10 x 10 x 10 - Day 9

Day 9

Inspiration from my garden today.  

Main - My beloved frangapani - even a little spider snuggles protected in one of the delicately scented petals.  

Collage -

1. Daisy.

2. Camelia tree spurting even more new life.

3. Under the camellia tree this darling little native violet calls home.

4. Geranium from my Mother in law in a pot.  Hers are just stunning fat hugely double fat bursts of flower, I am not the green thumb like she and my Mum are.  Not to mention two little boys that love to play backyard soccer, and cricket and balls that snap off little buds and branches.

5. Looking up from under a palm tree.

6. A tree planted by our neighbours, which loves to grow and say hi into our place. I love the colours I love the texture of this tree.  Anyone can give it a name for me?  

7.  Part of a cottage packet mix that I scattered last spring into our front garden.  Gosh these are the prettiest little things.  Again, can anyone name them for me?

8. Our tibouchina hedge, there are a couple of little buds dotted here and there, I get so excited to see this lovely hedge in flower.  This particular tibouchina is called Carol-Lyn.  I think I have written it correctly.  It flowers constantly on and off through the year, and I cut it right back and off it goes again.

9. Geranium from my Mum which is in our front garden in front of the tibouchina hedge.  I have managed to get a few of these going and would love to cover the front of the hedge with this and the darker red/pink one as in photo 4.  

All the plants in our garden are tough, it's really just that simple, they have to be tough, they have to withstand my non-green thumbs, they have to withstand two little boys, they have to withstand humidity, they have to withstand coastal winds and weather.  We have planted so many different plants that unfortunately have become mulch over the years, however, this lot are here to stay, they seem to thrive where others have fallen.  Our neighbours have similar plants, which is a wonderful omen that we have planted the right species.  We get birds in our backyard and lately the butterflies have just been huge and stunningly beautiful.  

Which reminds me right now, we entered the Landcare Sunflower Challenge and ooopppppssss - have not planted our seeds yet.  Hmmmm, another job for today - I wonder if it's too late?  We shall see then.  I will let you know how it goes.

What are you doing today?  Perhaps you are working, perhaps you are sewing, perhaps you have the hiccups, perhaps you are helping someone that you have never met before.  Perhaps you are delivering a baby today, perhaps you are just finished work and going home to have a sleep.  Perhaps you are nibbling on a little piece of chocolate - just a little piece, you know for sustenance.  Perhaps you are just about to put your seatbelt on and go for a drive.  Perhaps you are herding sheep right now to another paddock with your trusty sidekick black collie, named Bonny, who has a white patch on her left ear. Perhaps you are collecting shells on the beach, perhaps you have glue stuck to your finger and thumb in a most annoying way.  Perhaps you are writing a letter to someone you love so much it hurts inside your ribcage.  Perhaps you are wrapping a gift, perhaps you are boiling the kettle, perhaps you are replacing a lightbulb, perhaps you are about to tell someone you love them (do it, go on, do it - even if they don't feel the same, then you have been honest.)  Perhaps you are wondering when Joyce is going to stop talking. . . . . . . Joyce wonders if she can stop 'perhaps-ing'.  

Ok then, thanks so much for stopping by my place today.  Take care of you, be kind to you, look after you.  It's the only you, you have.  

10 x 10 x 10 - Day 8

Day 8 - is productive, is busy, is getting things done, is out there.  


Today I cheated.  I had to erase my contact details in photo 1 of my collage.  I didn't notice it until I put the collage up.  It's not that I don't want you to call me, it's just that I don't want freaks to call me.  Not that I mind talking to freaks, I mean I talk to myself all the time really, it's just that, you know, freaky sort of freaks that freak you out like.  

Main photo - My little one drew me a pink jumbo jet.  Gosh the places we could go!

Collage - 

1. This is our new mouse at our desktop computer.  I don't like it, it's too fancy for me.  It's not a mouse, it's a shiny silver coaster on an angle, that likes to think it's a mouse.  It will never be a mouse in my eyes.  Next to it is one of two vouchers I have printed out to offer at our street party auction.  I hope we get lots of great bids.  Yes, I am organising a fundraiser street party auction as per yesterdays post.  I have THE most awesome neighbours.  

2. I have made 4 x drawstring bags and now just have to fill them with the required items to post for this.  I am not sure my sewing and creative skills can extend to the sewing caddy so I am just doing the stuff I can do, and posting extra bits instead.

3. My machine threaded and taking a break while I click my 10.

4. Six library bags so far.

5. Candle burning in memory of others.

6. Dressmakers pins.

7. Sorry Neil - You have been reshaped and along with some of your mates will be filled with goodies to auction at the street party.

8. Sustenance.

9. Today's newspaper.  

Thanks so much for stopping by my place today.  I hope you are having a lovely day, I hope you are getting lots of good things done.  Things that need to be done to get to the next level.   

Bless.

  

10 x 10 x 10 - Day 7

Day 7

Sunday morning at the beach.  I love going down around 8am, it's fresh, it's quiet, it's sunshine sparkles dancing on the water, it's paradise.  Nice camera bag shadow Joyce!! - Not!! - That's what happens when there is only 10 mins to take 10 photos.  

We had ourselves a couple of hours down there, and snuck home before the heat of the sun was at its full strength on our skin.  

Since then, the boys have been playing, relaxing, napping and I have been cutting and sewing.  I am making library bags for school children who no longer have library bags.  I also have some new books, one for each library bag.  You just cannot have a library bag without a book to go in it now.  

Ok here goes - the following you may, or you may not wish to read.  I almost deleted it, but then it's part of Joyce, and it's Joyce's blog.  It's how I am, I have chosen to leave it, so now you can choose to read it or not.  It's up to you, that is YOUR choice.  

I think I have found the old Joyce back again today.  I think I know why too.  You know when something is bugging you, and you feel off somehow?  You feel that things are not just right - everything seems to be at odds and ends - you cannot sit still, you cannot relax, you cannot sleep, you feel all jumpy under the skin and annoyed at yourself for not being able to do more and 'get on with things'?  You feel a huge sense of helplessness?  Well this has been me lately.  I feel bad that we are on holidays and the sun is shining and we are enjoying the beach.  I feel bad that we have food, our home, each other.  I feel bad about ALL of it.  I snapped at my boys yesterday when they were arguing - I mean I snapped like as in really snapped at them and told them how dare they act like this towards each other when there are so many children without a home, not even a toothbrush or their favourite cup.  I told them there were children sweeping stinking mud, and piling all the stuff from where their house used to be into a big pile of muddy goo to be taken away to the tip because everything is ruined.  Then I felt bad, I felt awful for talking to my children this way.  I should not dump my crap onto my children, I should not talk to them like this.  I was exactly the same as a kid.  It's just what kids do really.  

Then early hours of this morning, I got over myself.  As I snuck through the house and sat on my little boy's beds watching them sleep, remembering the moment they were born from me, remembering so many moments in their 8 and 6 years, kissing them and then heading back to bed.  I smiled and I meant it, and I got over myself.  

Today is a new day, we went down to the beach, it was lovely, I saw it with my eyes, I enjoyed it with every single breath.  I laughed with my family, because that is just what we are supposed to do.  We laugh together, we cry together, we hurt together, we work together.  It's the only way families can swing really.  It all HAS to be together.  

And you know what, I no longer feel *ugg* and *yick* and crapola.  The headache is gone.  I am making library bags for kids, I am putting books in those library bags.  Today I made 6 library bags, I am not sure how many I am going to make, but I am going to do as many as I can.  I am going to find a school to donate them to.  Directly to that school.  I am going to ring the office and speak to someone in that office and get their postal address and directly post them to that particular school to give to some of the children.  Perhaps they will start the school library with these books and share them and the library bags so that everyone gets a turn, maybe some other people are making library bags too, so then there is more to go around.  How wonderful that would be to know I am part of 'Task Force Library Bag'.  

I have another plan too you know.  Each year we have a little street party.  2010 we didn't have one because people were working, people were away, people were committed up to the neck in diary entries and appointments etc.  So I am going to organise a street party fundraiser, of which all monies raised will be donated directly to a preschool or nursing home that were affected by the recent floods.  Again, I will directly contact the establishment we all decide on to donate our money to and I will get their address and send the money directly to their account for them to use where they need it most.  It may only be $100.00, but you know what, that is ok.

So if you are reading THIS LINE of typing, then I hope you were not upset by my words, I hope I make sense, I hope I have explained myself properly.  I hope maybe you smiled a little or even nodded a little, whether the fact that it confirms to you that I am totally nuts, or perhaps you kinda felt a little the same way - maybe - a little bit.

I do know that these floods have affected everyone I have come into contact with - because we have all talked about it, we have all prayed and we all know someone affected.  It hurts, it breaks out hearts, we feel helpless, we want to sign up and grab a shovel, drive a truck, make stuff, console, share what we have.  We are human, it's natural to be this way, it's good to be this way.

This is Joyce's Journal - thanks for stopping by, thanks for accepting me as me, just thanks.

Kiss the ones you love - love the ones you love - live in and love the moment you are in with them. 

Bless.  

10 x 10 x 10 - Day 6

Day 6.

Main photo - A treasure from the beach.

Collage

1. What I was eating when I remembered I hadn't taken my 10 x 10 x 10 today.

2. What I saw when I was in the garage looking for something to take a photo of.

3. Candle on our coffee table.

4. Bike wheel.

5. What I was sitting on whilst eating number 1, when I remembered I hadn't taken my 10 x 10 x 10 for today.

6. Where my glass of wine rests attached to my camping chair, which is currently parked on our back verandah.

7. The roll of contact that I will use to cover approximately 40 new library books for the preschool.

8. Hubbie's motorbike.

9. A record that I have melted into a bowl ready to be gifted.  

I have gone a circles sort of theme here, not sure why, but that is how it rolls for today.


It's my Mum's birthday today, and I miss her.  I wish I could pop home and give her a birthday hug.  She is the most wonderful woman I have ever met and will ever meet.  She puts everyone else first, always has and still to this very day continues to do so, sacrificing so much to accommodate for others around her.  There isn't another person on this planet that I have met who exceeds my Mum.  In my eyes, there never will be anyone who comes close to this loving and caring extra-ordinary woman.  I am blessed to be this woman's daughter.  This living angel who is my Mum.  

Thanks so much for stopping by my place today.  Sorry it's not much to look at, I am still feeling a little *bleugh*, and not particularly chatty - so I wish you sweet dreams as I go find my pillow.  

Take care of you.

10 x 10 x 10 - Day 5

Day 5 isn't very adventurous at all.  It's Friday here, which means it's a cleaning toilets, vacuuming, dusting, washing, sort of day and I try to keep that routine going even through holidays.  My boys know what Friday is and they have jobs to do as well.  But we get up early and get stuck into it early, so that in the holidays, all the chores are out of the way - then we can do our thing for the afternoon and usually there is a bit of a treat in there, just to get us to the afternoon, just to have that lovely something to look forward to.  Today it's ice blocks and we will spread the blankets and cushions out and the boys will watch dvds, while I get a few more things done.  

Main picture - A thrifted shirt bought for my youngest - I so love this shirt on him, it's perfect but won't fit him after this summer.  All our shirts get hung on hangers to air dry in the laundry and because this was a double load, the boys shirts are hanging in various doorways.  I have mentioned previously that I am allergic to ironing.  Plus this is better for the environment too.  

Collage-

1. Friday these are emptied.

2. On the way back inside from taking photo 1.

3. My eldest tidied his Hero Factory dudes, apparently they are about to do battle.

4. Pencils left on the table from my boys when they wrote in their journals.

5. One of 3 current crochet projects.  This one for hubbie.

6. Joyce needs lots of sustenance today.

7. Something my youngest has been adapting for his lego workmen.

8. I would love to curl up with one of these for a read this afternoon.

9. A fave huge cushion in our lounge room, this partners well with pictures 8 and 6.

Today doing the housework, I have had a little candle burning.  A little candle burning for all those families returning to the place their home once stood.  Homes that will never be vacuumed again, that will never have little hand marks upon the walls, that will never hear laughter, that will never contain the delish smells of dinner cooking.  

I can't stop thinking of these families who have lost so much - I can't stop watching the news.  

I must apologise for my flat posting today, I am feeling a little *meh*.  A little bit achey head, a little bit achey ears, a little bit achey throat.  The dirty jobs are done for the day.  Later it will be folding washing and putting it away and dinner which is just home crumbed chicken tenderloins and a sort of ceasar salad mix - Joyce style.  

I am off to cut more fabric for sewing to make drawstring bags to donate to Among The Gum Trees: We need your help!!!  If you are also able to assist in some small way, it would be greatly appreciated.  I am just doing drawstring bags and filling them with the requested items.  If you can make the armchair caddies, that would be fabulous.  Just email the ladies and they will answer all your questions and give you an address to send items to.  If you cannot sew, you can still help by sending a pair of scissors, some thread and a little fabric or, there is a donate button on the blog to aid with postage of these items.  

Thanks so much for stopping by my place today and I hope you are well.  I hope you find some time for yourself, perhaps a hug to share and a little chocolate too.  

10 x 10 x 10 - Day 4

Day 4 of my project and totally loving it.  

I am becoming more and more brave with each day.  I am challenging myself to click in the strangest of places that I would never normally bother to click before.  I am noticing just how many signs there are in our shopping ctr car park.  I can tell you these photos were taken in well under 3 minutes.  Mainly because I felt like a total freak bolting about the car park full of cars clicking away at signs and paint on the road.  My boys were laughing at me and pointing out to all the signs as I went.  It's good for them to see things around them as well.  They also commented on the huge number of signs and as my youngest put it - 'instructions for what drivers have to do.'  That's is buddy, everywhere you look, there is a sign telling us what to do and what the rules are.    

Here are a few more that have joined in. Lollybags Creations and Zyatica's Meanderings and Creations.  Please pop over and have a look, why not join in yourself.  Let us know, so we can visit you too.  I love getting little glimpses into the lives of my friends.  I love finding out what catches their eye as they go about their days.  How do they see colours, shadows, what items are part of their day and the stories that go with those items.

I am out of here now, about to set up a lovely little plate of cheese, fruit and biscuits for our afternoon snack.  Then I am going to attack a pile of fabric, pull out the sewing machine, and get busy.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you and yours are safe and well at your place.  

I Want To Help!

As I shared with you all only very recently my little made it store, I would now like to make good use of it.

I am donating $8.00 from every purchase to the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal to help raise much needed money to purchase whatever is needed for those who have lost everything in the recent and continuing floods.  

I have many family and friends throughout these affected areas and although we are only a 5 hour drive away from them, I have never felt so cut-off and unable to help them, as I do right now.  I do not like feeling helpless, I do not like feeling helpless at all.

I was thinking of starting a yarn-a-thon to make blankets, I also thought of a notecard pack, consisting of notelets, envelopes, pen and stamps, then there was something as simple as lavender soap wrapped in a cotton crochet flannel.  But right now, right here and now, how do those items get through?  What vehicle other than to fly them in, can deliver these items to these people?  They need the cash, quite simply, cash is king.  

So please pop on over and have a browse through my simple little store.  If you don't want to shop there, I don't mind, but perhaps you know someone that would like to shop there.  Please let them know.  I am going to keep a tally here on my blog of money raised.  I currently have $8.00 in the kitty from a purchase that was made yesterday.  Thank you so much for your purchase Zyatica.

If you would like to donate straight to the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal, click - Donate to the flood relief appeal : Queensland Government.  The information for donating by phone, internet banking, international banking, via mail and to donate in person are all listed on this page. 

Thank you for stopping by my blog tonight.  Keep safe at your place.