New Connections

Goats on a wall. India

Goats are terrific creatures, I had them when I was a kid (ha ha) and I've always been intrigued by them. I think they have real personalities and guts to push the boundaries. The goats in the picture above are testimony to that - they're out on a pillar over a fast flowing river. they make me wonder what sort of boundaries I will be able to push this year?

My Staycation (follow link for definition) is coming to an end and I'm a bit sad about that. However during this time I have made some new connections with other bloggers I hope will be able to foster. I have added a few new blogs to my list both in the Gardening and Book worlds.

Other highlights to my Staycation, have included going to the Monet Exhibition in Sydney with a friend, Dinner with my Partner and friends on NYE, Breakfast at a local cafe near our lake, beach time, reading time (soon to blog on the completion of White Tiger), a wedding celebration and of course gardening and Blogging time. I'm happy to remember Christmas holidays 2008 as my Staycation of relaxation! Hope you have had a fantastic Christmas/NY season also:)

New Years Resolutions

I'm not a serious blogger, and I don't want to set myself up for those inevitable feelings of guilt when I'm not able to commit to something regularly. So I'm not sure yet if I'm signing up for the Blog Improvement Project (BIP), but I have been captured by the first step in the project..... setting blogging goals. The first question to consider in the BIP is 'what's your blog for?'.

This is a questions I've been pondering for a while now, and I don't know if I have much more of an answer than I like to think about things and write about them. I enjoy writing. I recently sent the link to my mum to keep her in the loop. She asked 'who reads this?' and 'what's it all about?'. I have wondered these things myself, and I'm happy just to think that I read and reread it, and if other people join me in this journey that's great.

The BIP site suggests that improving your blog is a good thing, and in the course of the next year disccuions will occur on "possible topics includ[ing] goals setting, writing better content, building community with readers, getting more readers, and blog layout and design". I am attracted to the idea of building community with readers..

So in 2009, my blog is primarily a blank canvass for my wandering thoughts. I think I'll stick to things about gardening, tea and teapots, and books/movies. Some of my blogging goals include

• keep the posts breif
• improve the links - especially to differentiate my gardening posts from my book/movie posts
• promote ethical, environmental and socially just ways of living (and aim to do this myself)
  
• make links with others in the blogging community
• have fun :)

Tea Thyme

Teacup and cake saucer - gift from Grandma

Teacups are pretty things, they're feminine and they seem to share experiences with us. This one was a gift to me from my Grandma a few years ago, and it seems to me, it's shared many experiences with many women in it's lifetime. I treasure this one because it so welcomely offers cake with the tea experience - and sometimes we need cake.

Bookbath recently blogged about her beautiful Christmas gift of a teacup, and it surprised me, just how many bloggers do collect teacups. I recently had brunch with a friend and we talked about this phenomenom, wondering what it is about teacups that attracts us to them. I feel certain it's their timeless elegance, ability to take us into a fantasy world of princesses, and their unconditional acceptance of us regalrdless of what state we're in. I love those qualities in a friend. I think us bloggers, should give our teacups some airspace - post a blog about your favourite or share a story about one you've known once. If it's not teacups for you, what is it?

Thanks Grandma, for this, and other special memories.

Gardening Updates

My Teapot Fountain and Serena, both bring serenity to my place of rest.

Gardening updates include:
1. Banana's are growing and withstanding some of our windy nights....




2. I also have a very fruitful Zucchini at the moment3. While there continues to be plenty of celery, lettuce and rhubarb, other plants are going to seed. For those who have never seen one, this is an image of the Leek seed head - something beautiful in itself....
Now it's time to go and work on the next crop - planting broccoli and carrots today.

My Christmas Books

Christmas this year is over shadowed by our need to save up for some travel plans, so I was delighted to receive this small collection of reading and viewing gifts. Somehow, all linked to my dreams and goals for 2009/10.

The White Tiger, is a story about an Indian fellow from Bangalore, while a Booker Prize Winner, my partner gave it to me because I'm going back to India in Sept 09 and I love learning more about India, her heritage, demographics, and culture. My friend has done a nice review of the storyline, and as I haven't finished it yet, I recommend Bookbath for more info. When I return to India, I will be volunteering in a school for girls and working with Women through self help groups in Tamil Nadu.
Isn't she beautiful? I'm going to really enjoy this new picture book, Audrey Hepburn: A life in pictures. So often my life is more practical than pretty, I have my finger nails filled with dirt from the garden, and my house is shared with dogs and Mr fix-it with his bits'n'pieces lying around. Taking time to disappear with Audrey will be a wonderful form of escape. Which I can also do while watching my now growing colelction of DVD's. New to the collection isNow, my thing for French is showing up in my gifts - Audrey and Paris - wow.... My final bookish christmas gift was the latest version of Residences Decoration - a magazine in french. France 2010, here we come!. I got two other very me gifts, while not bookish, in the same themes..
I got a silver Pandora Charm to encourage me in my dreams to return to Paris, and I received the honourable gift of an 'extremely useful gift' of Human Rights. My family have the tradition of drawing a name out of the hat and only having to buy a gift for one adult. My gift giver made a generous donation towards a human rights cause for my christmas gift, which I truly value as one of my most treasured gifts this year. Thanks.

Japanese Reading Challenge No 2

I appear to have turned the Japanese Reading Challenge No 2 into a Murakami challenge - I've really enjoyed this opportunity to be consumed by the author. I have just finished reading Sputnik Sweetheart and am finishing off Underground.Sputnik is the name of the man made satellite that took a dog into space, but it came to be the nickname of the characters lover as a result of a confusion in a conversation. As I reflected further on the title of the book, I could see that Murakami had used it to reflect something deeper. The main character, Sumire, has fallen in love with an older married woman, her sputnik sweetheart. But as the story spins around Sumire, her adored sputnik, and K (the story teller and man in love with Sumire) it becomes evident that they are all spinning in orbit, perhaps like the dog in Sputnik, starring out to space wondering what's going on.

Murakami has kept me spell bound while I follow the tales of these three characters through some bizzare experiences. Again, I see a depth to his analogies which is beyond the storyline. Sumire's 'sputnik sweetheart' has had a traumatic out of body experience that turns her hair white, Sumire disappears off the face of the earth, while K is left to carry on the mundane life of a teacher. If I were to reflect on my life, there would large chunks of time where I may as well have disappeared from all place, yet I have returned with new personal insights and convictions. There have been many times in my life, when I have been to one who, like K, seems to be the grounded one, called on to help and continue the mundane while others are in shock, grief or lost.

Again I have really enjoyed Murakami's ability to take me away, and deliver me to a place where I can see what's happening. More soon on Underground.

On Reflection

Stain glass window at Convent

It's been a month since my last blog, I did not loose interest or motivation for blogging, I simply took some opportunities to grow myself and others, which prevented me from sitting at a computer. I have saved up a few things I need to blog about. Firstly Earthworks Retreat, then later today I will return to report on my Japanese Reading Challenge progress, and the Banana.

Inside the Mudbrick Convent

Earthworks is a 2 1/2 day retreat which draws on the principles of Joanna Macy's work she titles 'the work that reconnects'. Thich Naht Hanh said 'the most important thing people can do to help change the world is to listen to the sounds of the Earth crying.' Through the Earthworks retreat, participants are encouraged to learn about the earth, our relationship with aspects of the earth through past, present and future, and to listen for opportunities to be involved in change.

This is the 3rd time I've done this retreat and each time I learn more about myself, my relationships with others and the earth and my own spirituality. The retreat is located at an old convent which was built by nuns in the 70's from mudbricks and pre-loved building materials. It's just a 'divine' setting for reflection and long periods of silence. Also works great for the saturday night sing along.

I find that I rarely allow for there to be long periods of silence in my life, but this year specifically, I was in deep need of the time to just sit and listen. I loved the session where we were sent to find somewhere on the property (mostly bush) and listen to what surrounded us. I thought I was sitting under a tree to listen to birds, but strangely I ended up listening to ants.... weird, but significant.

Time out of business and the demands of the looming Christmas season, was a truly and blessed opportunity for me to remember the real meaning of Christmas, and what my relationship to Christmas is. Contribute to change - somewhere, sometime.