My Gemini horoscope today

Twins are used to things being a bit two sided but right now this is extreme. There are many good things happening or on the horizon. And day to day challenges may seem overwhelming. Today it’s good to recognise that you are in a period of transition. The old is falling away, which might be disorientating or even painful and you can also see the light on the horizon. So at the risk of mixing metaphors, your stars ask you to remember that the darkest moment is before the dawn. Don’t give up. Victory is on its way………………….whoo hoo!!!

Yesterday i sent this email out to 59 developers.

I wonder what responses we’ll get?

Developer, why would you want to work with us?
- funds available for land purchase
- potential for significant pre-sales
- reduced risk means easier bank finance
- advocates can assist in approvals and sales

We are intent on developing a 100 lot village on land near Sydney.
If you have the passion and skills to develop a sustainable settlement,
please email or phone Lyndall Parris for more information
lyndall@scev.org and 0419 279 711


Developer/ buyer - joint venture
Expression of Interest from Developers April 2010

Dear ___________

I represent a group intent on developing an Ecovillage/sustainable development about an hour from Sydney.

We are an incorporated organisation set up to develop a cutting-edge, sustainable ecovillage in a coastal area near Sydney. We are seeking to work with a property developer to purchase and develop the land, located about an hour from Sydney. We intend to integrate the principles of ecological, social and economic sustainability and wish to find a developer who shares our approach and vision.

The site of interest is well located with regard to public transport and currently has planning approvals for 118 homes. Vendor due diligence and a valuation is available. Initial discussions with Council indicate potential support for an eco-village development. We currently have a database of 480 people interested in the project. A proportion of these people have funds to contribute to the purchase of the land as well as pre-sales. This would reduce the risk of the project, making bank finance easier. Our members, as advocates for the project can assist in council planning and neighbourhood matters too. Apart from risk, we hope this approach will reduce purchase and land holding costs.

We are now seeking an expression of interest from a developer willing to help bring the project to fruition. Interested parties will have a commitment for the long-held goals of the project to create a sustainable community through a collaborative yet commercial approach. We believe we can offer the right developer more fun and satisfaction and less stress and pressure with this joint venture approach whilst you achieve your financial goals.

The Sunday gathering was fabulous

Tom displayed his computer 2D/3D visualisation skills that he is generously applying to the Narara land. Linda had sent us her page of bullet point possibilities for the site and Dave led a session applying her ideas through Tom, onto an aerial plan of the site and around the existing buildings and infrastructure. All this watched by our new friend Guido, a young Italian architect from Tuscany, passionate about sustainable architecture. How does a gathering get better than this and i can’t wait to see what manifests through Guido…..i have a bit of a ‘thing’ for Italians!

You must give birth to your images.
They are the future waiting to be born.
Fear not the strangeness you feel.
The future must enter you long before it happens.
Just wait for the birth, for the hour of new clarity.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

No need for words?!

Gary and the Tarot Cards

In January 2008 at Mollymook, I encountered Tarot reading for the first time. Gary and his cards told me to look north of Sydney for our ecovillage land at a time when we had fully decided that our search for land should be south. He sowed a seed and two weeks later, Dave found the advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald for the beautiful land at Narara.

So when I spent this Easter at Mollymook, I was keen to revisit Gary and his cards. Here are his interpretations of my chosen cards with my reactions. You are welcome to email me with your thoughts and reactions too.

‘Lots of possibilities are coming my way’……[good start, I thought!]

‘It is the spiritual side of things that will ground me [funny that my yoga teacher told me just a month ago that to ground me and the project, I must do my 5 Tibetans (yoga series) daily] and that I can’t do this venture alone, I need someone in particular to thoroughly support me’ [I thought: thank you Dave]

‘My role is to keep in mind the basic structures and not lose sight of how we set this up, to be the adviser to the doers, my role as mentor’…..[encouraging]

‘Things will have a slow progressive feel, [so what’s new here!] trust that everything will work itself out’

I need outside juice, need people in my life with nothing to do with the project.[thank you my good friends]

To the question ‘How is the project to go forward?’: find out what’s opposing the project and work on that.[finding the finance and developer partner?]

With my accounting background, I am very pragmatic so it’s great to have an ethereal hit once in a while!