Editing in the afternoon...

The way to edit music is definitely in the sunroom over a cup of tea.

With a cute guy...

And to admire the shadow paintings made in collaboration by the sun and the trees... 

Prayers for Kelly.

Love to all.

Shell xx

Tea, for three...

Life is really not as familiar and as predictable as I would often perceive it to be.  

Explanation:

Once there was just me.  Alone in a flat with nothing on for dinner and no washing machine.  Then, {the Lord be thanked} - girl met boy, life began, and suddenly there was {and still is} an inseparable two.  The kettle would be boiled at least five times a day for tea, and two lovingly chosen, chipped and sometimes half broken cups would be stood beside the brewing pot.  Kisses, and animated conversations would always ignite there...

Now a wonderful, whimsical love filled decade and a half has flown colourfully by since I first started having that tea - and now when I make a pot {note: amount of pots per day has considerably increased!} I put three, rather quaint little cups and saucers out on the bench, most often for my two older children, and me.  I adore tea with those two - they are becoming proper little people I've noticed!  They banter and jest, and question, and ponder and kiss me over that tea and I quietly hang, on every minute of it with them.

But I hate that my inseparable friend must be away for so much time in order to earn our bread.  So that he is not always home for those cups of tea anymore...  We make up for it of course in the time that he is home - and I can really see the transition into my adulthood at the bottom of my own cup.  

I think that time is both the blessing and the challenge of this life.  It seems to mean everything, and yet, if our God is outside of it, maybe it really just is something to use carefully, and spend wisely.  Perhaps time on earth really isn't the important thing, but it's what we do with our days that matters.  And the challenge is to see past the ticks of the clock and look at the tasks God puts before us.

I am therefore, pausing to think, in light of this spiel, that if time is not an important beast, but simply a challenging one, then my friend really is never very far from me, or his tea.

Picture below: my new clock!  

And perhaps it's the clock which has caused me to examine the curiousness of time today.  I hope you have a glorious weekend, and make the most of every minute!

Shell xx

Birthday on the First Tuesday...

The delight of turning Twelve is wondrous. I think it is that time before you cease being a child, but still enjoy becoming that little bit older...

My first baby has enjoyed her Twelfth birthday on the day of the Melbourne Cup! Which meant we were to sip tea, eat cake and drink pink soft drinks under the sun at home in our best dresses and wide rimmed hats.

I fetched flowers, and baked all the sunny morn determined to enjoy every moment!

Because I know that time is as fleeting a thing as petals from the blooms, which we mostly cannot understand...

I know that my Lord is outside of it - and that the counting of our years seems to be in place to teach us and grow us, so we can be better at loving Him for the sake of our souls, and the dear souls near us.

And today, none dearer, or more impressively wonderful is that of our precious, precious Emma.

The Lord gave her to us when we ourselves were only children. And it is an honour to count the years with her; to sip the tea, and with the passing days give her the best of ourselves for her own salvation and happiness through her life.

Happy Birthday darling girl. Who gave us life, with your birth.

Shell xx

Every new day, is new...

...and random projects in my domesticity inspire me in both what I eventually produce, and the internal, spiritual trail I take while getting there...

Songsmith xx

Gentle Hum...

Doesn't the gentle hum of a new kettle 

change the sound of the house at tea time?

Shell xx

Tea Party

With Christmas dollys.

To find them playing this together, makes my heart sing!

Shell xx

Tea at the piano...

Sometimes, I drink my tea at the piano,

I sip in between verses;

Singing loudly! Careful not to spill my cup!

Other times softly, with a whisper, and maybe a little tear...

I hum, and write, and play,

And stay, as soon, or as long, 

As the cup.

Shell xx

ps: I cannot thank you enough for reading.  Your comments, your silent observation, your visits here are all felt by me, and I am overjoyed to be writing to you friends.

xx