Funks in Winter

Now that school holidays have begun, we took the opportunity to both spend time with our Gembrook family (and the surrounds).  Our grandkids are truly fun to be with.  This time we came prepared with fabric craft (Barb) and woodcraft (Peter) so our time with them was not just bouncing on the tramp (even though that did happen and much fun was had doing it).  In the process we were able to mind the young ones for Bec and Gord to go watch a movie.  We feel blessed to have had such kind Winter days and to spend this way.

Committee Call

Brother souls hear my call

Men to gather one and all

Fire bright in the standing

Prayer and pipe in the handing

Lifting flames and the falling

Beating heart hear me calling

Sharing deep a new day dawning

Starry night fuggy morning

Manna on the Mount

Manna has to do with food that God supplied for the Israelites in the wilderness. The meaning of Mount has more to do with this edge of Melbourne, Mt Evelyn. Neatly tucked behind a larger dwelling sits an inconspicuous one bedroom retreat. We went there.

We were given a voucher to stay overnight at this place. Unfortunately, there is a good chance that through a change of ownership this retreat for couples won't serve in this way after August. Nonetheless, the vision is a good one and many couples over a six year period have stayed here soaking in the tranquility of the place. A lot of attention to detail within and without has made this place feel rich and inviting, like the welcoming music, chocolate with the tea set on the table, and the breakfast goodies in the fridge for cooking up in the morning. The presentation detail in the place is the vision that people can take away and emulate. The following snaps hopefully capture the ambiance of the place. We returned refreshed, glad that we went.

Blanket Dying

Barb is very pleased with this effort. The blanket was rolled up tightly round an assortment of gum tree leaves and gum nuts, and then boiled with purple cabbage for quite a time. The result was quite exciting. Natural dying of natural wool fibres is a bit hit and miss but with great rewards for perseverance. Pictures below shows closeups of this latest one.

Abigail Ten

Last Sunday we celebrated Abigail's tenth birthday at Azurea Cafe, a place we have been going to a lot lately. She would have another party with her peers the next day in her classroom at school, so this one was part of our usual Sunday outing. We gave Abigail some unusual gifts (such as a sound machine, a wooden laptop and a grunge bracelet) and Barb made a chocolate cake with solid chocolate over the top. Of special interest was the sparkler numbers which were hard to light, 'one' burning through before 'zero' got started. It was all fun though and Abigail loved the sound machine the most.