the world is slowly turning

It's a line from a Tina Turner song (In Your Wildest Dreams) but also the way I feel at the moment as the Earth returns from its journey away from the sun.

secret solstice swim

preparing for the Suicide Prevention Network solstice swim

inside the boatshed - the school's paddleboards just in case

the Prosser River later in the morning

It had rained for 2 days prior to the swim.  The sea was dark with sand and seaweed and the river had foam like icebergs.  Over 120 people came to the event with over 30 of us taking to the water.

Some take to the water everyday...

my friend the whitefaced heron, low tide on the estuary at the end of our street

the pied oystercatcher was also there.

Sometimes a pair of them patrol our street this year.

the amazing drive to survive

Some aerial feats too:

upgrading the telstra tower

fascinating to watch from our garden

and then hot foot it to the backdoor,

Jill PD, the bouncing ball and me

curl up in the warm

and curl up with a book

I enjoyed the trip to Amsterdam and encountered the word 'polder' for the first time.  Sadly it was not a Van der Valk story but an ok read.  I sought out My Sister's Keeper because I'd read elsewhere that it mentioned the Seven Sisters story (which it did in one interesting sentence).  The book moves at a cracking pace and raises questions about 'designed babies' and organ donation.  After all this, A Three Dog Problem was a romp through the palace.  It's fun and, to the best of my almost non-existent knowledge, illustrates the business of being queen.

I turned to this book with great excitement and anticipation wondering how Margaret Drabble would use the Seven Sisters story.  I'm still not sure, although at one stage 7 women travel together to visit Homeric sites around the Mediterranean, and apparently there's a place called Seven Sisters in London close to The Grand Union Canal and near where the teller of the story lives.  I was prancing along with the story because there were so many resonances with my own life.  Suddenly the style changed and I lost the plot.

All that time The Floosie was sunning herself in New Caledonia but she's just returned,

and the Gold Bunny keeps blossoming in her honour.  Welcome back The Floose!!!!