What Princess Morag has learned this summer...

1. Summer with children aged 5 and 6 is easier than any of the previous summers.  [N.B. - still not easy.]

2. Princess Morag does not have the motivation to get up and out in the morning to avoid the heat later in the day unless she has an actual plan to meet up with other human beings.

3.  Roald Dahl books are as awesome as the Princess remembered (but seem shorter).

4. A new t-shirt makes her happy.

5. Swimming is much easier when you have a stronger core (for the first time in her life).

6. That wanting/wishing/hoping/praying/pretending that people will act the way you want them to is not effective.

7. Going to the beach is a lot more fun when you go with friends.

8. Exercise and time outdoors is not optional if she wants to stay sane.

9. You can make a great roast chicken in the slow cooker.

10. The car is a viable place to retreat to when the Princess is desperately trying to hang on to her last nerve and the kids are being noisy.  The thuds are still audible but not the screeching!

Linking up at chattingatthesky.com

Knocking at the door.

I wonder how many doors Joseph knocked on.
I wonder how much pain Mary was in.
How close together were her contractions?
How much time did they have?
How many times did they hear "no"?

The Princess has been applying for jobs. So has Sir Rianus. Each time, it feels like they are knocking at a door, asking to come in. And so far, all they have heard is "no". There is no room for you here. Someone else has been chosen.

One day, there will surely be a "yes". But in the meantime, it is hard to keep knocking. It is hard to cope with the anxiety of it all. Trying to steal themselves for the potential rejection, feeling so unwelcomed.



The Princess is singing this children's nativity song in hopefulness!


  Rat-a-tat-tat, Rat-a-tat-tat, 
 Yes! Yes! Yes! 
 There is a little room 
 And you may stay here, 
 We have a little place for strangers. 
 Come in from the night 
 To a stable so bare 
 Which is full of warmth and friendliness-and-safe from dangers. 
 Yes, there is a little room, 
 There is a little room, 
 There is a little room for strangers.

belong - five minute Friday

I walked round the block tonight and it was a very different view from my usual farm animals and mountains.  The view of suburbia was distracting, I noticed the houses that were nicely painted and the yards full of beautiful blooms.  I noticed the houses that were in need of a paint job and their yards with bushes left unpruned. And I wondered do I belong here? I am only here for a vacation, but they are good to try a lifestyle on for a week, right? Do I belong where I can smell the salt in the air, or where the air is clear and always dry, dry, dry? Do I even belong in this land where the flags are striped and starred in red, white and blue? Where the sky is blue instead of grey and the grass is coarse instead of soft and green.

r />