“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. […]
Rain, Birdbaths and Melbourne Breakfast Tea
“Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.” ~ Victor Hugo Yesterday was Friday. Friday in our household is also now our official Nicole and Ben Day. It’s a day that we have chosen to dedicate […]
Unexpected Gifts – Nurse Bert!
“Acts of Kindness: A random act of kindness, no matter how small, can make a tremendous impact on someone else’s life.” ~ Roy T. Bennett It’s been a hard few weeks, with the loss of our precious dog Bert. It’s also been rough because I am still fighting the antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection that I […]
Guided Meditation For Clearing Guilt, Grief and Trauma
“But pain’s like water. It finds a way to push through any seal. There’s no way to stop it. Sometimes you have to let yourself sink inside of it before you can learn how to swim to the surface.” ~ Katie Kacvinsky A good friend of mine is unwell right now. I’m not surprised. […]
Death Of A Friend – Saying Goodbye to Bert
“We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle; easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we would still live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan.” ~ Irving Townsend And […]
Small Steps, Repeated Often, Lead to Results
“A year from now you will wish you had started today.” ~ Karen Lamb Did you get that thing about small steps? Let me repeat that for you. Small steps, repeated often, lead to results. This can work either way. Bad habits, even small ones, cumulatively will take us a long way in the wrong […]
The Week Ahead – Oracle for Monday 22 January 2017
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Hello, Lovelies! Here’s the oracle card I have chosen this Monday, and my take on the energetic outlook for the week ahead. I use any oracle or tarot cards shown as a prompt for channelled messages and my own intuitive […]
Calling All Lightworkers – Breathe in Pain, Breathe out Peace
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr Have you been feeling unsettled or agitated? Have you felt overwhelmed with world events or climactic ones? Are there problems closer to home causing you distress? At times it […]
Black Sticky Rice Pudding Recipe – Gluten Free, Vegan, Yum!
“I like rice. Rice is great if you’re hungry and want 2000 of something. ” ~ Mich Ehrenborg This is truly one of those comfort-in-a-bowl dishes. Black sticky rice pudding is popular in Thailand and parts of Asia. It can be eaten warm or cold, and makes a delicious dessert, but it’s equally good […]
Standing Under Old Trees
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” ―~ Rachel Carson This morning, after a restless night, I slept […]
A Quiet Wednesday Today
“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” ~ Kahlil Gibran Wednesday is my day for posting about death and dying. Today just happens to be Ben’s birthday as well. And for us, death and dying just came […]
Honey Pepper Beef Marinade and Stirfry Recipe
“I just love Chinese food. My favourite dish is number 27.” ~ Clement Attlee Note: Finally, the recipe I tried to post the other day! This is the one that kept uploading pictures of the beach, instead of my food pictures. How grateful I am now that this post was already written and only […]
The Week Ahead – Oracle Reading for Monday 16 January
“Grief does not change you… It reveals you.” ~ John Green Hello, dear friends! I apologise that today’s post is late in coming. In fact I was unsure if I would even be able to write it at all. But here it is. Here’s the oracle card I have chosen this Monday, and my take on the […]
Why I Know The Universe Supports My New Friday Scheme
“These are the days that must happen to you.” ~ Walt Whitman I decided recently, as part of my yearly Year of ME Planning Summit, to make Fridays ‘Ben and Nicole Days’. I already have ‘Unplugged Sundays’. I started that last year, and it has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. […]
The Weirdest Thing Happened to My Blog This Morning…
“Weird stuff just follows you around, Nic!” ~ Ben (Husband!) I was trying to get a blog post loaded this morning. A recipe. With lots of food action shots. But when I went to upload them I got this: And this: And this: All photos from a long ago beach trip. I could not […]
Let The Dying Live!
“You’ve got this life and while you’ve got it, you’d better kiss like you only have one moment, try to hold someone’s hand like you will never get another chance to, look into people’s eyes like they’re the last you’ll ever see, watch someone sleeping like there’s no time left, jump if you feel like […]
My Top Five Ways To Get Some Reflection Time
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” ~ Søren Kierkegaard We’re sitting in a terrific month for reflection, reinvention and connection. So how do we do that? Here are my top five ways to find that headspace where we can explore the past and imagine the future… 1 […]
The Week Ahead – Oracle Reading for Monday 9 January
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ~ Aristotle Hello, Lovelies! Here’s the oracle card I have chosen this Monday, and my take on the energetic outlook for the week ahead. ‘Wisdom’ is from the Chakra Wisdom Oracle Deck by Tori Hartman. The week ahead is so well suited to supporting us as we seek to find […]
Join My 2017 Book Reading Challenge!
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” ~ C.S. Lewis A funny thing happened on my Facebook page the other day. We posted a rather lovely graphic, and suddenly there was a swarm of responses. Why? I just happened to ask what book […]
Mango-Misu – A Delicious and Easy Dessert!
“Take your pleasure seriously.” ~ Charles Eames Every New Year’s Eve we have a small party at the farm, to celebrate life, the ending of the old year and the coming of the new AND the birthday of a dear friend. What party of such calibre would be complete without dessert? Mango Misu (or […]
The Strange Dream
“Dreams are today’s answers to tomorrow’s questions.” ~ Edgar Cayce I had the strangest dream last night. A dream that seemed less like a dream and more like a garden party. My grandfather was there, handsome and charming as ever. Dressed in his best summer nautical whites. My grandfather passed away some years ago. […]
Conversations About Dying – We Need To Have Them!
“When the time comes to die, make sure that all you have to do is die!” ~ Jim Elliot “Everybody will die, but very few people want to be reminded of that fact.” ~ Lemony Snicket This post is the next in my Wednesday series on Death and Dying… Last year a good […]
The Energies of January – 2017
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt Hello, Lovelies Happy New Year! January is not just a new month, it’s the beginning of a whole new energetic cycle. It’s a month that […]
This Blog Is Late Because… January 2 – My Day of Rest!
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” ~ John Lubbock, The Use Of Life After days of insanely long hours putting […]
January 1, 2017 – Guidance for the Year Ahead
“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” ~ Barack Obama Happy New Year, and welcome […]