New Lounge Look

The old had to go. The new has come. For a few moments just for fun we all lounged on our old lounge outside on the nature strip. The next day the council came and took it all away. A few days later the delivery guy delivered the 'new look' below.

Wattlebird

We have had many visits from this folk due to the flowering gums in our yard. They don't seem be frightened when we come close. Nice.

Whittlesea Cars Plus

This latest woodcraft project got a little complicated for the time allotted and many students left their vehicles for the glue to set, after which Peter could deliver them directly. Otherwise, it went very well with about 23 little cars with seats being assembled wheels nailed and the remainder glued.

Investing in Gratitude

Gratitude does not seem to be a naturally occurring impulse. It has to be practiced from a young age to become a lifelong habit. Children develop an attitude of gratitude over time, and hopefully in a way that does not feel like an imposition. We want our children to express thanks with a totally authentic feeling supporting it. It does seem important to teach young children to say “Please” and then “Thank you” even before they appreciate the full meaning of these words. This is best done when parents back this teaching up by continuous example.

Children have to be helped to own their own feelings and still find ways to feel thankful. All emotions are valid so if children have had a bad day we must not lead them to make ‘rote gratitude’. We have an opportunity as parent/mentors to acknowledge a negative experience and still be grateful about something. Young children are used to receiving nurture in the form of food, housing and love. As they get older it is important that they find opportunities to contribute in return to understand thankfulness, and we must remember to thank and praise them when they show it. Developing daily gratitude rituals, at meal times and bed times will be good for starters. Some families use a gratitude box for messages of thanks. Giving to community, showing kindness to others will widen our children’s perspective and build a generous spirit. They will learn about volunteering, looking after the environment, making donations through gifting their resources and willingness to have a go. Parents, guardians and care-givers show every day the sacrifices they make towards nurturing the children in their care. Children will never be able to pay it back. All they can do is pay it forward, and pass on the gift of gratitude, appreciating the silver lining in every adversity they ever face.

After the success of the ‘Nun Study’ twenty years ago, gratitude is now a new field of research along with the study of emotions on physical health. The findings showed that gratefulness strongly enhances resilience in many areas of life. People who have a thankful attitude tend to have more healthy and lasting relationships and that includes those between employer and employee. Grateful people are less likely to envy others because they are more content with their situation. This allows for far more restful sleeps at night. Gratitude minimises a negative outlook and the need to revenge. Most importantly, the research showed that thankful people have improved physical health and greater resilience against disease.  

Being thankful is an important attribute to have in our community. Individuals with this trait contribute to the peace of society. They are protected from resentment and feelings of arrogance. Though this is not necessarily the case for everyone, people have increased gratitude because they believe in a Force greater than themselves. They are humbled by this knowledge. Whichever the case, we do recognise that we can’t do much alone and can’t take credit for most of the things around us that we delight in. Gratitude has to be our best and only response.

Garden Video

After a whole lot of work getting our garden sorted for the Summer season it seemed a nice idea to record how it looks at present before the inevitable explosion of growth, especially the pumpkin vines. It can be viewed here.

Whittlesea Houses

Woodcraft this week was houses and some furniture for inside. Most of the students quickly caught on and the little furniture extras to go with the houses were a great inclusion. This involved a lot of pieces for each kit. There were just twenty kits and any latecomers had to miss out. As it turned out it was almost the perfect number on the day.

Brisbane Visit

We did a very energetic feat last weekend by flying to Brisbane for three days. We packed in a lot, staying with Barb's Mum and celebrated a 60th and then a 70th. It was timely to physically touch base with close family after not being around them for a year and a half. We hired a car at the airport (red one) so it was all a bit of an indulgence, but worthy one. We learned to play "Joe". Brisbane is changing: more highrise units in places where Queenslander houses once were. That's a loss. On the final day (Sunday) we had a family reunion at the Lovewell Project Cafe at Mt. Gravatt lookout. It is a fairly new business overlooking a breath taking view of Brisbane. It was nice for most of Barb's siblings and their partners to all get together - quite a rare event.

A video of the moment

Open Gardens Excursion

This weekend, we had the pleasure of a perfect outing by visiting open gardens offered by members of the Upper Yarra Valley Garden Club. This was recommended by a good friend who was a member of the club. There were six open gardens available on route from Launching Place to East Warburton. We obtained helpful information from  Upper Yarra Valley Garden Club website and left armed with a printout of where to go complete with Melway locations. We paid $20 each for the circuit at the first stop. The following are some snaps we took along the way. We didn't always remember to take pictures. We learned a lot by chatting with the owners. We learned much about making our own garden look and work better than it is now. Great excursion idea. Great incentive to get our hands into the earth. Good grounding.

Our friend supplied us with the next four pictures of his garden, of some nice early morning shots. It is nice to add these as well.

Lastly, a woodcraft idea using fence pailings.