This is the mad crazy tea cosy that my friend Barbara made. It is a giant woollen flannel flower and I’m falling more in love with it day by day. Until this blog I’d never used teapots and teacosies, but today I was blown out to discover that, even in this icy weather, my pot of tea stayed hot enough for two hours! I was stunned and amazed. I just kept pouring myself top-ups and didn’t need to boil the kettle or use the microwave once. Now that’s an energy saving. Continue reading →

On the 18th April this year I started this blog with Winston Churchill’s quote:

“The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.”Sir Winston ChurchillNovember 12, 1936

I’ve now been doing one new personal and one political action a day for 55 days but it’s interesting to look back on the actions I’ve chosen to take. Ironically it’s been almost 18 months since I finally grasped the seriousness of climate change. In the 16 months before I started the blog, however, I ran around talking to everyone about global warming but didn’t actually DO that much. Continue reading →

In the past whenever things got a bit rough I resorted to retail therapy. This poster by Barbara Kruger was on my wall twenty years ago. Shopping, however, no longer holds the same allure because the price tag has gone up so steeply. Shopping = money + planet + childrens’ future. Nevertheless, while I don’t really crave the retail part as much anymore, I do still crave the therapy. I think that’s why I’m loving exploring the web and visiting the sites I’ve bookmarked in my blogroll – they’re like a giant shopping mall, but instead of shopping for objects I’m shopping for inspiration and ideas. Continue reading →

Dear Tooth Fairy,

if you come and save our world I’ll give you as much chocolate as you want … I promise! Last night Maxie lost his second tooth. He was so excited. He immediately tried to think of nice things he could give the tooth fairy so that she’d be happy to leave him a gold coin (or two?). He ended up wrapping a piece of chocolate and leaving it with this little letter. I am so relieved that the tooth fairy loves chocolate. Every time I went into Maxie’s bedroom he was still wide awake until quite late – lying there watching his tooth in the glass and hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Continue reading →

Today I was given another shot of hope. I went along to Blackheath Golf Club again to talk to the manager and staff about the golf club becoming organic and growing food as part of Blackheath’s food security for the future. They were all really amenable to the idea and the manager gave me a copy of this month’s Club Life which is full of articles about the stewardship role of clubs and how they need to work with communities and tackle issues of sustainability! There was even an interview with Tim Flannery. Yeeha. Continue reading →

Most of the time I feel woefully inadequate as a mother but every now and then, like today, I come very close to getting it right. Today my boys and I experienced a late Autumn day to its fullest. From making and then eating sticky date pudding together when they got home from school (see recipe April 28),

to walking with our empty jar to the health food shop where THEY made their very own peanut butter for the first time, Continue reading →

I am such a hoarder! I still have my Moscow Olympics underpants which continue to be a great source of amusement to my friends. Nevertheless, today I was really glad that I’ve had such an inability to throw things out (a part of my life that still needs addressing) because for today’s personal act I decided to stop using tissues as much as possible and go back to using hankies Continue reading →

Today I had to go to Sydney for an ultrasound and, for the first time ever for a medical appointment, actually caught the train down.

For most people this would have been no big deal but I’ve xenical side effects always driven to Sydney for appointments. Partly because of the comfort of the car when I’ve been unwell, partly because I usually try to do half a dozen other things when I go down to avoid “wasting” a day, partly because I’m usually running late and partly because I love listening to the radio on the trip down. Continue reading →

“The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.”
Sir Winston Churchill
November 12, 1936

Someone emailed me this great cartoon by Bruce Petty that says it all! Continue reading →