Spring Break

We are experiencing lunar love at night and in the morning. I completely understand why wolves howl at the moon. It is worthy of the compliments.

Is it weird that I love my stairs? These six steps serve us so well. We all go up and down them many times during the day. They are part of my morning routine and when I woke up at 4:30 this morning and could not go back to sleep, I held the wall so I wouldn't stumble into my day. I'm wobbly before I have my coffee and cream. Today the warm winds came and I went to the fabric store with Kelli in shirt sleeves! Look what I bought!

felt to make some brooches

wool for crocheting. I need lessons. I'm having a hard time.

fabric for Brad and April's kitchen curtains

stickers for my journals and letters

I came home and had a sit out in the backyard. I soaked up some good vitamin D and listened to fairy songs on my iPod.

kicked off my Crocs to feel the soft grass

I'm having a restful and peaceful spring break.

Here are the last Australia photos - bear with me because they are a bit random!

art at an outdoor night market

the stunning opera house

food for fairies

one of the many romantic passageways

a group of monks

children touring "the Rocks"

Sydney's oldest hotel

tall, sophisticated Sydney

another passageway

my same feet in the sands of a lovely Australian beach

a very old door - because I liked it

the almost extinct phone booth

Maddie and Laura, my favorite Australian girls

the children we traveled with - the highlight of my trip

gorgeous old buildings

a stunning mural

Maddie and Laura's school library

Granny Smith of Granny Smith apples is buried here

and finally, a beacon

In a book I'm reading called An Altar in the World, the author Barbara Brown Taylor quotes Georgia O'Keeffe who said, "In a way, nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small, we haven't time -- and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."
It's so nice to go slow, to take the time to look around and to make time for friends. Thank you for taking the time to check on me today.

Living Things

From our Australian friends' adorable Cavoodle puppy to the little wallaby at the petting zoo, the animals I saw in Australia were beautiful. I fell in love with Dusty the puppy. She was soft as a teddy bear and bouncy, too. She rolled right over to have her tummy scratched and greeted us with a happy smile. Sometimes I want a puppy. I think I may just borrow one because I don't want to use up my "I want to take care of you" on a puppy when I am blessed with so many good family members to love. I do love to think about puppies.

When I was in the eighth grade, tending zinnia seedlings in the back of the classroom and talking to my friend Vickie instead of listening to Mr. Krook, she and I heard about the plight of the wallabies. I guess they had gotten out of control and were a problem so they were being killed. We wrote a letter to Australia (kind of like addressing a missive to the North Pole) and requested that a wallaby be sent to us. We discussed how we'd share the responsibility, where it would sleep, and YES I was kind of a weird kid. Yes. Wallabies are VERY sweet though, don't you think? The kangaroos that we saw were lazy. They simply stared at us as they reclined in the dirt. No boxing. No hopping. My camera's battery died so that's why I don't have a picture of the kangaroos or the huge crocodile we saw. The emu was funny, too. He trotted right up to us. He had a cute hair do.
I'm not big on zoos. Every time I go to the zoo I say to myself, "Oh, I forgot. I hate zoos." I love animals but I'd rather look at pictures of them in books or borrow a puppy.

Bridge Climb

It's a shame that I didn't see this comforting sign before the bridge climb. Sorry about the cafe owner's head in the picture!

It doesn't look THAT high in this picture, does it?

It was NOT that scary and the view . . . well, it was like looking at Fairyland on a JUMBO scale. Other than some high walkways and six sets of ladders, it was manageable. Thank you for your prayers. They were answered.

My first dinner in Sydney. We dined by the water and these creatures were delicious!

The scones were scrumptious. Can you believe all that cream? Yum!

I drank a lot of fizzy, lemon beverages.

I saw quite a few perfect pears. Aren't these incredible?

And there was a market right in the shopping mall.

I shall give you small doses of my Australia photos. I'm sure our traveling companions thought my picture taking was a bit odd. I took pictures of pleasing things and that's what I do here at home, too. After a huge shop at the grocery this morning, we now have fresh food in the house! Yahooo!

Below are the two books I'm reading.

Tonight I stopped over at Jenny's for a Sam squeeze.

. . . and a Jenny squeeze.

I left there to go to Kelli's to see Birdie and Bug. Jenny's golf course is greening up. The moon was hanging there for me.

I hope to find my rhythm soon. I DID fill the bird feeders today and made a big pot of corn chowder. I love my home. I feel so disconnected from it when I'm working all day. Don't YOU experience a sweet, cozy feeling when you return to your home after being away? Our bed was extra soft last night and nicks in the paint, the aging furniture, and even the left over snow, look extra good to me because I am so very grateful for shelter, for our children that cherish us, for food, for my car, for my books, paper, pens and pencils, for the coffee pot. I feel protected and kept. It's bliss.