Blog for Thursday 8th January 2026

Today would have been our precious mother, grandmother and great-grandmother's birthday had she still been with us. I miss her terribly. She was an incredible human being.

Tring-tring-tring! I sat up and made some wild swings in the direction of my i-phone on my bedside table in order to stop the noise. It was 3.45am and it was not my alarm but a phone call. I switched it off as my eyes could not focus and I thought if it was important they would phone me back. Who on earth would be phoning me at that of hour of the day?

I slumped back into bed but was so wide awake after all that kerfuffle, that I eventually got up before my alarm began her little ditty to wake me at four o’clock!

Once up I checked my phone it and it was one of my brothers phoning from the Netherlands – he had no idea of the time here and was asking me something about my being stuck on WhatsApp to some other friends on WhatsApp and that he could not add anything to our common WhatsApp Group. Yes, all that was as clear as mud to me too! As if I knew what to do! Hah!

I answered him via text and told him that I had turned my phone off and on, hoping that would somehow solve the problem. That is my IT expertise for all things gone wrong! Turn it off and then on again at the wall, on the phone, computer, laptop, i-pad or whatever, and it seems to work!

After my Quiet Time I went downstairs again, unpacked the dishwasher and repacked it with all the dishes in the sink. Then I finished making the milk tartlets and made a plate of egg and lettuce sandwiches for our visitors who were coming out to tea this morning.

I had a shower, got dressed and woke Ken up.

At about twenty to nine, our good friend Peter, from down the road who helping renovate, build or whatever is needed to be done on Tamryn’s container home up on the hill, arrived. We coerced him into coming in and having a mug of coffee with us, but when he saw our visitors arriving, he bolted his coffee down and was gone like the wind after briefly greeting them!

We had such a pleasant morning with Nick, Phoebe, Julian and Harriet and we caught up with all their news. We had not seen them for about a year, so we had much to talk about.

Phoebe had made some delicious peanut butter biscuits – and I asked her for the recipe as the biscuits were really so yummy, and bless her heart, she sent it to me in the late afternoon. Yahee! A new recipe to try.

Just before they went down to the river for Julian to throw a line in and try his luck at snagging a fish, Ken got a phone call from our mechanic to say that our ute’ was ready for pickup. So, Nick and Phoebe suggested that Ken go into town with them, and they would drop him at the mechanics and Ken could then drive our ute’ back home. Wonderful!

So, that is what they did.

Paddy phoned me later, as he and Matt’ needed a lift across the river as they drove up to the farm in Paddy’s vehicle which cannot come across the river. I went down at about four-ish to pick them up.

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On my way down to fetch Paddy and Matt' as I opened the first gate, I saw Peter was behind me on his way back home after a long day’s work on Tamryn's container home in this horrible heat, so I left the gate open for him, and he closed it for me. Again, down at the river Peter opened the gate and left it open for Paddy and Matt’ to come through. It is amazing how a small act like that is so appreciated as one gets weary of opening and closing gates and hopping in and out vehicles! Well, I do sometimes, but on the other hand, it is forced exercise which is good for one they say!

As I was not sure whether Paddy and Matt’ would be here for supper or not I made a cold pasta, salad, cheese and tuna dish for our supper. That way it really did not matter what time we ate, plus it was so hot today.

Once Paddy and Matt’ arrived here it was all systems go-go-go! They had bought a brand-new pump and were keen to get the irrigation system up and working, so they were soon out doing just that.

What a lovely sight to see the pods squirting water but Paddy and Matt' got soaking wetly a blessing in disguise!

While we were waiting for Paddy and Matt' to get back to the top shed Ken and I did our daily devotional.

Then the four of us enjoyed what was left of the day together.

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What lesson did I learn today? Not to stress if our home is not as neat as I want it to be – but rather to enjoy the company of our visitors!

What am I grateful for today? Time spent catching up with young friends, and the safe arrival on the farm of Paddy and Matt’.

My saying for today is …