Our gateway to Easter...

Everyone who knows me well, knows this is my favourite time of year. Somehow the turning of leaves, the gentleness of the light, reflects the sacredness of this time.

Thank you to the beautiful BHPS teachers who performed this play against the backdrop of the dawn light on Friday - it was truly moving, and a beautiful way to move into Easter. The children sat transfixed and we all enjoyed a feast of hot cross buns for breakfast afterwards.

Happy Easter

It's been quiet here on the blog I admit while I have soaked in the peace and reverence of Easter. Here's a little window of our Easter experience... Once a month I meet with a group of friends where we spend time nourishing our souls...Maundy Thursday we spent in darkness, candlight and quiet music, washing each others feet...it's beyond words to describe this evening...you can hear some of the music we played here - the Lord's Prayer in the ancient aramaic - this is a very moving piece.

Good Friday - enjoying the loving company of special friends and sharing bread (hot cross buns) and wine.

The girls painted.

Easter Saturday - we made the long walk up to the Healesville tower where we scattered rose petals and remembered my sister, as well as all those people that lost their lives in the fires. The mist gently covered the surrounding countryside, much of which had been burnt. I didn't take my camera, but one of the lasting images of this Easter for me was a tiny fern frond poking up through the blackened earth; there was a real sense of hope here today, and the town of Healesville was filled with people enjoying life in the Autumn sunshine.

In the afternoon and dyed eggs for our Easter table.

Sunday morning, of course Easter Bunny had paid his magical visit. My 8 year old was sure she had heard his "bouncing" during the night....he certainly had bounced around our garden.

And Sunday afternoon we share more good company with friends and a traditional lamb roast.

I am feeling full (in many ways) and grateful; hope your Easter was special for you.

Our Palm Sunday...

We've been baking and making getting ready for Easter in our house:

Our little dough roosters, ready for the oven...

20 minutes later all golden brown and smelling lovely.

It has become a tradition in our home to make Palm Sunday Easter tree on the Sunday before Easter. The children love this time as we get to spend all day together - we bake these little bread roosters for the top of our Easter Tree, we pick leaves from the garden, we light candles and tell stories. It calms us all down and brings us the lovely expectation that Easter is approaching and reminds us all that life is precious and that we can have reverance in our daily lives.

Personally, I love the symbol of the Easter Tree - the cross shape is covered in greenery indicates that there is always new life and hope after death - the orange represents the life giving forces of the sun and Christ, and the rooster of course crows in a new dawn, new beginnings. On Easter Saturday we will paint eggs and hand them from the branches.

In Christian tradition Palm Sunday was the beginning of Holy Week when Christ entered Jerusalem seated on an ass and the people welcomed him by placing palm branches on his path. Around the world Palm Sunday has been celebrated in different ways. In England the day was called Olive or Branch Sunday, Sallow or Willow, Yew or Blossom Sunday, or Sunday of the Willow Boughs - the people made a figure of Christ seated on an ass, carved out of wood and carried it in a procession to the church.

In Germany and France it was customary to strew flowers and green boughs about the cross in the churchyard. When I was a little girl I would strew rose petals around my garden on Good Friday - I don't know where this came from, certainly nobody ever told me about it, but somehow I tuned into something. This year, my girls and I are taking the journey up to the spot where my sister's ashes are scattered, and we will scatter rose petals to remember and think of her.

Blessings to you all for Easter. I hope you all find time to do whatever is precious to you at this time of year whether you celebrate Easter, Passover or just spend quality time with your loved ones.

Here's how we made our Easter Tree

Autumn is here!!!! Everyone who knows me well, knows also that this is my favourite time of year - slowly (in Melbourne) the weather starts to cool, the leaves turn and the shadows grow longer. It is also the time of Lent leading up to Easter. For me, there is a golden thread of truth running through all spiritual traditions - it resides in the human heart - it is the mystery of being human.

It is a gentle time of year, and as I watch the garden's subtle changes, I am reminded of all that must die away in life in order for something new to emerge. It is a time of quietness. This year I am having to let go...the drought has really done it's work...so many plants lost...so much barren ground where there was once green...

In our kitchen stands a simple empty bowl (a punch bowl given on our wedding day) on white cloth (a lovely piece of linen I bought in Eygpt 20 years ago) - each time I pass it I am reminded to make space in my life for all that is really important, and to empty out all the noise and clutter - all that stuff we hold on to - whether it be material, mental or emotional.

It is a time to be still...and be.