The Greening of Gavin

Archives for June 2012

On The Up

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Great news.

Kim and Ben have both nearly recovered from the bout of gastro they caught.  Even though they have not been very active today, they are in very good spirits. They were fully out of action for two entire days, with recovery taking a few days more.  


Fortunately, I did not catch the bug, partly due to lack of contact on Tuesday when Ben first displayed symptoms (I was at work), and when Kim came down with it on Thursday, I diligently washed everything she touched, spraying with methylated spirits to ward off any potential infection to myself.  I also consciously avoided touching my face, and kept my own food intake low.   By the end of the second day, a mild form of self imposed OCD had set in, especially about well lathered hand washing, but I managed to break that today without issue as I saw that the worst was over and the infection had passed.

I also feel much, much better myself.  The blues have been fought off with lots of sunshine absorption over the past two days, and the knowledge that each day is now getting longer by a few minutes, and that my family is recovering.

It is enough to put a rose in anyone’s cheeks.

The Sky Will Not Fall Due To The Carbon Tax

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Quite frankly readers, I am really sick of all the political and media hype about the carbon tax and that the sky will fall come 1st July.  This ABC 7.30 report from last night puts some perspective to the so called carbon tax.

Nothing bad will happen!  The sun will still shine on my solar panels as it does most days, my plants will still grow, and my chickens will still lay eggs.  The price of electricity will rise minimally, but I have been duly compensated by increased government payments.

So rock on July 1st, because like any other apocalyptic prediction in the past, stuff all will occur to you and I.  Only good can come from it, however Big polluters will do anything to try and convince you otherwise.  After all, it is their bottom line that they are more concerned about, not the fate of humanity.  


The same thing political and media bullshit happened when the Goods and Services Tax was introduced.  Mayhem? I think not!

Winter Blues

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The winter blues, yes I have them.

The last few days at the house of TGOG have been quite ordinary indeed.  The weather has been cold and miserable, there has been very little sunlight, and both Kim and Ben have a very strong dose of gastroenteritis.  Pretty shitty sort of day today (literally), and I took the day off work to look after them both.  Being sustainable is the last thing on my mind today, however someone still has to feed the chooks, clean the house, do the washing, and keep them hydrated (tap water of course).

Both cherubs are sleeping right now, so I have a little time to myself, that is of course, until they wake up and I put on my nurses apron and escort them to the loo for the umpteenth time today.  I am not complaining, it is one of the joys and duties of being a father and husband.

After the recent elation I felt upon publishing my e-book, it has kind of been slow and quite, other than the gastro.  I have washed my hands – with my own soap – more times than I can remember, in the feeble attempt of warding off the bug myself.  As sure as the sky is grey, I will probably fall ill tomorrow, and have warned people away from visiting.  We are in lock down and under quarantine!

Gardening has been put on the back burner for the last few weeks, because it has been so cold and wet that it is not a pleasurable task.  The garden usually holds its own at this time of the year, so I am not that worried in the slightest.  The broad beans are about 1.5 metres tall, the garlic and onions have good growth, as does the broccoli and cabbages.  All the fruit trees have been pruned, and the deciduous varieties have dropped their leaves, much to the joy of the two bantams who love scratching through all of the leaf litter.  I have let them free range for the last couple of days, so they can do the weeding work that I couldn’t be bothered to attempt.  So far so good as they are tireless weeders, and when I take a break from nursing, I pop out to watch them.  They are so funny to watch, and puts a smile and a chuckle into an otherwise ordinary day.

Both yesterday and today, I have attempted many times to begin another book, which I was hoping would just flow from my finger tips.  Alas, it is just not happening.  Every time I sit down to write, the Interwebs distract me, which I suppose is its role in today’s society.  I seem to be gravitating to peak oil blogs full of collapse stories, climate news full of new tipping points and disasters, which is never good when you have the blues.  Misery loves company, so they say, and that is kind of how I feel right now.  Just a little low which I know will pass, and I will be back banging on the keyboard whipping up witty prose both here and in a new manuscript.

Anyway, I know it will all get better around here soon.  Ben is on the mend after three days of sickness.  He is eating again, but not with the appetite we are used to seeing, however it is improving.  I dare say a big breakfast will be in order tomorrow when he wakes up.  Kim will take a couple of days to recover, but that is fine, because I am the best nurse bloke they have, and am dedicated to the task.  I am just happy in knowing that I am giving them the best loving care that I can.  A speedy recovery to both my charges!

I know that so many people have it a lot harder than we do, but occasionally you just got to get things off your chest.  It can’t be all beer and green skittles around here.

One can never get quite used to the smell of disinfectant.   Better light another incense stick!