Garage Sale

On the weekend I was assisting at a garage sale.

It was noticeable that the majority of enduring items were ceramic, glass, metal and leather. The plastic stuff was usually brittle and or tatty.

People came and went and some found something desirable. A lady found a masonite suitcase it was over 60 years old - older than me - and she wanted it for her suitcase collection. Several people found something to turn into a xmas present. One man went away with a box of xmas decorations.

It did not raise a great deal of money but maybe the purpose of a garage sale is to create happiness.

Give a Crap

A friend made a mistake.

As an ethical consumer they ordered environmentally friendly toilet paper. But they ordered too much and generously gave away boxes of the stuff. I benefited to the tune of one bulk buy box (48 rolls). The paper was the premium product 3-ply bamboo toilet paper on double length rolls.
Its good stuff I will be re-ordering when I eventually run out.

The brand is Who gives a crap.

Merry Melodies

Tunes from my childhood make me happy.

Years ago when I was feeling depressed I watched old episodes of Doctor Who - Just the opening tune made me feel a bit better.

Recently I re-discovered another tune from my childhood The Robinson Crusoe background music:

I listened to this record with my siblings oh so many times. The background music is better known as Tchaikovskys 5th symphony.

I think that  Tchaikovskys 5th became unpopular in Australia because it was combined with Paul Hogan and used to advertise cigarettes.

Die Hard

I enjoy re-watching a favourite movie at the right season.
One of the best xmas movies is -- Die Hard with not only Bruce Willis but also Alan Rickman. And Beethoven wrote the music for them.

Watching today I noticed for the first time the polluted Los Angeles orange sunset at the start of the movie. Pollution shown as is in the Columbo TV series and taken to extreme in Bladerunner 2049.  The Calfornians got used to the pollution.

The smoke haze over my home continues. The sky is white not blue. The air is not fit to breathe. Australias environment minister is in Spain arguing for Australia to do less to save the world. Where is Bruce Willis when you need him?

Native bees

Australian native bees are easy to care for. They need
1) A hive box
2) Sun in the morning
3) Shade in the afternoon
4) 18 deg celsius to fly
They are an easy to care for pet and they give a delicious honey.

Native Bee Hive in workshop - OATH design

You can find Hive designs at sugarbag.net website. 
A good book about native bees and keeping stingless bees is The Australian Native Bee Book by Tim Heard (ISBN 978-0-646-93997-1).

Light a candle

The Observer has an article about people becoming anxious about the climate emergency. I don't think being anxious helps the planet.

One of the factors of the emergency is biodiversity.

The local environment group plants native plants along a creek creating habitat for native animals. We also remove the worst weeds. The community enjoys the improvements. We feel good and the environment improves.

It is better to lit a candle than to curse the darkness.

The article refers to the Imperial Colleges Grantham Institute which has list of nine actions for ordinary folk:

Incidentally the book mentioned in a previous post gave similar answers with analysis: Time to eat the dog? - the real guide to sustainable living by Robert and Brenda Vale- ISBN 978 0 500 28790 3

Cough Cough

I'm coughing, the neighbours are coughing.
The towers of the city are barely visible though the smoke haze.
All day the heat has been intense though the sun has been dim.
The sunset was dim and diffuse.

Bushfire has made this city unhealthy and unpleasant.
Burning coal to extend bushfire season and make fires more frequent and more intense seems to be a bad idea.