the open house

tonight was the official open night for our home.. where the real estate agent invites would be buyers to have a special preview before it is on the market..

expecting about 20 people to come through, I thought a nice platter of cheese to go with the 'champagne' would be a nice touch. and for the quirky part of my nature, I supplied a bowl of small Easter Eggs.[confession of sorts:I put the Easter eggs out early in the day.. and quite a few made their way into my mouth & I guess will end up on my hips]

it was a misty, rainy afternoon so the fire was lit & candles flickered throughout our home. Deuter played quietly in the background

dutch husband & I went out to a meeting and left the real estate agents to welcome people...

but no one came. not one person. at first i was disappointed BUT I know that the perfect person is out there to buy and love Inglewood just as I do and I know that everything will happen in perfect Divine time.. I know that because I keep 'hearing' it.

a simple day

this morning, I called my friend Avis to say hello
'what's news?' she asked as she always does... we got chatting about my home and she asked me if I would like to go round for lunch ~ I took her a basket of eggs... Avis is in her 70's and is Jewish. I love to talk to her.. she has a rather different outlook on life than i do. we talk about all manner of things.. from my spiritual beliefs to hers.. about her childhood and how she is like a snail and wears her home on her back, never really feeling at home in any one country. she tells me of her life in England as a Nanny and how she is actually related to Jack the Ripper. an interesting lady for sure!

as we talked today, she gathered the makings of lunch. tomatoes, avocado, spring onions from her garden, leg ham, mustard & cucumbers.. all placed on a simple white plate. oat and honey bread. and rock melon for after. a pot of tea and she was done.

out onto her verandah and we sat with her husband Bill, enjoying a sandwich, a cup of tea and a good chat. all the important things in life.
[at Avis & Bill's home, the kettle is always on, there is always a home-made cake. a shoulder to cry on, an understanding ear to listen and comfort when you are feeling down. they are what my grandma called 'salt of the earth' people... so if you are ever in the vicinity of their home.. please do pop in, they love visitors, people are always calling past for a chat and a cup of tea and visitors are always welcome!]

making bolognaise sauce

it is raining here in Woodford. what I wanted to do today, didn't happen because of the rain [I wanted to weed paths and mulch 'Sophie's Walk' garden]... but I did clean my bathrooms today, in readiness for our official open house on Wednesday night.

today the magpie with the broken foot, visited my bird bath for a drink. I ducked outside and opened the gates to my vegie garden so he could have the pickings of the last of the summer vegies and whatever else treat he might find in there.. the little finches flitted in and out of the branches of the apple tree, eating bugs... the choughs moved my soul with the call [does it every time].. and I wondered what to blog about...

[dutch husband is the cheese grater in our family. my grater is about 25yrs old and I always buy organic parmesan cheese from the co-op]

how do you make your bolognaise sauce?
you see, when I was two, we lived next door to an italian family and even at that young age, I loved Regina's spaghetti sauce, I have never tasted as good since and have never been able to capture the essence of her sauce..
so I make my own..

one onion chopped very finely, saute in olive oil with two [or more] cloves of crushed garlic ~ stir with a spoon and lots of love... when the onion is transparent.. begin to add spoonfuls of organic minced, australian beef.. about 1/2 kilo in all.. mashing with the spoon to break up any lumps.. cook on medium heat.. adding pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.. once the meat is browned, add an organic beef stock cube, a dash of red wine and cook for a minute or two.. then add chosen pasta sauce [i use organic basil & garlic tomato pasta sauce].. simmer for about 20mins to reduce the sauce down.. adding a handful of torn basil leaves towards the end of cooking time.
serve with chosen pasta and lashings of freshly grated parmesan cheese...
do you have a favourite spaghetti sauce?

what a very full weekend I have had.

yesterday we spent the day at Springwood Foundation day ~ a day of celebrating the settling of the town of Springwood [where Villa Maria is situated]
a street parade is held as well as many stalls for various community groups.

[balloons are the order of the day!]

many people get into the theme of the day, dressing up in period costume. there is a Town Crier and all manner of costumes being paraded.

even a group of Red Coats

community groups walk among the crowds ~ this is the Rural Fire Service, our brave men and women who fight our bushfires

[and even though this is not France, someone loved Paris.]

there are buskers, drummers

and belly dancers

big bass drums, trumpets & trombones, all add to the festivies..

dutch husband & I rode our bike in the parade!

later on that evening, we took a twilight ride to the southern highlands for dinner... and today


baby Charlie was baptised at St. Thomas Aquinas church...


I hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

a quick few words

so that I don't miss a post today.. I thought I would tell that Joe & I spent the day on the bike.
first of all to a festival day in Springwood then to the southern highlands for dinner..
photos tomorrow !

a very full day today

.. washing clothes, going to Katoomba to collect my herbal medicine, travel agent for Sophie, inspection of Villa Maria [making me fall in love with it even more].. and lastly the breast surgeons appointment... he was running one and half hours late for his patients which made me stress just a little longer. although I did use that time wisely, I sat and prayed.

he took my stitches out and as he was doing that, he said casually,
'well, its good news...'
you have no idea how relieved i was when I heard those words.
he sat and underlined the words on my pathology report:
there is no evidence of in situ or invasive malignancy seen

there is NO evidence of cancer!!

Thankyou so much for all the prayers, love and support that you have surrounded me with over the past month. I don't think I could have made it without all of the support, emails & love.
I am exhausted. but relieved.

and of course, I promise to check my breasts monthly.

this time tomorrow

[isn't she beautiful? My St.Therese]

yes, tomorrow I will get the results of the biopsy back. will it be cancer? I don't know.

today, the nurse called to put my appointment to an earlier time slot and I went into panic mode..
my mind going places of 'them needing more time with me to go through what will happen next'.
the first time all week I have been afraid.
the past week, I have embraced what is happening to me.
every now and then, I felt a fear, but soon brushed that aside.

I made myself some lunch and went outside to sit on my verandah. and as I did, a kookaburra flew past and sat on the fence. just looking at me. I haven't seen one in my garden since November. I always take this as a sign from my dad. he loved the bird and every time something happens in my life - good or bad, a kookaburra shows up.
I am scared. he is with me.

I sat and allowed the tears to fall, with that awful lump of fear in my chest. knowing that what will be will be, tears cannot change it.

the sensible self tells me that even if it is cancer, the prognosis is good as it is very early.

I look at my St.Therese picture and I feel reassurance that I am ok. ... but the human self is scared. I look at my St.Therese picture and hear whispers of voices telling me not to worry. that I am not alone.

I hate waiting.
I will be happy this time tomorrow, when at least I will know one way or the other. and I will go from there.

it's official

it's official. Inglewood is on the market. I honestly never thought I would see this day..but the sign is there for all to see. The monk across the road was quite taken aback when I told him today. I think he will miss me. I think I will miss him too. he said to me that I would miss my vegetable garden.

just a thought:
reading a few blogs yesterday, some questioning why they blogged, why they wrote about their day, wondering if people really wanted to read about their garden or daily life, day after day...
I started to ask myself the same question. do people really want to know what I am doing? I mean, honestly. do people get bored reading about my daily life? sometimes it is difficult to be amusing.. sometimes life is just.... life.

a proud moment.

our daughter Sophie, graduated from Hairdressing college tonight.
a four year course and she passed with distinctions, coming third over all.
our little Leo baby. a gorgeous girl whom we love very much.
Off to Holland in September to do an advanced hair colouring course.

look who is two

I s'pose a few of you will remember two years ago when my grandson Harry was born... two years!! it has gone so fast.

[Sophie my youngest daughter and her nephews.. baby Charlie was asleep]
we had a little birthday celebration tonight. nothing fancy. we were allowed to take my other two grandsons Tom & Jack as well.. so that was good for all the boys to get together.

I cannot believe he is two already!
our home is on the market. officially. it is advertised on the net. INGLEWOOD
[if you follow the link, you will see some photos.. click on the + sign and you will open a new window with about 13 photos]

autumn equinox

the last Autumn Equinox for me at Inglewood. I am going to miss the seasons here, Villa Maria is only 15mins away but at a lower altitude than Woodford and the seasons are not as pronounced. however, the growing season for vegetables is longer. The choughs and currawongs were in full song today.. and I will miss them too. I so hope that they come to live in the garden at Villa Maria.

Autumn Equinox was an unusually hot day.. a walk through my garden and not a sign of leaves changing colour.. but vegies and fruit nearly ready for harvest

I have two tamarillo trees. Marion my friend grows them from cuttings. I love the fruit. I love going into the garden and picking one. cutting it in half and scooping out the flesh they are also known as tree tomatoes. they are delicious!!.. and when i settle in to Villa Maria, Marion has promised me that she will visit and bring some new plants for my garden.

an heirloom pumpkin ~ potimarron. I bought the seeds from the Diggers Club in Victoria. this is a French pumpkin and I cannot wait til it is ready to pick. I wonder what it tastes like?

and chives. never fail to produce...always available year round to flavour my dishes.

I hope that you had a wonderful Equinox wherever you are. did you notice seasonal changes where you live?

come sit awhile with me

today I felt a little fragile... like I was here, but not really here. so instead of a post I thought I would invite you to come sit awhile...

a statue of Irene tucked into a corner with a solitary black iron chair. a nice place to sit and ponder.

a spot in the autumn sunshinea beautiful white iron seat. this will be perfect for Villa Maria, with some vintage cushions and a jug of lemon & mint water..

a favourite spot in the shade. I sit here often with dutch husband, having cups of tea and chatting.

[I am slowly, slowy getting around to visiting blogs. Funnily enough I am at a real sense of peace now. I am embracing what is happening to me, whatever the results are. I know that I am surrounded by angels. thankyou for being my friend xo]

a special day

today was dutch husband's and my 22nd wedding anniversary. no fanfare today but we will go our for breakfast on Sunday.. and when we move into Villa Maria, he is going to make me a Marian wayside shrine as a gift of our time together.. he is a carpenter.. much like the other St. Joseph. and a righteous man, much like the other St. Joe. he makes the best boiled eggs & toast.

so where did we meet?
I will tell you... at Parents without partners.. yes true! I had split up from my ex husband and my best girlfriend invited me along to a dance.. dutch husband had been single for a few years and one of his friends told him about a girl who was perfect for him.. so he came along to the same dance a few weeks later. that girl was me. he walked into the room, I spotted him and said to myself 'i am going to marry him oneday'.. he asked me to dance and we never parted.

we are one. I know our souls were one sometime in the past.. then that soul divided into two and went separate ways... completing soul journeys over many lifetimes and now we are together again. It feels right, you know. just feels so right. I cannot imagine life without him. I feel like part of me is missing when he is gone. he is just such a lovely, lovely man and yes, I am a lucky, lucky girl.

today is the Feast of St.Joseph. the patron Saint of selling homes. I will go to Sanctus, buy myself a medal and hang it by our door. I will ask St.Joseph to help us with a quick sale. I will ask him find the people who are next in line to living in this gorgeous old home.

today is my mothers birthday ~ she turns 74 . We hope that she will be moving up here to the mountains to live soon. this year hopefully.

today is the anniversary of me finding out I had cancer. 9 yrs ago. that is the past. this is now. and I celebrate it!

a quick post then off to bed

I'm home. tired and sore.
the hook needle biopsy did not hurt one little bit. I didn't feel a thing. I am sure, make that positive, that the prayers, the angels, the love and good thoughts all put a protective aura around me.
the operation went well ...[although I will say that when the needle for the drip was going into my hand, the anaesthetist missed my vein and went right through it. he said 'oops I think I went right through the vein, bet you didn't want to hear that'.. so he had to insert the drip needle into my arm]
and the results will be ready next Friday. so we wait. but I not in the least worried

I came home today to hacked trees on my footpath. the council workers decided to prune the trees along the street. they are not arborists or tree surgeons so you can imagine what it looks like. these are my flowering cherries and my Manchurian pear.. not happy at all about that. I think I will light some candles for them tomorrow.

photo shoots

today we had a professional photographer come to Inglewood to do the photo shoot for the advertising of the sale of our home..

I think he thought I was a little odd when I started to take photos of him taking photos...

my life kind of follows a pattern... 10 yrs ago, I had a photo shoot in my home here, for a home magazine, the next day I had my hysterectomy to remove cancerous cells..
tomorrow, I am booked in at 10am to insert the hook needle then 10.30 to have the operation.

I am praying, that all of this will be succesful and the Drs manage to get a good tissue sample. .

I am praying hard that this pattern does not continue. I pray that this time, it is all benign.

I will come home tomorrow night and let you know how I am. then I will go to bed and on the weekend, I am going to sit and come visit your blogs ~ thankyou, thankyou so much for all the love, care and support over the past weeks.

oops

silly me forgot to open the blog to readers... here is a new link Villa Maria

and a Happy St. Patricks day!

filling my life with chatter

[this post is a babbling post.. kind of a nervous chattery post.. filling my life with chatter to try to ignore what is coming for me on Thursday]
last night, having just got into bed, my eyes rested on the blue butterflies [the ones daisy sent me], hanging above my bed. I wondered if I should take them to my new home.. or leave them here... my mind continued to wander along a path to Daisy herself and dying & my mind continued to wander to actually finally meeting Daisy when I die.. and wondering what it would be like.. would she be like I had imagined her to be? even in spirit?...my mind wandered to my great grandmother and her mother.. will they be there with me on Thursday? will they all gather around the operating table? [yes, my mind goes some very odd places sometimes].
dutch husband must have seen the blank look on my face [you know the look that you get when you are day-dreaming.. that far away look?] ..because he asked what was wrong.
and I said
"you know, I am not scared of dying [of course I don't want to die yet, though!].. it will be like exchanging one set of loved ones for another"
'don't talk like that babe' he said [he doesn't like it when I talk of dying. I think it scares him]

but that is what I think death is.. leaving behind loved ones on earth to meet up with loved ones you have lost and loved ones you have never met. what fun to meet up with my great grandmothers and beyond!... this may all sound very morbid.. but that is where my mind takes me sometimes.

I am not scared of dying. I am scared of pain. like the pain of the biopsy needle on Thursday, when I am awake. that scares the living daylights out of me but of course, once I am there, it will all just happen as things tend to do. and I will go into my own little world to escape like I did when I had all my other treatments..

now to choosing the new name for our new home
why not choose Inglewood again?..
I wish to have a fresh start . .. we have had a fantastic 10yrs here but it was renovated and built around our family. alot has changed.. and all I must take are my memories. it will be forever in my heart. I will have cuttings and bulbs of plants to remember Inglewood by.. and like i said, I will have my memories.. like Joe says 'this is a new chapter' . another home could never be Inglewood.

I love the new name:Villa Maria.

and have decided to also open a new blog when we move into our new home..
I have created it [and am still in the process of] and thought you might like a sneak preview.. no posts yet though!
stories of Villa Maria

the name rolls of my tongue....

I have chosen a name for our new home and it is not even one that was on the list..

the story goes like this. Joe & I went for a walk on Sunday afternoon, after dinner. We drove to Leura and parked the car and walked along some streets.. taking a little detour up a back street to get to a very big hill that would test our stamina... walking along chatting & I was telling him that the name just had to have some kind of spiritual connection.. I mentioned maybe calling it Mary's House.. but we both agreed that sounded a little odd... I tossed out names like Fatima, Lourdes and the ever popular Lisieux.. but they were not right.. it was like the name was on the tip of my tongue

walking along past some old mountains cottages, enjoying the changing leaf colours and the currawongs in the trees.

i had an urge to look into a garden at a house and the first thing I saw was the name:

Villa Maria.

'that's it!' I cried out, asking dutch husband what he thought of the name Villa Maria and thinking to my self, how perfectly perfect it was. he of course would be happy with whatever name I chose. he is just like that.


so the name will be Villa Maria.
and Joe will build me a wayside shrine for just near the gate to put my new Fatima statue in.. and then I can place flowers in it every day and maybe even burn candles at night.
..........................
we don't know when we are moving. we have to sell Inglewood first. But we do get the key to our new home at the end of April and we can start doing things to it in the meantime.
I pray for a quick easy sale. but i keep 'hearing' the words 'divine time'.. each and every time I gallop into future thoughts. it will sell at the right time, to the right people. I will continue to nurture the garden until my time is done here.

[please bare with me if I don't visit much this week. I have my hook needle biopsy on Thursday and I am a little scared about it [like worried about it hurting, what a baby!].. so my mind is not functioning that well .. I will come visit blogs as I can xo]

the other St. Joe

no, not this St. Joe the other one.. the one who helps to sell your home [see dutch husbands curly hair? that is natural]

yes, St. Joseph. Marys husband.. patron saint of carpenters. My Joe is a carpenter. funny that. and even more co-incidental is that the Feast Day of St. Joseph is on March 19 - dutch husbands and my anniversary. apparently you can call on St. Joseph to help with the selling of your home.
I think i must find a statue or similar of St.Joseph, bury it in my garden [they say bury the statue head first.. not sure about that]..and pray for a quick and easy sale of Inglewood.. I am ready to move, but I am trying to hold the horses of my thoughts and not let them gallop away...otherwise I end up living in no mans land of time that hasn't yet happened.

today we had a journalist come to our home to walk through it with us and gather information to write a story for the sale of our home.
as we walked through with her, memories came flooding back.. all the hard work and love we have put into Inglewood... but I felt good about leaving 'our Inglewood'... I felt like she is ready to let us go and willing to invite another lucky family into her folds and make them love Earth like she has helped me... yes, being in this garden has helped me find my true connection to the soil...

and another treasure from Inglewood:

this time, I am giving away some linen. not antique but certainly vintage. there is an apron from the 1950's, a tea cloth, a tablecloth. both pink. and an old crocheted jug cover which is a quite stained but clean. I think it has a swan pattern crocheted in.. and a real treasure with original glass beads.. let me know in a comment if you would like to own it and I will put you in the draw. like I said, these treasures are worth not much, but they are treasures nonetheless

I think I have a name for our new home. yes!.. more about that tomorrow.... and I think a new blog when we eventually move...

all about dutch husband

I guess you know dutch husband has a name. a real name, I mean. I just started to call him dutch husband when I read Corey calling her husband in France 'french husband'. I thought it was sweet.. his real name on his birth certificate is like something out of royalty.. Joseph Henri Michael Gerardus.. I call him Joe.

he came to Australia when he was about 5 for the simple reason as he tells it.. 'that one day he woke up, his parents told him that they were moving to Australia and he thought he may as well tag along, he had nothing else to do'. he left behind his little snow sled that hung under the stairs and a life that would have taken another path... and he sailed to Australia with his parents and 3 siblings and one on the way.

he also has another name. a nickname...his bike riding friends call him Yoda.. and that is where this story is leading.


Joe [also known as dutch husband] loves Star Wars. I could not count on everyones fingers how many times he has watched the trilogy, and beyond. He is also very wise. truly, he knows just about everything and his advice is always, always spot on.... so he became known as Yoda.. a wise Jedi out of the Empire Strikes Back..
he is such a fan that he has a tattoo.. not just a token scribble like mine but a real half an arm of ink. 12 hours under the needle. a work of art.

[the winner of the little childs jug and saucer is Tracy! another one coming soon.]

so tell me.. just how do you pronounce Lisieux?

not speaking French, I have no idea how to pronounce the word Lisieux.. some say Liss-yer.. others say Liss-you...

here are some pronunciations from the net:
Lee-see-e(The last "e" is pronounced like the "e" in the french alphabet);
Lisieux is a tricky word to pronounce, but the easiest way to describe it's pronunciation is leez-yeu;
Lee- zoh;
Liz-YEW.

I thought it was Liss-i-yer...anyhow, I think I am confusing the issue..

Lisieux, is the name i am leaning towards because the other morning whilst cleaning my teeth.. that name popped into my head.. and I 'saw' a name plate in a mosaic pattern on a wall... but it is still not final. I need a sign from God. But I still need to know how to pronounce it.

we had another inspection of our new home today and I am more in love with it than I was the first time..it has such a good feel and the garden is divine. I have inherited Rhododendrons & Gordonia.. a magnolia and 2 oranges, a lemon and a mandarin. How much like Inglewood this garden is!...
while I wandered around the yard, I took some photos..

this is a view of the front of the house.. there is a lavender hedge growing along one part of the wall. It needs a good haircut and hopefully it will live.. but if not, I will replace it. Lavender does tend to get leggy as it gets older. on the right where the grass is.. we are going to fence and make a courtyard for privacy.

these sandstone steps go from the driveway up to where the courtyard will be and to the front door. I think they are just gorgeous. I cannot wait til I am walking these daily!

on the left of those gorgeous stairs is this beautiful light.. I love it.. my, I cannot wait til we move! dutch husband is as excited as I am

to the back yard....
this is a view of the top level of the backyard. it is terraced because the block is sloping. behind our new home is classified 'bush reserve' with a turpentine tree forest.. which is a protected species apparently. not sure why as these trees have a tendency to explode if there is a bush fire.. but the reserve is beautiful. Our own new backyard has an angophora in it, perfect for shade. on the grass area is where my vegie garden will go. there are some gorgeous plants and shrubs in the garden and some not so nice.. but it won't take me long before I weave my magick over it... and I know there are already nature divas & faeries there.. I saw one through the lens of my camera..

and if you look closely you can see an orb in this photo.. this is a view of the second terraced area..

so, what do you think of 'our house with no name'? beautiful, don't you think?

[and thankyou to each of you for continually commenting on my blog.. I really do appreciate it xo]

collecting, packing, giving away & an assortment of names

I am a collector. of stuff. i have a passion for collecting bits of anything really. over the years, I have collected wooden spoons, rolling pins, mixing bowls. I have gathered bits from op-shops, flea markets, antique shops and even bought things over seas on my travels. I have been known to collect sugar bowls, buttons, baskets. And of course religious relics & icons. And now i have to pack them all up.. and move house.. a smaller house in fact and this is wherein the problem lies.
I have too much stuff. and I want most of it to go to other people who will love it just like I do.
for this reason I have given away sea grass chairs & french wire potato baskets instead of selling them. Because I can choose the owner.. I can tell if someone will cherish the bits just like I have..

to mark the packing and moving from Inglewood, over the next weeks, I have decided to give little bits away here, to my blogging friends. to celebrate these 10 yrs living here at Inglewood and also the journey of Inglewood via the blog..
I have so many vintage treasures that I would love to share. I have vintage aprons, tea cloths, a jar of buttons.. and other such stuff.. all junk to most.. but each a treasure to me.. and I hope to you also!

so keep your eyes open!

the first one is a cute little vintage jug and saucer from a childs old tea set. it is only a tiny 4 inches high. let me know if you would like to have a chance at owning it.

then to the names for our new home: there are a few so far that have come to mind.. but still nothing solid.. here are the first few in my notebook:

SANCTUAIRE - French for sanctuary ~ which I hope to create in the new home & garden

LISIEUX - the birth place of St.Therese (she is my Saint of choic and the one who is with me always)

LA PETITE FLEUR - French for the little flower ~ St Therese was also known as the little flower.. and I hope to have many of them in my garden.

what do you think of these names?

the birds ~ oh, the birds

dusting my lounge room today, I became aware of birds, outside, calling

the choughs are back at Inglewood. when I hear them for the very first time each year.. I know that autumn is here..
the sound of them calling, tugged at my heart strings ~ making me wish in a way that I could stay here in Woodford.. but I do know that it is time to move on, there are no regrets on our decision ~ but yes, bittersweet thoughts.

... when we purchased this gorgeous property 10yrs ago, there was hardly any bird life in my garden. the previous owners had cats. and of course, birds and cats do not exist very well together. there were no lizards either..
but with me tending this gorgeous plot of earth .. the birds came back in abundance and lizards ~ you have never seen so many. my garden here at Inglewood is healthy. I have the lizards and the birds as well as an abundance of butterflies. Frogs and Dragonflies are making their presence known now as well. and of course I have the blackbird.. my Daisy connection.
with the purchase of the 'house with no name', I have inherited a wilderness in the back yard.. & I fervently hope that I can encourage the birds & lizards and all their friends to make my new home, theirs as well.... I even asked the blackbird yesterday.. [as she dug for beetles in my garden].. if she would come visit my new home.. she looked at me.. sat for awhile and flew off... maybe she has gone to investigate

[this afternoon, dutch husband & I went for a walk in our new neighbour hood... it felt like home.]

one hundred angels

today we signed the contracts to our new home.. today, I had lunch with dutch husband. today I wore my tee shirt back to front with out realizing it.

Today I stocked up on herbal teas to make infusions ~ oatstraw, red clover, nettle, lemon balm and sage.. hopefully one of them will work. today I burned lavender oil because apparently it is good for the dizziness that goes hand in hand with menopause. hard as it is I am actually enjoying this challenge of menopause.. it is like I am getting to know myself all over again.

now. what to name this new home? ... to tell the truth, I did have a name picked out for the other home.. and following below is that story..[this was written a week ago when we were buying the other house.. ]

[an Angel in the shape of my Nan ~ an altered photo of her 'by Moi' when she was a little girl]
At first it was going to be named BRAMOSOLE.. from one of my favourite books – 'Under the Tuscan Sun'
but as I was re reading the book, a new name came to my attention Cento Angelis – which means 100 Angels..

[a pottery Angel that I bought at some art markets in Sydney, hanging from some pink vintage ribbon]

I told dutch husband that I needed a sign from God. The day that our offer was accepted, a package arrived in the mail.. and it was my Lady of Fatima statue that I had ordered weeks ago.

[St Rita, I believe.. with an Angel.. one of my many vintage catholic icons]

early the next morning I was chatting to dutch husband about the sign from god, and we got talking about when we had moved into this house, Inglewood. It was the month of May, the month of Mary. And coincidentally we will be settling on our new home in the same month – May, the month of Mary. And Mary is accompanied by angels, I believe..

so that is my sign. Our new home is to be called Cento Angelis...

[an angel hanging over one of the many doors at Inglewood, showering blessings on all who enter or leave]

and of course as synchronicity has a way of working.. there was a comment on my facebook to cinch the deal, which in part said 'Creator has placed so many angels around you....'

but like I said, this Cento Angelis was not meant to be.. it does not suit this home we have actually bought.. I am wondering if the Cento Angelis that I read was actually a sign from God that I have 100 Angels surrounding me in the guise of my blogging friends.. all praying and thinking of me? I do believe that is so.

so what to call this new home? I have an idea but need a sign.
[and then of course, there is the matter of the blog.. do I start a new one for the new chapter I am about to walk.. or change the name here? [what do you think?]...so many decisions!]

a house with our name on it..

a good aussie red
today we bought a house. yes, I know I said it last week, but this time it is for real.. we will pay our deposit tomorrow and in about 8 weeks, it will be ours. people will think I am crazy when they see what I have swapped Inglewood for.... but this house truly grabbed my heart when I walked through the door. ..

[a toast to our new home]
tonight dutch husband and I thought it was appropriate to celebrate.. so pizza and wine for dinner!

and a sneak preview at the new home that will be ours

it has a good backbone of a garden, quite a few citrus trees, hydrangeas and room for my chickens. there is alot of work to be done both inside and outside.. but we both love a challenge & are looking forward to breathing new life into this place... and the name... yes, I think I have one but will tell later ~

[today: drinking lots of nettle & fennel tea, learning to feel the nightsweats up through my chakras and blowing them out, panting, as if I am in labour.. this menopause is hard work! and being positive that my body is 100% healthy.]

my day ~ emotions of a runaway train

[ a simple dinner of boiled eggs with toast fingers.. eaten in front of the TV with a rug over my knee... finished off my day perfectly... ]

two weeks ago, the Drs took me off HRT. cold turkey. and the past few days I have noticed it. night sweats like you would not believe....today, I cried, I grieved, I even wished i was dead at one stage [yes, the emotions runaway with you sometimes].. I screamed at dutch husband like I was a banshee, it is a wonder he is still here. I emailed friends, reaching out through the net ..... then I started to read Susun Weeds 'Menopausal years' ~ I read, and I read and I jotted down notes of how I can take my own health into my own hands. I noted down various teas that I can drink to help me through. I begged God to take this burden from my spirit.. . I made myself a cup of nettle tea, downloaded a yoga CD from iTunes and organized a space to do yoga. I washed the dishes, had Tuscan bean soup with spelt bread for lunch.

centering prayer, soft music and a lovely nap in the afternoon while rain fell gently on our tin roof. that was my day.
[this instant menopause is not fun]

a trip down memory lane.. through my garden

[well, it seems I was too hasty in saying that we had bought a house. we have been negotiating for over two weeks and we had offered a very good price for the house, the vendor has accepted it but is not ready to sign until he finds a house to move into & has left us wondering what we are to do now.. wait or walk away from that house?

I hate the fact that I am in this limbo state right now with all that is going on. I know that we will be moving from Inglewood in the near future.. just not sure where. I know that the perfect home is out there waiting for us at the right time. perfect divine planning. I just have to keep telling myself that.

I am sad at this turn of events, because truthfully, i had my heart set on that house, I had moved in.. and my soul has left here where I am now. You know what I mean? but something keeps telling me it will all work out for the best.. so the name that i had chosen will remain with me until the house comes along.]

anyhow,

I thought that it might be nice to go back in time.. so if you have time over the weekend.. grab a cup of tea and sit and look at my beautiful garden between 2007 and 2009... it is always nice to reminisce, don't you think?