Monday, 16 January 2017

Happy Homemaker Monday

Linking with Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy Homemaker Monday.




On the Weather Front


I don't want to be hot any more! I really do not like the summer at all, which makes me feel very unAustralian and makes people think I am strange. So I was happy to read an article in Earth Garden magazine, where the writer was equally unimpressed with summer!
As Tanya Jenkyn writes in EG No 174:
"For the record, I am NOT a summer person by any stretch of the imagination. As everyone around me stretches with joy like a well-fed housecat as the first rays of summer sun hit their upturned faces, I recoil like a vampire in the face of a garlic wreath."
I agree!  Tanya then goes on to say she should just move to Tasmania - my all time dream!
So I am hoping for it to cool down and rain very soon.






Reading


May I Be Happy - A Memoir of Love, Yoga and Changing My Mind by Cyndi Lee. I am really enjoying this, although I do tend to love these self-discovery, introspective journey type books. I picked this up as I am planning to incorporate yoga into my everyday routine this year (won't be standing on my head any time soon though!)
Not me!!


Watching


I watched the new Ben Hur DVD last night. It was easy to watch and quite interesting. I haven't read much about Ben Hur so cannot comment on the historical accuracy.
Tonight I plan on watching The Butler. I saw this when it came out a few years ago and loved it, so am looking forward to a re-watch.




I'm Hoping


Same as last week - that the school holidays never end. As the end draws closer, I (and the boys) are getting more and more upset that it looks like they will have to head back for another year of school. I just need to try and pretend to be positive about it, but it is very difficult.


I'm Learning


Or trying to learn and remember some of the names for the basic yoga poses. I'm sure it will become second nature after a while.




Crafting


I have been getting in some knitting, later at night when the weather has cooled down a bit. Working on a heat mat for my teapot. And still quilting away at grandbaby's first birthday quilt (31st March deadline - I've got this!)




Grateful For


My sweet boys. Away from school, their true natures are beginning to shine though again. Particularly Mr 12, who doesn't have to try to be 'cool' in the holidays.



Dreaming Of


Same big dreams every week! But I need to start having some smaller dreams, so also dreaming of fields of flowers. I have been looking through the spring bulb catalogues that are just starting to arrive - so many gorgeous tulips, daffodils, ranunculas.




Favourite photo


I haven't had the camera out very much this week, but I think this photo of my surprise chick is my favourite. One of my hens (who I thought had been taken by a fox) appeared last week with this solitary chick.




Devotionals, Scriptures, Key Verses


I mentioned this one a week or two ago when I said I had decided to make it my motto for 2017. I had been reading Living Courageously - You Can Face Anything, Just Do It Afraid by Joyce Meyer. I always find Joyce Meyer to be an absolute inspiration for me and this book was no exception.  I found it amazing that I had reached my age and not worked out this simple concept - that if you don't do the things you are afraid to do, you will never do anything. So obvious!




Have a lovely week!

18 comments:

  1. It always takes me a moment to think where you are when we have such opposites in weather. We are dreaming about the Summer right now, sitting in front of the stove warming ourselves.

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    1. Ha, ha - and I am the opposite, dreaming of when I can light the fire again and sit all cosy with my knitting!

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  2. Good morning Jayne! I'd send you a little of our temperatures if I could - only in the 40s today. Do the boys have to go away for school? I feel like you live, not necessarily in the Outback, but some distance from all the amenities. We went to see Ben Hur when it came out but nothing comes close to the original for me - love Charlton Heston. Those tulips are just beautiful - they are one of my favorite flowers and the remind me of the tulip fields in Holland. When I see things like your heat mat pattern, it makes me wish I could knit. Have a great week!

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    1. We live just outside a small country town and the boys attend the little local Lutheran school which is just up the road. We are about 3.5 hours drive from the nearest city. Tulips are one of my favourite too - can't resist them! It is very sad that it really isn't cold enough here for them, so I hardly ever get more than one season of flowering from them and they have to live in the fridge for six weeks to get cold enough to plant. Still worth it to me though as the display is so gorgeous, even if short-lived.

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  3. I love your saying about not keeping calm cause you're hot hahah That's funny.

    I still haven't seen The Butler, I may have to watch it. Love the knitted heat pad, I wonder if I could find something similar but crocheted :)

    Hope you have a great week :)

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    1. It is true - if I get too hot I can feel myself getting crabby! The Butler is great - well worth a watch.

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  4. Quilting is one thing that I want to learn to do. Someday. Hope you have a great week!

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    1. Get ready to be addicted if you start quilting! Collecting fabric quickly becomes obsessive (or maybe it's just me).

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  5. I think we must be opposites in more ways than just locations. I do not like the winter at all. However, I am never ready for my boys' summer break to end either. I'm certainly ready to see some tulips and the like very soon as well. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

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    1. You will be seeing tulips soon, while I am just planning on planting them. It is always sad to see the boys go back to school - you would think I would get used to it!

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  6. I am definitely not a summer girl! I find that a 25C day feels like a 30C day! I love autumn and winter - you can always get warmer but its hard to get cooler I find.

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    1. I so agree! I can always get warmer and cold doesn't bother me like heat.

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  7. So nice to meet a fellow HHM Friend Jayne! I'm sending you cool thoughts from my northwoods where we have about a foot of snow on the ground! :)

    I've been getting back to my exercise routine and I haven't done yoga in ages! You're inspiring me to want to get back to it a bit.

    I'm dreaming on Spring flowers too, but know that I have months of winter yet to go where I live. I think next month I'll need to start planning on some plantings - just to get the ball rolling indoors (& bring some cheer).
    Blessings on the rest of your week! xoxo

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    1. Thanks for visiting! I would really love some of your snow. I'm really enjoying yoga - relaxing as well as exercise.

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  8. I hate summer. I dread it. The heat just completely zaps me out, and if there is humidity? Ugh. For our 25th wedding anniversary Dh wanted to go to Queensland. I looked at him aghast and said absolutely not. Tasmania is the only place to go in summer. Head as far south as you can, I say.

    At least in Melbourne there is always a reprieve from the heat around the corner. 38C one day, 18C the next.

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    1. Absolutely! A holiday in Queensland would not be a holiday for me! Tassie for sure.

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  9. Tassie is the best place for Summer! When we lived in Sydney I must admit I hated those days of hot and humid that never seemed to end. So happy you are enjoying the holidays with your boys. Yoga looks wonderful in theory....it's just that I would not be able to get up from the floor...pity really. A meadow of Spring bulbs would look amazing! I look forward to seeing the baby quilt when it is finished. You have lots of time. =)

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    1. I hope to visit Tassie again soon. We were last there in 2010, so it has been a while. Yes, I lived in Sydney too - way more humid than Melbourne. I can handle dry heat better than humidity.

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