A Bit of Clear Air

The main 2 meetings of the year have been and gone, and minutes written up, so I'm finding some little pockets of time to do other things, unrelated to church... I even got the sewing machine out yesterday, to do some mending, after months and months. But it wasn't sewing well, so I spent more time reading the instruction book, than actually sewing. I might try again a bit later.  

It was nice to pick up a clutch of books from the library during the week. It doesn't happen very often these days, as I do a lot of reading on my kindle.

A short week for me, coming up, as Friday we're travelling to South Australia for a milestone birthday. Her actual birthday is tomorrow - not sure how I'm feeling about that - 40years old, the youngest in the family...

The Day

The day has got away from me somewhat - trying to clear a couple of church admin tasks away, and then I got held up this afternoon, talking. 

An elderly acquaintance needed my help filling in some forms, so that took twice as long as expected, and then I dropped into the church for 5 minutes max, and some-one was there, so twenty minutes later I eventually got away.

By then it was almost tea time, walk time and desk time...

 

A Very Full Sunday

Happily, all has gone well with our very full Sunday. Over a BYO lunch at church, between the service and the meeting, I was able to have a good catch up with quite a few people.  Coffee and slice went down well for dessert.

For the first time since the ructions started in the austrlaian church wide church in October 2024, I was able to open up about my views, at the meeting. There was still pressure from one particular person for me to get stuck in and follow a particular course of action, but I felt confident enough to say I would go slowly, as I have done so far. I'm reading the needs of the congregation in a different way. 

The weather is warm and extremely steamy, so I'm sat here writing this post, then will do a books order from the libary or Amazon Kindle, and follow through with a walk after tea. Exercise has been extremely patchy the last couple of weeks, so hoping to get back to a more regular routine to build up some strength, and puff!

Not Much News

Not much news to speak of, once again. I'm between the 2 AGM's, so lots of thinking and working out to do. Women's Fellowship had their first meeting of 2026 this afternoon, about 20 women, so all in all a good meeting, and I didn't have to do anything...

Quick Post

It's been a tricky day, but all went well. 

We had a visiting pastor this morning; he was lovely, and we had a lovely sermon and lovely prayers. The Parish AGM this afternoon was busy, and I talked too much, but I think everyone was happy with the outcomes. 

Out for a flash meal tomorrow evening to celebrate the 75th birthday...

Orientated

I'm pretty sure I'm back into the swing of things at the school crossing. Didn't leave anything behind, didn't forget what to do, didn't forget the routine with gear and times.  Mind you, there weren't any children at school today, but I had a couple of stray pedestrians going over, so the time wasn't entirely wasted. 

Jim has finished his volunteering at the "Hole in One" competition and looking a whole lot better than he did 12 months ago.

So, now we have the month of February coming up with its meetings, minutes, and agendas; birthdays as well - a 75th, a 16th, and a 40th; a whole lot of good things happening.  

Not Much News

Not much news to speak of - a couple of AGMs coming up, and computer/paperwork to do with those. I'm looking forward to getting back to crossing duty, and having standing alone time to do some thinking... Will get the gear back into the car tomorrow.

The Holidays

Well, the holidays  are nearly at an end.  This time next week, I'll be back on school crossing duty. I've pretty much got most of my tasks done. That's mostly been in the mornings. In the afternoons, I've been tied up on church admin, creating and/or updating forms for the 2026 year, inducting a new person into the mysteries of the church office for bulletin and printing purposes, and service planning in the absence of the pastor. All these tasks were originally done by some-one else who has left the congregation. So, a learning curve for me, as well.

I haven't done much decluttering, although I did delete a couple of obtuse sunday school folders that were hanging around in another pictures folder. The expert on the radio said to try weeding instead of a wholesale scouring of stuff, so I did weed out one small admin box. I might try to weed a bit more after I finish this post...

Each year in January/February I create a new Guild Year Book, and I normally have it half done by now, but with the big changes in the congregation, I'm not sure whether to go ahead. We'll see.

 

Cavendish

We did a quick run to Cavendish today, for a regional church meeting for members of the LCA. We took a picnic lunch to have at their civic green, and another small esky with afternoon tea, again to have at the civic green. 

The meeting was held at the local Lutheran St Luke's Church; it was a hot day, and their hall was a hot spot. It was a good meeting, though. Each of the congregations represented are going through difficulties at the moment, but we were able to encourage each other in our confessional Lutheran christian faith.

It was a gorgeous little church inside...

Carrick Hill

We enjoyed our Boxing Day sunset session at Carrick Hill with one of the families. It was a bit warm when we arrived, but there was a beautiful cool breeze as the sun went down. 

The house was looking splendid with christmas trees in every room, decorations everywhere, and felted mice hiding, sometimes in plain sight, and sometimes in tricky hiding places. 

Cadbury Fun Run

Four girls and one fella went to Tasmania this weekend for the annual Cadbury Fun Run. The weather looked gorgeous, and meeting the stars of the show was a highlight!

Hot, Hectic and Hassled!

We"ve had an extraodinary hot day, today, which included a large funeral for a church member. There was a lot of toing and froing for both of us, then the funeral, and then the afternoon tea and a lot of talking. We were both exhausted, but recovered enough to go out for a pub meal...

Karkoo

One of our outings while in Adelaide was to Karkoo Cafe and Nursery, sited at the disused Mt lofty Train Station.  What a lovely spot for an early lunch. We even had a freight train speeding past.

A Blessed 2026 to My Readers

I don't generally make new year's resolutions anymore; haven't done for years - it takes too much mental energy that could be better used elsewhere.  However, I was listening to a speaker on the radio in November 2024, about the benefits of making a two year plan, so I created one for myself - mostly lifestyle choices. Printed it up on card, and have it amongst the bedside clutter. I reviewed it November last year - I didn't make too many changes, and ended up with the review "I'm doing okay"!

One of the items was to have an overseas trip in 2026, so the planning is well on the way for that.  Another, is to fit in three exercise sessions most days - 10 minute strength with Jules, 30 minute walk around the block, 20 minute cardio workout with Jules... I need to up my game on that, after travlling and holiday eating!

My immediate plans are to catch up on the cleaning. There are a couple of jobs carried forward from December, so they're first to get done this weekend. Then I'll do a deep clean of the bathroom, toilet and laundry on Monday (usually gets done the first Monday of each set of school holidays) and then I have another deep clean job for the rest of the week. This task can be broken down into 4 or 5 sections, so I'll spread it over the whole week. That's the mornings taken care off. In the afternoons I hope to get some decluttering done - physically - cupboards and drawers - and electronically as well. My new laptop is basically working well, but now I'm looking at the various folders and files, and they're not in the right place or are out of date. 

I have plenty to be going on with in January - especially as church matters are at a pointy end, once again.