A NEW GRANDCHILD FOR PETER

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.
Philippians 4:6 (The Message.)

Piggy picture

 Peter has a 6th grandchild - a 5th granddaughter. Lucy

I don't usually put pictures of the grandchildren on my blog, but it is a bit hard to see much of little Lucy here. She is beautiful.


My daughter Jade has just completed an exhibition at Gallery 9, Darlinghurst. Jade makes strange creatures and sculptures fabrics she dyes.

This is one she sold. It is about a metre long.

Here are a few more pieces in her exhibition.

I have begun fixing up Jade's old room. She left 18 years ago and it had largely been a storage room. But I have decided to have it as on office so I don't have papers all over the place for my tutoring. I have a couple of comfortable chairs in there as well.

These chairs had been sitting in my garage for a while (long story) waiting to go onto Gumtree and I decided to use them in my office.

I bought some cheap soft blankets from Aldi for $10 each and threw them over the chairs.

The TV is sitting on an old sewing table that belonged to my grandmother. I picked the two grey chairs up off a rubbish pile. Rhiannon and I sanded them back and painted them.

Now I need to do some decorating.



Our church just paid off a $5m debt, so there was a week of celebrations.

And I will finish here with some lovely eucalyptus leaves from my garden.

Interesting sites

1.

 Floating house on Thames

Photo source

A floating property  has set sail along the river Thames, totaling eight meters in height and weighing 70 tonnes. The dwelling comprises two bedrooms, a living room, a working bathroom and even a garden complete with real grass, a doghouse and an apple tree.
Click here to read more.


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2.

  Solar boat crosses Atlantic

Photo source

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, a small autonomous boat is braving wind and waves to demonstrate the power of solar energy. Isaac Penny and Christopher Sam Soon’s Solar Voyager embarked from Boston on June 1, and they hope it will land in Portugal in October.
Click here to read more.

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3.

 The Mafia gives Italians cancer

Photo source

When doctors in rural Italy began to see a surge in cancer cases, they were baffled. Then they made the link with industrial waste being dumped by local crime syndicates. Ian Birrell learns about the tragic consequences.
Click here to read more.

FAMILY REUNION AT DAVISTOWN

I have reached the stage now where luxury is not in fine possessions but in carefree possessions, and the greatest luxury of all would be the completely expendable.

 

Nan Fairbrother, The House in the Country

The holidays are over. How quickly they went. I am retired now so it doesn't make such a difference as it once did, but it means back to the old routines.

P:-) and I volunteer every Thursday evening at Manna House where people come in off the street for a free meal. People come for all sorts of reasons. For some of them it is a meal they would otherwise not get. Others come for the company.

It has been lovely to have a break from Manna House since Christmas. This is our last week off and we will start again on the 5th February, so this is our last free week.

P:-) and I spent a few days last week helping P:-)'s daughter M paint her new classroom. She will be teaching kindergarten two days a week and wanted to spruce the room up.

Don't the new colours look great!

Here are some pictures of it complete.

 M is a super keen teacher and we are very proud of her.

I must confess I spent more time playing with M's little daughter S, than I did painting.

I think I had the best deal.


On Friday P:-) and I took a short trip to Davistown on the Central Coast of NSW. P:-)'s family has had a holiday house here for years. It has just been sold but as yet is still vacant and the new owners kindly gave us permission to camp in the back yard as we have done many times before.

We have a caravan that pops up and out, affording us two comfortable double beds - plenty of room to spread out at night and have a good sleep.The caravan is a 1981 model - vintage. We bought it sight unseen from eBay 4 years ago for a cheap price. It is very basic but we have great fun in it.

The reason for our short holiday was a reunion of P:-)'s family in the park opposite the old house. P:-) has cousins who live next door so it was just across the road for them. Others came from various areas of Sydney and Wollongong.

 P:-) has very nice relatives and I really enjoyed the day as I think did all involved. We were lucky to have good weather.

While were were there some ducks set out in formation down Cockle Creek.

The next day, Sunday 25th, was quite hot. The early morning view across the lake was very still and peaceful.

 Later, during the heat of the day,I couldn't resist this shot of the sky through the awning.

 We spent most of the day under the awning, trying to keep cool.

A mother duck wandered around the yard with her ducklings. We had seen them when they first hatched in October.
Then there had been 14 of them. Now there were only 5 left, but they had tripled in size.

 Apparently kookaburras and other birds prey on the ducklings when they are young. They were much harder to photograph this time. Perhaps the mother was more wary after losing so many of her little ones.

I had thought these ducks were native but have been told this is not the case. I would love to know the breed.

On Monday26th, Australia Day, the rain set in.

We spent the day sheltering and then packed up in the rain on Tuesday. There is nothing worse than packing up in rain. Garbage bags come in very handy to put wet things in.

We drove home in rain.

 We came home to more rain. But I will never tire of the view from my back window.

My daughter J has an exhibition on in Gallery 9 at Darlinghurst. Here is the link for the advert.
 Advert for Jade's exhibition

Just a final note. I grew up by Towradgi Beach in Wollongong. My father, James Edwards, was one of the initial surf club  members in 1947 and captain. This is a link with a little about it.

Interesting sites

1.

 Tiny eco home in Romania

Photo source

 The Soleta ZeroEnergy One is a prototype eco home in Romania. Click here to read more.



2.

Harry Potter in Lego

Photo source

 This project features architecturally accurate recreations of the Harry Potter sets such as the Great Hall, the Quidditch Courtyard, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and the bridge over the Clock Tower. About 10,000 LEGO bricks were used for the L-shaped, nearly 4 meters long structure of the school’s central staircase alone.
Click here to see more. 



3.

Cabinet from disused pallets

Photo source

 Handy with a table saw and a hammer? If you’re looking for a new furniture project to take on, then check out the latest tutorial from avid DIY builder and passionate recycler James Higginson. In this how-to edition, Higginson shows us how to build some fabulous cabinets entirely from disused pallets!
 Click here to see the tutorial.

LITTLE BLACK RABBIT

One does not play Bach without having done scales. But neither does one  play a scale merely for the sake of the scale.

 Simone Weil

 

I'm still here - here in my house in Blagownie, NSW, Australia.

I had thought I would have to sell it by now, but things have worked out a little better financially than I had thought they might.

 

 

I live in the suburb of Balgownie on the edge of the city Wollongong. I love living here against the mountain with Balgownie Village just down the street. Crepe myrtles line the main street of the village. They look particularly pretty at this time of year.

 

 

I bought a new sewing machine in August last year. I used it to do some mending of our caravan canvas. It's not the most stylish of caravans but the mending worked very well.

 

 

 Since then I have been a bit frightened to use my sewing machine  so on Monday  I booked in for  a free lesson at Vera’s Sewing Centre Fairy Meadow. It turns out that I can have unlimited free lessons.

 

The lesson was great and I learnt a lot about the machine. It does all sorts of exciting things.

The first thing I did was make my daughter J this rabbit for her birthday.

 

 

It is by no means my finest sewing. In fact it's quite a horrible little thing. I was quite nervous sewing it and I kept lifting my foot off the floor when I wanted the machine to stop, forgetting that this one is controlled by hand and not foot pedal as I have always been used to. So I managed to oversew a lot of the seams and put a nasty little cut in my finger. (Luckily no blood dripped onto rabbit.) The needle was positioned on the left and I can't remember how to move it into the middle so that made it a little more difficult. (Luckily I have another lesson scheduled  for Wednesday.)

 

I should point out at this stage that my daughter J is 34 and loves anything to do with rabbits. She will appreciate this because it is made by her mother with a lot of love - if not finesse.

  P:-) and I have been out in the boat again - on Lake Illawarra.

 

The brown splodge on the photo below is a jellyfish - about45 cm long. Every now and then one of these propels itself past the boat.

 

 

 These jellyfish are very beautiful. I hope I will be able to manage a better photo of one soon.

I took the next picture into the sun at about 6 o'clock in the evening, just as we were heading in.

I had a windfall this week. A sheet of newspaper blew into my drive way. It was a page of the Sydney Morning Herald and it was the crossword page. I love to do the Herald cryptic crossword, but since most of my news comes through the internet or TV I am not really interested in newspapers. I cannot justify buying the Herald each day for the crossword, but I really did enjoy working on this one that blew in.

The paper was slightly yellowed and quite brittle and was dated 17th December, 2013. It is a work in progress.

Most days our Church, Figtree Anglican Church, posts a reading with a commentary entitled Faithful Daily Read. I would like to share with you what I wrote in response to Faithful Daily Read on January 14th.

 

 From the time I was 10 when my father died suddenly to now, I have faced many life challenges that often made me feel isolated and always different to my peers. There are times I have simply clung to ‘the Rock’. When life expectations of money, relationships, children, ambitions and health go awry, if you have God as your rock you won’t go under. I haven’t.

 

Finally I have a simple hint. As I am no longer working I am having to prune my spending considerably and I am doing this in lots of little ways - learning as I go along. I have decided to share some of the things I am learning. I am working on the theory - Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

 

My cooking is vegetable based, using lots of fresh vegetables and simple recipes. I often used tomato paste as a flavor base. as well as cans of diced tomatoes. Tomato products, especially cooked tomato products, are a rich source lycopene.The American Cancer  Council wrote the following about tomatoes and lycopene.

 

 

How is it promoted for use?

Proponents claim that lycopene may lower the risk of heart disease; macular degenerative disease, an age-related illness that can lead to blindness; and lipid oxidation, the damage to normal fat molecules that can cause inflammation and disease. It is also said to lower LDL ("bad" cholesterol), enhance the body's defenses, and protect enzymes, DNA, and cellular fats.
A major claim for lycopene's benefits is in the prevention and treatment of cancers of the lung, prostate, stomach, bladder, cervix, skin, and, especially, prostate. In support of these claims regarding cancer, proponents note that lycopene is a powerful antioxidant, a compound that blocks the action of free radicals, activated oxygen molecules that can damage cells, and that several scientific studies have found lower risk of cancer among people who eat lycopene-rich foods.

What does it involve?

Tomatoes are the most concentrated food source of lycopene, although apricots, guava, watermelon, papaya, and pink grapefruit are also significant sources. Studies that looked at lycopene levels in the blood found that levels were higher after people ate cooked tomatoes than after they ate raw tomatoes or drank tomato juice. This suggests that lycopene in cooked tomato products such as tomato sauce or paste may be more readily absorbed by the body than lycopene in raw tomatoes. Eating lycopene-rich vegetables and fruits together with a small amount of oil or fat (for example, salad oil or cheese on pizza) increases the amount of lycopene absorbed by the intestines. Lycopene is also available in soft-gel capsule and liquid supplements. Dosages vary according to manufacturer.

 http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/dietandnutrition/lycopene

So Tomato paste is really good for you and pretty cheap.

 Hint: Keep a jar of tomato paste in the freezer. It is easy to scoop out the amount you need for recipes. Much better than buying small tins and having to bin the left overs, or buying the sachets which are more expensive

 

Interesting sites

1.

 

 

Photo source

This is a house in a truck. I would love to live in it. Click here to read more.  

 

2.

 

Surreal digital art

 

Click here  to see some really interesting, highly imaginative surreal digital art.

 

3.

 

Lending Kent bride wedding dress after theft on day of ceremony

Photo source

 

911 call led to dispatcher lending Kent bride wedding dress after theft on day of ceremony This is a very positive story. Click here  to read more.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/08/13/2729231/911-call-led-to-dispatcher-lending.html#storylink=cpy

GLIMPSES OF 2013

Happy people plan actions, they don't plan results 

Dennis Wholey

2013 went so quickly. It was an unsettled year for me. I was living on money from long service leave and my redundancy payment.  I spent the year not knowing what type of welfare payment I would be entitled to in October. New Start would have given me $250 a week. I would have to sell my house. My doctors suggested I try for a disability pension. I have a number of health problems which makes looking for a job very difficult, but I was surprised at the ease with which I was awarded a pension.

While a pension doesn't pay a great amount, and I am having to pull my belt very tight, it makes keeping the house a possibility. And if I can manage some sort of craft business, and maybe sell some Nu Skin products I will be very happy.

.
Below are a few glimpses of my 2013.

January

February

March

April

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May

June

July

 

August

 September

October

November

 

December

I feel quite positive about 2014. I have a great belief that God will look after me. At the rate my life changes these days, who knows where I will be by the end of the year.

Best wishes to everyone for 2014.

Interesting sites
 1.

 Tiny House used as office

Photo source

 This is a modern Tiny House used in a backyard as an office. Click here to read more.

2.

Get blown away at Maho Beach

Photo source

Planes come in so low over the heads of these people on Maho Beach in the Caribbean that they can almost touch them. I can't imagine this ever being allowed in Australia. Click here to go to the site and see the 2 videos. They are definitely worth watching.

3.

Photo source

 Click here  to visit Owey Island, in the Atlantic west of Donegal, Ireland. It is really beautiful!! I would love to live there.