Think globally. Act locally. Respond personally.

Flags for the Day

Brenton Whittenbury's a man into his flags.
Outside his Stepney home his flagpole displays 2 flags a day and just inside the gates, a notice board tells the passers by what the flags are and the reason for their hoisting on that particular day.
When we visited, Croatia and Lithuania took pride of place to celebrate Croatia day...(June 25th).
Here they're stacked neatly...ready for tomorrow's choice?

Dandelion time

Legend has it that the number of breaths it takes to blow off all the seeds of a dandelion globe that has gone to seed, is the hour number. Time, anyone?

Be the change you want to see in the world!

Mount George

The creeks were raging today at Mt George. So beautiful with the sunshine (back at last) streaming through the trees.

The coat of many colours.

Iurre stunned us all at yoga today with her amazing coat of many colours that her mother fashioned from a blanket...

Muy bonita chica.

I LOVE it!!!!

Playing for change

It's Exam Time

It's exam time and Tim's finally putting his head down and doing a few hours of study.

Go Back where you came from. SBS documentary.

Go back where you came from is a 3 part series on SBS launched in refugee week, which features six Australians (with strong views on immigration) who live like refugees for 25 dangerous days. Tracing in reverse the journeys that refugees have taken to reach Australia, they travel to some of the most dangerous and desperate corners of the world, with no idea what is in store for them along the way. An amazing documentary.
Episode 1: Six ordinary Australians agree to challenge their preconceived notions about asylum seekers and refugees by living like refugees for 25 days. They move in with real refugees building a new life in Australia, before taking a perilous journey to unknown shores on a leaky boat.


http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/goback/episodes/detail/episode/4216/season/1

~ Pema Chodron

If we knew tonight that we were going to go blind, we would take a longing, last real look at every blade of grass every cloud formation, every speck of dust, every rainbow, raindrop-everything.
~ Pema Chodron

Winter Solstice

Not in the Hills, but still in the city parklands, the remnants of a colourful autumn cling to the trees.
Now that the longest night has passed and the days start to gather more daylight again, we're already looking forward to some more sunshine.

Ancient tree

The beautiful grain seen in this log is from a tree that is hundreds of years old, resting in the Botanical gardens.
What sights and changes it must have borne witness to in that time.

New craze sweeps the Adelaide Parklands

Unicyclists decked out in their protective mountain biking gear cruised the parklands this morning amazing us with their prowess.

It is our mind, and that alone, that chains us or sets us free. ~ Khyntse Rinpoche

Cold wet and homeless

The sleeping arrangements in the parklands of someone homeless would not have been too flash last night after torrential rain and freezing temperatures.

We don't know how lucky we are safe and snug in our homes.

Rory turns 70

Rory's gorgeous girls whipped a an amazing morning tea to celebrate her 70th in style with all her family and friends.
Delish!

Hungry finches

These tiny finches flocked in when I put out some seed...obviously finding it more difficult to uncover food during the Winter months.

Lunar Eclipse

This morning at 4.30 the earth passed between the sun and the full moon creating this magical red glow as the moon went through a total eclipse.

Only the brave got up in the freezing cold and only the very lucky were able to catch a clear picture of it through the clouds.

Despite being up pre-dawn, I only managed to catch a glimpse of the moon as the shadow was finishing its traverse so had to snap this one from an image on the internet.

Full moon or space ship?

While walking the dog in the evening the moon rose to it's full glory reflecting in my phone camera to appear like a space craft.

Andrew has a smashing time with his toe

Ouch!!!
After dropping a heavy beam on his foot, Andrew's toe swelled impressively.

Ger to Go...Mongolia here we come

With preparations under way for the trip to Mongolia to build a house with Habitat for humanity, we were invited to visit Willow's yurt (Ger) in the beautiful Cherryville valley.
What a treat to sip mint tea sweetened with authentic chinese rock sugar, snug as bugs in rugs, with the fire gently heating the felt lined interior.
Lined with rugs, tankas and lacquered furniture, and lit with candles, it is just like the real thing, We thought we were already there.
Can't wait to have our first Ger to Go meeting there.

The Alpacas check out their new digs.

With freezing temperatures and rain, the neighbours have been worrying about the comfort of our three girls in their new paddock. Despite the reminders that they ARE from Peru and used to much colder and bleaker weather than here... they have been offered the luxurious  new accommodation of the tin shed newly swept and lined the comfy straw. They nervously checked it out but have yet to bed down for the night in there.

Ella celebrates 21 fabulous years.

What a wonderful celebration. I felt  honoured to be included amongst such a warm loving group of friends and family that had shared Ella's transition from birth to womanhood.

Pepper has a stroke!

Pepper and Hamish hang out blissfully unaware that only a little while later Pepper was to have a stroke!!!!

Luckily with modern veterinary medicine she has made a full recovery.

Toadies in the forest

Is this a fairy colony or ......?

The Dalai Lama is in Australia

What counts is not the enormity of the task but the size of the courage.
~ Matthieu Ricard.

Milana looking her best for the Climate action rally on the weekend.

Wine tasting made easy

Sampling the wine at Shaw and Smith was a new experience for me and quite a treat with various cheeses to compliment their wine varieties.
Still not a patch on the Ulithorne Shiraz.

Guess who's having a brthday?

Who can believe it!
My brother's 70!!

Oysters and Jazz

Joining friends on a Sunday afternoon at the Oyster bar to listen to some Jazz was a pleasant way to spend some time on a Sunday afternoon...and sample some amazing Coffin Bay Oysters.

Glamming up

The siblings and spouses glam up for a night out.

Australia takes on the kiwis

Despite the inclement weather the Socceroos defeated the All Whites 3 - 0 at the Adelaide Oval and we remained dry in the beautiful new Grandstand.

"Global issues should be number one,"

"In some cases, in order to protect global issues some sacrifice for national interest is worth it in the long run. Global warming, these things, they suffer everybody"
~ The Dalai Lama

Cavalier attitudes get you nowhere

Creative music

Kids at the climate change rally used creative instruments to  bang out some rhythms at the climate action rally.

Silver balls

Today I was enjoying playing round with the reflections on the silver balls in Rundle Mall along with lots of tourists..

Tuck in for some treats

My fortnightly stint at the school tuck shop has lost its appeal these days with Bodhi unable to eat dairy yeast or (god forbid!!!) SUGAR for a whole 6 weeks. Still he loves to visit so he can gaze at the confectionary and dream.

A day trip to Monarto Zoo

At Monarto we saw these beautiful Painted Dogs, also known as African Wild Dogs, which are unique to Africa and they are among this continent's most endangered species. It is estimated that a mere 3,000  - 5,000 remain half a dozen of which are at Monarto. 

Another favourite for us all was seeing the giraffes close up. They're very shy.

It's Blogging time.

" I don't intend to tip-toe through life just to arrive safely at death"
~ Eleanor Roosevelt