Into Summer.

There is a new baby eucalypt in the courtyard outside my office, which had the most stunning blossoms. And the kangaroo paw, I have never seen so much of it!

In my own garden, things are surviving!

I played aqua golf with my team at work, and then we went wine tasting which was like wine school, it was very informative. It was an unexpectedly fun day, given it was in the high 30degrees.

In craft news, I took this succulent wreath I bought last november which is no longer sparking joy because it's dead and distorted. I took out the last few plants and I'm growing them in a jar in my bathroom.

And then I took some dried flowers and leaves I saved from bunches of flowers through the year and I stuck them into the wreath, and it's so pretty! Quite a lovely joy sparker.

I've had a few grey days recently, particularly Sundays when my housemate has been away and I ruminate alone, and then by the time I get to church I'm tired and fragile. I recover at work on Monday doing useful things with people I like. Sunday greyness is a pattern I've noticed for years. I'm not sure if I should keep busy so it doesn't happen, or whether the feelings need to be felt so I should give them the space. Like letting the weeds grow in a fallow field.

One grey Sunday was the Christmas Carols at church, which are great. There was a hilarious magician called Pretty Amazing Jono. My neighbour came along, which was an answer to prayer from LAST YEAR, I didn't really care this year I just asked out of duty, so praise God. And he seemed to enjoy it.

My last 2 days of work last week were a trip to Belgenny Farm near Camden, where we worked on schools program for the creamery museum. We made butter, and filmed things and stuff. I quite enjoyed it. Also got to eat in cafes a lot.

I have a new app which I have been recruiting friends to join me in, map my walk. I have gotten slack with the walking since I have a car, and it's not good. Walking is so beneficial. And I just want to do more little walks, like 2 or 3 kms, and setting a big goal will make those little walks accumulate meaningfully. So a social app is just a little bit of motivation. And it has worked so far. I did an early morning 2km walk in Camden. I forgot to instagram this photo.

Fresh jersey cow milk.

Colleague has left "an office in my present".

Ginerbread craft with the housemate crew.

This is some of my home group at our end of year BBQ. Home group has been a huge blessing this year. 

On Sunday JK and I drove to Sydney to surprise Elsie with some Christmas decorations for her Spinster Pad. Just because "I love scheming" as JK said :) We had brunch at crows nest and did a little shopping and then came back.

Yesterday was another hot day but the last before the cool and the rain this week, so while on forced holiday (yay!) I felt obliged to go to the beach. JK and I like ocean pools the best but unfortunately ours was empty for cleaning. We waited for ages, waded in the kiddie pool, sun baked, then gave up and went to the beach and just dunked in quickly.

 Scollop selfie.

I had a good idea yesterday, to have christmas carols at my house on christmas eve. I just like the way I play them better than the way they do them on TV or at any church carols around here, so i think it would be a nice thing to have friends over to sing with me. Not sure it will happen this year but I will plan on it next year.

Finishing garden with plants.

I was thinking how I had optimistically started november thinking I'd try a whole food diet, and then instantly realised no, so called it a month of healthy alternatives intead. And even that, to be honest, I quickly forgot. The lolly jars near my desk are over-accessed. I have moved them now though. Not near my desk anymore. Anyway, it seemed like I didn't muster up the energy to have an obsession with healthy food, and didn't achieve much. But, actually, it's not a total fail. My mealtime routine is better than it was. I don't even own any bread for example. Much more space in the freezer now. The system is, I  shop on the weekend and get salad ingredients organised, like pre cut mushrooms and a bag of baby spinach, I cook some grain like brown rice or quinoa, and I cook some chicken usually or rissoles. It's all in the fridge at the start of the week. Each morning I fill a container with salad. Better than a sandwich! And then for dinner I either have a similar salad or veggie thing, or I have pumpernickel bread with cheese and tomato. It's usually a smaller meal. The one thing I should work on is red meat.

N brought in home grown things from his garden. I had some special meals.

I'm still basking in joy sparks from the garden. I think it's gone well. I did well to wait a long time, since I paid off some extra mortgage before I let myself improve the house or yard. That was sensible. Which gave me time to watch how much sun different areas got at different times of year, and notice how we use the space so that I didn't put a garden in an inconvenient place. Patience and planning is something I often lack. And I think I got the plan right. And then so wonderful to have DB from work build it so quickly!

I planted 2 things in the veggie garden on Thursday. I got an heirloom tomato and a capsicum plant from Masters. Two pretty baby plants! It will take months for any crop but I think there's still time before autumn.

On Saturday Mum and I went plant shopping and for the veggie garden I got marigolds and basil and pyrethrum. That's about half the garden planted. For the long garden I got some ground covers and daisy bushes and lavender and dug up a ground cover from my parents yard. I mulched with sugar cain mulch, until the ground cover is established and that will be nicer. 

Also with Mum I joined her visiting Destiny Haven for a baptism. Baptisms are always moving even if you don't know them. I saw some students baptised when I visited Bath and it was wonderful to hear testimonies of God at work, he's big and he's everywhere. So it was really good. We also stayed for dinner. It was fun.

On Sunday I shopped, cooked, drew, watched Marple. Rest day.

Dirt happened!

One of the really hot days we keep having ended in a sudden cool change and the sky went pink.

This is my last little sweet pea flower. I pulled out the browning vines in front of my window and chucked them in the new veggie garden.

On Friday afternoon DB took me to the dirt shop and we got 3 loads which cost $105. 1.5 cubic meters of nice organic sandy composty soil.

Noah helped us put it in the gardens. This box is marking my drain thing that is yet to have a proper marker/access cover. I'm going to buy a black plastic pot and maybe cut the bottom off it and put it in the dirt. Then put another pot on top which can be lifted off.

Now I'm doing the thinking about the plants. It's the scariest part. I'm also going to buy my own whipper snipper so I can do that for myself.

JK and I drove down to the eastern suburbs on Saturday, to visit Bec's Spire Markets and buy things for presents, and also just see people and eat things. We got there early, did various things for 5 hours, then left, so it wasn't too long and tiring.

Today I'm sabbathing. Just pottering around at the table writing and drawing and listening to music. I read Psalm 25 and then looked up a metrical version to trying singing it. Caught up on a prayer update from France. Did a Facebook drawing. Need to walk more so I walked to Aldi for things.

Singleness skype for youth group.

This was recorded for a youth group night on the topic of singleness. I am really happy that the team thought it was worth doing a topical night on singleness, because the most popular topic is obviously dating, and apparently in the discussions kids acknowledged that they hadn't thought about being single, and so raising the possibility and drawing a bit of a picture of the positives and a bit of the struggles was something I leaped at the chance to do. This is pretty coherent although I got my age wrong and used the wrong word a couple of times.

Garden!

Random thought. This ad captures something about decluttering I think. I remember it came on TV a few years ago at a time when I was just deciding I needed to stop saving my stuff in boxes for some mythical future, I might as well enjoy it properly by using it and wearing it out. I am aiming towards owning nothing I don't use, and sometimes that means getting rid of things I don't use, and sometimes that means using things I don't use. I now sleep under quilts that used to live in a box. It means more joy sparks.



N brought some small delicious home grown peaches to work.

DB took me to Bunnings one lunchtime and we bought all this timber for my gardens! He cut it to size at home.

While I prepared the garden spaces.

Yesterday was massive. First thing in the morning DB came and we put together the gardens. It was so amazing putting it together, feeling the wood lock together as the screws drilled in, ending up with these solid things just like I drew them on paper. They look rather bulky, but I think it's a good use of the space, and when they have plants in them and growing over the edges they will look better. Next job is soil.

Then I had a 5 minute shower and get dressed and went with my parents to Dungog for a fundraiser afternoon tea for Destiny Haven, which mum is involved with. The testimonies of two women who had been loved and rehabilitated were very interesting and powerful.

After that I made a salad, dressed up like a pirate, and went to JKs Planksgiving.

That was a very full Saturday. Today, I'm having a rest. I did buy a vacuum cleaner first thing in the morning, I got a Miele, because it was a mid range ($330) brand with a strong motor and good reviews. And if in doubt, buy German! They rock at attention to detail in design. I used it, and I can tell it has good suction because of how hard it is to drag over the carpet and all the carpet fluffing up. So that's a job well done, I only delayed it for a month but I'm satisfied with my choice and money spent.

Now to have lunch and watch Poirot.