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Green For Canberra

Canberra news – Unlike this time last year when there was nary a blade of grass due to drought and high temperatures, Canberra (Australia) is green once more.

La Niña is sending rain our way and our total dam storage is 90.9 percent and increasing. The buzz of lawn mowers rivals that of the bees and swathes of grass and weeds get the chop between showers. Meanwhile, the results of the Canberra election have been finalised and here too, there is to be more green in the legislative assembly.

In other news, a recently retired federal minister who, as part of the federal leadership team, had a hand in the decision to pursue a gas-led recovery for Australia, is now promoting a green recovery. That may look good on his job application for the position of Secretary-General of the OECD. One might ask, “How emissions-intensive is your recovery? What’s your goal?”

Stay safe, everyone. Be kind and question.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind · 27 Comments

Can An Election Bring Us Together?

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you. I think I need a really big ballad this week (cue violins).

Residents of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), also known as Canberra, voted in their local election last Saturday. It was a different election, a healing election.

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In Good Times And Bad

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

I admire those people for whom caring for the sick and broken comes instinctively. I can keep up the Florence Nightingale charade for about a week (slight exaggeration) but after that I need to have a Bex and a lie down. I find it especially stressful when the source of the problem is not immediately obvious or the patient cannot communicate how they are feeling. When my dog was indeterminately ill a couple of years ago, the vet suggested I could probably do with a Valium. I suspect his comment was his way of avoiding my endless questions and speculative scenarios. Why start at the start when you can jump to conclusions? I can be a real pain in the arse.

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October Coffee, Cake and Chat

Every month, Su from Zimmerbitch, hosts a virtual afternoon tea. and invites readers to go along for tea, bikkies and a chat. It’s very elegant …

I was having a moment today and feeling rather anti-social but it passed (no pun intended). Canberra (Australia) has not recorded a Covid infection for over 90 days now. It seems a miracle (not literally) to me that despite open borders and escalating community transmission in the greater Sydney region to our north, Canberra citizens appear to be returning to their pre-Covid lives without a care in the world. I went to brunch with a couple of friends recently and if the tables were any closer together we would be sitting on one another’s lap. I mentioned my concern to the waitress but apparently the seating arrangement was all legit. Go figure. At least one million people worldwide have died from Covid and we are going out for coffee. Being the martyr that I am, I sat there with my mask on and had nothing to eat or drink which rather defeats the purpose of coffee dates. Kudos to my long-suffering friends for putting up with me.

However, Su’s event is a virtual afternoon tea, so risk-free. I made a GF apple and ricotta cake to take along. The ricotta was about to expire and the apples were long past their best too. The texture is pudding-like, and perhaps under-cooked even though I baked it for much longer than the recipe required. Perhaps the chefs and the cooks out there can advise me whether I need to convert American measurements to metric measurements? Normally I don’t bother, but I dunno …. it might have helped in this case. Anyway, most importantly, it is delicious. Perhaps it is the sprinkling of brown sugar on the top that makes it so yummy. Next time I would probably use less oil and sugar.

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All My Trials – As I Was Saying

My little Finnish Spitz, Ama, was diagnosed with copper storage disease a couple of years ago. It has been a long and difficult journey to restore her to some semblance of health, with her blood test results again causing concern as little as four months ago. A new medication was our last hope and, hooray, so far, so good. Her latest test results have shown a dramatic improvement. We can see this in her sassy attitude. The ensuing ruckus is never-ending.

About a year into her treatment, I spoke to the vet about how Ama’s treatment was bankrupting us. The staff suggested I put her on YT (or something like that)! What the heck? Is that a thing? Does your dog go viral and then all of a sudden people want to buy merch? I suppose I could make some Ama “fan” T-shirts or I could make a fund-raising calendar of her cuteness. Is that how people monetise their pets? Anyway, needless to say, we are not doing that, even if she is ridiculously cute and loud. Yes, I am biased.

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A Piece Of Work

Some art to end the week. My first mosaic this spring. I made this one for a friend. It is one of Australia’s smallest raptors, the Nankeen Kestrel. The Nankeen Kestrel is about the size of a pigeon apparently. The mosaic is not an exact likeness. I’ve taken some artistic licence with colours, but you will get the general idea. My phone camera took artistic licence with the colours too! My good camera gave me a mess of reflections.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Posted on by Reflections of an Untidy Mind · 68 Comments

Walking With Magpies

This article contains material of a satirical nature that may offend some readers. Please note the photos are awful, but the story is good/scary/funny.

For months now I have been in serious training. Magpie training. It’s full on magpie breeding season here in Canberra (Australia) and for the unlucky few, a walk, cycle or broomstick ride, may lead to being dive-bombed by a rampaging magpie. As of a few minutes ago, the count on the number of magpie attacks that have occurred in Australia this year is 3798, with 466 injuries (see Australia’s Magpie Swooping Map 2020). The number of attacks and injuries are likely significantly under-reported. But have no fear, ladies and gentlemen, there are a couple of ways to mitigate the risks.

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Going High

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

I had another song planned, but I just need to check a few facts before I subject you to it. As luck would have it, I have a backup. Today the fam and I cast an early vote in Canberra’s local government election. The leaders debate was held last night. It was all very civil. Democracy in action. A fair contest. Nice. Should be more debates like that.

Now for the song.

Stay safe and stay high, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.