Warm

Well,
after being given some gorgeous presents
which included these beautiful flowers

and lots of heartfelt goodbyes,
I've left work for six months of Long Service Leave.
(Long Service Leave, for those of you who don't know, is additional leave that is given in Australia and New Zealand if someone stays with an employer for a certain length of time. It's to do with our colonial past; it used to be a way of enticing public servants to come out to the furthest reaches of the Empire...and it's a fabulous institution!)

This is a real change of pace for me
and it's started beautifully ~ I spent my first weekend at a retreat in a lovely, secluded property on the outskirts of Perth. It was wonderful to reconnect with Nature out in the bush and in the gardens:

Proteaceae


Lichen on granite


Xanthorrea


Winter narcissus

I also felt blessed to spend time with some truly wonderful people. I caught up with old friends and made some new ones. We meditated and walked and danced and shared delicious, lovingly prepared meals. We also created mandalas. I drew one in white pencil, using the beautiful camellias and sweet alice that were growing in the gardens as inspiration:

Camellias

Mandala in progress

Molly, poor love, had to go to the cattery.

As you might be able to tell,
she's terribly timid and it was horribly cold
so she was very, very glad to get home.

Since then we've been doing a lot of snuggling on the couch,
Molly and I,
and
in~between~times
I've been making a Monroe Lacy Stole:

I can't wait to get to the edging ~ I'm going to put in some small glass beads.

I've also been keeping warm with this beautiful, hand dyed, feather and fan scarf, which I couldn't help but buy from Spacefrog's etsy store:

What's bringing warmth into your world?

Retreat

I'm feeling very rested.
I've recently come back from a beautiful women's weekend retreat.

I went to a property in the forest

and spent two days with gentle souls

in a very special and sacred part of the Earth.

I meditated

and read

and had reiki,

took long, solitary walks

out by granite outcrops and huge red~gum trees,

soaked in the stillness and the quietness and the wildness,

sang,

slept,

walked a sacred spiral by candlelight,

prayed softly,

drew mandalas of stars and women with knowing eyes,

shared delicious meals rich in replenishing food and laughter

... it was full of loveliness and I feel so blessed to have been invited.

Woorooloo Brook, prayer flags and gum trees.

The bridge.

The dam. Last year we floated tea lights on it at night. It was so pretty.

The Chinese Tallow tree in winter.

The perfumed garden.

Bliss

*