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Hydesmith Communications: graphic design & photography services Winnipeg

Yarn October-November

The Autumn (October-November) 2018 version of The Southern Yarn greets us with the arrival of chilly weather and colourful leaves, and some early snowfalls. Read it all here!

All our back issues are available at the Yarns page, too, of course.

Editorial:
Lots of bits of news for your reading pleasure again this issue. While browsing, the persistent story that kept coming up was the drought that is affecting widespread parts of Australia, as well as New Zealand. Folk have even resorted to rain dances! While it is a good example of typical Aussie humour in the face of hardship, it could be taken as a bit too light-hearted for such a critical issue. I believe the “performers” are dead serious and desperate to get the attention of the public and the politicians any way they can. For many, it is past the point of rain now providing relief: they need financial and emotional assistance. And in the longer term, some new strategies to mitigate the hardships of future prolonged extreme dry seasons. Obviously great minds have been at work addressing this challenge for some years. A good summary of one such effort is the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) publication: “The science of providing water solutions for Australia” [available online here]. For our part, we catch what spring run-off we can and pump it into barrels for use on the garden. This year there was precious little (yes, Manitoba experienced a drought, too), so plan B was drip-irrigators, sprinklers and buckets. My thanks, on your behalf, to the other contributors to this Yarn: Jenny, Ed, Peter, Judy, Murray, Brian and our advertisers! Enjoy, Charlie.

Yarn August-September 2018

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Yarn2018_08-09-AugSepThe Yarn for August and September 2018 is ready for you to download.

Editorial:
G’day. Welcome back. I have to admit that it was a challenge for me getting this issue together. I found that the change in frequency from monthly has thrown me off my stride. However, I am sure I/we will adjust. And, if you value this newsletter, please take the time to send in ideas (eg, for “Getting to know”) and snippets for inclusion. I, and I am sure most readers, especially like to get info on personal encounters and anecdotes as well as news items that are less-out-there. Thank you again to those who are already contributing in this way. Thanks to Jenny Gates for collecting the “We Recommond” section on page one. Your suggestions are always welcome, as we all come across such things to share. As Peter Munn mentions in his President’s Message, one of our summer pleasures is being able to observe the activity at our bird-feeder and the nearby bird-bath. However, this year things did not start out very promising. No birds, apart from the occasional crow, or chipmunks or squirrels were showing up! We soon realized the cause was our new neighbour’s cat, which was being indulged with free range! This called for some careful diplomacy – balancing friendly neighbourliness with firm expectations and reminders of the City By-laws concerning restraining of pets. It seems that the message must have got through (it didn’t hurt that another bird-loving neighbour threw diplomacy to the wind and trapped the offending feline so that it had to be claimed back from the City compound!) as all the usual wildlife have returned and “Frankie” is learning her place in our eco-system. I hope that your summer/winter is also proving interesting and exciting. Enjoy, Charlie

Yarn June 2018

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The June issue of the Yarn is available for download. You can download it here, or from the Yarn archives page.

And let’s start adding in the editorial on these announcement posts…

Apologies for not getting a Yarn together for May, but I was away for half the month, downunder. The primary reason was a reunion of the class of ’69 who attended Queensland Agricultural College – it was certainly great to meet “old” mates again. Of course, with every trip back “home” there are always many reunions – other friends, family and, naturally for me, the birds. I managed to photograph about 40 different birds and chose one of them, the fan-tailed cuckoo, for Birds I view this month, p.6.

Thank you to Jenny Gates for her summary of our ANZAC commemoration on April 28th. While in Queensland, I also visited the Sandgate Museum – friendly volunteers and a very well-presented display of memorabilia – I noticed a protected copy of “The Anzac Book”. I have since found a pdf copy online – 100% the words of the men who wrote them in 2015 at Gallipoli. Something else that caught my eye was a notice on a lamp-post on the South Bank in Brisbane calling for new sensitivities to events of history.

Thank you also to Catherine Bowering for her second part of the Nancy Wake story, Getting to know, p.4 – it’s a big help having such articles written and offered. Others who have contributed this month are Peter, Murray, Judy, Malcolm and our sponsors – Thank you!