Goo to you

Big spring rains = orange goo.

This year we had an overabundance of the Cedar-quince rust (gooey bits seen here) and not so much Cedar-apple rust (noodly orange meatballs).

Sporulation, my new favorite word.
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These photos are really from about 3 weeks ago - I forgot to post them earlier. I have been forgetting a lot of things lately.

"Samantha is Golden" from Zoolatry!

I received a most bootiful and generous gift from Ann at Zoolatry, where you will meet Maggy and Zoey. If you don't know them already, jet on over and intro yourselveses!!!

Also, take a look-see here: CC Collectibles by Zoolatry. Through computer art programs, Ann does some amazing work with feline photos. I feel furry, furry lucky that she did one fur me as well, since, as you all knows, I is a canine. A zillion thanks and woofies for this bootiful "painting" of me being happy, curious and... golden. How talented you are, Ann! Ann also sent me the gorgeous Christmas blog header, which we put to use almost immediately. Again, a billion thanks and hugs and woofs to you all - Zoolatry rocks! We are very grateful.

The awakening

Again it seems to have been a while between posts. Actually, there are a few things that have been happening, but I've not had time to write anything lately. Last weekend I finally made it to Crows Nest National Park for a three day bike tour, the one I've been planning for almost three years. It was beautiful as expected, and a few other little events made it more interesting than I'd hoped.
I'm also taking pictures on a new camera after the previous one took an impromptu swim in Mt Cougal Creek at Dickfos Falls a week and a half ago when I fell on it. The old camera took over 2,200 pictures in the 18 months or so that I had it, so perhaps it was time for an upgrade. I've gone for another Canon camera because I've always been impressed with the pictures they take, but the resolution of this one is 10 MP. The rate at which these things are improving is almost scary, I remember 5MP being state-of-the-art just a few years ago, now 10 MP is relatively inexpensive. That said, I'm still hoping to save the last few pictures from the old camera.
Finally, changed the route by which I was riding to work, by more or less restoring my old commute through Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. I now have a 26km round trip as opposed to the 17km round trip that just wasn't doing it for me before, and I get to spend a big chunk of the ride next to the ocean. On the other hand, passing through Surfers Paradise enables me to observe some of the great nonsensical situations of mankind.
For the last two weeks there has been a guy holding up one of those stop/go signs that is used to control traffic in road construction zones. His problem? He's at least a kilometre away from the nearest bit of construction that's actually going on. I'm not entirely sure what this is supposed to achieve. I do realise that all current construction projects relating to public infrastructure aren't due to be completed until at least (there are no elections this year at any level of government around here), but really, this is a waste of time even allowing for that fact. Oh well, I'm sure I'll have plenty of similar tales to relate in the coming months.

Here's the Thing....

I've over-committed myself this week; BIG TIME!!!But nothing can be moved, so it is what it is.                                                                                                  Here's what my week looks like: Monday-Three children over for art and music 11-3, two friends over for tea at 4:30 this afternoon with their four children under six to plan Garrett & Mallory's engagement party this Friday.Tuesday- Take Darcie to tutor at 12:00 and pick up at 3:00.  Shop for her Easter shoes then take her to youth chorale at 4:00 and then horseback riding at 5:30.Wednesday & Thursday-Fairly normal days with Garrett coming sometime Thursday.
Friday (the killer)-Bookgroup at my house at 12:00 with the engagement party at 5:00.
Sunday-Multiple family members coming over for Easter egg hunt and Sunday dinner.
Lots of cooking to be done and homeschooling in the midst; not to mention cleaning, cooking,  and laundry.
Here's the thing...I don't do well with a week like this.  I don't enjoy this much busyness.  But I'm committed and have to deal with it.  I'll have to be super organized with many lists in order to get it all done.  The older I get the less I like weeks like this.  I try to have a 'summer state of mind' year round and wide margins around events and less to-do lists.
How I wish I could just have a happy-go-lucky attitude, relax, and do everything in a leisurely manner.  On the outside I've learned to at least look like I'm calm.  After all, aren't older people supposed to be wise and unruffled?  
God gave me my personality along with all it's nuances and quirks.  I read somewhere recently that our temperaments are gifts from God.  I think so too.  Temperaments aren't sinful, but we sure sin plenty through them.
The key is to learn how to respect the way God made me and not sin when I'm overwhelmed or too busy by being short-tempered, angry, or frustrated.  
One of the things I do that I hate most is that instead of living in the moment and enjoying every second of whatever I'm doing, I find myself wishing things would hurry and be over so I could have some peace and quiet.  Yes, that is my biggest idol of the heart.
This is what I see as the solution; pray that God would make me more tolerant of noise and activity and to enjoy the moment and not look for it to be over, to try and avoid busy weeks like this one, to be gracious as I possibly can, and to love all these people I'm surrounded by more than myself, which is the reason I crave solitude in the first place.  I mean I love myself more than I do others.
Any suggestions or words of wisdom floating around out there?  Do you agree with my assessment of the solution?  What do ya'll think?

MangoMinster! We Dig the Extreme Sports!

As everybuddy must know by now, the great Mango, famed far and wide for his many feats of incredulity (all performed with a humble soul of course), has sent out loud woofs to all potential competitors for his MangoMinster! You can go to the site of the games by clicking on his name, above! We are entering in the Adventure category!
Hi y'all! If it's Adventure ya wanna have, come join me doin' the Splash Dawgie thang! It's pretty scary at first, but then ya get into the swing of it and jes' let go and fly! On a hot summer day, there is nuttin' like it to cool ya off! Lemme know if'n any of y'all wanna come join moi, Avalon, in the sport of Dock divin'!!!

Hey! Moi here: Sammie the Rock Jock. I am soloing steep Sierra granite without chalk or even my climbing shoes - somewhere around Lake Margaret at an elevation of 8500 feet! I'm watchin' where I place my paws very carefully. This. Is. Extreme. Anybuddy who wants to learn how to climb like this, contact me, Sammie, at PawesomeGranite!
We are jes' so "up" for the MangoMinster that we can't help ourselves to enter! Maybe this is the harbinger for Mom to get her butt off the youknowwhat and start being the assistant we know she can be heheh!

Keeping Dreams Alive

Never again, she vowed, would she live a noisy life that killed her dreams. They were her reason for living, the only thing that she had to give to the world, and she must live in the way that suited them best.

From A CITY OF BELLS by Elizabeth Goudge

Thinking Like a Man

You know how when a man sets out to do a task, he has tunnel vision and gets the job done?  Or you ask him to watch the kids while you go shopping, and when you get back  everyone's still alive but nothing else has been done?  He didn't think to unload the dishwasher, vacuum the house, do the laundry, etc.  He was watching the kids!  
I used to be amazed by this when it happened.  How come I can do fifteen things at once and he can only do one?  Well, I think it's because we're made differently!  Are you having a lightbulb moment?  This really is going somewhere, I promise.
This week I got tons of stuff done.  I also had a revelation about my work habits.  
Years ago B.C. (before children), I had the ability to focus for long periods of time; hours even.  I'd begin and end a project on the same day.  Then the children came along.  I remember fussing to a friend about my inability to get anything done for all the interruptions.  She gave me this advice that I've used now for almost thirty years.  She said, "You have to learn to work piecemeal."  I had no idea what she meant never having heard that word before.  She explained, "When you sew, instead of trying to make the whole thing at one time, just thread your machine.  If you are able, go ahead and lay out your pattern, etc."  In other words, learn to work in very small increments. 
So that's the way I've trained myself to work, and Flylady says the same thing.  You can conquer the world fifteen minutes at a time.  That's great advice and really keeps you from being frustrated.  You eventually get things done.
But now that I'm in a position to have longer stretches of time to work, I don't know what to do.  My attention span is almost zero or about fifteen minutes long!  I'm going to have to retrain myself to think.  The book The Power of an Hour by Dave Lakhani that I'm reading does just that.  He says that great amounts of work can be done in an hour of focused attention.
Studies have shown that it takes about twenty minutes to get in "the zone".  I've found this to be exactly right.  I love when the zone happens.  The world fades away.  It's just you and your work.  It's a very satisfying place to be.  
So that's what I'm going to try to do this month.  I'm going to make myself stick to a project for an hour at a time.  Hopefully I'll be able to retrain myself to work the way I once could.  And young women, don't hate me because I have this kind of time now.  It took me thirty years to get here!  Well, actually twenty seven, but who's counting.