doge – Stilgherrian

01 June 202506 June 2025

Weekly Wrap 783: Appreciating the wonderful world of fungus

A close-up of a bracket fungus growing from a log. Its semi-circular shelves have wavy edges, and the surface of the cap shows concentric zones of different colours of brown and yellow and reddish tones, the outermost being the palest.

My week of Monday 26 May to Sunday 1 June 2025 was another productive one, despite some annoying. However I’ve gone back three years for this week’s photo. Watch out for more podcasts starting this week.

25 May 202525 May 2025

Weekly Wrap 782: Now is the winter of our fluffed-up pigeon

A random rock dove (Columba livia), dark grey with light grey mottling on its wings, is fluffed up against the cold. It stands on a stainless steel rubbish bin in a park. In the background autumn leaves from London plane trees (Platanus × hispanica) are scattered on the lawn.

My week of Monday 19 to Sunday 25 May 2025 began with a solid burst of productivity, and then it rained a bunch, and then it all ended as I wished. I even scored a very special purchase, but I’m not telling you about that yet. The pigeon is from last week. And I know it isn’t actually winter yet.

19 May 202521 May 2025

Weekly Wrap 781: The Three Sisters who inspire productivity, or something

The view from the top of a very tall cliff down into a rugged valley, the floor of which is about 500 metres below. In the distance are sandstone cliffs a couple hundred metres high, and beyond that more mountains, all shaded blue. Yes, the Blue Mountains do look blue, thanks to chemicals exuded by the eucalypt trees, which cover the entire landscape apart from the vertical sandstone cliffs. Dominating the foreground on the left is a sandstone outcrop, thrusting upwards into three tall stacks. These are the Three Sisters.

During my week of Monday 12 to Sunday 18 May 2025 a client project reached a significant milestone, and I was very happy. I’m sure it has something to do with my visit to the Three Sisters the previous Saturday. I also started locking in the podcast production schedule.

11 May 202516 May 2025

Weekly Wrap 780: Big ship again, for my birthday and such

A bright sunny day on Sydney Harbour, and we’re maybe 1,000 feet in the air. We’re looking down on a warship, which we’re seeing from slightly behind its port beam. It’s a modern landing [ship] helicopter dock (LHD), HMAS Adelaide, with its flight deck laid out before us. Beyond it is a wharf, another dock, and to the right of that a dry dock containing a smaller ship. In the background, the various building of Fleet Base East. On the far upper left is the Hobart-class air warfare destroyer HMAS Brisbane (DDG 41).

At the start of my week of Monday 5 to Sunday 11 May 2025 I decided that it would be relatively relaxed given that my birthday was in there somewhere, including a generously-gifted helicopter flight on Wednesday and a delightful lunch with friends on Saturday.

05 May 202505 May 2025

Weekly Wrap 779: What a great big ship (and podcasts)!

A grey and drizzly day on Sydney Harbour. On the left is a warship, which we’re seeing from slightly off its starboard bow. It’s a modern landing [ship] helicopter dock (LHD), and the ski ramp on its bow looms over us. To its left towers a crane. On the right, however, we can see the Sydney CBD in the background, its skyscrapers and the distinctive Sydney Tower blurred out in the mists.

My week of Monday 28 April to Sunday 4 May 2025 was remarkably productive, with one podcast produced and a second recorded, and even some billable hours for clients. So I’m having to illustrate this post wth a photo from last week’s ferry trip to Manly.

27 April 202528 April 2025

Weekly Wrap 778: I take the ferry to Manly during an inside-out week, for some reason

It’s a beach scene, looking out onto the ocean with small, gently-rolling waves washing up on a yellow sand beach. The water is turquoise in the shallows, grading to a deep blue on the horizon. Overhead, threatening clouds billow and brood, although for the moment the beach itself is in sunlight. In the right-hand foreground, an older man in dark green t-shirt and brown shorts carries a red and yellow surfboard toward the water’s edge. Never change, Manly. Minutes after this photo was taken, the entire scene disappeared into a grey blur of drizzle and cloud.

My week of Monday 21 to Sunday 27 April 2025, like the one before it, was inside out. It’s the public holidays and the weekend days which have been busy, with fatigue hitting during the week. So it was a trip to Manly on Tuesday, and podcast work on the holidays.