Good Company

The evening closes in on a warm summer's day and also another year.

The wine is coursing through me and through my friends but not down into the tributary of political discourse that can end up in an almighty row, but down the waterfalls of laughing memory.

Long forgotten stories and cackles emerge of times past while grand plans are made for the future still to be lived.

Sharing bread, barbeques, wine and those generous anecdotes - the simple gentleness of caring for the people we love.

Here's hoping 2012 is an awesome year for all of us. May everyone experience calm, peace, excellent health and success.

And may it be filled with good food, good friends and good memories......oh yes and good wine!

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."
~~ Oprah Winfrey

When barging in Eastern France in July 2008 my friends and I experienced good food, good company, good memories and good wine!



I have put my favourite photo taken in Norway as my header photo and imagine floating away into the mist on a wonderful adventure.

"Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy."
~~ Lao Tzu

Reading Poetry

It's a forgotten pleasure in our rushed days, to leaf through a slim volume of verse, perhaps while sitting in a train or when resting by a tree in the city park.

Everyone should keep a book of poetry about their person.

Even to read four lines of Keats while waiting for a friend will enrich your day.

Here is Keats, for example, on the pleasures of red wine:

O for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool'd a long ago in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country-green,
Dance, and Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth!

What a phrasemaker he was!

Words well chosen can fill your heart with joy.

So reject the empty clatter of the penny dreadfuls and keep a book of poetry on your person at all times.

"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words."
~~ Robert Frost

I was out bushwalking in Cromer, Sydney in April 2010 and came across this heart carved out in a stone.....it made me smile.



I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my very special blogging buddies a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hol­i­days, and Happy Hanukkah! May all of your aspirations be realized. And please take care and stay safe.

Warmest heart hugs
Peggy xxx

Choices Not Goals

It is amazing by changing the use of a word, we can change our thought patterns.

When I thought of the word "goal" I thought of the word "should" and that lead me to rebelling against achieving my project/task.

By changing the word to "choice", I felt freer and less stressed. I found it to be a much more powerful motivator and the pressure subsided.

Consequently there is no timeframe when I "choose" to do the project, resulting in a pleasurable experience as opposed to the pressure of achieving a "goal".

Once again it comes back to enjoying the journey rather than focusing on a specific destination.

So I choose to be open minded and curious and accept my shortcomings, just as I welcome the rainbow.

I also choose to accept and love myself unconditionally and to love, nourish and take care of my body.

Today I choose to embrace the silver lining of my imperfections and as always am thankful for the abundant blessings I have in my life.

"Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit."
~~ William James


I want to be like this tree on Sydney Harbour, I want to grow and succeed even when the odds are stacked against me. Photo taken October 2011.

Walking with Toddlers

Toddlers don't understand the concept of walking as a function. For them it is a chance just to amble about while staring at bricks and clumps of earth and marvelling at how they came to be on the pavement.

They double back, walk sideways and often simply stop walking altogether before staring attentively up into the sky.

Instead of getting cross and trying to hurry them on, embrace the way they follow one impulse of curiosity after another.

Toddlers are the masters of instinct. Once you have rejected your agitated impulses that seem intent on driving you on and on you will discover what it truly means to be relaxed.

At first this process may be frustrating for a hassled adult, but once you have abandoned the hope of being somewhere at a specific time you will find yourself revelling in a state of childlike torpor.

While following this nobler means of perambulation the world around you will begin to morph into a more magical place.

Sticks you would have otherwise trodden over turn into the staffs and swords that swoosh through the air to the echo of brave, long-forgotten heroes.

"The fundamental job of a toddler is to rule the universe".
~~ Lawrence Kutner


These are photos of my beloved Joseph when he was a toddler. He is now 5 years old and will be starting school in 2012. I feel so blessed to have shared one day a week for 5 years looking at the world with this beautiful soul.

Philosophising and Art from the Streets

Sometimes you have to talk to find out what you think!

"The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it."
~~ Bertrand Russell



My friend Rosemary invited me to an exhibition on Cockatoo Island in Sydney on 7th December called "Outpost Project" - "Art from the Streets".
Below are some photos I took at this vibrant event. It was such an enjoyable day and we also treated outselves to a delicious lunch with a glass of wine and listened to some fabulous reggae music.