I've been away

Hello,

I thought I would just explain my leave of absence for those who come to my blog. I am around, but life has been very hectic with the holiday period, some leave during which I led on a camp for highschoolers in my local area, (http://www.campconqueror.org/) and my mother starting her chemo therapy program. She has unfortunately discovered that the drug's ability to exacerbate the effects of exposure to the sun (some 20-30 fold) can in fact act retrospectively. She is now suffering from third degree burns to her shoulders, arms and legs as a result of a seaside stroll three days before her last batch of chemo. Please keep her in your prayers and thoughts, we are praying there will be no lasting damage on the use of her legs especially due to scarring, and tell people you know going through similar treatment to be careful.

I am looking forward to this saturday going to our local markets at Tomerong this weekend, doing some shopping and helping at the seed savers and the local organic food co-op through the day. It's a wonderful local market where there are lovely people to make friends with, food to eat and bargains to find, and a chance to talk to people about living sustainably, especially in regards to the food they eat. In seed savers we grow and save seed from heirloom varieties of vegetables and fruit in order to preserve their existence and also encourage people to grow varieties that thrive in the local climate. Our local group gives away seeds and seedlings grown from those seeds with donations welcomed, and helps people with questions that they have about their gardens. We are affiliated with the seedsavers network www.seedsavers.net which was started by michael and judy Fanton and run courses and a seedback in northern new south wales, in Australia. Their handbook is a great resource for anyone interested in growing and saving seed, and also has instuctions on how to use some of the more unusual varieties. I can highly reccomend it. Does anyone have any unusual or rare species that they grow, perhaps we could do a swap? (unfortunately this would be geographically limited due to customs and quarantine restrictions.) I think I could swap with anywhere else in Australia but WA?? Correct me if I am wrong.