Tuesday, 30 October 2018

#21daysofgratitudepractice2018

From November 1st we are going to start practising gratitude. Each day there will be a suggested action that you can take. You could make a Gratitude Journal or you can include some art on the way if you wish. I originally set up a separate blog called The Art of Practising Gratitude in 2014 which included suggestions for art journaling. I have removed the suggested art techniques this time round but if you want to use them then click on the link to the original blog.


Please read this blog post Practising Gratitude to see why I set up suggested actions rather than just having an attitude of gratitude.

So how will this work?
Each day for 21 days in November there will be a blog post with links and prompts. To ensure you get each post sign up for emails by putting your email address in the subscription box. Or follow along in whichever way you normally follow blogs.

Each post will include:

A Theme
Rather than just leaving you to think up 3 or 5 things that you're grateful for on that day I have chosen a daily theme. Each theme is a verb so it involves an action of some kind.

A Quote
There will be a quote either related to gratitude or more likely related to the day's theme. Some will be serious and some will be a bit off-beat.

A Bible Verse
As a Christian myself I want my Gratitude Journal to be about thanking God and so I have included a Bible verse each day. However just ignore it if it doesn't mean anything to you.

Inspiration
Where possible I have found videos, blogs or websites to provide inspiration for the day's theme. Some might be a bit silly.

A Gratitude Link
This will be a link to a blog or a website about gratitude.

A 'To thin about' Prompt
There will be questions for you to think about on the day's theme. You can answer them or just use them to get you thinking.

An Action
Each day there will be a suggested action for us to take to practise gratitude.

Facebook Group
There is a group on Facebook (which was set up in 2012) where you can share your work or ask questions. Or if you are a member of EveryDay Journals and Living Your Word of the Year please share any pages you do or thoughts you have there.

PDF
There will be a PDF each day to download (and print) with all the day's information and links so that you don't have to be continually looking at the blog.


For information about how you might make your Gratitude Journal click on the link below to see my previous post. It can be as simple as getting a small notebook and writing down things that come to mind as you read the blog. It need be no more than that. Or you can get involved in the techniques and challenges.

Remember the only rule is: this is your journal and you do it the way you want to. Other than that there are no rules.

If you are sharing your gratitude practice on social media please use this hashtag: #21daysofgratitudepractice2018

I do hope you will join me on November 1st.
Bernice

Monday, 29 October 2018

300 metres turn right

The last three days of our Australia trip was spent driving along the Southern Ocean Road and the Great Ocean Road.  Lots of photo today.

Day 1: Adelaide to Mount Gambier
As we drove along we saw this amazing pink lake.  Pink due to carotene in the water!

We stopped off to see where the pelicans nest but there were no pelicans.


A very long walkway


A table made from rolling stock

The Blue Lake in Mount Gambier which turns out to be blue only for a very few days in November

Buildings in Mount Gambier


Day 2: Mount Gambier to Port Campbell
Before leaving Mount Gambier we climbed up to this tower.  Roger went to the top of the tower but I didn't have the energy.

The view from the top


We went down the easier way but looking back the way we had come it didn't look (or feel) much easier.

The sunken garden in the centre of Mount Gambier

Along the coast road

As we drove along the Great Ocean Road there were signs to each different coastal formation and the signs always said 300m turn right.

The Petrified Forest
Not trees but hollow tubes of limestone

The Bay of Islands



The Bay of Martyrs


The Grotto



London Bridge



The Arch



Overlooking Port Campbell, our stop for the night.

Day 3: Port Campbell to Melbourne Airport
Loch Ard Gorge






The 12 Apostles




We stopped for a late lunch and I couldn't resist taking photos of the toilets (as you do!




And as we drove towards Melbourne Airport we saw this sign.

And we were crossing!  From Melbourne to Singapore to London and a drive home.

That's all for our trip to Australia for 2018.

Coming up on the blog tomorrow: Practising Gratitude - 21 days of gratitude

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Saturday, 27 October 2018

Adelaide Hills and the Barossa Valley

We spent two days travelling around the countryside outside Adelaide.  Lots of photos today.

Day 1: The Fleurieu Peninsular




The ferry from Kangaroo Island to Cape Jervis



We drove through amazing countryside, much of which looked quite British, until we got to Victor Harbor.   The horse drawn tram took people over to Granite Island but we walked!

I loved this sculpture.






Wattle

We stopped off in Strathalbyn on our way back to Adelaide.




Day 2: Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley
We went first to the summit of Mount Lofty to look out over Adelaide.

We next visited the German town of Hahndorf.


As we travelled across country we saw a signpost for a viewpoint.  so off we went and found this.



We travelled through various small towns across the Barossa Valley which I personally would have called a plain rather than a valley.  We chose to have lunch at a beautiful winery in Tanunda: Bethany Wines.

We tried a couple of wines which we had with lunch.  We didn't buy any wine because the wine in Australia is considerably more expensive than the same bottle in the UK.  Roger has found some Bethany Wine in the Co-op!

There were various sculptures in the grounds of the vineyard.


I rather liked the sculptures although they did remind me of elastic bands.


We also went to a free sculpture park near by.

The next day we packed up and started our drive to Melbourne along the Southern Ocean Road.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice