Make It Count

I was taking down my Christmas decorations that took so long to set up and admire for a few short weeks, though it was all worth it. These pictures were part of my decorations. When I was taking them down, I took a closer look and admired the work and detail of the artist. I have many of these pictures from a card making program that I purchased years ago. I think they are from a time when greeting cards were hand painted. I have always thought they were beautiful and looked for ways I could use them. This year I printed them out on sheets and laminated them and placed them over a sightly brickwork window sill which is part of our sunroom. I can now view them every year during the Christmas Season. The detailed, hand-crafted beautiful pictures and the love they reflect made me think of the coming year; to make everything we do in our lives; to make it count towards the respect, care, giving and love of ourselves and others.

Christmas and New Year

This Christmas New Year season for me has been the best in my lifetime. As a child, Christmas was a stressful time for Mum and Dad with six children. I enjoyed the Christmas New Year seasons when Mum and Dad enjoyed them.

I realise this year was special to me because I spent time decorating our home and creating special things on my computer for decoration. The focus has not been on buying the right presents for family. This year we did a secret Santa with a minimum amount. One present was purchased instead of buying for the whole family which is costly when the six of us are married with kids and grandchildren. On reflection, I think Christmas has meant more this year because I am thankful to God for the blessings he has given me; they are, a loving family that I can serve and spend time with; a lovely home to decorate; my creative ability with computers and the experience of the technology today. The memories and joy of these experiences cannot be taken away. It is only when I let the difficult times and the stresses of this world consume me that the moments disappear. I have learnt so much in my life's journey. The mind can keep you a victim of circumstances. I continue to keep my thoughts on what I have got, what I have achieved and look at what I can do to make someone else's life better. God is gracious...Thank you.

My New Android Phone - Technology So Amazing!

My son gave me an early Christmas present. He decided to upgrade his phone plan to the new HTC Desire Android phone so he gave me his Wildfire HTC phone. It took me awhile to get familiar with the features and personalise it. I can sync my gmail, calendars, socialise on facebook and more. When I am home, I often would be on my desktop computer and leave my mobile in my bag or somewhere else in our large home which meant I miss calls and messages often when it was too late. (Developers have thought of everything.) A little application called Android Notifier solved this problem I set this up on my PC with Growl and receive notifications on my PC that are being sent to my phone. I am pleased as punch! I discovered another app called Goggles that is available. This app allows me to search the web by taking a photograph from my phone of a landmark eg story bridge, painting, wine label, business card and it will search the web and give you eg painting artist name, simply amazing!!! 

Check out website http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/#text

I experiented with it yesterday on a card that my husband gave me. He gives me beautiful cards. Funny thing it scanned another picture of a card that my Dad gave me - a white little dog near a picnic basket and flowers. It brought it up on the web site. The language was french, which could be translated. 

Wow!! Technology so amazing. I own an Itouch which I use to listen to music and audio books etc. I think now that I have the best of both. I now vote for the Android phone over Iphone. I can back up all my SMSs, sync with my google calendar (with text reminders), gmail, facebook, chat. I have setup my computer which now notifies me if my mobile rings, get a text, battery low. I am wrapped.

 

Special Events Golden Wedding

A keepsake of a Golden Wedding Event 23rd January 1998.
Read about my Mum's experience seeing a  UFO...extract below

Unusual Experiences

From early in life Joan seems to have had to come to grips with life’s realities in practical ways to cope and survive through good times and hard times.  In this same manner she has also accepted some unusual experiences which have occurred at times in her life.  One of these occurred at quite a young age.

When she was about 8 years old Joan was sent off to bring in the cows handy to the yard.  Walking around the creek to a higher position from which to get a better view, she then saw an unusual object in the shape of a vacuum cleaner.  It had flashing lights of red and green.  Joan ran across the cultivated land in terror.  After that she didn’t remember anything for awhile and when she came to it was nearly dark so she hurried home.  Her mother met her with a hurricane lantern and wanted to know where she had been.  Joan told her what she had seen and they went back to where the object had been.  All that was left was a burnt patch in the grass.

Gold Wed

A Good Reason for Blogging

I have decided to start blogging after seeing it more and more as a good thing for family and friends who do not know you. I can put my story up for the world to see. Family or friends can choose to read it or not, comment or not. As a blogger, I can monitor and delete comments that you don't like. I think we often do not really know people until you hear a eulogy about them at a funeral. I think we tend to sometimes remember the worst things in the heat of the moment. Then it is too late. So my goal for blogger is to tell my fondest memories, struggles, achievements and how I overcame them. So if I get alzheimers or dementia it won't be a problem, my memories will be on the web forever. I have uploaded my Dad's story too. If you like this blog please subscribe to get updates. I would appreciate your comments good or bad. If you do not like something please tell me. Blogging does take time. I think it is worth it. The internet has a wealth of resources. For those who have no interests and enjoy surfing the web, I would encourage you. I would love to get to know who you are?

Steve Grace - Steve Grace Ministries | World Missions International

Steve Grace - Steve Grace Ministries | World Missions International

Living in 21st Century

On a daily basis I am thankful that I have the opportunity to experience the technology that is available today. This morning I got up and used by Nintendo WII to measure my BMI (body, mass, index) and weight. I also  exercised using my WII fit Plus program. Later this morning, I will load my Fisher & Paykel dishwasher. Right now I am using my computer to write my blog. I own a TV that connects directly to UTube videos where you can educate yourself on just about anything. I have Foxtel and watch it on a 62" rear projection TV. I enjoy watching the old black and white movies which are fun to watch as they are crystal clear due to special software that upscales them to 1080p.

Back Row: Michael, Ross, Patrice (Trissie); 

Front Row: Jan (Jenny), Kaye, Bernie

When I was nine, we lived at Gatton, Australia. I remember getting up on a cold morning and sitting close to a wood stove to keep warm. My Mum used it daily to cook all our meals. She used a copper boiler to wash our clothes. She washed the dishes by hand. The house didn't have a hot water system so we boiled water to have a warm bath. We walked about 1km daily to school. We didn't watch much TV. I was one of six kids. We enjoyed ourselves playing in the yard. Dad made sure that we had a big yard to play in as he thought we were noisy inside. There wasn't a choice of toys. I remember it was fun back then too. Photo: Taken with one of the first Kodak instamatic camera-Kodak 100 instamatic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instamatic
To add to the bottom of this time period, torn up newspaper was toilet paper and our toilet was an outhouse in the back yard. This meant sometimes walking a few metres in the dark of night for relief.