C'est moi

On Sydney Eye I wrote a post about John and his coming to terms with living in a wheel-chair. John and I had been part of a workshop of 30 oldies learning photography under the auspices of both the MCA and the ACP. As well as me taking shots of John, he took shots of moi.

The world is not a scarey place, trust us ...

Alannah taking the wheel at 'Babies by the Bay' Photo taken by Kirsten.

Between all the mayhem and distress that has occurred over the last few weeks, Kirsten has been preparing Alannah for her big step into the world without her mother's presence. Child care is not easy to come by, and quality care even less so. When Kirsten found one she liked, she grabbed a day a week even though not due to return to work until July.

She has spent this tumultuous time preparing my grand-daughter and ensuring that she understood that the world is not a scarey place, and that her mother will always come back. Alannah has been taken for half-days by Grandad and by Ma. She has been to Playgroup. She meets other children at Mothers' Group. She meets them at Rhyme Time in the library.

So yesterday was her first Friday. Mother was excited/anxious/happy/proud. All those things. As was Ma. Alannah is a contemplative child. She spends a lot of time absorbng. However, she also has a voice that she uses when splashing ducky in the bath. She was fine. But when she got home she slept for 2 1/2 hours and was still rubbing her eyes.

No matter what we have seen or experienced over the last few weeks, the world is a good place to enter into and to explore.

Alannah tuckered out Photo taken by Kirsten

Walford Manifold's WW1 Diary

View Larger Map

I happened, by chance, to fluke upon the unfolding of an account of life on the Western Front during WW1 through the eyes of an Australian, who enlisted with a British artillery squadron (?).

Here is my attempt to anchor my following of his diary and letters home to his father and mother. Mentioned in his diary thus far are

Beuvry (A)
Bethune (B)
Cambrin (C), and
La Basse Road (D).

I will update this map whenever a new location is mentioned in either the diary or the letters. If you were to click where it says 'View larger map', you will be taken out of my Plumbing blog and into Google maps. Then if you were to click on the + end of the sliding bar that is down the LHS of the map, you can zoom into the map and take a closer look at the terrain.

Walford's blog emanates from Canberra, and can be found at Diary of E.W. Manifold.

The future of the Harold Park site

What are the most important issues that Council should be considering when planning for the renewal of the site?
It is essential that there is no corruption. That the decision is made transparently. The pressure from the Paceway to be compensated for $760m is laughable. They themselves agree that within 5 years they will have no patronage from the public. The area is a valueable geographic area that traces old creeks from Grosse Farm on Petersham Hill down to its entry in the harbour. This should be paramount in the redesign.

How can the Harold Park Site be used, and how can its renewal positively contribute to life in the local area and wider Sydney?
Revert the land as much as possible back to its original shape. Reforest and regrass. The land should be turned over mostly to passive recreation use: no ovals, no apartment blocks, no shopping centres, no parking lots. There could be an amphitheatre serviced by the trams and ferries for the performance of music and drama. There should be an extension of the lite rail over to White Bay and along Wigram Road to Booth Street then Johnson Street. This should be combined with public ferry routes to Glebe Point and The Crescent. The tram sheds should be restored as a historical museum to the working class of early Sydney (1788 - 1939). This should be done by the people from the Loftus Tramway Museum. There should be no apartments built because this would only be afforded by the well-heeled and that is not the heritage of the area.

The Sustainable Sydney 2030 Strategy and the State Government's Draft Subregional Strategies set out some objectives in relation to housing, transport, the environment, community and culture. How do you think the renewal of Harold Park can contribute to these objectives and to Sydney becoming more "Green, Global and Connected"?

Waterfront housing only brings out the greed in us, so it is to be avoided at all costs. Extending the lite rail and the ferries is a green alternative to the car.
Reverting the land to its original shape and reafforesting it is environmentally friendly in the long term. The local community retains a valueable greensward and passive recreation area that slopes down to the harbour. The amphitheatre and the Working Man's Museum pay deference to the culture of the area.