Revival

A message from Brigid ....

I have been a blogger since 2005. At the height of my blogging busy-ness, I had "a small stable" of blogs on different topics: social and political commentary; desert spirituality; food; waste and ....

A few years ago I called time and ceased blogging altogether - although there was an occasional post. I had called it quits. I am an aged woman these days with a couple of serious illnesses. I am not allowed to drive. I am no longer active in organisations. I think it fair to say that I am housebound. I am active on Facebook, although I am not there as often as once I was. I have decided to embark on a re-entry into the blogging world ... beginning with The Trad Pad and, possibly, a return to my food blog, Oz Tucker. I have always used a lot of photographs on my blogs ... and I miss not being out and about with my camera.

The Trad Pad has been my blog for the lovely things of life. The controversial or political has seldom intruded. Occasionally, the spiritual has found its way in, but I kept spirituality for the blog, Desert. I don't yet know if I will revive that. I will stick pretty much to food and the lovely things of life. If I have some regularity with those two categories, I feel that I will be doing well. I hope that, with this blog new friendships can be formed and old friendships renewed; new lovelies discovered; new reflections can enter into the meaning of modern life. I would love to hear from you - particularly if you have suggestions for new topics to enter into the conversation. So, it is a new year. Let's see what it has in store, what it can bring to us. And I hope that those who share the spirit of The Trad Pad can spread the message of a world of beauty, the creativity of humanity, and the joys of simplicity and tradition. ~~~ February, 2017

Friday, July 14, 2006

Milton House, Flinders Lane, Melbourne

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Milton House has a point of difference from most of Melbourne's inner city heritage buildings - it's Art Nouveau style.

Milton House frontage in Flinders Lane, Melbourne

External fanlight and detail

Fanlight in portico


Frieze detail
Front doors in portico


Wall detail


Light shade in portico - one of a pair

Thursday, July 13, 2006

A Latin lover?

Last night, Herself put before Miss Eagle a little translation problem. She had seen some young fellas with mohawks in a clapped out Torana and a sticker on the car which said in Latin:

Ego subdolus consilium habeo
Miss Eagle dragged her Grade 10 Latin up from the hidden dungeons of her memory and managed to translate ego and consilium and habeo. But that subdolus had her stumped. So then Miss Eagle got out a Latin dictionary on the 'net but still it did not seem to make sense. So Miss Eagle - at this stage she needed a sort of Latin thesaurus - went looking for an alternative word for her own translation of consilium. Herself was standing at Miss Eagle's right shoulder and we were puzzling over how to put "subdolus consilium" together when - and this was within 30 seconds, dear Reader - Herself's face lit up. She not only had the phrase, she knew the source and the connection.
Now Miss Eagle has googled the Latin phrase without a result. So she thinks there may be some small degree of difficulty here for some people. The phrase, in English, is on the 'net - of course from its source. So Miss Eagle is offering a packet of Tim Tams as the prize for the first blogger with the correct translation and its source posted in the comments. If you come from outside Australia, Miss Eagle has to advise that this is a much coveted prize.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

FootFoot: a dog among dogs

Miss Eagle thinks that this photo of FootFoot demands a wider audience.
How gorgeous is he!

Warning! A whinge on wind

Please be warned this is a rant. Miss Eagle is ranting about the weather - Melbourne weather. Now, for those outside Australia, you need to know that Melbourne is notorious for its weather. Four seasons in one day. Conversation about the weather - because there is so much of it to talk about.

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But Monday has been a piercingly cold day and then came increasing wind. And it is the wind, dear Reader, that drives Miss Eagle to distraction, towards madness, into grumpiness and now a rant. It is not only the force of the wind, not only the penetration of the wind, it is the noise of the wind.

Miss Eagle has lived through a few tropical cyclones in her lifetime and that is the only time - other than with Melbourne wind - that she has heard such noise associated with wind. And at 6.10pm out went the lights at Upper Gully not to come on until 7pm. So candles were lit, the camping fluoro came out for the kitchen, and meal preparation went ahead because we have a gas stove. And still the wind came, the noise came.

And so to bed with a book - Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver - and the electric blanket: shut-eye to shut out the wind. Miss Eagle is now awake in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The wind is subsiding along with the noise and the rain commences. Perhaps if your correspondent cared or dared to look out into the blackness she would find that the full moon is nowhere to be seen, hidden by bank upon bank of cloud.

And it is not just the wind of winter, it is the gloom of winter. Midday yesterday Miss Eagle looked at the lemony sunlight sitting on Melbourne's mountains beyond the northern suburbs under thick layers of grey cloud. It occurred to her that this lemony sunlight was familiar - it was the sort of colour that precedes sunrise in northern Australia yet this was noonish!

When this goes on for days, Miss Eagle is overtaken by S.A.D. - seasonal affective disorder. Not enought sunlight - certainly nowhere near enough for a girl from the tropics. Now Miss Eagle is not suggesting she has the deep melancholia of Finland (for Finnish insights see Anni Heino's blog, Mayday) but it is the blahs - only more so. To counter this Miss Eagle lights up the lights. The office where she blogs is well lit but on the desk is a fluorescent lamp and there is also a very bright standard lamp. Overlit the room may be, but it is an attempt to alleviate the symptoms.

There is a beautiful winter: the clearness of the Whitsundays; the view from Townsville's Melton Hill on a crisp tropical winter's day with air so clear you can almost see the people walking on the jetty at Picnic Bay on Magnetic Island; the stillness of the waters off Port Douglas. Oh, my beloved Capricornia, why can't I be with you!

Monday, July 10, 2006

Miss Eagle - the fair go feminist

Over at Dragon Girl, Jules has posted about the F word. No, not that F word. It's the other one, Feminism. She has asked us to post on what Feminism means to us. Well, to Miss Eagle it means the F phrase - a fair go. Without Feminism women do NOT, and I repeat NOT get a fair go.

Without Feminism some do all right. They always have. They use their feminine wiles and sleep their way to the top. (In fact, Miss Eagle knows of some who would own the feminist tag who still do.) They find the time honoured negative feminine skills of manipulation designed to deceive the gullible MOTS (male of the species). And there have always been the power-behind-the-throne types.

But for a lot of us who want to be able to earn a living without harassment and get a fair day's pay for it; to have access to a decent and worthwhile education again without harassment; to be treated as intelligent human beings and consumers within a health system which has a powerful male dominated medical profession then feminism has been the way to express our view points and demand an equal footing. This does not automatically make us man-haters, neglecters of children, and self-centered creatures.

Lest we forget, a century ago women were chattels of the MOTS without ANY fertility control. Women were passed from the control of their fathers to the control of their husbands and that was the way their money and their children went too.

Feminists come in all sorts of shades from lesbian separatists to Marxist feminists and post-modernists. Just like any other school of thought in the whole wide world there is diversity. But to get done what women have done over the last 3.5 decades, women have co-alesced and co-operated on major issues such as domestic violence; rape; childcare; equal pay; and access to education and healthcare.

And Miss Eagle wishes it to be known that her marching shoes have never gathered dust whether in the cause of peace, racism, working conditions, or feminism.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

The demands of a whizzing calendar...

The calendar has whizzed by and Miss Eagle has been missing in action for too long. July is not half way over and it has been full and busy and does not show any sign of letting up until the beginning of August. The new full time job - although a contract role - is making quite a few demands on time and energy. However, bed time has been extended beyond 8.30 pm as Miss Eagle gets used to the demands of work. The position has been advertised as a permanent position. Miss Eagle has applied but she is sure there will be substantial competition so may the best woman - not trying to be gender biassed but females predominate in this sector - win.

Avec Amour is closing its doors at the end of this month and I have been assisting Herself by working Saturdays and selling off the shop fittings on Ebay. On Friday night your Miss E. had a marvellous time at the footy watching The Storm defeat The Broncos. Pop over to The Eagle's Nest and catch the excitement with a slide show of the event.

And, while your correspondent has been only posting intermittently she has also not had time to read her Feed and catch up with her favourite blogs. This week-end she has managed to catch up a little to find that, over at Loobylu, Claire has given birth to beautiful Lily and Ms Robyn has set up a new blog. Life goes on with Lazy Cow amid a haircut for The Boy, at Patra's Place handiwork is still being discovered, shared, admired and stored; Sharon's handiwork and lust for stitching books continues, Jane is knitting away and showing off summery toe-nails at Yarnstorm, and Suse at Peasoup is up to all her usual wonderful things as well as a new job at a nameless but eucalypt strewn university.

So this week Miss Eagle promises, dear Reader, to try a little harder to build a routine that will cope with life, work, and regular posting.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Some blokes take more than they are entitled to...

The fur has been flying this week in corporate Australia - in particular Channel 9 and PBL. The corporate culture at 9 and within its owner PBL has been revealed in a most unattractive fashion.

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Julie Szego in her article Blokes on Top in to-day's The Age analyses it for its impact on women in corporate Australia, particularly in light of presenter of To-day, Jessica Rowe, and editor of The Bulletin, Kathy Bail. Both of these people and the way they have been and are being treated by PBL seem to give credence to the adage that women have to work twice as hard as men to be seen as being half as good. And guess who's in the thick of it, that sporting icon turned corporate executive, Eddie Everywhere. What a good look, Eddie! You've done yourself proud - I must say. And for all those blokes here in Melbourne who think Eddie is a creditable and shining example of Australian manhood, take a tip from Miss Eagle - he's not!

FEMALE EXECUTIVE MANAGERS
HOW AUSTRALIA COMPARES

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What you won't get from the on-line edition of The Age that is in the print edition is the accompanying photographs of five top female Australian executives. Namely:

One "prominent male business figure" who declined to be named is quoted as saying that "more women will be appointed to boards when more put themselves forward". Well no wonder he doesn't want to be named - names won't be quoted to protect the guilty? Two points I would make to you Mr Cowardly Unnamed Businessman:

  1. Representation by women on boards and in higher executive positions does not and should not rely on women "putting themselves forward". Women should be there because they are just as entitled - and frequently more entitled - than men to be there based on skills, merits, and their ability to communicate with a wider public.
  2. If the system did rely on women "putting themselves forward", why on earth would they? Could Mr Cowardly Unnamed Businessman please tell Miss Eagle why any of the five women named above would want to or wish to or aspire to work in such a culture as that prevailing at PBL, The Bulletin and Channel 9? Why would any of those five women want to work with Eddie McGuire? What skills do Eddie McGuire and John Lehmann (who was preferred ahead of Kathy Bail) have that makes them stand out from a host of well-qualified women employed in media and business?

All Miss Eagle can say is thanks be that all this is being revealed. Too often, Australians are encouraged - particularly by political leaders - to admire business executives and directors as people of achievement and probity. If one thing is clear from the events of the last week, it is that these are shabby people doing shabby deals advancing people over whom hang doubts about whether their ability is of sufficient rank to justify their promotion.

And we are supposed to think that Australian business is operating at the height of efficiency and in the best interest of its "stakeholders"? Phooey!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

From the desert prophets come - A.D. Hope

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Sculptors Hill (left) Stephens Creek on Nine Mile Station (right)

Broken Hill, New South Wales

Into Miss Eagle's email to-night came some wonderful information from her good friend, Ian Robinson, who now lives in Perth but will be known to many in Sydney from his time as Minister of Chatswood Uniting Church. Ian, together with Ross Neville, is planning a wonderful desert journey under the heading of God Outback which will run from 21-29 August next. You will need to go the aforelinked website for registration but here is the info.

Based on a remote station property north of Broken Hill, we will be exploring the spirit of the land - aboriginal and caucasian - as well as the country, and the difference a person can make. Participants can be accommodated in shearers’ quarters; park a caravan next to the quarters; or camp in the creek - journeying and reflection will take place from the quarters.


We will encounter station life as well as the indigenous peoples of the Mutawindji National Park. Opportunities will be given to explore semi-arid country and the big skies. Time alone, time around the campfire, and hopefully one overnight campout. Things to see and do include: landcare by the pastoralist; regular operations of station life; visit deserted mine shafts, cabin sites etc of early settlers and miners; look at a mine on Nine Mile; understand western vegetation and animals; the unique hills, geology and plains of the area; study the stars; aboriginal culture sites and feedstuffs; quiet, spaciousness, unique scenery, sunsets, stars and colours; no rush…..


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Ian Robinson has seen most of Australia’s outback, and led many groups on retreat. An ordained minister, he is presently engaged in research into the spirituality of the Australian deserts. He is married with three adult children and lives in Perth.

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Ross Neville has lived in the central and western part of NSW as a farmer, counselor and Rural TAFE teacher. He has led and arranged camps all his life. He is married and has 4 adult children and is currently the Evangelism and Mission consultant with the UCA NSW Synod Board of Mission.

~~~~~~

Possible general program: The program will be flexible according to the nature and interests of the group

Monday Arriving: Sydney Train arrives 7:10pm Dubbo/Sydney Plane 11 am. Driving 15km Tibooburra Nine Mile on left. Settle in: Walk around creek area homestead area. BBQ dinner in creek with owner

Tuesday Tour around station with owner

Wednesday Party investigates particular part of the station

Thursday Friday Short walking trails on edge of property Sculptor Hill, Sundown trail, or station walks, Star watching night

Saturday Trip to Mutawintji National Park: aboriginal food, culture, overnight Sunday Monday Free time possibility to investigate parts of Broken Hill mines, art galleries…

Tuesday Train leaves 7:45 am Plane 11am

What to bring: Tent, if you want to camp. Day backpack, water bottle, walking boots, Sheets, pillow, blankets, if staying in shearing quarters, (or sleeping bag) bathroom items, warm and hot clothes, coat for cool winds, evenings. temperatures expected for late August 8-18 degrees (Can be 0-30) Optional (Folding chair), ground sheet, Binoculars/telescope, torch, Bible, notebook, camera, paints, crayons and musical instrument if you can.

Total cost $560 Reduced fee for camping. $40 Registration fee Includes 4WD hire, all food plus entry fees park, mine.

Problem with the cost?

Contact us - Ross Neville 02 6366 9698

Ian Robinson 08 8236 4236

Registrations close 7 August

Spirit Journeys

Carolyn Robertson

0425314863 or spiritjourneys@pnc.com.au


Words and pictures

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Miss Eagle has chosen to post these not because of visual impact but because of the wonderful words and the fact that they are gathered together in one place.

Grand United Order of Free Gardeners

Did you get that, Miss Eagle asks?

Grand - United - Free - Gardeners

What do these words conjure up?

Green thumbed people who care passionately about freedom?

Not enslaved gardeners but free gardeners?

And they have got together in an order -

and order which is united and grand

and, above all, it is a friendly society.

How charming, Miss Eagle thinks!

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Sunday, June 25, 2006

The indulged and indulgent

A chilly Melbourne Sunday morning.
Time for cozying up on the couch.
This is Herself with FootFoot on the left of picture
and Trixie on the right.
Sheer indulgence, Miss Eagle says!

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

A beautiful Queen

The beautiful old buildings of Queen Street, Melbourne

No. 9 Queen Street

Bennelong House

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And its detail

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No. 15 Queen Street

The Lombard Building

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No.18 Queen Street

Alkira House

A contrast in Art Deco

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Monday, June 19, 2006

Rose in a basket

Look what Miss Eagle found.
Rose curled up on a stash of fabric in my basket.
All cuddly and warm on a cold, cold day.

Pane e cioccolata : Bread and chocolate

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Pane e cioccolata : Bread and chocolate

Much jollity at The Trad Pad as a friend was farewelled before going to live in England. Piece de resistance on the menu was the Bread and Chocolate Pudding. For more details go to Food from Oz and get the recipe here.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Ecstasy! Delirium!


Probably Miss Eagle's biggest whinge since coming to live in Melbourne in September 2004 has been the fact that there is no live broadcast of the State of Origin series between Queensland and New South Wales. Melbourne is bigoted. It is not ecumenical. Queensland supports four codes: League, Union, Soccer, and AFL. Melbourne can't get past their highly localised game, AFL.

The whinge from Miss Eagle was so bad this year, dear Reader, that Herself promised her, as a birthday present, a ticket to the final State of Origin match which, this year, is being held in Melbourne. Miss Eagle has now been saying how wonderful if it would be - and it seemed unlikely - if Queensland defeated NSW in the second game and the decider would be played here in Melbourne.

And guess what?

Last night The Canetoads walked all over The Cockroaches to win 30-6 and the decider comes to Melbourne. The tickets had already been arranged through our good friend Sarah and we are doing the whole thing in style. We have a corporate box!

Now Miss Eagle is off to see if Melbourne can produce a Queensland scarf - and to check on the supplies of Champagne and Bundy Rum.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

I hope you dance...

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This was written by an 83-year-old woman to her friend.
*The last line says it all. *

Dear Bertha,

I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting in the yard and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time working.

Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savour, not to endure. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them.

I'm not "saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event such as losing a kilo, getting the sink unstopped, or the first rose bud.

I wear my good blazer to the supermarket. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries. I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties, but wearing it for assistants in the hardware store and tellers at the bank.

"Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now

I'm not sure what others would've done had they known they wouldn't be here for the tomorrow that we all take for granted. I think they would have called family members and a few close friends. They might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think they would have gone out for a Chinese dinner or for whatever their favourite food was.

I'm guessing; I'll never know.

It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew my hours were limited. Angry because I hadn't written certain letters that I intended to write one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and parents often enough how much I truly love them. I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and lustre to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that it is special.

Every day, every minute, every breath truly is a gift from God.

"People say true friends must always hold hands, but true friends don't need to hold hands because they know the other hand will always be there."

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance

Chocablogging in Balaclava...or was it St Kilda?

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The Grand Finale, after the Shopblogging, ended with Chocablogging at Baked.

Now, as you will note, the Baked card says 175 Carlisle Street, Balaclava.

Why then is this celebration on the side of the Railway Bridge above Carlisle Street?


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Is this the St Kilda side of Balaclava Street?

Anyway, there was more important stuff on the agenda on a cold and foggy day in Balaclava/St Kilda. And that was the decisions to be made in the face of what lies below.


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Groan, groan! Decisions, decisions!


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It came down to a Mocha Walnut Slice for Gina.


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And Double Chocolate Pie for Miss Eagle!

And we prevailed upon a gorgeous young man to record the occasion.


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Monday, June 12, 2006

Shopblogging on Glenhuntly Road

Here are some of the treasures that were discovered on Glenhuntly Road on Saturday.



The doily Gina found at the Garage Sale.

The recipe for the bikkies will be found at Food from Oz.


When Miss Eagle saw this copy of Desiree by Annemarie Selinko in its passionately purple cover, it brought to mind memories of the young and exquisitely beautiful Jean Simmons starring opposite the young and beautiful Marlon Brando in the movie. And don't the purple passion earrings go well with it.




Miss Eagle bought this decanter to hold the Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

The steamer is a one/two person model. Should be handy.


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Miss Eagle is not quite sure what appealed with this object. Was it because Herself loves a green kitchen? What is just its shape, its age, and its function? Partly, but what Miss Eagle thinks that she loves above all is its feminist colours which are Green for Hope; Purple for Justice; and White for the Purity of the Cause.


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The green edged tin was too pretty to leave behind. The Benson & Hedges tin reminded Miss Eagle of her days as an eaglet when Benson & Hedges were only seen in Australia in tins like these under the Christmas Tree. The sweet little dish is a Meakin. Who could leave it behind.


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Useful tins

And below is the treasure par excellence of Miss Eagle's day


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This is one of a set of four framed nursery rhyme friezes. Miss Eagle had difficulty getting its width in the frame of the camera. Really beautiful and oldy worldy.

These are my treasures.

You will have to go to Gina's here and here to see hers.

To be continued....

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Gina, social history and Elsternwick


Yesterday, blogging went one step further for Miss Eagle. Miss Eagle, dear Reader, had the great pleasure of meeting one of her blogging friends face to face. Not only did we meet but we spent a whole morning together. The friend, dear Reader, is Gina: she of Patra's Place, Patra's Other Place, and Patracat's Memories.

The meeting came about because of some posts Miss Eagle did about The Collecting Chemist of Elsternwick which can be found here, here and here. Well, what a morning! Walking around Elsternwick was a social history done with Gina. She provided a fount of information.

Miss Eagle thought it was strange when she first noticed the apartment block, The Renown, in Glenhuntly Road. She thought it passing strange to see an apartment building with such a name. More like a theatre she thought - especially when the name is also displayed in an art deco font. Guess what? Thanks to Gina, I now know that The Renown was one of Elsternwick's two picture shows. Gina, here - if you scroll down this page - you will find someone else with memories of The Renown. We also had to pay homage to The Esquire - the other picture show - which has been renamed The Classic.

Then we hit the Opp Shops. Miss Eagle thinks that Gina takes the crown as Queen of the Opp Shops. Now if you are someone or you know someone who could challlenge for this title, please email Miss Eagle off the sidebar and we will have to see how the contest can be staged. Gina knows where the Opp Shops are and is determined to get there. Perambulations down Glen Huntly Road brought more social history. "Now when I walked home from school I used to go down this street because my girlfriend lived there." " This is the shop where all my brother's clothes came from." In the door, and her bee-line is for the linen. You should understand, dear Reader, that Gina is a collector - a collector of linen as you will note when you visit her sites. As well, she is a needleworker. So her first port of call will be the linen. No linen? Little interest. And we did find one Opp Shop - no names, no pack drill - who had no linen. Predominantly clothes, so Miss Eagle was not much interested either.

A bonus to the expedition was Miss Eagle's discovery of a garage sale of no mean proportions right on Glenhuntly Road. Gina might be Queen of the Opp Shops but Miss Eagle can sniff the wind for a garage sale. This was a good one. Miss Eagle was busy buying a sewing table, decorative tins, and jewellery while Gina was head down in amongst the linen. Miss Eagle wandered over and found a beautiful piece in her hand - a doily displaying a map of Australia with each state carrying its floral emblem. Beautiful! Gina let your correspondent have it, dear Reader, since she already had a similar one in her collection. Your correspondent, of course, was thrilled. Even Herself, no great lover of linen, admired it. To be continued....

Footnote: Sharon, Gina said your were working. We missed you. We think it would have been a riot had you come too.

An apology to the dear Reader

Dear Reader, your Miss Eagle did not mean to be gone so long. You see, one of Miss Eagle's many pursuits is justice advocacy. This week she had a major presentation that needed to be well-considered and well-reflected upon. Now that she is in employment, Miss Eagle has to be a careful time budgeter. Justice called. Miss Eagle responded - and blogging could not fit into the agenda.

Monday, June 05, 2006

World Environment Day 2006

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The members of the Eastern Region Environment Committee of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne have been busy little bees. To-day is World Environment Day and yesterday at church at St Thom’s at Upper Gully we received a handy little brochure on Water Saving. While Melbourne is not the driest part of the dry continent, its residents are quite water conscious and have constant reminders to vigilance so the Water Saving brochure was a contribution to the whole civic water saving ethos. The brochure explains to us as follows:

Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth. Most of Australia is classed as arid or semi-arid, with 80% of the continent receiving less than 600 millimetres, and 50% receiving less than 300 millimetres, per year.

Of all the water on Earth, only 3% is fresh. Less than a third of 1% is available to humans. The rest is frozen in glaciers, polar ice caps or deep within the Earth, beyond our reach.

Water is one of the most important natural resources we have. It is essential to our existence.

Since 1900, global water consumption has risen 10 fold. UNESCO has predicted that by 2020 water shortage will be a serious problem world wide.

As Christians, we are called to care for, and to share with all, the creation given by God. It is therefore a responsibility of the Church to show leadership in sustainable water management. Action is therefore being taken to raise the awareness of members of the Eastern Region of the Melbourne Anglican Diocese to this responsibility and to encourage an engagement in, and an acceptance of, the challenge concerning water usage by the Church itself and by Church members.


REFLECTION

As a people of faith we have before us the Great Commandment,
“To love God, to love neighbour and to love self”.
The environment is our neighbour, sustaining us, nurturing us and teaching us about ourselves and about that which is different to ourselves.
The land, the water, the air, all that is vegetable and all that is animal and mineral become very intimate neighbours calling each of us to learn more about how we relate to them.

The commandment calls us into a relationship with our living world.
We mutually receive and have reciprocal responsibilities back to all aspects of the Earth’s created order.

We have been offered a time to heal both ourselves and our environment by using this received and share knowledge, we are enabled to hand on our wisdom to those generations yet to be born and also to honour all those who have made this journey before us.

Loving God we thank you for this world of wonder and delight.
You have given it to us to care for, so that all your creatures may enjoy its bounty.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Seasons of the Soul: Pentecost

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To-day is the celebration of Pentecost, the birthday of the Christian church.
Happy Birthday, Church!

PENTECOST BLESSING
Deep warmth of joy and love be yours,
Bright light of sight and life be yours,
Rich glow of fruits and growth be yours;
Fire of the Spirit burn within you
Fire of the Spirit burn within you.
Energy of God fill you and dwell in you,
Life of God inspire and renew you,
Breeze of God revive and disturb you;
Wind of the Spirit blow through you
Wind of the Spirit blow through you.
Life giving presence of God stir you
Unseen power of God strengthen you
Wellspring of truth cleanse you and lead you.
The Spirit encourage and guide you,
Creative voice of God direct you
And kindle adventure within you;
Wild Goose cheer you and call you on
Wild Goose cheer you and call you on.
by Craufur Murray

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