I give up. I can’t write anything to save myself. Can just imagine myself shipwrecked on a desolate island and not being able to write “help” on the beach.
So catching up on some news, I went to the National Folk Festival in Canberra (Australia) a few weeks ago. I had a lovely time. There was such a full program. Kudos to the event organisers who put on a such a great festival under very difficult financial circumstances. The word of the festival was hope. It cheered me that so many people still had it. That makes sense, doesn’t it, because how could they sing without it?
Anyway, you would have liked to hear about the culture of the Ngunawal people, the traditional custodians of the land that is now Canberra. First Nation’s songstresses, Stiff Gins and Suga Cane Mamas sang heartfelt songs of family and country. Professional storyteller, Kiran Shah. told the story of the mouse deer who, although he was small, outwitted the crocodiles. And how powerful is Chilean folk legend, Nano Stern? The list goes on and on.
I also loved the community choirs. Newcastle (Australia) community choir, Ukastle Ukestra and Ukestral Voices won the 2025 Festival Infinite Song Contest. I couldn’t have been happier for them.
I had fun. Then I got Covid. Not fun. I’m recovering. Would I go again? Absolutely.
Sing out, everyone.
Kind Regards. Tracy.
*Photos from L-R. Ukastle Ukestra & Ukestral Voices, Queen of Hearts, Kiran Shah.
I thought now would be a good time to repeat this post about my little dog, Ama, for she is now 12 and has been quite unwell again. She recently spent a week in the vet hospital with severe pancreatitis and left with a diagnosis of insulinoma, an aggressive cancer. She’s been home for two weeks now and is still quite bright. Not at all like a dog on her last legs. “Perhaps the diagnosis is wrong?” I entreated the vet on our last visit. He didn’t think so based on a relevant blood test. I still hold out hope. That’s quite strange for me because I am usually such a catastrophiser. In the meantime, we continue to enjoy her company and deprive her of cheese. Life is so unfair.
*****
This post is dedicated to my little dog, Ama, who is not well. So far we know that she has copper storage disease but not how bad it is or whether we can mitigate it. I’ve not had much time for blogging lately as we’ve had a lot of medical appointments and I’ve been researching treatments, including low copper diets. It helps to be informed when talking to veterinary specialists. It also gives me something to do while I worry.
Ama’s birthday is this Saturday. She’ll be six. When I was looking for a pet name for her, I read that Ama meant born on a Saturday (in Ghanaian). As she was born on a Saturday, and the name had a nice ring to it, we just went with that (plus we like to say Um-ah when she is naughty). She also has a pedigree name – Eurabbie Taehti. Taehti means Polar Star in Finnish. Everything does seem to revolve around the little minx so it is fitting, but more importantly, she lights the way.
Welcome to my somewhat infrequent 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.
It is possible that my brother might pay us a visit tomorrow. I found out today that he has a couple of days work just outside of town. When my son was greeted with this news, I immediately got a lecture about how messy the house was, the implication being that it was mostly my stuff everywhere.
It is very untidy and grimy, ladies and gentlemen. No doubt about it. I must admit that I am a bit of a hoarder. I still have the merit card that I got for folk dancing when I was in the third grade. Those were the days! I suppose if I spent more time cleaning the house and less time pulling out the African love grass at the park, my tiny house might be more presentable. Bloomin’ heck, it could also be more presentable if two watering cans and my weeding tool hadn’t mysteriously found their way into the dining room. One watering can would have sufficed. Anyway, we had a quick clean-up, tossing a stack of those terribly useful yogurt buckets into the recycling bin and moving some electrical cords off the kitchen bench. As you do. Before people come over. But really, half a day is not a lot of notice.
But back to the Friday song. Today I have chosen Beth Hart performing her song, The Ugliest House On The Block. Enjoy.
Oh well, If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, we could go for a walk rather than sit around inside.
I thought I might do some garden posts since, well, it cheers me up. Today I am making my second ever contribution to Six on Saturday, a weekly gardening get-together hosted by The Propagator. It has been a long time since my first post in May!
My new verge garden is looking a mess at the moment. Attractive features include rubble we dug out of the mud, mud splattered plants, and the bird cage and plastic containers protecting the vanilla lilies (Arthropodium milleflorum) from the marauding cockatoos. I understand that the tuber of the vanilla lily is a traditional bushtucker food. Aha! This got me thinking that perhaps I should go foraging for onion weed (Asphodelusfistulosus) which is another favourite of the cockatoos. They seem to know what is good eating. I discovered that yes, onion weed is edible. But I digress.
More pleasingly, the billy buttons (Craspedia variabilis) and the bulbine lilies (Bulbine glauca) are flowering ever so cheerily despite the spring rain.
Next we have the egg and bacon plant (Eutaxia obovata) and tucked in along side it is Craspedia variabilis once again. The former is a West Australian shrub but doing quite well in sunny (just joking) Canberra on the opposite side of the country. The colours are best described as garish but the insects like them.
I have also included hoary sunray (Leucochrysum albicans) seedlings in the verge plantings. All are recent plantings except for two that I nursed through winter trying not to OVER WATER them! They are water-wise plants and don’t like to be waterlogged. The hoary sunray is a threatened grassland species local to our area. They look spectacular en masse but even a single plant is enough to brighten your day. Aussies, do make sure you get seedlings from a reputable plant nursery. All native plants on public land in Canberra are protected.
Come with me while I nip into the backyard. Our Tumut grevillea (Grevillea wilkinsonii) is flowering. The Eastern spinebills have already been into it despite it being a tad mouldy. Apparently, the flowers smell like mice urine. The geographic distribution of this species is restricted to a few small populations near Tumut in the western foothills of the Snowy Mountains, and unsurprisingly, it too is an endangered species. It is now being cultivated commercially and it does well in Canberra which has a not too dissimilar climate to Tumut. Anyway, I thought it deserved a photo just in case it doesn’t survive this extended wet spell.
Finally, let’s take a brief stroll to the local park. Because it is normally much drier, we don’t often get to see common woodruff (Asperula conferta) spreading in such delightful abandon. A small area of ecological significance has been fenced off and we are excited to see what else might pop up in that area over time.
You have probably guessed that it has been wet, wet, wet here in Canberra, Australia. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Yes, we need a song because it is just that sweet little mystery that makes us try, try, try, try. Sing it with me, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to my somewhat infrequent 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.
A world without compassion is a world without hope. My heart grieves for those in Pakistan who have been affected by devastating floods, and I stand with all those in other countries who are facing crippling water shortages. The wealthy, powerful and corrupt may cushion themselves against these catastrophes but ultimately everyone, and everything, will pay a high price for their collective crimes against humanity.
Today I’ve chosen a song, Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen, performed by Paul Robeson. Mr Robeson was a great humanist and advocate for change.
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 am having an explosion of gardening creativity at the moment, readers, so unfortunately Friday song day is not getting a look in lately. I have therefore decided to have a break for a month and then re-assess. I want to leave you with one last song before I head off with my pitchfork.
Today’s song is Bored by Canberra’s very own, Sesame Girl. Lead singer, Heather, happens to be my friend’s niece. Check ’em out and remember musicians gotta eat. Enjoy.
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’m struggling with my Friday song day. Perhaps after all these years, I’ve got no songs left in the tank? Some pretty eye watering inflation figures were released in Australia this week. Not as bad as some countries. Apparently, we’ve got coal and gas, to borrow a phrase from a friend, “up the wazoo”. There’s always a but. The price for Aussie gas is set by the global market so we pay the international price. Gas is not the only commodity that is determined by the global market. Aussies, do you reckon you’ll be able to afford your usual groceries in a war/pandemic/climate catastrophe-driven global food shortage?
In the forthcoming federal budget, I will be looking to the new Australian government to stop all public subsidies and public largesse for fossil fuel projects. Gosh, if ordinary people have to pay the fuel excise, I can see no reason why the coal and gas companies should continue to benefit from the diesel fuel rebate. Fair’s fair, right?
Anyway, I digress. I suppose I may have a few songs left. Today, I thought we should listen to an Aussie band. Here is Perch Creek performing Gold Shop. Enjoy.
Check out their album and if you’ve got cash to spare, musicians gotta eat.
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.
Would it be okay if I share a dog story with you rather than focus on the doom and gloom this week? I spend a lot of time thinking about the gloomy stuff and it is of no help to anyone. And yet, I did read a story on a Finnish innovation, a mega-sand battery to store green energy for when it is needed. Hooray, but I digress. Today, I was walking to the park when I saw this huge Siberian husky loping my way at speed.
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.
It’s already Saturday here and I haven’t published my Friday Song yet. Better late than never, eh? This week I could tell you about all the stupid spending that went on under the last government, and that we now have nothing “nation building” to show for it. I could also tell you how this has left the new national government in a pretty pickle having to cancel important programs that ensure people sick with Covid don’t have to go into work in order to keep a roof over their heads. Yeah, tricky. It is especially tricky when you have inherited a huge budget deficit due to a lot of expenditure that hasn’t exactly been the best value for money for the country, and now have a huge budget deficit/ big credit card bill, at the same time as interest rates are going through the roof (lotta roofs in this thought bubble). And if you are not collecting enough taxes to pay that debt down because everybody, including the rich people, must have a tax cut – and in order for prospective governing parties to win an election – then those debt levels are only going to increase, adding to the burden on existing and future taxpayers, those few that are still remaining that is (including those casual but essential workers sick with Covid), and I’m not talking about the rich people here. I could tell you about all of that, but I won’t.
Reflections of An Untidy Mind 