Happy New Year

I hope the new year is off to a great start for you. Ours has been transformed by baby grandson Jhonan's presence. It is amazing watching his curiosity - those tiny wide-open eyes taking in absolutely everything. We have all fallen totally in love.

Recently I was delighted to be invited to submit to an upcoming book - 'City Permaculture' - put out by one of my favourite organisations 'Earth Garden Books'. The book aims 'to showcase real people growing organic food, keeping healthy chooks, turning compost, tending worm farms and producing wonderful flourishing produce in cities and inner suburbs across Australia.'

I have 2 pieces under consideration. One is 'Green Light for Guerilla Gardeners'. The other is called 'Possum Magic', which is inspired by the permaculture principle of changing negatives into positives and making them work for you. This is how I tried to approach the possums who decimate our back garden, with some success. But I must admit I'm still struggling to find inspiration for the benefits of the dust mites which are currently terrorising us in our sleep.

Another article I have written in the last little while was also about the environment, although on a different aspect. I was particularly taken with Kate Grenville's idea about the unique capacity of art to change attitudes and the brain itself in ways that logical argument can't. I'd experienced that myself when I was deeply moved by the river poems read by poets at a soiree organised to support Melbourne's river keepers by a poet friend of mine, Anne Carson. My article is called 'My River's Keeper' and you can read it on new matilda.com.

Gaudi, Valasquez, Don Quixote, flamenco, Moors, ancient Italica - guess where we are off to soon. You've got it. In April/May Peter and I are spending three and a half weeks in Spain, which neither of us has ever visited before.

A couple of weeks ago, when we were lucky enough to attend a dinner dance with El Salvadorean friends, we cornered whoever we could to practise our Spanish. I now have an extensive vocabulary of words for alcohol, food, dancing and flirting - what more do you need for foreign travel?

Hasta la vista.