My boys are notorious for running around, whatever the weather, in shorts and t-shirts and it seems that it is only Matt and I who, in the middle of winter are absolutely freezing, with all of the layers on. Yet, still, the heater has been purring on and every opportunity, there the boys are, splayed out on the floor in front of the heater (in their shorts and t-shirts). I even took to putting tape on the heater dial so that they couldn't turn it up too high (and suddenly remembered my father doing the same thing). Then it dawn on me. TURN OFF THE HEATERS!
If they are in shorts and tees, then they will survive just fine. Matt and I have enough clothes in our cupboards to put more and more on until the kids finally realise that they need to put more clothes on before the heater goes on.
This was now two days ago, except for one hour last night (which I will get to later)
We live in Melbourne, and it is winter. It is cold. I know that is not as cold as some places in the world, and despite what I thought at the start, I am coming to realise that we are fine in our house without the heater for a few reasons.
1. We cook every night so the house does warm just a little and retains that warm (enough) so that it feels a little cosy whilst we eat (we eat near the kitchen).
2. I, the coldest person in the house suffering a circulation disorder, am getting to know my woollies and have been wearing lots of layers, and getting creative. Yesterday I wore 2 woollen jumpers and was warm (wow!), and today, singlet, long sleeved top, woollen jumper and windcheater - warm again. I have also chopped sleeves off old jumpers and made some "armies" that have made a real difference for my poor old fingers.
3. The one hour last night. We have a heater in one room, so after showers, the kids got into jarmies and got their books, and we closed the door of the room, sat in there for the hour reading. It was cosy. After the hour, the kids went to bed, heater off. We went back in, heater not back on, but the room was incredibly warm (we had adjusted already in a day). When it started to get cool (about 2 hours later) it was time for bed anyway.
4. We are not noticing the cold outside as much, the difference isn't as harsh on us.
5. My youngest said to me this morning "You know mum, I think that I am getting out of the habit of going straight to lying in front of the heater in the morning now." Great!
Are they wearing jumpers yet? Not really. Still in shorts and t-shirts, but I figure, when they feel the cold, they will, or not. They are kids still, and the cold doesn't make you sick, it's the virus and bacteria that get sneezed and coughed at you that do. They will hopefully learn from us to pop a jumper on as we now wear one in our house now.
Time to Energise and Fertilise
I began the day with a bike ride with 2 of the boys to warm myself up and that really helped me not feel like I needed the heater on (bonus for energy saving). It really does seem to make a difference to get the inner body furnace burning early in the day so that you are on a slow burner all day. I have been remarkably warmer all day. I am normally a person who is wearing layer upon layer upon layer and gloves and still feeling the cold, so I can vouch for this today.
The other thing that I have done today is do a little gardening. A friend of mine donated to me a bag of Dynamic Lifter and Sugar Cane Mulch, so it seemed like a great time to fertilise the vegetable garden, flower beds and dormant fruit trees. There is something so incredibly satisfying about the smell of Dynamic Lifter and looking at mulch all over the garden. I gave it all a good water in afterward as the whole garden is desperately dry and it needed a great soak in.
I am sure that the bulbs will now give me much better, brighter flowers and the vegetables will grow stronger. I am going to sleep well tonight.
Letter to Tony Burke MP re: James Price Point
This is a copy of my letter I have emailed to Tony Burke MP today regarding the gas processing plant at James Price Point on the Dampier Peninsula, WA.
I am writing to you in regard to my concerns surrounding the gas processing plant at James Price Point.
I am wishing to express my wholehearted support for the National Heritage Listing for the Dampier Peninsula which is the location for this proposed gas hub, and express my opposition to any plans for the gas process plant at James Prices Point.
Having travelled through many parts of Australia, I can wholeheartedly tell you that this Peninsula is a place of importance in our country, to the local indigenous people for the long dreamtime stories, the fossils, and storylines, but also for the species of flora and fauna which are endemic to this region.
The Dampier Peninsula has been well guarded from the heavy traffic of tourism by the dirt road that is subject to weather (that caught us out unawares) for a very good reason. The local people of the Dampier Peninsula do not wish to be inundated, they wish to keep their treasures and stories well looked after, and as it has not been listed as World Heritage (like Kakadu, or Francois Peron) like it really should be, they have kept it this way by restricting the flow in.
Now white man's greed and industrialisation is set to trample over the top, and destroy storylines, fossils, and dreamtime stories, bring in a completely different lifestyle for the Broome area that will be more like Port Headland and Karratha that will most likely lead to fly in, fly out workers getting rich, and the local indigenous people being overlooked for work (as they most often are at the moment there now) due to prejudice ("No point employing them, because they probably won't turn up tomorrow" - yes I heard that time and time again) and also because they don't have the right qualifications.
Touting the project as though the indigenous people are going to win out of this is a complete lie, there is no win for them. Their lives will turn upside down.
What I saw in Port Headland was extreme wealth and slums, not a place to stay and marvel at.
What I saw in the Dampier Peninsula was paradise. Broome has a very good thing going with its tourism. Once you industrialise a town, it becomes very ugly, it will become an eyesore over time and lose the very attraction that has been drawing people from all over the world for years. Is this what we are wanting for our country? Is this a well thought out policy?
Dampier Peninsula needs a National Heritage Listing now, if not a World Heritage Listing. I would implore you to spend some time there with the people, in the country.
Please reconsider, Tony. This country is in your hands at the moment.
These are the things that keep me awake - our people who are being neglected, and the beauty of our land being lost.
What keeps you awake?
Kind regards,
Meg Dunley
I will await his response and action.
If you wish to show your support to the Kimberley, please visit www.savethekimberley.com
New Adventure
As I write this, I am sitting in a 14 year old rusty dingo bright blue camper trailer in Adelaide. 17 days ago we drove out of Melbourne after packing up the house and renting it out. We made the big decision to "do the Big Trip"! We are travelling for about 9 months. Myself and my 4 boys (partner included). That's a lot of testosterone in close quarters, I can tell you now already!
Anyway, I could go on for a long, long, long, long way, however, I am writing to say that this is really why I haven't had time to do a post. I was flat out packing up the house for 6 months with the last 2 months being insane. Now that I have more time, I am not really around my sewing things (funnily enough!), and power is quite limited, and I am enjoying more of the simple things.
I may well do a blog about the trip...my mind has been turning it over , I just needed to slow down a little first...watch this space, you will know if I do. Anyway, I'll be back...2011.
Cheers for now and thanks for the support to here, Meg
Anyway, I could go on for a long, long, long, long way, however, I am writing to say that this is really why I haven't had time to do a post. I was flat out packing up the house for 6 months with the last 2 months being insane. Now that I have more time, I am not really around my sewing things (funnily enough!), and power is quite limited, and I am enjoying more of the simple things.
I may well do a blog about the trip...my mind has been turning it over , I just needed to slow down a little first...watch this space, you will know if I do. Anyway, I'll be back...2011.
Cheers for now and thanks for the support to here, Meg
from little things, cucumbers grow
Giving Christmas Trees
(Image borrowed from the Oxfam website)
I just placed the order for our Christmas tree from Oxfam. It will be delivered for free somewhere between 12 & 15 December by volunteer drivers of 4WD club. You can too if you live in metropolitan Melbourne. Check them out. Maybe you could volunteer as well.
Beautiful fresh potatoes
Ok, do you remember when I decided to try planting potatoes in a tyre on top on concrete? With newspaper on the bottom & just some compost...
Well, finally the plants have died off, so I decided to do a treasure hunt on the weekend to see what I could find. To be honest, I wasn't actually expecting a lot. I was beginning to think that the potatoes were all rotten as well because it has been so hot here, so you can imagine my excitement when I came across all of these little beauties!
Well, finally the plants have died off, so I decided to do a treasure hunt on the weekend to see what I could find. To be honest, I wasn't actually expecting a lot. I was beginning to think that the potatoes were all rotten as well because it has been so hot here, so you can imagine my excitement when I came across all of these little beauties!
This was just one tyre's worth of potatoes, I left the other tyre for the boys to do their own treasure hunt (much to their glee!). So all in all we were left with double this amount of potatoes, by only planting 10 seed potatoes in 4 tyres on top of concrete. We neglected it for the 4 months that passed, and were well rewarded. The taste is quite different to the bought ones - better, sweeter, tastier, more solid. We were eating by the bucket load.
Do the math and you'll see that it really is worth planting your own potatoes, even if you live in the inner city like I do! (you just might want to plant more if you have a bunch of hungry kids like I do ...)
Lessons to be learnt from rubbish
We just had our hard waste clean up this weekend just gone & I was really excited as it was a great way to clear out some of the crap that had accumulated around the edges of our life that we really didn't need anymore. We always try to be very careful with our decisions on what we purchase, we barely buy new, unless we really have to (knickers & food etc), and only buy when we really have to (the decision process, "do we need it, or do we just want it").
When we are getting rid of things, we look at their reusability, is there someone else that can use this, can we pass it on, op shop it, change it & reuse it, or is it past it? If it is past it, then out it goes.
So, that is how we got to have a bunch of stuff for the hard garbage. Not many people would pick up stuff from our pile, however, regretably there were a few things that I did put out, that probably could have still had a bit more life in them. I did put them out thinking that someone might chance upon them & take them away. They did not. They have now gone to landfill.
So on Saturday morning, I woke to the sound of the garbage truck scraping the old trolley that was ugly, but had really good wheels still (just took up too much space in my laundry) being broken & squashed, & my bubble burst as I imagined my muck becomming a blob of landfill that would never go away. I realised that I could have done better - with that & with other things.
- All of the metal could have been taken off things and taken to metal scrap yard.
- The timber - I am not sure, but maybe some of it could have been used be a salvage yard.
- The chairs might have been picked up by someone on Freecycle.
- The window frame could have gone on Freecycle too.
- The shopping trolley really should have gone to the op shop, the wheels were great, the handle great, it didn't even need new vinyl, I just didn't like the colour of it.
The only positive was that the table frame was picked up by someone - my neighbours across the road. They will hopefully make a top with it a little faster than we didn't (it has been waiting for us to do it for 3 years!).
We live, we learn.
Like your parks & got some time to spare?
Our parks are beautiful places to visit and enjoy, however this doesn't just happen without the help of volunteers. An email came my way that provides plenty of opportunities for people to either get their hands dirty and help in the parks or in the office to help. So, if you live in Victoria, and have the time to help out, give them a call or an email. If you are living elsewhere, check out what is happening with your people and parks to see how you can help out.
Start of email from People & Parks Foundation:
Victorian People & Parks Foundation Volunteer Help Needed
Field Day VolunteeringIf you would like to assist out in the field, we have the following events running. You don’t need any specific experience, just a happy disposition an interest in conservation and wiliness to pitch in.
This is a great opportunity if you wish to gain experience in community environmental work. A free Working with Children Certificate can be obtained for volunteers.
Please let me know which of the following days you are available:
WED OCTOBER 7 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group Royal Park (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED OCTOBER 14 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group Blackburn Lake Sanctuary (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED OCTOBER 21 RETREAT ASSISTANCE Corporate Volunteers Caitlin’s Retreat, Eltham (9:15am – 3:00pm)
FRI OCTOBER 23 GREEN CONNECTIONS Corporate Volunteers Albert Park (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED OCTOBER 28 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group TBC (Eastern Suburbs) (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED NOVEMBER 4 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group Blackburn Lake Sanctuary (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED NOVEMBER 11 SEA SEARCH School group Ricketts Point, Beaumaris (1:30pm to 4:30pm)
THUR NOVEMBER 12 RETREAT ASSISTANCE Corporate Volunteers Caitlin’s Retreat, Eltham (2pm – 4pm)
TUE NOVEMBER 17 GREEN CONNECTIONS Corporate Volunteers Werribee (9:15am – 3:00pm)
* Green Connections days consist of working in the environment with revegetation, planting, clear up etc
* Sea Search days consist of intertidal marine monitoring
* Retreat Assistance days are held at our retreat centre for special needs children and involve activities to improve the property
Email greenconnection@peopleandparks.org if interested
Friends of Caitlin's Retreat Volunteers
We are starting a Friends of Caitlin's Retreat for those that are interested in helping out on the Eltham property. Roles can include hands on assistance in the grounds, permaculture gardening, helping create programs for special needs children, networking with the local community and many other activities. The group will meet once a month at the Retreat Centre in Eltham. It is envisaged that this will be a working bee day for those that can participate and a general meeting. You can just attend the meeting, it is not necessary to assist in the working bee.
We are deciding whether the meeting will be held on a weekday or a weekend. If you are interested in being involved specifically in the Friends of Caitlin's Retreat please let me know your preference by emailing volunteer@peopleandparks.org
Office VolunteersDo you have a day or two spare and would like to volunteer? We have the following skilled activities that require volunteer assistance.
Event Calendar Creator Volunteer needed for 1 day to conduct internet research and put together forward calendar of environmental events that People & Parks Foundation can participate in.
Park Database Creator Volunteer needed for 2 days compile information on Victorian parks and community groups including maps, photos and contact details for future volunteer projects.
Graphic Design Brochure Volunteer needed for 1 day to create brochures for volunteering days.
Writer / Marketing Volunteer needed for 1 -2 days to write copy for corporate and school volunteering programs.
Survey writer Volunteer needed for 1 day to write survey questions for volunteer groups
eLearning Creator Volunteer needed for 2 days to create induction PowerPoint for volunteers. Option to evaluate interactive elearning opportunities if interested
Data preparation We are transferring to a new CRM system(salesforce) and would like 1 days assistance in preparing and cleaning our data for this
If you are interested in any of the above activities, our preference is for volunteers to help on one or more of the following weekday dates during business hours.
October 9, 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27, 29 or November 6, 9, 10, 13, 20, 27. Email volunteer@peopleandparks.org if interested.
** Please note that we have attempted to have volunteers work remotely, however, with a small staff we have found this difficult to manage this successfully and projects have become drawn out. We realise that this is not ideal for volunteers and I have therefore set the above dates aside to work with volunteers directly on projects in our offices.
Current Volunteers
Thank you for to those volunteers who have been helping us out already. We are working through some of the projects that people have started for us and this assistance has been very useful for us.
Next Volunteer Meeting
Our next group volunteer meeting is at 5:30pm on Wednesday 28th October at Level 10, 535 Bourke St. This is a great opportunity for you to meet other volunteers and to find out about the work People & Parks Foundation will be undertaking. Please RSVP to volunteer@peopleandparks.org if you are attending so that I can ensure there are enough biscuits!
End email quote from People and Parks Foundation
I hope that you can find something interesting in there!
Start of email from People & Parks Foundation:
Victorian People & Parks Foundation Volunteer Help Needed
Field Day VolunteeringIf you would like to assist out in the field, we have the following events running. You don’t need any specific experience, just a happy disposition an interest in conservation and wiliness to pitch in.
This is a great opportunity if you wish to gain experience in community environmental work. A free Working with Children Certificate can be obtained for volunteers.
Please let me know which of the following days you are available:
WED OCTOBER 7 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group Royal Park (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED OCTOBER 14 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group Blackburn Lake Sanctuary (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED OCTOBER 21 RETREAT ASSISTANCE Corporate Volunteers Caitlin’s Retreat, Eltham (9:15am – 3:00pm)
FRI OCTOBER 23 GREEN CONNECTIONS Corporate Volunteers Albert Park (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED OCTOBER 28 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group TBC (Eastern Suburbs) (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED NOVEMBER 4 GREEN CONNECTIONS School group Blackburn Lake Sanctuary (9:15am – 3:00pm)
WED NOVEMBER 11 SEA SEARCH School group Ricketts Point, Beaumaris (1:30pm to 4:30pm)
THUR NOVEMBER 12 RETREAT ASSISTANCE Corporate Volunteers Caitlin’s Retreat, Eltham (2pm – 4pm)
TUE NOVEMBER 17 GREEN CONNECTIONS Corporate Volunteers Werribee (9:15am – 3:00pm)
* Green Connections days consist of working in the environment with revegetation, planting, clear up etc
* Sea Search days consist of intertidal marine monitoring
* Retreat Assistance days are held at our retreat centre for special needs children and involve activities to improve the property
Email greenconnection@peopleandparks.org if interested
Friends of Caitlin's Retreat Volunteers
We are starting a Friends of Caitlin's Retreat for those that are interested in helping out on the Eltham property. Roles can include hands on assistance in the grounds, permaculture gardening, helping create programs for special needs children, networking with the local community and many other activities. The group will meet once a month at the Retreat Centre in Eltham. It is envisaged that this will be a working bee day for those that can participate and a general meeting. You can just attend the meeting, it is not necessary to assist in the working bee.
We are deciding whether the meeting will be held on a weekday or a weekend. If you are interested in being involved specifically in the Friends of Caitlin's Retreat please let me know your preference by emailing volunteer@peopleandparks.org
Office VolunteersDo you have a day or two spare and would like to volunteer? We have the following skilled activities that require volunteer assistance.
Event Calendar Creator Volunteer needed for 1 day to conduct internet research and put together forward calendar of environmental events that People & Parks Foundation can participate in.
Park Database Creator Volunteer needed for 2 days compile information on Victorian parks and community groups including maps, photos and contact details for future volunteer projects.
Graphic Design Brochure Volunteer needed for 1 day to create brochures for volunteering days.
Writer / Marketing Volunteer needed for 1 -2 days to write copy for corporate and school volunteering programs.
Survey writer Volunteer needed for 1 day to write survey questions for volunteer groups
eLearning Creator Volunteer needed for 2 days to create induction PowerPoint for volunteers. Option to evaluate interactive elearning opportunities if interested
Data preparation We are transferring to a new CRM system(salesforce) and would like 1 days assistance in preparing and cleaning our data for this
If you are interested in any of the above activities, our preference is for volunteers to help on one or more of the following weekday dates during business hours.
October 9, 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27, 29 or November 6, 9, 10, 13, 20, 27. Email volunteer@peopleandparks.org if interested.
** Please note that we have attempted to have volunteers work remotely, however, with a small staff we have found this difficult to manage this successfully and projects have become drawn out. We realise that this is not ideal for volunteers and I have therefore set the above dates aside to work with volunteers directly on projects in our offices.
Current Volunteers
Thank you for to those volunteers who have been helping us out already. We are working through some of the projects that people have started for us and this assistance has been very useful for us.
Next Volunteer Meeting
Our next group volunteer meeting is at 5:30pm on Wednesday 28th October at Level 10, 535 Bourke St. This is a great opportunity for you to meet other volunteers and to find out about the work People & Parks Foundation will be undertaking. Please RSVP to volunteer@peopleandparks.org if you are attending so that I can ensure there are enough biscuits!
End email quote from People and Parks Foundation
I hope that you can find something interesting in there!
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