Around and about.

Here are the latest photos of my baby honey eaters and there is one of the parents screaming at me as I took the photo, my little camera does a sterling job but I nearly fell into the bush trying to get a close shot.
More photos of yesterdays walk, two yachts in the bay, I love boats and hope to do something with this photo.
And a crow who stood by my feet determined not to fly away until it had finished whatever it was doing to something under his foot.
Today was market morning, cold and damp and it is now colder windier and damper so I am inside trying to get a few things done and not succeeding. I just cant get to to do anything at the moment which is not helping. I have just edited this post as I had somehow managed to get 2 of the same photo up.
Brr it is cold and it is pouring with rain, I had hoped to get in the garden but that will have to wait.
Had a phone call from the family up in the Gulf of Carpenteria and they will be on their way home today and hope to be back tomorrow night, I will be so glad when they are home safely, always a worry when a small child is involved up in these remote areas.

TAST 22 Triple Chain

Whoops I forgot, I did this a few days ago, another nice little stitch to do. This is part of Take a Stitch Tuesday with Sharon B whose site is on my side bar.

The last few days

This morning we walked for an hour or so as the tyres on the ute had to be checked, this was the last photo I took of Granite Island as we headed back into the town.
I have had a dpressing few days, my mother is if anything worse, I coudnt even understand what she was saying when I saw her on Wednesday.
I am finding all this very hard to take, If only there was a magic pill or needle as we do for our old dogs this may sound awful to some but I really think it would be kinder than living the sort of life she has at the moment, and at almost 98, why not.
We did manage to get to see the Waterhouse prize for Natural History art at the museum, which was both lovely and uplifting. There are various catagories and I have scanned two from the catalogue, one page for the sculpture and objects, dont you love that nautilus by Dave Clarke, the books, the rats made from kitchen scourers by Aly de Groot and the Whales by Silio Appony. The other page I scanned is from the Youth Section and I found this kangaroo family by Lucy Bonnin wonderful.
Oh and at the top is a flyer I picked up in the Adelaide Arcade when I went to look at the TART's exhibition, we have a few weeks starting today called SALA or South Australian Living artists and there is art work of various kinds all over Adelaide and the surrounding areas.
Apparently the Adelaide Arcade is 125 years old this year, I love wandering through it but can never get a decent photo so I was pleased to find this flyer with what it looked like at the turn of the century and now.
John is out burning rubbish in my supposedly secure fowl yard, I am wondering if a fox doesnt have a den in there. I bought the hens to clean it up but some how somewhere the fox has got in. I am, once I can get around in there going to have another look to see if there are any holes under the fence. Last time I looked I couldnt find any but there is a lot of overgrown shrubbery in there.
My poor old hens cant understand why they are not allowed out.

Morning, evening, the garden and more dolls

I had to take my grand daughter Gaby and her son Mason to a small party arranged at the High school for students to get some hands on with small toddlers. I did some shopping while I waited and went down to the mouth of the Inman river to have a short walk and take some photos. These ducks were in a small pond that forms in the winter in a marshy area. Shows how little rain we have had as I could walk almost up to the edge.
Last night we again had a spectacular sky, but this time it was evening, very pink but no rain today. Love the way the plants on the front terrace are silhouetted.
Yesterday while wandering in the garden I took these lovely camellias photo, I cant for the life of me remember which one it is, it is in a large pot in the midst of other pots and things and on the other side of the path next to a rain water tank is this climbing aloe which also flowers in mid winter.
We have had a bit of a disaster, it would appear that a fox, in broad daylight came in and took one of my hens, no body but feathers every where and one frightened hen in the garden and no sign so far of the little bantam rooster who lives with them. It probably took off with the only hen who is laying too.
So I wont be letting them out again for quite some time. Blasted introduced foxes.
My one doll has become three, I used what was left of the material for the other two so they have got smaller, or slimmer or both. Sometimes I like to make small primitive dolls like these, a bit of a change from the much more complicated art cloth dolls I sometimes make.
I think I started making dolls back in the early '90's just as the movement of wonderful dolls from here and America was happening. I have met so many wonderful people through them, been to America twice because of them, but there is now not much of a demand and I havent the room for them all.
I have also moved onto into experimental textile stuff, not that sometimes I know what to do with that either!
I couldnt find any where to take a decent photo so they were propped on the mantle piece along with some of my collection of Staffordshire china.

Sylvia has a give a way

I forgot to say in my other post that if you go here she is having a wonderful give a way.

TAST 21 and walking the farm

Here is my example for this week slipped detached chain. I did a bit of a wobbly trying to get the stems done and I used several thicknesses of thread. I think this is a fun stitch.
This morning while having my tea in bed I saw this very odd light and dived out of bed and grabbed the camera to take this photo from the back gate. I dont ever remember such a pink looking fog, we almost had a frost and then this bit of fog with the sun rising. Lovely.
This afternoon I walked up through the house paddock and back again, there are so many new fences and all my favorite walks now are not accessible.
So the dead trees in the house paddock looking over the valley to the west, the swamp to the east and to the north a paddock bordering the swamp with the pony colts in it.
They all came racing up to see if I was going to feed them.
Most of the day has been spent doing Monday stuff, general house work which is so terribly boring. I did manage a painting which I quite like and I have been having a go at a few more mark making blocks using an ezy cut block which is so different to using lino or even the easier stuff to make lino cuts with. On the ezy block the cutting tools go through as if slicing butter.
Out to feed the dogs, the old pug is carrying on as if he is starved, Oscar has had fresh fish which John caught for him yesterday, we will have the nicer fish for dinner tonight, and the hens need to be put away and fed.
At least the sun was out for most of the day.

Doll making

Every so often I go back to my first love which is doll making and I made this little thing yesterday. Very simple pattern just drawn up and stuffed a face and hands added. She has very big hands! The fabric was a head scarf I bought in Japan years ago and loved and I think this little lady loves it too.
I have two others of different sizes in the making.
John went off fishing and was successful, I did a bit in the garden as finally the sun has come out.
There were supposed to be more photos but something in the system ate them so I didnt feel I needed to hang around and wait again. There are mysteries we dont know about in computers.
I am also trying my hand again at lino cutting, it is back breaking, I think I need a different height for my table.
Wanda asked if it was unusual for our small birds to nest in winter, and as our winters are not really terribly cold, although we do complain if we have a frost, as far as I can tell, no most of our birds start nesting around July I think they need to get the rearing over before it gets too hot. For the honey eaters in particular this is when a lot of our gum (eucalyptus ) flower.
I did go to the bird books to see when they should nest and the two I found didnt tell me, I probably should have sat on the computer but I was busy.

Walking the cliffs at Petrels.

We have had cold and gloomy days for day after day, not much wind, infact apart from the large lazy swells and the thump thump of the occasional big wave it was delightful walking.
The sea and the sky almost merged into each other until a darker cloud with a bit of blue sky appeared.
Out here it has been grey and gloomy all day.
This young magpie was more intent on worms than us but did fly onto the post just as I tried to take its photo. They are very used to walkers along this track although this morning there was only us.
We walked all the way to the little beach and walked along, the sand has been moving and there were no shells but lots of sea weed and cuttlefish bones and this tiny little dead box fish.
In my diving days I loved these as they would come gently along waving their fins and tail and look into my face mask.
I loved the wavey lines in these rocks too, shows that at some time way in the past, as we are such an old country, they got squeezed and compressed probably way down under the earths crust and then somehow made it to the surface again.
John could explain this far better than I can, I tend to listen and then forget what he has told me! I just enjoy the look of them.
Just before the waves broke the sea was this incredible colour. Sometimes I think mid winter is the best time walking along looking at the sea and the waves.
As I said a magic morning, one to delight in and think about.
We are so lucky to have this within 20 minutes of our farm.
I went into the market this morning and after our walk came home and baked the pumpkin I bought for some soup, as well as made bread and we had our usual Saturday lunch of large stuffed baked mushrooms. Yum.
I think I am getting a bit domestic!
Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Baby birds and a lino cut

I managed to just get a small amount of the baby honey eaters this morning, not terribly good but it shows that I think there are 2 in the nest.
It is still freezing cold and the bottom photo is a scan of an easy cut lino cut, this was the first pull and I can see where I need to deepen the cuts more, but it is back breaking work! I sat with Bryn Terfel on a light behind me and a blow heater on trying to get this right and am now rather disappointed. I will see if I can eliminate some of the lines I dont want tomorrow when I am fresher.
Apart from that I collected two of my grand daughters and took them home, did some markings for some ponies and the shopping.
I am still trying to finish a hug me tight for my mother, she may not live long enough for me to give it to her the way I am going, it is taking forever and far more wool than I ever thought it would.
Now to think about tonights dinner, something simple I think.

My quilt from the quilt swap arrived .

This wonderful quilt made by Sandra Chapman in Tasmania arrived today as my swap in the Little Quilt swap that Kate North ran. I am absolutely thrilled to bits with it.
I have been missing a bit, the day before yesterday we went to The Currant Shed in McLaren Vale with friends and had a wonderful lunch, this was to farewell friends who are going overseas for a few weeks and I took this photo from the car park, it shows winter vines with the hills The last photo is a bit dark but is a corner of my bedroom and I put it up just because I had taken the photo. Unfortunately I havent cropped it so you can see the ironing board and the water jug for the iron!
Yesterday I went to Adelaide to see my mother, who slept most of the time I was there and certainly didnt look very good. Very depressing, but then I went to lunch with three old friends, well I suppose they that we are getting older but they are people I have known for years and we had a slightly naughty boozy lunch with lots of laughter and fun. I drove home very carefully.
It made my day .
Today is freezing cold with depressing damp drizzly rain and it is a good day to stay in and catch up with some inside stuff.

TAST 20 the baby birds have hatched

The first photo is of my TAST for this week, buttonhole wheel cup, only one as I was playing with Medieval thoughts and used it as acenter piece for something I was playing with.
A nice stitch which has lots of possibilities. I put a bead in the middle of mine.
The baby New Holland Honey eater chicks have hatched out and there are a busy pair of parents feeding them. I am sorry my window is dirty but there is noway I can clean it at the moment. Here is one of the parents.
I would love to try and get a photo of the babies but it is a bit awkward and the parents have a fit if I get too close.
It has been a grey day with a little bit of sun today, we had 9 mm of rain overnight, it is lovely to go to sleep listening to it on our tin roof.
The last photo is of the cockle train passing by when we walked on Saturday, this wasnt the steam train unfortunately but the other one. I love the steam train.
I have been in to get the mail and the papers and done the ironing so feel rather virtuous, but that wont last!
We have a Federal Election called for August the 21s and I am sick of hearing about it already, seems only the other day that they had the last one. I would really like politicians to be for real, hearing the side who got rid of the last Prime Minister in a rather nasty fashion sounding so good and clean is sickening.
Do they really think we are so stupid.

More this and that

Yesterday we walked around by Pt Elliot again and saw in the far distance whales and closer in seals around the rocks.
The white horses on the waves were quite magnificent and at the entrance to the walking trail there is this sign.
No snakes in winter.
I have had a busy few days and did some cooking yesterday, tried out a new casserole recipe and made pumpkin and sweet potato soup, very nice.
Here are a couple more pages from the little book I showed the other day, I think if you click on the pictures you may be able to read the rather violent poems.
Then in between planting out a few plants and doing a few other things outside I did this, another one of my easy prints using a pencil and a meat tray and then inked up with acrylic paint and tried to see how it works.
I did another on fabric but I will show that later when I have stitched it.
I know I could do these with lino but it hurts my shoulders and this is quicker and I can see if I like the design or not.
I am also thinking about how to translate my very favorite paisley pattern to use on a gelatin print. I have a few ideas and will try it later in the week if and when I have time.
Oh and yes Julie the stitched gelatin print from my last post is on fabric.
I seem to have a pretty busy week coming up. Nice busy, out to lunch twice!

This and that

I havent blogged for a couple of days, mostly because I really havent had time. My day in Adelaide on Thursday started early and was long and tiring, Friday is shopping day and by the time I had done that I really didnt want to do anything much except what I had to.
I am not sure if this is just an excuse or that getting older is actually catching up with me. Something I dont want to admit to.
Two wonderful books arrived this week and this one by Jan Messent is an absolutely must have book, if only for the illustrations, let alone what she has done and the ideas that are tumbling around in my head.
I knew that when we were in the UK last year there was a reason I was going to all those areas and steeping myself in the history of the celts and the Vikings and generally the Middle ages.
I should start at the beginning but that is not the way my magpie mind works!
The first photo is of another of my gelatin prints that I have done some hand stitching on, I love doing this it is so relaxing.
As well as shopping yesterday we walked along the cliffs near Petrels Cove, it was one of those cold still days when the sea and the sky seem to merge into one.
A long slow swell was coming in as you can see from the first of these photos, this is a magic time of the year for walking these cliffs and the mallows were in full flower, I think they are introduced but I really dont mind when you see these lovely bright flowers on a dullish sort of day.
We had parked the ute in front of the sign, I know it is unsafe as I nearly drowned there once but it is still a lovely beach, no surfers today, they had a carnival on further down the coast, and no whales either although sometimes they can be seen from here.
I rather liked the way the rocks going into the sea at the end of the Bluff look like a dragons tail.
Click on photos to enlarge them.

The finished scarf and a tiny book

I have finally finished the scarf I was making, a very simple but effective design I thought.
I took the photo in the sun room and there is dear old Jake peering through the window at me.
I have had this tiny book for a good few years and when going through some stuff thought I should scan it, it is tiny and as you can see was given to Sophie by her mother in 1889.
As a breeder of pugs I collected it somewhere but cant now remember, a junk shop I expect. Some of the poems are a bit rough and almost nasty, I will put up a couple of others tomorrow if I have time, it is an early start and Adelaide.
I think if you click on the photos you may be able to read what they say.
Still cold and wet and blowy so I will be quick when I have to go out to do the animals.

A few minutes ago

The wind came up and a vigorous front went through, I took these seconds before the rain came down.
Wintry and wet and yet this morning I was in my shirt sleeves cutting back the autumn joy sedum.
I had been in to get the mail and papers and drop a letter over to Tabby and as I came home I could see the sky at the end of the valley turning very black.
You can see in the last photo how the wind was blowing the lemon scented gum branches around.
Nice to be in by the fire, although I must go and feed the dogs and chooks in a minute.
Glad I have some knitting to keep me busy in weather like this.