Yuma from Ngunawal country. This week it was Landcare Week and to celebrate, Landcare ACT organised a conference for environmental volunteers. Our local government coughed up the money for the conference and many of their terrific parks and conservation staff, as well as a host of other experts, ensured it all went smoothly and shared their knowledge with us. A big thank you to everyone involved.
I particularly liked the field trips and the session on story telling, the latter being a subject very close to my heart. I haven’t written much about my garden conversion or landcare activities recently, so here is a quick and dirty update.

Above is a photo of my personal landcare project. Hasn’t it grown? I’ve had to fence it to keep the rabbits out. My True Love asked me whether I going to tell the story of how I came a gutser on the fence today? A passerby raced over to help me up. Some people are really kind. There’s not much more to tell. I’m fine. But that wasn’t quite what I had in mind.
Check out this Red-browed finch (below). These sassy little finches are becoming regular visitors to my yard. It is very difficult to photograph my little visitors with so much paraphernalia in the way. I digress.

Finally, there was much excitement today as my True Love photographed a Fuscous honeyeater at our official landcare session. Perhaps Fuscous honeyeaters visit a lot? It is hard to tell when we are normally heads-down, bums-up working. Anyway, it’s a great story. Can’t wait to share it with our whole team.

I told someone at the conference about my art and my website. I probably should have reviewed my website first. My stories have been a bit dreary lately and my artwork is hard to find. Hope I didn’t put them off. And my (3am) grammar is terrible! The moral of this story must be fewer words, right? Here goes.
Family Ties
Fruits of our labour.
Roll out the Welcome Matt.
Your story of resilience and strength.
Your vulnerability.
The Difference you make.
Our time to grow.
How was that?
More importantly, how’s my blog family going? I’ve been rather preoccupied lately, but that’s another story.
Take care, everyone.
Kind Regards.
Tracy
It’s good to see how your patch is coming along Tracy. Glad your tumble wasn’t too serious. I used to really enjoy Landcare gatherings to hear what others are doing and what works well
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Thanks, Brian.
Also apologies. I’ve really stuffed up with my Ragtag prompts, or lack thereof lately.
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At least someone is on the ball to do them for you. I just schedule mine for months ahead so I don’t forget
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You are a good and organised person.
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I need to be or I get overwhelmed and things get out of control
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That conservation patch looks fabulous, Tracy! I’m so impressed (and a little envious). 🙂
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Thanks, Jo. I’m really happy with it. It is starting to fill out nicely and now that I’ve worked out what’s eating my plants, I think it will lush up this year. If you’ve got a square metre patch of neglected lawn, I’m sure you could create a little bit of habitat too.
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That little red bowed finch makes quite a splash of colour in the green surroundings. Your patch is coming along very well, but be careful of that wire.
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Thanks, Pauline. It’s been very exciting to see so many birds visiting the area. My neighbours are definitely noticing the difference too, and jumping on the bandwagon. It creates a great sense of community.
The wire did a job on my leg but I don’t think it ripped my trousers. Weird. 🙂
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Good to hear from you again Tracy! Your garden is beautiful, and I loved the small birds you captured with your camera. Take care not to fall again!
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Thanks, Ann. Sorry I’ve been such a recluse. Time flies. I have a system for getting over that fence but I was in a rush so I didn’t follow it. Fortunately I’m well padded.
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I admire the work you are doing Tracy. It’s wonderful to see how it is coming along. And the bird captures are wonderful! I have to ask what’s a gutser? I’m assuming you fell, if a kind stranger helped you up?
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Thanks, Heather. My garden conversion is a bright spot in my day. To come a gutser means to fall off something, eg. a bike, or to fall over or over something. It’s usually done with spectacular style. 🙂
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Ha! Well, I’ve been a known to be a gutser on occasion. Love learning new words. Thanks, Tracy.
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A verb, Heather. Come a gutser or came a gutser. You’ve got this. Spectacularly. 🙂
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Thanks for clarifying! I’ve been known to use words from different languages/dialects incorrectly and slightly embarrassing myself, but often a good laugh!
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The landcare site is impressive, Tracy, and as has been proven elsewhere, “build it and they’ll come.” You made an attractive habitat, and the creatures come to enjoy it…except for the unwelcome rabbits.
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Thanks, Lou. The public site is taking a hit from the rabbits. Fencing my home site has made a big difference. Bit of a rabbit boom in Oz at the moment.
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It is always good to hear from you, Tracy. You gardening is going well and that is important. Progress is progress and small steps are the best ones. Stand back and admire it. Yup. Looking good!
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Thank you, Lois. Miss you. I’ll have to take some close ups in Spring for you.
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The poem and the photos are beautiful. I love all of this!
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Thank you. Am loving it. And to think that I once hated gardening!
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Nice clump of themeda and beautiful bird photos. I haven’t heard ‘gutser’ in years. Diana
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D, Seemed a perfect descriptor for what was a spectacular fail and thought others might enjoy the colloquialism too.
Only planted two themeda. At least 3 more have popped up. Could get quite crowded in that spot. The birds tend to like some space grasses between tussocks so will have to keep an eye on that.
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Land sharing – keep sharing the beautiful land. Nice work.
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Thanks so much.
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I so admire what you’re doing Tracy. Your commitment to your environment, and by extension, everyone’s, is inspiring. Love the poem. So glad you’re rewarded by beautiful birds moving in. Now … just stop falling over.
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Thanks, Margaret. I envy your steadiness. I hope my bone density is good!
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Any win for conservtion is fantastic! Wish we had more people like that in Africa.
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Neil, we are so fortunate to have a national Landcare program supported by the Federal government. It makes it so easy to volunteer and many thousands of people do.
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