Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Coffee in Newtown


Flat White at Campos, originally uploaded by sarahkeithcondie.



One of my favourite haunts in Newtown is Campos Coffee. It is so tiny that it is easy to overlook. However, its reputation for fantastic coffee ensures that people flock through its doors daily. You smell Campos before you actually see its tiny entrance. Last year my son Jonathan's birthday present to me was an outing to Campos for an affogato. Their affogato's are out of this world. This week I had a coffee with a friend at Campos.


Campos Coffee, originally uploaded by sarahkeithcondie.



We sat at the counter in front of the window, with the sun streaming in. Behind us was the chatter of customers waiting for their orders for coffee, and the sounds of the machines grinding coffee, frothing milk. A beautiful spot for a conversation with a friend. We leave to walk the streets of Newtown.

The Newtown I know is filled with beauty spots. Last year I read an article about Sydney in which the author talks about her impressions of Sydney: She asks the question is "Sydney is ...my glittering tart...or is Sydney like a weathered whore?" She continues to debate how she sees Sydney: "Sydney's glitter is tarnished. there's no doubt her youthful facade is wrinkled and her middle-aged spread is only increasing the flatulence from her roads and chimneys."

It would be easy for someone to use this description for Newtown, but if they have, they haven't explored Newtown on foot. My friend and I wandered down to the oval at Camperdown Park between Mallett and Australia Streets. It is a quiet green space bordered by old warehouses and terrace houses. There are now two cafes fronting this park. Sitting on the grass is a crowd of large prams filled with brand new babies and their exhausted Mums. They are enjoying coffee, sunshine and chatter. One of the Mum's is a friend. Her baby is screaming, so we take him for a walk down Australia street to check out Mitchell and Hopkins - a new cafe that has just opened. This was part of the old Toyota warehouse. It is now repainted and includes a child care centre and this cafe. It looks elegant and sleek.

From the front of the cafe we can smell freshly baked biscuits - passionfruit shortbread, orange poppyseed biscuits, florentines - a wonderful selection that are baked on the premises and sold either in the cafe or in packets to passers by. We both fill the pram with packets of biscuits to take home and hold the baby in an attempt to settle his screams. He seems to like lying on his tummy in my arms.


Mitchell Hopkins, originally uploaded by sarahkeithcondie.



Lawrence Hopkins and Sam Mitchell have turned an eyesore into a new beauty spot for locals looking for a new place for coffee and conversations with friends. We return the baby to his Mum and wander home. We have enjoyed the sunshine and Newtown.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The Lord our God delights in you


I have a beautiful bunch of poppies sitting on my kitchen table. I bought it last weekend and it consisted of pods with about two flowers. Each of the pods has popped and out has burst a magnificent flower.

In Kyrgyzstan, during May, the alps are covered in wild poppies. They are bright red and orange. We missed seeing them at their peak, but a few remained such as those on this postcard.

I think of God when He looks at poppies. I imagine that He looks down at His people, who are the most unlikely looking "pods" and then they burst forth - he takes great delight in our uniqueness. He loves each of his creations. I think that sometimes when we look at ourselves, we see the pod, but God sees the flower.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Learning 2.0 the Helen Blowers Way


More like DeadClassroom!, originally uploaded by bolceg.



I was asked to write an article for our work newsletter about working through 23 Steps. This is part of what I wrote:

What do you know about blogs, wikis, podcasts, rss, myspace, youtube or flickr? I have three teenage children and I have watched them embrace and use these web tools. They engage in social networking on Myspace, watch programs on YouTube, talk about doing research on wikis and I wondered if I had been left behind.

Last year, much to their amusement I decided it was time I purchased an IPod and now listen to music and podcasts on the bus or while walking. In their eyes it was definitely not a Mum thing to do. However, I thought to myself “why should young people be the only ones to get to use this wonderful technology?”

After listening to Helen Blowers on July 24th I went home and told my stunned family that I was going to learn how to create a blog, use and develop a wiki, create a spot on myspace, upload photos onto Flickr and embrace 2.0 technology. At first they laughed, but I told them that it was not too late for their mother to embrace the 2.0 web tools and start using them at home and at work. It is a long time since I have felt so inspired to learn and apply new technologies to my work context.

Helen Blowers refers to the 2.0 Librarian’s Manifesto:

“I will recognise that the universe of information culture is changing fast and that libraries need to respond positively to these changes to provide resources and services that users need and want.

Information flows down the path of least resistance. If you block a tool the users want, users will go elsewhere to find it. You cannot change the user, but you can transform the user experience to meet the user.

Your ignorance will not protect you.”

I want to be a person who embraces these new technologies and applies them to my work environment. The best way for this to happen is to play with these technologies. So, I have been playing and having a great deal of fun. At the same time, I have learnt heaps and my mind keeps thinking of ways that we at the State Library could apply these technologies to our work.

According to Helen Blowers, most young people search for their information on wikis and blogs and they are more likely to trust what a friend says than a sourced piece of information such as a text book. For me this sets alarm bells ringing – they should be using “good resources” to find answers to their questions.

It would be wonderful if the State Library went into their world and ensured that the State Library’s rich resources are resoundingly in their face, accessible and available. And that they find us and use us!

Helen Blowers has made it easy for each of us to move from a state of ignorance about 2.0 stuff to developing our knowledge and skills about these tools. Believe it or not, they are easy and fun to use.

Let me encourage all of you to set aside fifteen minutes each day and play. Believe me, you will have fun. I have discovered a world of photos, people, ideas and places that I knew nothing about until three weeks ago.

I have created a blog, I have found photos on flickr that are inspiring and uploaded them onto my blog. I have learned about technorati – a way of “googling for blogs” and much more. At present, I am getting my head around wikis.

Here is the link to Helen’s Learning 2.0 Program: http://plcmclearning.blogspot.com

The direct link to 23 Steps is: http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/#23

Its time to play!!!!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Retro Blog



My neighbour Mary Ann is keen to meet her neighbours and would like us to become more community minded. She came over last week and we had a long conversation about global warming and peak oil. She read the book by Barbara Kingsolver which has prompted her angst. Mary Ann is a bit of an activist and has decided to provoke her neighbours into action, not just talk.

She would love to set up a vege garden for the college community - particularly for faculty families. I told her that the gardener at St Paul's has a vege garden behind John Chapman house. Apparently, he has agreed to let us build a vege garden there.

Yesterday as I walked past her place, I saw that she had pegged a message to her neighbours onto her front fence encouraging people to respond. She had left a pile of paper scraps and pegs for people to contribute. There were a number of messages pegged up by passers by. Mary Ann lives on King Street, so there are people walking past constantly. I enjoyed reading the messages and added one of my own. This morning, I noticed that someone had referred to this as a retro blog.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

God is our Refuge



Sarah's Postcards, originally uploaded by sarahkeithcondie.
I shared these verses with Susannah this morning. She is in the midst of her HSC trials and was unable to sit her french exam yesterday as she was too sick. She will sit it tomorrow. Today she is feeling much better.

It is my prayer that she continues to trust our great God.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Poppies


Proof for Summer, originally uploaded by *clairity*.

Poppies are one of my favourite flowers. My husband sometimes buys me a bunch of "pods" and we watch them turn into a magnificent bunch of flowers before our eyes. You can almost hear them pop as they burst out - expressing their individuality.

We walked in meadows filled with poppies in Kyrgyzstan during June.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Remembering Lyn



This morning I read the article in the Good Weekend about Chris O'Brien's fight with brain cancer. What an amazing man and what energy, passion and devotion he has to caring for people with cancer. About six weeks after Chris was diagnosed with this cancer my friend Rhonda's cousin Lyn was diagnosed with the same type of cancer.

Rhonda's family is Lebanese, so to know Rhonda means you get to know all her family, so I have gotten to know Lyn over the last seventeen years. Rhonda's husband Phil and Rhonda were with Lyn when she passed out suddenly in "the Shop", the family business and were able to revive her. It was just after Christmas and they were not in Sydney. After being rushed to the local hospital and a CT scan, where the cancer showed its ugly head, Rhonda accompanied Lyn to Sydney.

It was the start of a nightmare of tests, surgery, chemo and radiotherapy and waiting for results. Lyn faced this sudden tragedy with much dignity and a deep trust in her God. She was cared for by a large extended family who were prepared to do anything for her and walked with her.

Lyn returned home in late February with her Mum to try to return to her life, however she could. Last week, Lyn's fight ended and she died very peacefully, with most of her family around her bedside. Rhonda rang me with this news a few hours later. At church the week before, she had told me that Lyn had been taken into hospital and wouldn't be going home.

A few months ago I was going through one of my black holes that consists of boxes of disorganised photographs from the last twenty years. I was attempting to create order out of chaos when I found a photo of Lyn with my children and Rhonda's children from a number of years ago. it captures an essence of Lyn - she loved all people and loved getting to know people - both big and small, so she would take time to chat to children and adults alike. Lyn was playing a game with the children and they were all having fun. Thee was much laughter and frivolity. She was incredibly cheerful and fun to be around - she enjoyed her life: her work in the family business, her visits to Sydney to buy clothes - she had such good taste in clothes and a fantastic eye for colour which she shares with Rhonda. She would put colours together that just seemed to work.

Rhonda started making patchwork quilts a few years ago. After a trip to New Zealand she bought a collection of fabrics to make something to remind her and her family of their family holiday. They sat in her cupboard for a year until I visited one day and she got them out to show me again. I lent her a book of ideas and instantly she was inspired and set to work. Lyn must have been visiting around this time, as she got inspired too to learn all about patchwork. She also had some New Zealand fabrics, she bought herself a machine and started work - she chose a design of a square in a square - simple but effective.

Rhonda completed her quilt very quickly and then made a second with the scraps left over - both are exquisite and show Rhonda's clever use of colour. I often asked how Lyn's quilt was going, but her progress was much slower. In hindsight, Rhonda wonders whether her tumour affected her ability to sew which went unnoticed.

One of Lyn's friends finished piecing her quilt and then quilted it earlier this year. Many of Lyn's friends and family signed the back of the quilt which she was able to enjoy these last few weeks. Rhonda told me that it was spectacular in its simplicity and use of colour. They were going to place the quilt over Lyn's coffin. Lyn has left us with far more than just this quilt. Her friends and family have many memories of a woman who "feared the Lord", who cared for many people in her church and local community and brought colour into their lives with her cheerfulness, her passion and enthusiasm for life.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Sweet Potato Soup



Yesterday I bought sweet potatoes because they were cheap and made soup with them. I couldn't find a recipe, so I made one up. Here is the recipe:

2 brown onions - finely chopped
2 garlic cloves - finely chopped
1 kg peeled and chopped sweet potato (about)
400g tin crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup lentils
1 litre stock - salt reduced chicken
extra water
pepper to season

Fry onions and garlic until golden - the longer the better. Add the sweet potato and cover with stock - add extra water if the vegetables are not covered. Add tin tomatoes and lentils. Bring to boil, and then simmer gently for about 50 minutes or until vegetables and lentils are soft. Blend with bamix and serve with a spoonful of yoghurt. Delicious!

A Thousand Splendid Suns


Sunday Afternoon, originally uploaded by ~Panache.

I have just finished reading this book by Khaled Hosseini. The story is about Mariam and Laila who live in Kabul in Afghanistan. Both women end up marrying this man called Rasheed who treats them appallingly. It might well be a story of many women living in Afghanistan during the 1980s and 1990s - from when the Russians retreated. The Taliban came to power in the early 1990s and women were forced to remain at home, living behind their burqua. It is a story of survival - these women survived more heartache, tragedy and pain than anyone should ever have to endure.

A friendship develops between these two women and they help each other face Rasheed with courage until his demise. Despite the fact that he abused both women dreadfully, Mariam pays for his death with her life which she does with dignity and integrity. Laila manages to leave Afghanistan with her two children when Tariq her childhood lover reappears. They begin a life together in Murree in Pakistan that is peaceful, quiet and happy.

Laila chooses to return to Kabul and pours her life into helping the children in an orphanage - her father and friends many years earlier had predicted that she would leave her mark on Afghanistan.

I had difficulty reading this book as it was confronting and painful. The way women are treated and continue to be treated by fundamentalist Islamic groups is harrowing and inexcusable. However, it is good to be reminded that there are women around the world for whom this type of existence is the norm.

Numbering Our Days



faceoff, originally uploaded by solecism.
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

A dear friend shared this verse with me soon after I had my mild stroke. It challenged me to think hard. After reading this verse again and again, thinking, pondering and reflection, and talking to friends, I wrote this devotion:

How do you fill your days? How do you see time - each hour, day, week, year - as units to fill endlessly? Do you have plans, hopes or dreams of what you will do with your life? Is your diary filled with future events? Moses was a man who wanted to reach the Promised Land, but at the end of his life, he realised he had spent all his days working towards a goal that would not be achieved in his lifetime. he was confronted with hs mortality.

I was recently confronted with my own mortality after suffering a mild stroke. My life was filled to the brim with lots of good stuff. Domestic chores happened in the few cracks of space. My days were filled as if I were some invincible goddess with time to live life exactly as she chose. But I am no goddess and I am certainly not immortal. If we number our days, we accept that the time we've been given is a gift. Living as if today were our last day, we'd treasure it and think carefully about filling it - about fulfilling our responsibilities, such as being loving in the important relationships in our lives. We wouldn't presume to be in control of our future (see James 4:13-16). Yet in the midst of this uncertainty, we can still live each day confidently and at peace, trusting in the goodness of God that he will provide, sustain, love and not abandon. We would also hold confidently to the great hope of an eternal destiny.

Each day is God's - if we have wise hearts we will cherish each day as a uniqe opportunity to live as if we truly do fear our God. I am thankful to God for the opportunity to think about how I fill my days.

Prayer: "Loving Father, in the midst of my busy life, please help me to number my days. Help me to remember my mortality and that eternity with you is a reality. Thank you for today and each day of my life to come - they are yours - please help me to fill them wisely. I give you my diary, my plans, hopes and dreams - may you give me a wise heart as I fill my days." Amen.

It is still a challenge to think about how I fill my days.

He Restores my Soul



Fifteen months ago, I had a mild stroke which changed the nature of my life significantly. One aspect that changed was my ability to read the bible. I was on heaps of medication that caused sleeplessness and shakiness. I felt like I was pumped full of adrenaline and despite feeling tired, it was hard to sleep.

I earnestly desired to read God's word. This morning I read Psalm 42 which reminded me of how I felt at this time:

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirts for God, the living God. Where can I go and meet with God?"

About six weeks after my stroke, out of the blue, a friend who has had chronic fatigue since 1989 called me. She wanted to know how I was. We hadn't spoken in over a year, and the day before, while she was doing online shopping at Koorong books, she felt like God was telling her to buy me this book called "God's Psychiatry" by Charles L Allen. She couldn't work out why on earth I would need or even want a book like this.

When she heard how I was, she said, "now I know why God was telling me to buy you that book." She then said "Sarah, you know your favourite Psalm is Psalm 23, well, God is telling you that it is time to lie down and rest. I am going to send you a copy of this book - it contains a series of devotions on Psalm 23 - I think you will find it helpful."

For the next six weeks, I read Psalm 23 every day. I memorised it and pondered its words and let the kernels of its truth feed me. It was an amazing and eye opening experience. I discovered that taking time to read God's word slowly and savouring its truth was what fed my soul. In fact, as David wrote in this Psalm "He restores my soul" - I discovered the reality of this.

I was asked to write a devotion for a book called "devotions for ministry women". This is what I wrote:

He restores my soul

Events in life can knock the stuffing right out of us. Our inner being gets worn down and we lose our zest for life, a bit like an orange that's been juiced, leaving a discarded skin. These words "He restores my soul" are a wonderful reminder that the Lord, the Great Shepherd, is the one who revives us and makes us whole again.

In Psalm 23, David uses the image of a shepherd caring for his sheep to describe the relationship he has with God. The shepherd is everything to his sheep - their guide, provider and protector.

I have been thinking about how my Shepherd restores my soul when I am downcast and crushed in spirit. In recent years there have been many occasions when I've felt like that empty orange peel as we watched friends face tragedies in their lives and more recently as I recovered from a life-changing illness. Reading God's word has revivied me time after time.

Can I encourage you to open your Bible when your spirit feels crushed, and feed on his marvellous word - it will nourish and restore your soul. Turn to the words of Psalm 23 and remind yourself that in Jesus you indeed have a shepherd who will lead you beside still waters, who is with you when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death - his rod and staff will comfort and protect you. Remember that one day we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Prayer: "My Lord, thank you that you are my Good Shepherd. Thank you that you walk with me and that when my spirit is crushed and I am downcast, you are the restorer of my soul. Help me to remember that you laid down your life for me and that one day I shall dwell in your house forever." Amen.

Today, I am reminded once again of the importance of this deep truth.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Ricky Baxter



If you click on the question mark, you will open a poster of the man himself.

Paul's Prayer for the Colossians for Bible Study

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Iron Cove Bay

One of my favourite Sydney walks that I have done frequently whilst "Convalescing in Sydney". Last week I picked up Johnnie from school and we drove to park below Leichhardt pool to start our walk. Spring was in the air - it was walm and balmy and we could smell the wattle and bottle brush. We passed school groups participating in afternoon sport, paced over the Iron Cove Bridge and visited the new cafe. The outlook is splendid - views across to Rozelle Hospital and its grounds, but the service was poor. Johnnie ordered an iced chocolate and got an iced coffee which kept him up all night. I ordered a berry friand and got an almond one. We waited ages and had to ask the staff for our food three times. Not a great experience to repeat.

Despite this, we enjoyed the warmth in the air and being in the sunshine. Johnnie talked about the holocaust - a topic he is covering in school and expressed surprise at the lack of knowledge of his classmates. I wondered where he had picked up information about Auzwich, Anne Frank, who started World War 2 and Hitler. His insights of our world often surprise me.

There are masses of wildflowers out - spiderflowers in purple, crimson and pink, wattle and grevillea and bottle brushes. The tide is low and we laughingly remember watching a small boy kick a soccer ball during a game that flew out to the water and started drifting across the bay. He and his Dad decided it was too cold to chase. A second ball hit a parked car - a dangerous place to be on a Saturday morning.

I love the coloured boats moored in the bay - they are red, blue, yellow and green - bright and friendly. They bounce gently with the tide.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

How to make an American Quilt

I don’t have many friends who share my passion for quilt making, so I mostly work solo at home. Last year I pieced a quilt together for my Mum called “Sun on the Water” – she lives by the sea. It is for a queen sized bed and is mostly blues and yellows. I love it and now have to quilt it by hand – I haven’t started this – it is such a big project that I keep putting it off and starting something smaller.

Kyrgyzstan

I have recently visited Kyrgyzstan and would love to return. One of the main languages spoken there is Russian. It would be good to be able to speak to the Kyrgys and Russians who live there – I met a few and they mostly speak English as well as Russian and Kyrgy. Surely, I could learn to speak their language!

Convalescing in Sydney

Last year I had a mild stroke and it totally changed my life. A friend gave me a book by Alice Steinbeck called “Without Reservation” which inspired me. Alice takes a year off and travels. From each place she visits she sends herself a postcard. I was not in a position to travel, but something I could do was walk. As it was winter, and as anyone who lives in Sydney knows, when it is a sunny day in winter, it is just gorgeous to be outdoors.

I started to write a book called “Convalescing in Sydney” in which I talked about some of the walks I did during this difficult time. These walks contributed to my recovery.

One of my favourite outings was to catch a bus to Circular Quay and walk around to Mrs Macquarie’s chair. The sun sparkling on the water, the light reflecting from the shells of the opera house made this place seem magical.