Midwinter Celtic fire

from w
I missed the Celtic Festival this year at Portarlington, but this is a scratchboard picture I made of the Celtic fire at one other Geelong Celtic celebration for mid-winter. I find Celtic art intriguing, the legends a bit scary, but the Celtic prayers meaningful. There is some kind of connection with the ancestors from Kilkenny (on my grandmothers side) I suppose.

Geelong sculptures

from w
A recent event in Geelong connected places from the Barwon River to the sea and several sculptural items were created and are on display at City Hall - a venue that most people wouldn't even go into! Here are three of the artworks. There doesn't seem to be a website much about them as completed but one of the sculptors has a website of his work. The items I photographed are quite small - about two foot high. It would be good to seem them as large and out in the environment.

Starfish starbright

from w
At the Donation in Kind depot his morning Peceli and I sorted books and packed up 25 boxes ready for sending. We discard really scruffy books, those that are really scary about devils etc. or are too senior for primary and secondary libraries. We have to throw some out to be recycled. Most adult or very long novels go to a huge book fair later on in the year. I couldn't throw out a book about sea creatures and another about butterfies so brought them home to either cut up, use in Sunday School or scan and make pictures! So here are some results from the starfish pages.

Kids in church

from w
Yesterday morning at the combined service for the 32nd Uniting Church birthday we went to St Andrews, East Geelong. There were three children and maybe 80 adults and one of the preachers was a Samoan, Rev Sani.

In the afternoon combined Fijian service at Altona Meadows there were asbout 200 adults and 30 children. Rather than participate in a nearly 3 hour service mainly in the Fijian language, I chose to help with the Sunday School children, mainly junior Primary School age. Claire, the teacher, has prepared a super program of stories, songs, games, activities, and we were a busy bunch. Toddlers were opening and closing the door with a bang some of the time as they drifted between their mothers and the Sunday School. Through the wall we could hear the choirs, hymns, and preachers a bit, but nevertheless we made our own noise. It was such a long time that we took the children out into the playground slides and climbing equipment for 20 minutes, and then came back inside for wind-up singing when a Fijian woman who taught the Sunday School at one of the churches came and in very strong terms got the children to really be quiet and orderly. Hmmm - in training for future choir members? We had started at 1 p.m. and it wasn't until about 5 p.m. that we ate our beautiful lunch. Every family had brought large pots of delicious foods, including lovo pork, palusami, curries and puri. Altona Meadows/Laverton Uniting Church has a modern building and is multi-purpose which is really useful - one moment all formal with chairs, and another moment a dining room, or informal place for chatting while sitting or even lying on the mats.

The adjoining children's room became a kava gathering for the men later on! So there's a picture of that posted here.

Two women talatalas were there: Rev Tepola Raicebe and Rev Eseta Meneilly.
It was a lovely afternoon - with friends from four congregations - ATM, Coburg, Chadstone and Dandenong. The purpose was mainly to connect with the difficulties of the Fiji Methodist Church and its awkwardness with the military regime to pray for Fiji and to discuss our soli for their Conference which is on/off on/off at present.

Geelong Interfaith Network

from w
Yesterday I attended the launch of the Geelong Interfaith Network website at City Hall. We had several very good guest speakers and I was most impressed by Professor Cahill from RMIT where he lectures in Intercultural Studies - a calm peaceful man who spoke without jargon. Another speaker was a young woman who lived in a refugee camp in Thailand for twenty years! She comes from the Karen people of Burma. She said 'There are no universities in refugee camps!' and now she is happy to be doing tertiary studies here and feeling free for the first time in her life. Respect for other religions and cultures is a priority of the network. Surely this is the way to view people - instead of the mistakes that have been made in Australia over the last ten years about 'boat people' and even more recently the attacks on Indian students in Melbourne. this is NOT the Australian way!

More rooms with a view

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From memory so there are inaccuracies, here are three more views from a window.
I. in the Davuilevu compound 1963 four single women in their 20s lived in a house on a hill called Veitalacagi - three teachers and a secretary and we kind of looked after the girl's dormitory behind us. The place was hilly and always green and we could see Baker Hall, a few houses and the high school.
2. Shantiniwas - 1971 - was below the Dilkusha Orphanage and it seemed to be always green and jungly with creepers, banyan trees, bamboo and gullies.
3. In Hopetoun (Victoria) - about 1977 - our very plain house was on a corner diagonally opposite the local hospital. We had a pet turtle then - or was it a tortoise?
(added later)

DIK and driving around the bay

from w
Yesterday I helped in the book room at the Donation in Kind depot in North Geelong, sorting donated books with Joy and Evelyn (pictured). The books came from primary and secondary schools and the local library and so on. The men finished loading a container bound for Papua New Guinea. On the way home I took two photos overlooking Corio Bay but the photos seem a bit myopic as I only know how to click, not to change focus on the camera!

Room with a view

from w
I have lived in many houses over the years and thought I would try and remember the view from the dfoorway or window. There are two - a bamboo walled Fijian bure near the sea and every morning we would look out to see Vorovoro and Mali Islands. Another is from a house in Toorak, Suva where I rented a room one year. It overlooked Jubilee Hall and a mosque was opposite. The other pictures are a view from this room - where the computer is - and looking through the lounge room doorway before the trees were cut down. The coloured pictures were made some time ago and the Biro sketches this morning as I wait for some sunshine to go shopping to Watson Rd shopping strip.

More pictures of You Yangs

from w
I chopped up the weekend magazine that comes with the Age newspaper to make a cut and torn paper picture of the You Yangs and here are a few more variations from the photos. The You Yangs hills make a well-known shape seen across the bay from Geelong and also on the train or road to Melbourne and at times it seems that islands are rising from the sea. Peceli is reminded of the view from Nukutatava of Vorovoro and Mali Islands.

The You Yangs

from w
When returning from Melbourne you see the You Yangs and it means that home is about 20 minutes away. The light changes according to the time of day, weather, fog, storms around. The other day fog made it look like a Chinese painting. Here are a few variations.