sunday morning

I woke this morning to a crisp, sunny autumn day. The house was quiet. The owner of the house, over here for a few more weeks from NZ, had gone to canberra for the day, about 3 hours each way down the new expressways. Son and DIl had left for church. I really don't want to go to that particular church, and their car is only a two seater, so I'm free in that regard. I attended that church for over 5 years when my husband left the brethren group he grew up in.

I decided I would perhaps go the church about five minutes walk from here. Again, this would not be my permanent choice, but it's close and I really need somewhere to go. I opened the front door and then realised I could not go anywhere. Son and DIL won't be back for most of the day and as mentioned, the owner is also away. In some distraction, I had left my keys at college last Thursday when I left for the week. I didn't discover this till I was home. Apparently the maintenance man had picked them up, but when I went back on Friday to get them, he was nowhere around. So, no keys.

The sun was just beginning to come in my northern bedroom window. I took this photo yesterday. It's Sweetpea, the resident miniature lion here. She's a ten year old Abyssinian and like most cats, has the ability to find a warm, sunny spot. The old patchwork quilt is new to me and the rest of the family. No one recognises it, but my husband thought it was mine and packed it. It comes in handy for Sweetpea to lie on and I cover my pillow with fleece throw,because she gets there in tech day when I'm not around to shoo her off.

I've had a fairly stressful few days with a lot on my plate and my carelessness with my keys. I envied her ability to stretch and relax. Here she's twisted like a corkscrew but very relaxed. Clicking on the image will enlarge it and show her contented sleepy expression.

The mornings and nights up here are getting quite chilly and we are glad of the central gas heating in this big house. It's much cooler here than down the valley and when any of us goes to the city or down the hill, we are always surprised how much cooler it is up here. The trees are beginning to colour up for autumn. Further up the trainline, they are a bit more advanced than here, as it's higher. These two look beautiful together with the different colours.

I have a beautiful room with windows in one corner facing west over the valley and north onto jacaranda tree. However, it's not large and I find I am constantly having to tidy it, so I can find things. Not a bad thing in itself, but something I have to do carefully. Most of my stuff is packed away in bags and plastic tote boxes.
I was on the balcony this morning, going through some boxes to get warmer clothes ready for use. This spider is a golden orb spider and has legs banded in gold and brown. The web is enormous. To the left of the spider there is a huge web which doesn't show well here. It would be at least 1.5 metres in diameter. It's circular and on one plane but has other smaller webs joining it to make it three dimensional. The whole structure is then anchored to my window frames and the balcony guttering with several dozen guy ropes of silken thread. Altogether the structure is over 2 metres big. The guy ropes must be strong as we get strong winds up here at the top of the hill. The little blobs are spider's dinner, both past and future and are all trussed up in more web.

While I unpacked and repacked both my boxes and my small wardrobe, I thought how simple life is for the spider. Not really. She has built such a huge structure in the hope of getting plenty of food flying in. Outside in the rain and wind does not appeal to me. Few spiders, even those well provided for, last over the winter.

I remind myself how blessed I am to be here. When I first came, there was a time of feeling the tension drain from me, as it does for little Sweetpea. There's still some stress and strain but that's life for most people, without my circumstances adding to it. I'm cared for, I have clothing against the winter. Provision for daily needs.

It sounds trite to list these things, but I am indeed grateful for them. I'm assured that things will work out one way or another. The saying says, "This too will pass," and indeed it will. Seeing basic needs met for creatures and for me is just one small thing in knowing I will come through this stronger and freer.