From the desert prophets come - A.D. Hope

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…..

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.

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.

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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

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!

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!

A beautiful Queen

The beautiful old buildings of Queen Street, Melbourne

No. 9 Queen Street

Bennelong House

And its detail

No. 15 Queen Street

The Lombard Building

No.18 Queen Street

Alkira House

A contrast in Art Deco

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

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.

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.

I hope you dance...

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?

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?

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.

Groan, groan! Decisions, decisions!

It came down to a Mocha Walnut Slice for Gina.

And Double Chocolate Pie for Miss Eagle!

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

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.

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.

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.

Useful tins

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

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....

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.

World Environment Day 2006

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.

Seasons of the Soul: Pentecost

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

From Pocket Celtic Prayers compiled by Martin Wallace

Keep me burning......

To keep a lamp burning

we have to keep

putting oil in it.

- Mother Teresa

Oprah, consumerism and a real woman

Miss Eagle is unapologetically an Oprah fan. But she doesn't watch the show much anymore. A few years ago she loved it - there was lots of spiritual stuff, lots of love and goodwill stuff, and the bookclub. Sure, Miss Eagle understands that the show has to make dough - and this has to involve interviewing celebrities and promoting the latest network shows. But when this becomes dominant Miss Eagle is left behind. If Miss Eagle has to conjure up an image of consumerism gone wild, gone mad - it is the screams of the audiences of women at Oprah shows in high decibel form. When there is too much emphasis on celebrity (and Miss Eagle does not deny that she likes a bit of glam and the occasional movie star) it leaves Miss Eagle cold. But Miss Eagle loves Oprah: admires her, thinks she is all woman.
All this leads Miss Eagle to tell you, dear Reader, about Lee Seigel's marvellous article, The strange genius of Oprah: Thank you for sharing, in The New Republic. For those of you who are not familiar with this U.S. magazine, you can receive a digital edition and you can get a four week free subscription and access the story here. If you have any difficulties, please email Miss Eagle off the sidebar and she will see what she can do to assist.

Locusts and ancient wisdom

Miss Eagle does not wish to give offence to those of other beliefs and none. However, recently Miss Eagle was discussing a rather traumatic incident affecting a friend and wrote this. She thought afterwards that this might be of interest to others who may be living through troubled times and so decided to publish it here.

Miss Eagle is a good mate of the 8th century prophets. Loves 'em to bits - even when they're cranky and hard to live with. In the Tanakh (the Old Testament), Joel Chapter 1 is all about what the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten and what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. Now isn't that a picture to cheer you up! Sheer yuck! But then comes Chapter 2 and I just love verses 25-27. It is all about restoration and it makes Miss Eagle's spine tingle with excitement, dear Reader:

So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
The crawling locust, the consuming locust, And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And praise the name of the Lord your God
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people shall never be put to shame.
Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am the Lord your God
And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to shame.

Now, I have to say I have had this experience a few times in my life. In one case, the restoration was specific: item for item. And so unexpected. And when these things happen in life they prepare you and undergird you for the next time. The locust attacks are rather cyclical in this life - and, it seems, we will never rid ourselves of them entirely. They come out of left field, consume all before them, and we are powerless to prevent them. So I am a great believer in restoration and a goodly, godly dose of Joel Chapter 2. I find that God never wastes anything. And he ties up all the loose ends ever so neatly at the back of the tapesties which are our lives.

Warmth from a feather...

To-day, June 1, is officially the first day of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Miss Eagle has just the thing for those cold winter nights when it gets dark earlier and earlier. It is Feather Pudding and it will warm the cockles of your heart. Eat it with simply oodles of creamy custard. If you want to know how to make it, pop across to Food from Oz for the recipe.

Our deepest fear....

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Taken from the 1994 Inaugural Speech of Nelson Mandela

The party's over....

The party's over. Normality is beginning to resume after visitors have gone to the airport; empty bottles have gone into the bin; the left-overs have stocked the fridge for the week ahead. Now, with the new job and all, a new blogging routine has to be established. Stay tuned. Thank you to those who have emailed or posted.

Blessings and bliss
Miss Eagle