Rainbow Lorikeets

Here are some of the rainbow lorikeets visiting our home this week. They hang out in male/female pairs - mating for life. They are very loud and spend their time communicating to each other. Here they are perched in the coastal red gum - angophora - of the reserve. When they turn there green backs towards you - they are practically the same colour as the leaves. Their plumage is from all of the colours of the bush, the sunlight and the blue sky. They nest in tree hollows to rear their young.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Sometimes things go so right and life is easy.

Check out T's latest self portrait: he is one talented young photographer.

Sonnet XVIII

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometimes declines,

By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fiar thou ow'st;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

by William Shakespeare

14th December 2002 - Jon and Terese were married under these trees. Sonnet XVIII was read out following the vows. Seven doves were released into the skies. It was the perfect Summer's day.

Life is what happens to you etc

The Summer of
60 job applications, 6 interviews, and finally 1 offer of work!
Today was a pivotal breakthrough in my life as a Teacher. I was offered my first block of teaching work starting next Monday and running through till the end of Term 1.
This is the start of my mid life career change and something that I have spent five years planning and studying for. I will teach English, History and Writing.
I walked down The Scarp and went and stood on the beach looking across at the boats and the trees. Today was the perfect Summer's day in Sydney with blue skies and a light breeze.
In the sand I wrote Castlecrag and drew a large heart around it.

Clean Up Australia Day

It's Clean Up Australia Day tomorrow and we are hosting the Retreat Reserve clean up. Mostly there is plastic and waste to pick up from the creek leading into the beach. We are joining with the Sea Scouts who are covering from the boat shed round to Scotts Creek.

Finishing at 1pm with a bbq on the deck.... J is doing some catering for.