Sunset

It was such an uplifting day, spent with Syd and Margie Xavier, in Toronto, Newcastle. He has been told he has pancrease cancer, so he has learned everything he can about the disease and is determined to live the healthiest, best life possible to scare it into hiding....he is such an inspiration for us to live the BEST life possible now....why do we so often wait for the wake up call?? I kinda felt we were going to say 'goodbye' to him, but he is going to be around for while yet....so heres to a long and healthy life for everyone!!

Leap Year!

So this year we get a bonus day!! We often feel that there are just not enough hours in the day....we get an extra 24!!! what do we do with it?? what magic can we conjure??


This is the sequence of the sun set over a period of half an hour. Such a dramatic change can happen in such a short period of time - all so stunningly beautiful. From the amazing Angel Rays to the golden yumminess of the setting sun, that orb that seems to sink over the edge of the earth, and then the afterglow!! It has charmed folk from time immemorial...a red sky at night is a shepherds delight.

We are in constant change....metamorphosizing - from a babe, to a child, to an adult and then to an OLD person!!

There is beauty in every stage of life...

Right now we have such a freedom to do what ever we want...it feels quite powerful really...just as long as our bodies dont give out on us too soon.

So with that extra 24 hours this year I will take note of the extra things that I can do that make a difference - just show up like magic!

H is for Hot Tub

Thank goodness for the hot tub, or I would neVer have been out side...I find it much too cold! But seeing the moon light on the snow between the big pine trees and being bathed in moon beams whilst being submerged in hot water, was quite magical. Its a crisp clear night and the stars are twinking, I could even see the red star of Mars. The babbling brook was the only sound in the silence of the night. Such peace.....

Avoca Beach

There are cyclonic winds up north and its giving us big seas! It was just so amazing standing here at the beach looking across to the Skillion watching the big waves. There is such a power in the sea and I feel an affinity to its turmoil! It draws me to feel its power...
The headland....
our house is on the headland....
View across to the Skillion from the top of the headland.
Looking back to the beach...all awash...tumbling with sand way out.

Whale Rock

Sunday avo, Chantel and I went for a walk in the bush down behind our place to visit Whale Rock. I wanted to introduce her to the bush, so close at hand. Two steps in and you would never know you were in the middle of the city. Birds abound there, cockies, lorikeets, whip birds, and this time I saw a little tiny thornbill. It just FEELS GOOD!

Garden of the Purple Dragon

"The moonlight reflected off his scales in a way they had never seen before. The tips of the scales were glowing with a new iridescence, like the feathers of a peacock. They gleamed green, red, white, black, and yellow. All the colours shimmered, even the black, which flashed like polished ebony. The dragons cried out in wonder. Ping couldn't believe this magnificent creature was her own little dragon."

"A dragonfly balanced on the surface of the pool. Its slender legs were blood-red. Its long thin body was a startling blue, like a splinter of sunlit sky that had fallen to earth. The insect had two pairs of delicate wings crisscrossed with black veins. Each wing was marked with an eyespot. It could have been a precious jewel dropped by a princess. The dragonfly's wings whirred and it took off. It buzzed to a reed, and then from a reed to a rock."
~Carole Wilkinson

FULL MOON

8:13 was the rising of the full moon. I jumped on my bike and raced down to the point to watch the moon rise. It was cloudy...why is it always cloudy when ever I get the chance to see the full moon rise out of the ocean?? So the full moon was up 20 min before I got a glimpse of it thru the clouds. On the second night of the full moon it was much more spectacular!! The moon light makes this amazing silvery ripples on the water....i would like to try to repllicate them on to fabric. It will be a challange.
The tides are extream around the full moon. Our bodies being 98%water are subject to the pull of the moon too. its a good excuse to be a little crazy!! Ooooowwwwwwwoooooo!!!!

What Color is Water?

The sky is blue, the sun is shining and the color of the ocean is magnificent!! I would like to be able to describe it so another could truly see it in the minds eye! To say it is blue, a rich deep irridescent blue, navy blue almost cobalt, to a seabluegreen, green, aqua - is inadequate, as it draws me to want to be near it, to absorb it, to really feel that color. Its so calming~ even tho the sea is restless, the wind is fresh....and what is within that sea is another story. Today there are bluebottle stingers around and little bitey sea lice. The salt can be very healing to the skin, but too much is detrimental. There are little mackeral swimming around, and maybe lurking in the deep some big sharks!! But what color is the water? Take it out of context and put some in a glass bottle and it has no color!! So just let me sit and watch ~ feasting my eyes on that indescribable color of the sea!

Happy Australia Day!

This is the best I can do for flag pictures. This is a time when we really miss our boat. Its so fun to be out on the harbour for the Australia Day celebrations. Instead we are going to C&B's for a bbq! Plan to also see B on his last day life guarding at the beach. He starts his new career teaching school on Monday!!
I love Australia! my adoptive country. I 'feel' more Aussie than Canadian now. I have lived here twice as long as I ever lived in Canada! and I have been an Aussie citizen for 2 1/2 years now! My how time flies when your having fun!!

Life Saver

mmmm...yum! a lifesaver with freckles....how fun. so is floating 'round the pool. I tried it out with flippers today. It gives more resistance to the muscles and tricks them into thinking they have done some work! so half an hour walking in water....fun! While I was trying not to watch the clock, a big white cockatoo flew over and a feather floated free from him. I thot he was leaving me a gift, but the breeze caught it and it floated upward and away. It looked so beautiful. It reminded me of the begining and ending of Forest Gump.

Dancing with Brolgas

"Will you have this dance?" he said. And he took me away to another place, a place where the mind is free.
What is free?
Sure I am free to think what ever I want to...but my mind controls my body and my actions. it controls my destiny. What I think....therefore I am.
Many thots are burdensome, provoking unhealthy consequences.....so come join the dance and fly away with me!

The SandMan~

So, the Christmas season is upon us. This hot dry country continues to follow the traditions of the early English settlers, with Santa Clause in his hot red suit, the reindeer pulling their sleigh over the hot red sand, or even the red-hot sand! and snowmen with fake snow falling on them!! But I see that the two ball shape of a being is not limited to snow!! This sandman is ingenius!! ~complete with his beach shovel, sunnies and aussie beach hat. I lovit!
May peace and joy fill your Holiday Season!

Angel Rays

I have been reflecting a little on what Leslie meant to me.
I know I loved him as a little child but when I grew up, I hardly knew him. I felt uncomfortable in his presence but if someone criticized him, I very quickly came to his defense. They say that blood is thicker than water. We came from the same gene pool, we are family. This has helped me to understand just how strong family ties really are. So when I think of one of my family dying, I find it rather sad. It’s sad to think of my eldest brothers gone, and it seems incredible that there are only 4 of us left in our family. I have felt sad for mom too. She had enormous love for her eldest son, and she felt such a responsibility for him for so long. And then there are all his wives and his children to be considered.
But I thot of Les after his last accident: He claims he died and saw God. Since then he has oozed LOVE. He talked love, he showed love, his message to everyone was Love. Love is the great command of Jesus, and Love is the fruit of the spirit. Who knows, he might know more about LOVE than all the rest of us.
Good by Leslie…..

Road Trip to Mudgee

Knit one....I started knitting for Scout before we knew she was Scout. This jumper will fit her sometime in the next 5 years! AND.....its nearly finished!
"I love a sunburnt country..." This is more than sunburn. The mountains were on fire, the hills around Mudgee were on fire, the motel was full of firemen!! Airplanes and helicopters buzzed all day long. Luckily the forests regenerate themselves after a fire, but I wonder what happens to all the little animals? Where do they go for protection? I wonder if its harmful to your eyes to look at the sun thru smoke??

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

As I don't have access to a picture (at SWRocks), I will try the words.
Every afternoon about an hour before darkness, first one comes, then hudreds of rainbow lorrikeets into the Norfolk Island Pines that tower over our balcony. What a cacophany!! They're all excitedly telling each other of their day's news and happenings. Then as amazingly as they came, they all dart into the nearby palm trees to sleep for the night.
I can feel the silence, then I gradually become aware again of the never ending dumping of waves on the shore of the restless sea.

Jacaranda

I love it when the Jacarandas bloom. It makes me feel like wearing their color. This Jacaranda tree in our back yard has flourished since the trees that were crowding it dissappeared. Its spreading into its new found space and flowering beautifully.
That feels like us in our house. Since all our kids have left, we are slowly spreading out into the rest of the house. It feels good and I'm enjoying the journey. Instead of rattling around in our 7 bedroom house, we are finding new uses for the rooms. One original veranda, sold to us as the 5th bedroom and was my sewing room for the past 26 years, will be returned to a veranda!! Thats quite exciting!! The bedroom where Paul and Sally started out as babies, and later became our office/library is going to become our dressing room and ensuite bathroom!!
SO I guess we will be staying here a few more years to watch the Jarcaranda grow!! ...and I WILL wear purple...

The Music in My Life

"If My Life Was a Soundtrack".....what would the music be? I often think of this question since reading it on 'chickadoodle' a few weeks ago. This morning in my wonderfully green back yard my heart sang: I see trees of green Red roses too I see them bloom For me and you And I think to myself What a wonderful world. I see skies of blue And clouds of white The bright blessed day The dark sacred night And I think to myself What a wonderful world. The colors of the rainbow So pretty in the sky Are also on the faces of people going by I see friends shaking hands Saying:"How do you do?" They're really saying "I love you" I hear babies crying I watch them grow They'll learn much more Than I'll ever know And I think to myself What a wonderful world. Yes And I think to myself What a wonderful world. Oh Yeah.

Of course in my head, this sings in a deep Louis voice!!
So this is part of the soundtrack of my life. Actually a few years ago, i was given a little mp3 player and I put songs there that made my heart sing, that lifted my spirits and helped me to step lightly on the earth. So often on a cd there is only one song that I really like, so it makes sense to compile all the songs/music that comprise the sound track of my life, on to one cd!! Its ideas like this that drive me to learn more how to use this modern technology that I have at my finger tips. I used to have kids here to help me do anything other than 'switch on', but alass.....they have flown the coop.