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the last word…
This is Gaz. He’s a Galah. Most Australians use the non-Avian term Galah meaning a human is a fool or idiot. But Gaz is a real Galah and naturally entertaining by nature…mostly. Gaz has established himself as ‘spokes bird’ for the Crested Pigeons in the area. He’s very vocal if I’m late feeding them, or…
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but wait, there’s more…
25 years ago this month we moved into the house we have now sold. We lived in another very cute and lovely house for 7 years on the other side of town. We decided after 8 years in Alice, life here suited us. But perhaps we would indulge ourselves with a house that had a…
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the mo-poke is back…
A few weeks ago in the wee hours of the still, dark morning I heard the familiar two toned, almost mournful, sound ‘mo-poke…mo-poke…mo-poke’. It is the sound of Australia’s smallest owl. There has been one around our garden on and off for years. Last year about this time it would perch in a low branch…
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feed them and they will come…
A day without learning something new is a lost opportunity. Awareness of that something is the key to integrating it, however. Sometimes what I see doesn’t fully register and then suddenly I see it in a different light and it goes into the ‘vault’. After years of feeding the birds and gradually observing how clever…
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being human…
I have just licked my forefinger in order to pick up the last crumb of date and walnut cake I made this morning. I’m thinking that is a particularly human thing to do. Dogs can lick their bowl clean, even raccoons use their hands to deftly wash food before eating, but what animal licks its…
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some crabby thoughts…
So much has happened these recent weeks I hardly know where to begin. I have been disappointed, inspired, challenged, delighted, sometimes all in the same hour. But today what is on my mind are crabs. Apparently they are adaptable survivors. So much so, that other unrelated species have evolved to resemble crabs. My crabby thoughts…
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dropping in for the views…
I know that you know I’m decluttering, downsizing, clearing out. You are probably tired of hearing about it but not as tired as I am of doing it. I’m trying to keep myself motivated though and relieved to have as much time as I need to do it. There are many things to be learned…
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lest we forget…
This morning I woke just before dawn. It is Anzac Day here in Australia. Normally I would go for a walk and greet the day with gratitude for my Dad and all the other many, many men and women who served the armed forces in their country, many who gave their lives for democracy and…
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one year ends, another begins…
January 1st, my traditional walk to see in the new year, and all was bright, dare I say, promising. And then I caught myself, not hoping for too much, just focusing on that moment of sunrise, welcoming in the day/month/year. So many of us are being reserved and not expecting much that is different and…
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green and gold*…
Whoosh! chartreuse chatter lifts into a golden evening. Imagination did not prepare me for the spectacle of wild budgies as they heave and push through spent grasses veering to and fro as if one mind. Such sights are rare in the flesh. In videos transmitted by lines and pixels, the living sound and colour cannot…
