Still Here - Literally Smelling My Roses!

The lily has a smooth stalk

Will never hurt your hand,

But the rose upon her briar

Is the lady of the land.

-Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

This is the view from my kitchen window.

O Rose, thou flower of flowers, thou fragrant wonder,

Who shall describe thee in they ruddy prime,

Thy perfect fullness in the summertime,

When the pale leaves blushingly part asunder

And show the warm red heart lies glowing under?

Thou shouldst bloom surely in some sunny clime,

Untouched by blights and chilly winter’s rime,

Where lightnings never flash nor peals the thunder,

And yet in happier spheres they cannot need thee

So much as we do with our weight of woe;

Perhaps they would not tend, perhaps not heed thee,

And thou wouldst lonely and neglected grow;

And He who is all wise, He hath decreed thee

To gladden earth and cheer all hearts below.

- Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Spring In My Garden

God's Garden

The Lord God planted a garden

In the first white days of the world,

And He set there an angel warden

In a garment of light enfurled.

So near to the peace of Heaven,

That the hawk might nest with the wren,

For there in the cool of the even

God walked with the first of men.

And I dream that these garden-closes

With their shade and their sun-flecked sod

And their lilies and bowers of roses,

Were laid by the hand of God.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth --

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

For He broke it for us in a garden

Under the olive-trees

Where the angel of strength was the warden

And the soul of the world found ease.

By Dorothy Frances Gurney

Can you spot my grandson?

12 WEEKS (LESS 3 DAYS) UNTIL CHRISTMAS

I just happened to have a really good look at the calendar today and YIKES! - it's only 12 weeks until Christmas, can anyone tell me where the year has gone??

My eldest daughter told me that in the supermarket the other day they have already got a huge amount of space full of Christmas items.

Does anyone recall what it used to be like, we usually saw Christmas goodies appear in the shops perhaps 4 weeks prior to Christmas?

Anyway I just thought I would get us all in the mood for the festive season.......

Hugs To All This Wonderfully Wet Sabbath

IT'S SATURDAY & I'M POOPED!!!

Another week has come and gone..........where, when, how............ I do not know!!!

We have been kept busy this week with Elijah "things", like playing soccer at the soccer ground and in the backyard (on the days it didn't rain), taking him to visit with his father, train spotting and especially watching him carefully and taking him to the doctor when he developed a ferocious cold with a horrible cough.

As per usual when he gets like this his asthma flares up so it has been three hourly doses of "calling all robots" (what Mum Lisa calls it when she has to give him his Ventolin through the spacer). The visit to the doctor revealed that he has an ear infection (and judging by the cough a chest infection, though he wouldn't stay still, or stop crying long enough for the doctor to get a good listen), so he now has antibiotics to take and a special syrup for the asthma for the next few days.

The rain this week has been absolutely magnificent and I am looking forward to more of the same this coming week. I love grey, grey rainy days, they remind me of the Melbourne from the 50's to the 70's that I loved so much. I hate the thought that with global warming we are going to lose all that and so much more!

SOME OF THE MORTIMORE SIDE OF OUR FAMILY

William Henry Mortimore b.1833-d.1910 & Sarah Mortimore (nee Shaw) b.1825-d.1903

Martin Mortimore b.1867-d.1942

Ada Christina Mortimore (nee Hansen) b.1876-d.1946

Back Row: Samuel (Snowy), Margaret (Maggie), Alice, Louise (Lou),

Elizabeth (Betty). Front Row: Amy, Harold (Harry)(sitting on Alice's

knee), John (Jack). Photo taken about September 1914.

Harold Ernest Mortimore b.1914-d.2005

Marjorie Frances Mortimore (nee Stringer) b.1919-d.1981

Sunday Thought

SOME CARDS & QUOTES I'VE MADE

SOME OF THE STRINGER SIDE OF OUR FAMILY

From Left: My Great Grandfather James Frankland Stringer (1855-1917), his parents Maria Stringer (nee Frankland) (1821-1900), Robert Stringer (1828-1899).

My Great Grandfather James Frankland Stringer (1855-1917), his wife Julia Emma Stringer (nee Cook) (1858-1919) and four of their seven children.

Flickr

Please check out more of my photos (just click on my face) on - a fancy photo sharing site.

Through my Flickr Groups you can also link to Picture Australia, where you can see lots of wonderful images of our great country and it's people.

Mark's Jewellery - For Sale or Order

Sterling Silver & Blue Topaz Ring

Today I thought I would act as a marketing agent for my wonderful son, Mark. He has been making jewellery for around 10 years now, mainly making it as gifts for family & friends, or for specific orders. He hasn't concentrated on selling it to the general public before but I know he would love to earn a living doing what he loves best, making his jewellery, hence the reason I am utilising my blog to help the cause.

Below are just a few of the beautiful pieces he has made, starting with the early ones first:

(Please forgive the photography, I took the photos for Mark with my old camera, I need a new one to get much clearer pics to do the jewellery justice)

Sterling Silver & Garnet Ring

Sterling Silver & Garnet Pendant

Pummel for Walking Cane or Car Gear Stick

Sterling Silver Rings

Sterling Silver & Blue Topaz Ring on my old hand

Sterling Silver & Various Semi Precious Gemstones - "God's Kiss"

Sterling Silver Collier

Peace In The World

If there is righteousness in the heart,

there will be beauty in the character.

If there is beauty in the character,

there will be harmony in the home.

If there is harmony in the home,

there will be order in the nation.

When there is order in the nation,

there will be peace in the world.

The Terrible Two's Have Begun

On Saturday my darling grandson, Elijah, turned 2 and guess what his first word was that day when he was asked to do something? You're right, it was "No"!

How do you deal with that though when he looks up at you with those big blue eyes and blows you a kiss, your heart just melts.

We will definitely have to toughen up over the coming days!!

NEW HOME - NEW LIFE

We've been in our new home for a few weeks now and absolutely loving it.

I am finally unpacking boxes that had been packed since 1996 and I'm finding

amazing things I had long forgotten. There are benefits to getting older and

more forgetful, everything is exciting and new again!!

The other night I photographed our first pretty sunset from the front verandah

so I thought I would share it with you.

I'M BACK!!!

Just in case anyone was wondering where I was - our family has just finished three weeks of moving two households into one - a very exhausting and stressful time indeed. My eldest daughter & her son now reside with myself & my son, so we will all be saving money in no time I'm sure. It's seventh heaven seeing my darling grandson each and every day, except when I want to have a sleep-in of course and he doesn't know the meaning of that word yet, the little sweetie!

The move turned out to be a case of necessity even though we had been looking for a suitable abode for all of us to share for quite a while. The urgency was moved up when, on Mother's Day, our 'lovely' (this term used VERY loosely) landlady (& her boyfriend) took it upon themselves to move some of our personal belongings out onto the nature strip for hard rubbish pick-up. I had already told them not to do that when they had arrived to do some garden maintenance, and before I left to go to my daughter's for Mother's Day. I told them that the Council had to be notified first before any hard rubbish could be put out or you could be fined (mind you I only had my old fridge, old TV & inner metal frame of couch bed near gate to be put out but these people decided that lots of other items of ours were rubbish and put them out as well).

When she was told again by my son (he was on the lease & he was still at home at the time) and my middle daughter that she couldn't do that because a date had to be booked with the Council first and that she did not have our permission to touch ANY of our property she told my children that "your mother's on a month to month lease, if you don't quit this I'll give her a month's notice?" It took us making a call to the Police to have our things moved back on to the property. Happy Mother's Day!!!

To cut a long story short, the following Tuesday, we were served with a Notice to Vacate. I was shocked to find out that standing up for your rights after being a very good tenant for 4 years could lead to this. It turns out though that she has actually done us a huge favour because we upped our house-hunting efforts and we found the most fantastic house, two totally separate living areas under the one roof and it is gorgeous. It is an older clinker brick house which has been totally modernised inside. It has ducted heating (our old place had a space heater which the landlady had not repaired/replaced since the first year we were in there when it broke down and she had a 'quick fix' job done on it) the new house has air conditioning (the old place had none) & a dishwasher. We also have a huge back verandah where I can sit and sip my morning coffee in the warm Winter sun and there are roses, roses, roses everywhere (my favourite flower of course), it's heavenly really. We are very, very happy indeed. (Photos later).

Anyway, now you know why I have been absent from cyber-space but you can't get rid of me that easily and I have lots more tales to tell.

My grandson asleep on couch last night