Showing posts with label worshipping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label worshipping. Show all posts

Friday, 6 July 2018

AT THE CROSS...


Hello my lovelies!

This is the wee Presbyterian Church out at Geham which is just a bit further than Cabarlah where we used to live.  As you can see it's just a small church.  Our minister Andrew goes out there to take services about once a month.

Andrew asked Papa if he would make a cross for the church, so Papa has been busy in the shed this week.

Here's a couple of photographs of him working on the cross.  It's made from very heavy wood.  He has finished it and tomorrow he heads up to Geham with another man from church to install it.  I shall try and remind him to take a camera with him and show you what it looks like when it is put up.



HERE'S a link to a beautiful song about the cross.

Love Nanxxx

Saturday, 28 April 2018

AUTUMN



Hello my lovelies!

Thought I would post some autumn photographs for you today.  As you can see, the sun has now moved to the north so we are getting some lovely sunshine on the side verandah.  I moved the carpet and the chair round from the back deck last week.


I took this photograph while sitting at the table on the front verandah.  Can you see the tree across the road - the pink one.  Well, that is a  golden rain tree.  It has fantastic yellow flowers in spring and what you see at this time of the year are the seeds.  I've got a feeling you can no longer buy these trees here as they are considered a pest.  It must be all those seeds - once they fall, I imagine they seed everywhere.


The tree on the other side of the verandah is one of the beautiful maples and as you can see, it hasn't put on its autumn coat yet. 


And...the camellia outside our bedroom window.  


And...some roses still blooming.  If you look closely, you will see buds still to flower.

This morning Papa and I were very busy around the place.  I hauled the ladders up from the shed, ran some hot water put some soapy stuff into a bucket, grabbed some cloths and set to and cleaned all the fans.  Now that we are well into autumn, I don't think we will be using them again until nearer the end of the year.

While I was doing that, Papa was outside putting finishing touches with his paintbrush to the front fence.  Over the course of the summer it had turned green with mould!  Through the week he's been busy washing it off with very special 'stuff' from BMS.  I'm hoping all the plants and grass nearby don't die.  Time will tell and I'll keep you informed.  The fence is all nice and white again.

Tomorrow, Papa and I are on 'tea duty' after church.  We haven't done this before so should be interesting.  We'll go up the hill a bit earlier than usual and set things up.  I've made a batch of shortbread to take with me.  

Did I tell you that Bob and Bev are coming to St David's now too.  It's lovely having them there and after the service they usually come back to our place for some morning tea.

Our minister Andrew usually sends through an email during the week saying what he is going to be preaching on and also what hymns we will be singing.   THIS is one of the hymns we will be listening to on the audio visual - we sometimes sing along as well.  We will be singing along with THIS one too.  I've just had a look at them and the words in the songs are beautiful.

Andrew has been preaching from the book of Mark for quite some time.  Tomorrow he's preaching on the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida written about in chapter 8.

Well my dears I shall away.  I've just taken wee Molly for a walk.  She's quite down at the moment; very quiet.  I think she's missing Spotty Boy.  I'm sure he won't be missing her as he's happy as long as he's getting attention!

Love Nanxxx


Monday, 5 March 2018

AND SHE'S AWAY!


Greer left after breakfast this morning.  She is now on the road, heading towards Bundaberg and home.  Her plan is to stop somewhere on the way for the night so that she can arrive home around lunch-time, fairly fresh with plenty of energy to empty the van and get herself settled again.

It's been a huge trip.  If I remember correctly, Greer said that since early December she has driven over 11,000kms!

We had a lovely couple of days together, chatting about 'old times' and when she came with us to church on Sunday, she felt as though she had travelled through the past and was sitting in our old church in Golden Grove again.

Andrew preached a fantastic sermon.  I'm sure there wasn't a sleepy eye in the place.  All backs were straight, hanging on to every word.  And the music too was wonderful.  The organist had prepared a Bach prelude and postlude.  I'm sure Opa would have loved it.

I'm off to Brisbane tomorrow to visit Auntie Emma and the family.  I think we are going to be doing a bit of sewing on her log cabin quilt.  She has bought some beautiful William Morris fabrics for it.  You can imagine us tomorrow taking it in turns sitting at the little lemon sewing machine, the cutting board and the iron.  Will take photographs for you to see how we are progressing.

Love Nanxxx

Monday, 18 December 2017

ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH


Hello my lovelies!

Here's a wonderful rendition of the Christmas carol "Angels We Have Heard on High".  Watch to the end.

Love Nanxx

Sunday, 10 December 2017

IMMANUEL





Hello my lovelies!

This was played at Church this morning.  Beautiful!

Love Nanxx

















Sunday, 16 July 2017

SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT 12.24PM

Hello my lovelies

Woke and pulled the IPad out to see what you have all been up to.  Mamma has put up wonderful photographs on Facebook which give a wonderful feel for your day.

Another beautiful day here today.  "These blue skies..."



Papa has just popped out to the shops - can't remember what he's gone for.  I thought we had everything we needed for lunch.

I had a sleep-in this morning.  Couldn't believe the time when I woke up.  I could hear voices in the kitchen.  Keith had popped in and was having a cuppa with Papa.  Was very good, and still went to church.  Quick shower, made the bed, load of washing on, bowl of cereal and out the door.

Andrew the minister is on long service leave so we had a guest preacher this morning.  The poor man had a sore throat and had to suck some lozenges to get going.  But, his sermon was beautiful.  The Old Testament reading was from Numbers 6: 24-25...

The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you His peace.

The reading from the New Testament was from Matthew chapter five - the 'Blessed' verses.

He said:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
10 
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
After church, I headed home.  Papa made a cuppa and we sat out the front until it was time for Songs of Praise which was a wonderful episode all the way from Ireland - County Antrim.  I have never been to Ireland.  The scenery looks like Scotland, only softer.  

There was a fabulous singer, Kathryn Scott on the programme.  HERE'S a link to her singing.



Must run.  Papa is calling me for lunch.  After lunch I'm popping down to see Margaret.

Love Nanxxx






Monday, 26 June 2017

MONDAY MORNING 9.26AM

Hello my lovelies

Just had my porridge with full cream milk!

It's a cloudless day today and Papa and I have decided to spend some time in the garden today.  Papa is going to have a look at the bed below our bedroom window.  The Camellia is still flowering but coming to the end of its season and the Salvias which were starting to encompass the house have already been cut back.  I think Papa wants to check the soil, see if it needs topping up and perhaps check the mulch too.

I've decided to do a bit of quilting on my Christmas quilt, go for a walk and then do some gardening.  Spending time doing the quilting first means that I'll have some good exercise after sitting for a while.

On Saturday I was talking to Neville, an elderly neighbour who lives in Allan Street opposite the old church.   He was giving his driveway a wash with a gurney which is a high-pressured hose thing that cleans any oil or stains off the driveway.  When I passed with Molly and Spot, he turned the machine off, leaned against a post and stopped for a chat.  

He is quite friendly with Mary-Kate who lives on the corner of Allan and Hampshire Streets.  She lives in the house with the Jacaranda outside.  The tree that she and the children decorate with things such as beach-balls, flip-flops, sunglasses - anything to do with the beach and Christmas in Australia at Christmas.  Anyway, as you may remember, Mary-Kate has started a street library and Neville was telling me that there was a two page, yes, two page article in The Sydney Morning Herald about street libraries and Mary-Kate's was mentioned in the article.  Mary-Kate's street library is a first for Toowoomba.  Apparently she contacted The Chronicle a while back to see if they would do an article on it, but no, they didn't take up the offer.

Did you know that Street Libraries are now springing up all over the world? 




Here's a link to the article.

Yesterday I went up the road to church.  Papa didn't come as he was feeling a bit under-the-weather.  It was fairly quiet as the State schools are now on holiday and as most of the folk at church are Grannys and Grandpas, I think they must have been off visiting their families and especially their grandchildren.

Here's a link to one of the songs we sang - a beautiful song of worship.

Well my lovelies, I shall away and get this day going.

Love Nanxxxx


Monday, 19 June 2017

RUNNING ALL AROUND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, A NEW BABY, A NEW BOOK AND A LOVELY LUNCH

Hello my lovelies

I'm sitting here at the kitchen table.  I can hear Papa practising his guitar.  His music teacher is getting his small group learning music theory.  This is quite challenging but Papa is always up for a challenge and sets time aside each day to work hard on his homework.

Last night we went out to dinner to Kerrie J's house out at Highfields.  She and her husband Richard went for a holiday to Scotland a couple of months ago.  I gave Kerrie a list of possible places she and Richard could visit when they were travelling before they left so, it was a great evening to....

I started this on Saturday morning and it is now Monday afternoon!  Just when I was in the middle of typing this post, Richard Jessop arrived to pick up our possum trap.  He and Kerrie live up at Highfields on a property that is beside something that resembles a ravine.  Needless to say they have zillions of possums eating their avocados, oranges AND lemons!  Can you believe it?  Richard stayed for a cuppa and a chat and while I was making coffee and tea, Papa took him for a wee look around the house.  When he was taking Richard out to show him the laundry area, they both heard quite a commotion coming from the house down below - the one where Spencer the dog lives and Molly sometimes barks at through the fence.  "I think someone's crying Connie!"  Papa said.  I left the tea/coffee making and ran down the verandah, out the gate and around to Allan Street and into Spencer's garden.  Spencer met me at the gate and I made my way round to the back where sitting outside on her verandah was the lady weeping and wailing.  In front of her was her cat which was obviously dead.

"Oh dear!"  I said and put my arms around her.  She had been up most of the night calling the cat as it sleeps inside at night.  Finally in the morning when she came out there was her wee moggie.  He had obviously been in some sort of fracas through the night and had made his way home before collapsing and dying.

I picked up Moggie in my arms while Moggie's owner went for a wee blanket.  We wrapped him up and laid him on the outside table.  We couldn't quite get his tail under the blanket as he had gone quite stiff through the night.  I sat with the lady for a while asking her if she would like Papa to take car of Moggie but she said "No!  I think I'll take him to the farm and bury him there."  I left after half an hour or so and said I would come back in the afternoon.

Came home and had some lunch and as Keith had popped in earlier (before Richard) and I had said I would pop down and see Margaret, I headed down the road.  I decided to take the car as I had a shop to do too and the weather was looking quite stormy.

Had a lovely visit with Margaret.  Margaret and I had a great chat together.  Keith made us both a cup of tea.  Margaret always asks how both of you are going so I tell her all about your latest adventures and plans for the summer holidays.

After visiting Margaret, I made my way back to see Spencer's mumma.  When I knocked on the open back door, she took a minute or two to come as she had been lying down.  I noticed that Moggie was still on the table and that his owner had laid a beautiful Camellia on top of the blanket which covered him.  I went in to the kitchen while the lady popped on the kettle.  We chatted away about different things, how long she had lived in the area, about her work - she works in the Intensive Care department as a nurse up at St Vincent's.  In between talking, she would constantly lift her hanky to her face to wipe away her tears.  I stayed for about an hour, inviting her to come for dinner but she said she thought she would just stay home and have an early night.

By this time it was nearly 5.00pm and too late to go shopping so it was back home again.  However, when I arrived back home and got out of the car, I could hear her weeping again.

Yesterday we could hear visitors were with her which I assume were either friends or family.  I'll keep contact to make sure she's alright.

Yesterday I headed to church in the morning.  It was a lovely service.  After the children's address, the minister, Andrew, played an audio visual recording of THE GOSPEL SONG which you can hear here.

While I was sitting waiting for the service to begin I felt a tap on my shoulder, turned around and there were Bob and Bev.  As we were leaving at the end of the service, I noticed Simone the minister's wife with a brand new baby in her arms.  He was so cute all wrapped up in a tartan shawl.  Simone and Andrew periodically foster children that for some reason can't stay with their parents and this wee fella is one of those children.  Benjamin is only two weeks old and just gorgeous.  I had a hold of him, and was showing him off to all the old ladies in the church as though he was my very own baby.  One lovely man put his hand on Benjamin and said "May God bless you!"  He said it so quietly and meaningfully I was nearly moved to tears.

As I had walked up the road to church, Bob and Bev drove me home and stayed for a cuppa and a chat.  After they left, I went and did the shopping which was quite a big shop for the laundry, bathroom and pantry.

Home again with a million bags which Papa helped me bring in.  All stuff packed away and time to sit and have a wee glass of white wine.  Papa was in the process of making a lovely lunch.  After what was quite a late lunch, we settled down and did some reading (I think!)

Here's a photograph of wee Fergus taken when we were at the Art Gallery in Brisbane last week.


Tomorrow Papa and I are heading down to Brisbane for a few days but I will do my best to keep up with the blog and what we are up to.

Another book for Mummy and Daddy for their reading list for holidays.  I've just started this one and it's great.



Love Nanxxxx

Wednesday, 10 May 2017

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

Sunday, 19 March 2017

SONG FOR SUNDAY



We watched Songs of Praise this morning and heard Noah Stewart singing I'LL WALK WITH GOD.

If you click here and scroll to 6.50 minutes, you will hear him sing.   Listen to the end.

MARKET, CHURCH AND HOME



I woke early - 5.30am and got up to take a tablet for my sore tooth.  Once up I decided to stay up, dressed and took Molly for a walk in the mist.

Home again and closed the kitchen door to allow Papa a sleep-in.

He's up now and has headed off to the market to buy some fruit and vegetables.

What I would really like to do is head back to bed as my tooth or lack thereof, is making me feel a bit low.  But I'll be strong and have a shower, get dressed and go to church.



Now this is a church!  But not this morning's outing.  This one is on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and was built in the 15th century.

After church, home, Songs of Praise and a relaxing afternoon.

I shall away and get myself organised.

Love Nanxxxx

TUESDAY MORNING AT 9.42AM

Hello my lovelies! Here are Wayne and Papa leaving for Geham to put the cross up.  Can you see wee Molly and Spotty Boy looking u...