Vending Machine

more animals

Not right

more animals

Blogoversary

This blog of mine has now been in existence for 2 years and has over 270 posts.


So in honour of this Blogoversary I am listing my top 10 posts in the order they were posted.

1. Fill Me ~ 13 February 2007


2. New Car? ~ 10 September 2007


3. Anchor in the Sky ~ 5 November 2007


4. Received in the Mail ~ 4 December 2007


5. A little bit of fine art ~ 26 March 2008


6. Red Marbles ~ 5 May 2008


7. Just around the bend ~ 5 September 2008


8. Ikea Chair Study ~ 15 October 2008


9. Public Holiday Activities ~ 7 November 2008


10. Random Thought ~ 4 December 2008

iz long story

more animals

Book Giveaway

I have been doing some decluttering, and have a small pile of books that I am giving away. They have all been read at least once, but it's time for them to depart from my shelves onto someone else's.
At this stage I am limiting this to people with an Australian postal address.

If you are interested in any of them please leave a comment with a way to contact you and I will arrange for them to be posted.

'Coffee Rings' ~ Yvonne Lehman

'Courting Trouble' ~ Deeanne Gist (this is a signed copy)

'Invisible' ~ Lorena McCourtney (book 1 in the Ivy Malone Mystery series)

'The Shape of Mercy' ~ Susan Meissner

Ashely Stockingdale Series ~ Kristin Billerbeck
- 'What a Girl Wants'
- 'She's Out of Control'
- 'With This Ring I'm Confused'

A nice thought for the day

A little girl had been shopping with her Mum in Target. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the drain. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Target.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in 'Mum let's run through the rain, she said

'What?' Mum asked.

'Lets run through the rain!' She repeated.

'No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit,' Mum replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated: 'Mum, let's run through the rain,'

'We'll get soaked if we do,' Mum said.

'No, we won't, Mum.. That's not what you said this morning,' the young girl said as she tugged at her Mum's arm.

This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?

'Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said , 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!'

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes. Mum paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

'Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing,' Mum said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.

And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.
I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them. Send this to the people you'll never forget and remember It's a short message to let them know that you'll never forget them.
If you don't send it to anyone, it means you're in a hurry.

Take the time to live!!!

Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other -- and don't forget to run in the rain !

Clowns

more animals

Outsourcing

Ah, yes. We've all experienced it. The call centre in India, which is providing a service to another country because it's supposedly cheaper to have them talk to us. It's too bad really. Not outsourcing call centres could solve a lot of unemployment issues.

Magazines

I don't know about you, but I have quite a pile of them.
I did recently reduce the pile, but more keep coming in. I was looking at Ikea hacker, as I usually do on a regular basis and was inspired by what some people have done with magazine holders. Click here for a look.

Perfect Cuppa

While having a look to see what has been happening on Monniblog lately, I just couldn't resist posting this here.

Describe your perfect cuppa’ hot tea. If you’re like me and it depends, share as many different scenarios as you care to.

I like my tea weak, very weak. I get teased quite frequently for how weak I like it. The most common comment is "Would you like some tea with your milk?" Ok, it's not quite THAT weak, but it is very weak.

I mostly prefer tea brewed in the pot using leaf tea, and I almost always have milk, unless I'm drinking herbal tea. First in the cup/mug is 1 teaspoon of sugar. Then some milk, and finally the tea. If the pot is too strong I add some boiling water to my cup/mug.

Chai is nice. I love going to a tea shop called T2. I have bought several of their teas - Melbourne Breakfast and a yummy cinnamon black tea.

I don't like green tea - too green ;)

I have 2 Tweety mugs that I use all the time. They aren't thick china, but they are big enough for a good sized cuppa. On special occasions I like using fancy cups and saucers.

Experiments

I've been experimenting with the settings on my digital camera recently and have wanted to try photographing sparklers for a while, so on New Years Eve when we were celebrating, that is exactly what I did. Here are some of the results.

I have several more shots, but I think these are my favorites.

We were also blowing bubbles!!! One of us would hold a torch while the other blew the bubbles to go over the top. The effect was amazing. The stream of bubbles looked like colourful ricrack. The camera didn't really capture that though.

I want one of these!!

Ok, maybe not, but it sure looks like fun!!

Excuse me

more animals

My sister's cat does this too!

Random picture!

I received this picture as part of an email and thought it was amazing. Of course I also think whoever did it had too much time on their hands. I hope they ate the apple.

Throw Out 50 Things - The final count!!

Yes, I did complete this challenge by 1 January!!! I just haven't been blogging since completing until now.

The final 2 items (or groups of items) were decluttered on 31 December.

I still have the Op Shop bag, but it is sealed up and ready to go when I next go past a donation bin. My sister also added a few things to the bag and I have also continued to add things after the challenge finish date, so I have thrown out/decluttered more since then, but haven't counted them.

So here they are, the second half of my list

26. 2 rolls of Christmas wrapping paper (used on 2008 presents)

27. 2007 page-a-day calendar (very nice, but taking up space and obviously out of date)

28. 2 pairs of sandals (one was never comfy, the other has become uncomfy and doesn't match any of my clothes)

29. 2 charm clips (came in a bag of mixed things that I purchased for about $5. I didn't want these)

30. Mini photo frame (came from a bonbon/Christmas cracker)

31. Large key tag (alsos from a Christmas cracker)

32. About 10 floppy disks (I no longer used them and haven't even looked at what was on them for several years)

33. 4 floppy disk cases (since I no longer have the floppy disks, I no longer need the cases).

34. Packet of chewing gum (well past its use by date)

35. Tiny portable radio with ear phones (came as a free gift with a cross stitch order - it doesn't even pick up my favorite radio station)

36. Halogen Desk lamp with spare bulb (I have a new lamp, and this one buzzes when you use it)

37. 6 kiwi fruit spoons

38. bunch of twist ties

39. a business card pouch

40. Cross word puzzle book (half done - the words were very obscure and the clues impossible, I mostly cheated and looked up the answers at the back)

41. Note book (couldn't read what was written on the pages because there was a grid pattern printed on each page)

42. Pen case (not sure what happened to the pen)

43. Paper scraps

44. 2 index books (information in them I no longer need)

45. 'Gumnut' vase (a Kris Kringle gift from a couple of years ago that I never liked and is taking up space)

46. 2004 Melbourne UBD Street Directory (I have an updated one)

47. a HUGE stack of scrapbooking magazines (with the inspiring bits pulled out and put in a display folder)

48. Single bed sheet set (extrememly pilled and the fabric doesn't feel nice. I kept the pillow cases - one for washing delicates in the washing machine and the other is a cover for the scroll frame holding my current cross stitch project)

49. Books that I have double ups of (given to my sister)

50. 28 paddle pop sticks fro scrapbooking rub-ons (I kept a couple to use and the rest went to Mum's craft stash).