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#catlife

2016/03/19 Danielle 0

Our darling Cloud-kitty has returned from her trip to Adelaide, and she does indeed look pregnant. She seems to remember us, and is super affectionate, hungry all the time, and starting to look a bit barrel shaped. However. She’s been away for long enough that she’s forgotten George and Prism, and they’ve forgotten her. Prism wasn’t too much trouble – she’s not the dominant cat in the house, and never has been, so she just backed off and gave Cloud space until they were friends again. George.. not so much. First he growled at her because she smelled of other […]

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free mulch

2015/11/26 Danielle 0

One of the ideas about permaculture which resonates with me quite strongly is that everything you need is available to you, you just need to learn to take advantage of the resources you have. This isn’t the radical self-reliance ideal which has been so problematic for many people suffering various forms of disadvantage, from mental health problems to fiscal difficulties; this is the idea that you make your own luck by paying attention and taking opportunities when they present themselves. I really like that. The latest illustration of this idea is embodied in some free mulch. A lady I work […]

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aesthetics vs utility

2015/11/17 Danielle 0

One of the things which many, many permaculture practitioners seem to struggle with is a particular type of hoarding. I have this problem myself. You hold on to things because they might be useful, and because the idea of simply throwing them away is distasteful. After all, we know where “away” is in this context – it’s the mid-ocean garbage patch, or the local waterways, or at best the local landfill. I can throw away biodegradable things without a moment of guilt, because I know that they’ll just rot down and return to the soil. But those things tend to […]

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And some pictures, just because

2015/11/13 Danielle 2

George, relaxed & sleeping after getting home from the vet. The view out the back door. It’s still a bit Mars-like, but we’ll get some pasture down next winter and put some fruit trees in. The hedge maze will be out there, too, once we get that planted. Boxes of books to unpack once the shelves in the library are up. Also, some of the tree decals. My unfinished mediterranean / arid herb garden along the front of the house. And more boxes to unpack – the craft storage room is actually a lot more under control than this picture […]

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Nesting

2015/08/10 Danielle 0

The house is so very, very close to being done. It’s a matter of weeks until we can move in, and while there’s a certain amount of argh-can-we-afford-all-this stress, it’s also a deeply satisfying feeling. It’s hard to rein in all the plans and projects. We’ve made a pact that we’re not going to buy any furniture except for a rug or two (the floor of the new house is tiled throughout, because I like tiles and hate the ground-in filth that accumulates in wall-to-wall carpets – rugs can be taken outside and beaten, or washed, or at worst replaced) […]