Looks strange, doesn't it? I had my original hip replaced just over one year ago, and this x-ray is of my titanium replacement. It's been quite a journey, from the original running injury about six years ago, an athroscopy, chronic osteoarthritis and then the hip replacement surgery. The post-op period was painful and uncomfortable, but this eased relatively quickly. I was using one crutch after about 2 weeks and walking without crutches in about 8 weeks. The pain disappeared almost completely within 5 or 6 weeks. Before the surgery I was in constant pain and couldn't walk without a severe limp, even when I leaned on a pram. So this was a life changing operation!

I love the ideas little people come up with. This game started in the dog bed, 3 children in their 'boat' surrounded by the 'shark' (a broom), then progressed to a picnic on the dog's bedding with pegs for food. As is often the case at mealtimes, the food ended up in their hair and - viola! - a new style is born!
I was a participant but I am far too vain to post my photo....

I saw this woman walking through the park the other day, and was struck by her confidence and what seemed like a resolute focus on where she was heading. She didn't appear to be distracted by the balloons, speeches, clapping, barking dogs, bicycles which were all part of the protest rally going on around her. She looks interesting to me. I would have liked to sit down and find out something of her life. Such as, is she happy? Is she horrified by the modern world, it's style failures and irreverent youth? Would she have liked to have been born 80 years later? Does she think that human kind is progressing, or are we destined to repeat our failures over and over so that, while we may survive, our earth won't?

A couple of years ago we acquired a worm farm, mainly to reduce the amount of food scraps we add to the world's accumulating land fill. Worms aren't as good as a compost bin for this - you shouldn't feed them meat, dairy and some other foods. And they can't consume as much as we would throw in a compost on a regular basis. Still, in our small back garden the worm farm was a good way to go. They produce an impressive volume of wee and 'casings', the name given to their poo. This is brilliant food for pot plants and the garden generally!

Our problem is that, with two little children, an election campaign and a small business our little worms get neglected, sometimes not being fed for a couple of weeks. The worms in the photo have climbed to the top of their box in search of food. As soon as I have finished this entry I will wet some newspaper and give them a feed - I hope they're not fussy about the sports pages.

Today I went to a rally in support of teachers who oppose a recent overhaul of the way secondary education in Tasmania is structured. While there isn't universal opposition, a majority of teachers in Tasmania oppose the change because they believe students will be worse off. I have heard enough about the changes and the early effects to agree that this hastily-implemented plan was introduced with little consultation or opportunity for dissent and with a large dose of political opportunism - education just happens to be a portfolio held by Premier David Bartlett, who is very keen to hold on to power and so needs to make his mark. And I have heard no convincing evidence that better retention rates and other necessary changes to secondary education in Tasmania couldn't have been achieved within the former structure.
Premier Bartlett should have considered that many of the teachers he has now got off-side live in his electorate...
Anyway, in 6 days we shall see if this and other protests will make any kind of difference to the way we are governed. Tasmania votes on 20 March! Watch this space.

'Hoola moola girl' is what my 3 year old calls people who use hoola hoops. I quite like the name! We came across this hoola moola girl at Salamanca market this morning. She was dancing to Latin American music and was doing a very impressive job dancing with the hoola hoops in all sorts of positions, including rotating about 6 of them them around her neck. Somehow she managed to keep smiling. God knows how. I would have choked!
Anyway she was very entertaining and Olive and her friend Callan danced along with her, then gave her some money. I wish I could have been as confident as this girl when I was her age!

On an expedition to find a basket for Eva-dog, Rosie and I found ourselves in a pet shop looking at the animals. She was especially fascinated with the birds - so many colours, squawks and fluttering wings! I must admit to a dislike of caging birds. They really should be flying free. However they are good entertainment for an 18-month old...

The girls' grandparents went back to Sydney yesterday, after a two-week stay in Hobart. Every day of their stay, bar one, they entertained the girls, took them on adventures, counselled, guided, coached and loved them. There is nothing in the world quite like doting grandparents. The girls are very lucky, as am I - one of them is my father!

These wooden bench seats sit outside the Treasury building in Hobart's CBD. As the leaves on the trees in front of them change colour the deep dark colour of the wood of the benches contrasts beautifully with the green, yellow and orange of the leaves worshipping the ground beneath them. I walked past on a public holiday. I hope the street cleaners aren't too quick to take up their work before people have a chance to see them in the morning!

One of the things I love about Hobart (Tasmania, Australia) is the sometimes quirky juxtaposition of the old and new. To ye Olde World-ers, the fact that Hobart was settled in 1804 doesn't impress. But in Australia it makes it this country's second oldest capital.
In this photo we see the old savings bank and an old-fashioned light post. If it weren't for the car bumper you could almost mistake this for a scene from the century before last (doesn't that sound old?!).