We stayed at "The Homestead" on my Uncle's farm at Christmas and there are many really old things lying around. They make me wonder what they once were and are proof that possessions are all going to fade away and turn to dust. 

I walked around "The Grave Yard" which is full of ancient (and not so ancient) vehicles, machinery and huge piles of rusty things. There are also lots of sheds and cottages full of old things. The place that once was a stable is closed up and the tack room now has bottles of poison in it. Along with some hooks over which is draped rotting bridles and other spider web and dust covered things. A bowl of rusted horse shoe nails sit on a shelf next to a brush (for horses coats) that is entangled in webs of thread and dust. A scattering of mouse eaten feed lies in the bottom of the places where horse food once filled. Cows, chooks and dogs are the only animals on the farm. Coal mines are buying nearby properties and knocking down forests. Paddocks where cattle once grazed are now a pit in which mine vehicles rumble. 

So I wrote a poem and as you can see/guess it is here, (well not exactly here, down the page a little). It is not a rhyming poem which is unusual for me, but a poem does not need to rhyme.

What Once Was

Old harnesses hanging in the shed

High and dusty, sitting on a rail

I look up there and wonder

I see them and think

What was it like back then? 

What things did those harnesses pull?

Old cart slumped in the grass

Cart wheels and rotting frame sag

I see it drooping and ponder

I gaze at what is left

Where are the horses that pulled it?

Who sat in the driver’s seat?

Old windmill standing all alone

Timeworn, broken in its age

I see it twisted and I reflect

I watch it standing still 

Where are the tank and trough?

Who once built the windmill here?

Old cottages sinking into the ground

Timbers falling apart onto the dirt

I watch the stillness and wonder

I see no movement any more

Who lived here, long ago?

Where are their children, grandchildren now?

Old car under a peppercorn tree

Bonnet covered in rust

I run my hand over the lichen

I frown over the rust and contemplate

Who bought this car when shiny new?

What places did it drive?

I can only guess because things just don’t last 

Old is all that’s left of what once was

Those days away have passed.

This chook looks interesting
but I didn't see any other photo that looks like it

While on holidays I met a few more chooks. As I flicked through some photos I took this month I noticed some of the chooks looked a bit like photos of something else. 

A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.~Albert Einstein 

They certainly are not the same things but they do look the same, in some ways... 

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.~Helen Keller 

And don't forget to look like a fungi

Or a dandelion 

This one has to be my favorite!

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.~Henry David Thoreau 

Well it made me laugh, laughter is a good medicine. Some how I don't think the quotes were originally meant like that but anyhow, its funny!

Well yes I have been quilting a quilt. That sounds strange but anyway. I have finished quilting and binding it. Apparently I  finished the quilt in record time too. I started it about two years ago. Yes I said record time. I finished the patchwork part of the quilt in July and made the cushions then too.  

Now I have quilted the back, inside and front together (It is a good thing I bought a new unpicker the other week) and I have done the binding, which is the green strip around the outside. So it will keep me nice and warm..... except that it is summer... so it is hot... O well winter will come and then it will be nice and warm and it won't leave feathers everywhere like my old doona used to.

Photo taken with my camera by Alice

Photo taken with my camera by Alice

My Aunt - who makes lots of quilts- helped me finish quilting it over Christmas, while we stayed out at the farm with them. She is the one who said quilts often take more than two years to make. Though they could take a much shorter time.... If most of those two+ years were not spent with the quilt sitting in bags in draws..... Often that was because I did not know what I had to do next and had to wait till the next time my Aunt dropped by so she could tell me.

I will sometime do a little bit of hand quilting in the very middle around the wreath and horses heads. And I might even make another quilt one day. One day, could be a long time away but Lord willing I shall.

*Sigh* back from holidays and back to the computer... Well three days without the computer didn't kill me, but it is so nice to have it back. Going without something (ie. the computer) makes me more thankful so it is good in a way. Thankful is always good. Expect some shots of birds and other such things that I took photos of while at the farm in coming posts.

Well it is almost Christmas and many people are getting excited. Our home-school group got together and we made gingerbread houses, well cottages, shacks, a town and a train! I helped my sisters hold together our "cottage" and decorated it a little; mostly I took photos though and watched. 

Watching is very fun. Especially when one of the houses just won't stay up! I tried to help hold it together and it would appear to be sticking, until we let go. Eventually the whole house fell apart and the construction started again. 

Some of the icing in the kits looked so deadly (The gooey bright red, won't mention what it looks like stuff). So one of the other girls and I Made some real icing, with the icing sugar that I didn't spill on the bench or floor. It looked like snow.... sorta.... and some people seem to think of snow and snowmen at Christmas? I'm dying of heat here. Well actually I'm not. If I go outside I might, but we have the air con on so it's actually quite nice.... Until the air con makes it too cold then I shall evacuate to my room. (which is almost as hot as outside).

I must say the tiles are very fancy on this one!

The train my brothers did.

The first construction of the falling down house

The falling down ginger bread house the second turned out to be rather hard by the time it got to church on Sunday. One of it's builders (Sarah) attempted to shatter, crumble, fragment, splinter (You get the point) the house. It didn't work. I found it funny that the house that we couldn't get to stay together now refused to break. Then along comes Zach, the house didn't last much longer. Well it was still there, just all over the table and floor... It tasted good though!

Christmas is a busy, fun, exciting and sometimes sad time. It is also a time to remember, not just the birth of a baby though. It is a time to remember that our saviour came, saved us and gave us a job to do. The job of telling others of his salvation. 

Romans 8:35,37-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? .......... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So we are always loved. Therefor we can never be unloved! Have a joy filled Christmas and don't forget the job our saviour has given us to do!

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

My second time tubing was fun! Post on the first here. Right now I am feeling not so fun, it's my arms mostly, they seem to have been pulled from their sockets.... Not literally, well not quite. 

I went on the "Biscuit" which is a flat, round blow up thing with handles. It is designed for two people to ride on, but at that stage only Alice and I were ready to go. So Alice got the tube you sit in and I got the biscuit all to myself. The only problem is that with only one person on, the tendency to flip becomes greater. We bumped along behind the boat, water spraying in our faces, the "Biscuit" flipped, I fell off. 

The second time it flipped I hung on, which may not have been the smartest thing to do. I don't think I stayed hanging on for really long time, but it felt like I did. I remember hanging on and looking up at what had been the top of the "Biscuit" and seeing the white water racing past. And wondering how long I could hold my breath for. The water pulled my body back but I held on. I remember realizing that the thing wouldn't flip back up and anyway I needed to breathe. So I let go. The boat came back around and I manged to flip the "Biscuit" up the right way (not the easiest thing to do in who knows how deep water). I got up and we went again. 

A little later it decided to flip again but I stayed on, annoyingly the boat slowed down and the "Biscuit" decided to dive under water and I got left behind. After getting back on I started feeling really exhausted! but we kept going and it flipped again.

I enjoyed it though. Sarah and my sister Jane made an amazing team for that evil thing of a "Biscuit".  I got some really nice photos with my zoom lens from the boat. I managed to keep the camera dry except once when I flicked my hair right onto the lens..... not a smart move. I did have the extra UV lens thing on so I took that off and managed to dry it. 

I went on the boat a few times and got photos of some people falling off. One of whom we (as in the driver of the boat the other person and me) deliberately threw out into the bumpy water then slowed the boat. He fell of. 

My brothers enjoyed it, their hair got blown about till it just stuck straight up in the air without needing wind to blow it!

I also swam around near the shore and jumped into tubes (that weren't currently being used). Well not tied behind a boat. Other people were trying to sit in them too, which was why I decided to. We had wars where sometimes we would help each other get someone then turn and attack each other then together go hunting for another victim. I snuck up on other people and tipped them out of tubes, pretended to be a crocodile and bite their legs (with my hands) or just popped up near them.  

Sarah

Twas a fun and beautiful day. The view across the sparkling waters to the green hills all around was amazing. Yes it is painful now but I think it was worth it. I know it was.

There are no photos of me because I had the camera, but some other people have a photo of me both with the camera in my face.... hehe! I took so many photos and some of them are really nice. So for one last photo. Sarah, actually smiling a real smile not her photo smile, thanks Sarah. 

We used to have a pine tree as our Christmas tree, but then the pines we cut the tops of each year started dying so we needed an alternative. Not a "Dead" tree eg. plastic. 

So we thought why not a gum tree. Why should it have to be a pine tree? It doesn't. It is tradition to use ever green pine trees, but who says tradition means you have to do something! Originally they were a symbol of life in winter....but it is not winter at Christmas it is summer. 

Traditionally evergreens were used, well gum trees are ever greens, so are most Australian trees. So now we use gum trees for a real Aussie Christmas. They don't last quite as long but if they are cut down really early in the morning when it is still cool they last longer. 

We have also learnt from experience that the thin leafed trees also survive better than ones with the more rounded leaves. Watering the tree also helps. 

This year we have got a multi trunked tree as you can probably see from the photos. That made it have thicker foliage and Dad said it also made it easier to jam the bricks around (to hold it up in the bucket (which is inside the pot)).

Some of the decorations get a bit lost in it, because you cant hang them to far out on the branches or else the branched bend down or the baubles just slide off. And now I shall go and continue sewing those presents so I have something to put under the tree, and wrap up those others, and make the cards and....well I'm sure there is something else I have to do!

Warning a rant on an aspect of the craziness of humanity is about to explode from the page. 

Every one must be as good as everyone else. Every one must win. Without prizes, rewards, bribery we can't do anything. You need bribery to even try. No? Isn't that true? Well if it isn't then why is society screaming it at me? 

I remember when my sisters and I did Irish Dancing for a year (Since it is a more modest form of dance than some others). The company thing that did it also taught lots of other dancing styles. At the end of the year EVERY student from every class, received a trophy, identical except for the name of the student. What is the point? So every kid can win? Maybe that is a good thing and maybe not. Does this make us lazy, and never strive to be better? Is this those low expectations again?

We were meant to keep our hands
straight down by our side

The trophy was a rather immodest thing, the lady depicted looked like a belly dancer or something similar and had her arms raised above her head. At the time I thought that a rather brainless thing of the designers to do, as for the last year we had been continually told to keep our hands down by our sides. In Irish dancing your hands should nearly always be straight at your sides, unless you are doing some pattern/dancing thing with others. 

I remember Sunday school, we had to be bribed to answer questions. I wonder if that is why when the pastor asks the congregation a question he wants answered, it takes a long time for only one or two people to say anything. I also remember sometimes not liking the bribes (which were lollies) so therefore not answering the questions (If I did I'd have to eat one of those things). 

I used to play computer games and was always getting 'rewards' for finishing tasks and the like. But those things aren't even real and are quite pointless and a waste of time. Why do we spend so much of our precious time on getting pointless, virtual rewards? We do not need them. Our time is a gift from God and if we waste it, we will never get it back again. Are we being taught that we need these 'rewards' to prove ourselves? Do we think we need them for people to like us. Do computer games bring joy?

I was rather bothered when I started an online course (free, called Agriculture and the World We Live In)  and I created my profile for the site (Open 2 Study) and started getting notifications of all the badges I have got.  Yes already!

I was trying to do stuff and things kept popping up saying I had a notification. A badge for creating a profile, and another badge for confirming some part of it??? So what, I don't care! All through the course badges have been popping up.

Computer: You have been awarded the badge of knowledge for participating in the forum.  

Me: Great I ask a question because I don't get something and I'm told I have great knowledge?

Computer: You have been awarded the bronze map badge

Me: why?

Computer: You just got your third bronze badge

Me: I get badges so then I can get another, great *rolls eyes*

Computer: You have been awarded the silver quest coin badge for attempting four assessments. 

Me: Thanks I attempted them, makes me feel as if I didn't complete them and as you should know, I also got 100% on all of them

Computer: You have been awarded the Crown Jewel badge for getting 100% on all your tests

Me: You were a bit slow. I hadn't noticed (sarcastically).

and so on. That conversation is not exactly what was said, and it wasn't a conversation, it was me being annoyed in my head as I read the notifications. 

Seriously I don't need bribery. If I wanted to do this course I would do it without the badges. They are useless anyway. The 100% isn't at all amazing either. I could answer most of the quizzes before I watched the lecture. And after watching the lecture, well I have ears! And most of the time I have a memory.

I told Mum I'd finished my agriculture course. She asked me if I had got 100%. So I asked if that was an insult. I started to give an example of one of the questions (they are multiple choice). "What is it called when plants." That is a far as I got before Mummy answered "photosynthesis" which of course is the correct answer. Some were more difficult but most were similar to that one.

Awards are not bad, don't get me wrong. Some awards can mean a lot. But so many are pointless and some drive me plain craazy.

Ahhh I'm glad I could finally say this, it has been bugging me.

We should chase rewards. Yes I know what I have just been saying but we should. Heavenly rewards though, rewards that last forever. Matthew 6:19-20 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Our heavenly father wants us to have joy. So go and use your time wisely, it is a gift of God. Pursue joy and heavenly rewards. Go for the rewards worth waiting for. 

Note: The course was informative and enjoyable and there is one good thing about the badges... I had inspiration for another blog post.

It all started with the science course I am doing, saying I should try get a fifteen minute tour of a power station. Daddy works at a power station so there was a possibility something might happen. Dad also said a fifteen minute power station tour wouldn't get you very far at all. Then he heard about a tour a friend of his would be doing for a group of TAFE students. So I tagged along. It was a lot longer than fifteen minutes.

If this is the view looking out imaging what I could see when I looked straight down

I had to wear some rather well, lets say unfashionable things, not that I care about fashion. I wore a high viz shirt (bright pink with reflective stripes) trousers, glasses, a hard hat, enclosed shoes and ear plugs. The ear plugs were definitely necessary. 

This morning I was not sure what I would think about the height, but I found that in this case it didn't bother me

We looked at so much stuff. And walked over a lot of interesting things too. like water. I just got  to the top of some steps and walked onto the grid mesh, I noticed something underneath. Then I proceeded further along looking at the pools of water on either side, I looked down again and realized the stuff under the grid mesh  was not solid..... at all. More water flowed under there. I figured that really I had more of a chance of falling into the water next to me than under. Later we walked up more steps and rode on on some lifts. I think the lifts were the worst thing about today. I don't know it the heat made it worse, but my brain felt like it would pop or my insides fall out. Other than that there are no windows and the door does not have a handle.

We were now up really high and looking down I could see level upon level of grid mesh. If I looked out the view made it feel as if I must be flying or standing on top of a mountain, I don't think I have ever been in a very high, high rise building. Now I have been in a high power station.

Our guide opened a tiny door into one of the furnaces where the coal dust is burnt. The heat issuing from the small door made me remember Daniel 3:22 Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  No one could survive some place that hot. We looked at the control room, It didn't have any of the buttons and leavers and flashy lights that places like that have in movies. Just lots of computer screens. 

Once because I wore joggers, I could not go into the turbine area so I stayed in a small room with two air cons and some cabinets with switches and buttons. I did not even get told not to touch anything. Of course I didn't but I wondered what would happen if I did. According to my dad it is a very good thing I didn't. The room had air cons because the equipment in it couldn't survive in the heat, it was old, I forget what it does.

Actually I forget most of what our guide said, I did enjoy seeing everything though.

The over all impression I got was, NOISE, Wind (Only in a few high up places but so strong) and HEAT. I think that also because I couldn't really understand much of this, but maybe I would be more so if I could, I felt that the power station is an amazing feat of human technology. The size of it and how each switch does something, each has a part to play, to generate a large part of the countries electricity. 

I couldn't help thinking back to the trees. As an example of just one of Gods amazing feats. I find it difficult to see how people can know -for example- how difficult the power station is to run and how each part is necessary and then look back at a tree and say it created and sustains itself. It just isn't possible, even if you already had a power station built and you took away all the people, the power station would not be able to run itself. it needs sustains just as it did creators. Just like we do.

Psalm 3:5

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

Psalm 55:22

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Sorry for the great lack of posts recently. I have had lots of ideas and more will come, just hopefully some time too. Next week I finish school for the year and unlike public schools that do nothing for the last few weeks I have been flat out. I am very proud of managing to actually write this, today. *checks the time* Yep it still is today, but i'd better to bed. Well actually when most people read this it will already be tomorrow, as sensible people should be thinking about sleeping right now....... this probably could have been longer but well, it you want to know anything else, ask me later. Later as in another day, or any day, as long as it is day. 

Wait if someone from America reads this soon they will be reading it today, even if for me their today is yesterday. So my tomorrow will be their today, or my tomorrow night. I'm getting confused..... I'd better stop!

26th Thankyou God:
~That next year I will Lord willing have a new baby brother or sister
~ That I already have two little brothers, who are delightful all the time, except for when they are not…… They are very good ways to help one grow in patience and loose sanity 
~ And for two delightful sisters.. most of the time, they are two great friends
~And for all my other friends, not that there are really so many of them as the way I made it sound then. But I think/know that is much better than lots of friends that won’t stick around.
~For blogs, that I have one and that I have found lots of interesting ones to read. Probably too many but a few have been really encouraging and helped in my writing of stuff.
~ For horses, they are such beautiful animals. For the story of Phar Lap. I have written a report and poem on him for school today.
~For the navigation panel and document search things in a word document, and Ctrl F. I would not be able to find things without it…. Things on the computer and documents anyway.

27th Thankyou God:
~For sausages, that I am coking 4 tea tonight
~For being able to lead a bible study that I do with three other girls
~For fans
~For my chooks eyes, they are so pretty and cheeky
~For watches, particularly “Lazy People Watches” (Digital watches)
~For stamps to put on letters so I can send them long distances to friends
~For electricity and things that generate it!

28th Thankyou God:
~That I do have soo much!
“Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough” ― Oprah Winfrey
~For this challenge
“One of the main reasons that we lose our enthusiasm in life is because we become ungrateful..we let what was once a miracle become common to us. We get so accustomed to his goodness it becomes a routine..” ― Joel Osteen,
~For the joy thankfulness brings
“We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.” ― Harry A. Ironside
~For quotes I really enjoy reading them
~For the ability to talk and sing and praise God
~ For communication, email, txt, phone, blogs, forums and all the other ways we can communicate!
~For the garbage services! Twould be really bad if they didn’t exist!

29th Thankyou God:
~That everyone can be and is different… except most people like coffee.

We went to battery rocks

~That not everyone likes coffee, that there are some other humans in this world that agree with me; coffee is deadly!
~For how the dew covered grass sparkles in the morning sunlight
~For the thunder of rain pouring down onto our tin roof
~For gumboots and puddles to slosh in
~For op shops
~For sewing shops

30th Thankyou God The last Day!
~For this month
~That thanking brings so much joy
~For the new month that is about to begin (has already)
~For how amazing the whole world/universe is
~For music
~For the fact that I am alive!