This is not a good craft idea for the weak of heart or anyone lacking patience. This will at the least take three days...... I spent over a week making this tree. But you do end up with something really lovely and useless!

My whole family went mulberry picking about a week ago and we picked around three kilograms of mulberries. Two of which I used for making jam.

I realized the other day that I have not done a 'crafty' post in ages, but then I have not really made as much this year as other years either. A week ago I made these little fellows, and took some photos of the process. So here is how I made and how to make a little owl on a stump.

I drove past a house the other day and it inspired me to write, this;

Once this was not a sad little house, I am sure. Once a man, or maybe more, laboured on its foundations. Each wooden slat, cut and placed by loving hands. With joy and laughter, looking forward to a brighter future, this house rose up from the steep hill. Finally the wife arrived, the furniture, and the corrugated iron for the roof. It rumbled up on a slow moving wagon, drawn by a team of oxen, maybe. Maybe they had trudged the tree boarded track up the mountains for days, weeks.

Once, maybe once, the young wife ran up and into her husbands arms,  so glad that they were together again. So glad of the beautiful house, a house of her own, with wooden boards to sweep the dust from. Together they would make this their home, possibly.

As the rain fell, it drummed down on the roof, horrendously noisy, but they sat together, knowing that the house was solid built. It would not blow away, or collapse like a tent of canvas. Maybe soon after that children could have come.

Once they could have leaped off the bottom step and run down the slope, crossing over the fallen tree that bridged the creek, and jumped into their fathers arms as he arrived home. Did he come from taking their cattle to market? Or selling the furs of the animals he trapped? Or from the homestead where The Boss lived? 

Other times the children could have run with buckets down to the bubbling mountain stream and tried to catch the little mosquito fish, that darted through the clear water. Little trousers, or skirts, hoisted high. Maybe muddy little feet ran back up the hill to show Mother their prizes. Or maybe they fished out the fat black tadpoles, and kept them in a jar, watching as they grew legs, squiggly tails shrank and then disappeared. 

Once upon a time, long ago, many things could have happened in and around that happy little house. House of promises, hopes and dreams, once. Now though, it sits a weathered grey. On a hillside, far from anywhere, a dull house rots, silent except for the clatter, bang, and scratch of the rusted iron roofing, that has now come loose. Each gust of wind, pulls at the house, and it succumbs, sinking away, slowly returning to dust, and memories.

What memories it must hold though, if only I could hear it speak. If only the creaks, could, be interpreted, or the language of old things found out. But the people who lived there once, have gone, grown old and died. Maybe the children still live on somewhere, I wonder have they forgotten, the once happy little house on a hill. Or are they no longer, here to be able to remember, have they too passed away. I do not know, but I wonder, what does that sad little house remember?

This post is done by request, so I am not sure where this is going to go. I always find starting the post is the hardest bit. So I shall get to the point,  I do not want to waste my life. That is the point.

A while back I did a post on being bored. One thing people do when they are board is play computer games. Sure there is nothing really wrong with most computer games, but often there are much better thing to be doing. I did play computer games once and they stopped me doing other useful things. Yes they were fun but I gave them a greater priority than I should have. I don't wanna waste my life and I decided computer games were a really good way to waste it so I scrapped them. It was hard deleting everything I'd worked for, destroying the cities I built, the horses I'd bred, but they were fake! Most importantly they were a waste of time. I was not sure if I could stop, but I did and I'm so glad I did stop. I don't wanna waste my life.

There are so many other useful and fun things to do. If you like writing, write. One of the best way to get better is by actually siting down and writing. Imagine if you weren't playing computer games how much free time you would have. Instead of using you time playing computer games do some cooking, sew something, etc. You could bless your family with a meal or treat or make a meal for another family. Go outside and breath the air, feel real life. 

Computer games can make us feel good, like we have achieved something. We can get "Rich" and buy more stuff. fake stuff. Even more so than our possessions of this life which are all going to fade away. If you happen to be really good and get among top players, you feel good. But are computer games a good place to get our identity from? 

Achieving things on computer games can stops us from achieving things in real life. Sitting playing games on the computer, laptop, i-pad, i-pod etc. is not really going to help us in real life. 

There are so many other things you could do, I could write huge lists, but I think if you tried so could you. There are so many good books to read out there. "So much to do, so little time" If that is true we should not waste it!

We do not need to wait until we are older to do some things. If you do not feel like doing anything physical, you could take your bible out into the garden, or up to your room and sit, read, pray, be still. It can be really calming and relaxing. Get to know your heavenly father, the one who gave you your life. The one who will hold you accountable for all your actions. 

Romans 14:12

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

1 Peter 4:5

but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

I challenge you to think about how much time you spend playing computer games. I challenge you to check your priorities. Are they really that important? Do they really deserve that much of your time? Are you serving our LORD Jesus Christ are you honoring him by playing those things? Do you even really want to be playing computer games?

2 Timothy 2:22 

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers [sisters], whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

“It is better to lose your life than to waste it.” 

―John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life

“I will not waste my life! I will finish my course and finish it well. I will display the Gospel of the grace of God in all I do. I will run my race to the end.” - Paul” 

― John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life

I DID IT! I have finished my story Well only the “rough draft” but it’s done......Now for the dreaded editing.....which I am sooo looking forward too. But I finished it and Have come up with a name that I actually like. I had ‘Callie’ but it sounds rather boring, then ‘Poison in the Creek’ which is ok, Then I thought of ‘The Arch of the sky’ or something like that, I don’t exactly remember but mostly it just sounded interesting and had nothing to do with the story. I have been calling it ‘A story to be’ but today I came up with a good title. Well I hope it is good.....Drum roll....... Spatterings of Ash. Does it sound interesting? I told it to my mum and straight away she wanted to know if Spatterings is a word (even if Blogger doesn't think so, but then Blogger doesn't think Blogger is a word or that blog is a word). It is....and it’s a cool word....at least I think it is. Also ‘Spatterings of Ash’ are the last three words in the book. It is currently over 24,000 words. I am happy.... At least happy about what I have achieved....I still have much work to do on it. Especially knowing how bad my punctuation is. Spell checker is so useful. Editing and editing comes next.

Quick Computer Sketch

Me at the computer after finishing ‘Rough Draft’ of my story. No I don’t really look much like that....but anyway.

I have just finished making some, well two coasters. I suppose they are coasters, well they are now anyway, they didn’t start off as that but that is what they are now. In fact I’m not even sure I can remember what they were going to be.

I started with a limp lomp lump of fire wood.  Then I got a saw and cut off the end of it........ sounds easy, well when I had got less than half way through I already was having second thoughts. But I hate starting things and not finishing them so I cut the rest of the way through. Then I started to sand it. Does that sound easy..?....... I did it by hand ........... Then I forgot how long it took to saw through the wood and decided to make another one. Then I decided the first piece was too wonky and scraped it. Yessss all that work.  Then I thought I need at least two so I cut another. It still took a long time.  Now thinking I’m really going crazy. I sanded them.....by hand.

Then I showed my dad. He went ‘they look nice and have great potential but you should sand them more to get every mark out of them’. Whaat! But he also mentioned he had an electric sander in the shed. I used it. Electric sanders are sooooooo much easier, wish I had thought of that before. Then to finish them off I rubbed some linseed oil into them. Walla the finished product. hmm what am I going to use them for.......