Weekend grateful - cricket team

This weekend I am grateful, ever so grateful for my life and my loves.

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Yesterday I went to the funeral of a 22 year old young man who took his own life. I taught him at kindergarten eighteen years ago. I can still picture his cheeky little 4 year old face. So great was his anguish and mental health distress in recent months and years that he just couldn't stay. One can't help but be struck by the great irony of a funeral with almost 1000 people there who loved and admired this young man, yet he couldn't find a way to stay. The images that will remain with me from the saddest of afternoons...a family torn apart but managing a group embrace that will keep them together to weather this awful storm and rows and rows of twenty something young men, weeping and sobbing as they farewelled their mate. Utter tragedy. Such a fragile existence we all live.

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So, I'm grateful this weekend, for my life and my three great loves, The Captain, The Batsman and The Bowler. My little cricket team.

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PS: This is the first time I have joined in the Weekend grateful from Maxabella - I'm grateful for that too.

Where I blog - today at least

I don't really have a set space for blogging. We have a study but it is a pigsty less than inviting. I tend to move around the house with laptop or netbook depending on what is happening in the day...sometimes it's the kitchen bench so I can look at a recipe or two as I go. Late night blogging happens on the couch, where the later it gets the further I sink into the cushions, whoops, fallen asleep. When I really want to stay awake concentrate, I sit at the kitchen table. I guess you could say I am a bit of an itinerant blogger, but I'm sure there's lots of us like that. With the Batsman's autism early intervention/therapy program based at home, sometimes it's best if I can get myself out of the house. He (and the therapists) can get on with their work and play and I can stop that nagging little feeling of guilt discomfort that I have that it should be me doing all more of the work with him. Besides, it's lovely to be out in the world with some good coffee, some fruit salad (thanks Lucy for the inspiration this morning) and the buzz of the traffic and trains past the window. So today I blog here and it's gorgeous.

Wordless Wednesday

Pretty Saturday....better late than never

Three pretty things from my week.

Pretty zucchini flowers

Pretty wild iris

Pretty gorgeous boy doing some adventure walking in the park

May your week be filled with great beauty.

A little peace

I don't really know what to write here. I am numbed by the pain and loss which is around so many in the blogging community this week. I am in awe of the suffering of those who found themselves at the mercy of nature's flood rage and the generosity and spirit of those who came to help them.

Fuck. It's a lot to take in. Parents without children, children without parents, families without homes. Breathtaking and gutwrenching.

I sometimes retreat to this song when I feel overwhelmed. It's gentle. It gives me a little bit of peace. The lyrics are beautiful. And so, I am sharing this here. I wish for all, a little peace.



In the morning when the moon is at it's rest,
You will find me at the time I love the best
Watching rainbows play on sunlight;
Pools of water iced from cold night, in the morning.
Tis the morning of my life.

In the daytime I will meet you as before.
You will find me waiting by the ocean floor,
Building castles in the shifting sands
In a world that no one understands,
In the morning.
Tis the morning of my life,

In the morning of my life the
Minutes take so long to drift away
Please be patient with your life
It's only morning and you're still to live your day

In the evening I will fly you to the moon
To the top right hand corner of
The ceiling in my room
Where we'll stay until the sun shines
Another day to swing on clothes lines
May I be yawning

It is the morning of my life
It is the morning of my life
In the morning
In the morning
In the morning

Pretty Saturday

Last week Thea came up with a new blog post category. It's here. When I first read it, I thought "Hmmm, that's not me, move on" but there was something about the way Thea shared 3 pretty things from her world that made me stop and think. I have never been much of a "pretty things" gal - jeans and tees, little or no makeup, multiple bad hair days, flat shoes and let's face it, I live in a house of way too many penises boys so there isn't much room for "pretty". But a little bit like blogging about "what I'm grateful for", "Pretty Saturday" is a small pause for reflection, to notice what is beautiful around us or to stop and smell the roses if you like. So here I am. Here's what's pretty for me this week. Thanks Thea!
Cherry tomatoes picked from our vege garden yesterday. Aren't they beautiful?

My op shop find of the year so far, a vintage punch bowl and glasses. The glasses hang on the side of the bowl with dainty little hooks. So pretty. The set was in its original box, never used (huh?) and still had a wedding card tucked inside. It's just crying out for some gorgeous summer punch....anyone got a recipe?

Mother's love - for Lori

There are no words that seem right today. No eloquence, no poetry. Just a woman, a mummy who is saying goodbye to her husband, her children's daddy. Wrong, so wrong on so many levels.
A dear friend gave me this rose a couple of days ago. It's called a Mother's Love rose.

It's the only thing I can give to Lori today. From one mother to another. Love.

Grace

 

My heart and mind is with Lori and her family tonight as they mourn the loss of Tony. Like so many others I have watched this tragedy unfold from afar with my breath held tightly, hoping and hoping for a miracle. It is heartbreaking this is not to be. I am so sorry for this family’s enormous loss.
Since this situation began for Lori, I have watched the extraordinary response of hundreds in the blogging and twitter community who have rallied, donated, tweeted and blogged to convey their love and support for Lori and Tony. It has been a privilege to bear witness to this and gives me a new faith in the good and great that is among us. I found this quote tonight. It says something to me about these communities and the love and support they have given so willingly. You are all amazing.
“If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them.” Francis Bacon Sr, 1561-1626


There is another, smaller, group of people, Lori’s friends, who have been ever present over the last few days. I don’t know all of them but those I do are here and here and here. They have rallied everyone, set up a donation facility, sent updates, organised meal cooking and no doubt provided much support directly to Lori. I am sure that only a small portion of what they have done is visible, the rest behind the scenes. From my tiny humble little blog, I just thought they should be acknowledged.


This quote, is for them. They have been grace.


"Grace was in all her steps, Heav'n in her Eye, In every gesture dignity and love” John Milton, 1608-1674

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Powerful love

I don't know Lori. I have read her blog quite a few times and loved it, I follow her on Twitter but I don't know her. Right now she is facing an unimaginable family crisis as her husband fights for his life in hospital. She has two small children. The internet and in particular the blogging and Twitter communities are amazing at times like this. So many people are praying, sending love, giving what they can and so I guess one small thing is that Lori knows that there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of people who are holding her close. That's some pretty powerful love don't you think? I'm adding my love and hope into this amazing group of people generating powerful love for Lori and her family.


If you can donate visit here

New year's resolutions

I don't usually make any resolutions but what the hell....it's been an extraordinary year so I am going to take a leap and make them. They are nothing earth shattering but they work for me - at least 6 days into 2011 they do.

Blog more
Cook (for pleasure) more
Drink more
Excercise more
Weigh less
Stress less
Use less (reduce, reuse, recycle)

What are yours?

Summer days

Some play.

Some music.

Some rest.

Some amazing food at Pettavel Winery.

One of the most amazing sunsets I have seen in a while.

Eastern View, Great Ocean Road

Summer is off to a good start.

Suz xx

Getting started again

I have a new friend. My new friend is helping me start again with blogging.

Last year I let everything overwhelm me and well....I just had way too much to deal with after the Batsman’s diagnosis with autism. Blogging seemed like a luxury amidst the daily chaos of early intervention programs, speech therapy and getting my heart and head around what it all meant for our beautiful little boy, his beautiful little brother and for us. I literally fell onto the couch or into bed every night for 6 months, physically and emotionally spent. With hindsight I can see that blogging was exactly what I should have been doing to process it all. But I didn’t.
And now I want to get started with it again. Enter my new friend.

The Captain bought this great little Samsung netbook for me for Christmas and now I can curl up on the couch and blog to my heart’s content. Or my little friend can come with me to a cafe or a waiting room or just about anywhere really. I just love it. Thank you to my Captain for such a thoughtful and lovely gift.

Let’s get blogging.

Suz xx