Making your House into a Frangipani House

To Feng Shui or not to Feng Shui - I used to Feng Shui, but in the process realised that there is something more powerful. There is a secret underpinning Feng Shui and I'll share it with you.

The first Frangipani House I remember was my Aunty Harlein and Uncle Bruce's house in Dee Why. One of the first houses in Dee Why, it had a huge frangipani tree out the front. Inside that house, you would find amazing pieces of furniture - rooms full of wonderful things to look at. My Aunty loved to collect antiques and the front veranda room only had things made of brass in it. When I played hide and seek in that house, and was hiding under a piece of furniture, I would wonder why the legs of a table had feet with claws that held a ball of wood. It gave me fruit for my imagination, and I imagined that furniture walking around when no-one was watching.

Lots of love was present in that house and my Uncle loved to bake - so we always had pikelets or possum bellies to look forward to. MMM possum bellies... sounds like something out of the Clampets doesn't it? It was just savoury mince, but my uncle always had names for his food when kids were around... I think he loved to hear us go... URRRRRRRRRRRRGH yuckky. I never could try possum bellies, but I remember them fondly now.

My uncle Bruce's motto was to be found in a tapestry above the kitchen door...'Good Better Best, Never Let It Rest - Till your Good is Better and Your Better is Best'. He made the most wonderful sponge cakes in that kitchen. Sponge cakes that won prizes at the local church fetes. Always First Prize, and I know it drove the women church memebers crazy, trying to figure out how he did it. Sponge cakes that till today, no one I know can replicate. He made them with a special formula that he gave to me... and even I can't replicate it - and I have his old cake tins. You see he made those cakes with his own special love. Once he passed away, no one else could make those cakes the way he did - his love was unique.






The old home at 79 Pacific Parade Dee Why

Each one of those rooms in that house was special and filled with a unique love that was there because of how my Auntie Harlein and Uncle Bruce created it. Each of us has a unique ability to create a wonderful home... full of love and interesting bits and pieces of furniture even if it does come from the Salvos...

I'll give you the secret to Feng Shui - we don't need to be Feng Shui masters or even know about Feng Shui, we just need to know this... put your love into each room, fill it with welcome for each person who enters then bless each person as they enter in.

Spiritual Fruit

As we get older our physical bodies decline, but there is no need for our spiritual selves to decline. In fact, as we age it is a time when our spiritual self can be blossoming and bearing fruit. Instead of spending excessive amounts of time and focus on our physical being, what if we were to spend lots and lots of time on our spiritual well being? Now I am not saying ignore your physical body - we all know it is important to eat well, to dress ourselves lovingly and treat ourselves well. We are informed even on TV commercials now what types of food suit our bodies, and what types damage us. But do we know what things are good for us spiritually? Do we know what things damage us spiritually?

If your spirit could be likened to a tree - do you water your spiritual tree, and do you feed your spiritual tree? Is your tree growing strong, or is it withering? What types of fruit would your tree bear? The Bible tells us in Galations 5:22-23 that the fruit of the spirit is; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I imagine a tree with a variety of fruit that represents these spiritual fruits. I paint, and this verse in the Bible gives my artist's imagination, a wonderful image of a healthy tree flourishing with amazing fruit.

What if each day we consciously imagined that we are feeding the fruit of our tree by being kinder, more loving people? Listening to the still small voice of God each day, I work on the fruits of the spirit a little more. At the end of the day, I reflect on whether I helped this fruit, wither or grow a little more.

I invite you to join me.

The Still Small Voice Within

Within us all is an built guide... a direction finder if you will... our internal compass that gives us direction... a quiet little voice that gives us information about what to do, where to go, gives us hints and lets us know when we have gone awry. It is the still small voice of intuition.

How many times have you thought after an event - I knew I shouldn't have done that! or - Boy am I glad I paid attention that time! Intuition has played quite a large part in my life, sometimes my intuition isn't a still small voice, it is just a feeling in my gut that seems to indicate yes or no. Take for example last weekend. My husband and I had gone exploring around the Byron Bay area and decided on the way home to look for the entrance to some beach houses we had wandered by on a walk down Lennox Beach.

So we took a dirt track for miles that was seemingly going nowhere, but given the choice to turn back I felt really strongly to go on. When we reached the end of the track, the bush had been set on fire, and was blazing away quite nicely. I called the fire brigade, and my husband started throwing sand on the fire. Just as we were starting to put out the fire, a ute arrived with a group of young people. We all managed to get the fire under control.

My still small voice within has made itself known at various points in my life... My first husband seemingly disappeared - I was washing up one day and my little voice said, 'if you go to Canberra you will find him now'. So I called up my father and told him what I had heard, he said pack your bags... so we jumped in the car and went to Canberra. I never thought another thing about the message I had received until we arrived in Canberra. Dad said to me 'well which way now?' For a moment, panic overcame me and I thought 'oh no... what have I done'. I didn't let the panic take hold though and just let the first thought that came into my mind have a voice - 'turn left here'. So we turned left drove to the end of the street and his car was parked directly out the front of a unit block right in front of us. I knocked on one door and asked if the person knew where the owner of the car lived and she gave me directions to his unit. You should have seen my husband's face, when I knocked on his door.

Ever since then I have listened to my intuition. It has been really helpful, from saving me time to making me money to leading me to help people.

How many times have you not listened to your intuition - what was the outcome?
How many times have you listened to your intuition - what was the outcome?


'And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.' Kings 19:12

To wear or not to wear?

"A miserable person will not look beautiful through any amount of makeup. On the other hand, a happy person will shine through whatever mess might be dumped down from the balcony upstairs." Kirstie Alley.

The recent Pro Age Dove campaign has been a wonderful addition to our television screens and magazines. I wonder how many women will truly believe the add though? Can one add that helps our self esteem undo the work of thousands of adds telling us otherwise? Lets hope.

One woman I know hates other people to see her without makeup...she even tries to hide her head when she isn't wearing makeup. Funny thing is she looks so much nicer without it. I recently bought a 'age defying' foundation that was supposed to make my wrinkles look smaller, instead they seemed to emphasize them. I think I'll go back to the cheap brand that gives me a light cover.

How do you feel about yourself? Do you need to wear makeup? What do other women tell you? What are the messages you are receiving about yourself?