FIRES--WHOSE FAULT?

More fires! Hundreds of homes lost. Pets and wildlife killed. Treasured memories lost. Firefighters risking their lives.  Whose fault?  Weather, freak accidents ?  It seems to me it is mainly the fault of people who don't care how their actions impact on others.
Some people are still tossing burning cigarette ends, mindless of where they land. Kids arrested this week for lighting fires.
 Smokers, take a look at your actions. Parents supervise your children. 
The next home to burn down might be yours. 
This  blog doesn't need a picture. I am sure we have all seen the damage. 
In the interest of a safe and caring society, please send this to all your friends.

ST ALBANS AND THE FORGOTTEN VALLEY

Settlers Arm Hotel St Albans

St Albans Book Feₐst,  It kicks off at 10am on October 5 with a full program of things bookish, historical, musical and culinary.  Children are catered for and you can meet favourite authors and bag one of their books in the lucky dip. Kate Grenville will be there as will Traci Harding, Jo Mitchell and Laurie Forth. Cocktails and Conversation follows at sundown and those still left with stamina after the fun filled day can repair to the Settlers Arms  for dinner, but book to ensure a place. .  Email kayeremington@gmail.com for information

St Albans is just seventy five minutes drive from Windsor NSW and a million miles from stress. You can sit in the garden of The Settlers Arms and eat real old-fashioned food, delicious.  Follow with home-made lamingtons and relaxation! The atmosphere of this historic pub was worth the time it took to get there, the country side is an artist/photographer’s paradise, wild in places but with pastoral vistas stretching out to mountains rising above.

ARSON IS NOT A RELIEF FOR BOREDOM

In the sky there was smoke, in the garden was hope 

This week I watched the black smoke billowing just a few streets from my house as bush fires, driven by a north westerly wind burned out properties and a nearby nature reserve and threatened to destroy many homes. For one man, thirty years of work was lost in an afternoon. Helicopter pilots and hundreds of fire fighters risked their lives to put out the blaze which they believe was lit by someone who thought arson was fun. Rather than show the arsonists the images of their mischief I send this bouquet of flowers to the firefighters, the pilots and the people who lost property or had their lives disrupted.   

In this country and in other places, fire caused by weather is an ever present danger in summer, but what this country doesn't want is lives lost and property consumed by fires lit by people hardwired to destruction. Let us not promote them by sharing pictures of their work.

Are Google Passwords Invented to Annoy Writers?

You may wonder why I don't blog very often or maybe you don't care, after all you have your own problems. Is is only me, or do you also find that whenever you try to sign in to your blog, Google refuses your password?
 I have changed my password so often I am running out of 'words'. The same happens on Facebook. The result is that I tend to ignore both, because jumping through Google's hoops takes up too much time- my writing time. Today, I spent about thirty minutes trying to convince tGoogle that this was my blog and we have yet another password. I have used the name of an 'ex'. Now, I can't forget that but maybe Google will.  I will let you know how long it takes for the locks to be changed yet again. Please Google, stop complicating what was a perfectly friendly site.

On a happier note, if you are looking for a good read , try Kate Atkinson's "Behind the Scenes at the Museum".