Saturday, April 27, 2013

Anzac Day and Australian Galahs

On Anzac Day, someone graciously brought me some Anzac biscuits to help me observe the occasion. I sat outside with my tea on a table and watched several small airplanes from an air show fly over this little district. In the vase is a stem from a red flowering bush.

This is a beautiful bird in flocks around here on the ground and trees and bushes and are as common as crows. The galah has a color combination that I like. Hmmm...I wonder what I could find in the fabric store to match these colors?



I am enjoying the warm afternoon sun and the scent of trees, including eucalyptus.

  I am here to help my siblings move my mother to a more convenient an modern place to suit her special health needs. 
  Since it is too hard for me to remember the names of everyone I meet, I just call them "Cousin" and they say "G'day Cousin" back to me.
  When I was about 12 years old my 3 year old brother and I were outside by the creek.  I offered to throw him across the creek so we would not have to take a long walk home.  I miscalculated how far to throw him and dumped him in the middle of the creek.  He was awfully wet and cold on the way home.  He has never let me forget it.
  Today when he came to see Mother and me, I picked him up about a foot from the ground but was not able to throw him.  Now he says I threw his back out. My back hurts too.  I won't be picking up my baby brother again.

  I miss my pillows and my soft bed and my home and rellies across the Pacific, but it has certainly been a great comfort to have an ipad and use Skype to talk to them several times a day. It reduces any anxiety.
  It always seemed to me that people in previous decades  were privileged in so many ways with discoveries and exploration and new lands and progress.  God has given our era a lot of blessings too. We have this great communication technology that is so helpful. I cannot find the words to say my gratefulness for it.
  Homeschoolers can use this post in several ways: look up the birds, the gum trees, and Anzac Day and a recipe for Anzac biscuits. Also, find Somerville,Victoria on the map.
 Please be sure to send me emails!
Lydia

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Angoby's in Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

Here are some of the rooms at Angoby's where I am staying. The lady who owns it was 16 years old when I met her at Cowrie Point, Tasmania in the 1960's.























Find the Youngest One

Dolly and books .

Tea party .
Cack on the tea cart .
Dolly in bed with tea tray .
primroses in the gorden .
our flour gorden .
Our view in the frunt yord .
our garden .

Monday, April 15, 2013

Being Positive When People Around You are Negative

The Bible contains many examples of people who went forward to do God's will in spite of attempts by others to stop them.  Today we need to remember that in obeying the Lord, we need to keep our eyes on the goal of finishing the tasks he has given us

. If you are a wife, mother, homemaker or a grown daughter at home, you might think as long as you do what the Bible says, it is all going to be easy. However there is always some negative person lurking around trying to discourage you for doing what is right.

Staying home and minding your own business of the family might seem so simple that no one would even take note of it, and therefore, you will be left alone to do your work.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Groceries


I was in the grocery store today and discovered after the cashier had processed my groceries that I did not have my wallet with me. I asked him to leave my groceries there while I went home and got my wallet. 

 The lady standing next to me told the cashier to put my groceries on her bill.  I told him not to and that I would just be back in 20 minutes or less.  He took the side of the lady who wanted to pay for my groceries and so I walked out a free woman. I say that considering that I was also driving without a license ;-)  

The employee is a man I've seen at the store for years and years and he said that many people come up "short" of money and someone behind them pays for it and will not tell their name or phone number or address.  He said it had happened to him, too.


 I walked with the lady out to the parking lot and found her car parked close to mine. She told me the same thing had happened to her a few days ago and she couldn't find her money. Someone next to her insisted on paying for her groceries. She still would not give me her name.

  Being on the receiving end of generosity is not as comfortable to me as being on the giving-end, so I will certainly be alert to what is going on ahead of me at the grocery store, and looking for an opportunity to "repay" the favor by helping someone else.

Thank you for buying my groceries today.  I always thought Americans were nice people and I've always felt blessed and spoiled to live here. I hope I can spoil other people, too. As Christians, we believe that giving is a blessing to others that brings more blessings on ourselves which we can continue to pass on to others:

"But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully."  2 Corinthians 9:6



I remember one snowy winter that I had become very concerned about a tree that was blocking my view down the road where I had drive. After several close calls with logging trucks or farm machinery, I decided to cut the tree down.  I thought it was on my property, but it turned out to be one of those marker-trees that a farmer puts on the corners of his property.  Was the neighboring farmer ever angry when he saw that tree cut down.  I did not know at the time that property lines were not exactly what they looked like; that tree really looked like it was on my property.

I was profusely apologetic and offered to plant a new tree but he declined.  Eventually the old tree grew up again around the stump, and the branches once again blocked the road from view. I decided not to make a fuss about it this time. I was so glad that tree was still alive and had grown again. Apparently it was a tree planted in memory of the farmer's father, when his father died and passed the farm on to him. 

On a very snowy winters day in the morning I saw 2 men with a chainsaw cutting down that tree, right out the front window.For a moment I thought maybe someone was deliberately vandalizing the neighbor's property and I thought how angry the farmer was going to be when he found that tree was once again, chopped down.

I closed the curtains and went to the kitchen for awhile, trying to mind my own business.  When I came back to the front door, there was a big pile of firewood stacked on the porch. The farmer had cut the tree down so I could have a safer view of the road when driving out of my driveway. He and his son had then cut it into little logs and stacked it on my front porch, and left, without a word.
A Difficult Question
by George Goodwin Kilburn


There is a quiet organization called the Christian Relief Fund in Amarillo, Texas,  that I have, in the past, participated in. Many preachers reported the dismal state of orphanages in various countries of the world. Desperate parents who wanted their children to have food and shelter would leave their children in orphans homes. Many of these children had at least one living parent. Through Christian Relief Fun, our family supported a handicapped girl who lived at home with her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother in the Ukraine. Each month, the local preacher would take the money that we and others sent, and personally distributed it to the families. This provided a way for the children to remain in the care of their mothers and fathers in dire circumstances, and also a chance for the local preacher to offer a Bible lesson and teach them the gospel.  Through this, I was able to remain friends with the family for almost 20 years. The little girl is now grown and has been able to afford several surgeries to help her walk.  It does not take a lot of American money to support someone like this. I still talk to the mother and her daughter on Skype and we have remained friends. I like this program because you can actually know the family of the child you are supporting, see inside their homes and learn more about them.

Many Americans support people in other parts of the world, in this way. Christians know that life is precious and will do what they can for the handicapped and the hungry.  They in turn are greatly blessed at home because of these efforts.


Making a Home Where You Are


Seeking the New Home
by Newell Convers Wyeth


Song of Inspiration and Comfort

Home Sweet Home
By Walter Sadler





I think of my father, a WW2 veteran, when I hear this song. How would Christians live without having  the hope of "going home," through obedience to the gospel,  to a reward  beyond this perishable life.   I have added this to the top of my playlist, which you see on the left sidebar.

Here is a song that was written to comfort the writer when his brother passed away. The lyrics on the screen say, "Enter heaven shouting, before the Father and the Son," but the actual word is "love for the Father and the Son."



For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;  Colossians 1:5 


If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard...  Colossians 1:23

I have included these passages because they mention "the gospel," which is connected to many things. Here are just a few references to the word "gospel" among the many, many references in the New Testament:

The Kingdom - Matthew 9:35
Preached to the poor - Matthew 11:5
Requires repentance and belief - Mark 1:15
Published - Mark 13:10
Preached - Luke 21, Acts 8:25
Defined as the death, burial and ressurection - I Corinthians 15:1-4

There are only about two "sad" songs on my playlist, but even they are quite uplifting. Be sure to click the playlist on my sidebar, or go here to  click it on and listen to all my favorites, and yours, too. They should all play automatically.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

What Does "Shamefaced" Mean, in the Bible?


Home Sweet Home
by Walter Dendy Sadler


Sewing Inspiration

Nearly Done
by Walter Dendy Sadler 1854-1923




This cute plastic jar of buttons came from Walmart, and it comes in many different colors. The fabric swatches are some I bought at a garage sale from a travelling salesman who shows samples for orders, to fabric stores. These fabrics can also be found at Shabby Fabrics online.  These are the sample pieces that were being sold, and I liked  them because they were already all cut the same size. 


I am showing two quilts I made, just to try out a pattern I found in an old quilt magazine. The sheep quilt is a technique called trapunto, (an Italian way of quilting)  where I opened up the back of the appliqued sheep and inserted stuffing to make the sheep stand out. The insert is then sewn shut by hand and the entire back is covered with the backing fabric. Quilt batting (wadding) is inserted between the layers. As these quilts are showing some wear, I wanted to post a photograph for memory.



This was possibly my first quilt, using applique.






This is one of my first quilts, made X years ago.  I hand stitched an outline around the birdhouse and the birds. Here is the outline from the back view.

Sunday, April 07, 2013

George Goodwin Kilburne


Fetching Water
by George Goodwin Kilburne, English 1839-1924

Afternoon Treat 
by George Goodwin Kilburne
(from Anthenaeum)


If you want to see more of his art, type in "George Goodwin Kilburne art" and click images. There are many sources online for his art. 

The dress I was going to make is finished and you can see it on this post. You may want to check that post once in awhile for updates, as I'm in the process of sewing a pink jacket to match that dress.

Saturday, April 06, 2013

The Dandenongs

Sunday after church two lovely ladies who live in the caravan park took me to Sassafras in The Dandenongs for shopping and tea at Miss Marples.
 
This is Dreena, who has been so kind to me since I came, and has a special knack for sympathy. When I got back to an empty home after my Mother moved to her new place, Dreena cheerfully suggested a trip.
On the left is Linda, who also lives in one of those cute manufactured houses that I showed you when I first came here. We had a wonderful time visiting the shops while we waited for our seating at Miss Marples, and I think that these ladies were exceptionally happy to take a day off and come up to the mountain ranges to show off this part of Victoria to me. They both kept a very close eye on me and did not let me stray too far.
 
 
Dreena told me that people knit scarves while they are standing on the sidewalk in winter, and wrap them around the poles to keep them warm. I asked her why, and she said it was because the poles got cold in winter. I think she enjoys having me on.
They also have Christmas in July in Sassafrass since it snows up here in the mountains in winter.
Some mice yard sculpture sold in an oudoor area.
The tea room.
Next door to the tea room is a shop that sells any kind of teapot you can imagine, and every type of tea leaf, tea strainer, tea spoon and tea cup.
 
 
Click on for a larger view.
 
I neglected to take a photo of the sandwiches when they were first served.
 
The menu
The forest
 
The corner where we sat.
 
 
 
 

 
A koala teapot.
I would not have had as much of a holiday here if not for Dreena and Linda taking to Sassafras and also the other things we did together while I was here.