I went to my website recently and was astounded that my last blog was from Spring 2017! And now it is Autumn 2018. I found this incredible – had so much time really passed by? I observed to someone that I felt like I was in a ‘very-fast-train’ with the scenery rushing past me in a blur! And I know life is more about living in the moment and smelling the roses…. So time to slow down a little – but still keeping up with the blog! What makes this possible is having Ben and Amy as key partners in the business. Ben’s YourData platforms for managing and reporting M&E are much in demand and Amy continues to be an effective project manager for many of our projects.
Spring 2017
It is Spring already – I am not sure where winter went, and the update with it! Although, when I think about it, we lost some of the winter by going to the Mediterranean to participate in the 23rd European Seminar on Extension and Education (ESEE) at Chania in Crete. We combined this with a visit to Croatia – and loved the crystal clear water and sense of history that permeates cross the Mediterranean.
Autumn 2017
That was quite a Summer! The heat and then the cyclone. How much is global warming and how much is natural variation I have no idea – but the indication that extremes will increase going forward is certainly a concern.
The reef (Great Barrier Reef) of course is caught up in these extremes. I have just returned from a series of regional workshops with people involved in agriculture and natural resource management in the reef areas. We have been looking at how to strengthen the underlying extension and education system to best support producers as they seek to adapt to continuously improve the way in which they farm and manager their properties – with benefits to water quality and reef health. This also coincided with another major coral bleaching event that threatens general reef health and adds urgency to do all we can to provide an environment for protecting our world treasure.
Summer 2016: From England to Canada and a few places inbetween
I am coming to an end to six months of working remotely! This has been quite an experience and only made possible by the internet, skype, zoom and e-mail – and having excellent and accommodating clients. Having had all our immediate family living away and wanting to travel and explore, we decided to go and spend some time with them and get out and about. This meant England and Canada primarily – with some side trips to Ireland, Norway and Iceland. We were able to welcome a new granddaughter (Myla – Amy’s second daughter) into the family in London, explore Dorchester-on-Thames with Ben and Evie and go searching for moose and bears with grandsons Beni and Alex in New Brunswick!
Spring in England
This blog is coming from London. I left Autumn in Toowoomba for Spring over here! I’ve always enjoyed coming over this way – the history in the buildings and cobblestones, green meadows and stone walls. Its not that I don’t also enjoy gum trees, kookaburras and windmills – its just different. I wonder how many generations it takes before one fully identifies with the country in which you were born, and not, in part, the country of your ancestors?