“A nurse will always give us hope, an angel with a stethoscope.” ~Terri Guillemets Nurse Bert is very busy right now. As well as looking after me as I travel through extensive and arduous Lyme disease treatment, he is now caring for young Harry as well. Harry had surgery for his bottom jaw yesterday. […]
What happened to the Sisterhood?
“Nobody objects to a woman being a good writer or sculptor or geneticist if at the same time she manages to be a good wife, a good mother, good-looking, good-tempered, well-dressed, well-groomed, and unaggressive.” ~ Marya Mannes I briefly thought about titling this post ‘Sisters, don’t be Bitches!’… It is somewhat surprising to me – […]
Chocolate Covered Coconut Slice Recipe
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” ~ Charles M. Schulz Chocolate and coconut is a heavenly combination, and this particular slice recipe delivers! It is quite light in texture, so it’s not rich and it’s not too sweet – a crisp biscuit base, a fluffy coconut centre and […]
Healing Old Hurts
“We are often haunted by important relationships from the past that influence us unconsciously in the present. As we work them through, they go from haunting us to becoming simply part of our history.” ~ Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science Why is it that […]
The Magic of a Cup of Tea
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ~ Mother Teresa There are a few things that have helped me to feel human again in the past twenty-four hours after days of being wretchedly ill. Such simple things, but they nurtured me, body and soul: a long […]
Lyme Schlyme!
“I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.” ~ Arthur Ashe The past few days have not been among my best. Physically I’ve struggled. It started earlier this week, of course, […]
Alice’s Lifelong Invisible Friend
“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery The Little Prince Alice is the oldest person to have ever sought out my services as a psychic. She came to see me […]
Sex, Drugs and Meditation – A journey to Self!
“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready […]
Uncanny Harry!
“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.” ~ Rumi Harry, our young pup, continues to astound and delight us. For those of you who’ve been following his journey, you’ll know that Harry joined our family late last year, after the death of Charlie, our much loved old cattledog. Right from the first […]
Simple ways to make your week look better
“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” ~ Marian Wright Edelman Another Monday’s rolling around and that means that you have the opportunity, in small ways, […]
Thoughts on Mother’s Day
“There are three musts that hold us back: I must do well. You must treat me well. And the world must be easy.”~ Albert Ellis It’s Mother’s Day in Australia today. It’s a day when so many families will get together with their Mothers, give heartfelt gifts of appreciation, share meals and practice love and […]
Tasty Asian Flavours Quinoa – Virtual Vegan Potluck 2013
“Eating superfoods won’t turn you into a superhero, but it might help you look better in Lycra.” ~ Nicole Cody Quinoa (pronounced keen- wah) is touted as one of the latest ‘superfoods’ and apparently all the cool and beautiful people have recently discovered it. As you well know, I’m not in the ‘cool and beautiful’ […]
Inviting Stillness…
“The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh How can you be well, how can you know peace, if you are always busy? Always rushing? If your days are blurring one […]
‘Mum’s sleeping!’ by Guest Bloggers Bert & Harry
“Sleep is the best meditation.” ~ Dalai Lama Mum’s sleeping. But she hates to miss posting her blog, so we are writing one for her. We’ve had enough of napping! There is a pesky lizard that keeps swimming in our water bowl. This is a picture of him. A naughty bird keeps stealing our biscuits. Here […]
Will you join my Secret Dreams Project?
“Surround yourself with people who believe in you.” ~ Brian Koslow A few weeks ago I first blogged about my Secret Dreams Project. The idea for this project sprang from a life-changing experience I had as a child. When I was young I went to a funny little arts and crafts store in a tiny […]
Wednesday Blessings
“When people refer to ‘Back in the Day,’ it was a Wednesday. Just a little fun fact for you.” ~ Dane Cook It’s been a rough ride this past week or so. That’s why I’ve decided to gift myself an ordinary Wednesday! There’s a gentle rain falling, and I started my day by staying in bed, […]
What May Come
“Fate is never fair. You are caught in a current much stronger than you are; struggle against it and you’ll drown not just yourself but those who try to save you. Swim with it, and you’ll survive.” ~ Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes This morning I have gained perspective. It’s not much, but it’s […]
On illness and being unreliable…
“I’m a very loyal and unreliable friend.” ~ Bono One of the issues you need to deal with when you or a family member lives with chronic illness is your unreliability factor. When I speak of chronic illness, I am talking about any condition that lasts for more than a few weeks, that doesn’t conform […]
Midnight Visits
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ~ Lao Tzu I’ve been herxing badly the past few days. Herxing is a strong physical reaction to the die-off of pathogens, which release toxins into the body. It’s a good thing – or so I tell myself. It […]
Problems…
I got problems. Mum’s in bed, and I was just trying to amuse myself. And it’s nearly breakfast. I was hungry. Also, my teeth hurt. So I tried to be good. I ate the zip off my mum’s travel bag. It felt good to nibble all the teeth off one side. It was so good […]
Parents are also People
“Mother is a verb. It’s something you do. Not just who you are.” ― Cheryl Lacey Donovan, The Ministry of Motherhood It’s a common theme right now – I see it over and over again on cheesy social media posts – how rewarding parenting is, how ‘special’ and ‘wise’ children are, how exceptional and precious the […]
The Gifts of Silence
“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” ~ Mother Teresa Silence gifts […]
Cupcake Love ‘Awareness’ Oracle – A reading with every cake!
“If at first you don’t succeed, eat a cupcake!” ~ Unknown Author We can take life far too seriously sometimes. Or get so bogged down in our daily grind that we forget to have fun, and to stretch our wings a little. In fact, it can get so that even if we find some spare […]
Nana’s Passionfruit Slice Recipe
“Cooking is not about being the best or most perfect cook, but rather it is about sharing the table with family and friends.” ~ Skye Gyngell, My Favorite Ingredients This is an old recipe that my Nana copied out from her friend Dulcie, after a successful ‘War Wives Luncheon’ during World War Two. At least that […]
Making My Life Work for Me – Week 6
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” ~ Harriet Tubman Welcome to the final week of our six week Making My Life Work for Me Program. (If you’ve only just joined us, you might like […]
The Secret Dreams Project
“Most of us are not raised to actively encounter our destiny. We may not know that we have one. As children, we are seldom told we have a place in life that is uniquely ours alone. Instead, we are encouraged to believe that our life should somehow fulfill the expectations of others, that we will […]
Soundtrack to Pain
“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”~ Bob Marley Music saved my life earlier this week. Music and drugs. Those of you who follow my blog will know that I am suffering from end-stage Lyme disease. I’ve recently embarked on a protocol of high dose antibiotics, antibacterials, herbs and […]
Stir Fried Sweet Potato, Mushroom and Broccoli Recipe
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” ~ Virginia Woolf Food isn’t just food. Food is also a healing tool. A spiritual tool. A way to give love and care to self and others. If you want to think about this recipe as just food then this is what […]
The Anzac Spirit – Alive and Well
“The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.” ~ David Foster Wallace I live in the picturesque Byron Shire – a million miles away from […]
Finding moments for yourself
“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.” ~ Buddha Life can be hectic. Sometimes we just have […]
Do what you have to do
Sometimes what we need to do doesn’t feel good. Or it feels unfamiliar, all wrong, and way out of our comfort zone. It can often involve not just effort, but sacrifice. While everyone else is taking things easy, while everyone else is having fun, you have work to be done. To learn, to grow, to […]
Making My Life Work for Me – Week 5
“Holding on is believing that there’s only a past; letting go is knowing that there’s a future.” ~ Daphne Rose Kingma “There’s an important difference between giving up and letting go.” ~ Jessica Hatchigan Welcome to Week 5 of our six week Making My Life Work for Me Program. (If you’ve only just stumbled upon us, pop […]
Are you setting yourself up for failure this week?
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” ~ L.M. Montgomery I’m all for change. That’s part of our power – the ability to move in a new direction, to make ourselves over, to become something new or different to where and how we were. But how […]
Speedy Lamb Ragu Recipe
“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” ~ Calvin Trillin Roast dinners are popular on the farm, especially when I have a crowd to feed. And if I’m lucky, we’ll end up with leftovers. This is a speedy […]
How to do Tonglen Meditation – a Beginner’s Guide
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” ~ Charles Dickens At times it is easy to feel small and insignificant – unable to help when all we feel in our hearts is an urge to try. When those we know are suffering, or when there is a catastrophe in another […]
Easy Lemon Slice Recipe
“There are times when wisdom cannot be found in the chambers of parliament or the halls of academia but at the unpretentious setting of the kitchen table.” ~ E.A. Bucchianeri As promised, here is the first recipe in my ‘Slice Extravaganza’ series – the brainchild of my mother, who must be acknowledge for her great generosity […]
It’s okay to feel Sad sometimes!
“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.” ~ Carl Jung Yesterday someone well known in American ‘New Age’ circles told me something […]
Cream of Celery Soup Recipe
“The thought of two thousand people crunching celery at the same time horrified me.” ~ George Bernard Shaw Poor George! It’s quite the visual, isn’t it. Perhaps even worse than zombies… Still, I digress. Today it’s all about soup. Soup is my go-to when I’m feeling poorly. Easy to make, easy to eat, and you get […]
Making My Life Work for Me – Week 4
“There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.”~ Jiddu Krishnamurti “Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that […]
This post brought to you by Randall…
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” ~ Roald Dahl Hi. I’m Randall. I live in Nicole’s garden, and I keep an eye on things for her. I’ve given […]
Brave young Harry!
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” ~ Will Rogers Harry, our not quite six-month-old Blue Heeler puppy had the next of his surgeries yesterday to help accommodate his severe overbite. His newly emerged adult lower canines were shaved down to stop them impacting […]
Sometimes you get there faster by going slow
“If you’re having difficulty coming up with new ideas, then slow down. For me, slowing down has been a tremendous source of creativity. It has allowed me to open up — to know that there’s life under the earth and that I have to let it come through me in a new way. Creativity exists […]
Celebrating the triumphs of friends
“I count myself in nothing else so happy As in a soul rememb’ring my good friends.” ~ William Shakespeare Last night I had the pleasure of attending the book launch of Charlotte Nash’s Ryders Ridge, hosted at that bastion of local writing support Avid Reader, in West End, Brisbane. Charlotte is a dear friend, and a […]
Life, blurred.
“I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.” ~ Jack Kerouac Sometimes, life gets smudged around the edges and my crisp lines fuzzle into fluffy lumps of something but I haven’t got the word for it. No words is hard for a writer. Or when you forget the shape of things or what her […]
Making My Life Work for Me – Week 3
“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.” ~ Oscar Wilde “A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.” ~ Thomas Carlyle “Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.” ~ Leo Buscaglia Welcome to Week 3 of our six week Making My Life Work for Me […]
Trust – A message from the Universe
“Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.” ~ Dale Carnegie “You, down there? Get on with it!” ~ Rollo **Today’s post […]
The Girl who sees Angels
“For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you carefully.” ~ Luke 4:10 *Note: Names have been changed to protect the identity of those involved I received an email from a young friend yesterday. It was a simple note, and this is what it said; Dear Nicole, I can still see […]
Simple Baked Apple Recipe
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” ~ Martin Luther Nothing says comfort food like a baked apple – easy to make and good for you too. Traditionally my Nana stuffed apples with a butter, sugar, oats and sultana or currant mixture. My […]
The Joys of a Shared Table
“The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture.” ~ Michael Pollan If you had asked me to create a memorable meal when I was younger I would have had the cookbooks out in a […]
How to take a Blessings Bath
“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher Today’s post is all about nurture. I want to share with you a process that I call a Blessings Bath. I usually take a Blessings Bath when I am feeling anything but blessed; when […]
Morning, after rain
“The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.” ~ Henry Beston It rained last night. Not just gentle rain but heavy, loud on the roof soaking rain. Nearly an inch of it. […]
Making My Life Work for Me – Week 2
“Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.” ~ G. M. Trevelyan “Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, […]
Cloud Oracle – A Reading for your Emotional Well-Being
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” ~ Edward Abbey Today I’ve channelled through some messages for you for emotional guidance and support. Right now there is strong energy for personal growth. The image you choose will help support you […]
Smoke Alarms and Lost Souls
My soul is full of whispered song; My blindness is my sight; The shadows that I feared so long Are all alive with light. ~Alice Cary, Dying Hymn *Names have been changed in the following story to protect the identity of those involved. A few weeks ago I went to bed early, and fell into […]
Please Vote for Me and My Blog!
“Friends… they cherish one another’s hopes. They are kind to one another’s dreams.” ~ Henry David Thoreau Hello Lovelies! I have a favour to ask of you. You see, I have entered my little blog, Cauldrons and Cupcakes, in the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Best Australian Blogs 2013 Competition. One of the categories allows people to […]
Easy Easter Treats to Make
“Easter tells us that life is to be interpreted not simply in terms of things but in terms of ideals.” ~ Charles M. Crowe Hooray. After a huge 14 hours of sleep I have woken feeling revived, optimistic and ready to cook! We have a CWA Fundraising Cake Stall in Bangalow tomorrow morning, and I […]
Howling at the Moon
Those are the same stars, and that is the same moon, that look down upon your brothers and sisters, and which they see as they look up to them, though they are ever so far away from us, and each other. ~ Sojourner Truth It’s 2 o’clock in the morning and I’m wide awake; fretful […]
Don’t tell me how good you are. Show me…
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ” ~ John F. Kennedy “Talk is cheap.” ~ Anonymous Today’s post has come about in part after watching a good friend be deeply wounded and disillusioned by the bullying actions of some […]
Treasure Hunting in Bangalow!
“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Holy Bible: King James Version, Matthew 6:21 What’s your idea of treasure? Mine is finding old and still-useful objects to give life to by bringing them into my home. They have an eclectic personality and quality of workmanship that is often missing in newer, mass-produced goods. […]
Making My Life Work for Me – Week 1
“Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.” ~ Mary Anne Radmacher Welcome to Week 1 of our six week Making My Life Work for Me […]
Simple Antidotes to Resentment
“Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” ~ Carrie Fisher Resentment – it’s a corrosive emotion that causes damage to the container, no matter how cautiously you try to hold it in. Why do we get resentful? You might not have ever been consciously aware of it, but resentment […]
Honouring your Intuition – Why aren’t you doing it?
second-guess: definition: Second guess is defined as to question a decision or action that has already been completed. (verb) An example of second guess is when you make a decision and then you start to think about it a little more and decide another decision might have been better. ~ Websters New World College Dictionary We’ve […]
My Friday Morning at the Mullumbimby Farmers’ Markets
Excitement! I went on a short outing today to my favourite local Farmers’ Market at Mullumbimby. After the last few horrendous days of Lyme herxing I appreciated the fresh air and change of scenery… My first stop was an excellent breakfast from The Nomadic Kitchen – Rice, banana and tomato sauce, and fried egg. I can’t […]
Living in the Lyme Light…
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” ~ Helen Keller (June, 1880 – June, 1968) I’d love to be blogging something wonderful for you, and indeed that was my intention – I’ve got so much good stuff planned – but the past few days I’ve been […]
Rustic Potato Bake Recipe
“Look at that moon. Potato weather for sure.” ~ Thornton Wilder, Our Town I love cooking, and not surprisingly most of our visitors seem to end up dropping in around meal times. This creamy potato bake is easy to make (like all my recipes!) and I whipped this one up to feed the extra hungry mouths that […]
Getting My Hands on My Inheritance!
“Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.” ~ Henry David Thoreau In a quiet corner of an organic cafe somewhere in Brisbane yesterday, history was made. My mother (that’s her hands in the top of the picture above – like me she’s quite camera shy!) finally lent me […]
Making My Life Work for Me! – A 6 Week Journal Program
“I can choose either to be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It’s all a question of how I view my life.” ~ Paulo Coelho I’ve been quite overwhelmed with the flood of messages and emails since yesterday’s post on Remembering to take care of YOU! Seems that many of […]
Remembering to take care of YOU!
“Right in the difficult we must have our joys, our happiness, our dreams: there against the depth of this background, they stand out, there for the first time we see how beautiful they are.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke Recently I received a message from a lovely lady, asking about balance: I thought of you […]
Nana’s Gingernut Log Recipe
A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend. ~ Unknown I have been blessed to have grown up, and grown older, with two amazing women as my grandmothers. Now both of them are gone, although I feel them around me often, and I frequently draw on […]
Loving myself lopsided…
“The play is done – the curtain drops, Slow falling to the prompter’s bell; A moment yet the actor stops, And looks around, to say farewell. It is an irksome word and task; And, when he’s laughed, and had his say, He shows, as he removes his mask, A face that’s anything but gay.” ~ […]
Easy Thai Chicken Soup Recipe
“Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who […]
My morning walk…
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”~ Dolly Parton A good friend sent me an urgent text message yesterday to let me know that a shop called Rivers in Lismore had just received a shipment of gumboots, but they were selling fast! It’s been so wet […]
New Moon Creation Ceremony
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ~ George Bernard Shaw Tuesday March 12 is a new moon. This is a powerful energy for creating positive change and manifesting your heart’s desires. It is also a great time for connecting into your own intuitive wisdom, and deepening spiritual connection. Everything is created […]
Vomiting in Public Places OR The Controversial ‘Vomit Post’
“Girls blush, sometimes, because they are alive, half wishing they were dead to save the shame. The sudden blush devours them, neck and brow; They have drawn too near the fire of life, like gnats, and flare up bodily, wings and all. What then? Who’s sorry for a gnat or girl?” ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning […]
If I’m on my Path, why is it so rocky?
“Life wasn’t meant to be easy, my child, but take courage: it can be delightful!” ~ George Bernard Shaw I received an email from a student recently, who has just started working as a healer in a new clinic. It’s been her dream for many years, and she’s good at what she does. Here’s an except […]
Meet Red Bull!
“Anyone who doesn’t believe in miracles is not a realist.” ~ David Ben-Gurion Do you remember me posting recently about a very fat cow, who couldn’t possibly be pregnant, giving birth to a baby bull calf. He’s our little miracle, and he came into the world after we’d lost both of our young bulls to […]
Fear of Crossing Roads
“No one has traveled the road of success without ever crossing the street of failures.” ~ Unknown I have an embarrassing confession. I’m not good at crossing roads by myself. It’s a legacy of the neurological damage caused by chronic Lyme Disease and various co-infections. Like most things it’s worse when I’m tired or unwell. My reaction […]
Easy Barbecued Corn on the Cob Recipe
We came home to our now flood-free farm last night. Of course I didn’t think to plan dinner, and there were slim pickings when we got here. Luckily it’s sweet corn season right now in Australia and some had survived the rain and the critters to become a simple meal. Simple is highly under-rated, in […]
The Magical Angel Talisman…
“Angels have no philosophy but love.” ~Terri Guillemets When I woke this morning, there was a tiny silver talisman on my dressing table. It’s beautiful, and I have never seen it before. When my husband woke up I asked him where he got it. He said he’d never seen it before either. And it wasn’t […]
Meditation Messages of Love, Hope and Wonder
“Love is a force that connects us to every strand of the universe, an unconditional state that characterizes human nature, a form of knowledge that is always there for us if only we can open ourselves to it.” ~ Emily H. Sell I sat down to do a meditation yesterday afternoon using a crystal that’s […]
Emergency Tool Kit for Blocked Creatives
“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods […]
Easy Apple and Cinnamon Bundt Cake Recipe
I love this easy cake. It takes five minutes to make, and is a favourite for morning or afternoon tea, or as a simple warm dessert. It’s a moist, light vanilla cake with a caramel-ly soft apple topping and a mouth-watering crust of cinnamon sugar. Even if you’re not a cake maker I encourage you […]
Rain is better than drought…
I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. ~ From ‘My Country‘ by Dorothea Mackellar We endured eight hard years of drought at our old farm – a cattle property in the Lockyer Valley. Slowly the grass turned brittle as straw and the dams […]
Home, after Rain
“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.”~ Jane Austen I’m home. I slept last night in my own bed. After so long in the city it was good beyond measure to be here at my little farm, surrounded by a thick blanket of peace and the sounds of night; cattle lowing, croaking frogs, […]
We Has The Depression
“Into each life some rain must fall.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Bert: Rain, rain, rain. I’m sick of all this rain. It’s horrible being stuck inside a house in the city. Why can’t we go home to the farm? What if all my tennis balls float away? I can’t bear it. I has the Depression. Harry: […]
Where have all the flowers gone? OR Vote for Variety!
“Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day – like writing a poem or saying a prayer.” ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh Right beneath our noses something sneaky is happening. Our choices are becoming more limited, even as it appears that there is greater diversity in the […]
My Favourite Crystals for Grounding
“In my opinion, it’s more interesting to see magic happening in a world that feels grounded. If the world is already crazy, then anything can happen. So it’s better to start with something real.” ~ Michel Gondry Being grounded is all about being centered within our body, having a sense of calm, and enjoying a deep connection […]
Enhance Your Creativity
“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” ~ Osho Sometimes life loses its shine, and gets […]
Quick Prawn and Miso Soup Recipe
What can be better than comfort in a bowl? Miso soup variations are one of my favourite go-to’s when I am tired, sick, time poor, or stumped for inspiration. Feel free to play around with this simple recipe, using whatever you have to hand. This is a very nurturing, easy-to-make soup and it is packed […]
Do you really need to start with a Grand Gesture?
“You just have to keep on doing what you do. It’s the lesson I get from my husband; he just says, Keep going. Start by starting.”~ Meryl Streep Is there something you really want to do? Is there a dream or a goal, a vision you hold for the future? Maybe you want to be a […]
The Value of Encouraging Other People
“The purpose of life is not to be happy – but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.” ~ Leo Rosten Life can be so very trying at times. We can find ourselves alone, we might fall on hard times, lose our health, […]
What my day looks like…
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…….. Normal blogging interrupted due to uncontrollable napping.
The Importance of Living from Your Heart Right Now!
“Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.” ~ John Lennon Have you noticed it? Maybe it’s you, maybe it’s the people around you, being a bit scratchy, reactive or […]
My Left Eyeball…
“What does not kill me, makes me stronger.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche I had intended a different post for this morning, but I have an eyeball problem. I’ve been on my Lyme drugs, well the first of them anyway, for a month now, and they are doing strange things to me. All night, apart from the ‘normal’ […]
How a Garden Can Teach You To Be More Creative
“Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes.” ~ Author Unknown Gardening is a seasonal thing. There are tasks to do in every season, but Summer tasks can’t be easily undertaken in Winter and Winter tasks aren’t so suited to the Spring. What does this have to do with creativity you may ask? Why, […]
Creamy Corn and Potato Chowder Recipe
“Soup is cuisine’s kindest course. It breathes reassurance; it steams consolation; after a weary day it promotes sociability, as the five o’clock cup of tea or the cocktail hour.” ~ Louis P. De Gouy, ‘The Soup Book’ (1949) It’s been raining all weekend, and the weather has turned cool. What better comfort food than a […]
Will you still love me broken?
“The choice that you, as a Soul, have in relation to anything is always to be loving. Do you understand that this is the divine purpose that all of us as humans have been given – to love unconditionally? “~ John Morton We’ve always had rescue dogs; dogs that had nowhere else to go, dogs that […]
Valentine Cupcake Oracle – A Reading for Love!
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ~ Rumi Valentine’s Day has a wonderful sentiment – that we should celebrate love and lovers, that we should name the emotions that often sit silent in our heart. But why […]
Diagnosis – Lyme Disease
‘All delays are dangerous in war.’ ~ John Dryden There’s a war going on in my body. In fact it’s been going on for a quarter of a century. First there came the enemy invasion. There was no loud and obvious display of force. Instead it was an invasion by stealth. A mass of tiny […]
Crying in car parks
“Let your tears come. Let them water your soul.” ~ Eileen Mayhew Over the last twenty-five years I’ve done my share of crying in car parks. Not just any car parks. I do have my standards. The car parks I shed tears in have always had a theme. I’ve cried in hospital car parks, pathology […]