“Last night I danced. My body rose from its slump for the first time since the beginning of sorrows—my fingers beckoning to the stars at arm’s length, back arching as tingles bubbled up my spine, hips caught in a silent tempo while on tiptoe I twirled in endless euphoric circles. It didn’t matter that you […]
To BE a Seeker is a glorious thing
“There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you, and there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.” ~ Lemony Snicket, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid We’re under the influence of a Seeker’s Moon right now. For those of us who hear […]
We’re On Retreat!
“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.” [The Minotaur] ~ Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays In just a few hours we will pack the truck and head off for the week, to my Spiritual Retreat in the foothills of Byron Bay. For those of […]
A Starting Point For Change
“She had discovered early that what we want out of life can change; that the important thing is to learn to recognize or even simply just to admit what we really want, and then to have the courage to reach for it.” ~ Candice Proctor, Whispers of Heaven “The question is: how bad do things have to […]
Tasty Green Bean Salad Recipe with Miso Dressing
“What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art.” ~ Augustus Saint-Gaudens I love salads any time of year – as a main event, or as a side for anything from soup to roasts. I made this one to go with a roast lamb dinner. The crunchy beans paired with the salt of the cheese, the […]
The Seeker’s Moon
“There comes a time in the seeker’s life when he discovers that he is at once the lover and the beloved.” ~ Sri Chinmoy “Everything you possess of skill, and wealth, and handicraft, wasn’t it first merely a thought and a quest?” ~ Rumi I am making the final preparations for my retreat this week, before […]
Violet’s New Baby
“Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.” ~ Mae West One of our cows, Violet, gave birth yesterday morning. But instead of a snowy white calf, she produced a deep burgundy baby with blotches of white all over its head. Hmmm…. That baby didn’t come from our bull. Earlier this year, during bad […]
Easy Reindeer Cupcakes Recipe
“Reindeer are flight and motion and magic in moonlight beyond all recalling, made of Christmas dreams, spun from a place beyond all fearing.” ~ Anon A dear girlfriend and her young daughter dropped by a few days ago for a cuppa and a chat. It was a perfect opportunity to try out this Christmassy […]
Sailing the Lyme Green Sea
“To reach a port we must set sail – Sail, not tie at anchor Sail, not drift.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt Hello, Lovelies! This morning I am reminded that I am still out on a wide green sea in my tiny boat, and that occasionally the weather shall be rough. That is the nature of […]
Easy Christmas Food Gifts to Make
“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” ~ Mother Teresa Home-made treats can make beautiful gifts for friends and family, and are useful to have sitting in the pantry as an ’emergency’ gift in case one’s required. They are also thoughtful thank-you presents for hosts. Of course, not everything […]
5 Random Things That Make Me Happy
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien 1. Little details of loveliness that show people care. Fresh flowers on a cafe table… 2. Singing along to my favourite songs in the car! 3. Being lost in a book… 4. Seeing […]
Feather Oracle – For Inspired Messages!
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.” ~ Emily Dickinson Every night at my farm a big owl alights on my clothesline. I feel very safe and loved in the presence of this owl. Often I am […]
Three Key Strategies for Dealing with Life’s Hardships
“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s […]
What Are You Waiting For?
“TIME: Today Is My Everything” ~ Richie Norton Sometimes it’s good to rest, to step back and take time out, to think on things for a while… But eventually, you’re going to need to take action. Not much gets done on its own. What one thing can you do this week that will make things […]
Easy Peach and Vanilla Jam Recipe
“The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today.” “It must come sometime to jam today,” Alice objected. “No it can’t,” said the Queen. “It’s jam every other day. Today isn’t any other day, you know.” ~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Have you ever made jam? Most people seem to think it’s some […]
Happy Birthday, Harry!
“Birthdays are nature’s way of telling you to eat more cake.” ~ Jo Brand Harry, our young Blue Heeler cattle dog, is celebrating his first birthday. We’ve started with a big run-around in the orchard and a few celebratory laps of the top paddocks. There is so much pleasure in being young, with good knees and […]
Auntie and the Fairy Mound
“Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.” ~ W.B. Yeats, The Collected Poems Another post that links in to my Kimberley Story… Like most stories, mine is not a linear one. It would be so much […]
Life -Disconnected!
“We are creating and encouraging a culture of distraction where we are increasingly disconnected from the people and events around us, and increasingly unable to engage in long-form thinking. People now feel anxious when their brains are unstimulated.” ~ Joe Kraus There was a huge storm here at the farm on Saturday afternoon. The Black Cockatoos […]
Storms and Black Cockatoos
“Nothing ever goes to plan, Nicole. You should know that by now!” Ben Phillips (husband) It’s a gorgeous sunny morning here at the farm, but oh, what a storm we had last night. Thunder, lightning, hail, ferocious winds and then we lost power, right at sunset. So my day of enforced rest rolled on into […]
Do you need an Enforced Rest?
“Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away […]
Easy Beef Rissoles with Sundried Tomato and Feta
“Miracles are like meatballs, because nobody can exactly agree on what they are made of, where they come from, or how often they should appear.” ~ Lemony Snicket, The Carnivorous Carnival Growing up, beef rissoles (meatballs) were a staple in my family. They are easy to make, economical, and make a filling meal which usually yields […]
Darling, she’s not okay
“Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these.” ~ Dr. Robert H. Goddard 1882-1945 Yesterday I went down to the local shopping mall nice and early. I needed to […]
My Best Friend, Bert
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” ~ Will Rogers I’m in Brisbane for a few days. I’ve got some work to do, and some medical things. Ben needed to go back to the farm so he took Harry the pup, and left Bert here […]
Why are you following this path?
“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 […]
Remembrance Day 2013
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” ~ Thomas Campbell On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 the giant guns of the Western Front finally fell silent. An armistice was declared and the Great War of 1914 -1918 came to an end. 70 million people […]
How to work out what your heart wants…
“…everyone wants to be excited by something magical and wondrous – to be reminded of how they once saw the world …” ~ John Geddes You don’t need to figure everything out on your own. There are always signposts, gentle nudges in the right direction, a trail of breadcrumbs, a giant flashing neon sign. Problem is, […]
Easy Peach Chutney Recipe
“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world. ” […]
The Art of Surrender
“Always say “yes” to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is? what could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say ‘yes’ to life and see how life suddenly starts working for […]
Well, that was a bit premature…
“Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind.” ~ David G. Allen I was kind of hoping to be sleeping right now. It’s 2am, and I was only fretfully sleeping at best between 8 and 11pm. Now I’m wide awake and I know the […]
Sorry, I didn’t Blog!
“My head aches, my eyes burn, my arms and legs have given up, and my face in the mirror has a grayish cast. The bed, across the room, calls in its unmistakable lover’s croon, Come to me, come, only I can make you truly happy, oh, how happy I’ll make you, don’t resist, remember how […]
The Friends Who Came to Visit
“When we honestly ask ourselves which people in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us […]
A little Solitude is good for the Soul
“Language… has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone.” ~ Paul Johannes Tillich, The Eternal Now If you’re energetically sensitive like me, then you might already understand the importance of time on your own. Interacting with others draws […]
NaNoWriMo time…
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” ~ Ernest Hemingway November is National Novel Writing Month, lovingly abbreviated to NaNoWriMo (pronounced nano-ry-moh). It’s a crazy time where writers commit to writing a novel in a month. Well, 50 000 possibly very bad words, but words none-the-less, between […]
Slow Morning at the Farm
“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” ~ Eddie Cantor It’s a slow start here at the farm this morning. The air is cool, everything is damp after the night’s gentle showers and all […]
The Unworthiness Issue OR Why am I freaking out when things are finally going so well?
“It seemed so natural, receiving it, watching others receive it, assuming that the approval of others determined our worth. Then one day we found we couldn’t feel any worth without it. We’d forgotten that we were gifted in ways unimaginable, created with a unique purpose like no other, that people are hurting, that we beat […]
Easy Cheese and Herb Scones
“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.” ~ Henry David Thoreau A friend came over for dinner last night. Or rather, I should say that a friend dropped by our little farmhouse at dinner time. These […]
Understanding Soul Groups
“Love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun, more last than star…” ~ E.E. Cummings I have not seen the Orchard Man for months, but I was not surprised when he walked out of the […]
The Owl and the Eagle
“Baby eagles can never soar under their family’s wing.” ~ Liu Yang I woke yesterday morning to find a Powerful Owl sitting on the clothesline in the last shreds of darkness, feasting on something caught between its powerful talons. The owl paid me scant regard and finished his supper before flying up into the branches […]
Baked Peaches with Walnut Caramel Crumble Recipe
“One day I would have all the books in the world, shelves and shelves of them. I would live my life in a tower of books. I would read all day long and eat peaches. And if any young knights in armor dared to come calling on their white chargers and plead with me to […]
Just a little bit tired…
“I must be overtired’, Buttercup managed. ‘The excitement and all.’ ‘Rest then’, her mother cautioned. ‘Terrible things can happen when you’re overtired. I was overtired the night your father proposed.” ~ William Goldman, The Princess Bride Harry and I are a little bit tired today, so we’ll keep this post short. We both had medical appointments in […]
Sometimes the Knight doesn’t wear Shining Armour
“He dug his heels into his horse’s flanks and sped down the path. He heard the others call out behind him, but he ignored them. He was sure Karl and Johan and the others would have searched the rosebush and that entire area carefully enough; there was nothing to learn there. But he wanted to […]
Will you join me in December?
“If you nurture your mind, body, and spirit, your time will expand. You will gain a new perspective that will allow you to accomplish much more.” ~ Brian Koslow I’m holding a residential retreat in December, in beautiful Byron Bay. It’s nearly the end of 2013. Time to regroup, recharge and get ready […]
Your Kaleidoscope Soul
“I am a multifaceted being and my dominant intent for being is for the experience of my freedom, for the expression of my growth, and for the receiving of my joy.” ~ Abraham-Hicks People often ask me about happiness, and how to have more of it in their lives. Invariably, the people who are […]
The Hidden Secrets of my Grandfather’s Heart
“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 My maternal Grandfather, Cedric Beresford Nurcombe, better known as Ceddie to those he loved, died two days before Christmas […]
Weathering the Moment
“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” ~ Langston Hughes Do you ever get stuck in your head? I found myself there last night. The sort of stuckness where you’re oh-so-tired, and know you should be getting to sleep, […]
Simple Technique to Boost Energy
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” ~ Nikola Tesla Life can be exhausting. Situations, people and places might drain us. The electrical and electro-magnetic energy of our cities and devices can play havoc with our own auric fields. Or perhaps we over-extend ourselves, running […]
What Quiet Sounds Like
“On soft Spring nights I’ll stand in the yard under the stars – Something good will come out of all things yet – And it will be golden and eternal just like that – There’s no need to say another word.” ~ Jack Kerouac, Big Sur It’s late at night. Or to be more accurate, early morning. I’ve […]
Spicy Roast Carrot and Apple Warm Salad Recipe
Now Hare This ~ McKimson-1958 Oh the carrots that bloom in the spring time I’d rather have carrots than fish Or pheasants or fowl or even an owl In fact they are my favorite dish. This delicious warm salad is a tasty accompaniment to most meats and fish, and is equally satisfying when eaten cold. The buttery […]
My Big Promotion
“Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have Immortal longings in me.” ~ William Shakespeare “A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in.” ~ Frederick The Great Yes, it’s true. I have been promoted! A position of great tradition and, dare I say it, possibility. The sort of opportunity […]
The Gift of Feathers
“Now you got your Story, your Spirit no longer lost. That Dreaming inside you make you understand who you are. That Story how you gonna walk this world.” ~ Auntie The next installment of my Kimberley Story… It was late in the afternoon. The shadows were long, the air had cooled and a light breeze […]
World’s Shortest Blog Post
Cuddles with loved ones beats blogging! See you tomorrow 🙂 xoxo
Dealing with Negative Thoughts
“By means of personal experimentation and observation, we can discover certain simple and universal truths. The mind moves the body, and the body follows the mind. Logically then, negative thought patterns harm not only the mind but also the body. What we actually do builds up to affect the subconscious mind and in turn affects […]
Magical Leaf Oracle – A Reading for Nurture and Guidance
“and the leaves were telling secrets to the wind.” ~ Peter Mulvey Nature is one place I always find nurture and inspiration. So today I’ve used nature, and that potent symbol of life and growth – the leaf – to gift you clarity and reassurance about where you’re at right now. Each leaf also comes […]
Big Winds and Blackouts
“You never know what’s around the corner…” I had intended many things for today’s blog, but they will have to wait. We had a day of strong winds and high temperatures yesterday so we decided to go down to the beach for a cool down swim, a walk, and then fish and chips for dinner. […]
Afternoon Walk on the Farm
“For [Jane Austen and the readers of Pride and Prejudice], as for Mr. Darcy, [Elizabeth Bennett’s] solitary walks express the independence that literally takes the heroine out of the social sphere of the houses and their inhabitants, into a larger, lonelier world where she is free to think: walking articulates both physical and mental freedom.” […]
The Freedom of Four Wheels
“Not all those who wander are lost.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien Something fabulous happened late last week. I drove a car. All on my own. Yeah, you might be thinking. No biggie. But actually, for me, it was. I haven’t really driven a car since November 2012 when my health took a turn for the worse. Problems […]
Tasty Omelette Recipe
“You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.” ~ Anon “You CAN make an omelette without breaking eggs. It’s just a really bad omelette.” ~ Steven Colbert The humble egg has so many uses in the kitchen, and one of my favourites is a tasty filled omelette. Don’t be put off by ideas that […]
Possum Attack!
“The fear of burglars is not only the fear of being robbed, but also the fear of a sudden and unexpected clutch out of the darkness.” ~ Elias Canetti I had hoped to be bringing you a Guided Meditation this morning, but no… Instead I’m blogging about possums, because it’s their fault I’m not. I’m staying […]
Saturday Breakfast
“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” ~ Elbert Hubbard I’ll keep this morning’s blog short because I have to dash! I’m meeting my lovely friend Carly for breakfast at one of our favourite inner-city haunts, a cafe attached to a shop full of organic produce and delectable goodies. Of […]
Talking With Dead People
“Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that’s what.” ~ Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses One of the first things I always tell new psychic clients (besides that I don’t do predictions, lotto numbers and other wishful, unempowering stuff – which my clients are all wised up on beforehand anyway) is that I don’t do […]
The Benefits of Napping
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.” ~ Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown’s Little Book of Wisdom Rest is so important for my healing journey right now that one of my doctors actually wrote ‘daily nap’ and ‘one complete rest day each working week’ on a prescription pad for me. But […]
Listening to the Wind
“Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, For I would ride with you upon the wind, Run on the top of the dishevelled tide, And dance upon the mountains like a flame.” ~ W.B. Yeats, The Land of Heart’s Desire Midnight at the farm. After an unseasonally hot Spring day and a very warm […]
Easy Pecan Pie Recipe
“Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest.” ~ Douglas Jerrold 1803-1857 Something very cool happened yesterday afternoon as we went for a family walk to wheel the rubbish bin (it’s a glamorous life on the farm LOL!) down our long driveway to the road. As I trailed […]
Create Positive Change Program – Week 8
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” ~ Gail Sheehy Congratulations! You made it to the final week of our Positive Change Program. This week’s about putting it all together, and then making a commitment to follow through on the dreams, plans and concrete steps we’ve identified in […]
Easy Vegetable Tart Recipe
“The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, all on a summer’s day; the Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts, and took them clean away. The King of Hearts called for the tarts, and beat the Knave full sore; the Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts, and vowed he’d steal no more.” ~ […]
Animals, Meditation and Energy Work
“It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters.” ~ Amit Ray Animals are very tuned in to energy and emotion. If you meditate or do […]
It’s Friday – You’ll find me at the Mullum Markets
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?” “What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?” “I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.” ~ A.A. Milne It’s […]
Finding Sandra – a son’s quest to find the mother he never knew
“But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begin.” ― Mitch Albom, For One More Day *NOTE: I’ve […]
As you’re reading this…
“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche I’m dog tired and as you’re reading this I’m probably asleep. I’ve […]
Maybe Visualization Works After All…
“You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” ~ Morpheus, The Matrix I have teetered between unwell and totally incapacitated for my entire adult […]
Create Positive Change Program – Week 7
‘Throw your hat in the ring’ – Meaning: Make or take up a challenge, or demonstrate one’s willingness to join an enterprise. This week we’re getting serious about creating change, with my Throw your hat in the ring challenge! When we’re inviting change into our lives it’s important to think about the sorts of changes we […]
5 Ways to Be Kind to Yourself Today
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” ~ Oscar Wilde I’m working today, conducting some psychic appointments. There’s such a joy for me in that – both the joy of spiritual connection, and the joy of being of service. And I’m also choosing to be extra kind to […]
A message from the Universe
“But listen to me. For one moment quit being sad. Hear blessings dropping their blossoms around you.” ~ Rumi As I was sitting in meditation this morning, thinking about you and how I could best be of service today, I realised that there was something you needed to hear right now. So let me bring these […]
Easy Strawberry and Mulberry Teacake Recipe with Berry Compote
“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 […]
Taking a Dose of my Own Medicine
“Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.” ~ Lord Byron It’s ironic that the day after posting about my progress yesterday I found myself back in herxing land. Herxing is a side effect of the lyme bacteria inside me dying off and releasing their toxins as a parting gift. I haven’t felt this dreadful […]
The Sound of Smoke
“Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot? But there are things old and new which must not be contemplated by men´s eyes, because they know – or think they know – some things which other men have […]
Progress! All the little things that add up…
“Progress, however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.” ~ Samuel Smiles Are you one of those impatient types? You know what I’m talking about. You start the diet Monday and expect to […]
Create Positive Change Program – Week 6
“When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.”~ Paulo Coelho 2013 and 2014 are years for inviting and creating powerful positive change in our lives. And knowing that, there’s a decision to be made… Do I actively seek change and open myself to these energies, or […]
Coming Back to Centre
“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” ~ Lao Tzu “I want you to be everything that’s you, deep at the center of your being.” ~ Confucious There’s a small ritual I practice often. It’s easy to do, and there is a great power to […]
Friends around the Dinner Table
“Some of the most important conversations I’ve ever had occurred at my family’s dinner table.” ~ Bob Ehrlich When I was younger I used to knock myself out throwing Dinner Parties. I would pore over cookbooks and foodie magazines, spending hours putting menus together, striving to get the balance right. I felt pressured to choose […]
The Curious Case of Clothespeg Matching
“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” ~ Gustav Flaubert Something interesting happened yesterday as I was pegging out the washing. Well, interesting to me, anyhow… For all of my life I have shaken out each item, and pegged it neatly by corners or seams. I […]
Was it all a dream?
“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.”~ Khalil Gibran It’s 5am. I woke this morning in my own bed. The cool dawn air from the windows flung wide is fragranced with lemon blossom, jasmine, green grass and rich earth. It’s a lush smell. A rich smell. So dense I can almost hold it […]
In Search of Greener Pastures…
“I think we are bound to, and by, nature. We may want to deny this connection and try to believe we control the external world, but every time there’s a snowstorm or drought, we know our fate is tied to the world around us.”~ Alice Hoffman There’s not a lick of moisture in the air out […]
Fairy Bread Recipe – An easy party treat!
“You take away all the other luxuries in life, and if you can make someone smile and laugh, you have given the most special gift: happiness.”~ Brad Garrett I try to blog a recipe each week, but being a one-eyed pirate in the remote Outback has certainly proved a challenge on that front. However, I feel […]
Create Positive Change Program – Week 5
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” ~Lao Tzu There’s no point in merely thinking about change. Thinking is an important part of the process, but there is nothing quite so powerful, so […]
It’s My Birthday!
“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” William Shakespeare It’s my birthday! Sit down, have a piece of cake, and let me pour you a cup of tea… Today I’d like to thank you for the gift of your friendship, for supporting my blog, and for reading my offerings. You being here means the […]
Outback Australia – A Snapshot
“We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies.” ~ Shirley Abbott I picked up a stone yesterday and put it in my pocket. I walked on a […]
Circle in the Dust
“There were once two sisters who were not afraid of the dark because the dark was full of the other’s voice across the room, because even when the night was thick and starless they walked home together from the river seeing who could last the longest without turning on her flashlight, not afraid because sometimes […]
Celebrating Nana’s Birthday
“What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies.” ~ Rudolph Giuliani My beloved Nana and I were always the ‘September Girls’, her birthday being the 2nd and mine the sixth. It was a special club the […]
Create Positive Change Program – Week 4
“It’s not hard to decide what you want your life to be about. What’s hard, she said, is figuring out what you’re willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about.” ― Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way That’s the thing about change. It requires room. […]
Thai Pumpkin Soup Recipe
“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” ~ Henry David Thoreau It’s been a big year for pumpkins. Friends and neighbours have all enjoyed a bumper harvest, and we’ve been gifted many of these versatile vegetables. This yummy pumpkin soup recipe is my […]
BLoGGing is HArd!
“A challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it.” ~ Ray Davis Blogging ish hard when: Your eyes don’t work Your brain is on vacation you need tozoom the page to stupid percent magnification to see anything the keyboard for your compuzer seems like a monster swapped it for a foreign langwage. But I’m […]
Tribute to Eye Patches
“There was a single blue line of crayon drawn across every wall in the house. What does it mean? I asked. A pirate needs the sight of the sea, he said and then he pulled his eye patch down and turned and sailed away.” ~ Brian Andreas, Story People: Selected Stories & Drawings of Brian Andreas Eye […]
Down at the River
“Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.”~ John Lubbock There’s a place I go, here at my farm, when I need to think or meditate or to ease my worries. I go […]
Calling me back…
“When we illuminate the road back to our ancestors, they have a way of reaching out, of manifesting themselves…sometimes even physically.” ~ Raquel Cepeda, Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina All things going well, I shall be on the road this Sunday, heading out to Longreach in Western Queensland for a few weeks. Ben and […]
Easy Lemon Shortbread Recipe
“Remember, ‘No one’s more important than people’! In other words, friendship is the most important thing – not career or housework, or one’s fatigue – and it needs to be tended and nurtured.” ~ Julia Child, My Life in France One of the things I treasure most about where I live is that wonderful sense of community. […]
Create Positive Change Program – Week 3
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow […]
Lyme and the Witches’ Mark
“The fables of Witchcraft have taken so fast hold and deepe root in the heart of man, that fewe or none can (nowadaies) with patience indure the hand and correction of God. For if any adversitie, greefe, sicknesse, losse of children, corne, cattell, or libertie happen unto them; by & by they exclaime uppon witches. […]
She’ll be Apples…
“Bean finds the best apple in our tree and hands it up to me. “You know what this tastes like when you first bite into it?” she asks. “No, what?” “Blue sky.” “You’re zoomed.” “You ever eat blue sky?” “No,” I admit. “Try it sometime,” she says. “It’s apple-flavored.” ~ Rodman Philbrick, The Last Book in the […]
Your Magical Free Ticket – Claim Now!
“Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” ~ Lucille Ball This Free Ticket grants you permission to gift yourself an entire hour of your day. This hour is yours to use as you want. Here are the rules: You can […]