January 21-27

2014 registration is underway!

Shortly after our return flight from Sydney landed, the 2014 program catalog began arriving in US mail boxes.  On Wednesday we traveled to Vancouver to send the catalog to the 500+ Canadian households on our mail list. And on Sunday we went live with a new and considerably improved online registration system. In the first 24 hours of availability, over 40 registrations have already been received for our upcoming programs and work parties.

The new registration program was designed in collaboration with a local business (SmallDogNet Solutions) and with the generous financial support of Helen Bee & Carl de Boor.

We are very happy with the new system, but also recognize that as it becomes operational there are likely to be a few bumps along the way to full implementation. Your feedback on how well the online registration process works for you is welcome. So hurry on over to the Indralaya website and give it a try!

Winter can be Harsh

While we were away, one of the resident deer died under a small madrona tree near the stone table below the dining hall. It is not unusual for one or more deer to succumb during the winter months. The body has now been moved to a quiet place in the woods.

the old skylight provides some rain shelter

The December cold snap seems to have killed a number of worker bees too, though the hive as a whole seems to be doing fine. 

the piece of wood to the right reduces the size of the hive opening

Every morning there are a few dead bees that have been pushed out of the hive onto the front stoop. Honey stores seem sufficient to see the bees through to Spring, which must not be so far away as the crocuses are already beginning to poke up through the earth.

Signs of Spring

January 20, 2014

Yes, It’s Good to be Back Home Again!

We are home at Indralaya after five weeks of traveling down under. It was a wonderful trip. We spent about half of the time in and around Sydney, with stops around the country in Alice Springs, Melbourne, and Tasmania. It was a fine mix of new sights, family, friends old and new, as well as time for ourselves.

Many thanks to those who helped care for camp while we were gone, especially John, Cindy, Kathy, Nancy, Darrell, Maddy, Lilly, Thea, Frank, Kari & Crystal.

the famous Sydney Opera House

Uluru

Sue, Uncle Frank, Leonie, Minor

While in Alice Springs, we stayed with Sue Gregory Birmingham, a therapeutic touch practitioner and TS member who works with the aboriginal people in the area, including Uncle Frank, with whom we spent a day on the land learning stories of the caterpillar dreaming.

Leonie & Emlyn along Lake St. Clair

We were in Tasmania for 12 days, where we felt fortunate to spend the Christmas holiday with Emlyn Walter-Cruickshank and his family. Then it was back to Sydney in time for the New Year festivities and a two week stay at the Manor, a legendary theosophical center that Leonie’s family has had connections with since its origins in the 1920’s.

the red roofed Manor, with downtown Sydney in the distance

The Van Gelders visit the Manor, circa 1965

(from l to r, Michael, Melanie, Harry, Leonie, Arthur, Mary & Ian)

We arrived back in Seattle on the 14th and drove back up to Orcas the next day. On Friday, the 2014 program catalog went to the post office and it began showing up in mail boxes the next day. We will be delivering the catalog to the Canadian postal service on Wednesday. Online registration for all of our upcoming programs and work parties will be available beginning at noon, PST, on Sunday, January 26.

teepee and solarium

fruit trees & fir trees, grass & sky