Mannum and Collages

The first is a general view of the type of scrub that is on the hills above the River Murray and across to the other side.
Then how low the river is compared to these boat tie ups that should be in the water and are way way above it.
The third is the front of the Murray River Princess which is one of the paddle steamers that used to go up and down the Murray, I loved the railing and the brass bell. It was used as a cruise ship but I am not sure if it is still operating or not.
Then my collages, I sometimes do wonder what goes on in my mind when I do these, I tend to set the clock for 10 minutes, find what catches my eye in a magazine and go for it.
I loved the high red heeled shoes and the face in the girl in the other one is lovely.
I drove the car into get the mail this morning, the first time since I wrecked this knee, wasnt too bad but I then came home and tripped on a rug, not so good.
We have had over 50 mm of rain in the last 3 days which is wonderful, just so long as it doesnt stop for a while, all the billabongs are filling up and there are wild duck every where, infact they are a bit of a hazard when they are flying as if you hit one they are heavy and make a bit of a mess of your car.

A lovely day for an airing

OH bother the photos are back to front, well never mind!
Today John decided that as I had been almost stir crazy for over 2 weeks we should go and do something I have been wanting to do for ages, go up to Mannum on the River Murray and have lunch and a look around. Hence the idea of an airing.
However as I have put the photos in the wrong way round I will start at the end of the day and go back wards.
When we arrived home the Back Valley creek was up still not flooding across the flats but higher than it has been for at least 2 years, maybe longer and this was taken down by the little bridge that goes over to the neighbours.
The next photo was taken at Mannum showing where the river should be and isnt as you can see by the old boat landing jetty, all of the billabongs near the road are terribly dry and have been for the last few years due to the drought.
There is water in the main channel as you can see here where two houseboats were passing each other but because the news is so bad about the height of the water in the Murray few people are going and there were so many houseboats tied up. I know this is winter but still one of the best times to go on the river, no mosquitoes for one thing and very often beautiful weather as there was today. Freezing cold here and only about 2 hours away sun and warmth.
We had a nice lunch and then headed home.
Going towards Mannum the River Finnis at Currency Creek was flooding over the road and while we decided that it was a bit deep and we needed to do a detour I took this photo of an old river red gum that has had a canoe taken from it by the local aboriginal tribe many years ago. It is interesting that a new canoe has just been built by Adelaide tribal members and they had to start from scratch as no one was left who knew how to cut one and form it up in their area.
Coming home the river had subsided a bit, still over the road but not as high as it had been so we went back that way.
We started in Victor and went to see what the mouth of the Inman River was like as last time we were there it hadnt broken through to the sea, as you can see it has and it was a nice full river flowing out, not from the affects of the tide coming in. This is what our Back Valley creek runs into and with all the rain we have had in the last few days it is wonderful to see.
We really could do with a decent amount as the creeks and rivers are rather silted up and full of reeds as we have not had a decent flush out for so long.

Three small cats are better than one

Dont ask me what I am going to do with these little fellows but they are keeping me happy and I think a few more might be made as they are so much fun. I made the little grey one in the middle last night.
We have had a lot of rain and very high winds, feels like mid winter at last and there is mud every where, even the creek is up but so far it hasnt actually flooded.
I got a bit fed up with being inside so went out with the camera to see what was flowering.
The little flowering quince has a few flowers on it, and there are still a few white trumpets on the top of the datura, seen over the top of the shed, while the navel oranges are small they are sweet and John is eating his way through them.
Finally the giant I think reticulata camellia and I think she is ballerina, has more flowers than normal on her, she is hidden away behind the hydrangea (which has not been cut back yet) and under the metasequoia, one of the first in Australia as my father , the professor of botany managed to get some soon after they were propogated I think in the early 50's. This one doesnt much like our very hot summers and drying north winds but has prospered, probably too close to the house.
My poor garden is terribly neglected, after years of looking wonderful the last few years of back problems have taken their toll.

A contrast of days

Well I wasnt going to put up the second collage as yesterday was not a really good day but I thought about it and decided that the contrast with the way I feel today was perhaps worth pursuing.
I did too much yesterday and today I have done a lot but not too much and I have a few projects on the go so that is a good way to feel better.
And what better way than to remember a city I love (San Francisco) what I like to drink when I can get it, and my most abiding love (apart from a certain man) the sea.
Hearts are a favorite of mine when doing any sort of textile or paper stuff so they had to come into it.
The other, well on farms there are always money worries and this year well we still dont know our opening price for our milk and most of the other companies are offering less than it costs to produce the stuff. I think the woman in the wheelchair is how I feel, I have got to this age and still there are worries about money.
Enough of my grumbles.
Fenella has sent some lovely photos of her visit to London, and comments on Welsh Cobs (she has been or is at the Royal Of England Show), since I seem to have bought a cob for her to ride, a stallion, I hope he is what she wants when she comes home. I am sure she will have fun as there is something wonderful about riding a stallion and Cobs are like sitting on a ball that may burst at any time!

Another cat

I love making these little cats, they are all hand sewn and are very simple and fun, just felt and some uphostery material, I found this gorgeous one on special at Spotlight and you dont need much. I just fold the legs and arms in and dont stuff them. Cut a shape and away I go, the last one had a bird, this one has a heart.
I am not going to show todays collage as it is very dark and gloomy, rather the way I feel today.
Shopping and this wretched knee is still sore and obviously I am not doing enough resting but then nor am I doing what I want to do, like get on with the holey moley stuff but today a flower stitch foot seemed a bit like hard work.
My lovely books from Maggie and Linda and Carol came last night and I have been pouring through them.
I really so wish I had some one close by to play with and make me do stuff.
I had hoped to go to Perth in early
August but the milk price still hasnt come out and it doesnt sound as if it will be very high so that idea goes out the window.
Realistically I know that if I want to go to Europe in October we need to not spend money and to make a decision.

Trying to stay positive!

Well because I am not quite moving correctly other bits of me are now aching, and I have done too much as the knee is too, botheration.
Still the floors are now washed and the house is vacuumed so there is less cat hair. Why Oscar should shed now in the middle of winter who knows, it is probably because he doesnt go out and lies in front of the fire.
Any way the camellias in the garden are coming out, this one is by our bedroom window and I can see it in the morning.
Next my second 10 minute collage, I thought this was rather fun but I am also supposed to say something about what it says to or about me, Heaven knows!
Check out her jacket and what she is holding.
I am rather constrained by the fact that at the moment I have one magazine in the house I dont mind cutting up! There are lots of magazines, cooking, gardening, textile but they are not for cutting.
Finally a bit of collage of sorts, there are several layers of watercolor paper here, all with double sided tape in between to lift them a bit, holes done with a punch with some sequins inside them and then another piece of paper with some threads woven over the top. Fun.
I am not terribly good at thinking through things for these classes, tend to think I should follow others but this one is stretching me a bit more, or else I am finally learning something!
Julie of Julies pictures which of course is on the side bar of my boots and sketchbook blog has done a nice little drawing of Fenella, my grand daughter who is staying with her for a few days,
from all accounts Fenella is having a fabulous time, spent yesterday in London and today in Oxford before moving on. She is so lucky.

Collage

I have never been terribly good at collage, well not with paper, I think I like things to balance so I have a few problems with it.
Here are two very different collages, the first is thinking about holes for the Holey Moley Club that is a year long on line course I am taking and our first lesson was about well holes and what they were and how we could think about using them. I had a heap of scrap paper, watercolor paper I use under other stuff when I am painting or spraying and I collect these and sometimes, as here I use a punch to punch out holes to use. So I played around with the idea of layered holes and the depth of holes to do this first little bit which I then had to layer papers on papers to make some sort of collage.
The other was harder, there is a web site run by Shelley Klammer on which she runs a series of workshops and one is a free on line called Expressive Art Workshops, one of the blogs I love visiting is weaver of grass and she was doing this so I had a look and liked the idea of 10 minute collages that somehow, I hope as I go on will speak more to me and perhaps give me some inkling of what goes on in my mind, I am not too sure of this as a lot of the time I have no idea what I am about!
Any way this is the first one, and I am obviously stressing about losing weight, or am I?