Would you choose ........here?

I visited my mum today, and she was very keen to take me out into her backyard.

We often enjoy a walk there, as she is keen gardener, and while my brother-in-law Roger does most of the work, Mum takes great pride in her flowers.

But today she had something different to show me.

We had to use the sliding door out of her living area, rather than the laundry door, I wondered why.

When we were outside, Mum directed my attention to................

her 2 mops and outside broom. You can imagine my excitement!!!!!

Mum has a cleaning lady, so she doesn't use the mops much, but the outdoor broom is usually in use fairly regularly.

But the mystery remained.

She beckoned me to examine them more closely............

There tucked in behind the broom was a birds nest, perched on top of the mops.

Mum has been watching it for a couple of weeks now, avoiding using her laundry door, respecting the privacy of the occupants.

and this is the result..........

three tiny little chicks cuddled up on top of Mums domestic floor cleaning equipment!

Would you choose ....... here?

I just hope that the whole thing doesn't collapse as the chicks grow, and that Mums' cleaning lady continues to bring her own supplies!

To avoid any disasters we bought a new mop today, as a precaution.

Prayer

We are currently doing a series on prayer at our church. Each week our minister has asked someone to talk on praying before he speaks. A few weeks ago he asked me. In sharing

with my church family about prayer I was honest enough to admit that I have found it difficult at times over the past 15 months to pray. But I am trying to put in place some things that will help me to pray more regularly.

I thought I would tell you too about my strategy to pray more.

So here is an excerpt from my talk.

I found it hard to pray when I faced great personal loss and deep grief. There were times when I just cried out to God. But I know that he wants me to talk to Him, and so I have thought about some things that might be helpful.

Being honest with ourselves about our prayer life is very important. Do we pray? How often do we pray? Do we sit quietly and pray or is it usually when we are on the move? It helps us to make changes or to try to pray more regularly if we are honest with ourselves.

I know that it requires discipline to pray. Like all things that are good for me, [for example physical exercise] it takes commitment to pray. I am not fooled into thinking that it will one day become easy. Yes it is a delight and becomes more so, the longer I practice the discipline, but it will always require me to make time for it.

I must be intentional about praying. By that I mean if I want to pray while my grand daughter is napping, I have to be intentional leading up to that. It is very easy to get side tracked into just clearing the kitchen bench, or putting on a load of washing. If I want to pray before leaving the house for the day, I need to keep an eye on the clock as I eat breakfast so I don't run out of time. I have chosen not to have a set time each day, as each day is different. Instead, I am trying to set a time that morning in keeping with the days activities.

An important thing for me is to have a specific place to pray in my house. It is good to have somewhere where you can close the door. Also I have a chair that isn't too comfortable! Praying in a cosy chair will put me to sleep in an instant! At the moment I pray at my desk. This is where I conduct the business of life, so I pray surrounded by photos of people, reminders of chores to be done, and all the issues I am dealing with. It helps me to pray for people and about events that are happening.

This is my new favourite cosy chair. It is in the office near the desk, and it beckons me to sit in it at prayer time. I resist the temptation knowing it is very comfortable!

I read the Bible before praying. This isn't Bible study, just a few verses to help me to focus on God. I find if I don't start with this, my prayers are very selfish. At the moment I am reading Hebrews and loving the focus on who Jesus is.

Lastly I have a simple plan. It is really basic.

Adoration

Thanksgiving

Repentance

Requests.

This is my blue print, and while I have presented it to you, I by no means am achieving this regularly in my life, but I am trying to take ownership of my prayer life.

So dear readers, that is some of what I presented on Sunday morning. Many of you I know talk regularly with God. Some of you might never have done so. He is waiting for you. Why not find out more about Jesus and start to talk to Him. Oh yes, and if you want to know more about my church our website is

www.trinitymountbarker.org.au

Taking on new jobs

It has amazed me over the past six months, the number of "jobs" that were Waymans.

Like mowing the lawns, and opening wine bottles with corks, towing the trailer, and cleaning the gutters. He wasn't a real out doors man, and he didn't really understand cars, but he knew when the wheels needed to be balanced, [he always noticed that it needed doing after I had tried to park somewhere and had run into the kerb! I never seemed to get away with it!] He always kept our cars beautifully clean, inside and out. He used to clean my shoes for me, and he would do the small painting jobs on the house. It was Waymans job to pack the dishwasher. Lindy did it when the family came for a BBQ on Friday, and she has her Fathers ability to stack the maximum amount of dishes in.

I miss him terribly, and while some jobs are easy for me take on, I am learning to do others for the first time. My boys are wonderful, and they are helping me too.

I am sure that most people in the western world know what 2 stroke fuel is, but it is new knowledge to me. Cam showed me last week how to make it, when he was teaching me how to use the leaf blower.

Even my American stockbroker knows the formula, "lube and gas"

I have mastered the art of the pull start 2 stroke engine on the leaf blower, but I find the mulching machine a bit of challenge. Steph and I tried it some months ago, and we both are a bit frightened of it, so we are leaving that one for now.

But the leaf blower is a friendly little machine, and on my property is a very useful tool.

I used it on the driveway this week, as the gum trees are dropping leaves at the moment, and it was beautifully clean on 20 minutes!

I then decided to try the tennis court, that is a bit more of a challenge, as the leaves kept swirling up and over my head. I decided that it is a bit like herding sheep, it works better with less noise and bluster, and more gentle coaxing.

I also discovered that even a gentle breeze is your enemy if you are trying to do this job.

I had just finished and the wind gave a couple little puffs and this was the result!

So the week begins, and my list of jobs is

plant some lawn runners in a bare spot

stake the tomato plants

mow the lawns

harvest the duck weed off the dam [apparently it makes very good compost]

make the compost

spread some mulch on the garden beds

plant lettuces and a watermelon plant [the pumpkins are already in]

do some painting touch-ups around the house

.......and perhaps I might try to blow the leaves off the tennis court again!

Grandmas day

Today I had my first ever Grandparents day at school.

C has chosen to call it Grandmas day, and that's fine with me.

It is a bit daunting to arrive at a day like this on your own, but I was cared for immediately by friends who I don't know very well, but who took me under their wing compassionately.

We started in chapel, this is the view I had of C sitting with his teacher and friends.

We then had time in his class room looking at his work, he showed me around the school, and I enjoyed morning tea with other GPs. this was followed by a school presentation. All is well in the world when primary school students are given a clarinet and put in the school band to entertain us with songs arranged to include the few notes that they can play.

I remember that stage all to clearly!

The highlight of the day was at the end.

We were meant to bring lunch to have with the children.

I had stayed a little longer in the concert hall than many others talking to an old friend, and I thought rather than eating my lunch with C, I would just quickly visit him in his area, and say goodbye.

Cs teacher saw me coming across the yard, and I heard her say, "Here she is Charlie!"

He had worried that I wasn't coming. He had saved half his lunch for me,

two rather battered triangles of vegemite sandwich and the left over crumbs from his muffin.

He shared his drink bottle with me, I am glad his Mum has provided the type that does not allow any "backwash"!

I felt very loved as I sat awkwardly on the common area floor.

Gods plan to put us into families is pretty good, don't you think?

The war of the roses

I love my roses. To live on my property, you have to love roses, there are dozens of bushes, and that means a lot of pruning and spraying, and caring.

At the moment I am at war to protect my roses!!!!

I don't mind the usual enemies, things like black spot, or aphids, I know how to fight them, and currently I am winning these battles, as my gold bunnies attest.

But there is a more sinister enemy out there that is trying to decimate my bushes.

These beautiful native rainbow lorikeets are everywhere here in the hills, and they are extremely destructive, orchardists have to net their fruit trees to stop them eating their crops.

This is what they do to my precious roses:

Before:

After:

Again, before:

and after:

I'm sure you would agree this is very disturbing, as they are simply being destructive, sucking the sap out of the new shoots, leaving the flowers to wilt, and the plant with no new growth.

Here is an example of their work......

so I have declared WAR on these monsters of the sky!!!!

They strike, when I am at my most vulnerable, using guerilla tactics, usually swooping before dawn. Now, I have been through an exhaustive investigation of the tactics available to me and here are my findings:

1. I could run around flapping my arms in my PJs at 6am to scare them off, but that really doesn't appeal to me, and could be a bit embarrassing if I am spotted by the neighbours.

2. I could hang CD discs from the bushes to scare them off. This has been tried by others with limited success but I like to listen to my CDs, and besides I think a garden full of shiny discs hanging from bits of string looks a bit naff.

3. I could put nets over the bushes, but what's the point of having them if I can't see the flowers?

4. So this is my preferred method of attack:

I boil up a mixture of these potent ingredients, and spray them on the bushes!!!!!!

The poor little birdies don't like the taste and go away!

And if this doesn't work my gardener has some really foul smelling stuff that is my last line of defence.

Chemical warfare .............as a last resort!

Be afraid pretty little birdies, be very afraid!

Please be aware that the aim is not to harm rainbow lorikeets at Elmbrook simply to stop them from ruining my roses!

Lions of Singapore..... and other things.

Lindy and Gus invited me to share their family trip to Singapore which was part holiday and also an opportunity for them to connect with Gus' sister and her family there.

The children coped well with the flight, and arrived ready to greet the Lions of Singapore.

First were the statues in front of the Takashimaya shopping mall....

We were much more interested in the interior of the shopping malls, but that had to wait!

Then we saw the Merlion.....

Miss P had just been harassed by a group of Japanese tourists who wanted to take her photo, and she was a little un-nerved by the experience so we have the back of her head!

We then discovered these cute little versions on our way to the Marina Bay complex...

The Marina Bay Sands hotel is simply mind boggling!

and as we walked through the mall we discovered this lion was coming to town!

Lindy and Gus had dinner at the top of the hotel to celebrate his sisters birthday... I declined the invitation to join them to mind the children, and to avoid having to go to the top of that building,

however....

a ride on the Singapore flyer was the next activity!

[you can see it in the distance in the photo of the hotel, it doesn't look very high but it is nearly as high as the hotel}

Can you see the cars on the freeway? we were only half way up!!!

C was also a little anxious, and at about this point, he strapped himself into the stroller for protection.

No-one had the heart to tell him the facts of gravity and strollers, and very great heights, after all he is only 5!

We visited the zoo, the lions there were asleep with their backsides pointing at us, so I didn't bother with a photo shoot, but C fed the elephants with his cousins.

We then had a morning at the childrens' science centre ,

Miss P played the chimes

And C served his head on a platter for us

It was a wonderful time with this dear family doing all the things that little people enjoy. But I did see some of the arcades with the amazing array of designer boutiques and even dropped in on a fashion parade!

The highlight of the week for me was really rather simple. I had time with Belinda just the two of us, something that is in short supply, as she is busy young Mum, with many responsibilities. She is a woman with great general knowledge, and can talk on many different topics, and I loved having time with her discussing history, politics and our christian walk.

Her Dad would have loved being in these conversations.

I can't finish this blog without including one last Lion.

I shared my room with C and he was a wonderful room mate.

But if I needed to have a little "Grannie" time I would turn on the TV to the Singapore cartoon station and he would happily watch Tom and Jerry.

So this lion became an integral part of our days, roaring at the start of each cartoon.

The same cartoons were probably playing 23 years ago when Wayman and I took our family to Singapore for their first overseas holiday

A holiday in Singapore

Tomorrow I head to Singapore for a week with Belinda and her family.

I have packed my bag, and am ready to go. Having flown to Nashville to see Cassie and Nathan in August, I am not feeling anxious about going without Wayman.

But there is something about this trip that has made me realise how much my life has changed.

With Wayman we always managed to fly premium economy or business class on long trips. He had the FF statis to be able to obtain upgrades whenever he needed to.

Now I am on my own, I haven't got that pull. It has made me realise how much we can take for granted a position of privilege. This time there is no extra baggage, or leg room, no priority boarding, and no white cloth on the meal tray. It is a humbling thing when these extras are removed.

Why am I telling you this?

This tiny inconvenience has made me think about how much Jesus gave up. His position as king was put aside so he could become a man, and not a man of privilege, but an ordinary man.

He would not have had priority boarding, or a white cloth on the meal tray, he would have had an economy class seat.

And he did it to give me a way to have a relationship with him.

I am humbled, and repentant of my sense of loss, and expectation that privilege is my right.

I am grateful that my family want me on this trip, and I will enjoy the really important things.