Great article about parrot conservation in Australia, including an excellent spotter’s guide. If you feel like browsing photos of cute, colourful parrots, check it out.
#Parrots #Australia #Wildlife #Conservation
If you’re passionate about cartography and you’d like to own one of Australia’s last remaining map shops, here’s your chance.
It’d be a shame to see The Map Shop close. As of Tuesday, they were still hoping to find a buyer.
#Maps #Cartography #Adelaide
Intrigued by the new liquid air energy storage systems. Commercial-scale facilities are already being built in the UK. Still plenty of challenges, but an interesting idea.
#RenewableEnergy #Sustainability
Photo of a small passerine bird in a grevillea plant. The bird is brown with black and white neck and bell feathers, and red eyes. Its body is facing the viewer with its head slightly angled so it can look at the viewer. Its body and head form a near perfect circle.
A UK company has developed a way to convert methane into commercial quantities of graphene. This could mean turning greenhouse gases into strong, lightweight materials we could use in building construction, vehicle tyres, surgical gloves etc.
#ClimateChange #Graphene #TechForGood
Cool episode of @scifri.bsky.social about rewilding urban areas by planting native mini-forests. I love the idea of a 4m x 4m pocket of forest generating its own microclimate.
#Rewilding #Conservation #UrbanForest #Miyawaki
Farmer's Market in Fuchsia is my new pattern design, inspired by the vibrant energy of local markets and some of my favourite produce.
Recently found out that DuckDuckGo has a dedicated No AI search page. It automatically turns off AI-generated answers and filters out known AI-generated images. No more having to change the settings manually.
noai.duckduckgo.com
Coral Vass is also the author of Walking Together, a poetic picture book about reconciliation in Australia. Jess Racklyeft also illustrated Australia’s Baby Animals, a picture book full of adorable animals and interesting facts about ecology and conservation. 4/4
I’ve actually been seeing reports in the news for some time about the plight of the regent honeyeater. Numbers in the wild had declined so severely that young males had no one to learn their songs from and struggled to communicate. It was cool to see this story in picture book form. 3/4
Racklyeft’s imaginative, visual representations of birdsong are exceptionally vivid and evocative. Plus, I always enjoy seeing Australian plants and animals in picture books, and there’s a particularly soft, snoozy koala and sweet wombat. 2/4
#PictureBooks #Australia #Wildlife
The cover of a children’s picture book titled The Forgotten Song: Saving the Regent Honeyeater by Coral Vass, illustrated by Jess Racklyeft. A bird with black plumage flecked with yellow stands against a background of fresh green fronds and a red flower. Its beak is open in song, and above floats a symbolic bubble of leaves, blossoms and berries.
The Forgotten Song: Saving the Regent Honeyeater by Coral Vass and Jess Racklyeft tells the story of a critically endangered bird and our hopes for saving it. It’s movingly told from the bird’s POV, and the vibrant watercolour illustrations are lovely. 1/4
💙📚👍🏼 #BookSky #KidLit #Conservation
My photo shows the front of a warm-yellow coloured Minoan clay flask, hand painted in black with a frontally depicted octopus. The flask measures 27 cm (about 10.5 inches) in height. It has a short spout at the top with a small loop handle at either side. The octopus is swimming diagonally with its eight writhing, sucker-lined arms covering the whole surface of the flask. It stares out at the viewer with wide, almost cartoon-like eyes. Additional motifs include sea urchins, tritons, small rocks and seaweed. Minoan decoration depicting sea motifs is known by scholars as the ‘Marine Style’. The flask was excavated in 1903 at a Bronze Age settlement site at Palaikastro. The Palaikastro excavations, carried out between 1902 and 1906, were run by R. Bosanquet and R.M. Dawkins from the British School of Athens. The flask is part of the collections at Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Heraklion, Crete.
Marvellous 3,500 year-old Minoan clay flask decorated with a wide-eyed octopus 🐙❤️
Excavated in 1903 from a Bronze Age settlement site at Palaikastro, Crete.
Heraklion Archaeological Museum 📷 by me
#Archaeology
A project in QLD is using recycled wastewater to irrigate crops. This solution increases water security for farmers, conserves water in creeks and dams, and reduces the impact of wastewater on local ecosystems. Great to see drought-proofing strategies like this.
#Sustainability #Water #Droughts
Word of the Day: Rewiggling
Restoring the natural curves and bends of a river or creek in order to slow the flow of water and reduce soil erosion and flooding.
#Rewilding #Conservation
Kirli Saunders is also the author of the children’s books The Incredible Freedom Machines, Our Dreaming, Bindi, and Afloat. If you’re interested in beautifully illustrated, lyrically told picture books, I highly recommend these. 2/2
The cover of a collection of poetry titled Kindred by Kirli Saunders. It features a photograph of two vibrant red waratah flowers with serrated green leaves and thick stems against a light blue background. A silver sticker reads, 2020 ABIA Shortlisted. A white sticker reads, Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2021, Shortlist.
Finished reading Kindred, a collection of poetry by one of my favourite authors, Gunai woman Kirli Saunders. I love the way her writing feels so economical, rich with meaning and feeling, woven with imagery you want to linger in. Gorgeous. 1/2
💙📚 #BookSky #Poetry #DiverseBooks 📚🌏
Congratulations to all the Aurealis Awards winners, including @tansyrr.bsky.social @trnapper.bsky.social @fearofemeralds.bsky.social @coreyjwhite.com @thedescenters.bsky.social @freyamarske.bsky.social @roannelau.bsky.social!
This is the third book in the Legends & Lattes series, and like the previous two instalments, I enjoyed the descriptive prose, likeable characters, and threads of kindness. Baldree continues to do a great job with the audiobook narration, particularly in the more poignant moments. 2/2
The cover of an audiobook titled Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree. A stylised illustration of a log campfire bordered by decorative blue curlicues and leafy green tendrils. The vibe is high fantasy adventure.
Finished listening to Brigands & Breadknives by @travisbaldree.bsky.social. A warm, engaging, emotionally complex fantasy adventure. Baldree has a real skill for exploring questions of identity, messy friendships, and the connections that transform us. 1/2
💙📚🎧 #BookSky #Audiobook #Fantasy
If you use Google Search to look for news, you can now personalise your settings to see more results from sources you trust. ABC News Australia has a walkthrough in this article.
Congrats to all the Aurealis Awards finalists, including @tansyrr.bsky.social @genni.bsky.social @trnapper.bsky.social @kaaronwarren.bsky.social @tanaudel.bsky.social @angelaslatter.bsky.social @mktighewrites.bsky.social @sljohnson.bsky.social @pamelajeffs.bsky.social @fearofemeralds.bsky.social!
Great episode of @ologies.bsky.social about platypuses! Dr Tahneal Hawke discusses spurs, fur, conservation, and ways you can help (eg. report sightings; clean up rubbish near waterways, especially things like hair ties, rubber bands, fishing lines; join a local revegetation group.)
#Platypus
It reminded me a little of I Can Be All Three by Salima Alikhan and Noor Sofi, another fantastic picture book about embracing your rich, blended cultural identity. 3/3
Halls’ writing is sweet and lyrical, and Prabhat’s illustrations are deliciously vibrant, brimming with lychees, mangoes, hot chips, glittering oceans and magical bird-filled skies. 2/3
The cover of a children’s picture book titled Best of All: The Magical Mix That’s You by Smriti Halls and Chaaya Prabhat. A vibrant, joyful illustration of two children with dark hair standing on a green hill, surrounded by an abundance of luscious mangoes, cherries, roses, peacock feathers, birds and stars.
Enjoyed Best of All: The Magical Mix That’s You by @smritihallsauthor.bsky.social and Chaaya Prabhat. A joyful and affirming picture book celebrating families with blended heritage. A great book for kids still learning to embrace their complex cultural identity. 1/3
💙📚👍🏼 #BookSky #KidLit #Diverse 📚🌏
Text: 2025 Reflections Image: Two swans facing each other on a background of flowers and foliage.
Text: My Favourite Design: Conservation Library Image: A bookcase of antique books with nature titles.
Text: Your favourite design: Grandma's Garden Image: A floral pattern in pinks, purples, blues and oranges in a vintage 1960s style
Text: My highest placed Spoonflower Challenge Design - Bold Florals Challenge Poppies (Rainbow). Image: Brightly coloured poppy flowers with overlapping rainbow petals.
I want to say a big thank you to each and every one of you for sharing your words, sharing your art, supporting my art, choosing my art for your business or your home, and bringing beauty and kindness into the world.
Here are some reflections on my design and artmaking in 2025.
For folks living near bushland, a reminder to be careful of random echidna burrows.
For everyone else, a link to a video of two puggles (baby echidnas) being looked after by wildlife carers.
#Puggles #Echidnas #Wildlife #Australia
The cover of an audiobook titled The Land Before Avocado: Journeys in a lost Australia by Richard Glover, Bestselling author of Flesh Wounds, Read by the Author, ABC Audio. A photo of a slice of toast on a green and yellow floral background.
Enjoyed listening to The Land Before Avocado: Journeys in a lost Australia by @richardglover1.bsky.social. An entertaining and fascinating look at life in the 1960s/70s vs now, nostalgia, and the lessons we can take from change. Highly recommended.
💙📚🎧 #BookSky #Audiobook #Australia
Interesting concept: mobile wind turbines. Autonomous catamarans sailing across open ocean, collecting wind power, using seawater to create hydrogen and then returning to port to offload the hydrogen. Autonomous energy harvesting.
#Sustainability #CleanEnergy #Wind #Hydrogen