Feeling a bit frazzled tonight. The rose is flawless.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Friday, December 9, 2016
Saturday, December 3, 2016
To Writer
I just wanted to post a thank you to someone who passed away yesterday.
We communicated only on a few occasions but his effect on me was profound, long lasting and life changing. Not many people have such an effect on others. His words were felt the same way by myriads of others. He will be missed.
Have a great journey, Writer. Maybe you have reached your destination already. In that case, enjoy the eternity and the new adventures. You will be a curious soul, I am sure.
And thank you for your contributions whilst on the planet. You always saw the extraordinary in the ordinary.
I have to stop now. His main advice to me was ``condense, compress and make it tight``. He was a superb writer and a really nice person.
We communicated only on a few occasions but his effect on me was profound, long lasting and life changing. Not many people have such an effect on others. His words were felt the same way by myriads of others. He will be missed.
Have a great journey, Writer. Maybe you have reached your destination already. In that case, enjoy the eternity and the new adventures. You will be a curious soul, I am sure.
And thank you for your contributions whilst on the planet. You always saw the extraordinary in the ordinary.
I have to stop now. His main advice to me was ``condense, compress and make it tight``. He was a superb writer and a really nice person.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Friday, November 25, 2016
Gift
To dip hands in a paint bucket... and then create. Feeling the paint.
This is a peace lily. It was a gift. It looks like a poem.
This is a peace lily. It was a gift. It looks like a poem.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Already feeling christmassy
I need colour. Lots of colour. Fortunately my need is easily fulfilled. And these colours remind me of Christmas.
It really feels a little bit like Christmas is soon here. I bought star shaped solar lights today for my front yard frangipani which will pretend to be the Christmas tree this year. We live in the subtropics after all.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Popping
I wish I managed to grow poppies. Last attempts were eaten by a) possum b) wallaby or c) something else. Take your pick. Plus scrub turkeys did not leave them alone anyway.
I found out today that the bush turkeys build their mounds from 84 meters to half a kilometre apart. I have been trying to come up with solutions to the turkey problem. I thought maybe, if, I provide a start of a mound underneath some nice, shady tree at the back of the property, the dominating male gets obsessed with it, starts building further and keeps the other birds away. But it doesn't work like that. So I just keep adding chicken wire cylinders around my plants at the back yard. I have chicken wire spread out on the ground next to the bushes and trees that I see the turkeys show interest (read: scratch whenever I am not there chasing it away). In theory they do not like scratching ground that has chicken wire laid out.
I have actually run out of chicken wire. As has my next door neighbour who now goes to garage sales regularly to try to find cheap chicken wire rolls. Maybe I should cover my backyard with one huge chicken wire cage. I could grow whatever I want, whenever I want and however I want.
These little flower faces me happy.
I found out today that the bush turkeys build their mounds from 84 meters to half a kilometre apart. I have been trying to come up with solutions to the turkey problem. I thought maybe, if, I provide a start of a mound underneath some nice, shady tree at the back of the property, the dominating male gets obsessed with it, starts building further and keeps the other birds away. But it doesn't work like that. So I just keep adding chicken wire cylinders around my plants at the back yard. I have chicken wire spread out on the ground next to the bushes and trees that I see the turkeys show interest (read: scratch whenever I am not there chasing it away). In theory they do not like scratching ground that has chicken wire laid out.
I have actually run out of chicken wire. As has my next door neighbour who now goes to garage sales regularly to try to find cheap chicken wire rolls. Maybe I should cover my backyard with one huge chicken wire cage. I could grow whatever I want, whenever I want and however I want.
These little flower faces me happy.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016
Soul of a garden
My favourite type of garden is the one that surprises me and makes me think happy thoughts. I would like to have a garden with winding paths that turn even a short walk into an exploration of the wonderfully beautiful unknown.
I visited Mt Tamborine Garden Show a couple of weeks ago. I really liked the garden number 1. It was tiny compared to others but it was full of wonders and delights. You could sense the enjoyment and love that had been planted into that tiny plot. There were colours, shapes, textures, scents mixing in a happy union. My least favourite garden was the one (number 8, I think) that didn't have, in my mind, any artistic flair, any soul. A hired garden designer had designed the garden. Although there were million dollar views onto the mountains, there were also orderly rows of the same plants, masses of mass plantings. There were no surprises, no excitement, just the feeling of show off. Everything screamed money, money, money. Well, this might be news to some but in my mind money doesn't bring soul into a garden. Read, and be inspired by, Jackie French's book The Wilderness Garden if you don't believe me.
This photograph is from the Botanical Gardens in Mt Tamborine, Queensland.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Here and there and everywhere but mainly about coal and bread
I looked at the statistics for this blog. I had 166 people looking at this blog yesterday which is the pinnacle of daily clicks since for ever. And about 60 of them were from Poland. Poland hasn't really peaked in the statistics before. The US and Australia have been the main countries. And some Russian ponr [you know what I mean] sites have been feeding this site steadily for some reason. Is there place for beauty, forgiveness and healing in the pron industry?
My knowledge, about Poland out of my head in 30 seconds, is pretty limited. I have never been to Poland but I imagine that there is a lot of coal dust and pollution in the air. The concentration camps. Kieslowski's movies. I remember when Lech Walesa won in politics. He was a coal miner. Australian comedian Magda Szubanski's dad was from Poland. He was an assassin during the war. I read the book. It is strange to think that someone's father would be an assassin.
A vegetarian friend traveled in Poland once and said that it was difficult to find fresh vegetables. Which reminds me that I like Polish pickles. I am sure I have eaten some Polish pastries. Another friend lived there for a while over 20 years ago. I think he said he liked the vodka and the company. Vodka reminds me of bread. I don't know if they offer rye bread, pieces of lard and vodka together, as they do in Russia. Polish rye bread must be nice, dark and heavy. I miss proper bread here in Australia.
I am rambling on with this writing because I am on my way to back yard to look after the plants. I think Australia should stop coal mining. Full stop. And Russia should get out of Syria.
Here is a picture of trees growing peacefully together.
My knowledge, about Poland out of my head in 30 seconds, is pretty limited. I have never been to Poland but I imagine that there is a lot of coal dust and pollution in the air. The concentration camps. Kieslowski's movies. I remember when Lech Walesa won in politics. He was a coal miner. Australian comedian Magda Szubanski's dad was from Poland. He was an assassin during the war. I read the book. It is strange to think that someone's father would be an assassin.
A vegetarian friend traveled in Poland once and said that it was difficult to find fresh vegetables. Which reminds me that I like Polish pickles. I am sure I have eaten some Polish pastries. Another friend lived there for a while over 20 years ago. I think he said he liked the vodka and the company. Vodka reminds me of bread. I don't know if they offer rye bread, pieces of lard and vodka together, as they do in Russia. Polish rye bread must be nice, dark and heavy. I miss proper bread here in Australia.
I am rambling on with this writing because I am on my way to back yard to look after the plants. I think Australia should stop coal mining. Full stop. And Russia should get out of Syria.
Here is a picture of trees growing peacefully together.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Sure
Youtube is the best learning tool ever. I was watching how to propagate roses in potatoes. What?! This is a revelation to me. Live and learn, they say, and it is true. Now I have to find roses and get some potatoes. I can give it a go even though Queensland is not really the rose capital of Australia. Far from it. I wish Ron was still alive. He would have given me cuttings.
He was a former neighbour from down the road. A feather-weight ex-boxer and II WW marksman whose face looked like mossy rock with nodules. He had an old, greasy, loyal (as they come) German shepherd, and he slept in his garage, its door wide open. You could see the top of his head lying on the pillow from the road. He drove a plum colour car that was falling apart. You could hardly see him behind the wheel. He said he wasn´t worried about losing his licence because he didn´t have one.
He had two obsessions that I knew of. There might have been a few more, I suspect, but these two were down right obvious to everyone who saw his house and yard. He loved tiling driveways, floors and walls. He liked bathroom and kitchen wall type of tiles. The garage walls were a circus of tiles. He would go to the local tile shops and bargain for free end-of-pile tiles. The sales people knew him by name. I know this because I took him tile shopping once.
His second passion was roses. He had a curvy flower bench around the corner of his block. Boy, were there roses! Spindly, long-stemmed, rambling, jagged, red, orange, pink, white, mostly leafless but full of buds and blooms when the flowering time came around.
I can still see him afternoon napping in his garage, surrounded by the hundreds of mundane tiles and heavenly scent of roses. If he was still here he would give me cuttings. I am sure of it.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
He was a former neighbour from down the road. A feather-weight ex-boxer and II WW marksman whose face looked like mossy rock with nodules. He had an old, greasy, loyal (as they come) German shepherd, and he slept in his garage, its door wide open. You could see the top of his head lying on the pillow from the road. He drove a plum colour car that was falling apart. You could hardly see him behind the wheel. He said he wasn´t worried about losing his licence because he didn´t have one.
He had two obsessions that I knew of. There might have been a few more, I suspect, but these two were down right obvious to everyone who saw his house and yard. He loved tiling driveways, floors and walls. He liked bathroom and kitchen wall type of tiles. The garage walls were a circus of tiles. He would go to the local tile shops and bargain for free end-of-pile tiles. The sales people knew him by name. I know this because I took him tile shopping once.
His second passion was roses. He had a curvy flower bench around the corner of his block. Boy, were there roses! Spindly, long-stemmed, rambling, jagged, red, orange, pink, white, mostly leafless but full of buds and blooms when the flowering time came around.
I can still see him afternoon napping in his garage, surrounded by the hundreds of mundane tiles and heavenly scent of roses. If he was still here he would give me cuttings. I am sure of it.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Someone´s favourite picture
Sun. It is shining again after only one day of rain.
I feel for the people who live in South Australia. Rain, floods, blackouts.
I feel for the people who live in South Australia. Rain, floods, blackouts.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Phototherapy for today
I have to think of something positive. This picture will help.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Dreaming of positioning
Oh my goodness! I woke up this morning and my head was buzzing. It was buzzing in a good way. I was digging up existing plants and planting them in new places. For instance, I thought of frangipani at the back yard and how I could transplant it in the most difficult-to-plant-corner in front. And I thought of the rule of three. When you plant something in an open space, plant three plants at the same time so it doesn´t look funny in a wrong way.
Oh my, the digging ahead...
This picture is from last weekend trip to Mt Tamborine. I think this is one of the best pictures from the trip. Often the most obvious ´photo oppportunities´ don´t make the best pictures. It is all about the position, position, position, as they say... The position of the photographer!
Oh my, the digging ahead...
This picture is from last weekend trip to Mt Tamborine. I think this is one of the best pictures from the trip. Often the most obvious ´photo oppportunities´ don´t make the best pictures. It is all about the position, position, position, as they say... The position of the photographer!
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Orange talk
This one was just waiting for me to take a picture and kept saying:
``Take a picture, take a picture, take a picture! Hurry up!``
And the one underneath was complaining:
``Why am I always left behind? I want to be in the picture too!``
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Springtime on the Mountain
I visited the display gardens on Mt Tamborine over the weekend. Here is a shot of spring.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Dill for recovery
I am recovering from a broken toe, head cold and declined job applications. In aid of recovery I am concentrating on plants. For example, I was just outside admiring my little lemon tree, checked the wild flower seeds (nothing up yet) and sniffed a bunch of crunched dill in my hand. Feeling better already!
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Monday, September 19, 2016
It's great to receive surprise flowers!
A friend gave me flowers the other day.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Saturday, September 17, 2016
In the memory of the man speaking against racism
According to the young man´s father, the young man stood up to neo-nazis during a demonstration in Finland a while back. He was knocked down or perhaps beaten up. Allegedly afterwards the neo-nazi group bragged in the social media about ´teaching (the man) a lesson´. The young man died a couple of days due to brain hemorrage, according to his father.
The young man was brave to stand up against racism, xenophobia and hatred. He paid the ultimate price for his beliefs. This is a sad world we live in.
The young man was brave to stand up against racism, xenophobia and hatred. He paid the ultimate price for his beliefs. This is a sad world we live in.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Friday, September 16, 2016
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
My toe in the scheme of things
When I said out loud that I am really stressed, half of it went away.
I wish I could go for a walk in the bush but I can't. I fractured my toe on Monday, hence low mobility.
Now I have to tackle the other half.
In the meanwhile in the bush... Flowers!
I wish I could go for a walk in the bush but I can't. I fractured my toe on Monday, hence low mobility.
Now I have to tackle the other half.
In the meanwhile in the bush... Flowers!
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Monday, September 12, 2016
Nuclear issues such as daisies
I am reading Henning Mankell's Quicksand. He has already left Earth. He wrote about Onkalo, the cavern place where Finland is going to store nuclear waste for the next 100 000 years.
Here, South Australia will vote whether they want to have nuclear waste buried at their backyard. Aaahh, it would bring so much money! Think about the money! 100 billion dollars in 120 years! How happy we would become with all that money!
I am just sick of thinking of money, nuclear power and the waste problem. My antidote is to take pictures of flowers. Here is one. These look like daisies swaying in the wind.
Nothing stays the same. Everything is in flux. Even Earth comes and then goes.
Here, South Australia will vote whether they want to have nuclear waste buried at their backyard. Aaahh, it would bring so much money! Think about the money! 100 billion dollars in 120 years! How happy we would become with all that money!
I am just sick of thinking of money, nuclear power and the waste problem. My antidote is to take pictures of flowers. Here is one. These look like daisies swaying in the wind.
Nothing stays the same. Everything is in flux. Even Earth comes and then goes.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Pink balls in the wind
It is spring again. This picture is from last week's bush walk.
Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2016
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