A beautiful view

It's been a lovely day here today - cold and frosty first thing and cold most of the day, but sunny and crisp and lovely.

And we have our old view back too.

We are blessed to live right on the heath (I don't always remember to count that blessing when we are in the midst of fire season) and we have amazing views from every window. However, our views of the ridge towards the back had begun to be a little obscured each summer as more and more beach trees were growing up. We were concerned about the larger trees as they do pose more of a fire risk, plus they were spoiling the view. They are not helping the heathland habitat and so we knew they would be removed - and today was that day. Sadly I wasn't home, but Nij thoughtfully took this as a photo a day. Well he did promise if I did it again he would help as he was the one who really wanted me to do the project a second time.

However, he isn't a scrapper so didn't take before during and after shots, just an after shot, but still nice.

 
For some reason it won't let me upload the reduced file with the date. Below you can see two of the trees removed. There were lots more further down. Sadly they also took a beautiful fir tree. Our neighbours had a rooted Christmas Tree in December 1991 and planted it on the heath (Of course it wasn't indigenous) and it grew to be about 20 foot high. It was stunning - if very out of character. That went too.

However the good news is their removal allows the heathland to flourish, helps with fire and also gives us great open views again.

This was another page I made for my 2011 album a couple of weeks ago - this time enjoying the amazing bluebell woods at Pamphill.

Today I am thankful for

• Orange finally sorting my cancelled contract out
• A beautiful view
• Nij washing my car (another great reason for car sharing!)

My 1000 places today is The Blue Mountains in NSW Australia. My Daddy went there when he visited his sister the year after Mommy died (They had tickets to go before she died and she died just two months before the date of travel so of course he couldn't go, but I was so proud of him for going the following year. It was amazingly hard for him)

My 1 minute devotion is

It’s hard to ask for forgiveness, especially when we didn’t mean to do something wrong.

One day when I was at the supermarket checkout, the cashier, who was very young, pointed to a bag of fresh cranberries and asked me what they were. I couldn’t believe she didn’t know.

“They’re cranberries,” I said, with one of those “Gee, how dumb can you be?” laughs. I regretted it almost immediately, and even more so when I saw the hurt in the girl’s eyes.

“I never saw them before,” she explained. “I’ve only seen them come out of cans.” Of course, I realized; she had grown up in a time when almost every kind of food is processed. “But you didn’t have to laugh at me,” she added gently.

The first thing that came to my mind was an excuse: I hadn’t meant to hurt her; I had spoken without thinking. Then I realized that I wasn’t being honest with myself. What I meant didn’t matter. The fact was that I had hurt someone, and that was wrong.

As the girl handed me my change and receipt, I held on to her hand.

“Please, can you forgive me?” I asked her.

“It’s okay,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not important.”

“Yes, it is,” I said. “You’re important, and I’m so sorry I hurt you. I need your forgiveness.” I prayed she would understand how much I meant it.

She did. With a little smile, she squeezed my hand and said, “You’re forgiven.”

When we think about sins, we tend to think in big terms. But it’s the little sins that are likely to slip by unnoticed, and they can hurt people, too. Making excuses doesn’t change what we did, but asking forgiveness can change us—for the better.

And finally - children say the cutest things. This was sent to me by my good friend Sara.

I hope your weekends are filled with laughter x

JACK (age 3)
Was watching his Mom breast-feeding his new baby sister... After a while he asked: 'Mom why have you got two? Is one for hot and one for cold milk?'


MELANIE (age 5)
Asked her Granny how old she was.. Granny replied she was so old she didn't remember any more. Melanie said, 'If you don't remember you must look in the back of your panties.  Mine say five to  six.'


STEVEN (age 3)
Hugged and kissed his Mom good night 'I love you so much that when you die I'm going to bury you outside my bedroom window.'


BRITTANY (age 4)
Had an ear ache and wanted a pain killer. She tried in vain to take the lid off the bottle.  Seeing her frustration, her Mom explained it was a child-proof cap and she'd have to open it for her. Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl asked: 'How does it know it's me?'


SUSAN (age 4)
Was drinking juice when she got the hiccups. 'Please don't give me this juice again,' she said, 'It makes my teeth cough..'

DJ (age 4)
Stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked: 'How much do I cost?'


CLINTON (age 5) was in his bedroom looking worried when his Mom asked what was troubling him, he replied, 'I don't know what'll happen with this bed when I get married.  How will my wife fit in it?'


MARC (age 4) was engrossed in a young couple that were hugging and kissing in a restaurant. Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his dad: 'Why is he whispering in her mouth?'


TAMMY(age 4) was with her mother when they met an elderly, rather wrinkled woman her Mom knew. Tammy  looked at her for a while and then asked, 'Why doesn't your skin fit your face?'


JAMES (age 4)was listening to a Bible story. His dad read: 'The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.'  Concerned, James asked: 'What happened to the flea?'


The Sermon I think this Mom will never forget...

This particular Sunday sermon....'Dear Lord,' the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. 'Without you, we are but dust...'  He would have continued but at that moment my very obedient daughter who was listening leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little four year old girl voice, 'Mom, what is butt dust?'

 

Comments

[Barb in AK]

Thanks for those laughs! I've got an headache tonight and needed some stress relief. Have a great weekend!