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We Won’t Fade Away

 

A post for the environmentally-conscious and chocolate-mad.

chocolate

Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve got Friday on my mind.  I’ve been waiting for this event all year.  For many years it has kept me going — my National Folk Festival.  It is a magnet for extremists.  I say extremists because that is the language that is now being used by some leaders to describe the environmentally and socially-conscious. In the wake of the Christchurch terrorist attack, you would think that our leaders would have learned that scare-mongering can have dire repercussions.  It legitimises the warped views of those who would seek to achieve their aims through violent action.  It is the responsibility of our leaders not to characterise peaceful, concerned citizens as extremists.  Instead, let’s have a reasoned debate on solutions given the evidence.  In other words, let’s have some evidence-based policy making without the histrionics, and then we can vote on it. Read more

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All My Trials – Fynnie Chows Down

Warning:  this post contains many exclamation marks.

It’s hard to be serious about blogging, ladies and gentlemen, when the sun is shining brightly.  So yes, I am still procrastinating.  This is not my promised “dear-to-my heart” post, but rather my “fear-to-my-heart” post.  When my adrenaline levels peak, I have my werewolves in London moment.  I start writing very bad rhyming poetry.  It’s insane.  Thankfully the urge soon passes.  Anyway, here’s the first line –

On a bright and sunny day, Fynnie dog went out to play. Read more

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Two Kinds Of Music

I am having trouble organising/articulating my thoughts for my previously flagged “dear-to-my-heart” post.  When I write about serious issues, I like to think that I don’t talk crap – that my discussion is well considered (you can retire the girl from policy analysis but you can’t take the policy analyst out of the girl).  So, I have been doing some research and this has taken me down some holes that require, upon emerging, a full body scrub and several showers to feel clean again.

Anyway, this is not said post.  It is a link to a short TED talk from ex-shearer and award-winning West Australian C&W singer, Pete Byfield.  I caught a performance by Pete at a country market.

Read more

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The Changing Seasons – March 2019

Dear Readers, can you believe that it is already March?  So here I am, commencing my second year of The Changing Seasons challenge.  I’m feeling battered this month, like an incumbent government that is falling in the polls even though the economy is performing well.  Don’t the punters know that they have never had it so good?  I suppose that is because we don’t live in an economy; we live in a society, and there has been a fair bit of societal ugliness going round.  So yep, although I want to crawl under a rock or hide in my own little “Canberra bubble” (sorry. in joke), March was mostly good for me.

So, let’s get started. Read more

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No Ordinary Day

Happy National Eucalypt Day, everyone.  23 March is the national day for Australia’s iconic eucaplypt trees, of which there are around 900 species.  Eucalypts were known to have existed when Australia was still part of the super-continent Gondwana.  The oldest known eucaplypt fossil specimens (flowers, fruit and leaves) date back 52 millions years! Read more

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Art For Boldness Sake

Continuing the turtle theme (see my post of 13 March 2019), today I am sharing a photo of a mosaic I made a few years ago of a turtle (in abstract).  I love bold colours and, in winter, when my garden is devoid of colour, my colourful mosaics are sure to make me smile.

turtlemosaic

Kind Regards
Tracy

Response to the Ragtag Daily Prompt — Bold.  Click on the link to join in.

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Sun Worshipper

As today’s Ragtag Daily Prompt is diurnal, I thought I would post a couple of photos of the eastern long-necked turtle.   The (Australian) eastern long-necked turtle is a sun-worshipper.  It is a cold-blooded, diurnal animal.  These small fresh-water turtles are most active mid-morning and afternoon once they have warmed up.      Read more