Author: bone&silver

Freaky Friday: Why did I just mow the lawn with a backpack on?

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I think my neighbours are used to me doing slightly weird things (like walking on stilts around the garden, or dancing like a mad woman with earphones in so no one else can hear the music). Yesterday was probably my peak though: I mowed all my lawns while wearing a 50-litre, approx 5kg loaded backpack. Why? Because I’m going on a 4-day hike in Tasmania, and I need to get fitter and stronger ASAP. Admittedly, the bag was only half-loaded, but I still think I deserve a 10/10 for effort, yes? Hit that Like button! We fly to Hobart on Saturday, then begin the walk on Sunday afternoon– here’s the link to the Three Capes Track if you’re curious. My beloved friend ‘G49’ turns 50 when we finish, and is a huge fan of bush hiking, so 3 valiant friends are going along with her. We have to carry everything except a tent (hurray), and sleep in fancy-ish huts at night (no hot showers or fridges, but nice mattresses and views apparently). I can do …

World Wednesday: Tell it like it is

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In 2014, a campaign was launched online called Ban Bossy. It wanted to end the use of ‘bossy’ as an insult or control mechanism over assertive girls and young women, and instead promote ‘has leadership qualities/shows great initiative/stands up for herself’. When I watch this speech by Emma Gonzales, speaking in such passionate, articulate, and distressed terms about the terrible Florida school shooting, the Mum inside me is so damn proud of her. Tell the world Emma, what you know is wrong and right! Call BULLSHIT on that crap President of yours, and the other politicians lining their pockets with donations from the NRA! Tell the truth, and tell it like it is. Because 17 dead school children aren’t ever going to graduate, or travel overseas, or have their own children or start their own businesses… I cannot begin to imagine the pain of their bereft parents. Shame on those politicians indeed. So stuff being ‘good’. Stuff being ‘quiet’. Be a leader if you want to, big or small. #thefutureisfemale #TIMESUP  

Teenage Tuesday: I swear I’m not writing what he said (as ordered by ’17’), but take a good look at this…

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At Home last Weekend Me: Can you wipe up please AN HOUR LATER Me: Sweetie, the wiping up needs doing AN HOUR LATER Me: Come on, I need you to wipe up and put away the dishes AN HOUR LATER Me: OK, I’m getting cranky now, I’ve got better things to do than nag you all weekend AN HOUR LATER Me: Put the washing up away, or there’ll be no dinner!  

The return of ‘normal programming’: Me Monday catch up

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Hi. What have I got for ‘Me Monday’ you wonder? I’m back from the burrow of that Permaculture Paradise, and ready to reconnect with all the Readers who were just yawning at so many photos of trees and veggie gardens. Well, H is here from Melbs, so that’s been fun- Summer has given us a last hit of humid steaminess, and we actually had to lock ourselves in the living room with the aircon for a couple of days, including dragging two single mattresses onto the floor to get some proper sleep. You could tell who didn’t have aircon around town because they looked sleep-deprived and grumpy; after 3 nights in a row of + 30C, I was praying for the cool change! When I lived in Adelaide a few years ago, we once had 10 days in a row of + 40C (104F) and my tiny garden studio had no aircon; I was ready to kill someone just for a good night’s sleep. In fact, one afternoon I snuck into my landlady’s house (I had my …

#Australia #ecovillage #permaculture #nature #over50blogger @boneAndsilver #wellbeing #intentionalcommunity

Final Day 7: Integration of Eco Village intensive

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I was really ready for Day 7: to walk the actual land of the proposed site, and for it all to finish. I needed a break- to do loads of washing, reply to a bunch of boring emails, re-connect with the status of ’17’s homework, and sit quietly by myself, not speaking or listening for several hours at a time ASAP. We met beneath a giant fig tree, grateful for the shade on a hot summer’s day. I know a bit about trees, and assumed this was an ancient one 150+ years old who’d somehow survived Australia’s love affair with mass tree-clearing, but turns out to be only about 70! Unbelievable- that’s how rich the volcanic soil is- both basalt red, and peaty black. Bodes well for the proposed Permaculture gardens… We walked some of the land, which was an old dairy farm, so full of grass paddocks and weedy Camphor Laurel trees; a re-forestation plan would be paramount. But from one vantage point on the North side, you could see the ocean, and thus …

Random/Reblog Thursday: I stand with her #guncontrol

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America has just had its 29th mass shooting this year. There have been 45 days so far in 2018. What the hell are you all doing over there? This is a great and visceral response to it which I had to share, and stand beside her in her distress. Please visit. In gratitude for gun control in Australia, G xO  I try to write carefully on this blog. I try to be thoughtful, to be careful of what I say and how I say it. I try not to be awful. But I have learned a terrible, terrible truth today, and this post will focus on that fact. I am afraid that my words will […] via My Terrible Truth — Empty Nest, Full Life

Trees will save the world #gratitude #nature #wellbeing #over50

Day Six, & my favourite day of the Eco Village Intensive

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Let’s imagine 200 of you bone&silver Blog readers want to live with me in a community (and why wouldn’t you). How would we make that work? And more importantly, what would we do when it wasn’t working? Carol Perry is co-founder of Dharmanada Community, established for over 40 years- they have dinner together 5 nights a week, and grow 70-80% of their own food, including running a dairy and making their own butter and cheese! She is a dispute mediator and mindful communication teacher, plus cute and fun to listen to. She ended up travelling Australia doing Conflict Resolution presentations and mediations, right up to the corporate world. So she knows her stuff; she could help us out. What happens when we get triggered? We’ve learnt about arguing before here on bone&silver haven’t we? We lose all our intentions for harmonious, cooperative living, and just want to be Right. She started her presentation by saying the most wonderful thing: “My first Invitation to you all is that all the parts of you are Welcome, and I have all the …

‘Tropical Tuesday’? It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it?

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[While the negotiations with ’17’ re the continuation of ‘Teenage Tuesday’ are ongoing, I thought I could try this one instead…] That feeling when it’s 10am, already 32 degrees C (90 F), 100% humidity, and you’re cleaning the house energetically for the imminent arrival of your interstate love ‘H’, when you kneel on the floor to vacuum under the bed, and stand back up looking like this:  

Day 5: An alternative to the Economic System via an Eco Village

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We need an Intergenerational rebellion! That was the essence of the presentation by Helena Norberg-Hodge, an author, filmmaker, Global Eco Village founder and pioneer of the ‘new economy’ movement. Check her out, especially her film The Economics of Happiness (trailer here). Did you know that under the current economic system of trade agreements, governments can actually be sued by the Multinationals if they bring in any legislation which affects their profit-making capacity?? Countries literally export and import the same product, such as beef in America, and 97% of ‘money’ is made of thin air and run by algorithms. *shakes her head in disbelief and sadness But WE can BE the change! Despite all the depressing facts and figures she has collated from round the world, Helena remained positive, and upbeat, with a simple yet profound call to change direction from a global economy to a local one.  And shopping locally at the Farmers’ Markets is a gold-star resistance action-  did you know people have TEN TIMES more conversations at the Markets than the supermarket? We also need …

Day 5, 6, and 7 of Eco Village Intensive: my brain is fried sorry, I can’t do it yet

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6.30 am now in Australia. This morning is Day Seven: a walk on the actual land, meeting under the giant fig tree. Last night was the Farewell Talent Night- not because we’re losing our talents, but because the Intensive is finishing. Seven days, 9-5, plus nightly optional activities… plus our real lives/work/families/blogs etc on top of that. MY BRAIN IS FRIED. And yes, I’m shouting a little bit there. So I’m pausing for a couple of days to recalibrate, then will write about the remaining days. Because, of course, The Blog Must Go On. But not at the expense of my sanity, which I’m sure you support. In gratitude for the Pause Button when I need it, and much love, G xO