A Return to Simplicity.

 It doesn't have to be a new years resolution but inevitably there are some jobs that start out as such. Like cleaning out the pile of recipe books from Coles and Woolworths. I can't take all the blame for collecting as my daughter also collects these for me as well! This is not the first time I have cleaned out this type of magazine and after each frenzied episode I start to gather again. I say to myself that I'm not going to collect these as there are a myriad of  recipes on the net and pinterest. So with the intention of going through the mags and saving just the recipes I might cook,  I set about making a new folder cover in which to store these gems! Now I could have made an easy one like the folder above, but I need to trace and stick and applique then sew before I am satisfied! I can't take the credit for the idea as it came from Jennifer who is also making a folder cover, although her cover is for patterns and sewing. You'...

WOW! It's the beginning of another year and I really don't know where the last one has gone. I've been a little preoccupied with health, home and employment matters much of last year. Having had major surgery at the end of 2017 laid me up for a quite a few months with a gradual return to work for the next 6 months. Somewhere in your mind you think that it is holiday time and you plan all of the things going to get done! Well that's not exactly how it happened with 2 trips a week for rehabilitation and feeling weak and unable to return to normal life for a while. I guess it has taken a good 12 months to recover and get back to my old self. My oldest brother also passed away from Bowel Cancer in August and although we had about 3 months from diagnosis it is still difficult to reconcile this loss in my heart. I spent many a wonderful day with him in hospital and not one to skirt the hairy issues of death and dying we had interesting conversations on the matter. I ...

Loving these rainy overcast days, not that I'm complaining as the garden is starting to look green again and the many trees are having the best drink they've had for a long while. Flowers have appeared where none were before and the smell wafts across the yard day and night. I love the garden in the daylight hours as much as in the evening. If you know where to look you can often see small flowers hidden from view, especially on the succulents and cactus. Some flowering for just a moment and others opening and closing many times over. The native bees are busy collecting pollen and making new homes.Three Fire Tailed Resin bees have been busy cutting out new homes in a piece of mango timber specially chosen for a wood turning project but now belongs to a group of bees, including some leaf cutter bees.  I really understand that term "busy as a bee"! I guess there will be no lamp base or bowl turned from this piece of timber now. Here is a grea...