by Krista | Jul 12, 2012 | Fabulous Friday
As I read this piece today I couldn’t help but smile, amazed for the umpteenth time how the truth I need to hear always comes when I need it most.
“It is going to be OK.
Take a deep breath and then another, and just know that everything is going to be just fine.
That big thing you are fearing is so much bigger in your imagination than it is in real life…and it is all going to work out. You know from experience that not everything is easy, or comes easy….but that you have always made it through everything that has come along. You will make it through this too.
Please don’t be afraid of change, dear friend, change has to happen for things to grow…for things to get better…..for things to become what they are meant to become. Change is good. Change is uncomfortable and scary and sometimes seems unnecessary….but change MUST happen for things to progress.
You have a choice in this moment and in the next….and the next and the next and the next. So, if it’s too hard to choose peace in this moment….know that you have the choice to choose it in the next. You get as many chances as you need to choose to feel peace……and, you can do this. You can feel peace even inside of uncertainty.
Just be still, and listen very closely.
It really is going to be ok….and there really is a plan.
You are very very loved.”
Brave Girls Club
It’s going to be OK. We are loved.
I’m so glad. 🙂
After a very wild and stormy week the sun and clouds put on a glorious spectacle of light and color this evening.
With such a sky to dazzle us, Luna (my dog) and I had to be outside. It may be the middle of winter in Australia, but this evening it was warm enough to go for a trek in a sundress and wellies. How amazing is that?!
We headed for the bush, down a rocky gully, through waist-high grasses and along a faint track made by tractor tires.
I love how the trees and bushes look like exquisitely detailed etchings against that fantastic sky.
Like this orchid that has taken up residence in the dead tree below.
And this lovely old tree standing stark and tall beside a hardy prickly pear.
The light was so glorious as the clouds ebbed and swelled in great masses of color and form that I kept having to stop and exclaim to Luna how wondrous it all was. Alas, since she can’t actually see over the grass, the view was utterly lost on her. Instead she ran pellmell through the underbrush startling cows and sniffing out kangaroos.
We both had a marvelous time.
As the sun slipped behind the clouds once more, Luna and I headed for home, stopping often along the fence line to look out over the fields and up into that breathtakingly beautiful sky.
It’s so good to be home, to be loved, to take heart once again that no matter how dark things get, there is always hope.
We’re going to be OK. 🙂
by Krista | Jul 11, 2012 | Compatriot Wednesday
Today at Across the Cafe Table we’re sharing our favorite festivals from around the world.
I grew up attending two festivals every year: Scandinavian and Scottish. They were highlights of my year, places where I met the same dear friends and ate traditional foods that we dreamed of all year long.
Now that I’m in Australia, I’ve started new festival traditions.
I’m very excited about the Jumpers and Jazz Festival coming up this month in nearby Warwick, Queensland. With chocolate workshops, wine-tasting, yarn-bombing and lots of great music, it looks like a jolly time indeed.
The best festival I’ve attended recently is the Abbey Medieval Festival on Bribie Island. The largest medieval festival in the Southern Hemisphere, this festival is a flamboyant celebration of all things medieval.
Yesterday I showed you pictures of a medieval gypsy caravan and wedding (click here to see pictures)
There were so many other sights to see!
Like these medieval Syrian dancers who twirled, dipped and shimmied to the beat of drums as they gracefully waved silk scarves.
Adorable children dressed up as Vikings complete with their own little wooden swords and shields.
You could take a ride on camels like this fellow who looks like he’s grinning for the camera. 🙂
Or cheer wildly for gallant knights showing their prowess and chivalry on the field of battle.
When the battle was over you could wander from one medieval camp to another, learning how to make braided trim and amber jewelry from the Vikings or how to bind books from the French.
And you couldn’t miss out on the wonderful array of shops where you could find everything from hand-made pottery and beautifully wrought iron to exquisitely soft furs and luscious felted wool.
Do you like attending festivals? What is your favorite one?
by Krista | Jul 10, 2012 | Gulliver Tuesday
I am home safe and sound after a marvelously fun weekend of medieval camping with my Blackwolf friends at the Abbey Medieval Festival this weekend.
What a jolly time we had roasting a pig on a spit, talking and laughing at night around the campfire, and meeting people from all over the world.
One of my favorite things was visiting the other groups at the festival. Especially the medieval gypsy caravan.
I fell in love with the delicious colors, dreamy fabrics, and gorgeous jewels, tassels and coins that adorned everything from tree trunks to hemlines.
I wanted to shoo the crowds away so I could escape into one of these scrumptious little tents festooned with swathes of silk and tapestry, and disappear from the modern world for a while.
Then there was the medieval gypsy clothing. Oh my. Such luscious swirls of fabric and tinkling of bells as the women twirled and danced. It is all so exuberant, joyous and beautiful that I couldn’t wipe the beaming smile off my face.
I loved it so much that I dragged Bear back for a second look and arrived just in time for a medieval gypsy wedding!
We weren’t quite dressed for the occasion, but this lady was. Isn’t she stunningly regal in her exotic jewels and glossy black braids?
The medieval wedding was announced by the lovely old man with the wonderfully interesting staff.
The drummers arrived next. First the men in their fir-trimmed hats, then the women in their lavish outfits.
The groom walked in wearing a jaunty red sash and then at last the gypsy bride in her sumptuous red, gold, and white dress.
I liked standing at the back so I could see the gorgeous veils embroidered in gold, the circlets trimmed in leaves and flowers, and the multi-layered skirts that swished and jangled as the women swayed.
Gorgeous.
I’ve never seen anything so wondrously fairytale-ish.
Have you ever seen a gypsy wedding?
by Krista | Jul 5, 2012 | Fabulous Friday
I’ve been bustling non-stop for the last few days baking loaves of garlicky, Turkish flatbread, mountains of cookies, and a big bucket of chicken curry, all in preparation for three days of medieval camping with my dear friends this weekend.
We’re heading over to beautiful Bribie Island for the annual Abbey Medieval Festival and I am so excited.
Three whole days of camping in our oh-so-cozy Bedouin tent, making cheese and smoking homemade sausages over the campfire, and spending hours talking and laughing with old and new friends.
I can’t wait to taste steaming mugs of my friend Jack’s homemade chai tea cooked in a little cast iron pot – a recipe he’s been perfecting over the last few weeks. It will be so good on these frosty winter mornings before the sun warms us up.
And now I must check my to-do list one more time then head to bed where no doubt I shall sleep like a rock.
What are you looking forward to this weekend?
by Krista | Jul 4, 2012 | Compatriot Wednesday
Last time we went on a stop-any-ol-place-you-like drive through the Italian Alps. (Click here to see photos)
Today we’re heading up, up, up into the mountains to a stunning lookout atop a waterfall.
The drive alone is absolutely gorgeous, the road narrowing as it winds through pristine alpine villages and emerald green meadows.
The higher we get the rockier the terrain as the treeline thins and craggy cliffs emerge from behind fluffy white clouds.
The windows are wide open letting in warm, late afternoon sunshine and cool mountain breezes.
It feels exquisitely wonderful to be alive.
My stomach lurches only a little bit as my friend Margo expertly guides the car up the edge of the mountain. I try not to think about the sheer drop to our left and keep my gaze fixed on the soaring peaks aglow in sunshine. Knowing I’m only a little ways away from Switzerland makes me happy and distracts me from unpleasant fears of plummeting to my death.
At last we emerge on the mountain top, and any anxieties are quickly forgotten in the stunning vistas that await us.
We are speechless.
Without any explanation needed, we spend the next while alone with our thoughts, gazing across the mountains, down the plummeting stream, letting the winds cool our faces as we try to take it all in.
With hardly another soul around, it was the perfect place to be quiet, to rest, to be still. A wonderful spot to let all the stresses and anxieties of life melt away.
Next time I’ll show you more of this mountain top reverie.
Where is your favorite waterfall?
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