My Babies

My job here has two parts; first I am working on the website, I'm not building the new one, don't have those skills, what I am doing is collecting, collating and at times writing the information for the new one. Then Lydia will make the actual new one. Second I am working in the garden, the Farmer/Gardener Larry and his wife Michelle have just gone to South Africa for 5 weeks so I am now in sole charge of the babies and the Green House.

Didn't manage to get to the Green House today so pictures of that will follow in a day or so. Today I do have got pictures of the nursery for you, it is in Michelle's office so I can sit at her desk and do my website work and look after the babies at the same time.

There are two racks with lights that are loaded with trays of 'starts' some of them are just starting to germinate, some of them are growing well. (They are actually in a straight line, against the wall, It is just the angle each pic was taken from that makes them look like they are at right angles.)

There are four main types;

1.  Various types of tomatoes
2.  Various types of egg plants
3.  Various types of peppers (called capsicums at home.)
4.  Various types of onions

Everyday except Friday and Sabbath I have to water them morning and night, with my great big 40 gallon (have no idea how much that is litre's) backpack pump spray bottle thing.

On Friday I bottom soak them to give them a good watering and then on Sabbath I get a day off. I have lots of careful instructions written out and been given lots of advice and people are popping in and out of the office and 'taking an interest'.

I go to the green house (which is not actually green) on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and check and water the plants, do any harvesting if it is needed and generally make sure everything is ok.

Now those of you who know about my gardening skills are probably laughing their heads of right now, and to be perfectly honest I would probably be more comfortable if they were real babies - at least I would have more of an idea of what to do with them. (And yes I know that those of you who know the depths (or shallows) of my baby skills are laughing even harder now ... so that just tells you about my plant skills!!)

However these are flourishing as the pictures show. And I am very happy to acknowledge that it is by God's grace and power that this is so because it certainly is not from me!! These are probably the most prayed for plants in the entire history of the world. Feel free to pray for my plants too please! The represent the first spring harvest for all the people who live and work here.

Stowaway....

I received a Care Box from a friend a couple of weeks ago, she sent me some clothes to wear in the garden, and a 'lender camera' for me to use until my cords and battery charger arrives from Oz, some REALLY good moisturizer so now I look 10 years younger than my real age again. (Does it make me very vain that I enjoy the fact that people often think I'm only 28ish?) In the box was a bunch of other stuff, some of which was surprising (thanks Alex) all of which was appreciated!!

So there I am unpacking my box of surprises and guess who comes struggling out of the bottom??

She tells me her name is Goldie. She pushed her way up out of the box and paused to wave!

The wave was followed by a tumble onto my bed...

It took her a while to find her 'out of box' legs,

I think the long trip weakened her muscles, or perhaps she is just very young.

She poked her nose out of the door, sniffed and decided it was much to cold. Where upon she made herself a bed on a spare pillow in the wardrobe and settled down to wait for spring.

I am trying to tempt her out to play in the snow, I'll show you the pics if I succeed!

Until then she is looking down on everything I am doing with a bemused expression - I'm sure she is finding it an education!

PS Tomorrow night I will post pictures of the 'Babies' and the Green House, And I will tell you what my job entails.

Thoughts on Faith

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You Lucky People, haha, today I have been very busy and am going to bed instead of composing a epistle about my day. However I know that Lisa checks my Blog everyday, so, so as not to disappoint and deprive her of her vicarious life I am posting a teeny tiny portion of one of the assignments I wrote last year. (I got a High Distinction for the whole assignment, by the way! Yes I am Boasting!!)

1.  What in essence is religious faith?

Faith is defined in many ways, for example, Gillespie (1988) and Rasi (1998) suggests that among other things faith is: a set of beliefs, a source or consequence of action, an object, a commitment, an experience, a relationship and a gift.

My personal definition is that ‘faith is the belief that an object will live up to its claims and therefore one can act on this belief with the full assurance that those actions will be successful.’ 

There are two corollaries to this definition, to have faith in an object it is necessary to:

1.    know what claims are made by the object

2.    to test or act on those claims to see if the object is faithful.

Therefore the core around which the faith is constructed is the object in which faith is placed. As Gillespie (1988, p. 24) states “the trustworthiness of the faith object is more significant than the actual experience of faith. The actual presence of faith and its concomitant surety is directly related to the object in which we have faith.” Because, as the object proves itself to be faithful the faith placed in the object increases, conversely if the object proves itself to be faithless the faith placed in the object decreases.

From this we can see that the core of religious faith is the god on whom the religion focuses.  This leads to the understanding that the core of Christian faith is Jesus Christ.

To increase one’s faith in Jesus one therefore needs to do two things:

1.    increase one’s knowledge of Jesus, who He is, what He claimed about Himself, what He has promised, and

2.    to test or act on this knowledge to experience the faithfulness of Jesus.

Given the above discussion it is not surprising that there are so many definitions for faith, as it can be viewed as:

1. a set of beliefs about Christ, His claims, promises, teachings and actions
2. a source of action, because we act, based on the faith that has already been developed
3. a consequence of action, because faith increases when Christ again proves Himself to be faithful
4. an object in that faith is something the individual ‘owns’ or possesses
5. a commitment to a set of beliefs regarding Jesus and His history of dealings with mankind
6. an experience of ‘walking’ by faith, that is testing and acting on the individuals beliefs
7. a relationship with Christ
8. a gift that we receive in the person of Christ ‘the author and finisher of our faith.’ ("The Holy Bible (NASV)," p. Hebrews 12:12)

The Last Proposal

I was thinking that since yesterday I posted my thoughts about singleness today I would tell the story of the last time I was Proposed to. Don't worry I'm not breaking any confidence, this was seriously strange.

It was a summery Sabbath afternoon in Auckland, I was up for the weekend to attend a seminar at Papatoetoe Church. I arrived at the church about ten minutes early and got to greet the presenter who was an old friend I hadn't seen for a year or two and then choose a table, staking out a place for another friend who was joining me. So their I am settling down, laying out the pens in a tidy line, heading up my notebook and generally getting ready.

This guy in a grubby hawaiian shirt comes in and sits down next to me, I make nice "Hi I'm Cat, how are you? etc, etc, etc." We chat briefly and then my friend arrives and I turn my attention to her. While she and I are talking, because we haven't seen each other for a few months either, this guy is scrabbling around in his wallet, he finds a scrap of paper and starts writing on it. I didn't pay him much attention because the friend was much more interesting. Abruptly he shoves the bit of paper towards me, stands up and moves to another table where he is sitting directly in front of the speaker with his back to him and starts talking to the people at that table and handing out flyers. The speaker stopped talking turns to this guy and says 'Excuse me this is my meeting, go back to the table you were at please.' So the guy comes back to sit at my table, stays for all of 30 seconds and then walks out of the meeting.

When I looked at the note he had passed me it said, "Hi my name is Matthew, I live on Waiheke Island and I'm looking for a wife, ring me... and there was a phone number."

To say I was flabbergasted would be an understatement!

Thoughts On Singleness

So I think being thirty eight and a half years old and still unmarried qualifies me to have thoughts on singleness!!! (Does that surprise anyone? To find out I’m so old?? Today I managed to shock someone – a girl I’ve met over here, seen her almost every day for a month – she is 30, she thought she was older than me! So nice for the Ego!!!)

Post your comments, I’m going to send this off and see if I can get it, or a near approximation of it, published. Any constructive criticism you have will be appreciated.

By the way – was interesting to see that the people who commented on my question about ranking the Ten Commandments ended up where I did with regards to covetousness, thanks Melanie for leading that portion of the discussion, and thanks to all the others who joined in, always amazes me how my friends who have never meet each other will quiet happily talk to each other – lets me know I choose good friends!

Thoughts On Singleness

When I was young I almost unconsciously would rank the Ten Commandments in order of importance, yes I knew they were all important and that to break one was the same as breaking them all, but somewhere I got the idea that some were more important than others. At the top of my rating scale was number four: ‘Remember the seventh day to keep it holy...’ Probably because this was emphasised so much by church, school and home. At the very bottom of my list was number 10: ‘thou shalt not covet...’ I used to wonder ‘What is wrong with wanting things??’ ‘Wanting things is how we get ahead, how we grow, how we improve, as long as we are not taking what belongs to other people how can wanting thing be wrong??’

As I grew older I came to realise that this is actually the most important of the commandments because keeping this one protects us from breaking all the others. Think it through;

•           If you steal – you first coveted the object
•           If you commit adultery – you first coveted the person
•           If you kill – you first coveted a world without that person in it
•           If you break the Sabbath – you first coveted that time for yourself
•           If you take Gods name in vain – you first coveted your own pleasure above God’s good name and so ruined His reputation a little more.

And the list continues, for every broken commandment there is something that was coveted first, something we want that we think we don’t have.  James said it very concisely when he said “... each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15)

I think God included ‘Thou shalt not covet’ in the Ten Commandments in for three reasons;

1.       Keeping it stops us from breaking the other 9.

2.       Keeping it protects us from a lot of unhappiness caused by wanting things we don’t/can’t have.

3.       Wanting things pushes us to act on our own to get those things. This means that even with good things we are grasping them by our own hand rather than waiting on God to provide.

Now at this point I am guessing that some of you are thinking, ‘well that’s very interesting – but what does it have to do with singleness?’ So let me make my case ...

I am single. Would I like to be married? Yes, if it is the right person ... I long ago made my peace with God that I only wanted to marry the person He chooses for me, at the time and place of His choosing. Am I happy? Most of the time I would answer a resounding ‘Yes’ to that question. I have so much more freedom than my married friends, if I want to blow my whole pay cheque on a new dress and shoes I can, without having to justify my actions to anyone. I can line all the cans up in the cupboard just so and know that they will not be mussed, or stay up to three o’clock in the morning to finish that oh so riveting book because I know the only person I have to deal with on the morrow is myself.  And yet I am also unhappy at times, and the root of this unhappiness is covetousness. I covet a state of being that God has not yet brought into my life. There is nothing wrong with the state of marriage, indeed the Bible says ‘He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the LORD.’ (Proverbs 18:22) However my covetous attitude causes me to be unhappy.

When the car breaks down, or there is another big ugly scary spider to be dealt with, it would be so nice to have a man around. I see an old couple walking down the road holding hands, So Cute, and I envy their shared history and wonder when God is going to allow me to experience that part of life’s journey. I meet a new single man and begin to wonder ‘Is he The One...’

I am learning that the opposite of covetousness is contentment. Paul said ‘I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12-13) Contentment is breed from trust. Trust that God will protect my heart. Trust that God knows what is best for my life, for growing my character. Trust that God will do what is best to reveal His glory in me. Trust that God fills the role of husband, protector, provider and companion in my life.  Proverbs 19:23 puts it this way ‘The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.’ When trouble comes, and it will, it will not affect me because I will be content in that situation too.

I am learning not to covert a life stage that is not yet mine and instead to say ‘in singleness or marriage, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, I am content in the Lord.’

Unexpected Surprise

Hahaha - so the title is redundant, I'm off to a good start tonight. Wait till you hear the topic, hehehe!!

Yesterday I went to town with a couple of friends, we did the rounds of the second hand shops as one of them was looking for a bookcase for her new flat. I virtuously did not buy anything, even the VERY cool lamp stand I saw. (I't not like I can fit it in my suitcase to bring home - but I was tempted to try...)

After that we went to a supermarket - they are not that different to NZ or Oz supermarkets and while wandering around avoiding the lure of the chocolate aisle I bumped into an old friend - something I had totally not expected to find in America, something I missed immensely while in Oz and something I like better than chocolate!!!

Orange flavoured prunes! They are sweet and yummy and squishy in your mouth and you have to exercise self control and limit yourself to no more than 4 in a day. (And, they are good for you - in moderation.)

The first time I discovered these they were both unexpected and surprising, lol. It was years ago in PN, I was wandering around the supermarket looking at all the new products, as you do ... (as I do anyway) ... and saw them, thought "they look interesting," so I threw them in the cart. When I got home I tried them, discovered I liked them immensely and proceeded to devour half the packet. Unfortunately I had totally forgotten prunes fabled effects ... in due course my stomach began to rumble and ... I'll leave the rest to your imagination, but I will say the next few hours were not pleasant. It wasn't till 2 days later that I finally figured out I had done it to myself! How sad is that??

Yesterday I brought 2 packets - which will be rationed with caution and much enjoyment!

Thoughts on Psalms 17:7

Psalms 17:7
Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.


I was reading this passage this morning and thinking 'but I don't have any foes and no enemies either, everybody loves me - or at least if they don't they have never told me... lol.) Jesus told us in Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Well no one is persecuting me, does that mean I'm not righteous? 


So I was wondering how these verses and others like them apply to me and I was reminded that there are more things in the world than people. I do indeed have a deadly foe, Satan who wants to see me dead, lost and burned. He persecutes me daily with temptations!!! Sometimes I overcome them in Christs power sometimes I try to meet them in my own power and fail spectacularly.


How does Psalms 17:7 apply to me? It promises that God will 'show the wonder of [His] great love, [He will] save by [His] right hand those [me] who take refuge in [Him] from their [my] foes [Satan and his temptations].

Writing Stuff and a Question

Hi Ya All, 


Imagine me saying that with an American accent ... cause I know when I get home you will all be saying "you sound American" and I will totally disbelieve you because I happen to know I lived in Australia for 5 and a half years and never started to sound like an Ozzy!!


So today I want to talk about writing; I restarted the novel today, I am sure you will all be delighted to know this, my aim is to write 1000 words a day and yes I will post more snippets, occasionally. Am writing the Jesus part cause I realised that the reason I have been having problems up to now is that I have been trying to write around the hole He leaves in the story, figured if I wrote Him in now then the rest should weave together more easily. 


I have also started writing an article that I am going to send into the Adventist Review - why not try my luck - It is called 'My Thoughts On Singleness' and I will be posting it in the few days here for some critical feedback before I send it in, (But Mum you are NOT ALLOWED to comment, either on FB, here or in words!!) - don't think that I have such a wide readership that posting here will spoil my chances of publication. LOL. Any way to aid me in my new career of article writing I have a question, which may seem strange but when you read the article you will see how it fits.


But first the background; I used to rank the ten commandments in order of importance, yes I knew we had to obey them all but I still thought some were more important than others, The Sabbath one was totally at the top because we emphasis it so much as Adventists I guess, and YES, I have grown up a bit and don't rank them now. So what I want to know is;


If you were to rank the 10 commandments in order of importance, which one would be at the top? and, which one would be at the bottom? (to be perfectly honest I am most interested in your bottom ranking.


To help you answer this question, here they are, direct from Exodus 20;


1.    ³Thou shalt have no other gods before me.


2.  ⁴Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; ⁶And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.



3.  ⁷Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.


4.  ⁸Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: ¹⁰But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:  ¹¹For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.


5.  ¹²Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.


6.  ¹³Thou shalt not kill.


7.  ¹⁴Thou shalt not commit adultery.


8.  ¹⁵Thou shalt not steal.


9.  ¹⁶Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.


10. ¹⁷Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.


Cheers for Tonight


CatKween


PS Remember I expect lots of feedback!! 


PPS Anyone in NZ if you are feeling charitable, contact me for my address and send me Marmite PLEASE.....

Generous...

Something that amazes me here is how generous people are with their talents. We had a mini concert last night and heaps of people participated, even if they had only been learning for a few months they got up and did an item on their instrument, we had singing that was not quite on key, harmonies that didn't quite match, items where people forgot the words or lost their place in the music but they just picked up where they ran into difficulties and kept going. Was a really nice evening and everybody, participants and observers, enjoyed it to the max. 


At home we are not willing to get up unless we know we will be perfect and just about professional in quality....


Yes I can here you girls asking THAT question... maybe I will...

Stars

Another interesting thing;
The stars are all upside down, Orion is lying on the wrong side, there is no Southern Cross or false cross and all of the other constellations I know are in the wrong place. But the thing that disappoints is that they are so faded. I thought that being in the middle of nowhere they would be really bright, but no they are not - guess I was spoiled at LAC, going out into the backyard at night was glorious - like looking at Heaven through a black velvet cloth that was full of holes. The night skies were spectacular, crisp and blaring. Here they are like old faded maiden aunts that sit quietly in the corner doing tapestry - almost unnoticeable.

The Yummiest Dressing Ever

I'm not normally a fan of salad dressings however this one is to die for!!! Plus it is healthy so you won't actually die  ;-)

Garlic Feta Dressing: 

But really tofu not feta cause is vegan...

Crumble 8 oz. water pack tofu into a bowl and sprinkle with:

2 tsp salt

1Tbsp garlic powder

1Tbsp lemon juice

Marinate several hours.

Place in blender:

1 cup cashews (raw)

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp chopped onion

1/2 tsp pineapple juice concentrate

1 Tbsp potato flour (opt)

1 tsp nutritional yeast

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 1/4 cup water

Blend until very smooth.  Pour over tofu and gently stir.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Good on baked potatoes and bread as well as salad.

GO, make, enjoy!

And...

I went blog surfing earlier looking at random peoples blogs and found this:

I solemnly promise not to do so many weights that I end up looking like that!!!!!

My Life as an Inmate at a Health Retreat

Thank you for the feedback - nice to know your out there ...  imagine Twilight Zone music - actually don't! That's too freaky and I never liked that program anyway! Imagine just about any other music instead ... except Jaws, or The Sound of Music because they don't quite go with the 'out there' idea. The theme song from The Micky Mouse Club doesn't really work either ... Gilligan's Island would be good ...


So as promised here it is a description of the mundanities of 'My Life as an Inmate in a Health Retreat.'


5:00 am - Alarm Tunes starts up on my ipod and I lie there listening to pleasant music that lulls me back to sleep ...


6:58 am - Oh No, breakfast is in 2 mins and I'm still in bed


LOL that is not really my day! However, I have gone back to pretending to be a morning person - sort of required because breakfast is really at 7am and I have to walk 1/4km down a hill to the dining Hall. Plus, I'm just a nicer person if I get up several hours before I have to talk to anybody.


5:00am Alarm Tunes starts up on my ipod and I get out of bed and do my devotionals, am trying to study the Sanctuary but I think I am missing something by being too pedantic ..... got to think on this some more but there has to be a better way to study this.


6:00am Do all the getting ready for the day and making the room presentable stuff.


7:00am Breakfast - at the bottom of the hill in the dinning room, so I swathe myself in hat (red), coat (purple (building up to a purple dress and red hat, re Jenny Joseph)), gloves (black) and scarf (either plain blue weave for 'very cold' mornings or pretty crochette blue with pink roses and lots of holes for 'just cold' mornings) and venture out into the crisp promise of a new day.


Breakfast is big! First a bowl of beans, followed by hot cereal and fruit, most people add toast as a chaser and they also have muffins, waffles or pancakes on a fairly regular basis. And great big plates of each, find it difficult to believe how much I am eating. All seriously healthy, whole grain flour, vegan, lightly seasoned but still very tasty. (Mostly, there have been a few things I have discreetly disposed of after one bite!!)


After breakfast is Staff Worship where everybody who can gathers to invite God to be part of the day. I then have a choice, I can go work back in my room or I can work in Richards office. Generally I decide based on 1. Do I need to print anything? 2. Do I want to work without interruptions? Richards office supplies printing and interruptions, My room supplies peace and quiet.


Either way I work until 1:45pm when it is Lunch/Dinner/Tea/The-Final-Meal-Of-The-Day time. Except on Tuesday's and Thursdays (also Sunday's but I don't work then) I take a break between 9:30am and 10:30am and go and do my workout in the Fitness Center, I've already described the heaving of piles of cold metal that this entails in a previous post so I won't go into that again. 


Lunch/Dinner/Tea/The-Final-Meal-Of-The-Day is a lighter meal that Breakfast, it starts with salad, then there will be veggies and some kind of savory - again, big servings. Yes all  those of you who are gasping in horror, only two meals a day!! Not so bad actually, don't feel hungry and the idea is that by eating your final meal so early you have time to digest it completely before you go to bed which is better for your body and your waistline. 


After Lunch/Dinner/Tea/The-Final-Meal-Of-The-Day I have a walk, but I skipped today and yesterday cause it was around -17C and the mucus inside my nostrils froze which is a novel not entirely pleasant sensation. The walks are progressively getting longer, am up to about 3 miles now, note that miles are almost twice as long as Km's.


My days are very flexible, so I am having the opportunity to go to lectures with the guests, I decided to go to one set of lectures each month, this month I'm attending the ones on exercise, next will be the ones on Stress!


After my walk I do as much work as is required to make sure that my 6 hours for the day is complete and then my time is my own; to write my book, finish assignments, surf facebook or write my blog to you lovely folk. Up until now I have mostly been using it to finish assignments and have sent off three since I have been here. Only one to go and it will be finished and emailed by Sunday.


8:00pm is officially my self appointed bed time which means I actually get there by 9:00pm and get the requisite 8 hours sleep so that I do not turn in to a pumpkin at any time in the next day.


What I actually do for my work will have to wait for another day when I will delight, or possibly bore, you with the details of gardening and web-design. (All you people who are sniggerring about my gardening talents ... I am learning new and marvelous things! And, as of yet nothing has died from my loving ministrations.)

Feedback, the Super Bowl and Buttons

So all you people out there reading my blog, whether that is on Facebook or Blogger I need you to let me know you are reading or else I just might peter (spelling?? that can't be right...) out and stop blogging. So start clicking 'like', correcting my spelling, or writing 'I was here' or 'readdit' or some such other inanity!!!! Yes that is a threat!!!!  LOL

So what to tell you, I know for ages I have been promising a description of 'A Day in the Life of an Inmate at a Healthy Retreat' will do tomorrow - maybe, if you are all good people and give me feedback today....

Yesterday I had two skiing experiences and wasn't even wearing ski's. For some reason yesterday was a clumsy day, started out wrenching a button off my coat, then I knocked my water bottle over and poured half a litre of water all over the carpet in my room, then I slid over going down the hill to breakfast - skied down the hill on my knees, then when I got to breakfast I spilled it down my front - twice! Then... yes it continues all sorts of little incidences of fumble fingers/feet/elbows/knees/forehead/etc that finally culminated in a spectacular face-plant as I 'skied' down the hill to lunch. Thankfully nobody saw me and nothing was hurt except my pride. (And I'd already dealt my pride a blow by standing out in the snow in the full view of everybody taking pictures of my arms to get photo's of snowflakes that look like the ones on Christmas cards, which I will upload next time I see Lydia with her computer.)

After the face plant apparently used up my quota of clumsiness I proceeded to have an uneventful afternoon and did not injure myself or anything else for the rest of the day - a pleasant occurrence that has continued into today as well!

Last night a friend took me out to see the Super bowl on TV at another friends house, her argument being that   while in America I should experience American culture! First quarter was a blur of bodies milling around with occasional bursts of running and knocking each other over that made absolutely no sense at all. But once I figured out that the 'quarterback' is really a dummy half who is allowed to hang onto the ball, and that there wasn't going to be any rucks or line outs and I figured out what the moving blue and orange line on the TV screen meant it all started to make sense. Basically seems to be very simplified rugby with everybody wearing armour and doing a lot of posing... LOL. Rugby is a better game to watch - faster, not so much standing around etc. However for the only game of American Football I'm ever going to watch it was a good one, real cliffhanger, no idea who was going to win until the last 3 mins. And then the Underdogs pulled it out of the bag and won by two touchdowns.

Now I have to finish this up, got to go sew that button back on my coat!

A Snippet From THE BOOK

Around the 9th hour she was idly watching a man make his way through the crowd toward John, another petitioner wanting to be made clean she surmised. He was on the tall side of average, muscular, a laborer of some description she guessed, his skin showed the leathery tan of someone who had spent much time in the out of doors, fairly plain features, nothing really that set him apart from any other man that she had meet. And yet she could not take her eyes off him, something about the way he carried himself, an assurance that most men, and women, lacked. It was if he wore the world lightly like a cloak rather than the other way around which was the habit of everybody else she knew. Curious she watched as he approached John, John seemed as startled by the man as she was, she glanced sideways, most people were too busy with their own business to notice just another man coming to be baptized. They were more interested in who was watching them, in displaying their own righteousness to the crowd than in the drama being played out on the lake shore.

And drama it was, John had fallen to his knees in front of the man, she was close enough to read their lips a useful skill she had acquired early on in her career.

“Master” John was saying, “Why do you come to me for baptism?” The stranger replied something she could not read as his back was slightly to her. “But Master, I am not worthy, I am just a foot soldier, announcing the way,” the stranger lent down placed his hand on John’s shoulder,

“John” he was turned towards her now, she could see his eyes they were approving, as if a king was commending a subject. That was it, his bearing, it was kingly, dignified, free, more so than any king or chieftain she had meet in her three years in the heart of the Quilkyn’s empire. He continued to speak “John, it is needed to fulfill prophecy, baptize me.”

And then the man walked placidly out into the water, John jumped up and followed him closely, putting his arms around the man he gently almost reverently lowered him into the water, and the water rose, lovingly it seemed to her, embracing the man, the last portion of him to disappear under the surface was his face and the water rushed in to cover it as if engulfing him in a kiss. she laughed at her whimsy and then sighed, as he came up out of the water again the clouds parted a shaft of sunlight speared the man making the beads of water in his hair glisten like a crown and she could have sworn a dove settled on him, but then it was gone and she could see no birds flying in the sky. What manner of man was this that nature paid homage too? She watched as he walked out of the water, he wended his way through the crowds, still oblivious to the drama played out below, and disappeared from her sight. She felt bereft as if she had lost something important but privileged also as if she had been witness to a coronation.

Glancing around she saw a few other people shake their heads. As if emerging from a trance, they were looking around with expressions on their faces that matched the lost feeling she felt. How in this great crowd, she wondered, could so few have realised that something special had been played out before them. John himself seemed stunned. He walked out of the water shook himself, rubbed his head and then lifting an arm, as if to hail the man, he shouted “behold the Lamb of the Great Lord that takes away the sin of the world.” She had no idea what he meant, yes she recognized the words they were from the Book of Shem, words traditionally shouted as a lamb was presented to the priests for sacrifice but that was a man, not a lamb. Forehead wrinkled she watched as John turned his back on the crowd and disappeared with his followers.

My Little Home

A new friend came by this afternoon with her computer which has a slot for an SD card so I took the opportunity to take and download photos of my home. (Thanks Lydia, now you all say 'Thanks Lydia,' too!)

Coming in the front door you see this delightful studio apartment, normally not with 2 computers on the coffee table or the bag by the couch - I've become very tidy, must be due to having only what can fit in two suitcases and lots of draws, as you will soon see.

Turn right and look back over your shoulder and there is this sweet little desk with gorgeous lattice work on the sides, where my laptop is normally to be found, and a comfy blue chair. Blue is my favourite colour but this is a bit too blue even for me.

Notice the big black boots? $33! Amazing! They've got wool inside all the way up, waterproof, non slip and even look nice. Except for having to get a size 10 so that I could get my short wide feet into them - I look like a hobbit, but my warm dry toes have lots of wriggle room.

Now, look forward and right, note the tenny tiny kitchenette? Microwave, hotplate, sink and a fridge. Cupboards supplied with most things a girl could want in a kitchen - if she's not actually planning to cook anything. Since I'm not going to be doing much/any cooking this suits me very nicely. (Dinner set, glasses, cutlery, a pot, a frypan and a steamer, a few other odd orphan cooking implements and LOTS of sharp knives.)

Swing left and you will see my bed, with pretty floral bedspread, don't normally go for florals but these are very nice. I sleep in the one that doesn't have books all over it!

Through that door is my walk in wardrobe, which is bigger than my whole room when I was at college (I might be exaggerating here, but only by the smallest amount!) The hanging space is double the distance in the picture past the edge of the door frame - can't see it because of the angle. And, there is twice the draw space - angle again.

Opposite the wardrobe is the bathroom there is a sink/vanity area but the angle monster stole it out of the picture. Notice weird toilet seat? No idea why it has that gap in the front....

The storage room; between the wardrobe and the bathroom. My bags look lonely.

Turning back to the front you can have the reverse long view. That's Lydia's head - remember all to say 'Thank You'.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the views out the various windows.