeed wings as I found.
This draft was prepared near a year ago and only published now

It was a time of rain

As the Flower of the field, it toils not nor spins…

Cherish each day

A last burst of summer sunshine to gladden the heart

Embrace the seasons and stages of life
Finding joy and beauty where you may

#savour-the-moment

Courtesy pippalou @morgueFile free photos

Fleeting sight through the dappled shade of stately trees

A man walking
Red setter dogs on long leash in one hand
Long Whipper snipper brush cutter in the other hand

I could have imagined it were a laird on his croft
Or a master of his estate
Tramping his lands

Minutes later I heard and saw this same man about his gardening and handyman duties at an Assisted Living residence.

It is so still here beyond these old stones. Just a narrow entrance which is so easily driven past and missed. Yet looking through the wire fence of the tennis court parking lot and beyond the bushes, Sydney city traffic flows.

Safety glasses on and a big shady sun hat.
His brush cutter roaring, seemingly at odds in this setting.
Dogs safely tethered out of sight near the gates at a distance, no doubt enjoying their moment of bliss. Snapping at and devouring the shifting gusts of wind.

Courtesy pippalou@morgueFile free photos

Courtesy terryballard@morgueFile free photos

One brief moment in time.
The “pause button”
A brief escape to another time and another place

Refreshment for the soul on a Tuesday

Now what do I need to do in this my home.
Well there is a cake I could bake
There is another shrub to plant to complete the hedging
There are weeds to pull
Fertilizer of the Cow Manure variety to be sprinkled and watered in
Cane mulch to be spread around the shrubs
Tis a very messy and itchy job even with a face mask on
Some carpets and stairs to be vacuumed …

All the above done except for the cake. I can always eat a muesli bar!
Muscles creaking from an overload of bending….you know how it is when you start with one thing and it just snowballs.

But such a great feeling on a Wednesday night walking into a clean house. It makes the creaky-ness worth it.

Even more so for next time with cake

Care Alert for peace of mind

Many a dream,
Of hope and maybe

Full of memories
Sad and good,
Joy and reflection

Is it a noun or verb or I know not what?

A word full of Life’s lessons past or future
Full of the maybe, what if, I’m not sure,
or shall we

Is it wise or is it not

To me #when was an immediate flash back to childhood times.
Three blond little girls in a family

When, that single word.
A brief glimpse back
Deja vu

Happiness and joy of children playing in the countryside…without any technology and gadgets
Just fresh air Remember when

Five minute Friday

Courtesy Pennywise@morgueFile free photos

My kitchen table
Bare feet
Perfect for sitting and thinking
Door open to the back garden
Slight breeze from outside
Slow whirling fan on the other side

How blessed

Washing on line showing off its drying flip flying dance

Courtesy SavaMatkovitch@morguFile free photos

I can just sit and ponder
At nature, even in a small suburban back yard
Dreaming of the country

There is nothing earth shattering here
Just peace and contentment
Clean and fresh scented sheets for this evening

Now a battered straw hat by my feet
A garden inspected and watered
New growth shooting forth from recently planted hedging

Mud dauber wasps with their dangling long legs
Searching for that perfect bit of mud and soil
Ponderously flying like a water laden fire fighting plane
In orange and black hues
Beware they say to me

Thinking back

Where have the years gone
Our very first experience of grandparent hood
Joy and adventure
Seventeen years and a few days
The birth of our first granchild, Renee

Courtesy GaborfromHungary@morgueFile free photos

A new era
Precious
All of them
Family

My five minutes of contentment on this day
Enjoyed doubly by writing
Hoping you too found a moment to pause.

Joining With some Grace
For Flog Yo Blog on Fridays

Courtesy chelle@morgueFile free photos

Whilst having a quiet day home today I came upon an interesting article.
It made me think.
About life, people and things.

But let’s take a few steps back some years to when my son and his wife came visiting from Texas.

Texas shares it’s border with Mexico, so naturally there is quite a connection with its food and culture.

There is beautiful pottery. Colourful designs and patterns. So many differing styles. Rich earthy or clashing hues.

Courtesy hotblack@morgueFile free photos

Courtesy hotblack@morgueFile free photos

Courtesy rosevita@morgueFile free photos

Our loved ones brought over two bowls ever so carefully wrapped. One smallish bowl in earthy hues survived intact and still now sits facing me as I type today.

The other larger bowl sadly was in a few big pieces plus slivers!

Yet I still held onto it wrapped in plastic, for an age.

One day I decided that there would be no harm in trying to glue it back together.
Needless to say it took me a long time needing much patience.

Because many of the pieces were slivers it was impossible to make a perfect join. There were sections where I could see through. Gaps. Dots of glue holding this fragile beauty in place.

But I had my thing of beauty.
Imperfect.
Fragile
A labour of love twice
A tenuous connection with family far away

I looked at this dish often when I walked past, even more so as it had a real emotional hands on tug at my heart .

It was not to be a perfect gift, instead there was a better gift.
Lasting through many years of fragility it finally died, but it made an impression which when reading this article brought it all back to mind.

Thank you Mike and Denise

Perfectness does not make us.

Now go and follow the link and read the article by Tim Willard
“Beauty in brokenness”

IBOT Linking with Essentially Jess

jdurham@morgueFilefree photos

This is a Post-it note
Notebook
Diary to myself
To remember

Old-timer
Waiting patiently for a new outfit
Having been so very patient
Hoping to be smartened up

Forgotten
Neglected
Once so bright and fresh…
A garden bed
Waiting
Waiting a year?

Old drainage removed from two sides of garden
Thanks Liam and friend for wielding the pick
Now there is a growing pile of cement

Hedging for one side purchased at short notice on a very hot day
Brought home squashed into two cars
Then a family day of visitors
Hard slog of hedge planting wielding pick and spade in the summer heat started by Rachel whilst extended family visits

Little boys playing happily
Exploring the garage thinking no one is watching
Heaven!
Pulling out everything they think can be played with…for two minutes

Must not forget the ice blocks and ice creams savoured that night outside in the cool of the evening.
Watching the free and hilarious antics of the little ones sitting in their little chairs on the grass. Listening to their chatter. Ice block juice dripping and running down bare little arms…no problem….just splash the arms in the paddling pool close by.

Hedging continued by brother-in-law Derek another morning

I must remember to buy an axe to remove chunky old tree root where one hedging plant needs to go
Plants and ground slowly deep watered by soaker hose again

Rain some days later gave the best soaking start

Thank you Rachel for sanding the bathroom door as it rested on a saw horse. A new experience for you with a power orbital sander with instructions by your hubby dear
Bathroom door has two coats of paint…hip hooray…it only took a year
Thanks Steve for your help
Side gates nearly all painted. One more coat on the bigger gate and meter box and it’s all done
Straggling uneven plants removed on driveway boundary side
…now all streamlined

Getting there
Now the endless job list seems do-able because we can see results
A goal in sight
One step at a time

Thanks to the team effort of young and older

A lesson to remember for our Life’s journey.
Side by side.
Full of vibrant energy
Or the remembered strength of youth

anitapeppers@morgueFile free photos

Love you Husband dear for working beside me
And love the brilliant sunshine of the young
In the heat or in the rain
Hand in hand
Moulded by the hand of the potter

Joining Blog on Friday