Permacoach

03/10/2026

Before you kill, take time to observe and learn. What you call a “pest” might be doing you a favour. Here’s a video showing that moths and flies can both be pollinators, and that what you think are fruit fly might actually be native bees!

We never use insecticides of any kind, not even organically approved ones. We trust that dynamic equilibrium will be restored without them. Good garden hygiene, attracting beneficial species and being patient all work far more effectively than poisons, which invariably wipe out the very creatures that would have naturally corrected the balance in your garden.

01/10/2026

Not all “yields” are food-related. You might also grow fuel, fibre, plants for dyes, medicinal plants and plants that attract beneficial beings or distract and confuse those that might otherwise eat your food. Then there are the less obvious yields, like creating habitat for birds.

I think we should consider native birds to be an essential part of our garden-based systems. Their gifts include pollination, keeping insect populations in balance, leaving deposits of a perfectly balanced fertiliser (along with the occasional nitrogen-rich feather) and depositing seeds from local native species.

Then there’s the beneficial impact of birdsong, known to have a calming effect on human beings. Birdsong means we are safe, because they are often the first to detect predators. There was a time in our past when we lived more closely with them. I think we should seek to rebuild that connection.

Certainly the love of birds has continued to be part of our psyche, with many people devoting their lives to them.

Here is the glorious song of the grey shrike thrush. He arrives each spring to remind me that beauty is also a yield, and that sound needs to be a design consideration.

30/09/2026

Do you have a catio?

🐱 Do you have a "catio"? Your experience could help inform research into cat welfare!

Research is currently underway to better understand outdoor cat enclosures, commonly known as catios, in Australia.

The survey is exploring the factors that influence cat owners to install catios, how they are used, and how they may influence the welfare and management of domestic cats.

If you’re an Australian cat owner, you can contribute by sharing your experience.

📅 The survey is open until approximately 12 October 2026.
🔗 Take the survey: https://adelaideuniwide.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1UnvNVITlbxSd2S

Know a cat owner who might be interested? Share this post with them! 🐾

30/09/2026

Success! I couldn’t know until today if the hours I spent enjoying the repair process would yield a result, but here is the restored vacuum head, powering away.

There will be those that wonder why I didn’t just buy a replacement on Amazon for $60, because some people just don’t see the bigger picture.

As well as keeping my money away from a company with a dubious reputation I have also kept something from land fill, mastered a completely new skill and enjoyed a day playing with a real life jigsaw puzzle.

28/09/2026

Easy flower arranging. $5 giant vase from the op shop ( used to have a candle in it) and whatever I’ve pruned in the garden today. Never underestimate the appeal of a vase full of foliage, particularly when it comes bearing gloriously scented citrus blossoms. These won’t last long, but they are free, home grown and organic.

Most of the cut flower industry relied upon imports flown in the country, or chemically intensive locally grown flowers. My friend, Delldint, has also reminded me that it is industry practice to dip cut flowers in glyphosate (w**d killer) to prevent anyone from cultivating them. Yuck!

Grow your own or look for ethical local growers if this worries you.

25/09/2026

I love YouTube and the generous people that share information on how to repair anything! This Dyson brush head stopped spinning. It’s clear the engine is rusted and possibly can’t be repaired but I’m going to have a go, and even if I don’t fix it I’ve learnt new skills and have a greater appreciation for the intricacies of a vacuum head 😆

Speaking with a plumber friend yesterday and his best advice was to keep your old things and learn to repair them, because they will be better made. (Oh dear! Should I not buy a new car!?)

It’s great to see “right to repair” legislation being introduced in some countries. It required manufacturers to offer repair services, spare parts and information on DIY repairs. Imagine the impact that can have on reducing landfill.

We also need mandatory recycling programs for large appliances and vehicles. The planet is not an infinite resource.

21/09/2026

It's almost too much like Terminator to be true. 😩

Jacob Coxon, a 27-year-old British researcher, was working at OpenAI when he jumped to rival Anthropic in May. He said he felt that Anthropic was more transparent about the risks associated with artificial intelligence.

Since then, several severe security incidents have spooked the entire industry.

In July, OpenAI revealed that one of its unreleased models had escaped its testing sandbox and hacked the AI company Hugging Face. Soon afterward, Anthropic said it had discovered similar incidents. In late August came a sobering report from METR that revealed the Hugging Face incident was worse than anyone knew.

Coxon called the METR report “a bit of a ‘holy s—’ moment” for himself and his colleagues.

Those concerned about safety have long dreaded the day when AI systems themselves are capable of building the next generation of much smarter AI systems. The labs say they are seeing the early signs of this dynamic—known as “recursive self-improvement”—potentially accelerating the path to the superintelligence that Coxon feared.

In recent weeks, Coxon said he went to his bosses at Anthropic to discuss his concerns and considered moving to a role working on AI safety before ultimately deciding to quit.

He told the world that his former colleagues inside OpenAI and Anthropic “earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade” and the labs racing to build this technology are “gambling with our lives.”

“Even working on safety at Anthropic felt like being complicit in the race,” he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

For years, AI researchers have issued dire warnings. But never before have they freaked out so many people so quickly.

🔗 Read more: https://on.wsj.com/3SPonoL

21/09/2026

With news that I hope is good for both Nicci and Brett, there is also a great opportunity for someone to live at limestone.

18/09/2026

This is one of the great dangers of a life lived large on social media. Legitimate criticism is dismissed as 'trolling', challenges to poor behaviour are avoided, and bad choices go unchallenged. My closest friends are the ones that love me, and are also prepared to challenge my actions when I need it.

Some people never see the wrong in their own actions, and it's often not an accident. It's the environment. They've surrounded themselves with people who normalize the exact behavior that should be getting called out. 👇

Your mind takes cues from the people around it about what's acceptable. If everyone in someone's circle laughs off the same red flag, excuses the same pattern, or minimizes the same harm, that behavior starts to feel normal from the inside, even when it's clearly not from the outside. Environment shapes self-perception more than most people realize.

This matters for you in two ways. If someone in your life keeps hurting you and actually can't see it, their circle is probably reinforcing the blind spot instead of challenging it. That's information about how much internal change to actually expect from them right now.

It also matters for you personally. Notice what your own circle normalizes. If the people around you laugh off things that clearly aren't okay, your mind starts absorbing that standard too, whether you mean it to or not.

Surround yourself with people willing to actually call things what they are. Your mind needs honest mirrors, not comfortable ones. 🧠

10/09/2026

How did it take me this long to figure out that my pizza cutter is perfect for slicing pastry into squares for cheese, mushroom and spinach triangles!😳
Also, if you have milk about to turn, turn it into ricotta and make a batch of these 😋