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.

IT"S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT

The biggest lesson that I ever learnt was to let people help me, even when it felt like the most unnatural thing to do.

Natasha Hinde  The Huffngton Post UK

 

cute pig

The quote above resonated with me when I read it. When my husband of 30 years decided to leave what I had thought was a happy marriage, it seemed like my world had dissolved. There seemed to be no solid ground.

I was determined to survive and make a new life for myself. At first I tried to go on as usual. I took no time off work. I didn't want to be a burden on anybody. But then my mother very wisely advised me to let people help me. I took her advice and it made all the difference.

I have always had family and friends I could rely on, but this was different. They could rely on me too, but not in the state I was in now. So I accepted help from people - close friends, my mother, my brother and my daughters.

I came through it all with a different view on accepting help. It is often easy to help others but not always so easy to accept it yourself.

I have been enjoying the holidays. It is good to have a break from tutoring. I was tutoring about 6 or 7 hours a week over the last 6 months. Each lesson only goes for an hour but I spend a lot of time preparing. I am mainly working with 8 or 9 year old boys with reading disorders. Reading disorder can take various forms so may need slightly different approaches with each child. 

Occasionally I will get a one off lesson with a senior student writing an essay. Occasionally I will have a maths lesson working with a child anywhere from year 2 to year 10. I never know exactly what I am going to do from week to week.

I enjoy it but I am certainly enjoying the break.

I am trying to get on with some gardening. I am making very slow progress.
I chopped down a  eucalyptus tree in my front garden a few weeks ago.

I noticed this beautiful new growth already. I just love the deep rich colour.

My daughter R and I picked up this table from a rubbish heap on the footpath recently.It is made of wood, plaster of Paris and wrought iron.It is pretty ghastly as it is.

I had plans for it but for now I have just put it at the end of my entry with a tablecloth on it. It's a great place to hide shoes. I added a chair that I picked up from the side of the road and painted, and a few other bits and pieces.

For some reason my mobile coverage isn't quite as good as it was and I have to sit out in the hall to get  reception,

My son-in-law bought me the box a few years ago. It has some of my little treasures in it - a seal vertebra and a piece of jade from New Zealand; some coral and a shell I found while snorkeling in Vanuatu; some paper wasp's nests from here.

Under the cloche is a piece of my daughter's artwork from a few years ago.

Peter and I have been bike riding most days either along the bike track at Lake Illawarra or along the bike track at Towradgi. I am determined to get a bit more confident before we go away in about 10 days - and I am getting better. But it is surprising how many people don't move over on the bike track. They don't realise they are taking their lives in their hands as I get wobbly once I have to go off the track to go around them, and I am likely to fall on them.

I have ridden a bike since I was a child, and always had a bike but after falling off a couple of times in the past year I became very nervous. Peter bought me a new retro bike which is a lot easier to ride, but it is still taking me a while to get my confidence back.


Below is some of the lovely scenery from our rides. We are so lucky to live in Wollongong by the lake and the sea.

 I finished another owl brooch on Wednesday. I meet with a good friend each week for a couple of hours and we do some craft together.

 This picture below shows the size of the brooch compared to a dollar coin.

Church on Sunday was pretty noisy with lots of dancing. There had been a church camp on for high school students during the previous week and it was finishing at the evening church service. The theme of the camp had been - LIMITLESS. This was written in changing coloured lights on the front stage.

It was noisy but inspiring.

And finally, a view from my back window this afternoon.

It has been raining but I never tire of the view out my back window.

Interesting sites

1.

"Lonely Houses" of Portugal

Photo source

 The 'lonely houses' of Portugal are traditional style tiny homes. Check out these photographs taken on a phone by sejkko.Click here to see more. 

2.

150 friends is the practical limit on Facebook

 

Photo source

You cannot have 1,000 real friends on Facebook. Nor 500. In fact, anything over 200 starts seeming unlikely, according to a new study. Click here to read more.

3. 

 New Ninth Planet

Photo source

 Astronomers think they may have found a new ninth planet.
 Click here to read more.

A BUSY WEEK. THE LAST WEEK OF SPRING

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

  Maya Angelou. 

Wow! What a busy week.The last week of Spring.

It is difficult to find time to sit down and write. I have decided to try to make every Friday my blogging day as things tend to settle down a bit on Fridays.

I have been living my passion - helping kids with reading problems and disorders. I won't bore you with too many details. It is quite time consuming, because the children I am working with have failed to read successfully via their school remedial program. Their reading difficulties manifest themselves in different ways, so each child requires an individualised lesson. Children must be engaged before they can learn effectively.

I did start a blog a few years ago about helping children with reading difficulties and intend to start up on it again, so watch this space.

On Monday I visited some old friends in Corrimal for morning tea.  I went to university with Pe and R in the 1970's. Pe was best man at my wedding in 1976. It was lovely to see them, but they also had some news that was very sad and took a while to recover from.

It is hard to believe we are all over 60. How quickly the years fly. 

There was a beautiful sunset outside P's place on Tuesday,

 

And I took this view from a friend's place on Tuesday morning. It is looking out over Fairy Meadow out to the Tasman Sea.

My brother has been looking after a sick native duck he found at Lake Illawarra a few days ago.
He put it in the birdbath for a bit of a splash.

Today he took it to the vet who was going to contact WIRES.

P and I have a caravan for sale. We bought it to fix up but then changed our minds and bought a newer one already done.

 We've had it on Gumtree for a couple of weeks and have had one offer we think is a bit low. We shall see how things go.

The Christmas tree was up in the church foyer the other day, encouraging the Christmas spirit.

 

 I love the run up to Christmas, although to date I haven't had much time to devote to it.

Tonight I started filling some stockings for P's grandchildren.

 I need to get 2 of them finished for Sunday week. I am determined to have everything organised early this year.

My son-in-law B is very clever and innovative. He makes some great things, especially for around the yard. This link will take you to his YouTube page.


Interesting sites

1

8 lush green rooftops from around the globe

Photo source

Green or living rooftops, long popular in Europe, are becoming common with both private and business owners alike. Green rooftops, which are relatively thin layers of greenery affixed to a roof, can act as effective insulators, thus reducing energy costs. They also last longer and can absorb storm water, acting as valuable drainage systems. Green rooftops can provide a pleasant escape for inhabitants of an urban jungle. Click here to read more.

2.

 Fly eye

Photo  source

An anti-fog coating modelled on the nano-structure of a fly eye could one day be used on windows for cars, planes and buildings, say researchers. Click here  to read more.




3.

 10 best National Geographic photos

Photo source

The ten best National Geographic photos of all time. Click here  to read more. 

OFF WITH THE OLD AND ON WITH THE NEW

"Sometimes it's just good to

get out your memories

and laugh." -Jesse

Quoted in My Wild Eden 

Nothing momentous happened to me during 2014. Nothing catastrophic happened either and I am thankful for that. A highlight for me was that my daughter and her husband found a house only five minutes away, so it is easy to pop in for coffee.

Here is a pictorial summary of my year - 2014 - month by month. I enjoyed putting the images together and revisiting my year. How quickly it went.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

My favourite month was December.  I always enjoy the run up to Christmas.

In August I turned 60. It doesn't seem very long ago that I thought 60 was ancient and yet upon reaching that age I feel no different to the way I felt at 16. (Except I can't jump as high!)The only compensation to turning 60 is the knowledge that all my friends are in the same boat. We are all aging together.

I have a few plans for the year. I really want to get my house in order and brighten it up. My beautiful daughter R has been organising me along these lines which is exactly what I needed.

I want to get rid of a lot of stuff - I have far too much clutter. I feel as though it saps my energy.

My garden has run away pretty well unchecked for years, except when my wonderful brother and P:-) have had a go at it now and then. I really want to get on top of it this year.

I want to increase my sewing and spruce up my wardrobe.

And I want to increase my craft output.

I have the time to do a lot. Finances are limited so I shall have to be artful.

But I am looking forward to this year. I wonder what it will bring.

Interesting sites

1.

 Ordos Museum in Gobi Desert

Photo source

Shaped like a large undulating blob in the Gobis Desert, the Ordos Museum is clad in polished metal tiles that are resistant to frequently occurring sandstorms. Galleries inside the museum are housed in smaller blobs, connected by bridges.Click here to read more

2.

Seal wanders 20 miles away from home.

Photo source

We’ve all heard the saying “Not all who wonder are lost,” but for this grey seal, there are no excuses. He’s definitely just plain lost. Click here to read more.

3.

Half electric bike - half electric car

Photo source

The Lit Motor's Lit C-1 combines elements of the electric bike and the electric car. It features electronic gyroscopes that allow the vehicle to stay upright in the event of a collision! Click here to read more.