Gardening in a Wet Season

Queensland Floods, December 2010 This summer has been quite a weather event with flooding across many Australian states. In Western Australia, not usually a state that we associate with flooding, they have recently experienced their worst flood on record in the Kimberley Ranges. As a by-product of Cyclone Ellie, the Fitzroy River Bridge has almost …

Welcome to the Future: Heat Islands and Ice Boxes

The Place to be in the Middle of a Heat Wave - image by Renato Laky (pixabay) Heat waves are not uncommon in Australia, but over the last week or so our attention has been captured by the extreme heatwave occurring across Europe. For the first time ever, temperatures soared over 40°C in the UK. …

Disability is a Blessing Too

The Australian Federal Election campaign is now in full swing and "Scotty from Ableism" has lit up the internet because he is “blessed” to not have “children with disabilities.” Understandably parents with children who have disabilities and the rest of the disability community are shocked and outraged. What does that make us? The Cursed Ones?? …

The Next-Door Neighbour

Living in the wide open spaces One of the things we love about our place is the open space and the semi-rural atmosphere. Across the road are some stables and our house is set back far enough on our one acre block that the dust from the gravel road doesn’t bother us too much. We …

Ease the Pain

In September last year I wrote a post about Migraine Awareness Week. My daughter Bec experiences migraine attacks on a regular basis. Fortunately, with a combination of lifestyle changes and over the counter pain medication she has been able to more or less manage the attacks. However, for many other people with migraine it can …

Dylan Alcott – Australian of the Year and Totally Able

Don’t worry if you have a disability. I don’t care that I’m in a wheelchair - in fact, I love it. Go to work with what you’ve got. I live the best life ever. Please get out there and enjoy life. Even though it’s a bit different, being different is definitely good. This week Dylan …

Travelling the World – Covid Style

Image by Peter Schulz - Unsplash We haven't really had a great start to the year. Despite all the assurances about leaning to live with Covid, Omicron is racing across our nation, people are queuing up for hours to get tested, there is massive disruption in workplaces, and the supermarket shelves are empty. Again. As …

Climate Change: Australian Frustration at Government Inaction

Image courtesy of Rod Long - Unsplash “These crises present us with the need to take radical decisions that are not always easy. At the same time, moments of difficulty like these also present opportunities that we must not waste.”Pope Francis COP26 has come and gone and it has not been the best of times …

NAIDOC Week 2021 – Heal Country

Over the last few weeks Dan and I have been spending the weekends doing puzzles. It is that time of year when it is wet and cold outside, and now that Dan is transitioning into independent living, puzzles have become a great weekend family activity that we can do indoors. Where it is warm. Dan …

Gaia 2021: Kakadu by Peter Jarver

Yellow Water Billabong, Kakadu by pen_ash - pixabay My first Gaia read for 2021 is another great Lifeline find, Kakadu: A Guide for All Seasons by Peter Jarver and Quentin Chester. I had never heard of Peter Jarver (1953-2003), but his photography in this book is absolutely stunning. Originating from South Australia, Jarver developed an …