Jane Routley's Blog, page 14

The innocence of Children?

While I was playing with my niece and nephew in the garden, the cat decided to relieve itself in the nearby garden bed. My niece crouched down in fascination hoping to the see the turd exit the animal’s behind. My still crawling nephew scooted over to check out what was going on. I managed to grab him and pull him back just before he lunged under the cat's tail. I was the only one worried by the whole incident. I guess it's innocence that allows the kids to experience this incident without my grown-up sense of ick.

Station stories

I love early mornings. Saw a possum today at 6.30am in one of the dead trees off ramp 1 at North Melbourne station. It sat still while I watched it clearly unaware that it was in full view. In the mean time a red and white hot air balloon flew low over the control room above. Magic! Almost makes it worth getting up early.

Guilty pleasures

Current guilty pleasure is watching Country House Rescue on the ABC. What business does a card carrying left wing Aussie have enjoying watching English upper class types (with appropriate plummy accents) trying to decide where to put the tea rooms in their country house estate? Oh but I want to live at Cothay Manor. It was glorious.
Any one else?

Watergate cake

An American friend at work has just introduced me to Watergate cake with coverup icing. Thats a pecan flavoured cake with pistachio icing. I thought it was just him but google has several recipes for the same. Amazing. I wonder if there is a dismissal cake or a Julia Gillard coup cake somewhere about

Medea

At the re-launch of her book Medea, Kerry Greenwood read this poem which spoke deeply to the green in me.
I recommend Medea as an excellent read to anyone interested in Ancient Greece.


Orphic Hymn
Quoted from Medea, by Kerry Greenwood.
Translation by Denis Pryor

For her garment the Earth Mother
Wove a green covering. In it are all things made
That ever were made or ever will be made.
We are trees, we are the cold curve of the sea wave.
We are the bright eyes of stars.
We are the precise geometry of salt.
We are as uncounted as the grains of sand.
But she has counted us,
Woven us into her tapestry,
We are part of her garment
We are designed, have place.
We are part of her pattern.
As her loom was laid out across the heavens,
As her shuttle swung back and forth,
Weaving ants and mountains,
She wove us, and snow, and leaves.
We cannot die.
The pattern continues,
We are part of her pattern.

Station news

This morning an even scattering of seeds covered the entire length of Platform 2 as if someone had set out to plant a lawn on the asphalt. I would have loved to know the cause. Artwork? Insanity? The greening of Metro? It was too evenly scattered to be the wind.
Later in the waiting room a girl with long dreadlocks was playing a pink ukulele.

I love train travel

Sitting on the train yesterday, a sweet little white terrier wrapped its lead around my feet and I got into conversation with its owners. Hard not to, because one of them G—a Big Issue vendor, was offering everyone in the carriage a bite of his KitKat or a swig from his coke. It seemed it was his 57th birthday and he asked everyone for 5 dollars but was good humoured about the refusals. His girlfriend (a similar vintage) told me all about how she had rescued the little white terrier from the puppy farm and how G—wasn’t right in the head since he’d been bashed up during a mugging. She even showed me his bitten off ear. Thus the time passed happily until I reached my stop.
I love train travel

Blog tour 3

At last my third blog appearance on the blog of the delightful Farida Mestek, who is a fan of regency romances and fantasy, just like me. Check out her writers diary written in regency romance style

http://the-upper-kingdom.blogspot.com...

Odyssey of a Blow up Doll

A friend tells me that a blow up sex doll is currently floating in a drain near Lilydale lake, slowly making its way down into the lake (and hence out to sea?)

ebookery

As of today, Mage Heart, Fire Angels, and Aramaya are all available as ebooks or mobis from Clan Destine Press. Out in Kindle soon too.
http://clandestinepress.com.au/conten...
I'm thrilled to have them so easily available though I'm having to learn about Facebook in order to market them.