green words growing

Bliss

2012-08-26T11:51:00.000+10:00

The last eight weeks have been a beautiful blur. Our darling little boy was born at the end of June. We love him madly.

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What part of you is that?

2012-06-13T10:28:00.001+10:00

At night in bed he used to reach over and pat whatever bit of me was closest to him. What part of you is that? It was usually my hip, sometimes a rump. Now it's always my belly, between us like a drum, he doesn't need to ask. He touches my belly, the baby wriggles in response, he says to it: What part of you is that? I answer for it: My spine, my bottom, my knee, my hand. * I know some things about the baby: 1. It's nocturnal. 2. It suffers terribly...

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Even freelance hermits like social networking

2012-05-03T23:38:00.000+10:00

Orright! Here's an administrivial update. Anticipating an imminent future lifestyle wherein computer access will be scarce and a mobile phone my primary internet access, I am getting my social networking affairs in order. Previously I used to share links and other tidbits not requiring a whole blog post via Google Reader, but the nimrods at Google HQ killed that option. I'm still miffed about it. Some nice folk have written and asked where I'm sharing stuff instead. The answer has been...

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Advanced propagation techniques

2012-02-10T21:12:00.004+10:00

We moved house just over two years ago and set about trying to create a garden. For the amount of effort we've put in, it doesn't look that flash...yet. But we're trying. Learning as we go. My health had been improving in tiny bits here and there, my world expanded a little and I could do small helpful things some weekends. My main gardening role has been propagation. Also: bickering with my co-gardener about plant-placement (he who wields the trowel wins). Propagating is the perfect task...

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Great podcast episode: The Blue Yarn, by 99% Invisible

2012-01-06T10:19:00.001+10:00

I was so intrigued by this episode of a lovely little design podcast I've been listening to. The episode was about how economic difficulties forced a redesign of a hospital and the outcome was wonderbunk for the patients. You can listen to the 10-min ep here: http://soundcloud.com/roman-mars/99-invisible-30-the-blue-yarn "In 1998 Dr. Gary Kaplan, the CEO of Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle received some bad news about his hospital. It was losing money. So Dr. Kaplan started...

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Doctors and iPhones

2011-12-03T07:44:00.010+10:00

I've consulted two cardiologists this year and I can tell you the riveting news that iPhones are the must-have accessory for the dashing doctor about town. Cardiologist 1: Used an iPhone to take constant calls from the receptionists. Constant! While skilled at answering the phone, it bears mentioning that C1 was unable to take my blood pressure manually. I was tempted to joke there is probably an app for that - instead I assuaged his ego by telling him everyone has trouble with it...

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Better late than never...

2011-08-30T17:34:00.004+10:00

I'm in the process of switching computers and keep finding unpublished drafts, which I'm popping up on their correct date as I come across them. They're tagged 'better late than never' - so if you get some random updates over the next little while, that's why. Here's an orange poppy from the weekend, my friend gave me a punnet of seedlings in the middle of winter. They were planted outside my bedroom window and I've been watching the buds. The weather's been a bit wild as they start to...

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an orange and black wasp

2011-05-07T12:37:00.002+10:00

We had a long, hot summer of incessant rain. La Niña after a decade of El Niño. Someone told me we'd had only 14 days with no rain between October and April. Whether that is precisely accurate I don't know, but it sure felt like it. Autumn is finally here, the cooler days are blissful. The last few days the sun's been shining. I hope it stays. I have been spending some time on my favourite piece of furniture, the Cadillac Couch, bought for me by my dear friend at her local St Vinnies. I...

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legs eleven

2011-02-05T12:21:00.001+10:00

outrageously good legs in front of me in the check-out queue at Bunnings the embodiment of every cliché you ever heard about legs tanned, strong, carelessly perfect I was captivated I thought about the beach, about running in sand the pressure of the accelerator pedal beneath my right foot about stairs and trampolines and it must be heaven ~ This is a quick response to a one-word suggestion (‘poetry’ – which had me stumped for a bit, I can’t remember the last time I wrote...

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Happy new year!

2010-12-31T12:41:00.001+10:00

May your sparklers be long-lasting and your resolutions frivolous. Sending intergalactic good wishes for 2011. Onwards and upwards! x

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Overheard

2010-11-07T12:04:00.002+10:00

“When I went back to see mum last time, she'd finally got rid of her fur coat. It was Russian black bear. She's had it ever since they came to Australia.”

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Stickers

2010-10-30T20:37:00.001+10:00

We’ve decided to leave all our instructional labels on everything here for the next tenants. LOUNGE LIGHT SWITCH, KITCHEN LIGHT SWITCH, BATHROOM LIGHT SWITCH, TO OPEN BALCONY DOOR MOVE LATCH TO RIGHT. They’ll love it.

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Dear black ants,

2010-10-25T12:02:00.003+10:00

I have noted that you enjoy: eating craft glue under the daybed swimming in the water filter eating Temazepam walking on my forehead It would be nice if you desisted from these behaviours. There is 70% dark chocolate on the top shelf in the pantry, I can’t believe you’re not nibbling that. If you can carry it, please bring me a piece. Warm regards.

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Tilting

2010-10-17T23:44:00.006+10:00

Our sweet neighbour turned 89 last week. He and his wife are lovely. Every time we’ve seen him recently he's reminded us, "I'm going to be 89!" He's so thrilled about it. I love the way oldies are proud of their age, like small children. It’s inspiring, and makes me wonder why we all get so het up about getting older in our middle years. He's planning to make it to 99. Good on him. I hope he does. In my mind there’s a sense of solidarity between he and I - we are frequently in our gardens in...

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Good things about Winter

2010-07-23T18:40:00.019+10:00

Dressing gowns hide a multitude of sins, steam drifting from the teapot’s spout, the air temperature is nicely vaso-constrictive, one can ponder for days whether or not seasons ought to be capitalised. Electric blankets are a magnificent invention, the slow-cooker bubbling away on the kitchen counter, anything red is so visually enlivening, flannelette pyjamas. The natives are entertaining: Queenslanders complain bitterly about the cold while inappropriately attired - my Thursday carer wears a...

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15

2010-05-12T21:28:00.012+10:00

I wake up every morning all excited and curious to see what the day will bring. If I could leap out of bed and do a cartwheel I would. Every new day is brimming with possibility. Simultaneously, my daily life is consumed with managing a chronic illness that’s a brutal task-master. There aren’t words in the vocabulary of any language to accurately describe how appallingly sick I feel. The pain is immense. My face throbs. I lay my head gingerly upon the pillow. Although I tell myself M.E....

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M.E. Awareness Week 2010 - The Year In Review

2010-05-09T21:47:00.010+10:00

Big thanks to Justin Sherman of the Brisbane Lions for supporting ME/CFS Awareness – our inaugural celeb. Former Lions player, Alastair Lynch, was a sufferer. Ta also to my sister-in-law for organising the pic. For ME Awareness Week I’m reprising last year’s approach, which covered the main events relating to ME/CFS in the Western world. There is a collated list of other people blogging for ME Awareness in May here, add your name if you are too. So. 2010 - what a year! Seriously! But...

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Doco about M.E.

2010-04-21T10:49:00.012+10:00

Been meaning to post this for a little while, but got distracted. My friend Nasim recently blogged about an impending doco; it looks like it’s going to be excellent. Nasim and others are interviewed, and our long-time champion Professor Malcolm Hooper is absolutely sterling. Watch the trailer! And if you’re inspired, you can get involved. I don’t want to detract from the trailer, but if you’re interested in some historical context about the Lake Tahoe outbreak, here’s a longer Prime...

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Sound familiar?

2010-02-24T12:00:00.003+10:00

From a recent article about Hepatitis C: McGuckin confirms the disapproval directed at people with HCV. “It really does exist, in social life, amongst some nurses, doctors, and other health professionals, and of course in the workplace. There’s a distinction between ‘innocent victims of disease’ and people who are deemed to have only their behaviour to blame. It’s very discouraging.”Kate Legge, ‘Bad Seed’, Weekend Australian magazine, Feb 20-21 2010, p 15

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Victory garden

2010-02-15T18:30:00.012+10:00

If I recovered next week I would garden from morning ‘til night. As things are now, I settle for thinking about gardening from morning ‘til night. It’s a lovely thing. I’ve been flicking through a couple of Edna Walling books and wondering if I’ve found one of my garden soul-mates. She loved erigeron (seaside daisy) - until now I had never come across a garden writer, or anyone at all for that matter, who loves erigeron like I do. Edna also loved birch trees, dry stone walls, and bossing...

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Position Vacant: Robot

2010-02-12T12:00:00.005+10:00

Seeking a robot to be my arms and legs. Like Inspector Gadget, except you obviously have your own robot body separate from mine, so not really like Inspector Gadget at all. Must be competent and cooperative. Willing and able to work in garden, cook, type, sew cushion covers, turn pages of books, keep secrets, make beds, wield a hairdryer, memorise telly guide, brew tea, etc. Tap dancing skills a bonus. Cute robotic squeaks acceptable, but no disputes relating to why something should be done...

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The silly season

2009-12-23T13:07:00.003+10:00

This year I’m not being silly about it. Last year I had extreme post-festive payback. As March rolled around and I emerged from the dungeon of very low functionality, I concluded It Wasn’t Worth It. This year I’m setting boundaries, mostly with myself. I’m generally the culprit who needs reigning in. I’m in a prolonged crash anyway so it’s not too hard. No writing of cards, no presents – the functional time involved in selecting, online shopping and wrapping is just too much. No meals with...

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First tomato flower

2009-12-04T11:23:00.006+10:00

in the new garden, from a plant I grew from seed. It makes me very happy.

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ME/CFS, XMRV, XAND, etc

2009-11-13T17:13:00.004+10:00

Many of you will already know this, but for those that don’t, in October there was a tremendous hullabaloo in the ME/CFS world, and there still is. The best kind of hullabaloo. This is because of research conducted by the Whittemore Peterson Institute and published in the journal ‘Science’: Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The WPI studies neuro-immune disease, has reputable researchers on board, and has achieved...

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New nest

2009-09-02T09:31:00.006+10:00

We’re moving, due to the highly thrilling fact we’ve bought a house. Which means an amazing thing: a garden. I loved gardening long before it was socially acceptable, even somewhat trendy, for younger people to appreciate the art. These days Jamie Durie and his ilk are on the telly, extolling the many virtues. But back in the olden days, when I was at a party one evening, a guy looked at me askance and said: I hear you’re a bit of a Don Burke, eh? And then I told him about my sweet corn. I...

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