A festive street

Steph and Shane live in a pretty street. Steph is very community conscious and three years ago she decided to decorate her block of their street with red ribbons on the street trees at Christmas. She door knocked as many neighbours as possible and then proceeded to put the ribbons up at night, with Shanes help. It took her a few evenings to complete the task.

Apparently one lady who she hadn't spoken to, rang the council during the process complaining that she didn't have a ribbon, and demanding to know when were they coming to do her tree!

Last year Steph left the ribbon in peoples letter boxes with a request for them to put them up, but I think they didn't all meet her high standards in ribbon artistry so she abandoned that idea.

.

She buys red plastic tablecloths by the roll and cuts it into strips, so each year they start with fresh ribbon.

This year a neighbour helped her, and the street is beautifully adorned again.

Most of the houses have Agapanthus and lawn on the verge, so the red ribbons look very festive........but some don't take as much interest in the streetscape

but they still have a ribbon to brighten their footpath.

Even the vacant block has two!

everyone is treated the same

They have found it a wonderful way to get to know their neighbours, and now Jont rides his bike along the footpath, and talks to Ben and Gerry, and Dot, and Di, he thinks it is quite normal to know many of the people on his block.

And in a small way one family is helping their community to celebrate Christmas.

.....and my real BFF

What a friend we have in Jesus,

all our sins and griefs to bear!

what a privilege to carry

everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

all because we do not carry,

everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged:

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,

who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness:

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,

cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Saviour, still our refuge:

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do your friends despise, forsake you?

Take it to the Lord in prayer:

in his arms he'll take and shield you,

you will find a solace there.

My new BFF

My love/hate relationship with the birds on my property is continuing.

I really love the diversity of bird life, from the magpies and willy wagtails to the ducks that make my dam home while they raise their chicks.

But the destructive habits of some of them really makes it hard to appreciate them.

The roses continue to be a target for the lorikeets, and I am continuing to battle for supremacy in that theatre of warfare.

But a new enemy has arisen.

The sulphur crested cockatoos are trying to destroy my lawn, and just for fun they poop all over my outdoor furniture!

So I have a new best friend......

I am hopeful that this fearsome looking owl will discourage any toilet action by these birds on my table. He is perched on the front patio to help them to find another place to empty their bowels.

I have another one on the coffee table, and one sitting in the middle of the lawn to stop the destruction of the lawn. I always go over board with a new idea! I bought the updated model, that has a solar panel on its head so that the eyes glow at night to stop any nocturnal activity.

Pretty good don't you think?

And very classy sitting on my front patio.

I wonder what my daughters will think of my taste in outdoor art?

Well, when you consider that they are replacing Bob the gnome I think it is an improvement.

Bob wasn't originally meant to be on guard against these predators and really he isn't very scary with his cute little ukelele and red mushroom.

Even the scar on his forehead from a mishap in the rockery hasn't made the birds respect him.

So I think I will retire Bob back to the anonymity of the garden where the little boys can play hide and seek with him and he doesn't have to worry about pesky birds pooping on his little red cap.

I'll leave the work of guarding my property to the plastic owls, with googly eyes, and a fearsome scowl.........and a solar panel on their head.

Cool, sophisticated, noice!

Suits in the city

I have just returned from a visit to Sydney.

It was my first on my own.

I chose this time as it coincided with the AGM of "Waymans" company, and I decided that I was brave enough to attend. I stayed with wonderful friends who allowed me room to remember with delight the 9 years I had lived there. I have many memories of Sydney that are specific to my own life, but I wanted on this visit, to remember Wayman. As I visited people and places I made a list that particularly related to him.

It isn't profound, but I thought I would share it with you. I didn't take any photos, it wasn't that sort of trip. There is no order, and I apologise if it is bit boring, as most of the list relates to things that we did, just the two of us. But they helped me to remember us, living ordinary lives in a truly beautiful city.

Men in suits in the city

Pages and Pages book shop

Hayden Orpheum picture theatre

Indian myna birds scavenging on the streets

McIntosh of Mosman

Illawarra Street

The ferry ride from Mosman Bay to Circular Quay

Fanuli furniture

Allan Border oval

Queen Victoria building

Crystal carwash cafe

the walk from the piazza to the church at St Thomas'

Rihani menswear in Mosman

Little Sirius cove

Rubicor

Jane, Kevin and Sharad

Coffee group at St Ives

Qantas club

the cross word in the inflight magazine

having to "lean in" to hear Gwens' lilting Irish accent

Balmoral Beach

the drive on Archibald road to St Ives

the men who were Waymans friends

Lastly, the ferry terminal at Mosman bay. I managed to be brave most of the time, but here I admit I had a good cry.

Wayman would drive to work most days toward the end of our stay, but occasionally he would catch the ferry. He would ring me as the ferry was coming around Cremorne Point and I would drive down to Mosman Bay to pick him up. There is short term parking where you can watch the passengers as they alight from the ferry, and I would sit in the car and watch the suits as they filed off the green and gold ferry waiting to catch the first glimpse of him. Wayman always looked the same at the end of the day as he did at the beginning, his tie still tied, his coat on even on the warmest day. At the end of the day he still looked immaculate. He would stride toward the car, with his satchel under his arm and always, always, he was pleased to see me.

This time my heart ached as I watched the people coming off the ferry, knowing that my man wasn't among them.

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!