Memory

Isn’t memory a strange thing? Well perhaps not memory itself but the way it manifests (or fails to). Let me explain. I had a completely exhausting week last week. We have long days anyway, with both of us working full time and the girls in before and after school care every day, but last week 4 nights out of 5 we had ‘other activities’ to attend which made for very long days away from home. Places to go, people to see you know. Add to that three very disturbed nights for me (for various reasons) and I was left utterly knackered.

So yesterday afternoon I decided to have a little nap and took myself off to bed for an hour. Lying there, slightly demented from tiredness, my mind began to wander into those mysterious places it goes been waking and sleep. I suddenly had a very comforting image of a house that I love very much. I don’t know who it belongs to but I’ve always admired it when we drove past. It sits near the top of a gently sloping hill, and is surrounded by beautiful trees. It has a small fenced field close to the house where live two chocolate brown, velvety faced donkeys. There’s just something about that house that makes me feel peaceful and content and only slightly (ahem) envious of the people lucky enough to live there.

This isn’t it, but it’s not unlike it. Photo credit here

In my semi-slumber I thought ‘we must take a drive past it so I can see it. Where is it again?’ After a few moments confusion and delving into memory I recalled where it was. I also recalled that I hadn’t been there in more than 20 years. It was in Scotland, on a road we sometimes took home which my mother referred to as the ‘wee road’. We’d leave town and Mum would say to Dad ‘can we drive home on the wee road’. We all knew what she meant, it was the ‘scenic route’ and we all loved it. Part of it took us down a narrow road past a farm, in spring and summer there were always wildflowers growing at the side of the road and we’d stop and pick them. The road had steep banks and hedgerows and as we picked the flowers the Highland Cows in the field would peer curiously over the hedges at us.

Photo by John Toms

I was a sucker for those gentle brown eyes and silky noses.

Now I can understand that is a happy memory and I guess that somewhere in my mind something triggered that place and I probably needed that sense of comfort that it gave me. But I can’t helping feeling that ‘memory’ is a miraculous thing and a little strange. It was vivid, I could see it and feel it and smell it, for a short time it fooled my sleepy mind into thinking it was a recent memory, but it wasn’t.

I really believe we have access to everything we need inside ourselves. In the past few days I’ve had lots of realisations and epiphanies about things. I think there’s something in that memory for me examine too, I just have to work out what it is.

Feeling Autumnal

The weather is beginning to turn, it’s still in the mid to low twenties, so not cold yet, but wet and dull and overcast.  We’ve had some lovely rain and are having some more today with thunder storms to come.  My favourite kind of weather.  I love Autumn and Winter, I can honestly say those seasons are when I’m at my most contented and most….I don’t know…centred? At peace? Dare I say approaching happy?  Nah, let’s not get carried away there.  :-)

I had a wander in the garden this morning to check out the seasonal changes.  In a little neglected corner I found the first mushrooms of the season (we get lots) – already munched by small creatures.

The trees are beginning to turn…

...gold…

…and burgundy…

…and little raindrops are everywhere.

 

It was lovely. I came inside and sat in my office drinking coffee and listening to household sounds.  The  girls were playing a camping game and making Jack play with them.  He’s so tolerant and was quite happy to pretend to be their pet bear.  The washing machine was swishing gently, the clothes dryer humming and rain on the roof.  Such mundane and domestic sounds and yet soothing.

And then…before I knew it…I’d written a blog post!

Spare a thought…

…and a prayer (if that’s your thing) for those lost and those who have lost loved ones in the terrible fires in Victoria and New South Wales.

The Premier has declared a state of emergency and defence force troops are being brought in to assist.

Many fires are still burning and being fought by the Volunteer Fire Services. Can you imagine how exhausting that must be wearing heavy fire fighting gear, temperatures of 45C+ and a blaze raging around you?

In Victoria arsonists are re-lighting the fires. There 66 confirmed dead so far (I say so far, because more are expected to be found), cars being found abandoned by the side of roads, occupants missing, whole townships wiped out, families, livestock, wildlife and pets gone.

It’s tragic, sobering, unimaginable and very, very sad.

Photos from ABC online http://www.abc.net.au/

Name that tree **Updated**

There is a lovely tree in our back garden that I enjoy sitting under with my morning coffee. Unfortunately I have no idea what it is.

Does anyone know?

Prizes for the winner (not really).

It has these pretty leaves and sort of catkin thingies.....

...this bark is quite papery....

...and the branches are somewhat 'weeping' which creates a cosy little cocoon for me to sit.

Anyone?

P.S. If you don't know, can you direct your readers here to have a look please...someone must know!

Ladies and gentlemen we have an answer! Dave thought it might be a Silver Birch and Kate confirmed that it is indeed a Silver Birch. Thank you!!!

A green meme

I wasn't tagged but Solsticedreamer offered this meme to anyone who fancied doing it...so here it is!

the rules are simple...
1. link to Green Meme Bloggers
2. link to whoever tagged you
3. include meme number
4. include these guidelines in your post
5. answer questions
6. tag 3 other green bloggers

1. Name two motivations for being green - The terrifying mess we're making of our world and my children...and my children's children...need I go on?
2. Name two eco-unfriendly items that you refuse to give up - My air conditioner and my laptop
3. Are you at peace with, or do you feel guilty about no.2? - A little guilty but not enough to stop me using them both.
4. What are you willing to change but feel unable to/stuck with/unsure how to go about it? - We have plans for water tanks and recycling grey water but it's a lot of work and expense, one day we will do it though.
5. Do you know your carbon footprint for your home? If so, is it larger/smaller than your national average? It's smaller.
6. What's eco-frustrating and/or eco-fantastic about where you live? - We're rural and not close enough to schools/shops/work so must drive everywhere. Great kerbside recycling, good council with subsidies for solar hot water and recycling water.
7. Do you eat local/organic/vegetarian/forage/grow you own? - Yes to all of those.
8. Do you have a green confession? - No I don't.
9. Do you have the support of family and/or friends? - Tom is an environmental scientist so that would be yes. Family and friends have similar philosophies.

Ok, I'm not passing this on, do it if you feel like it!

A handbag?!*

Today - a tag. I wasn't officially tagged by Z, but after commenting (with some others) on the lovely job she'd done of it she said 'Will you all do it yourselves then, please?' and I said 'certainly'. Because I'm quite accommodating that way. Also, it's NaBloPoMo so a tag is good for another's day posting and this one is quite nice.

It goes like this...

1. Go to your sixth picture folder then pick your sixth picture.
2. Pray that you remember the details.
3. Tag 5 others, leave a comment to let them know they’ve been tagged

So, here is the sixth picture I discovered in my sixth folder.....

Two 'Dusky Moorhens' taken about 18 months ago at the nearby Wetlands. I really like these birds and I couldn't resist this photo of them daintily picking their way through the shallows.

Years ago when I was pregnant with Hannah Tom and I decided to have a weekend at the beach house. We left after work so were driving in the dark most of the way and about halfway it started to rain, not just a shower or two but that heavy driving rain that renders even the fast windscreen wiper speed inadequate - perfect driving conditions. It was my turn to drive and Tom was dozing in the passenger seat, as I was drove along The Coorong I kept seeing 'things' by the side of the road. I couldn't tell what they were because visibility was terrible but they were running really fast and I was aware of legs lifting high....eventually I realised they were moorhens. They made me laugh. They still make me laugh, they are so aloof and trying to be elegant with a slightly Lady Bracknell-ish air about them. Gorgeous.

On the day I took this photo we'd taken the girls and our nephews there for a bike ride (there's a bike path round the wetland). It was such a nice day and everyone had a lovely time and we all came home happy and exhausted. Nice memory.

I really don't like to tag because I know some people find it an irritation or an obligation or both, but I strongly suspect Cathy and Moyra would be glad of some blog fodder (but only if you want to). Anyone else who fancies it please be my guest...and let me know you've done it so I can look!

*As in the famous quote from Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. Because the moorhens remind me of Lady Bracknell....shut up, it makes perfect sense to me.

Outside

We didn't end up going for a walk yesterday, just pottered about in our garden instead which is even better really. Lots of activity out there at moment, things are growing and flowering and generally showing off.

Pretty no? The light was bad so the colours didn't photograph well, but you get the idea. Don't you?

Today I am finishing some work I have to do (shouldn't take long) and then I may get on with some sewing. I'm not making much progress because I've had other priorities but if I'm productive this morning I may manage a couple of hours this afternoon.

I may also spend some time contemplating my future. The current options no longer please me. If you have any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them.

Chained to the desk...

....that's me today, finishing work that should have been finished last week. No procrastinating, no distractions, no strolls around the garden. Just head down and getting on with it (I won't mention that little foray into the Druid Animal Oracle after lunch). My inner brat is having a tantrum because she's spoiled and doesn't like restriction but I've been firm.

I was only allowed to leave the house to drop off the children at school and pick them up again this afternoon. On the way out I did stop and have a chat with the neighbours - it would have been rude not to.

I like our neighbours very much, look at that beautiful face.

Now I'm home, I've listened to Aislin read and practice this week's sight words ('his', 'her', 'came', 'as' and 'was' if you're interested). Hannah had some spelling homework which I supervised. Now they're having a snack and I'm trying to squeeze in a bit more work before it's time to start dinner - except of course I'm actually writing a blog post aren't I? No fooling you.

Hi ho, hi ho, back to work I go.

Just some Monday stuff

Well I'm fully recovered from yesterday's running around and wondering what on an earth I was whining about - it's not the worst thing that's ever happened to me and I should just get over it. Not that this epiphany will stop me whining in future, no siree. In fact it's easy to be philosophical about it as I sit here warm and comfortable with a cup of coffee and nowhere I need to be for another 4 hours.

Anyway, what does today bring? Cold, rain and fog that's what - in other words my idea of heaven. I took a damp walk around the garden and found Hawthorn blossum, very pretty.

Forget Me Nots under the willows...

Lots of them...how lovely they are.

Now I'm back at my desk and about to embark on some proper work. But not before I tell anyone who has children in their life to check out Cathy's new blog Marquee, she's done the shopping around for us and you'll find some great gift ideas for the little ones - and not the usual mass produced plastic crap. Truly lovely stuff - check it out.

Trees

Today had a bit of tree energy. Tom was hogging the computer working on his consultancy job all day and I got the impression we were a bit of a distraction to him so the girls and I packed a lunch and headed out for a drive. We ended up at an 'old favourite' playground near where we used to live and stopped there for an hour or so.

We ate our lunch there, under the oaks...there are several gigantic ones, and they were a beautiful vibrant green that doesn't really show in the photo......

....and the girls had a play.....Hannah is looking decidedly relaxed.....

Then we came home and pottered about in the garden for a while. Aislin decided to climb one of the trees, both girls enjoy a bit of tree climbing and we're lucky to have suitable trees in the garden for them to do it. She chose quite a small tree, she's climbed much bigger ones, including our enormous willows, but for some reason this one challenged her and she got 'stuck'. Tom encouraged her to find her way down instead of being 'rescued' and she took offence at that.

In case you can't tell she's really quite cross here....I think the body language speaks volumes.

Eventually she decided that she probably could do it after all (I did offer some help but was sent away). She started to work it out.....refusing to look at me......

....and in the end got down quite easily (as you can see, she wasn't very far from the ground).

There is no photo of the liberated Aislin because as soon as her feet hit the ground she stormed off and ignored us all for 15 minutes - until she forgot she was outraged and came to show me her feather collection and tell me she's my 'number one fan'.

So, a bit of a late post today, Tom is now reading the girls some bedtime stories, I've laid out their clothes for the morning (the girls' clothes not Tom's - although I do know someone who lays out her husband's clothes for him - barf) and packed tomorrow's lunches. Now, I might have a glass of wine and put my feet up for an hour. It's a hard life.

Just bits and pieces

Quiet day today, just messing around on the computer (I hesitate to mention the 'w' word, but there you have initial). It's warm and sunny and I can feel hay fever coming on. There are a family of Magpies in the tree outside my office window and the babies (not tiny babies, big babies) are still being fed by their mother and she is run off her feet (or flown off her wings) going backwards and forwards with food for them. They've no sooner guzzled it down their throats then they're calling for more. It's a noisy call too. Bet she can't wait until that lot leave home.

Today I also tried using blogger in draft. In 'normal' blogger I am always having to tweak the HTML version to get my posts to look the way I want them to, I had high hopes for BID however it's just as irritating as the original one, more so in some respects, so I've abandoned it.

There is a man erecting a 'For Sale' sign in front of our neighbour's house. I hope it wasn't something I said. Ha, not really, we knew they were selling, they both work in town and apparently they aren't enjoying the commute - that's what they're telling us anyway.

Also today is the day to.....

Support the global call to action and make poverty history. Find an event near you...look here or here. Some events were yesterday so you're too late for those (in case you hadn't realised).

Our school assembly today was dedicated to 'Stand Up'. There has been some fundraising recently but today in assembly two classes (including Hannah's) presented a short film about people living in poverty and gave some information about the background of 'Stand Up' and talked about how we can help. Some children stood in silence holding candles throughout the assembly. Father John read from the gospels (Jesus washing the feet) and he asked the children what that story meant, of course there was a lot of talk from the young ones about dirty feet, wearing sandals and not showering enough. Some older chidlren were able to articulate the idea of being humble enough to wash another's feet but I think most of the little ones just thought Jesus was helping the disciples with their hygiene - and they were all ok with that. One little girl pointed out that her mummy washes her hair for her.

Hannah had the job of carrying the Gospels today. She was thrilled by this and made me promise to put a photo on the blog. Here she is....(she's the short one).

It must be serious....

....there's a second pot this morning.....

Yes, I had another of my sleepless nights. I've mentioned before that I suffer occasionally from insomnia, last night was one of those occasions.

I blame this lady.....

I love the moon, completely obsessed I am. I was born at full moon, it must have got into my system then. Although I love the moon at all times, especially those horned crescent ones. Very special. Moon watching was one of the first things I taught my daughters - now they're obsessed as well. I'm not alone Leanne likes the moon too.

However, sometimes when she's full....I can't sleep. Last night I couldn't sleep. So once again I am tired. I have lots to do today so I think the only answer is coffee, lots of fresh, organic, free trade, dark roast. I don't seem to have that manic energy that I had last time I had a sleepless night (last week). Just exhaustion today.

So today I shall quietly work away, drinking coffee and sparing a thought for Dave, who is having eye surgery today. I'm looking forward to seeing him in a monocle.

Blue skies and bees

It's a beautiful day, perfect temperature, perfect blue sky and the buzz of bees.

Here's the sky....

Here's a bee...

There are actually hundreds of bees on that shrub but you're just going to have to take my word for it because I couldn't get them all to stay still long enough for a photo. They were quite unco-operative, dashing - in a rather wobbly way - from flower to flower, buzzing their heads off.

Drunk on pollen I suspect.

On my desk

Today on my desk there was a 'to do' list as long as my arm. So long in fact that I was completely overwhelmed by it and couldn't decide what to do first.

So instead of on my desk I will show you what was 'in my garden' today. Here he is....apologies for the quality of the photos but I had to be quick - he was on the run.....

Can you see him? Bottom left hand corner? Monsieur Reynard! He was being attacked by Magpies and was desperately trying to get away. He became quite disoriented and was ducking and diving to avoid their vicious beaks, there were about 6 of them attacking. Then he got out of the garden and onto the road......

...the Magpies were relentless. A few cars came along and thankfully slowed down (usually they speed up and try to hit them). Then he was gone, out of sight and I don't know how he fared. Foxes are not native to Australia, they were introduced and consequently they are considered a pest and they don't get a lot of sympathy. They have decimated many of the native species which doesn't earn them many fans.

I find myself with such a moral dilemma where foxes are concerned, they are so much part of my growing up and I can't help but feel it's a pity they're so loathed here. I know it's tragic when native animals are killed and chicken coops are raided, I hate it too and wish they didn't do it, but they're only doing what foxes do, they don't know any different.

So today, despite being terribly un-PC I enjoyed seeing him in the garden and hopefully Reynard escaped the Magpies and the cars and survived to see another day.

Almost full

...and she was dazzling tonight....

Dark skies

This is the view from my window ( know you've seen it many times now). I see it all day every day and it never ceases to amaze me how it's mood changes daily as well as seasonally. This was how it looked last night...

But no matter what the season or the weather or what time of the day it is, to me, it's always beautiful.

Colour

Today I needed colour. For all kinds of reasons life has seemed a bit bleak lately and although I haven't whined about it on the blog I've been quite unhappy. So I decided I wanted colour and I wanted to create. Now, not many people know that I love to draw, don't misunderstand me here....I can't actually draw, at least not well....but I like doing it anyway. I like to draw lots of things, especially mystical things....magical images. Today seemed like a day for that - I need a little magic in my life. I should have been working on something that is a serious thing-that-I-get-paid-for job ....but as I've already mentioned, today I needed colour.

I particularly enjoy using pastels, nice ones, expensive ones. So today I got these out...

...and I also got these out......

I tend to work in mixed media so I used them all and as you can see from the tiny brush in this one I used some paint too.....

You can also see the very, very early stages of a Wild Willow Woman. I began a series of 'green man' type drawings about 5 years ago, you know.....'the face in the leaves'....both genders are represented because really, why would they all be men? I haven't made much progress with the 'series' they are fiddly, take ages to do and frankly as much as I love to draw, I don't get the time and it's not a priority. Which is quite sad really. Anyway, what you see here is a very vague representation of what the finished picture will look like...layers and layers of leaves still to come.

So in the ultimate act of procrastination today I drew instead of working. It's been nice though.

Reflections

Yesterday the weather was decidedly spring-like so I went down to have a look at the creek. I've been avoiding it a bit because the ground is quite swampy with all the rain and the other day I discovered (by almost falling into it) a water filled hole in the middle of the back garden. It's a couple of feet in diameter and I stuck a broom handle into it to test the depth and I think it's 2 or 3 feet deep - quite worrying. It's now covered with boards and roped off for safety, I'll tell you more about that once Tom has had the chance to investigate it properly. He has been joking that we might discover our own Naracoorte caves under the lawn....I don't think that's funny.

The late afternoon light was just right to see the Willows on the opposite bank reflected in the water. I just loved seeing the winter-bare branches twisting and gnarled in the stillness.

Upside down trees....making me a bit dizzy.

Happy Spring (or Autumn for my Northern Hemisphere friends)

Today it is cloudy and cold and raining (again). But Mother Nature isn't fooled.

The first buds on the blossom tree (I'm afraid I don't know what this tree is, but it's always the first to bud)....

...and the beginnings of Willow leaves.....

Spring may not have quite sprung....but it's gently bouncing in that general direction. New beginnings.

Something good is coming....

....I just know it. Because of this at our place last night......

It arced right across the sky but was too close and too big to get a picture of the whole thing. And it was so bright, the photo doesn't do it justice.

Can you see it's a double (it's very faint)? Even it's second one was bright, but once again my feeble camera doesn't catch it's full glory.

Not only are we getting lots and lots of lovely rain, we're getting lots and lots of lovely rainbows.