Double rainbow touchdown

This double rainbow came right in to the back garden of our holiday house on the fringe of Wilson's Prom. Yet no-one ran out to look for the pot of gold. It was am amazing site.

Out for a walk

 

Pretty as a Mermaid

Janet and I had a good night out at our friend Diana's 40th birthday the other night. The highlight for Janet before leaving home, and I quote Reed, "you look pretty as a mermaid". He is such a sweet boy and fair as well, he corrected Janet when she asked if I was pretty, "no he's not pretty he is handsome". Reed has developed amazing reasoning over the last weeks, not that was not an example, his reasoning goes far deeper than appearances.

Janet at home in the snow. She was so happy when she remembered the jacket she had bought in Ireland. I ma sure she was the warmest of us all.

Reed and Mia love rolling around on the carpet. They are great friends and Mia is learning so quickly under Reed's wise tutorledge(sp?)

As you think

As you think so you are
As you imagine, so you become.

So crates

I live next door to the bacon

If you know me then you gotta be wetting yourslef with laughter that I am living next door to a law enforcement officer.
My first thought at seeing a police car in our shared driveway wasn't "gee that's great a policeman lives next door and parks his car in the garage next to mine. "
Now I'm down with it and moving on

Disconnected Loss

I feel disconnected
My media source has deserted me
And yet
I feel little pain
Just disconnection
Exaggerated by new environments
Without loved ones
With loved one joining the increasing cancer and diabetic statistics
I feel at risk
Of loss

Old home left
To be briefly liberated
Before being enjoined with sweeping curves
Though not soaring ceilings
Sun lizard will warm
And slowly slowly
My footprint on the earth will become more balanced

this is not enhanced, just first in a panorama

We set sail that day...the fearless crew

Timbo

Early morning sailing, or was that putter across the bay to Queenscliffe.

Chillin in the tube

Reed and Mia, love each others company, just chillin and imitating provides plenty of fun.

29 million US citizens die in war

I just heard the during the Vietnam war four million civilians died, one/tenth of the Vietnamese population. One in ten. Decimated,
That would be the same as 29 million US citizens, or more than 120 million Chinese, well obviously not the same numerically, but as a percentage.
To look at it numerically, it is like the entire population of my home country, NZ, or my current city, Melbourne.

Be Still My Mind

My mind races
It end up places that it has no need to go and are hard to find a way out of.

How do you still your mind? Become thoughtless?
My mind races on and on, not mater what. At the end of yoga when we are meant to clear our thoughts, my mind just takes that as a unfettered opportunity to run wild without worldly distractions.

When I was in my teens and twenties I self medicated with natural if illegal substances. This momentarily slowed my mind to mull, to ponder to synonym. Now it is off to the races again.

Easter Sunday, filled with chocolate we headed for Rye beach. Had a fabulous day filled with smiles and fun.

Aims

I always surpass my aims.
Perhaps I aim too low.

I remember Penny saying to me, back in '91, I know you'll be rich one day. A clear vision was all that was needed and Penny provided it with that comment during my hazy, sharing with Guy , Deakin Uni days. A clear vision of future thoughts became my reality.

Most people hide their visions or don't have them. Articulate your vision to someone or at least yourself. Then take the path, make it so, live life, aim somewhere good where you and others will be happy.

I'm aiming for a comfortable life, two lovely social kids at school with me running our charitable trust while unleashing my artistic and analytical sides in pursuit of pleasure and reward for those around me.

Things are not OK

"It OK things are not OK
I'm not OK
I think I'm not OK
OK"
Black Cab's lyrics from Altamont Diary summarise my feelings.

Black Cab make me think about living in a yellow cab town, yup all the cabs are yellow here in Melbourne. My soon to be four year old did not believe the black London cab on TV was a taxi, he said 'No way, taxis are yellow' I guess socialised wins over innate in the taxi stands.

Day Three - things getting messy

End of a perfect day, or so my mother would say. We had a fun day, library and lunch out this morning, then hanging at home with a late wlak for Woody and lollies. Followed by fun filled lolly fueled scrabling around the playground.

Ingredients - Pancetta Olive Cream Pasta

Ingredients for my dinner.
Onions and garlic and carmalising on the stove, bay leaf optional. Salt and pepper will ba added later.
Onions are one of my favourite vegetables, make sure you take 10-15 minutes to get the best out of your onions.

While mums away

Day Two on our own
The kids and I are probably spending too much time together, though we are having fun.
We just got back from our first real Melbourne beach outing and despite plethora of jellyfish we had a great time. Thanks to Finding Nemo I didn't need to explain what the jellyfish were or to keep away. Who said kids comics aren't educational? We constructed sea walls, canals and bathed in the beautiful March sun. The sea was warm, but with jellyfish lurking knee deep was enough for us.
This morning was a blast of high-speed trike riding and chasing down by the Merri Creek. Followed by mud pies and mucking around at home.

Exploring Inner Beauty

Exporing the inner beauty of a cactus flower, lit by early morning sun.

Aloe Feast

Aloe provides feast for bottle brush birds. Next year I will digitally catch a bottle brush bird feasting on the flowers of this aloe ferox.

Greatest investments

I always need or want an S on the end of my greatest lists. Why have one greatest when you can have many and why need to analyse and quantify things to such details that you can pick one single favourite amongst all the options.
Though saying that, this is an easy one me. My plants are my single greatest investment. If my house had appreciated in value as much as my plants, our Californian spanish mission bungalow would now be worth $7,000,000. My plants have been the single best growth investment I have made. One day fifteen years before I want to escape the city I will buy some land and start to plant it out for my arrival. I know that will be one of the best investments for my lazy days.

I invest a lot of time with my children, but they are souls not investment, so they don't count.
Sometimes when I am writing I feel I add a few too many words, an unrequired explanation. I think this is over-compensation from my verbal communication where I leave sentences unfinished as I consider the unspoken words as superfluous, as the audience knows what's coming so why…

WaterScape in Xeroscape

From store rumpus area. Under store path then along gravel bed with thin concrete or liner base to pond. Pond must be higher on house side with overflow on North boundary, from then another exposed gravel bed or pipe along side decking.
Divertor on downpipe at front or maybe 1600 or 2100ltr oval tank at side and use water for hedge and other plants.
Water off new roof could be used to flush toilet and wash clothes as both toilets and front loading washing machine are all located close to where the 2100ltr oval tank could go on the South side.

Get both tanks delivered at same time, as should be for free . Frree for 9000ltr costing $1400, our two will cost $1900

Random thought from the Garden

Xeroscape gardening in Melbourne..umm could I do a whole web site on that?

Thoughts for me:
I should leave the amazing Euphorbia grandidens in its temporary home. Just googled it, http://www.euphorbia.de/e_grandidens.htm , looks like it grows to 20M in RSA, better leave it where it is in the middle with plenty of room to grow.

Could move the bottle brush out the front with the other natives to gain a spot for the clothes line. Other options for the line are down the North breezeway, pain in the arse retractable that would stay up 95% of the time or a old hills hoist in centre of grass that can also have cover to act as sun shade for kids.
Move agarve from pot to between yuccas on side.

Shade.
Michael's option or a Solar Pergola http://pergolaland.com.au/public_panel/pages.php?id=27 system covering sliding doors and triangular sails on either side of that or Janet's idea.

Old thgoughts finding a new home

From December 2002
My friends were always fringe dwellers, not necessarily living on the edge, but definitely people on the edge of society. They were all special in some way, artistic musical or sporty, they had all that and more. I was not special at anything, nor did I ever try to be, and yet I was their friend.
I am surprised no one has lived up to their edgy potential. No one has achieved. Tom the smartest of all is a teacher, not that is anything wrong with that, Wed and Jonathan with so much promise are both dead, Matt, Bede, Mark what are they doing now?
Tim and Annie are living a cool life, mixing work & family. Sure it is not up to me or anyone to judge others lives, but I allow myself an opinion.

Christmas day 2002.
Reed & Joanie are asleep, I have just finished a delicious lunch of seared scallops accompanied by a Trappist Triple beer. Much to my inebriated surprise the beer was 8% & I am feeling good. Reed has an infection so this afternoons swim is on hold.
The year ahead is a massive one for us. Virtually a make or break year that will determine the years ahead. I have worked & planned hard & will double my efforts in the year ahead to ensure it goes as planned.

Update today
The planing paid off and all that I aimed for happened. Funny that, I planned and then actioned the plan and my dreams came true. So why do most people seem incapable of planning, of long term thinking, of imaging beyond the moment? Yeah I know not everyone is a big picture person, but still plan or fail is a simple concept to grasp. Even those of you who live in the present or past should take sometime to look to the future.

I have succeeded in the limited world of capitalism, I have more money than most people I know. I am mid thirties and basically don't have to work for a living. But this success is trivial compared to the success I want to attain. I want to be a successful father, partner, friend and most of all I would love to be self-realised one day. Yeah and maybe a little bit more relaxed too!!

I find it funny that only one friend, Adrian, has asked about by financial success. I stupidly said I was just lucky, when the reality is I have worked really hard for 14 years to achieve my financial independence and made it a priority in my life. At the same time I enjoy but to not desire possessions and mainly want financial independence as it frees my time.

Time is the most valuable thing we own and most people sell it way to cheaply and fail to invest their time wisely.

Maladjusted

I am the least adjusted to our move back to Australia, though if the storms of change can rid our world of the right wing fundamentalists who look consume the world with their hatred I might feel at ease with Australia. There is an evil axis in the world to quote GW Bush, but he is the front man and John Howard is the comedy side kick. To me it appears Austrlians are prepared to overlook a lot if they are prospering. Yes, it is politics and over governing nature of this coutry that gets me down, my life is a good one.

Why does time fly?

Time is flying. Time seems to accelerate as I get older. Maybe this acceleration has something to do with the mind ignoring familiar things and the older you get the more things are familiar. Therefore, the less of things and time you perceive and hence it all appears to be going faster. This is probably not worth thinking about to much as long as you get done what you want to and enjoy life and people on the way.

Why me angry?

First posts on blogs should probably be something cool and friendly to entice readers further, but I am just too full of anger to follow that path. It is my anger today that has forced me in seeking relief via expression. Maybe if I say it or write it then my anger will dissipate. Maybe it will seem silly to be angry when I know I have a wonderful life. Then again, maybe in examining why I am angry my fury at the world will simply increase. As the world celebrates Kyoto agreement today I live in one of the two self-serving, self-centred, arrogant nations of the world. Man does that frustrate me. The only worse place to live would be this countries big brother, yeah you guessed it the USA.

How can people be so self-centred? How can fundamentalists and the right-wing hold so much sway in the world? When will the world wake up and realise Democracy doesn't work?
AHHHHHHH.

Still the sun shines, my garden grows and my kids are wonderful. They are not even four and two and I know they will be considerate and compassionate humans. Thoughtful of others and tolerant in a world of intolerance. Will you kids be the same? Do you think they are virtues worth instilling?

Why do all the stupid people in the world vote for the right?
How can people believe in God and yet be so ready to throw the first stone?