What does it mean to be “British”?

Some statistics have been released which, if correct, maye you wonder what’s happening over in ‘dear old blighty’.  The figures released imply that 1 in 9 people living in Britain were born ‘overseas’.
Globalisation, cheap travel, easy migration and wide differences in living standards have encouraged people to move in ever greater numbers from place to [...]

From bad to worse.

The fires are not yet out… the death toll not finalised… and Melbourne suffers another blow as projections of some of the long term issues become clearer.
This time the problem is water supply. Rainfall in the catchment area for Melbourne is already at its lowest on record, and the dams are currently only at 30% [...]

Death toll etc.

The death toll currently still stands at 181 but there are areas yet to be accessed by police and there are known dead waiting to be moved and counted amongst those lost. The end total is still estimated at ‘300′ but it will be some time before anything like a final ‘exact official figure’ can [...]

The first arrest.

Police have arrested a 39 year old man in connection with the blaze that killed 21 people and wiped out 36,000 hectares of South Gippsland. The man’s solicitor said his client was “in a fragile state” and needed immediate psychological support.
Police consider the cause of fires started at Marysville, Murrindindi, Buxton and Narbethong to be ’suspicious’. If [...]

Firebugs or Natural Disasters or… ?

Theories are beginning to be mooted about the causes of the Victorian Bushfire Disaster, and whilst they are many and varied it appears nearly all contain an element of ‘truth’ about them that could explain just what went so horribly wrong.
To make it a little simplet. it’s useful to look at the situation in several [...]

The environmentalist.

The kids went out in the garden a weeks or so ago and found an old bowl we’d been using under a tap as an extra water source for our dogs. Over the months it managed to develop a hole a few cms from the bottom so was pushed to one side. Still, it does hold [...]

The wheel turns.

The fires in Victoria are still burning though some overnight rain has given the firefighters some chance of finally gaining a measure of control over the course of the twenty-one blazes they are currently dealing with. Currently no more homes are under threat, as far as we’re aware but of course the clean-up has yet [...]

Soul of a Nation

We’re relative newcomers to Australia having only been here 15 years or so, but ‘new’ or not we *feel* Australian, which is really strange when you think just how*huge* this country is.
What brought it into perspective was the concern we feel here in Sydney for our fellows down South in Victoria where they are suffering [...]

And… we’re back.

So here we are again after the long summer break raring to go with a load of topics to discuss. Yet what a place to begin. With the possibility of 300 or more people dead in the worst bush-fires Australia has seen hanging over us it’s hard to restart the blog with anything positive.
That we’d [...]

They’re coming!!

We’re a scruffy bunch here sometimes. For example, I like a bit of ‘wildness’ in the garden and so apart from throwing handfuls of slug pellets out now and then I tend not to do much in the way of pest control. Likewise I do *very* little pruning in some areas.
Once such area is the [...]

Wordweb utility – it’s an essential!

This utility is such a ‘must have’ I rarely remember to tell anyone about it! Sounds silly I know but it’s *so* useful, essential even, that I honestly forget that it isn’t a part of the basic operating system!
The thing is called ‘WordWeb‘ and it sits quietly in your taskbar until there is a word [...]

A whale of a time.

The baby humpback whale found stranded and motherless in Sydney Harbour, and named Colin… later Colette, was finally ‘euthanased’ in Sydney Harbour yesterday.
There’ve been all sorts of stories about her and the way she was/wasn’t aided by government agencies etc and there is now talk of a *summit* of experts to try to establish guidelines [...]

Bendi Bindi Back!

The miniscule Wildlife Warrior and merchandising machine known as Bindi Irwin will be ten years old in a few days (July 24th). The development of her fan base in the wake of father Steve’s death has launched her into ’superstar’ status. In fact, her fame has grown to the extent that the ‘Bindi Irwin’ name [...]

Unlucky for some.

Dropped into the petrol station this morning to fill up ready for the weekend and as you can see from the picture, it cost me AU$107.63 in total.
I commented on the price to a friend and said we only paid 68c a litre when we arrived here. She told me back in 1971 she could [...]

Waterless washing machine – a step too far.

Story here culled from from news.com about a new type of washing machine (called Xeros?) developed in the UK that uses just one cup of water, yet cleans a full wash and leaves the clothes virtually dry. Seems instead of all that water, the machine uses the cupful to loosen the dirt, then 20 [...]

Did the earth move for you Nancy?

Pity this poor couple on May 12th 2008. The girl in the wedding dress has just been married, she steps outside the church to have her photo taken by Wang Qiang and as he takes the snaps there is a distant rumble…
… the distant rumble gets closer then stones fall of the church and [...]

Save Steve’s Place!!!

Please sign the Save Steve’s Place petition and stop the miners wrecking this wildlife preserve!!

If we can do it we need to act now… every vote counts. Please send this to all your friends asap!!!

Blue Jay way…

The sister just sent be a picture of a woodpecker sitting on her bird table. Ntp sure if she’s going to upload it to the gallery so I’ve reproduced it here.
It’s a little fuzzy because she shot it though a window quickly to catch it before it flew away, but it’s clear what it is [...]

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit…

So there we were trolling along home in the car. We’d been to pick up the youngest from skating… the coach brought her ’so far’ and we collected her from the drop-off point.
As we turned into our street we saw a rabbit in the middle of the road. Clearly it was transfixed but the car [...]

The Bullet Bus

The wife is back riding the Bullet Bus. I’ve mentioned this bus before, because in the absence of a sensible public service these private operators have stepped into the breach and created a service that is both cheap and convenient… surely a first for commuters?
Yet there is one small quibble.
To contact the bus [...]

keep looking »