Spring Flowers

Time I dont seem to have a lot of, yesterday cleaning the house and organising for our local Mayor and his wife for dinner, it does help that they are friends but I still had to clean the house and think about a decent meal for them.
Today I raced up to Adelaide, not to see my mother but to go to the Cloth Doll and Decorative Arts exhibition and take up the biscuits I had made. I had a lovely time buying a few bits and pieces and seeing friends.
Then drove home to listen to my football team win their match. Hooray as they had been in a bad patch. Finals fever is upon us.
So I sat and sketched this vase of flowers that I had picked for the table last night, I think these are the last of the daffodils and some freesias and some white large scilla, I am not sure which scilla but they were called Spanish ones when I bought them. I must look them up. The vase is a lovely two tone modern piece of glass from my mother. Pen and pencil.
I was looking for some Salvia Ulginarus ( bog sage) but couldnt find any but in one nursery that I called into I found an Astelia Silver Spear, a New Zealand plant I have admired in the gardens over there and as it was reduced stifled my cries of glee and brought it home.
Luckily a friend has some Bog sage I can have, one nursery told me it was a weed, maybe but I love it in my wild garden and some how I had lost it.
I am re reading the book of letters between Christopher Lloyd who died early this year and Beth Chatto, I met both of them when they came out to lecture in Melbourne and that was my 50th Birthday present, nearly 17 years ago now, and although I never got to Great Dixter John and I did get to Beth Chatto's wonderful garden. You would never think my garden was in the Open Garden Scheme now but I do get enthusiastic at this time of the year.---so do the weeds.
Great news too that a pony I still own but is leased out today as a yearling Welsh Section A won her class, was Junior Champion , Senior Champion, Supreme A and then Supreme Welsh at our Royal Show. Champagne with dinner tonight.

Spring is here

This is a photo of a corner of the garden, with some added pots that came down from my mother and the elephant and cupid. This is what you see when you drive up and get out of your car. In another week the geranium maderense will be out and absolutely spectacular. The prunus behind was in full flower and the lemon is covered in lemons and the tree with the hanging posts is a Red Cedar, a Queensland native which is going through its dropped leaf stage. I dont know if they do this in Queensland but down here because of the cold they do, This one doesnt get as affected by frost as the other one we have, I think this one came from a more cold tolerant area. The hanging pot on the left side has a native dendrobium orchid in it, also about to flower.
The big green shrub is a rose, my most favorite Lamarque which will snother itself in creamy white blooms smelling of lemon.
This is all to make me feel less depressed after spending time with my mother yesterday. She was fine, the place is lovely, its just that oh gosh is that I may come to.

EDM Challenge Draw your work space

I am always running out of time at the moment, racing around to see my mother etc etc. Thought life should slow down.
I drew this yesterday, it is where my painting is done at the moment, in my sun room, but soon it will be too hot to be there so I may have to go out onto one of the verandahs.
Big wide windows looking out onto a terrace with wrought iron and roses and trees and the orchard.
Inside I have a folding easel and a folding table fighting with the succulents that come inside for winter.
I must add that there are large squashy chairs and magazines and it is gorgeous in winter but facing north is far too hot at the height of summer.
No time to do it in water colour but I may have another go at it another day.
I went back to beading classes last night, the first since last summer and perhaps I should have been going all winter as we had the best rain since April, 19 mm and it was very wet and wild with gutters overflowing everywhere out there. Wonderful, at least it extends our season by at least 2 weeks and if we are lucky we will get more and get through to October before we start drying off.

Street scene

I am trying to paint street scenes. I can now see that the building in the foreground is leaning and John was quite rude about this, I told him I was trying to be a naive painter! Actually I quite like the bright colours but it does look pretty primitive.
My little mare did really well at the Royal, a 6th, a 3rd and then in the leading rein she worked from 6th to 2nd in a huge class. Very pleased with her and other ponies with my Rivington prefix did well as well maybe we will sell more ponies!
It has turned cool again after the couple of hot days and a bit more rain is forecast.
I am still making fabric beads, I think they will be an on going thing.

Film Ten Canoes

Last night we went to see the Australian film Ten Canoes. Set in the Northern Territory it was a funny sad story with wonderful visuals and a story that we could all do well to take notice of.
While trying to think how I could include the visuals without infringing anything I remembered our tree near the end of the valley. In the Ten Canoes they were making canoes out of the paper bark tree but here our local tribe used the bark of the red gums. The tree in the photo didnt actually have a canoe taken from it but two quite large containers taken from it possible for slinging a baby or just as a carrying container or even more probably shields.
If you can get to see this film it is well worth seeing.

Oscar

This is Oscar looking rather contemplative, sitting on the chair at the table while we eat, he always likes to join us. His nose is put out of joint a bit at the moment as Spot is here and he sometimes comes inside too.
Today was a very quick visit to Adelaide Royal Show, saw my pony get a 3rd and one we bred get 1st, then a quick wizz around but in the flower pavilion John began to feel unwell so isent him back to the car and I quickly looked at chooks and dogs and then we headed for home. had a quick salad at Whalers for lunch and headed home.
Where we proceeded to do not very much. Wonderful.

Fun beaded fabric beads

Some where I saw these beads and thought what fun they would be to make, so I am making lots of them, not sure what I will do with them but they are fun to sit and bead on at night.
What a day! Up at 2 am with Celina telling me she had an ear ache, no medication what to do, so I gave her a panadol and then lay awake half the night worrying if it was too much, she is 9, any way all was well so it was ok and in the morning no problems with it.
Up early to get lunches done and them on the school bus, with a phone call to say that one of Tabby's Cob mares was on the wrong side of a fence and stressing, so John and I had to get in quickly, to discover her in an impossible paddock full of heaped up fill which I found impossible to negotiate with a dicky knee, we had to cut two chains, the first one ok, the second needed a heavier bolt cutter than we had so John had to go and find a better one leaving me with a stressed out mare who kept bumping me with her head, my shoulders and hips now ache.
On top of that for the first day of September we had a raging north wind and high temperatures. First day of Spring Huh!!
Well all was well but the day seemed to get worse, and I got more achy and John went to bed!
So I thought these little things looked bright and cheerful.
I think I have had 1/2 a glass of red wine too many!!
On an even more chearful note my little Welsh A mare was 6th in her novice class at Adelaide Royal Show, tomorrow we go to see what she can do in her open class.