Marketing and Jude's feather project.

This morning when I went into the farmerws market Francesco had this wonderful crinkly savoy cabbage. I had to have it with some of the other things because it looks so eminently painable, wether I will be able to or not I dont know but at the moment it is taking pride of place as a kitchen ornament.
The lovely old fashioned freesias are just starting to flower too, they have naturalised in some places around here but I have terrible trouble just getting a few to stay with me. They smell divine.
I am having a go at Jude Hill's feather project, if you go to my side bar you can click and go to her blog and from there there is something on one of her side bars, I am hopeless at getting things onto my blog so now dont try, but this is a nice project she is hoping to get lots and put them together for needy children. These are my practice feathers, so nice to just pick up and play with.
I am also dyeing some cloth today, I am not a dye person at all except for the eco dyeing but as this is cotton I need something that will dye that, so I hope I have followed all the instructions and that it will work, one of the colours isnt quite what I had in mind!
I am not sure if I have guests tonight or not but the house is now dusted and vacuumed, and I am about to go and make a casserole in case they arrive late and need to be fed.
Whoops one of my little angels landed on this blog, they should be on my other one, if you want to know what they are doing go to my other blog (see side bar!)
Then I will sit quietly for a while and possibly read my book.
John is fishing but tomorrow I hope to go and see a bit around the place.
Have a lovely week end.

Skye Cellars and Auldana winery

Not sure if this heading is absolutely correct but I spent yesterday in Adelaide with P who amongst a lot of other things took me up here and we were shown through the old cellars that were cut into the hill. This is where those lovely old baskets are and the cog is where bottles were taken down in baskets to be stored in the hollowed out caves, which are now rented out for people to put their own bottles in.
Absolutely fascinating as this goes back to John's forbears who started all of this in the mid 1800's.
I had never been here before, remember I am not a city person.
We had a lovely but tiring day, we found a wonderful glass studio too but I will do that one tomorrow.
We have a festival on called SALA South Australian living artists and this month there are a lot of studios and galleries open and you can wander around visiting them. I have even discovered that an aunt of mine is included, so I hope we have some time to look over the week end.
Bit tired today, well suddenly guests for tomorrow night, I think, coming from interstate to collect the little mare we are leasing them.
Better go and make sure the spare room is ready!

Around the orchard

Here is the Welsh Cob stallion standing at this gate at the bottom of the orchard, he is developing into a very nice fellow but you cant see much when he has his winter rugs on.
The lovely bright red Camellia is glowing in the dull winter light and always gives me a lift.
The mares being brought into the yard to be sorted, not in foal, due soon, fat, due later etc, they are now sorted into their paddocks, we have a couple that should foal soon but I hope when this burst of cold weather and rain has passed. Not much fun foaling mares in the wet and cold.
Finally another early spring prunus which is looking lovely in a corner of the orchard, it is amazing how much is showing some blossom. The weather bureau told us we were going to have a dry August, surprise surprise it has suddenly changed its mind as we have had rain for days on end.
I spent yesterday at the Norlunga Hospital while Tab had day surgery to remove a skin cancer just below her eye, a long and tiring day and my poor daughter has a fine triangle of stitches on her face. She tells me she is ok today, I hope so because I dont feel terribly brilliant. I am spending all day in Adelaide tomorrow so have been trying to get my work rooms into some sort of order, one is, now for the other.
I have put my name down for a few on line courses all of which seem to start on Monday!
I just feel I need a bit of impetus to get me going again, oh and Jude Hill has a free class (see my side bar for her blog) on whispering feathers, looks like fun.
So I am doing a travellers blanket with Dijaane Cevaal, a week class on junk mail books with Carla Sonheim and another class, I think its beneath the surface with Alisa Burke.
Hope I have time to keep up.

More owls and around the property

I have mde a couple more owls, I am having fun with these but am not sure what I will eventually do with them. I tend to make 4 and then go on to something else but these fellows look so nice in a group.
Wandering out in the house paddock these about to be weaned calves came and looked at me, I think they are the last of about 100 that we have raised. I am not sure if you can see but there3 is the odd red and white in there as well, we rather like that variation on the Holsteins but overseas buyers dont, they think they should be black and white only.
You can see how cold and damp it is, oh and the school bus is going along the road as well.
I took these liquidamber leaves still holding onto the tree at the bottom of the orchard and the misty damp look of the trees behind, it kept drizzling and then pouring with rain as we were bringing the mares in to sort them out, some getting a little sore in the feet, a couple due to foal in a week or so and the not in foal mares sorted to be put in with the stallions next month.
The side of the house in all its wintry splendour seen from the orchard and over the wall. There is going to be a lot of work needing to be done once the weather warms up.
Busy few days, have to go with my daughter to have a skin cancer removed tomorrow and that could take a lot of the day, off to see my doctor this afternoon for a progress report.
Still in house cleaning and tidying mode, but for how much longer!!
Click all photos for a clearer view.

Owls, birds the morning walk and a good film

Here are the two owls I finished yesterday, just a bit of fun and play but there are a few more about to happen.
This morning we had a walk after the market and saw this shag(cormorant) on the beach, and then these ducks tails up dabbling in a pond and finally the view across the river to the Bluff and the Islands.
We came home and had lunch and then headed back in to Victor to go and see Red Dog at the local picture theater, we dont go often but this was one of the best Aussie films I have seen, the scenery was stunning, set in the North West Pilbara of Western Australia. with a typically good Aussie cast and a story line that made you weep one minute and roar with laughter the next. Highly recommended.
My dog Jake, although black not red was a kelpie cross and there was so much of him in this story. Jake was a typical independent rescue dog to the end. I confess I came out weeping.

A busy couple of days

I had visitors yesterday, a family from Melbourne who came to look at a pony and I gave them lunch. Such a nice family, we think we will lease them our retired leading rein pony for their daughters. She may come out of retirement!
But because of that I cleaned and tidied the house, and found a few flowers, my green Goddess lillies are out as well as a few arums so they make a nice big vase full and in the kitchen a couple of the camellias that are looking nice.
My kitchen dresser had a bit of a clean up too so here it is before it gets covered in dust again!
I have been cleaning out the bathroom drawers as well, something in the air.
After shopping this morning John and I went over to Yankalilla to get some seed, a paddock is being re seeded and we had to drop it off at our sons place as our grandson is seeding for us and thisl last photo is from half way up the hill looking over some of our place, some heritage listed scrub and the end of the valley.
It was very misty and cold and damp. Amazing after the last few days which had been hot but yesterday it got cooler and rained and we had thunderstorms the night before, so perhaps it hasnt forgotten how to rain yet. There is always this panic about when the rain will stop, will it be a wet or dry spring, will we get paddock growth through until October and early or late silage and hay. Happens every year but after the last 10years of drought we are particularly twitchy this year.
Apart from cleaning out cupboards and cooking I am back into making owls, one nearly finished and one on the way. I think a few more are in order as they make nice gifts. I am changing my pattern a bit.
There will be some photos tomorrow I hope.

Fish and flowers

Here is a sink full of some of the fish John caught on Sunday, a lot of it is what we call Oscar fish as we dont think much of red mullet but there was a nice flat head some sweep and some leather jackets which we ate last night.
Here is Oscar waiting for his fish, I am sorry about the background but if you dont take his photo in a hurry he has gone.
The lovely orchid in the bathroom, it has a delicious smell that goes all through the house, it is a zygopetalum and I seem to be able to grow and flower them quite well.
Finally the prunus mume is flowering by the bedroom door, smelling lovely and the bees are loving it, it might still be August here and supposedly winter but our winters on the whole are pretty mild, although this year we are a bit dry, we just hope for a wet spring.
There has been some talk about what books we are reading, well I am finally reading, rather slowly, The Secret Life of Bees which I am finding very interesting.
Off to Adelaide, again, to collect my grandsons boxer pup from the airport, I really dont want to go again as we were there yesterday but sometimes things just have to be done.