I was walking out the back from where we live yesterday.. on a rather large piece of wasteland.. Actually, I was on a mission..filling up some plastics bags with some decomposing straw mix that someone has dumped there..

I'm using the mulch in the garden, and around the fruit trees I am planting round the place.. (I hope I can safely say that the trees are pretty safe now, and have not been pulled up.. There's a total of 5 that've been given new homes so far.. 4 avocado trees and 1 mulberry tree.. There was a mango tree too, but that seems to have disappeared, but I believe that was just weather or mistakenly trodden on or something)..

Anyhow, where was I? .. Oh yes I was over in the field collecting the straw, when I spotted this magpie who seemed very curious to what I was up to..

I dropped what I was doing, and turned my attention to him, as he seemed real friendly and inquisitive.. He came right close to me when I talked to him, and stood practically just a couple of feet away from me, almost letting me touch him.

Anyhow, I left with the bags, and he flew, hopped behind me, following me, and I wondered to myself if he would let me photograph him..

I returned home to fetch the camera, and on arrival back in the field, I called out to him (or her? I must admit I'm no ornithologist), and from a tree, he flew back to meet me, landing just a meter from my feet...

And yes, appeared quite content with me taking some pictures..

I returned to the field again today, to get more mulch, and was once more greeted by (I believe) the same magpie..

Reminds me of the cockatoo I befriended in far north queensland some 10 or 11 years ago..

Peace,
Mango.

Some time ago, Kveta and I tried to plant some fruit trees on a communal lawn outside our flat.. .. Sadly without success as one particular neighbour decided to pull them all out..

Persistently, I tried several times with fruit trees we had grown from seed, but all of them were pulled out.

Kveta always suspected one particular neighbour who had a history of doing stuff like that, so although we never actually saw who did it, we were pretty convinced it was her..

Anyhow, another neighbour informed us a few days ago that the woman we thought was pulling the trees out had passed away.. Cancer of some kind..She wasn't particularly old, probably just early 50s..

So, it's sad that it took someone to die before any small trees we put out may stand a chance of survival, but that seems to be the reality of things..

A couple of days ago, I stuck another avocado tree in the ground..

Avocado tree

It's watered and mulched well with leaf mulch, seaweed collected from the beach and some straw mixed with manure of some kind that has been dumped on a local waste ground.. and last night was rainy wet, so it's looking very happy at the moment..

If this get doesn't get pulled up, it'll no doubt be the first of many.. what fun!!

Peace,
mango

Yesterday was my weekly fasting day. Giving my body a welcome break from eating and digesting.

Today, Kveta and I have decided to start another juice feast.. As always,we have no fixed plan for how long it will go for, but experience shows that we normally continue for about 9 or so days..

This time we have a varied selection of fruit in the house, and will be starting by using up the more heavy stuff.. Tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados, pineapples and bananas.. When they are gone, we'll probably be moving on to just mono orange juices..

As always, too, I'll be posting a summary of the days in my fruitarian blog, some days after we finish..

It's been a quiet week here. Not much happening.The broad beans are flowering in the garden,and due to the chilled weather, hot water bottles are frequently refilled.

Red Ruffed Lemur

Peace,
Mango

We have this neighbour, his name's Michael..

Like most people around this area (we are living in government housing/council flat), he is on the pension, and thus has a lot of free time on his hands.

He makes a bit of spare pocket money, by keeping his eyes open for any bits of thrown away and abandoned scrap metals,and collects them to take to a scrap metal recycling depot not far from where we live here in Sydney.

Anyhow, the other day, he took me along for the ride, and showed me where he goes with whatever he manages to collect...

This set me to thinking that perhaps I could be doing the same thing..

Finding work has not been easy, and I'm continuously plagued with money concerns.. So I decided to check the bins around us, and look for tin cans from drinks..

So many of them just end up in land fills, so environmentally it's a great little task for me to pursue.. So far, I've put about 1 and a half hours effort into it, and collected about 4 kilograms of cans..

The going rate for aluminum is about $2000 per tonne, so I've just figured I must have about $2s worth..

Enough for 2 avos..

Shoot.. there must be an easier way for me to manifest money..

Meanwhile.. being winter already, the temperature has dropped at night times and early mornings, and not having any central heating of any kind, it is now a common occurrence to see us huddled up with hot water bottles..

Oh..we are both so much looking forward to heading north into the tropics, and impatient for september '09 to arrive with my paperwork all wrapped up and processed.

Peace,
Mango.

Yeah, I did try to keep my journal attached to my main website http://www.fruitnut.net, but since I've been using Flock as my browser, I've just found it so easy to update my blog on blogspot, and have missed not being able to do the same with my fruitnut journal blog too.. hence it's here now, and can now be maintained and updated simply and smoothly from Flock..

I decided, as there were not so many posts on the other blog, that I would move them all here, and have just completed that process.. The only things that didn't really come out as they should have done, are the comments, which got dated with the date of transfer, not the original dates..

Well. Glad that's over..

So on to other things..

Life's good.. Kveta and I have just done 9 days on juices (see: Juice Feasting - June 2008).. Great stuff..  Orange juices for me, and Grape juices for Kveta.. No difficulties, good and beneficial experience  as always.

This is a little picture of me and me niece
 playing in the sand on a beach in spain..

But we're back on the durians now..Durians, tomatoes, pineapples, grapefruit, bananas, avocados, oranges and apples.. I think that about sums up what's currently in the house..

For the past couple of months, I've been making juices daily for our nextdoor neighbour who is morbidly obese.. She's still eating all the other junk that she has become accustomed to, but including the juices is hopefully making her eat less of it. The result is the last 2 times she has gone to be weighed, she has lost 2kgs..

Perhaps it wasn't the right thing for me to do, but I told her I lost 5kgs in the last 10 days, from drinking just orange juice.. I was trying to make her see how quick she could regain a normal weight if she did the right thing..  But whatever, 4kgs loss is still a big thing for her, as prior to starting on the juices, she was not losing at all (probably the opposite).. Now with the juices, it's helping her to go to the bathroom, something she surely wasn't doing regularly with constant constipation she suffers with..

hugs to all,
Mango

How fortunate am I, to not be the guy in the picture below..

Though, strangely enough.. How fortunate am I to be that guy.. too..

If that's confused you, I'd better explain..

You see, that really is me, just over a week ago, I was fortunate enough to be offered a featured extra role in a 10 minute short film that's being made here in Sydney.. It's being called "The Art of Darts and Dying" and is basically a short story, taking place in the 1970s about some guy called Terry who's basically squandered his life away, playing darts, drinking beer, gambling and smoking.. Meanwhile neglecting his wife and family and getting in to large debt.

He seizes a chance to get out of trouble by agreeing to play a single game of darts against the devil. And looses.

The whole film takes place within a pub (the Hollywood Hotel in Sydney CBD).

My role, was to be a wheelchair bound, regular pub going, down and out, smoking, drinking, pokey machine addict.. So throughout pretty much most of the story, I have my face glued to the hypnotic glowing lights of the one-armed-bandit machines..

- And that's the guy I'm so so fortunate not to be..

There were some years, when I was a regular pub goer and beer drinker.. Never a smoker, but certainly taking in my fair share of passive smoke from fellow pub going regulars..

..So here I am, thanking the Divine, that I have had insight enough to see through the haze of smoke and intoxicated blood, to realise that things can be very different.

I'm sooo glad, instead, to be a clean living, nature loving, fruit juicing fruitarian.

Peace,
Mango.
PS the featured extra work was for 2 weeks only, so officially I am unemployed again.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Like I said, I quit the junk mail delivery job a week ago, so am officially unemployed again..

I had thought I had some "extras" work lined up for me in the Wolverine movie being filmed here in Sydney, but I got a call a day or 2 ago telling me that they changed their minds, and didn't want me for it anymore.. They did the same thing with Kveta a week ago too..

So idle hands here..

Excepting of course that I'm playing in the garden most days..

I also realise that I have once more postponed writing the book I've been off and on for years already..

I went pretty well with it for 2 or 3 weeks, then somehow just stopped.. Somewhere just short of about 100 pages.. Not sure quite what it is with me, I get enthused about it, and then for some reason loose interest, or focus my attentions entirely elsewhere..  I just wish I could be disciplined enough to see it through to it's end, and then focus on publishing it..

One day..

So what job am I going to have next? Any ideas? Anyone want to employ me?

hugs,
mango.

Sunday was my little niece's 3rd birthday.. She's back in the UK, so needless to say, I missed it.. much as I did her 2nd one too..

I'm feeling like I'm doing a lousy job as an uncle, and godfather, and really missing not being there to witness her growing up and childhood.

I spoke briefly with her on the phone, but it was clear she had no real idea who I was, and if she remembers me at all, it'll no doubt just be vague memories by now..

This is me and Amelia

Sorry Amelia!

I've probably said this already, but looks still very likely that Kveta and I will be staying in Sydney until around September 2009. All things considered, it seems the safest bet still, and the path of least resistance while my visa issues get sorted and until my foot is firmly in the door, so to speak.

The job I've been doing I've decided to quit on Friday. I've been weighing up the pros and cons of it, and despite enjoying the walking, being my own boss, with no dress code to be adhered to or need for shoes, it's always been a nagging issue with me about the whole ethics of delivering junk mail.. Like, all of it ends up in some land fill, not to mention the poor trees.. And it isn't paying me enough either..

So I really need to find myself some other work.. Something more suitable.. Not sure what yet.. Something local, flexible, outdoor when the weather's right, with no worries that my feet are unshod or that my hair is wild and unkempt..

Hopefully I might get some more extras work too.. That'd be good as that pay's pretty well and is relatively easy.

Peace to all,
Mango