Thoughts…

… on death.

Not to get too maudlin or anything…

I was reading a magazine (a health/exercise one, strangely enough) and came across an article about “green” burials. I occasionally think about (my) death, and the ramifications of it… I don’t fear death itself (I know where I’m going 😀 ) but I’m not looking forward to the actual process of dying. I figure there’s not much I can do about that, though, so I just have to stop stressing and leave that bit up to God…

I’ve never really wanted an elaborate funeral, so the green type of funerals appeal to me. My Mum is going to have a cardboard coffin (white) which we will apparently be able to decorate in any way we choose, when the time comes. I’d be happy to be buried under the nearest tree, but I suppose there’d be all sorts of health and safety issues. And the neighbours might complain…
I think, though, that I’ll be past caring what happens to the shell by the time my spirit has left it.

I’ll probably go for the cardboard coffin when it comes down to it… but here are the options in the magazine –

1- Resomation – Scotland. Alkaline hydrolysis, where the body is liquified in a special pressurised chamber, then used as fertiliser.

2- Promessa Organic – Sweden. Body is frozen in liquid nitrogen, then vibrated to break down into powder, then purified and buried. Can be used as compost within a year.

3- Eternal Reefs – U.S.A. This one I disliked at first glance, but now I can see the attraction in it.. The body is encased in a ball of concrete, then lowered into a coral reef to support the existing reef structure. It will encourage the growth of more coral and microorganisms.

 

Having said all that, I’d like to say that I’m not planning on having to use any of these methods in the near future..
Do you know of any other possibilities out there?

Published in: on February 24, 2012 at 9:35 pm  Leave a Comment  

Sand

The sunburn has receded, and the photos were transferred to the computer without complaint, so here is the post that should have been yesterday’s….

We started off fairly early, so we could get on the beach before the worst of the sun… it was a good trip down. We felt like we had a bit of an escort part of the way…

We got to the beach, and met up with friends… the kids had a great time, even though the surf was a little bit variable… the beach was quite crowded on Saturday… this is the beach later on, at Surfers..

After lunch we walked along the esplanade to check out the sand sculptures. This was first place – called Calico Jack.
Not my favourite, but intricate. I’m not sure what the story is behind it.. the theme was “Pirates in Paradise”, so each entry had to depict that theme in one way or another.

I can’t remember what this one was called, and I only took one photo… it wasn’t till later that I realised that there were two maps carved on the right hand side (Africa and South America). I gather the cogs represent big corporations/technology, and how that impacts on the developing world – are we the pirates?

This is called “Quicksand”… music piracy affects us all..

I have no idea what this is called, or what it’s about. It’s just “Wildcard Entry”…

A couple of the sculptures had flat panels on the back, with intaglio images (where the image is cut into the background) I enjoyed these… I’m more of an intaglio person than a bas-relief person. This is a treasure map..

This one was probably my favourite. It’s on the back of one called “Captain Morgan at the Edge of the World”.

Crisp and clear…

Each entrant had 8 tonnes of sand to work with. They could only use sand and water, but the sand was brickies’ sand, which is different to the average beach sand. Each grain is more square and sticks together like building blocks, whereas the sand on the beach has rounder grains… that would explain why our sandcastles never look this good 😀
The sand is compacted into wooden forms, and entrants climb to the top and carve downwards, removing the wooden form in layers as they go.

There was also a large collaborative piece using 40 tonnes of sand. That was still being worked on while we were there.. it was more “Pirates of the Caribbean”  than the others. Here’s some views of it..

There was a tent for the kids, where they could make their own creations. The sand appeared to be the brickies’ sand, so it stuck together well. They spent quite a while there…

All in all, it was a good day, despite the sun.. By the time we left, it was a bit quieter.. the way we like the coast 😀

 

Published in: on February 20, 2012 at 12:16 pm  Leave a Comment  

The Shed

So, we’re settling in here, learning the ropes, chilling out….

To be honest, I’m enjoying the simpler life at the moment. I’ve never been that much of a “happy camper”, but it seems like we’ve got the best of both worlds at the moment. It’s still a bit strange not having running water/bathroom/toilet right there in the building with us, but they’re just a quick walk away in the house… just takes a bit of planning 😀

Here’s the shed –
We even have a verandah! There’s been a few storms since we moved in, and the front stays pretty much dry… we have a camping stove outside for gourmet cooking 😀 and loads of potted plants (purloined from my garden at the house) There was a bit of a problem with flies and mosquitoes when we came, so I have a pot of basil each side of the door (supposed to repel flies; also good with the bolognese we had tonight) and a big pot of citronella on one side (for mozzies- smells lovely, too) I’m not sure whether they’re working… I think the citronella is more likely to be doing what it’s supposed to…

Our view… quite nice 😀 The curtains are from the old house – I always liked them… It’s almost like we’re in a little holiday home..

This was taken from one end of the inside space. We’ve partitioned off an area for the boys – littlest bean’s bed is a folding one, so there’s just enough space for it at night, and it folds back against the wall in the day. Biggest boy has a desk underneath his bunk, where he has his computer and does his schoolwork. He’s hung blankets around part of the area, so we often don’t see him all morning…
The bookcase beside the rocking chair holds all manner of things… we’re pleased with the way we’ve found a place for everything… it’s just a case of consistently putting things back where they belong… hubby did the mowing/weeding today, and brought me in a small flower he’d found… I didn’t have a vase for it, but there was space to twine it into the spine of a plastic display book, where I can see it as I type..
😀

Here’s the room from the other direction –
The kitchen is at the far side, and all the crockery/linen is in the dresser at the left. The futon is our bed – it gets folded up each day (we “unmake” our bed every morning…) There’s a washing basket on the other side of the futon – the sheets/pillows are put there in the morning, the cushions at night. It normally lives on top of the plastic containers over on the right, which are our movable pantry. The desk holds cutlery, coffee making facilities (necessary for sanity) and the big water container, and littlest bean uses the desk for his schoolwork. As you can see, there’s also a space for all the guitars!
I’ve been enjoying homeschooling here. There’s a certain amount of housekeeping to do, but not much. There’s no other rooms to escape to 😀 so I generally read while the boys work and mark what they’ve done as they finish (not something I’ve consistently done before) I’m always on hand to help… it’s easier to read our book together in the evenings as well (We’re on the last book of Lord of the Rings) It feels like we’re in a season of grace at the moment.. I’ve no idea what tomorrow or next week will bring, and whether our days will move faster. Right now, I am content.

A final photo, taken just after we moved in – little boys making themselves at home!
😀

 

Published in: on February 13, 2012 at 8:43 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Up

Came across this on another blog… this is such an affecting, gorgeous look at love and a long marriage, especially so for a kids’ movie. I sit there watching with a goofy grin and tears…

I don’t intentionally go out to find things on the internet that make me cry…
Honest….

Published in: on January 13, 2012 at 9:03 pm  Leave a Comment  

Can We Be This Village?

…. or one just like it? 😀
Thought I’d share this again, having re-read it just now… wouldn’t it be great to pick your own salad while out and about?
And, yes… it did make me cry. Again…

Eccentric town, Todmorden, growing ALL its own veg | Mail Online.

Published in: on January 7, 2012 at 2:43 pm  Leave a Comment  

In The Garden

We got back to the Ipswich Kitchen Garden at Leichardt yesterday, after a few weeks off. There were new friends to meet, and new plants to greet… both here, and in our garden, it seems to be a time of growing, but also a time to dig out old, tired plants. Some have left behind seeds to plant again, some will become compost. It all feeds into the cycle of growth.

The zucchini at the front was planted (as seedlings) a few weeks ago. The cabbage is growing, although the moths are enjoying it, too… The spinach in the corner was past its best, and was dug out yesterday to make way for new plants.

Some I brought from home. I’m hoping my transplant “skills” are enough to let them survive! 😀

Stevia

Tarragon

Chocolate Mint

Some had appeared before we got there….

Bamboo

Some plants have been there for a while, and are flourishing…

Amaranth

Arrowroot (and tall tomatoes…)

Borage

A shade sail went up, to prepare for the hotter days of summer…

… and a good time was had by all!

…even the littlest ones!

Hi, Mum! 😀

Harvest

The plastic bags were full of the tops of the old lettuces, gone to seed. We’ll plant those in our gardens for another crop..

I have been having some difficult days lately, but being out in a garden, in the fresh air, helps quite a bit. It also helps me tire out enough to sleep 😀 Having good nutrition is useful, as is seeing the variety and beauty of Creation – from juicy, sweet snow peas, to beautiful, delicate sweet peas….

 

Published in: on November 5, 2011 at 2:10 pm  Leave a Comment  

Turkish Coffee

Yesterday I fancied some coffee, but as I don’t have a plunger or percolator, I decided to try a recipe I’ve had for ages but have never used…

Turkish Coffee (Kahve)

Put 2 teaspoons of very finely ground coffee in a small pot with as much sugar as you wish. Add half a cup of boiling water, bring pot to the boil. Immediately remove pot from the heat, allow to cool a little. Bring to the boil again, again remove from the heat. For very strong coffee repeat again. Pour into a small cup, allow grains to settle before drinking.
Can be served with cream, or a cardamom pod can be added to the cup.

Since I only briefly skimmed the above recipe before I tried it, I sort of changed it a little… I’ve only just realised by typing this now that I was supposed to boil the water first, before pouring it into the pot….
Here’s my ingredients –

(Sorry about the blurriness… ) I didn’t have any cardamom, which I knew had to go in there somewhere, so I used cinnamon. I also had some stray rosehips lying about, so I thought they would be nice… also sugar – couldn’t forget the sugar! (On a side note – if you are boiling up coffee with sugar included, in a house with an ant problem, don’t leave it lying about for too long before drinking it. Trust me.)  I may possibly have used more coffee than the suggested amount, as well…

Next was the boil/take off heat thing… When they say three times boil etc makes a strong coffee, they mean it..

Add milk. In a big cup. Finally, sit back and enjoy a fine cup of coffee! This is today’s cup – I liked it so much, I did it again today 😀 That and the fact that I’m using the grounds around my plants to keep the snails off. I am undecided as to the efficacy of this strategy… but I am happy to drink coffee until the matter is resolved.

I was pleased to finally be able to use this recipe – I’ve had it around for years and thought it would be nice… I would still like to try it with cardamom…
… although the astute reader will probably have noticed that I didn’t really make Turkish Coffee, as much as Coffee Boiled In A Pot With Extra Bits And Pieces…. 😀

Published in: on October 25, 2011 at 11:20 pm  Leave a Comment  

Fairy Looms and Purple Things

I wrote a while ago about the fairy looms we made  (in this post.) They’ve been sitting in a vase on my old Singer sewing machine since then, but getting in the way a bit… as I’ve been organising/decluttering lately, I decided to put them outside in our jacaranda tree… I hadn’t wanted them to be outside before, where the weather will batter and fade them, but it feels right now…

In other garden news, everything seems to be coming up purple! Here are some more random jacaranda shots (just because I can 😀 )

This, I think is called a “Geisha Girl”

… and this is “Society Garlic”

I had no idea the flowers would be purple! Nice surprises are often just around the corner…. 😀

 

Published in: on October 25, 2011 at 10:53 pm  Leave a Comment  

Jacarandas Revisited

The jacaranda trees in our front yard are blooming and shedding, making a wonderful purple carpet of our lawn. I posted before, but couldn’t quite get the colour right… here’s some more photos. I think they could be a bit more purple, but it’s the best I can do 😀

We also have tiny little birds flitting about the place. I was sitting out on my verandah this morning, and it was like being in one of those relaxation soundtracks – birds twittering all around 😀 We get tiny little blue accented birds – I don’t know what they are. It’s difficult to get a good photo, as they are so tiny, and move so fast….

This one is quite blurry, but the colour is more accurate…

It’s amazing how noisy a large chorus of birds can be… a nice accompaniment to my morning cuppa, though! 😀

Published in: on October 20, 2011 at 9:27 pm  Comments (2)  

Here We Go…

…round the mulberry bush! 😀

Just got back from a friend’s place, where we sat and nattered, with a cup of Milo, while the boys thundered over to play with the boys next door. It seemed like, whenever I looked over there, they were raiding the mulberry bush – even taking the stepladder to it to make sure they didn’t miss out on the best ones 😀 Meanwhile, I was helping my friend pick a bowl of snow peas…

… and I thought – that’s what childhood should be about – roaming the neighbourhood with your mates, no worries, and grazing on the fresh garden bounty…

We had a great afternoon.. and will sleep well tonight..

Published in: on October 11, 2011 at 6:58 pm  Leave a Comment  
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