I had a few days away visiting with my daughter and my family, it was nice to be with them for my birthday, to have a present first thing in the morning from the grandkids and they sang "Happy Birthday" and made me feel special. We had a special dinner that night, leg of lamb with garlic and roasted vegetables, a huge feast for me. So it was all very nice. I took the friend I had staying with me down to my daughter's place and she enjoyed herself too. She comes from an inland town where they wake up to frosts this time of the year so she loved the milder weather on the coast. We had a couple of walks along the Lake edge in the warmer part of the day and there were black swans and cormorants and ducks to watch and plenty of other bird life to see.

My friend is a talented craftswoman, wire worker and jewelry maker so I have a small tree hung with semi-precious stones and a spider brooch. I am not in that league craftwise. I still make crocheted or knitted rugs and that and scarves are the total of my talents. I wish I were cleverer but it is what it is. She did show me how to make a tree of life pendant but mine came out a little windblown and spindly. She went on to visit other friends on that part of the coast so I came home alone. It took a long time as buses replaced trains while track work was being done and the Sydney traffic was it's usual sluggish self.

I am just getting over a cold. Right you say, a simple cold. I can survive harder things than a cold but it makes me whiny, it makes me yearn to be pampered and petted and given cups of tea in bed, on a tray, with a rose beside it and... I can think of a heap of things I want. This is one of the times reality bites and I do realise I am all alone with no-one to care for me. Of course the kids are sympathetic if I speak to them on the phone and say: "Get better soon Mum" and "Take care of yourself." but that is all. No-one comes and tucks me into bed with a hot water bottle, makes sure I have plenty of fluids etc. I'm guessing this sounds so familiar to a lot of you out there and you are all nodding in agreement.

I am getting ready to go out to Broken Hill to see my son and my grand daughter next week and be there for part 2 of the custody case. There is nothing I can do of course except make sure my son has support. It should be cut and dried and the custody he has had so far will be reviewed and hopefully he will get greater access to his daughter the delightful Alice. She is a big three now and speaks quite nicely on the phone to Granny Sue. It will be great to see her in person and see how much she has grown. I do so miss having grandchildren living close by, mine are so scattered now.

I went next door to have dinner with my next door neighbour and his partner who is up from Sydney for a week. He should have had a cataract operation on Wednesday but it has been postponed a couple of weeks, she had taken time off to look after him so came up anyway. We had a roast leg of lamb with garlic, roasted vegetables and gravy and it was a lovely meal and so nice to have company to eat it with. The old Dad is in respite care so Brett can just rest up for a while. Like all caregivers he has become sleep deprived and prone to colds etc so the extra rest will do him good.

The new minister at our church is beginning to look around to see who does what in the parish so I am trying to step back and look like I am not engaging in the process. I have a holiday coming up and really don't want to get immersed in a new ministry until that is past. I am still tired from all the work I did before he came so I guess that is why I have the cold, too much energy expended, not enough rest. I need to remember that I am not the gal I used to be and give myself some down time from ministry and responsibilities. Harder to do than to say.

So far there are no people really sick that I have to visit which is just as well as with the misty moisty days I don't want to be on the roads more than I have to. And fortunately I can't go into the nursing homes with a head cold, too many vulnerable people there. I don't think they want me to traipse in bringing my germs with me. But just give me a couple of days of full sun and I will feel every differently about life. Somehow sitting in the sun, walking in the sun, just being outside on a pleasant day gives me the energy to go on.

Make the most of your summer, my northern hemisphere friends, winter will come to you soon enough and winter is not the most satisfactory time of the year with it's short gray days. Enjoy your sunshine going out for a while in the early morning or late afternoon on those days when it is too hot to be comfortable in the middle of the day. Venturing out into the great outdoors and looking around you is so good for your spirit, you will feel so much better for doing that. And roll on time till my next beautiful Aussie summer is here again.