~ Simple Joys Saturday ~ #8

As so often happens, things don't turn out how we expect, and we have had to adapt because of Barry's cold. Still it has been a great time, enjoying relaxing by the fire here, and more time with daughter and grandaughter, and some chats on MSN that I would have missed out on. I've had time to mess around and find a new background on my site too.  I have not felt the cold, much to my surprise, it was minus 7C yesterday morning, and cool again this morning, but I just thought it was lovely and brisk..... would have been happy to do something. The sunshine is glorious, in the peace of a country homestead, only the sounds of the birds, and the leaves in the breeze if I listen hard.

So it has been a time of Simple Joys and relaxation.

Barry says he is well enough to drive and we leave the Blue Mountains tomorrow and drive through the scenery below to his brothers. And later to the historic town of Windsor where we were last week. I will catch the train in to see my son and D-I-Law.  On Saturday, if Barry is still sniffly, I will catch the train to Parramatta for the Reunion that was the excuse for this trip.

As I said on my Simple Joys introductory post for this week, No 8, this is the last time I can be sure of being online until we get home after the weekend.

I just found a Christian site with the invitation to share the quotes and contents. Here is one of them.

I invite dear friends and readers to share your Simple Joys.... click here for Mr Linky.
on the site "Simple Joys in our Life".

With love and blessings
Jan

This week for Simple Joys Saturday

As my friends know, we left home last Saturday and travelled for 11 hours, and it was a good trip. We felt great joy attending the Unveiling of a Plaque on Sunday.... see Simple Joys Saturday.  Monday we met up with Barry's son Garry, and had a good visit with him. 
Tuesday we went to a large new town nearby, but were not impressed..... all the parking available to us was 30 minutes, and we had to park about one kilometre away, though it was a blessing that it was free.

We bought a new jumper for Tilda, for the cold weather ahead.

Tuesday Evening we attended the Country Music Evening with new friends we met on Sunday.  It was the most hospitable group we have ever met, we were introduced to everyone.   Afterwards we went up the Blue Mountains to Barry's brother. He waited up for us even though it was after 11.30pm.  It is always good to see him.
Next morning it was so damp, but that keeps the temperature up, and I did pray for it to be mild while we are in the mountains.

Then it was a bright sunny day on Thursday, and we drove to daughters in the afternoon. Along the roadway we saw hundreds of crimson rosellas(pic from internet).

It is wonderful to have this few days with daughter, are so enjoying being with them. It is also great to get online and catch up a bit.

This is what I saw when I got up this morning, see the mist in the valley below my daughter's home, and hearing the chorus of native birds, such a joy.

To see more Simple Joys Saturday, and see friends posts, click here.

Love and Blessings,
Jan
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~ Simple Joys Saturday ~

This time of year is such a Blessing, to be able to sit in the warm glorious sun on the mornings we are not rushing out. Today, Saturday,  is such a day, all we have to do is get the groceries.  I have my new ugg slippers on, they are so deliciously warm. I would not have bothered getting new ones, except we are going to colder weather at the end of the month. I had my previous ones since the 1970s, so you can imagine they were in a bit of a state, and the sides have split.

So I just sat for a while, with a grateful heart, giving thanks.

As I look out over the garden, there are some new lilies out today, "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin" Matt 6:28 KJB.

 (pic from last time)

This is a lovely clip, beautiful singing voice and background.  What a joy to just decide we would like to hear a particular song, and with a couple of clicks, we have it on youtube. 

To see more of Simple Joys Saturday, click here. Love to see your post and comments.
Have a Blessed weekend. Hugs - Jan

~ Simple Joys Saturday ~

It is such a blessing this time of year to be able to enjoy an early morning sit in the sun, out of any pesky breeze that might be around the corner.  We are in Winter here, but our average winter day temperature is about 20C, and we rarely get a frost. Nine months of the year it is too warm to think of sitting in the sun.

It has been a lovely week, a bit quieter than some,  we got to tennis twice and it is so nice to be doing more things together.

Yesterday there was a two minute tornado at one of our closest beaches, Lennox head, and on the news nearly everyone whose house was destroyed or seriously damaged has a story of an amazing escape....... they weren't in their usual place for some reason or another.... no one was killed and only two people were injured by shards of glass and they are home from hospital already.  Lets hope they see God's hand in it and give thanks to Him for His Blessings.

And it is heart-warming to see one of our own doing well, an Australian is in the French Open Final. It is 30 years since an Australian woman won.

Have a great week, everyone, enjoying the Simple Joys that come our way.

For more Simple Joys Saturday, see here, do hope you will join in and post, and leave some comments for the contributors.  Do check that you post to No. 4.

~ Simple Joys Saturday ~ Trip down memory lane

We are so blessed to be able to decide we want to do something, then just go and do it. As mentioned I saw about a concert at Yamba on FB, and it turned out to be even more than I was expecting, if that is possible. We were later getting to Yamba than I thought, so I took less photos than I had in mind.

 We met up with Trysette at the venue, and she reminded me that she stayed with me in Sydney when she first left home. When an older brother(she is one of nine children) arrived I remembered he used to babysit my children. Her parents were there and we sat with them, so a lot of reminiscing, I first knew them in 1962 or 3.  The surprising thing is they now live just outside our country town, just minutes away.  We saw other people who we were close to at previous times in our life too, lots of hugs, so I'm sure you understand when I say it was exciting and a great blessing.   Oh..... I enjoyed the concert too...LOL

It was a small intimate concert in the style of a 'house concert' about 40 present and packed out, and was held in an old church that had been moved there from a  few streets away.  We attended there for a while when we lived aboard, so I was eager to see it too.

The next day as we drove home I phoned a friend P. in the city to the south of us, and we met her at the shopping centre for a couple of hours over lunch. She has smiled through the tragedies of life, including her only daughter developing muscular dystrophy (a boy's disease) the onset when she was in primary chool, when we were in Mother's club and our children in various activities together. V.  is so beautiful, but only able to breathe now with a wide tube in her mouth,  still she had a big smile and a few words with us before going off with her Carer.  It was so good to see them, as we seem to have missed each other a few times over recent years.

So in our simple way, this short time was one of those "it's as good as it gets" times.

The Gift of a Day
Lord of life....
this is the gift of a day
which You have made - 
I rejoice in it.
May all I think or say or do
throughout each moment of the day
be rooted and nourished 
by Your love.

The Lord will guide you always:
He will satisfy your needs. Is. 58:11 

Please join us for Simple Joys Saturday.

Photos: 
1. One of the five beaches at Yamba
2. Taken after I got back in our vehicle.
3. The old church relocated to the museum site.

Simple Joys Saturday

Do join me at Simple Joys Saturday with your Simple Joys, and  hopefully there will be some other posts to see and friends to meet up with.

This week I was Blessed  when I saw God's hand.  Some might remember I was excited and in contact with daughter to go to Sydney to stay and attend an event with her, to do with my First Fleeter ancestor. It was just an excuse to see her, and I only had a couple of days that I could be away. I checked she was available and willing and was on the point of booking the plane, then I didn't do it, I just went off it.

A few days later I got another invitation to attend a reunion of a church I attended in Sydney in the early 1980s, that disbanded a few years later.  And this time  we have about 12 days available and we can both go and drive down, and visit others as well....

My heart swelled with joy and I am just so excited that God knew what was happening and directed me to a better option.

When I was talking to daughter last night,  in the west of the Blue Mountains, she mentioned it is already cold, about -5C. We haven't ventured there at this time of year before.

I was so pleased with the reactions to Barry's singing this week, as in other weeks too. Still it was the first time that the staff asked where else we sing as they want to see us. The answer is that we only sing for Aged Care and for Seniors.  Today again, we were asked if we had CDs for sale.... no we haven't made any CDs.
As we don't have many photos, I got a staff member to take this yesterday morning.

Below I took in the afternoon at the next venue, to show our banners.

That's it, from the week of a simple retired couple in Australia!

For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.
Psalm 92:4 


Many Blessings for a happy weekend and coming week. 
Jan

I have been thinking for a while that I would like to start a meme about simple joys and pleasures, and being S for Saturday, it became Simple Joys Saturday. Now it is up and running, after messing around finding out how to get Mr Linky onto the site. What do you think of the background, not too bright? A friend said the first one I tried was too quiet...

This site is about anything that touches our heart from the little incidents each day that remind us of the nearness of God such as the beauty in nature, sunrise, sunsets, birdlife, flowers, water views, also the joy we get from our familes, or a compliment we received or any blessings we wish to share. I introduced the first week with Jessica Watson's Welcome Home as it touched so many hearts here in Australia...... I am not likely to have such a big news item again!

So if you are not too busy, bless us with your post. You can post any time, Mr Linky will be there, just look out for the new one each week, I'll be putting a new one up on Friday night Australian time which should translate to Saturday for most.

Here is the link - Simple Joys Saturday

Many Blessings for a lovely week, Everyone.

Simple Joys

Hello, here is my first Simple Joys Saturday post. I hope you will join me.
The link is here.

It is Saturday afternoon, and what a day it has been in Australia, welcoming 16 year old Jessica Watson home after her 210 days at sea circumnavigating the globe.  I'm waiting to see the figures, but I'm sure they could not crowd another person into the forecourt at the Opera House, and the craft out on the water were feet apart on the harbour.

This week I was blessed with God's greatness as we drove home last night. The sky was a beautiful luminous dark blue, with tinges of orange above the horizon. Only the evening star was  shining, and it was awesome.

My heart swelled with joy when saw Jessica on the TV today, and I shed a tear too, as many other people did too.... to think of the strength of this teenager, and it was wonderful to see so many teenage girls  speak about how she has inspired them.   I am sure there are big things ahead of Jessica. It was so inspiring to hear her speak, and also the two lads who were the previous circumnavigators who met her inside the Finish Line at the Heads and brought the boat in to the Welcome Home.

I was so pleased to have a quiet day today, I know I said we were going away, but last night we decided that  it wasn't worth it, we needed the rest.
 
HIS NAME    One Minute Devotions B.J.Hoff 
Let us rejoice in the beauty
and the power of His name-
Jesus.....
Saviour.....
Lord.....

The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.
Proverbs 18:10

 Pic from web

See a picture gallery here