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Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
@federica said:> So while you may consider living life on a knife-edge, @SpinyNorman dear, having adventures and living dangerously, I for one would dearly hope you won't throw all caution to the wind and over-do it. Like, bungee-jumping, for example.... without the bungee.....
I might try hang-gliding again. I never worked out how to land properly last time round, and usually crashed in a corn field, it was like the Battle of Britain. Hang-gliding is weird because they have a low flying speed, so in a strong wind you can be going backwards relative to the ground. Nice though, great feeling of freedom.
The cactus are blooming in our back yard - beautiful.
The cactus flowers blossom for only a couple of days.
Quite a show!
%^^%$^^% Some day I'll figure out how to get my system to allow pictures to be posted here.
Yup! I am a techie semi-semi-literate
Oh well, back to the cocoa, if I can only find the cup....
2
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Today, there is a high wind, with periodic and frequent violent gusts, which move everything quite alarmingly. There has even been a weather warning issued of flash floods and wind damage. Temperatures are barely in the mid teens...June is upon us, and soon it shall be Mid-summer....
Woohoo! it's winter which means I no longer have to drag the body to the beach for a swim and lazy in the warm summer sunshine...
Today the sun is trying to put on a brave front and shine... just looked at the temperature on my phone...it's 8 C according to the temperature taken out at the airport in South Auckland, however on the island according to the thermometer it's 14 C ( which is meant to be today's high)...
Seasons come and seasons go... such is life's flow.....
lol... It's only 4 degrees warmer here. It was hot, dry and windy earlier in May. We've had a fair bit of rain the last week or two... which we definitely needed. Hopefully the Fort McMurray fire will be brought under control, and we won't be hit with much more devastation this summer.
Oh yeah, it's huge. It'll take weeks to put out, even if the weather co-operates. Firefighters have even been brought in from South Africa to help fight it.
@federica said:
Today, there is a high wind, with periodic and frequent violent gusts, which move everything quite alarmingly. There has even been a weather warning issued of flash floods and wind damage. Temperatures are barely in the mid teens...June is upon us, and soon it shall be Mid-summer....
Oh the joys of British weather....
Yes, it's been very autumnal. Some nice big waves though.
On my walk this afternoon, I heard a noise and looked up "Was it a bird... was it a helicopter... was it a plane,!" it turned out to be a seaplane landing in Huruhi Bay (also known as Surfdale-which is funny because Surfdale used to be one of the wharfs where the old ferry use to stop ) ...At one time seaplanes were a common sight around the island...Now they're few and far between ...It was a pleasant sight to behold,,,
There was a tourist seaplane that landed here in Corio Bay in Geelong until a year or two ago when it somehow flipped upon landing! Thankfully no one was hurt but that was the end of the poor guys business.
@Bunks said:
There was a tourist seaplane that landed here in Corio Bay in Geelong until a year or two ago when it somehow flipped upon landing! Thankfully no one was hurt but that was the end of the poor guys business.
Yes there's quite a danger of this happening, when the plane is taxiing closer to shore, especially if it's a bit choppy...
I was at little Palm Beach when a couple were on their way to shore in a dingy (they had just got off their yacht, anchored in the bay ) the guy was wearing swimmers and had gotten out to pull the dingy the rest of the way to shore when a freak wave struck capsizing the dingy and the woman (fully clothed) and their bag of dry belongings were tossed into the sea...Fortunately nobody was hurt...Well perhaps the woman's pride was a little battered...
I ran errands today for 5 hours straight after not going outside all week. I had tons of panic attacks, but for this agoraphobic, it is a win. Though the "good vibes" t-shirts at Wal-Mart sure did feel like they were mocking me.
@Swaroop said:
Listen to the cacophony outside my window. How is a poor guy sit in meditation in this racket?
In the Tibetan tradition, Tibetan temple 'music' is designed to scare away demons. Play that for a few days and the sweet regular sounds will be like music to your ears ...
@IchLiebte said:> I ran errands today for 5 hours straight after not going outside all week. I had tons of panic attacks, but for this agoraphobic, it is a win. Though the "good vibes" t-shirts at Wal-Mart sure did feel like they were mocking me.
Well done for coping with Wal-Mart, supermarkets can be a hell realm at times. All those people lingering in the freezer section, gazing longingly at large tubs of ice-cream....ahem.
Well today marked an important day for our local Marae " Piritahi Marae" the Whare Whakairo (carved house) has finally been completed and representatives of tribes from around the North Island were welcomed onto the Marae to celebrate the opening ....along with many of us non Maori locals (The Whare is now dressed with the ancestral carvings Whakairo) ...Some of the carvings look similar to the Tibetan wrathful deities ....
I was up at 4.30am and left at 5.20am to walk to the Marae in the dark for the dawn Powhiri service (lots of stars in the morning sky beautiful sight )...After the Powhiri (around 2 hours later) we all had breakfast
There was another Powhiri at 10am to welcome more guests and then the entertainment started with the children from the local Kapa haka group....
Over the course of the day there was around 1500 people on the Marae, and as is Marae tradition... all of us were fed (and there was plenty of kai )...
This is the Hangi that was prepared...
Piritahi Marae is where the Tibetan monks create the sand mandalas (they have made three mandalas on the island since 2001) ,,,Venerable Geshe Sangay Thinley (Geshe-La) was invited to attend the opening but he was unable to attend as he is in another city giving a Dharma talk this weekend, however Venerable Karma was here to represented Geshe-La's centre (he is one of the monks who creates the mandalas)....
Ven Karma standing outside the Whare Whakairo
All the celebrations and speeches were conducted in Maori, with a smattering of English... It's been a long and wonderful day
@federica said:
Temperatures are barely in the mid teens...June is upon us, and soon it shall be Mid-summer....
Oh the joys of British weather....
I read your comment, wondering if the Earth was ending. Then I realized that I again was had by the U.S.'s refusal to move to the far more sensible metric system and celsius.
@Shoshin said:
Well today marked an important day for our local Marae " Piritahi Marae" the Whare Whakairo (carved house) has finally been completed and representatives of tribes from around the North Island were welcomed onto the Marae to celebrate the opening ....along with many of us non Maori locals (The Whare is now dressed with the ancestral carvings Whakairo) ...Some of the carvings look similar to the Tibetan wrathful deities ....
I was up at 4.30am and left at 5.20am to walk to the Marae in the dark for the dawn Powhiri service (lots of stars in the morning sky beautiful sight )...After the Powhiri (around 2 hours later) we all had breakfast
There was another Powhiri at 10am to welcome more guests and then the entertainment started with the children from the local Kapa haka group....
Over the course of the day there was around 1500 people on the Marae, and as is Marae tradition... all of us were fed (and there was plenty of kai )...
This is the Hangi that was prepared...
Piritahi Marae is where the Tibetan monks create the sand mandalas (they have made three mandalas on the island since 2001) ,,,Venerable Geshe Sangay Thinley (Geshe-La) was invited to attend the opening but he was unable to attend as he is in another city giving a Dharma talk this weekend, however Venerable Karma was here to represented Geshe-La's centre (he is one of the monks who creates the mandalas)....
Ven Karma standing outside the Whare Whakairo
All the celebrations and speeches were conducted in Maori, with a smattering of English... It's been a long and wonderful day
I am always impressed in NZ at how well the European and Maori cultures have integrated (for the most part).
It is certainly not the case in Australia with the white and indigenous folk.
I was raised surrounded by blatant racism toward "abo's" and it has had an affect on me that has taken a long time to overcome.
We have made some huge strides in the last couple of decades but still have a long way to go.
3
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Well, today I bought this.... Can anyone guess (apart from the obvious, "yes, it's a tree...") what type of tree it is, exactly? (Hint:
it's a fruit....)
@federica said:
Temperatures are barely in the mid teens...June is upon us, and soon it shall be Mid-summer....
Oh the joys of British weather....
I read your comment, wondering if the Earth was ending. Then I realized that I again was had by the U.S.'s refusal to move to the far more sensible metric system and celsius.
Yes, today we had temperatures more reflective of near middle-age... positively tropical by our standards!
@federica said:
Well, today I bought this.... Can anyone guess (apart from the obvious, "yes, it's a tree...") what type of tree it is, exactly? (Hint:
it's a fruit....)
A friend of mine just returned from a retreat at the Kumbh Mela in India.
Temps of 51 degrees Celsius.
Probably 60 million folks crowded onto some river flats.
Porta potties installed on angles that prevented them from draining properly.
Sewage surrounding them that was deep enough to pull the shoes off the feet of those trying to use them.
Vomiting and diarrhea was common due to food cleanliness issues.
Individual tents and private washroom set ups pre-sold to retreatants for $4,000.00 per person that never materialized or received refunds.
The Mattresses that were supplied from Ashrams were bedbug infested.
A stampede nearby that killed 7 and injured 90..
A 2 day monsoon whose rains flooded the floors of the kitchens, sleeping quarters and the ceremony halls with a swirling compilation of all that before mentioned human detritus.
A lack of tools to scoop out this "Mud" forced them to use the food trays to do it.
A return of the 51 degress celcius heat, dried everything up into a fine windborn dust that everyone was breathing in.
An early exodus of folks with Lung infections then became the norm.
And I'm not even mentioning the truly ugly parts of it all.
Our most austere Zen seshines or even Woodstock for that matter..looks positively comfortable in comparison.
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
I'll put everyone out of their misery (which, in comparison to @how's account of the retreat, is evidently not that profound)
It's a quince.
Thanks for the heads-up @how. I think I'll stick to Amaravati.....
0
silverIn the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded.USA, Left coast.Veteran
@How sez, "Vomiting and diarrhea was common due to food cleanliness issues.
Individual tents and private washroom set ups pre-sold to retreatants for $4,000.00 per person that never materialized or received refunds.
The Mattresses that were supplied from Ashrams were bedbug infested.
A stampede nearby that killed 7 and injured 90.."
@Bunks
Around here, quinces tend to be treated as ornamentals but their forgotten fruit fermenting on the ground can eventual become a huge Bluejay party.
One day everything is normal with the birds ignoring the fruit....the next... its the focal point of loud, drawn out drunken romp by birds who have just discovered they are gods gift to all of existence.
If you thought normal bluejays had the potential for be obnoxious, they are just the sweetest and most melodious of all birds compared to the hillbilly antics that go on around those party dates.
@silver said: @How sez, "Vomiting and diarrhea was common due to food cleanliness issues.
Individual tents and private washroom set ups pre-sold to retreatants for $4,000.00 per person that never materialized or received refunds.
The Mattresses that were supplied from Ashrams were bedbug infested.
A stampede nearby that killed 7 and injured 90.."
** A stampede of what? Buffalo? People? Bedbugs? **
Sounds like a real blast.
I assumed that this was a people stampede, which if it was towards a potential exit, I'd probably be right amongst them.
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
I think the ornamental Quince you're thinking of may be this one:
My quince is the original fruiting variety, which bears fruits like these: They have a furry coating which comes off when lightly rubbed, and cannot be eaten raw; they make exceptional quice jelly, or even Quince cheese.... They're also delicious, I hear, with pork.
It's true @Bunks Aussies haven't had a good track record when it comes to the indigenous population, but as you say things are slowly changing...
When I lived in Oz I was fortunate enough to make friends with some Aborigines, had a good friend who was a friend's boyfriend, his mother was Aboriginal and father white, he was an artist studying at a Sydney college, plus I had some friends who lived in Redfern (they were politically active-lobbying the government for rights etc)..
When hitch hiking around Oz with friends (back in the days when it was somewhat safe to do so-early 1970s) Aboriginal people would 'always' stop to give you a lift and often if need be would also offer you a bed for the night...
Maori people are fortunate enough to have the Treaty of Waitangi signed between the Crown and the Maori tribes, however not all tribes were in agreement some didn't sign it.
The treaty itself is somewhat controversial due to its translation...things more often than not tend to get lost in translation but at least they have a document that does for the most part, stop the government/crown from doing what they want, disregarding the needs of Maori people ...
@how said:
A friend of mine just returned from a retreat at the Kumbh Mela in India.
Temps of 51 degrees Celsius.
Probably 60 million folks crowded onto some river flats.
Porta potties installed on angles that prevented them from draining properly.
Sewage surrounding them that was deep enough to pull the shoes off the feet of those trying to use them.
Vomiting and diarrhea was common due to food cleanliness issues.
Individual tents and private washroom set ups pre-sold to retreatants for $4,000.00 per person that never materialized or received refunds.
The Mattresses that were supplied from Ashrams were bedbug infested.
A stampede nearby that killed 7 and injured 90..
A 2 day monsoon whose rains flooded the floors of the kitchens, sleeping quarters and the ceremony halls with a swirling compilation of all that before mentioned human detritus.
A lack of tools to scoop out this "Mud" forced them to use the food trays to do it.
A return of the 51 degress celcius heat, dried everything up into a fine windborn dust that everyone was breathing in.
An early exodus of folks with Lung infections then became the norm.
And I'm not even mentioning the truly ugly parts of it all.
Our most austere Zen seshines or even Woodstock for that matter..looks positively comfortable in comparison.
India is a fascinating country, a real eye opener 'cultural shock' for the Western eye...but once acclimatised, it's an amazing place...And.......
If one manages to visit India and 'not' get diarrhoea, then all I can say is one had not truely had the Indian experience...
@Shoshin said:
It's true @Bunks Aussies haven't had a good track record when it comes to the indigenous population, but as you say things are slowly changing...
When I lived in Oz I was fortunate enough to make friends with some Aborigines, had a good friend who was a friend's boyfriend, his mother was Aboriginal and father white, he was an artist studying at a Sydney college, plus I had some friends who lived in Redfern (they were politically active-lobbying the government for rights etc)..
When hitch hiking around Oz with friends (back in the days when it was somewhat safe to do so-early 1970s) Aboriginal people would 'always' stop to give you a lift and often if need be would also offer you a bed for the night...
Maori people are fortunate enough to have the Treaty of Waitangi signed between the Crown and the Maori tribes, however not all tribes were in agreement some didn't sign it.
The treaty itself is somewhat controversial due to its translation...things more often than not tend to get lost in translation but at least they have a document that does for the most part, stop the government/crown from doing what they want, disregarding the needs of Maori people ...
Yeah - poor form by Mr Cook and his cohorts to claim "no-one" inhabited Australia when the first Europeans arrived. Not sure what they were thinking?
Lest we forget....The past shapes the present and the present shapes the future... I guess what's done is done @Bunks and it's what happens NOW that counts...May we all be just that bit more enlightened when it comes to co-existing in a harmonious manner ...
Some of the new carvings in the Whare Whakairo-with explanation on what each represents...
We only have a few gargoyles and Church carvings left from our Elder religions. However a few sacred trees, usually old yews still exist in some Church grounds as they go back to pre-Christian times.
I am tempted to visit our local Ganesh sanctuary, he is a bit elephantine you know and has a whole temple full of interesting friends ...
This morning I looked out of my bedroom window to find a flock of Rosellas perched on the old plum tree, I rushed to pick up my faithful phone camera, but they had decided to taunt me, by moving to positions where I couldn't get a good shot...But patience paid off and I managed to get photos plus a video clip of a few who stuck around (I apologise for the poor video quality-it doesn't do their brightly coloured feathers justice)
...
Anyone following Game of thrones? The Great Sparrow 's tale of how he left home in the middle of the night after an orgy is a straight lift from the sutras. Sid G could sue for copyright infringement.
^^^ Tee Hee.
The best characters in GOT are multifaceted. Complicated. I watched the first five series in a couple of weeks because it was such a phenomena. Certainly wikid fun.
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited June 2016
I hate insomnia. No, really. I really, really HATE insomnia. Haven't had a decent night's sleep for around a week now... and this morning, I woke up at 03.30, and here I am... (07.45GMT) eyes gritty, feeling tired, but can I sleep? The hell I can....
Short of a hefty whack to the back of the head with the butt of a pistol (it always seems to work in the movies!) I have tried every conceivable remedy you can think of... body scanning, relaxing music, herbal teas, not watching tv before going to bed, reading positive literature, wearing an eye-mask, a hop pillow, yup. Done all those.
I'm advised it's crazy hormones doing their bit during the menopause...
Comments
Ice-cream sprees are inherently unabashed.
I might try hang-gliding again. I never worked out how to land properly last time round, and usually crashed in a corn field, it was like the Battle of Britain. Hang-gliding is weird because they have a low flying speed, so in a strong wind you can be going backwards relative to the ground. Nice though, great feeling of freedom.
The cactus are blooming in our back yard - beautiful.
The cactus flowers blossom for only a couple of days.
Quite a show!
%^^%$^^% Some day I'll figure out how to get my system to allow pictures to be posted here.
Yup! I am a techie semi-semi-literate
Oh well, back to the cocoa, if I can only find the cup....
Today, there is a high wind, with periodic and frequent violent gusts, which move everything quite alarmingly. There has even been a weather warning issued of flash floods and wind damage. Temperatures are barely in the mid teens...June is upon us, and soon it shall be Mid-summer....
Oh the joys of British weather....
Finally remembered that I missed you all...and determined enough to get my password reset....yeah I'm back.
Getting back in 'business' and downloading some Tara Brach talks.
Woohoo! it's winter which means I no longer have to drag the body to the beach for a swim and lazy in the warm summer sunshine...
Today the sun is trying to put on a brave front and shine... just looked at the temperature on my phone...it's 8 C according to the temperature taken out at the airport in South Auckland, however on the island according to the thermometer it's 14 C ( which is meant to be today's high)...
Seasons come and seasons go... such is life's flow.....
lol... It's only 4 degrees warmer here. It was hot, dry and windy earlier in May. We've had a fair bit of rain the last week or two... which we definitely needed. Hopefully the Fort McMurray fire will be brought under control, and we won't be hit with much more devastation this summer.
Wow I didn't realise it was still burning.....We have also had plenty of rain here, which for us islanders who are on tank water, is a blessing....
Oh yeah, it's huge. It'll take weeks to put out, even if the weather co-operates. Firefighters have even been brought in from South Africa to help fight it.
My bird won't get off my feet whenever I put them up. She's sweet-talking them, too. It's starting to worry me.
I've just watch the Sth African firefighters flashdance when they arrived in Edmonton
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/amazing-airport-moment-flashdance-south-african-firefighters-arrive-in-canada
filmed this feathered dancer on our local river
Yes, it's been very autumnal. Some nice big waves though.
On my walk this afternoon, I heard a noise and looked up "Was it a bird... was it a helicopter... was it a plane,!" it turned out to be a seaplane landing in Huruhi Bay (also known as Surfdale-which is funny because Surfdale used to be one of the wharfs where the old ferry use to stop ) ...At one time seaplanes were a common sight around the island...Now they're few and far between ...It was a pleasant sight to behold,,,
There was a tourist seaplane that landed here in Corio Bay in Geelong until a year or two ago when it somehow flipped upon landing! Thankfully no one was hurt but that was the end of the poor guys business.
Yes there's quite a danger of this happening, when the plane is taxiing closer to shore, especially if it's a bit choppy...
I was at little Palm Beach when a couple were on their way to shore in a dingy (they had just got off their yacht, anchored in the bay ) the guy was wearing swimmers and had gotten out to pull the dingy the rest of the way to shore when a freak wave struck capsizing the dingy and the woman (fully clothed) and their bag of dry belongings were tossed into the sea...Fortunately nobody was hurt...Well perhaps the woman's pride was a little battered...
Listen to the cacophony outside my window. How is a poor guy sit in meditation in this racket?
let the cacophony BE your meditation.....
I ran errands today for 5 hours straight after not going outside all week. I had tons of panic attacks, but for this agoraphobic, it is a win. Though the "good vibes" t-shirts at Wal-Mart sure did feel like they were mocking me.
In the Tibetan tradition, Tibetan temple 'music' is designed to scare away demons. Play that for a few days and the sweet regular sounds will be like music to your ears ...
Just a thought ...
Well done for coping with Wal-Mart, supermarkets can be a hell realm at times. All those people lingering in the freezer section, gazing longingly at large tubs of ice-cream....ahem.
Burned off enough bad karma to have a barbecue. Let's toast marshmallows.
Well today marked an important day for our local Marae " Piritahi Marae" the Whare Whakairo (carved house) has finally been completed and representatives of tribes from around the North Island were welcomed onto the Marae to celebrate the opening ....along with many of us non Maori locals (The Whare is now dressed with the ancestral carvings Whakairo) ...Some of the carvings look similar to the Tibetan wrathful deities ....
I was up at 4.30am and left at 5.20am to walk to the Marae in the dark for the dawn Powhiri service (lots of stars in the morning sky beautiful sight )...After the Powhiri (around 2 hours later) we all had breakfast
There was another Powhiri at 10am to welcome more guests and then the entertainment started with the children from the local Kapa haka group....
Over the course of the day there was around 1500 people on the Marae, and as is Marae tradition... all of us were fed (and there was plenty of kai )...
This is the Hangi that was prepared...
Piritahi Marae is where the Tibetan monks create the sand mandalas (they have made three mandalas on the island since 2001) ,,,Venerable Geshe Sangay Thinley (Geshe-La) was invited to attend the opening but he was unable to attend as he is in another city giving a Dharma talk this weekend, however Venerable Karma was here to represented Geshe-La's centre (he is one of the monks who creates the mandalas)....
Ven Karma standing outside the Whare Whakairo
All the celebrations and speeches were conducted in Maori, with a smattering of English... It's been a long and wonderful day
I read your comment, wondering if the Earth was ending. Then I realized that I again was had by the U.S.'s refusal to move to the far more sensible metric system and celsius.
I am always impressed in NZ at how well the European and Maori cultures have integrated (for the most part).
It is certainly not the case in Australia with the white and indigenous folk.
I was raised surrounded by blatant racism toward "abo's" and it has had an affect on me that has taken a long time to overcome.
We have made some huge strides in the last couple of decades but still have a long way to go.
Well, today I bought this.... Can anyone guess (apart from the obvious, "yes, it's a tree...") what type of tree it is, exactly? (Hint:
it's a fruit....)
Yes, today we had temperatures more reflective of near middle-age... positively tropical by our standards!
peach?
A friend of mine just returned from a retreat at the Kumbh Mela in India.
Temps of 51 degrees Celsius.
Probably 60 million folks crowded onto some river flats.
Porta potties installed on angles that prevented them from draining properly.
Sewage surrounding them that was deep enough to pull the shoes off the feet of those trying to use them.
Vomiting and diarrhea was common due to food cleanliness issues.
Individual tents and private washroom set ups pre-sold to retreatants for $4,000.00 per person that never materialized or received refunds.
The Mattresses that were supplied from Ashrams were bedbug infested.
A stampede nearby that killed 7 and injured 90..
A 2 day monsoon whose rains flooded the floors of the kitchens, sleeping quarters and the ceremony halls with a swirling compilation of all that before mentioned human detritus.
A lack of tools to scoop out this "Mud" forced them to use the food trays to do it.
A return of the 51 degress celcius heat, dried everything up into a fine windborn dust that everyone was breathing in.
An early exodus of folks with Lung infections then became the norm.
And I'm not even mentioning the truly ugly parts of it all.
Our most austere Zen seshines or even Woodstock for that matter..looks positively comfortable in comparison.
Nopy-dopy-nope....
I'll put everyone out of their misery (which, in comparison to @how's account of the retreat, is evidently not that profound)
It's a quince.
Thanks for the heads-up @how. I think I'll stick to Amaravati.....
@How sez, "Vomiting and diarrhea was common due to food cleanliness issues.
Individual tents and private washroom set ups pre-sold to retreatants for $4,000.00 per person that never materialized or received refunds.
The Mattresses that were supplied from Ashrams were bedbug infested.
A stampede nearby that killed 7 and injured 90.."
A stampede of what? Buffalo? People? Bedbugs?
Sounds like a real blast.
@Bunks
Around here, quinces tend to be treated as ornamentals but their forgotten fruit fermenting on the ground can eventual become a huge Bluejay party.
One day everything is normal with the birds ignoring the fruit....the next... its the focal point of loud, drawn out drunken romp by birds who have just discovered they are gods gift to all of existence.
If you thought normal bluejays had the potential for be obnoxious, they are just the sweetest and most melodious of all birds compared to the hillbilly antics that go on around those party dates.
I assumed that this was a people stampede, which if it was towards a potential exit, I'd probably be right amongst them.
I think the ornamental Quince you're thinking of may be this one:
Chaenomeles Japonica (Flowering quince) which has fruits like this one.
My quince is the original fruiting variety, which bears fruits like these: They have a furry coating which comes off when lightly rubbed, and cannot be eaten raw; they make exceptional quice jelly, or even Quince cheese.... They're also delicious, I hear, with pork.
It's true @Bunks Aussies haven't had a good track record when it comes to the indigenous population, but as you say things are slowly changing...
When I lived in Oz I was fortunate enough to make friends with some Aborigines, had a good friend who was a friend's boyfriend, his mother was Aboriginal and father white, he was an artist studying at a Sydney college, plus I had some friends who lived in Redfern (they were politically active-lobbying the government for rights etc)..
When hitch hiking around Oz with friends (back in the days when it was somewhat safe to do so-early 1970s) Aboriginal people would 'always' stop to give you a lift and often if need be would also offer you a bed for the night...
Maori people are fortunate enough to have the Treaty of Waitangi signed between the Crown and the Maori tribes, however not all tribes were in agreement some didn't sign it.
The treaty itself is somewhat controversial due to its translation...things more often than not tend to get lost in translation but at least they have a document that does for the most part, stop the government/crown from doing what they want, disregarding the needs of Maori people ...
India is a fascinating country, a real eye opener 'cultural shock' for the Western eye...but once acclimatised, it's an amazing place...And.......
If one manages to visit India and 'not' get diarrhoea, then all I can say is one had not truely had the Indian experience...
Yeah - poor form by Mr Cook and his cohorts to claim "no-one" inhabited Australia when the first Europeans arrived. Not sure what they were thinking?
Lest we forget....The past shapes the present and the present shapes the future... I guess what's done is done @Bunks and it's what happens NOW that counts...May we all be just that bit more enlightened when it comes to co-existing in a harmonious manner ...
Some of the new carvings in the Whare Whakairo-with explanation on what each represents...
Baby triffid?
^^^ Really like the Maori carvings.
We only have a few gargoyles and Church carvings left from our Elder religions. However a few sacred trees, usually old yews still exist in some Church grounds as they go back to pre-Christian times.
I am tempted to visit our local Ganesh sanctuary, he is a bit elephantine you know and has a whole temple full of interesting friends ...
Thanks for sharing pics.
This morning I looked out of my bedroom window to find a flock of Rosellas perched on the old plum tree, I rushed to pick up my faithful phone camera, but they had decided to taunt me, by moving to positions where I couldn't get a good shot...But patience paid off and I managed to get photos plus a video clip of a few who stuck around (I apologise for the poor video quality-it doesn't do their brightly coloured feathers justice)
...
Anyone following Game of thrones? The Great Sparrow 's tale of how he left home in the middle of the night after an orgy is a straight lift from the sutras. Sid G could sue for copyright infringement.
Oh - you iz so bad - no spoiler alert
Glad to hear there was an orgy. Hope it was shameless and gratuitous
Only verbal description you lecherous arachnid
^^^ Tee Hee.
because it was such a phenomena. Certainly wikid fun. 
The best characters in GOT are multifaceted. Complicated. I watched the first five series in a couple of weeks
I hate insomnia. No, really. I really, really HATE insomnia. Haven't had a decent night's sleep for around a week now... and this morning, I woke up at 03.30, and here I am... (07.45GMT) eyes gritty, feeling tired, but can I sleep? The hell I can....
Short of a hefty whack to the back of the head with the butt of a pistol (it always seems to work in the movies!) I have tried every conceivable remedy you can think of... body scanning, relaxing music, herbal teas, not watching tv before going to bed, reading positive literature, wearing an eye-mask, a hop pillow, yup. Done all those.
I'm advised it's crazy hormones doing their bit during the menopause...
God I am so tired.....
Have you tried being awake?
Yes I iz sometimes too evil
[I will be snoozing in the naughty corner]
Hope you find relief soon ...
@lobster- ifyoudon'tshaddupiwillripyourgoddamclawsoff!
Sorry.
It's ok, I'll be fine.....