a world without honey?

another beautiful day in Woodford... taking my grandsons to the movies to see Nanny McPhee. popcorn for me & lollies for them. then lunch with dutch husband. who might I add, turned up on his Harley, exciting Jack [age 7] no end.
then home to tidy up for an expected viewer [who cancelled at the last minute]...that was my day.

but on closer inspection.. I did notice flocks of finches flitting in the plum trees, through the vegetable garden and up into the apple tree. their tweeting making me lift my head from the task of hanging the washing out. magpies sticking their beaks into the grass to catch a worm or snail. apple leaves fluttering to the ground in their autumn undress. and bees, oh the bees.. lazily snuggling into the thai basil, the nasturtiums and borage. that lazy, autumn, fuzzy, snuggling that only happy bees can do... bees are in abundance in my garden.. but I have read that they are threatened in other parts of the world. sprays perhaps? or the mobile towers that seem to dot the worlds surface, everywhere.. or a virus? no matter what it is... a world without bees is a world without honey.

[an unused beehive in my garden. I was going to leave it here at Inglewood but have decided to take it with me. I have many unused objects in my garden, just for decoration. take the chandelier that I have hanging in the chicken house for instance. purely for decoration]

so, just what can we do to encourage bees into our gardens? plant a bee garden. a garden full of flowers that bees love: blue is a colour that bees adore so borage is perfect. lavender and thyme. citrus trees and flowering herbs. clove pinks and lemon balm. just to name a few.
but most important is to stop spraying. It breaks my heart to know that people still consider spraying bees.

[other things: I don't like the taste of nettle tea, oatstraw is actually nice. the hot foot-baths: still not sure if they work yet but I will keep trying. I have a bubble of excitement in my solar plexus area and I don't know why.. life has something exciting instore for me..I love my life. I am happy]

today, you say?

what did I do today? well. I wasn't going to post at all. I like to post daily.. but it is becoming increasingly difficult to be entertaining.. and then I think well, who am I blogging for myself or others... the usual dilemma we all have..

the day was a glorious day .. one of those days where you can feel autumn.. a breeze blowing, enough to dry the clothes. bees buzzing lazily, gathering the last of the pollen ..

my friend Laraine called in with her 3 grandchildren and their 3 new chickens. they were so excited that they wanted to show me

I had a pedicure and foot spa in Katoomba at the Yindi day spa.. I sat and looked out the window at the most gorgeous view in the world while my feet were pampered
Yindi

so, you see, not much happening around here.. a very boring post. [nary a photo]
[one thing I do know though and that is I really need to re-connect with the Seasons.. I am so out of whack.. the past 6mths or so, I have neglected my wise woman & the Wheel.. (dealing with life circumstances and all of that)].. coming up to Samhain at the end of April.. a good time to begin again.. sometimes I feel like I am on a see-saw.

a dying art

when I was a little girl, jam making & preserving was something that was part of my everyday. My grandma was a great one for making jams, pickles, chutneys and lemon butter. jars were saved, washed and stored for the day when she would make one or another.

today, I found an old CWA cookbook in a drawer
and as I browsed through the out of fashion recipes, [recipes like 'time saver stew', scalloped parsnips' & Maitland salad'] ~ I had a brain snap and thought I might join the CWA ladies and revive the lost art of jam & chutney making... however, I don't think I am quite the CWA lady type.

I do still have my vacola kit which I might get out when I move to Villa Maria.. I use to bottle preserves quite alot.. driving out to the country to buy boxes of plums or peaches from farms and bringing them back to bottle for winter...

I think it is important though, not to let these 'arts' die... knitting, preserving, jam making.... they take us back to simpler times, don't you think? times, when standing at the sink, washing up was a meditation. and that is what I hope to do at Villa Maria.. a smaller home & garden, will give me a little more time to live a simpler, more meditative life.

tonight, I soak my feet in the hottest water I can stand.. on direction of my acupuncturist ~ according to her, by doing this it will help my volcanic night sweats.. one can only hope.

sharing something hauntingly beautiful

I don't often post youtube links.. but i would like to know how this music affects you ~ I discovered Deuter about 15 or so years ago and rediscovered his music just this year...[if you have 10mins to spare, let the video load and listen ~ then let me know what you think]



does it tug at your heart strings? or speak to something deep inside? does it make you feel as if you want to weep...do you feel as if the music is touching something that is a memory of long ago? it does all of this to me.. when I listen to this music, as I go about my day.. my skin tingles, the hairs on the crown of my head feel like they are being brushed by angels wings....as I listen to the music, it is as if I am caring for my soul.

a day off

[photo taken at Leura Deli. their Easter egg display]
Easter Monday. I don't know what that means. maybe there is a religious significance. I don't have a clue.

here in Australia, it is a holiday... so what does one do on Easter Monday? a year or so ago, I would have been at work hard in my garden, tending the plants, mulching, gathering kindling for the coming winter. But today I woke feeling out of sorts... not quite right. so I did the best thing for my soul. Dutch husband lit a fire and I snuggled under an eiderdown ~ napping on and off all day. that is about it.