All Age Service

We try to have two of these a year, a Sunday when Children's Church and Beginners Church goes the whole distance with the adults and are the main focus. Where possible we try to give the kids responsibilities of leading in some way. The principle behind this is that children have much to teach us. The underlying theology is that God will speak through our children and teach us about things we often overlook, if we just allow for those opportunities. The picture above shows Beginners Church (3 year old to grade Prep) preparing for a song.

Church will be messy if we add kids to the mix... and fun too. Here we are letting our written prayers travel off into the white cloudy yonder. The helium balloons did OK considering how wet it was outside.

Mya's Baptism

We had the privilege of attending a baby's baptism with our Vietnamese friends who arrived in Australia nearly 30 years ago now. Mya was the newest grandchild of Mo and Ha. Their third daughter Thui is Mya's mother. In the picture above, Thui's husband Michael is holding Mya. Beside Michael is Mo and Ha's fifth daughter Rosemary and Thui is beside her (not as tall as Rosemary). The priest did a wonderful job involving the children in the celebration. Mya was 'crossed' with oil by as many people who were willing to come out to do it.

And of course the kids who were already out the front all had a turn making the oiled sign of the cross on Mya's forehead. Mya was literally glistening by the end. It was a very special occasion to share. We are glad for Thui and Michael. May God bless and nurture this young family.

Coffees with Dan

We do our catch-ups with Dan at the Centreview Cafe in Greensborough Plaza. Lately we have been doing it a couple of times a week because Dan is between jobs. He is starting again at a place called Shuga where he has worked before. We can be glad that prayers about this have been graciously answered by God. Dan feels blessed.

Greensborough Plaza allowes sunlight into the space as most of them do. This place has a strong roof feature covering a generous 'well' space giving light to all three floors making it fairly unique.

Afterward we often drive Dan back to his home so that we can continue our chat just a bit more. While he is living close we will take these opportunities while we have them.

Spirit Coffee

We don't normally buy take away coffee. This time we went to Seven Seeds near Melbourne Uni and found all seats taken. That's the trouble with really popular coffee joints. So displaying great lateral thinking, we had our coffee across the road in the car. These are times for us to chill out and work through issues or projects that are in front of us and in that sense our conversations are spirit led. The idea of the spirit was brought home by the condensation on the windscreen.

Family Farewell

It has been over a week since Michelle and Alyce left us but we have been way too busy to post a blog on it. So it comes now between other things to be done. It was a Sunday afternoon. Dan arrived early and made himself at home. He started a chai tea for the rest of us and that set a good tone. We then had a hour and a bit to say our good-byes. It was a relaxed time and before it ended we had made it out to the front yard for a couple of family 'snaps'. This one worked OK. Michelle and Alyce then flew to Townsville and we have heard that they liked Magnetic Island so much that they visited it twice in the time they were there. It is surely a magic island. If you visit Townsville you just have to visit Magnetic. It is a piece of God's paradise fragmented away from Eden when the continental drifts started. We will return...

For Every Window

There is a different glow for every window

Flashy arrows shoot through our panes

Refracted rays from within and without

Transparent gains of having such frames

Such as these in a wall tall and dark

House eyes that open with curtains that fall

Scraping floor and skirt weighted down

Drawn to allow separate worlds to meet

Ridges between two spheres entreat

Blocking cold wind and rain sleet and snow

More than we might need to know

Sparking and trickling and that's not all

There is to show about letting God call

New things aglow for every window

Launceston

Our one shared excursion together was the drive with Donna and her son Dave to Launceston. We had to restrict our time there to the area of the Cataract Gorge and even then we did not walk very far along the path. Maybe we'll give it a better go next time we visit. We had to be happy with just snippets of the experience in order to share a nice meal together by the river edge.

Everywhere one looked was a view of something in an unlikely context. As for the houses lined up infront of the sharp rise of rock, they look pretty odd with that sort of backdrop. Nearby to this row houses was an old tram track but it did not seem to have been used for some time. Launceston may have once had trams.

Anyway, enough of this ramble. It was a nice trip to Tazzi and the entries below are blogs that attempt to share a bit of that.

Games and Cake at Table

The table was used for many things. Firstly, Peter spent time there working on his last essay. We ate there of course. We had pieces of Madonna's Orange Cake. They were taste sensations, enough to return to Tazzi on the strength of that alone. And then there were the games we played. One night it was Man Bites Dog - a very funny newspaper heading game. But Barb found a game in Reliqware called Smart Ass. We played about three rounds of this game in one sitting! Though it helped to have some general knowledge of everything, it was possible to keep up with the brainy people and not know that much. It was a really fun game and gave us lots of laughs. Now that's another good reason to visit John and Madonna - to play that game with them.

Good wine, fine food, caring family fellowship... with the odd rabbit rubbing past your socks. It all happens at the table.

New Chooks

While we were there, three new laying hens arrived for John and Madonna. The fellow who brought them promotes traditional breeds and talked passionately about how the hybrid chooks will only lay for a few years and that was it. Jibbed! It is good that there is a move back to caring for and preserving the good stuff of the past. Madonna is pleased as punch as she watched the new chooks settling in.

Neverland Revisited

John and Madonna live in an old house surrounded by very established plant growth. So much so that the place has a "Neverland" air about it. Peter calls it that. The spaces caused by the overgrowth of the undergrowth can leave you spellbound. Real Peter Pan stuff. A little bit of misty rain enhances it further making the place even sticker and drippier in heavy green layers through the shadows. Nice, with an Australian autumn touch.

And who is this coming up from feeing the chooks? Ah yes. Caught in the act. Hi. Not the only human in Neverland.

Baby Rabbits

Donna seems to always have rabbits about the place. These are the babies - about six weeks old - and the mum and dad rabbit are in hutches outside. On and off the parent rabbits are allowed out of their separate enclosures for a graze - not at the same time. The babies have the run of the kitchen when allowed out but not outside. Every rabbit has a place - even found to be trying to advise Donna which card to use.

Reliqware Visit

We have been here once before last time we visited Tazzi, but it seems to be a place to visit each time. It is situated in the town of Latrobe. We are not allowed to take any photos there so these were taken from the street looking in. Surely that was permitted. It is a place that has just about every conceivable thing in the areas of dolls, brassware and educational games and projects. There is a fair bit of everything else as well... even coffee! But there was something they should have but did not. Peter found they did not have an abacus. Yes, there were chilren's versions there but not the more serious types of the age old calculator. So Peter is resigned to making one instead. Maybe he could make a number of them and supply them to an interested Reliqware.
Below is something that Donna's son David made, just from blu-tac. It is placed in this blog because it is the sort of thing that might also be found in Reliqware. David could supply them with some. He has a talent for creating organic 3D forms and we have encouraged him to work at this in more permanent medium than blu-tac while he searches for work elsewhere. It is hard to find work in Tasmania and this direction could go places.

Tying Up in Tasmania

We took the ship. This is always more costly but it does allow us to pack the car with whatever and if we find something big and heavy to bring back we can without worring about "excess baggage". The crossing lasted from 7.30 pm to 6 am - just a little bit too short for a proper sleep Peter thinks considering he did not get to sleep till about 1 am. It was a little hard clearing our cabin and getting back to our car to be ready to drive out with all the other vehicles... and it was still dark outside. But it is a memorable experience. The above picture is our ship tied up during the day, taken from John and Donna's street... pretty close.

Barb really appreciated time with her sister. Thank you Madonna for our coffee times. Latrobe and Launceston both.

John and Madonna showed us their land they purchased close to Latrobe. It has so much potential - about two acres of fairly flat land at the top of a rise with reasonable road access. They have since purchased another place near to where they live so they might put building on hold here for quite some time.

St. Kilda Romp

Peter, Dan, Michelle and Alyce linked up with Gord at a St. Kilda restaurant, the Vinyard. Gord knew Adrian the owner. Adrian was in and was able to turn some of the tables into a nice place to relax in and we settled in for an enjoyable time.

Afterward, Gord showed us where he works and then took us up a flight of steps to the roof balcony to see his view of Melbourne from St. Kilda. It was a cool night after a bit of rain. Gord continued on with some work there and Peter took Dan, Michelle and Alyce to Crown Casino and drove on home to get some sleep.

Dan, Michelle and Alyce managed to get back after 3 am by cab having survived Crown still with money in their pockets. That's a blessing.

Yvette Fifty

Yvette recently reached the fifty year milestone and she celebrated the occasion in style in her boss's restaurant. There were actually two fifties happening there and ours was the smaller one. We were very glad to be able to share this moment with Yvette and her family as old friends. She is a very special person and had travelled a very hard journey.

So imagine a Lebanese celebration with really loud singing, a belly dancer, and strange food such as raw mince. The location was also memorable being the old street entrance to Melbourne's old Pentridge Jail now being converted into a housing estate.

Afterward, we were privileged to share in Yvette's gift opening. There was one pretty odd gift of a white vase (centre) that looks like something very random. Can't explain.