Todays clouds

A very hot day

It has been pretty awful today and the thunderclouds have come and gone but no thunderstorms, we got to at least 38 degrees C today.
The second photo on this page is done using a water soluble film called Romeo and it is several layers of organza stitched and then the film washed away, trying to sew this in reasonably high humidity was interesting but I managed it. Now I have to do more to it cut some away with a soldering iron but I will wait until it gets a bit cooler.
The other is the cover of the other African Art books I ordered from Amazon and it arrived today. It is not the latest version or I dont think it is but this was 2nd hand and very reasonable and is a fascinating read as well.
So I have been hunkered down doing not very much apart from the textile piece and reading this book.
It is Robyn over on Artpropelled who has got me interested in African Art because she quite obviously uses many of these sculptures from different parts of Africa as inspiration in her wonderful carvings. No she doesnt copy, hers are unique and so is her style but the influence has to be there if you live on the African Continent and are interested in art.
The other book I am reading at the moment is The girl with the dragon tattoo by Stieg Larsson, which I am afraid may be one of those I dont want to put down.
Adelaide tomorrow and that looks hot too but we are having a farewell lunch for a friend who is moving interstate and I must see my mother so that cant be put off.
Those dogs and cats are telling me they need feeding, I had hoped to put it off until it was a bit cooler but they have a routine!

Yesterday and this morning

Thank you to all who left lovely messages about our Anniversary.
This was the view from our table at The Flying Fish at Pt Elliott, you couldnt have had a better view and the food and wine were great too. (Should get a free something for that plug!!)
This morning we walked along the Bay early and the scenery was a little unreal, another low tide but so calm and still, look at the reflections of the Bluff in the water.
Oh I forgot the birds, we used to call these spur winged plover but they have had a name change and they are some sort of Lapwing, but we still call them plover I am afraid. They were lined up beautifully when I first saw them but by the time John had gone around the round about and tried to get into position they had moved, still it was nice to see the family.
A horrid day today, back to this sultry thundery weather which produces no rain but was 37 degrees by the back door, about I dont know well over a 102 in the old money I think.
I hate this weather and try to exist and that is about all.

Fifty first Wedding Anniversary

Gosh we were young! I was 19 and he was just 21.
Our whole life ahead of us, but what a wonderful life, full of ups and downs but I wouldnt have missed a minute of it.
Who was to know that we would adopt the most wonderful son and then go on to have three beautiful babies of our own.
We have survived living on next to no money, to overseas trips and back to next to no money but are more able to cope and living in the best place in the world.
Droughts and good years. My ponies, his fishing.
Who could be so lucky.
Four children, eleven grand children and one great grand child.
A lovely lunch today by the sea at one of the best places to eat I know, and now I am going to have a short "nanny nap" to celebrate.

Encounter Bay this morning

It was a glorious morning this morning and we had an appointment in at the Bay so left a bit early so we could walk. The tide was way out, I havent been in when it was so low for a long time.
I live in an incredible bit of the world and on mornings like this nothing can make the bay look wrong.
so two views of Wright Island and The Bluff and then one of Seal rock and the break exposed as I have never seen it before. Then Granite Island with the sand bars and weed beds.
Finally on the way home the evening primrose on the side of the road I have been meaning to take photos of for ages.
This must be a really good year for them as they are in flower all along the road, but they were terribly hard to take a decent photo of, this is the best one they glow when the sun shines through them.
Click on all the photos for a better look.

This came in the mail today

My little piece for The Thread Studio's connections challenge came home today, I saw it in Melbourne and again in London but it had been further afield than that.
It was great to get it home again and John was most impressed as he had forgotten about it.
Still very muggy but cooler today, a tiny bit of drizzle is falling as I write.
I thought I would have a wander around with the camera outside as I watered today and here a few more corners.
Pots under the verandah, mostly my special ones I love the nodding blue violet, which isnt a violet at all but I think a streptocarpus, and my special balsam, (and I dont think that is its name these days either, but to me that is what it is called) in its bright red and white.
I keep bringing bits of these crucifix orchids back from Queensland in various colours but the ones that survive outside the best are these very common orange ones, but I still love them, thought you might like a close up.
I have been painting odd things, a doll, a tiny bird house and an owl, I have been to the physio and hope to keep away for a while now, I have washed clothes but not ironed! I have painted something I rather like and you may see translated into a textile, its on my other blog, hoses have been put on and moved, there are some terribly dry bits in the garden but at least I have some water, this time last year we had run out, and the year before.
I had better go, I am trying out a new recipe, let you know how it turns out.
Thank you to all those who write nice things about my blog, you dont know how much it means to me, sorry if I dont reply personally all the time, I am a bit hopeless when it comes to that.

Corners and collections

It is far too hot and humid to do much today, although John is painting the bathroom, just one coat on walls and ceiling, not a big job but the paint stinks.
So I wandered around the house again and here are a few bits and pieces.
The dresser in the kitchen, full of odds and ends, then in my work room a plastic crate full of Indian wooden stamps, I dont have a big collection but am terribly pleased when I find one. I love the peacock.
Another tiny wall between doors in a hall, one of my dolls, s print of a river boat at Goolwa, a piece by my friend Glenys Mann and another small piece I bought at the Ballarat Fibre forum last year, these were fund raisers to pay for students to attend the classes, this was a very clever piece by Marita Hanigan, she and I did a basketry workshop together under Gwen Egg a few years ago.
Finally a few things that reside on top of my cupboard in my work room. Feathers, porcupine quills, my favorite bear, and the wooden saki cups we used on our first visit to Japan at a very important banquet I was so pleased when they were presented to me as a momento.