I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few decades studying how we design, experience and use spaces. This includes completing a Planning & Design degree that covered everything from contemporary and ancient buildings and gardens to whole suburbs, cities,… Read More ›
This post starts out with a ‘citizen’ backyard bird survey and ends with me deciding that a kelpie or other sheepdog is the Australian ADHD equivalent to a squirrel. Confused? You should be… but the connection is actually very straightforward…. Read More ›
Spring has arrived in Canberra! Gardens and parks are bursting with the glorious colours of wattle, blossom and bulbs – and are every so often topped with a rainbow halo after much-needed seasonal showers. The large eucalypt outside my living room… Read More ›
Apparently competitive cheerleading is becoming increasingly popular in Australia. Some Melbourne schools even offer this sport as an elective subject. However, cheerleading is incredibly dangerous – with high levels of catastrophic and other serious injuries (as well as rivalry between contenders for the limited positions… Read More ›
I have always loved ladybirds. I grew up repeating a nursery rhyme about them whenever I saw these insects in the garden (but never really understood the line about their house being on fire). Gardeners know that the common spotted… Read More ›
I have always loved Michael Leunig’s cartoon ‘TV Sunrise’ – where a father and son sit inside watching a sunset on their television while a real sunset is clearly visible through the window. Oslo Davis did a more recent cartoon… Read More ›
I have no idea if I was the sort of teenager who responded to adults with grunts and one word answers, but maybe. (If so, my mother probably would have called it ‘just a stage’. I mostly remember my father… Read More ›
Sustainability soapbox 