Cats, camellias and constitutional rights

This month's tbr pile

After making a cross-stitch of a suffragette design, I went on-line to see if anyone would like it. A friend who teaches history in New Zealand said she would like it for her classroom, so I framed it, wrapped it in appropriately-coloured purple crepe paper, and popped it in the post. I hope she and her students appreciate it. I will offer others sporadically. 

Looking for props for Dead Man's Cell Phone - the play was first performed in 2007, so I am looking for the correct technology of the period. I found this trusty old Nokia in my bottom drawer - it probably still works too. It's staggering the speed with which we have moved on with communication devices, while actual communication seems to stagnate or even regress. 

Meanwhile, Melantho and Penelope remain determinedly unperturbed. 

It's pretty green and fresh outside, and the silk camellias are making their presence known along the side of the driveway. I love how nature always gives us year-round colour and interest in the garden.

Autumn Electives

My work takes me to visit many schools in the region. This was a mural on one of their walls depicting their values; I thought it also seemed appropriate for the upcoming Anzac Day commemorations. 

We're still enjoying checking out the local cafes for breakfast - as long as it's got fruit; it's healthy, right?

As newly-minted citizens, this was our first opportunity to vote in the federal elections, so we went to do our civic duty. The voting stations are usually located at primary schools and the schools use the occasion to fund-raise -for many it is their largest event of the year. Everywhere sells hot dogs for sustenance after the exhausting business of working out how many boxes to tick on which voting paper (seriously, it's not as straight-forward a system as I'm used to from previous country), and they are known as 'democracy sausages'. We felt that to do this thing properly, we really should partake. 

Democracy Sausage

There was also a massive moon that night, which is probably an ominous omen or a positive portent. Or, it could be an astronomical phenomenon - I'm actually none the wiser about any of it, but it was big and bright and shinning over the tops of the terraces. 

Meanwhile, back at the house, those beautiful autumn leaves are making a nuisance of themselves, by falling everywhere.

Some of them are still clinging to the trees, and the garden is really rather glorious. 

And we've got praying mantises among the silk camellias, which is not a euphemism (at least, not so far as I am aware).

And there are some other things growing as well - there is a limit to my botanical knowledge.

Ooh, lavender (I know that one)

A collage of autumn stuff

One of my new run routes takes me up Mt Painter past the Cook sundial. Apparently the suburb of Cook is named primarily after Captain James Cook, who 'discovered' the east coast of Australia in 1770. (Just to keep the locals happy, it is supposedly also named for Sir Joseph Cook, who was Prime Minister of Australia from 1913-1914 and knighted in 1918.) The citizens of Cook marked the James Cook bi-centenary by the erection of this sundial. I'm sure he was well chuffed.

On a Plate

Walking in the hills is such a rewarding and simple pleasure - we are so lucky to have Mt Painter on our doorstep. 

And we have got silk camellias in our garden - the previous owners planted loads of goodies, and we get to watch them all blossom and develop. How glorious!

We had to go to the post office depot to collect a very important delivery, but when we got there the delivery truck had gone again to attempt to deliver it to us at home, where we weren't. We managed to contact them to ask them to leave it at the front door, and we went and had breakfast instead at Ona Coffee House Cafe. 

We arrived to home to the delivery on the doorstep. I've been waiting for this for a long time.

Special delivery

It's my book! I'm so happy and excited that I can see all those years of hard work captured between the covers. I got signing a few to send to bookshops and am happy to sell anyone a signed copy on request. Send me a message  and I'll get it done!

Signing copies of Mornington Crescent

The next day, Him Outdoors made breakfast - sometimes he gets carried away by the cafe-style presentation...

And this last is for all my friends who performed excerpts from The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy with me as part of International Women's Day last month, which included a pretty damn fine rendition of Salome.