Common Ground Coffee House #116

[Gina B]

These are dwarf banana plants, so hopefully they won't get too big! I read that it is best to plant them in half whiskey barrels, which I've wanted to buy anyhow for flowers on the patio. If the bananas don't work (I've heard they are much work) then I'll use the barrel for flowers on the patio since I love how the look of lots of flowers planted in a whiskey barrel! I wasn't aware of fruit bats being a problem. My fear is spiders wanting the bananas. LOL I do not like spiders at all.

If I can get back home (west coast) then growing this stuff won't be a problem anymore. I know how stuff works out there.

Hopefully your rose journey will not turn into a security escapade! At least in the movies, they have those field tests where they whip out a little container and test the product, which automatically shows if it is illicit or harmless, so perhaps it will be that simple if they end up with any questions. I gave my one daughter the middle name of "Rose" after a relative, so we are very much into roses around here too, and she occasionally finds a pretty dish with a rose and has me buy it for her. It is very sweet. I'm just glad I didn't name her Diamond, which seems to be gaining in popularity as a name around here!

Have a beautiful day, or evening, depending on your time. :flower::flower: Time for me to get to work!

 

[Melanie]

A lovely day here, sunny and warm....the sheep lolling about down the back stretching their necks to nibble on the grasses. Pleased to discover there is a water trough down where they are.

I went to a wee concert by students of one of the music teachers here in Wanganui. Charming, one family had 6 children playing their pieces. My clever girl Maria, played a delightful Chopin piece, a piece by Wedgewood and a duet with her teacher by Bach.

There was a piece played on the tin whistle, flute and two songs.

Have a lovely day Gina....

 

[Dan Todd]

I haven't been here in some time - been quite busy at work - but now am off for the winter.:laugh:

 

[Gina B]

I'm glad you had a good day, Melanie! I love the flute and am very blessed that one of my daughters took it up some years ago and is now quite good at it! Her teacher thinks so too, enough that the district had allowed him the use of two professional flutes, and she was one of the lucky two students that was given one to use for the year. :love2: When her and her sister (who plays violin, and bass but play violin when playing along with her sis) play together, it is a beautiful thing!

Welcome to winter, Dan! Seasonal work is great! I get summers off. Or whenever I choose, pretty much, since my husband works and I'm optional. HA!

As the holidays are coming up, here's a great outdoor video of "Carol of the Bells" featuring the cello. I love the look and sound of this! I hope you guys and gals enjoy it. Wouldn't it be fun to just sit outside and play away with such talent?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9GtPX6c_kg

 

[Melanie]

Nice to hear that you are still about Dan......hope you and yours are well!

Gina, I love Christmas....I would play carols all year round (wait a minute, I do). Music can be so joyful, it really does cover all moods of course, but the joy filled pieces are (to me) like looking through a glass darkly, an image of God. That possibly does not make much sense, but the beauty of music is an imitation of God even though it is weak in comparison.

Darn....why do computers have fans....blowing hot air out which is a magnet for those heat seeking critturs called cats. She can be a right pest, her body is covering up some of the keys.:type::laugh:

Stormy weather here, damp cat is another nuisance.

Nothing much to report Gina, my tum is still embarrassing me, makes socialising a bit iffy.

 

[Gina B]

I love that verse Melanie, and it has very special meaning in my life/our family. :flower:

Today is a very lazy day. I slept in, and thought about regretting it when I thought about the cost of not getting paid for today, then decided it was worth it. :smilewinkgrin: My body was exhausted, despite sleeping well the night before. I worked while sick before Thanksgiving vacation and that probably helped prolong everything.

Healing seems on the way - I have felt starving, which is very unusual, and even woke up stumbling out to the kitchen, which just never happens, as it is generally 3-4 hours after waking before I touch food. I never knew toast could be so yummy!

 

[Melanie]

Ugg, a wet cat wanted to get all cosy with me in bed this morning......yuck.

The 3 sheep have a new companion, a very cute black kid whom I have named (wait for it) Billy the Kid. The sheep are Balthazar, Melchior and Casper.

Sunny summer days when not gale force winds and thunderstorms. Yep there can be very very rapid weather changes here. The weather either comes howling up from the Antarctic, or from the west and sometimes the south east. My town is on the Whanganui River at the mouth going into the Bight of Taranaki.

The revolting sewerage smell continues dependant on the wind direction. The plant failed last year, and is now an enormously expensive repair. I believe they are dredging the pools (makes my eyes water at the thought).

The pohutakawa trees are blooming (NZ Christmas trees)....very beautiful.

 

[Gina B]

I had to look those trees up, and can see why they are called Christmas trees. Makes me want to go climb one!

We're getting chilly weather out here so I'm thinking of baking cookies to get it a little warm. However, the smell of sewage might keep peeking into my thoughts now. :laugh: I hope they'll smell better than that! Maybe I'll make some mints instead.

Billy the Kid. Ha! Sounds like pure trouble. Perhaps with names like those, the sheep will keep him in line.

 

[Melanie]

I will be flying to Brisbane, Queensland, Oz shortly courtesy of my generous brother....in order to enjoy a hot and humid Christmas with the family.

Come to think of it I have NEVER experienced a cold and/or white Christmas ever...the world has been made so small with the internet and yet it is still big enough to make travelling a dream for most people.

Gina, what are some of your favourite carols? I love "Veni,veni, Emmanuel" which is more of an advent hymn really, I do love King Jesus hath a garden, and a little Australian carol "The North Wind".

I have been to the dentist today having a broken tooth repaired, after being unwise in chewing a toffee.....one very expensive sweetie.

School is mostly gone into recess for Christmas, so there has been a great deal of prize giving and school concerts. All my teacher friends seem intent on spending a week in a chair doing as little as possible.

 

[Gina B]

Melanie, you'll have to give word on what joys that holiday brings and what things you do while you are there! Boo on the dentist - but hopefully that is just a short sidestep and won't cause you much misery.

What a loaded question, for there are so many songs. Based on my name, I am tempted to be a smarty pants and say that naturally, I cannot resist everyone chanting "Salve Regina." :laugh: However, I do agree with you on "O come, O come Emmanuel," as it is called here. It is especially beautiful if one stands in a hall or otherwise enclosed area where an echo can be given to the voice. Just beautiful!

Now for other favorites. From childhood, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear."

"O Holy Night." Especially when Josh Groban sings it. Actually, he just has to open his mouth and sing anything!

Children Go Where I Send Thee.

I guess there's a theme showing up here. This time of year, the imagery of a night sky lit up with stars and hope tends to be the type of music I gravitate towards. The sounds of the music - woodwinds, voices and notes that sound as if they can carry like a bright star painting the night sky, those are the sounds that evoke a sense of the season and thoughts of our Savior's birth and younger years of childhood, if that makes sense.

There's also a song that was part of our choir presentation many moons ago that was a version of Mary's song by Brentwood-Benson publishing. It's apparently not too popular and is not the "Mary's Song" most people think of, but I fell in love with it and still remember it well over a decade later, so I plan to just buy the choir book and teaching CD that goes with it so I can finally have the song again, since I've forgotten some of the words and can no longer sing the whole thing for lack of memory.

"Hayo, Haya" is not exactly a Christmas song, but one I still listen to this time of year, along with "Light One Candle."

I'll have to go check out the other two songs you listed, because they do not sound familiar to me. Thank you for introducing me to new songs!

 

[Melanie]

Thank you for your Christmas song loves, you have mentioned a couple I will checkout too.

Your beautiful word picture of stars painted on a night sky....do I detect a romantic? I certainly am one! Just reading the Bible ....about the birth of the Christ Child evokes such an opportunity for those blessed with imagination....it must have staggered the shepherds beyond anything to witness the angel declaring the Good News....even if they had been drinking in order to keep the chill at bay....my what a sobering yet ecstatic experience. The night sky with the blazing light seemingly above them.....wow.

Then visiting the mother and child in a commonplace setting of a byre. One can imagine Joseph doing his best to clean the manger, provide a clean and warm place for his wife, dashing about for water and food, before the birth and then what comes after.

Keep well, and enjoy this time of preparation for the wonderful time of Christmas. The shopping frenzy is in full swing...it is truely ghastly and the general insanity that grips so many people who profess not to believe and yet they hold a birthday party and deny an invitation to the birthday child...sad!!!

 

[Gina B]

It took a bit of doing, but I finally found "The North Wind" online and was able to listen online. What a perfectly adorable song! It's onto my list now. :flower:

A romantic? It's not the first time someone has mentioned it! But also a very practical one. It's part of why I like Van Gogh's paintings. They're accurate in how he aligns the stars and such, which is much appreciated.

There's not too much shopping going on here. We don't generally do the presents thing at home, so we get to relax and watch everyone else run around like mad. It's quite amusing! We have done a one gift per kid thing before, though it's often a gag gift. It's more a time to go do community service type things or give to others. We're weird people.
My one daughter did manage to get a nice pair of boots on a good sale. Hers had ended up with holes on both soles, but they had lasted her for well over five years and lots of wear. She asked so pretty for new ones too, which made me so happy. She then proceeded to sneak up on me and make me jump, as the new boots are very quiet and do not make the same noise as the old ones! :tonofbricks:

 

[Melanie]

I shall be flying over to Brisbane shortly to swelter in a hot and humid environment for the Christmas celebrations. I am looking forward to seeing the kith and kin.I shall eat mangoes,macadaemia nuts and prawns....things that scream the tropics to me.

I hope everyone on the BB has a wonderful Christmas with the good lord first and foremost, family and friends.
:godisgood:

 

[Gina B]

I shall miss you, if you aren't able to visit on here! Those are all favorite foods, so I hope you enjoy them very much. Find ways to stay cool! If it helps, look up pictures of Jerusalem online. They are getting major snow right now. It's crazy, but the road to Jerusalem is very beautiful as far as how it looks. The problems it's causing - not so pretty.

Have fun...shrimploads of fun. :laugh:

 

[Gina B]

While Melanie is off in Brisbane dining on mangoes and macadamias and shrimps, we've gone "tropical" our way with a bit of a heat wave! We've replaced coats with sweaters and actually opened up the windows yesterday afternoon, which was quite pleasant.

DOGGIE! I bought her a sherpa blanket today and her reaction is hilarious! She became so very excited and went leaping around, then sat with it wrapped around the bottom half of her. The end of her tail popped out, so she grabbed up part of the blanket and pulled it up over her tail. When I picked up the blanket to vacuum, she looked pretty concerned and walked beside it sniffing anxiously, then when I finished, she seemed very relieved and immediately laid on top of it with all four legs as long as they could go as if to say "this will NOT happen again!" :laugh:

She is the most expressive dog I've ever met and amuses us on a very regular basis!

 

[Melanie]

Hi Gina. Ann and al. Had a wonderful Christmas in hot and humid Brisbane....whined enough for poor mum putting ON the air-con....she is over 80 and said it was not hot enough.....rubbish I whined.....

Brisbane was beautiful with the flowering trees, Poinciana, ivory curls, jacarandas (surprisingly still in flower) bottle brushes and a myriad of shrubs flowering their little hearts out. Mum has the most glorious back veranda blazing with geraniums and pelargoniums and her plants with multi-coloured leaves ( caladiums) are lush and vigorous. Woke to kookaburras, and magpies with their liquid song, and the stupendous but idiotic rainbow lorikeets drunk on the fermenting nectar of the flowering trees.

Christmas lunch was typical for this part of the world.....cold meats, prawns, salads, lots of fluid refreshment....nibbles and a dessert of trifle. We enjoyed the presents of course, and I trotted off to mums Lutheran service as I was unable to flog across town to attend Mass.

The extended family had a get together at one of the pubs/taverns where I met up with a cousin no longer 7 but a married man with his first child, and lots of others.

I was pleased to return to the cooler clime of Wanganui, my house was still standing, the family who had house sat and provided service for the cat left the house in a spiffy condition.

I hope the impressively vile winter you folk have had is easing off, and the New Year is one of good cheer.

 

[Gina B]

Half of that post sounds like it comes out of a story book, Melanie! It must have been very beautiful, despite the heat.

There's been nothing exciting out this way, apart from my one daughter getting stuck in her travels with airline cancellations and delays, thus ending up in multiple states as she journeyed back to her home. In one box she had makeup, some clothing, and a packet of cheese, so we were very interested in how that box would fare in the extended journey, but the cold kept the cheese frozen and no new life forms were discovered when she opened the box.

That's about it! I'm just sitting here today with my little porcelain hedgehog staring at me. He's wondering why I haven't finished my morning routine, with only 45 minutes to go, so I'm going to get on that now so I can finish and still get to say I did it with 15 minutes to spare.

Have a beautiful day, afternoon, or evening, depending on your local time!

 

[Melanie]

Have been rather aimless this week....where does the time go and what have I done to show for it? The weather has been vile, I HATE wind, which maybe why I am out if sorts.

A sad thing was told to me today. The society that I am associated with through the church has affiliated groups in India. There is a orphanage for children and for destitute women, particularly the elderly. The children get an education and trade skills, the elderly live out their days in security and love.

One of the girls who was abandoned by her family, met up with them recently and has been taken (held against her will). She is a Christian and her family are Muslim. She is likely to be killed if she does not renounce her faith.

It is all rather horrible, but this sort of thing is commonplace in many parts of the world. Please add her to your prayers.raying:

 

[Gina B]

What a horrible situation for a child, or any human, to be in. Why did not they care that she actually needed shelter and love? How insane. Now they suddenly care about only her renouncing her faith? Not even that she believes what they believe, just that she renounces what she believes in now?

 

[Melanie]

What oh.....has everyone gone away? I have just returned from a lovely bus trip down to the South Island. I flew down to Christchurch and spent 2 days in that quake ravaged city. It was very emotional, lots of piles of rubble, cranes, empty lots, scary roads and scary footpaths. 4 ladies fell on the first day, bear in mind most of the tour was of elderly retired widows and thankfully no broken bones, but it was a bad start. The council is having it's work cut out with so many calls for prioritised work, but the falls should hurry things along.

Ch.Ch felt as if its heart was ripped out, shops are utilising the shipping container option, but there is little foot traffic in the CBD. We also went to Banks Peninsula and enjoyed the glorious Autumn weather, trees in their Autumn splendour.

From Christchurch we went to Greymouth on the west coast via Arthur's Pass in a train, enjoying more glorious weather, spectacular scenery of mountain alps, burbling mountain rivers and lots of sheep and cows.

Messed about in Greymouth which was so much nicer than when I was there 3 years ago and the hideous Pike River Mining Disaster was unfolding, the town was in shock and I felt as if I was intruding. We saw many miles of seashore as we wended our way down to Haast and through the Pass to the Fox Glacier and Mt Cook areas. Sadly, I think the glaciers will be kaput within 10 years, as they are retreating rapidly. I was disappointed in not seeing the view from the air, but the cloud cover descended rapidly, and the weather deteriorated to a mizzling rain.

I have seen that water can be blue, not through sky reflection, but a BLUE..I feel as if I saw a vision of heaven....it was awe inspiring as it is something I did not believe could be so.

At Timaru I bought some gorgeous boots. We finished off in Hanmer Springs and then bussed back up to Picton for the Inter-islander ferry and the very long trip home.

New Zealand is a cornucopia of stunning vistas, the North Island is very different to the South Island.....I am very blest.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Spring weather on the other side of the world.:1_grouphug: