COLD WEATHER, ZERUBBABEL, SPOT AND A BUS TRIP

Hello my lovelies

It's freezing here today.  I think it's around seven degrees but is supposed to reach around the nineteen degree mark sometime today before plunging again late afternoon.

Yesterday was my Bible Study up at the church where Simone, the minister's wife leads a weekly study.  I think I've already mentioned that we have been studying the books of Haggai and Zechariah this term.  We're just about finished them - two more weeks to go and then it's the end of term and something new to start studying next term.

It was quite a small group yesterday which was lovely as often when the group is small, folk aren't so shy about speaking out and sharing what they think or feel about particular passages we are studying and how these passages apply to our daily lives.

One of the people who features quite strongly in Zechariah is a fellow called Zerubbabel.  It looks as though names beginning with 'Z' were quite popular around that time!  Anyway, one of the encouragements  I received from the study was that we all face challenges in the life and work God has called us to do.  These may be major obstacles or doubt over our abilities.  God's encouragement to Zerubbabel also applies to us:  'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord.  God simply asks us to be faithful in whatever he calls us to do, big or small.  I think this is amazing.  It's not our own strength, our own abilities, our own knowledge, but by his Spirit.  We ask him to help us through our days and we trust Him to give us His power and His Spirit to do this.

Papa has gone off with wee Spotty to the vet.  While we were watching television last night I noticed he had a very sore foot.  He's obviously licked all the fur off over the past few days without us noticing.  While he's at the vet, Papa has also arranged for his fur to be trimmed near his bottom.  He has a gorgeous little skirt but it's not the best for toilet issues.

Here's an old photograph of Spot and Molly and wee Dougie peeping out behind Molly.

I'm just finishing off my breakfast and then I'm going to head into the bedroom to pack my wee suitcase for a bus trip down to Brisbane.  The dogs will not be happy.  The two of them plonk themselves on to the bed and watch with trepidation as each item is put into the suitcase.  Papa usually bundles them into the car when he drops me off at the bus station so they have a wee trip out to compensate.

Well must away and get myself organised.

Love Nanxxxx

A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR A WEDDING

Hello my lovelies

Yesterday my friend Heidi's daughter Pippa got married in the church Papa and I go to - up at St David's in Mary Street.

As you can see from the photographs, Pippa was a beautiful bride.  Don't you just love her dress?  I loved the neckline, the lacy material, the sleeves, the back - in fact I just loved everything about her.

Her new husband Neil just loved everything about her too as from where I was sitting in the church I could see he just couldn't stop smiling and as I can lip-read quite well, I could see he couldn't stop saying, "You look beautiful!"

Do you remember when you were here last year and we went up to St David's for the Christmas Eve service?  Well, if you remember, the church is in the shape of a cross inside with places for people to sit, not only in front of the minister but on either side too.  As you walk into the church, I was sitting to the left of the minister right up in the corner, so I had a wonderful view of the bride and groom.

I took the photograph above from where I was sitting.

Here's a photograph of everyone arriving.  By the time it was time for the service to begin, there wasn't much room left for anyone else.

Don't you just love the bridesmade dress and sparkly shoes too? When I spoke to Heidi, Pippa's mum, she told me that the bridesmaid Amanda, was an old school friend of Pippa's.

After the service, everyone milled around outside and then made their way into the church hall for a wonderful afternoon tea made by the ladies in the church.

At the Sunday service this morning, the minister Andrew Clarke said that he had received word from The Palace to say that when Prince Harry is ready to marry, he has said that he will be accepting no-one else but the ladies from St David's to prepare his and his new wife's post wedding Afternoon Tea.

Love Nanxxx

VISIT TO THE PARK AND SOME QUILTING

Good morning my lovelies

Auntie Emma and Fergus arrived yesterday afternoon and this morning they have headed off with Papa to visit the Toowoomba Transport Museum.  Fergus should love that as he's mad on tractors, cars and all things with 'bumpy wheels'!

After the Museum, they are going to Lake Annand Park where the Council have built a Galleon ship out of wood for the children to play on.  I've been looking in the internet for photographs for you and can't find one of the ship.  Here's one of the park though.

Not sure what's planned for the afternoon.

Well I'm off to pop the kettle on and pull out my quilting.  I'm quilting like mad trying to finish the Christmas quilt in time for Christmas.

Love Nanxxx

THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR

Hello my lovelies

The house next door is almost finished.  Lawrence the Builder is busy today clearing away the last of the rubbish and getting it ready for its first Open Inspection on Saturday.  He did have a contract on the house but it fell through just recently.  The wife was from America and because she didn't have Permanent Residency (remember girls, the word permanent has a 'man' in it) the bank wouldn't count her salary in order to grant her and her husband a loan to buy the house.  So, there's going to be no 'Matilda' living next door.

Here are some photographs from the Internet and a couple I took from the back deck into our garden.

I've included a couple looking into our garden as well.

Love Nanxxx

VIEW FROM TOOWOOMBA THIS MORNING

Colette took this photograph early this morning.  She drove up from Laidley and once she had reached the top of the hill, she took a photograph looking back down.

Blue skies for Toowoomba today.

Love Nanxxx

A LOVE STORY IN EMERGENCY

Hello my lovelies

Mumma sent me some photographs of your brunch in the beautiful garden with Claire.  It looks as though you girls had a wonderful time creating a gorgeous hairstyle she might use for her wedding.  I just loved it.  I'll have to ask Mumma if I can put a photograph up on the blog of her hair.

It's a cloudless day again today and I have all the doors open, plus Papa's doors on to the side verandah.  I can hear him practising his guitar.  He has a lesson this afternoon at U3A.  Because he will be out for the afternoon, I am on kitchen duty and will make a lovely stew for tea tonight.

I was watching one of my favourite programmes on television last night - 24 Hours in Emergency. The programme is a documentary of 24 hours in the Emergency Department of St George's Hospital in London and apparently is one of the busiest emergency departments in the world.

What I most love about the programme is the stories the people tell, not only of how they injured themselves or became sick, but also the stories of their lives.  The camera jumps back and forward to speak to the person while they are in hospital, with the relatives and when they are back home again.

This particular story was about a very elderly gentleman, in his mid 80's who had come in by ambulance because of a very severe cough and difficulty breathing.  His wife came in the ambulance with him and you could see that she was quite a bit younger than her husband, probably my age.

Because of his age, the doctors didn't want to do anything invasive to his body such as putting in a drain - he had fluid in his lungs, so they decided to see if giving him some drugs would do the trick. He had previously been in hospital with the same thing some time before and the doctors wondered if perhaps the previous infection hadn't completely cleared up.

Time passed and it became obvious that the drugs weren't working and the man was becoming quite distressed with his breathing.  The doctors decided they would have to put in the drain but first they took the man's wife into the 'relatives' room to have a chat to her.  They wanted to know that if he took a sudden turn for the worse had her husband made any decision as to what he would want them to do.  Often with very elderly folk it is better to let them die peacefully than try and extend their life which might entail months of suffering before they die.

As you would imagine, his wife became very teary at having to make such a decision and said she would have to talk to her husband first.  As her husband was suffering from the early stages of Dementia and was therefore quite forgetful, she wasn't sure if he would understand her questions.

As it was he did and he said that if things didn't go according to plan, he didn't want major surgery. He wanted to be allowed to die peacefully.

When his wife went back to the doctor, still in tears, she said that she knew her husband's decision was him thinking of her and the burden he might be on her if the doctors continued trying to keep him alive.

As the camera was going back and forth, in one of its 'forths' when she is sitting at home after everything was over and talking about his illness and their relationship she talked about how she had met her husband.

Her husband was the friend of one of her brothers and one day, he asked her if he could walk her to school.  She said she didn't think anything of it, just someone walking her to school.  At this time she was nearly in her last year of high school.  As they were walking he said to her, "You know, you are just the sort of person I would like to marry."  and she said, "Well!  Why don't you ask me?"  And he did!

After they were married and no children were coming along, they decided to check things out with the doctor.  The doctor did some tests and told them the sad news that they would never have children of their own.

Not to be deterred, they adopted two beautiful African children, a little girl and a little boy and THEN when she was about forty and feeling a bit unwell, she discovered she was pregnant.  So in the end they had three children!

At the end of the programme, the camera zoomed in on her crocheting something for one of her grandchildren and there sitting beside her with a big smile on his face was her husband.  Three cheers for the doctors at St George's!

Here are some of the staff that appear on the programme.  You might be able to see a programme on You Tube.

Love Nanxxxx  PS  I love the different colours of their uniforms.

STRANGE VISIONS AND THE SURVEYOR

Hello my lovelies

I have been preparing my Bible Study which is on today around lunchtime.  Did I tell you that Bev is now coming with me to the Bible Study?  She comes and picks me up and we go together.

We are now studying the book of Zechariah which is quite a strange book.  It is full of strange visions which include angels, red, brown and white horses, horns, craftsmen and a surveyor who wants to measure the length and breadth of Jerusalem.  And I'm only up to chapter two so far!

Here's the bit about the surveyor...

"I looked up and was surprised to see a man holding a tape measure in his hand.  I said, "What are you up to?"

"I'm on my way," he said, "to survey Jerusalem, to measure its width and length."

Just then the Messenger-Angel on his way out met another angel coming in and said, "Run!  Tell the Surveyor, 'Jerusalem will burst its walls - bursting with people, bursting with animals.  And I'll be right with her' - God's Decree - 'a wall of fire around unwalled Jerusalem and a radiant presence within.'"

This is actually a beautiful passage describing the fact that God and the people who love him are so large in number, no walls can contain them.  

Papa was very funny when I read out the passage to him.  He said "Another contract lost!"

xxxNan

A RELAXING SUNDAY

Hello my lovelies

I'm back again from Brisbane.

Papa and I have been having a very relaxing Sunday.

Here are a couple of photographs of the goings on here at Kenneth Street today.

Autumn colours on one of the trees on the verandah at the front.

A gorgeous sunshiny shrub in the garden.

Roses still blooming.

Camellia petals still falling.

Molly still looking as cute as ever.

Spotty Boy and Molly relaxing with Papa as we watched Songs of Praise.

Dogs relaxing on the verandah.

Papa just called me for lunch.

I've just checked my watch and it is half past six in the morning your end.  I wonder if you are opening your sleepy eyes and getting ready for a new day or if you're still curled up enjoying that feeling of not needing to get up for school.

Love Nanxxxx

HEADING DOWN THE HILL AND SOME MORE KNITTED FRUIT

Hello my lovelies

I am just getting ready to head down the hill to Brisbane for a couple of days.

You will be very pleased to know that I am wearing a dress and necklace and am feeling quite beautiful.

Papa is making me a quick lunch at the moment so I must away.

I leave you with some more knitted fruit for your viewing pleasure.  Again from TALES FROM A HAPPY HOUSE.

Love Nanxxxx

POTTERING ON A BEAUTIFUL AUTUMN DAY

Hello my lovelies

As you can see from the heading, it is a beautiful Autumn day today.  There isn't a cloud in the sky. 

I took this photograph this morning.  It is of one of the tropical birches.  As you can see it has almost lost all of its leaves but is still showing some gorgeous Autumn colour which I can see from my kitchen window too.

I've had a lovely day pottering in the house.  I stripped the bed and had sheets on the line in the garden as well as the clothes line.  Also put out the pillows for a wee bake in the sunshine too. Nothing like the smell of sunshine on your pillows.

In between the tidying, we had a couple of visitors.  First one was Richard who has moved into the house Megan was in. He is a lawyer and seems to come and go quite a bit.  I think he's what is called a....*can't remember the word I'm looking for.  Shall stop thinking about it and perhaps it will come back to me as I proceed with this post.

Anyhoo!  Richard was coming out of his car and as Papa and I were sitting out on the verandah having our morning cuppa we shouted out, "Would you like to come in for a coffee Richard?"  And before you could say, "I'd better put the kettle on." he was in through the gate and sitting at the table. He seems really nice and seems to like living in Toowoomba.  He has a NSW registration plate on his car, so I assume he's from Sydney.  Just remembered the word - * 'freelancer', meaning someone who works for themselves but does work for other people too.  

No sooner had Richard left then another car drove up and it was Bob and Bev.  "Yoo hoo!" I shouted when I saw them getting out of their car.  "Hello my darlings!"  I shouted.

We put the kettle on again and sat out the front chatting about Mother's Day on Sunday.  They had gone down to Brisbane for the day with Danielle and their grand-daughters Georgia and Harriet. They all went to a friend for morning tea and then on to Southbank for lunch.

While I was away in Brisbane last week, Papa worked hard on his new workbench.   He finally finished it yesterday while I was gadding about between doctors and the shops at Grand Central.  So, this morning the bench was unveiled for my approval.  It is fabulous.  Papa has made the new workbench mainly from off-cuts from Lawrence the Builder next door.

Here's a close-up of the vice.

And this photograph shows the bar which he can lay his plane and similar tools on.  By laying them on this bar, he is able to keep the blade off the bench and give it some protection when it's not in use.

He still has plans to put up some boards to hang some of his tools on.  I think you can see the boards lying against the wall in the first picture.

Papa's office is now finished, well almost finished.  We still have to put something up on the wall above the couch, perhaps the Hebridean quilt when I've finished quilting it.

Here are some photographs.

This is the lovely watercolour that Greer Hardy painted of Summerfield.

Above Papa's desk, we have put the lovely oil painting Aaron painted at Arnisdale when he was a boy.

And near the couch, we have put up the painting Auntie Emma painted of Papa when she was a school-girl.

Well my lovelies I shall away and grab a cuppa and sit myself out in the fading afternoon sunshine.

Love Nanxxxx

FERGUS' BIRTHDAY, MOTHER'S DAY, FOGGY DAY, VISIT TO DOCTOR AND VISIT TO GRAND CENTRAL

Hello my lovelies

Sorry I missed you yesterday.

Hope you had a great time at your party Liliane and that the science experiment went well Freya.

As you probably know, last week I went down to Brisbane to spend a few days with Auntie Emma and family.  I travelled down on Thursday and came back with Papa last night.  He drove down on Saturday to spend some time with the family on Mother's Day.

We had a lovely day because it was a double celebration with it being dear Fergus' fourth birthday.  It was so funny when, after breakfast we all sat down and Auntie Emma said to Fergus, "Fergus!  Do you know whose birthday it is today?"  He looked a wee bit puzzled until Auntie Emma shouted out, "It's Fergus' birthday today!"  Fergus was really surprised.  His wee face lit up with excitement and then when Auntie Emma said, "Would you like your birthday presents?", he started jumping up and down and turning round and round in circles.

As he loves building sites, Auntie Emma picked up a building sign for him.  He was just thrilled.  He received lots of other presents to but I think this may have been his favourite.

While I kept him busy, Auntie Emma and Angus made his birthday cake which was a tray-truck and in the truck was lots of boulders and gravel - crush Maltesers.

All the excitement of Mother's Day and Fergus' birthday is now over and Papa and I are back home again.  Apparently today was extremely foggy in Brisbane.  Here's a photograph which shows the tops of the office buildings in the city showing through the fog.

Today wasn't a terribly exciting day for me as I had to go and have three, yes THREE injections.  One was for my bones, another a flu injection and another for pneumonia.  First of all I had to wait for almost three quarters of an hour to see the doctor to get the prescription for the bones injection.  Then I had to go to the chemist to pick up the injection which is a very funny looking injection - a bit like your epi pen Freya.

The chemist didn't have any in stock, so I had to get back in the car and head into town to pick it up from another chemist.  Then it was home for lunch, popped the injection package into the fridge, ran around the house doing some jobs and then back out to the doctor.  It was a bit sore having the injection as it goes into the tummy :(

After the doctor, I decided to head into Grand Central as I had it in my mind to buy a couple of trays for my laundry which I thought would make the tops look a bit more organised.

While I was there, I decided to have my hair cut too and then on my way back to the car, I bought a lovely pair of leggings and a tunic-type wool jumper from Tennery's - where we bought my summer dresses.

Tomorrow is a quieter day at home and then on Wednesday, I'm heading back down to Brisbane for a couple of days - back on Friday.

Must away my dears.

Hope your week is proving to be a great one.

Love Nanxxxx

BEFORE I HEAD DOWN THE HILL

An onion for your viewing pleasure from Tales from a Happy House.  I'm just loving these vegetables.

xxxNan

QUILTING, TRAVELLING AND KNITTED VEGETABLES

Hello my lovelies

It's nearly 11.00pm here.  Papa's gone off to bed and I thought I'd just drop you a wee post before heading there myself.

All well this end.  I wasn't sure if quilting would be on today as I wasn't sure if Kerrie K would be back.  I emailed Robyn and she said she hadn't heard from Kerrie so I decided it was a quiet day for me.  Headed out for a nice walk with Molly girl and when I arrived back home Papa said that Kerrie had telephoned to say that quilting was on.

It was lovely to see all the ladies again as we haven't been together for quite a few weeks.

Kerrie J picked me up as Papa was at another of his U3A classes (Shakespeare - Hamlet) and as she has just recently returned from a holiday in Scotland, we had lots to chat about on our journey to Kerrie K's.  Kerrie J had a wonderful time in Scotland even though the holiday was taken fairly early in the year when it's still quite cold.  She said there were daffodils everywhere.  She and her husband also spent some time in the Outer Hebrides.

On Easter Sunday when they were in South Uist, they were both looking for a church service to go to and noticed that the Church of Scotland's service wasn't until 5.00pm. The Free Church of Scotland was at 10.00am so they decided to go there.  One of the unusual things about The Free Church of Scotland is that it is totally 'free' of music.  Anyway, in they went and there were only six people at the service.  Kerrie J and her husband and his sister and her husband almost doubled the congregation.  Kerrie said that the minister, who was quite young had a wonderful singing voice.  She also said his sermon was just wonderful too and all in all it was a service she will never forget.  After the service, the minister invited the four of them to his home for lunch.  When they arrived there, his young wife and their two young children were there waiting for them with the smell of roast lamb floating through the house.

Tomorrow I'm heading down to Brisbane.  Auntie Emma isn't terribly well.  She telephoned this morning and has almost lost her voice.  I am going to go down by bus and Papa is going to follow on Saturday in the car and then we'll both come home together.  It is Mother's Day here on Sunday AND it's wee Fergus' fourth birthday.

A joke:
What do you call a Scotsman who is almost home?  Have a think and I'll put the answer at the end.

Well my darlings I shall away and get my beauty sleep.  I shall leave you with some more knitted vegetables from Tales From a Happy House.

Don't you just love the potato?

Love Nanxxxx                                                                           Hame-ish

DRISSLY, COLD, HAGGAI, KING CYRUS AND SETTING THE TABLE

Hello my lovelies

It's been a quiet day so far.

Woke to a fairly miserable, grey damp day.

It has cleared up a bit now but is still pretty cold.  I've got the lot on - Ugg boots, three layers including the blue fleece and leggings.  Poor Papa said he wasn't well this morning but when I suggested he go and put on a warm vest he instantly felt better.  Having said that, he hasn't been the best following a flu injection he had last week.

We've had lunch and he's headed off to the U3A for his guitar lesson.

I've just been pottering today.  Did a wash which is beginning to dry thank goodness.  There were quite a few delicates that couldn't be put in the dryer.  I won't need to hang them all around the house now.

I'm going to make dinner tonight and I've decided to make the Marks and Spencers' stew that I used to make for my children when they were young.  When I was down at Auntie Emma's, we had that stew for dinner.  Auntie Emma thinks it's a stew that can't be beaten.  And it's SO easy.  I've already peeled the potatoes for mashed potatoes and have done the carrots too.  In about an hour, I'll go and get the stew put together and into the oven.

Tomorrow I think it's quilting.  As you know, Kerrie K has been in Europe.  I'm pretty sure she's back now but I'll double check before going.

Kerrie J's also back (I think) after her visit to the Outer Hebrides.  It will be lovely to catch up with them both and hear what they got up to while they were away.  And, it will be lovely to catch up with the other ladies as well as quilting has been on hold for the few weeks Kerrie K's been away.

Yesterday Bev and I went up to the church for the Bible Study.  There were only a few ladies there yesterday as quite a few were unable to make it.  We are studying two books of the Bible, Zechariah and Haggai.  I don't know much about these two books of the Bible but I'm learning.  Haggai was a prophet who spoke to the Jewish people when they returned to live in Israel after being captured by the Babylonians.  One of their most important jobs to complete when they settled back in Israel was to rebuild the temple which had been raised to the ground by the Babylonians.  They started it and then got a bit discouraged for about 18 years and that's when Haggai, with his prophesies encouraged them to start again.

The reason the Jewish people managed to get back to Israel in the first place was that there was a good king called Cyrus who defeated the Babylonians and even though he wasn't Jewish himself, he helped the Jewish people to return to their homeland.  He also gave them a lot of help in rebuilding the Temple too.

Today though we hear God speaking to us through his Holy Spirit who lives in us.  We can hear him like a still, small voice that speaks to us and lets us know what is pleasing to God.  And when we fail sometimes, which we all do, He helps us to remember God forgives us and will give us strength to start again - just like the people in Haggai's time.

I popped into one of my blogs earlier today and just love this one.  This lady likes to collect plates and serviettes.  In THIS  little interview she shares some of her tips regarding setting the table.

Bye for now!

Love Nanxxx