Images of Melbourne

The first is of Dale and Ian Rollerson and their Thread Studio site at the Australian Quilt Convention at the Royal Exhibition Building. I think I may have been one of the first customers and there was no one there so a good opportunity to get the photo. I spent a lot of money there and really didnt seem to have all that much to show for it when I got home but I did buy the double trouble dvd and a couple of the Fibrefusion books I didnt have, and for their size they are expensive but have lots of lovely ideas that one day I just may put to good use. I also saw the Connections embellisher challenge that Dale had organised. Lots of lovely stuff there only I had trouble reading names.
The next photo is of a city building through I think a plane tree in the Carlton Gardens, I was rally pleased with this shot. Then the but of a huge coastal banksia just down from where the children live and finally the smoke with a cumulus cloud above it taken from the Cheltenham railway station on Monday afternoon. There was a smoke haze over the city the whole time we were there and I was glad we were near the sea as there were fresher winds there.
Lovely to see the children and grand children, we all came together at night while we wandered around and didnt do very much, just a nice break and John got quite a lot of rest as his stitches have been uncomfortable.

My diary finally has a cover

There is something about going away that makes one finish something that has been hanging around for ages. I always cover my daily journal but this year I hadnt quite got around to deciding what to do with it. I had begun a wrap that was in a quilting arts I think when we had a Grumpy week end in June and I finally looked at this bit of pinned fabric and thought, right length, so onto the machine and within a couple of hours it was finished. I dont usually put a wrap closure around them but I had this bit left over so on it went. A bit big at the moment but I like to tuck all sorts of news items and things in the ends of my journal so it will fill by the end of the year, infact I will probably have to move the little bee button.
Last year I did brown paper on calico and it lasted all year well with quite a lot of being taken with me so I hope this one will as well.
Quite warm, I think Melbourne will be too so I hope I have the right clothes and I am taking enough to keep me happy if we decide to do very little.
Adelaide is supposed to get back up to 41 again on Friday and John is a bit worried about being away on Thursday too when it will be 39, we get back on a latish flight.
We are trying to water what bits of the garden we can as the sprinker system is not working due to the repairs to the dam, not that there is much but the pots and shade house are a bit of a worry.
Looking forward to catching up with the children and grand children and also actually seeing what Dale has to offer on Thursday, mail order is fine but actually looking is better!

Suddenly in need of a necklace

I made this today, I have been wanting a dark coloured necklace for a while and came across some of these beads, had the others and it was made. I am really pleased with the way it looks on.
I went to the market this morning, walked on the beach and did some shopping and finally came home.
Tabby Celina and Millie for dinner tonight, gosh Millie is growing up fast and is so funny.
Trying to get ready to go to Melbourne on Monday.

Froth and bubbles

I saw this on the edge of the beach the other day, it is rather deceptive as it looks as if it is at a totally different angle.
Any way I have not done any photos, no walks, just work and that is boring. When I went to look for something I needed I couldnt find it, my work rooms are in a mess and I have lost a muse somewhere.
I just hope that when we go to Melbourne I will feel so much better and be able to get on with all the things I need to finish for this exhibition.
I did sort of nut out the invitation today and I went boringly to shop, I think I am getting to that late summer fed up feeling and just wish that either I didnt have a garden because I cant water it or that it would rain, just at the moment in buckets would be great.
The fire near us I havent heard what or why it was caused but we hope for no more of them.

Images of Victor

I am feeling as if my week is catching up with me and I just want to sleep. We have had a cool change and that could be another reason, but horror of horrors there has been a fire to the south east of us, luckily the fire is not coming in our direction, in fact it is so cloudy I cant even see the smoke but apparently there are firefighters so with any luck they will get it out. I just hope we dont have a fire bug in our area as that is the second one in that direction.
I took these photos on Monday, was it only Monday! I seem to have been flat out all week and today thought it was Friday, but no I am a day out.
We are getting ready for our Mix It Up exhibition over Easter and so we had a meeting today to get the invitations organised, that is my job so I hope I dont make a mess of it.
John had a rather large piece cut out of his back yesterday as the mole they cut out last week was a nasty, so they have had to take more, and there are now a couple of others they think look a bit suspect. I hope all is ok, it has given me rather a fright.

Easy beaded flowers

I was busy yesterday with Gaby and Mason who came out for part of the day and no photos taken, how silly but we had fun and Gaby went home with a bracelet she had made, only trouble is she has been bitten by the beading bug again so I now have to get her some supplies as she gave all the others to younger sister Celina.
I began making these easy flowers and I will see if I have time to finish them and make a beaded base to put them on.
Adelaide today and saw my mother who is very tired but on the whole seemed better and I seem to have won the battle of the underpants so that is one thing, but the battle of getting a loo she can get on and off with two things to hold on to is still to be won. Honestly at 96 you would think the powers that be would think of these things, and the carers are not listened to, stupid as they are the ones who know what people in their care want.
Still hot, still a long way to go before we have rain I think. We are having more trouble with water for stock as another dam has had to be cleaned to get to the pipe that was so choked with silt it wouldnt work, and finally the big dam is being cleaned out, that one ran out of water a week or so ago.

A bit of this and that

We walked this morning because we hadnt yesterday, we cleaned the house instead.
I saw these ducks which I think are chestnut teal standing in the stinking mess near the mouth of the Inman River, with no rain it stops before it goes out to sea and there had been a lot of sea weed on the beaches and in the river itself, they seemed quite happy for all the smell.
I took the next photo from the back gate and it is the poplar in the house paddock, the green are weeds, it is as dry as dry.
Next I have been playing with printing on disolvable paper and sewing it, using a resist and then dissolving it. I thought this looked an awful mess and the following photo of the fish is what it should be, but all the colour went. So I sprayed it with my lovely moonshadow mists and it looked a bit better, not like fish at all but better. At the moment it is not sewn onto the bit of silk paper, just sitting there to see if I like it.
I do quite like the really organic look but if I tried to get that look I bet I would fail dismally!

Buildings, birds and charms

I have cleaned the house so feel very virtuous, loads of washing is waiting to be ironed, tomorrow?
The first two were taken when I was in Adelaide on Friday, not sure what the building is it was and may still be the contemporary art society building but it is a long time since I have actually looked to see what it is. I just liked the way it was framed by trees when I sat behind the War Memorial. The bird, well i thought cities were full of horrible pigeons and here is a native top knot pigeon scuttling around my feet looking for scraps of something. We have them here but they fly off the minute you approach. They are really lovely birds with a lot of warm colour in their feathers, I nearly wrote foliage!
Then these are a few of the 44 fabric charms I have been making, when I took the photo I thought there was one different one missing and there is, I made about 4 or possibly 5 different ones from various backgrounds I had, some I used the embellisher and the red star one and the blue green one I used paper napkins bonded to felt. I think it took me longer to make the little tags and write on them and put them on the charms than to actually make the charms themselves. I am now a mite worried that they may be a bit too big. Well I am not making them again and they go off tomorrow.

Mason and China town

This is young Mason who looks as if he will be a rugby player! Almost five months and gorgeous, he loves the sound of his own voice. this was taken at the lunch for Gaby's birthday on Thursday.
At China town, as always with a red gate and the two lions, it was nice to be able to take a photo without streams and streams of cars and people. This was taken on Sunday morning in Adelaide last week.
Then two windows full of shoes, I couldnt believe the second ones, the heels are so high! The first taken in China town and the other in the heart of Adelaide in Rundle Mall, I must say they were Asian girls looking at them. Havent they ever heard how bad high heels are for your back and feet!! I am paying for it now.
I am organising a special dinner for the two of us for Valentines Day.

7th of February 2009

Here are a few photos I took on our wedding anniversary, the view from our room in the Hilton both during daylight and at night. our room and the 50 red roses John gave me.
I was very very lucky and it was such a lovely idea.
Today I have been to Adelaide to see my mother and drop John off to a meeting and pick him up again in the city, I dont much like driving in the city, but it was done.
Tried to sort out a few problems my mother has, they seem to be cost cutting and its not a good idea but we will see.
Dropped some eggs into Paddy and then we came home, both of us feeling rather shattered.
At least it is still relatively cool but warming up a bit over the week end.
I need to stay home and get my house into some sort of order.

Small portrait

I only spent the morning at my painting class today but in it I learnt a lot about making small quick paintings leaving the white and this is one of them. I suppose it took me about 1/4 of an hour or less to do.
I havent got the photos from my camera, a bit too tired so I will possibly put some up tomorrow after I have been to Adelaide.
A lovely lunch to celebrate Gaby's 17th birthday and then some shopping as I seem to be out of a lot of things and dinner and an early bed I think.

brush exercise watercolour class day 3

I have a more comprehensive painting on my boots and sketchbook blog but this was part of our exercise in handling our brush, quite a valuable one as it re enforces what you can do with a particular brush.
I have to say I am tired but I will only do half a day as tomorrow we will go to lunch for Gaby's birthday so I will see the babies again which will be lovely.
It is cool and lovely today, infact I had to find a wind cheater but it is gradually warming up to about 39 next
Wednesday. or so the weather forcasters say. I hope they are wrong.
The fires in Victoria will burn for weeks and be a worry for every one.

Today we did portraits

Sorry I put these up in the wrong order, if you look on my other blog you will see others. Idid the second face first, trying to get shadows in with color. I did a girls face and then decided to try this fellow, not so happy with him, I do see things in angles, but I also wasnt sure how to put in his beard, he was a challenge and I made his jaw too long and narrow but we were doing these practice bits on an eighth of a sheet of paper so not much room to move. The colors are interesting and he probably needs more work but if I do then I make a mess of things so over all I was quite pleased.
I should be at beading tonight but John isnt home, I havent eaten yet and I have had a glass of red and am tired so I will do some beading quietly at home and watch Dr Who.

Painting class

I did this quick sketch as a mock up for a larger one, so bits are not finished but in some ways I like this one better than the other.
We had a wonderful week end and thank you to all who wished us well, we certainly ate and drank far too well and went to the art gallery to see the Hans Heysen exhibition, I felt why do I bother after seeing so many of his lovely watercolors, probably better known for his oils his watercolors were brilliant.
We also took the tram down to Glenelg and back which was fun, ate Chinese, Italian and Australian well I think that is what the Hilton's Brasserie calls it. Our room was great and we walked and slept and enjoyed ourselves.
The devastion of the bushfires in Victoria was really brought to us on the television news on Sunday morning and the death toll just keeps rising. An unheard of day, very high temperatures and gale force winds wrecked havoc.
It was emotionally draining seeing and hearing about it and worrying about my many friends in the pony world many of whom live in or near those areas. So far the ones I know about are ok, but for some it was a very close call.
Huge floods in the north of the country and fires down south. We are all now worried as there is more heat forcast for the end of the week, we are tinder dry too, no rain to speak of for 3 months and at least 2 more months perhaps 3 before we can expect rain.
And then the northern hemisphere has had snow and ice. What a world we live in.

50 years ago today

Here we are, skinny very young and very hopeful. I wont do a today photo, its a bit depressing.
But to the most wonderful and usually understanding husband in the world.
thank you for 50 interesting years.
I thought I would add the one of the wedding party, all under 21 except the groom, I was 19, my sister Felicity was 15, my young cousin Amanda was 8 , and Johns friend Ant as the best man was I think 20.
Its still hot but a change coming and so we are off to a night on the town.

Casting

Both of these have bits of casts in them, the first is using water soluble paper as a piece stitched to silk paper, this may be used on a book cover, the other is a cast of utee on a stamp and put while hot onto some scrim and then put on a small canvas with gesso and paint and dye and a small paper clay tag made from a tiny cookie cutter.
I am having fun playing while it is so hot and muggy, 38 degrees and steamy it is not nice.
We are going out to dinner tonight and I do hope the cool change comes as promised tomorrow afternoon as we head for town.
Thank you for all those wishing us well for our anniversary.

Playing with silk

I have been pretty busy today, all the mundane things like ironing and washing and a bit of cleaning, cleaning is not my forte, I only do it when I have to.
So the first one is a wisp of silk, a skeleton leaf and some glitter stars put between two pieces of vliesofix and the second which I love is silk cocoon strippings on a moulding mat with moonshadow mists. I love this one with the turquoise showing through.
It is going to be hot in Adelaide tomorrow and a bit but not much cooler here so the best laid plans ...
It is our 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday and we were going to the Hilton tomorrow and Saturday night, but now with the heat extending in to the Saturday, 43 degrees for Adelaide tomorrow and hot north winds, we couldnt leave as there is such a fire danger.
But we do have Saturday night which is THE night and Sunday to explore a bit, not the market as its not open on Sunday but perhaps a Chinese eatery which that area is famous for. We have booked a table at the Brassierie at the Hilton for Saturday night, we were going to explore the town but as we may not get up until late better to have some where booked on a Saturday night and I do love the chef there.

Sachiko Japemo

This fun little doll is designed by Rhonda McGinnity of Western Australia, she was such fun to do and I have another almost ready, she just needs her little kimono on.
It has been a trip to Adelaide day, lovely in the car which is air conditioned but not so lovely here as the house got hot and is now quite humid.
My mother was not terribly well today, well more confused than normal, I am now wondering what drugs she is on. Again!
We had to go to the accountant and drop stuff into the bank had a quick take away which we ate on a cliff top, a coffee when we collected the mail in Victor and where there was a lovely sea breeze and home where there was no breeze at all, the joys of living so close and yet so far from the sea.
I have a carpet of leaves under trees where they are shedding them and even the agapanthus leaves have been badly burnt, we wont get any apples although the trees in the orchard are laden, they all got burnt and this is the year we have had no parrots to eat them!.
I would desperately like to get on with both my catalogue killers and my ratty tatty papers on line classes but I just keep running out of time, perhaps tomorrow.
Gosh what a miserable post, its not all bad and at least as a friend says when she looks at herself in the mirror, I am still here!

A basket of hearts

Today down here it has been much cooler, asw I came over the hill into Victor there was a sea mist which by the time I had had my physio appointment had spread inland, sadly by 11 it had largely dispersed, but we have been around 25, 27 today although Victor was much cooler.
I had to go back in for a Woman's and Children's hospital meeting, and it was quite pleasant.
I am tired, probably because now we have cooled off I have relaxed a bit.
I have been making these hearts while it was hot and they were fun to make. They dont seem to show up terribly well in the photo.
I am still trying to finish off yet more charms, I hope the number I have done will be enough. I am not sure what to do about a jumnp ring as they dont really fit, I may just put some nice fun thread on them, I will have to think about it as I am really not sure how to do it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Walking the beach near the Gorge

This morning we had to take the freeze branding stuff back to Yankalilla and so we went on for an early morning walk to the sandy beach near the Gorge. We hadnt been there for a while and couldnt get over how the usually lovely sandy beach was full of pebbles as you can see in the top photo. There is a lovely view down towards Rapid Head and I took photos while I walked and gathered a few shells, I was bemoaning the fact that I have always found at least one cowrie on this beach when I finally found one, and only one. It is quite an interesting bit of the coast, a lot of mica in the rocks, we gathered a tiny bit.
It has been a bit cooler today so John decided to bring in my mothers old frig, but where to put it as we dont at this stage want to take the old one out. That meant another bout of total re organisation which left us both feeling hot dirty and tired.
An old pony friend came to visit and she and the friend she had with her have decided to buy one of the foals, so that is one down and a whole heap left to go. It was lovely to see them.