Deck the Halls with Vows of Folly!

Marching on ...

2011-03-04T23:14:00.008+11:00

Since I've been on flickr, I've been such a lazy blogger! Grandchildren have been born, Shannon's wedding has come and gone and we've held our Open Garden.
I now have three grandchildren, with a fourth on the way! Oldest is the delectable Tamsyn ...
Then there is the incomparable Felix ...
... and lastly the flourishing Angus!
There's a new little Canadian on the way. I guess we'll need to make that trip to Toronto!

And lastly the garden - all presentable and admired.
Where do I go from here?

Gardening folly

2011-01-21T10:19:00.004+11:00

Preparations for Shannon's wedding and the following Open Garden are gathering momentum. The big job was always going to be the completion of the stream between the tow new ponds. We've gathered river stones and pebbles and a new load of crusher dust for the concrete. Finally, in the midst of new toilets and wall washing, Ram and I got the chance to dig out the trench and the line it with plastic and trench mesh.

The digging was challenging. It was a rather warm day and I ended up with Japanese headband under my Japanese straw hat and Ramon wore his Bedouin headdress with great aplomb! We toiled and dug through solid clay and the remains of an old french drain. It was a real Time Team exercise for me as I wielded the trowel and removed a multitude of rocks and old plastic pea seed fertiliser bags which covered the drain. Finally we were finished, the plastic laid and the trench mesh cut up with bolt cutters and meted out. Today was going to be the BIG DAY for mixing and laying.

And today it rained ... and the power failed for several hours!

They say tomorrow will be fine!

Welcome Tamsyn!

2009-05-26T19:50:00.007+10:00

I've been so focused on my Flickr project that I haven't had time to write about my first grandchild. She's now two weeks old and she's such a darling. She's a familiar baby - the same beautiful smooth head that all my children have had and that same delicious baby skin smell!

I found it quite an anxious day when Fer was induced. It was not that I was worried about her or the baby but rather that I was more or less imagining and following the whole labour process all day. It was a relief to get Ant's progress report and then, finally, Fer's phone call as she nursed her little daughter. We visited the next day for our first cuddle but hospitals are not the best place to get to know the new little person. So on Sunday we took the new change table in to Howick Street and had our first afternoon with Tamsyn. We might have had to share her with other people but who cares!

We've got the dearest little grandaughter!

A trip to Hobart (and return)

2009-04-02T13:04:00.011+11:00

We finally got to Hobart! We have been trying to find time for weeks and once the barley and, baling were over, our moment came. We had a load of furniture, boxes and butterflies to deliver so we had a laden X Trail. We ended up travelling down through Cressy and on to Ross - the first time we had ever taken the Isis/Auburn road. It's quite an experience but much more pleasant than the Midlands Highway.

We delivered our goods and ended up buying a little picture by Keith Climpson from the Salamanca Collection. We stayed at Renee's overnight and walked up to Salt at Moonah for a fantastic fishy meal.

The starlings were gathering in Gormanston road!

For our return trip, we travelled through Bothwell and on to the lake country on the old Lake Highway. The countryside is so different that way with its sweeping plains rising up to sub alpine forests and moorland. We stopped at The Steppes for a break and our first look at the famous sculptures.

A circle of standing stones provide support for bronze plaques of wildlife. On the altar stone in the centre a wombat ambles.A path led through the bush to the old settlement of The Steppes, an old complex of cottage and sheds once used as bakery, school and post office and now preserved. We had a lovely prowl before returning to the car to complete our journey home to a pair of ecstatic cats.

A wedding in the sun

2009-03-30T11:34:00.006+11:00

Since starting on Project365 I am having trouble finding time for new postings in this blog. By the time I've downloaded photos, edited and resized and then wait for them to load on Flikr, my time is up. Drew's always hovering to surf and the computer gets slower and slower ...

Anyway, I went to a friend's wedding on Saturday and it was so lovely! It was a second marriage for both so they chose the banks of the Trevallyn Lake for the ceremony. I must say that I love these outside weddings when the weather is kind. Even the speed boats slowed down during the ceremony - now wasn't that considerate!

Project 365

2009-02-08T20:53:00.005+11:00

I've been busy this summer with the usual thousand-and-one things that make up a rural woman's life. I didn't make a New Year's resolution on New Year's day this year, either, but one came to me two days later. What better than try to take a photo a day to post on Flickr. So somehow it has happened.

I missed the first two days of the year but I've managed to do it consistently since and in doing so, I've started learning quite a few things about my new camera. I can't say I've mastered it yet and I often have to read up in the book before I can get a reasonable shot! But I'm starting to learn and my eyes are much more open for the interesting shot.These are a few shots that didn't make the cut! Here's the link - http://www.flickr.com/photos/23851662@N03/

The only problem is that I don't really have time to keep my blog updated! So here's to 2009 and 365 photos - well, 363 anyway!

The mystery thistle

2009-01-14T13:08:00.009+11:00

I look forward each summer to the flowering of this thistle-like plant. I bought it several years ago before Bunnings took over the big building out Kings Meadows way and when the nursery section was overseen by Jo McIntyre. She had great plant taste and this is a great example of the unusual things it was possible to find then.

It's about 60-70cm tall and very thistle-like in its structure. The flowers are the palest shade of lavender and soft and fragile. I thought that it might have been Carlina acaulis but the petals fall away and are soft and not stiff. The foliage is a fresh green all over with no downiness or white hairs. The prickles are sharp but not lethal like a common thistle.

So if there's anyone out there in the ether with any suggestions, I'd be greatly delighted! It doesn't appear to set seed and it is reluctant to divide so it's certainly not a common garden plant nor a weed!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-11T21:49:00.004+11:00

Every year the Dieramas surprise and enchant me with their exuberant display, none more so than the white variety that I've planted in my rock garden. This plant is smaller in size and flower than the usual red and pink varieties and is better suited in scale to the plants around it. I love the way it complements the blue, yellow and silver theme of this area of my garden but enlivens the whole combination. Every year I think, "I must have more!"

So in winter I will divide my clumps and spread them further and this time next year there will be a larger display to welcome in the New year!

A day in Kyoto

2008-12-21T15:56:00.014+11:00

This week two boxes arrived from Japan, part of the treasures we'd posted home on our recent trip. To unpack not only the purchases we'd made and the things we'd been given, but the maps and brochures of some of the places we'd been, brought back so many memories. It was the day we'd spent in Kyoto with our friend, Ryoko's father Tsugio, that was the stand-out experience.

Tsugio knew we were interested in seeing some Japanese gardens so he organised a day with typical Japanese efficiency and punctuality. We had first to get permission to visit two Imperial Palace garden. This involved presenting our passports at the office and much Japanese talk and gesticulation! However, we were soon sped off in a taxi to the first garden, nestled in the foothills of the nearby mountains.

Shugakuin Imperial villa and gardens were the creation of the ex-emperor Gomizumo-o in the mid 1600's. There were three villas, each in its own enclosed garden, set in an estate of rice paddies and vegetable gardens. We ascended the hill from one to the next, along paths lined in small pines. Each of the villas had a separate enclosed garden with stream, stone bridges and lanterns and an impressive gate entrance. The highest villa was the ex-emperors own and he visited one day a year in autumn, to gaze from this window at his dragon-shaped pool and write poetry!The day was glorious and, though we were given no time to linger, the experience was unforgettable. The maples were fiery red and eagles soared overhead and fished from the dragon pool.

Then it was back to the Imperial palace in Kyoto to view the Sento Imperial Palace gardens. These were far more formal and elegant. They are centred around two lakes, joined by a canal. They are a strolling style of garden on a grand scale, and, though very impressive, lacked the inspired feel of Shugakuin. Nonetheless there were some wonderful features, especially this fabulous wistaria-covered bridge that spanned the connecting canal. Monet, eat your heart out!

There were gardeners working in the gardens. This lady was sifting leaves from the gravel paths using a small brush and bamboo scoop.
Our next garden took us from the exclusivity of a small group with guide and minder to the bustle of the general tourist traffic. We wanted to see the famous Zen garden of Ryoan-ji. Tsugio took a deep breath and whisked us there. We were thrust into the midst of hordes of Japanese high school children and American tourists, all talking loudly and somewhat ignorantly about the experience around them! We removed our shoes and padded across sock-polished boards to sit on the steps and contemplate the raked gravel and stones of the little Zen garden. We did our best and the garden is wonderful and enigmatic and so different. In the end, though, the mob drove us away and we explored the rest of the garden complex. These gardens are largely deserted but were serene and beautiful, laid out around a twilight lake covered in water lilies. The trees were magnificent, shading the paths and defining the walks. What other people missed!
Then Tsugio produced bus passes and we proceeded to the nearby Golden Pavilion. Again it was a tourist Mecca and we followed the throngs to the viewing spot. It is a stunning sight! Who cares if it was reconstructed in 1942 (when Tsugio was a boy), burnt down by a disaffected monk! Again it is a stroll garden dating back to the 1220's. Like most Japanese gardens there is a feeling of seclusion and calm, in spite of the many people.

Finally Tsugio took us to a Japanese restaurant for dinner. This was no ordinary cafe. It was once a city villa with garden centred around a small river that runs through Kyoto. The rooms all look out on the garden and once we'd finished our sumptuous meal, we had time to don the plastic mules provided and shuffle down the paths and cross the stone bridges in the lantern-lit dark. It was like an up-market fairyland!

All is forgiven

2008-12-18T13:08:00.004+11:00

Remember when I drastically pruned Rosa "Shropshire Lass?" Well, early summer is here and she is now flowering her heart out. She is such a lovely creature!

I'm careful about colour placement in my garden - some may say obsessive, even. I loathe pink with yellow or orange. But Shropshire Lass transcends all this somehow. She has the palest flowers - white, flushing pink with a peachy tinge. They flutter all over the shrub like butterflies. And though she is surrounded by yellow and orange and golden flowers, she never gives me a moment's unease. She only flowers the once ... but what a display!

Sheer indulgence

2008-11-28T22:13:00.004+11:00

So we've been to Japan again. Three weeks have we indulged ourselves, and our feet barely touched the ground! This is the land of the best - THE BEST - trains in the world, the most efficiently run railways there are ... and what do all Japanese do when on such paragons of the train culture?
They all fall asleep!!

The end of an era.

2008-10-04T22:31:00.005+10:00

Today was a sad day. Yesterday we took our last guinea piglets to Launceston to the pet shop and today Drew took his last pig in her cage up to a new home.

He has decided after all these years - and pigs - that it is time to give up his guinea pig keeping. It started all those years ago when Shannon went to Japan and left her Elspeth in his care. He bought Twistie as a mate for her and dozens of litters later it is all over.

Here are some of the memories.
Twistie's offspring were Abyssinian types with longer hair and crazy cowlicks! There were fabulous colour combinations and patterns.
And finally, the last pair that he kept, The Stig and Easter Bunny. All their offspring were smooth haired and solid coloured. When the Stig died unexpectedly, Drew rather lost heart and made the decision not to get another male. So when Sally, who has one of the Stig/Easter offspring already, was happy to accept the offer of Easter Bunny and her cage, it was time to say farewell to the cavy connection.

The garden seems a little quieter now.

In the pink ... or not.

2008-09-04T10:49:00.003+10:00

It's been a cold winter this year and I've relished my nightly open fire and my sinful electric blanket at night. Come the equinox each autumn I also slip into my old faithful pyjamas. I bought them as separates and while they don't fulfil Drew's ideals of sexy nightwear, they've been a comfortable and discreet beige and taupe outfit. The knit top has short sleeves and scoop neck. I don't need the extra warmth around my neck. The pants alas have suddenly developed extra unwanted ventilation, so I took the opportunity of a trip to Devonport to replace them.

I mean, how simple is that? I sidled past the lingerie shop with its racks of long nighties and frilly little numbers and made a beeline for Sussan. There I was confronted with the colours of the season - pink and mint green. Now of all the colours in the world, the ones I can't wear are green, pink and yellow! So although I trawled through all the racks on special, there was nothing in my size that I could wear or even want to wear.

So what is it with pink? Why are we thrust into wearing it - from birth in fact? I guess it suits some people but it's such a helpless, ineffectual colour. I even find it difficult to place in the garden. It's hideous with red or orange or even most blues. It's such a fifties and sixties colour. In fact when we moved to our house at Riverside when I was in my teens, the 40s house was painted out in pink and pale green! Gran had one room repainted and we had one wall in pink, one in primrose and one in aqua. The other wall was polished blackwood cupboards. Eeeyuk!! I guess that's part of the reason for my cringe of pink, and, yes, pale green. It's all tied up in the angst of my adolescence!

But I have a favourite joke:
A man (from the sub-continent?) applies for a job at a call centre. The challenge is to use green, pink and yellow correctly in a sentence.
His response: "The phone rings, 'Green, green.'

I pink it up.

'Yellow?'"

He got the job!

In the end, I did find a pair of pj pants at el cheapo Best and Less. They're dark blue with owls all over them.

And, yes, the owls are pink!

The adventures of Shropshire Lass

2008-08-21T09:28:00.006+10:00

I've always had a soft spot for my Rosa 'Shropshire Lass' ever since I rescued it as nothing more than a stick with a few miserable roots at one end and a couple of leaves at the other, languishing in a bargain bin on a late Spring Launceston street about 20 years ago. I could find out nothing about it at the time other than it was a David Austin rose so, in my ignorance, I planted it in the corner of a new garden bed I had created. Gradually it thrived and by year 2 it produced its first flush of large single blushed flowers hovering over the bush like scented butterflies. I knew by now that she flowered only once but I still didn't know that she was not a bush but a large shrub - and a wickedly thorned one at that.

And so it proved. She began to throw out long trailing arms, ensnaring the unwary visitor and as, at the time, I was a participant in the Open Gardens Scheme, something would have to be done. So Fer kindly helped me dig it out and we moved it to a choice new spot in the middle of a new bed where she could grow and flower unhindered. We had to cut her back of course and for two years she was very ugly and stunted and produced only one or two butterflies. Then she took off and she has been a miracle every November/December producing a breathtaking display.

Then this winter I looked at what she had become ...

She was overwhelming, choked and tangled, full of dead and spindly wood, and smothering everything around her. No more pussy-footing around - it was time to prune!

I know you're supposed to prune once-flowering roses after they've flowered but in this position everything else is growing around it and it's just too difficult to get at it so it has had to be now. It has taken me two days - agonisingly prickly days - but at last it's complete - and what a transformation!

She's had her revenge. I'm covered with scratches and embedded rose thorns and I have a bloodshot eye where she poked me in the corner with one of her freshly pruned stems. But I know she'll forgive me and the butterflies will fly again in early Summer.

Taking the line of least resistance.

2008-08-18T10:52:00.004+10:00

It's August now and the last month of winter. It's time to get all that pruning and weeding done before everything starts to sprout. I've spent the last two weeks working my way around the garden cutting back, moving, transplanting and mulching as I go. But there always remain the hard tasks...

The current trend for using grasses in the garden has not left this gardener untouched! After a disastrous encounter with Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus' which grew so massive that I had to take an axe to it, I've fallen in love with Miscanthus transmorrisonensis - so graceful and magic. But pruning these grasses invariably leaves a bunch of stubby stems on a dead looking plant and the grass doesn't always want to flourish afterwards.

Last year I burnt a clump of foxtail grasses and the result was decisive. Within a few days the clump sprouted again and performed better than before. So I tried it on the Miscanthus. Fire is so exciting! I know it's not PC to burn stuff, what with global warming and all that, but it proved to be the most effective way of treating the rather overwhelming clump. It has now been reduced to a cleaned up tuft brimming with potential.

Now ... where are my matches ...?

Pheobe's Garden

2008-08-03T20:07:00.006+10:00

This is the final quilt in the series I've made for my niece's 5 children. Pheobe is the middle child and the quietest and least easy to get to know. The only thing I could find out about her is that she likes frangipanis. I'd always admired the medallion style quilt and I thought it was a good chance to make one.

I managed to find a fabric which had some frangipanis printed on it. There weren't a lot of them but it did have some butterflies printed on as well. It also provided me with a colour scheme for the quilt. I used a Cynthia England pattern to piece two larger butterflies for the central block: I later embroidered details onto them to give more definition. I found the medallion style quite challenging to make - so much bias work! Some parts bulged but thankfully it did"quilt out." the quilt is machine pieced and hand quilted using a poly/wool batting.

Ferry interesting

2008-07-15T16:45:00.005+10:00

I'm now tackling the second piece of my intended opus and I'm focusing on my memories as a child of travelling on the trans-Derwent ferries in Hobart. My aunty Francie was living in Bellerive at that time and the ferry trip was the quickest and best way of crossing the Derwent. For some reason I want to make a piece of work celebrating these memories.

But which ferry to portray? The waters still held many of them in my early lifetime. My favourite was the Cartela (mainly because it began with the letter C and I had a preference for the letter C!) But Cartela was an excursion ferry and ranged far and wide up and down the Derwent. It was a special occasion to travel on the excursion ferries. The main timetabled ferries plying the Hobart-Bellerive route were the Derwent and the Rosny, double-ended and fast. When I knew them they'd been converted to diesel, as had the excursion ferries, their towering smoke stacks replaced with streamlined little modern caps. But at peak hour and holidays out would come the old back up ferry, SS Reemere. I'll never forget, on a bitter winter crossing, escaping my mother and finding my way to that big opening in her side were one could gaze down at the steam boiler and the men working her. The sensations of heat, sounds, the smell of burning coal, the flash of polished brass and the grime of grease and coal dust are indelible memories. I stood beside the men and other fascinated children and gave my heart to the steamers in all their grimy glory.

So that is why I'm using the Reemere as my inspiration even though she was less than pretty. You can see from the pictures that she went through three stages of development, from her construction in 1909 to her second phase, probably after purchase by the Reemere Steamship Co in 1926, to her final stage in 1942. Sadly she was later converted to a fishing boat and after an aborted attempt to restore her, she's ended up on a lake in NSW, possibly as a house boat.

Finally, here is a gratuitous shot of the Cartela in her glory days.

Winter woes and wonders

2008-07-09T22:15:00.003+10:00

My first piece is finished! I can't unveil it yet but here's a teaser! (It's actually based on a photo of me aged about 3 years old.) Once I got started on the piece which has been planned for two or three years, the process has been quite enjoyable, though it's been hard work and frustratingly difficult to find the consecutive days to keep the flow going. The weather's been so cold and I've developed my first head cold of the year.

To cap it all, we had a switchboard meltdown last Thursday at the Primary School and the electrician had to turn the power off. And off it has remained till yesterday - Tuesday - afternoon. On Monday we expected it to be fixed but the school remained in darkness and it was so cold. Two classes were sent to rooms in the High School and two to the Community Complex. The other classes huddled and had a lot of Phys Ed! The poor old switchboard, which dated back to the 1960's, was apparently just too old and bits kept disintegrating. Our new swimming pool is on a separate switchboard so they ran an extension cord up to the office and we were able to get the phones functioning, the PA and a heater for Rachael. But no computers, no photocopiers and no laminator. It has been all rather boring, especially when you can see all that work piled up and waiting to be done. I'm going to be snowed under tomorrow when I go.

Winter is here

2008-06-30T15:28:00.003+10:00

It's been a dismal weekend weather-wise for the last of the financial year. I've started stitching for my long anticipated solo exhibition but I guess I can't show you what I'm making. Got to leave the surprises till the unveiling!

However, the sun made a futile attempt to break through this morning and I took its photograph. It was only a fleeting moment though and it has been murky ever since. It's not an omen - and I'm not superstitious! My exhibition will happen!

Masked Owls

2008-06-18T10:08:00.007+10:00

School holidays have come and gone, but for the two rather dismal winter weeks I was beavering away on this piece, created for a friend. She wanted a sculptural piece that was a native Tasmanian creature, so what better than an owl? I'd had enough of stitching Boobook owls so I wanted to try the Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandae). The Tasmanian sub species is interesting because the female is larger and darker than the male, and is in fact the largest Tyto (masked) owl in the world! So here was scope indeed. I envisaged the larger female posturing on the top of a stump, accompanied by her quieter consort.

Technically the work is supported on a hidden satin-covered box (Apost mailing tube) and mounted on a handmade felt "cosy." I adapted the pattern I'd created for the Boobook owls: Masked Owls have different proportions - shorter bodies, longer legs and larger wings. And, of course, the mask face is fascinating to embroider. Most of the work is stitched on the Thug, my trusty Bernina 950, which had recently been serviced making it a learning curve all over again, trying to get the tension variations I was used to! The stump is stitched over two layers of woven interfacing and took two days to work. When I finally pinned it in place, it was obvious that I'd gone overboard on the colour blending and the whole effect was distractingly stripey! I had to go over the entire surface with a blending colour to tone it down enough.

Assembling the work took a whole day. The legs and wings are supported with tie wire armatures and the finished piece is surprisingly sturdy. The open wings of the female posed many challenges; I would, if I'd had more tome, have stitched a line of fuse wire down the leading feather to stiffen it a little as it's sure to curl over time.

It was such a challenging piece to work that it is now difficult for me to appreciate it fully as a finished sculpture, especially as I finished it only the night before delivery. Sound familiar, Tara?

The road to Hobart

2008-06-14T21:51:00.004+10:00

Yesterday, Friday the 13th, we drove to Hobart. Far from experiencing any sort of bad luck, we had a most enjoyable day. We took the Xtrail (together with its expensive new radiator) and drove over what is now designated as the Highland Lakes road - the Lake Highway for all diehards!

It was a delightful drive and it was snowing very gently and magically at Miena at the southern end of the Great Lake. So when we stopped for a wee moment, I took these photos.

Further on, as we left the alpine country, the road was blanketed by a woolly carpet. Thousands of sheep - Cormos just like we used to have- returning from their summer grazing and covering the bitumen with a continually moving and bleating ebb and flow. I wished I could have taken the definitive photo but it wasn't to be.

Finished at last

2008-06-09T21:07:00.008+10:00

About a month ago Tara brought home an Afghan rug she had found at an Op Shop. She said that as she'd missed out on laying claim to one of the two Afghan rugs I'd crocheted in my prime, she had to get one for herself. If I repaired and restored it for her it would have my input as well as the unknown hand/s who had made it. Sound reasoning, I thought! I can never resist a challenge.

The rug was in a somewhat sorry state. The squares were joined on the diagonal and there had never been a stabilising border crocheted around the outside. Whether it was sun damage, old age or insects, (though I suspect it was mainly the first) it would require much unpicking and reworking. She also brought me a bag of left over wools she'd got from the Tip Shop. The black edging on the quilt was crocheted in what appeared to be Bluebell 5 ply which is rather thin on the ground these days.

The problem with the unpicking was that the very neat lady who'd done the bulk of the crochet had carefully and thoroughly sewn in all the ends of each colour round instead of just crocheting over them like a nice sensible woman. When it wasn't necessary to hoard a particular colour, I just had to carefully cut it away instead of unpicking. Certain wools were very fragile - what looked like 4 ply crepes in pale pink, blue, lemon and mauve. I had very limited colour to replace them - a red, a blue which was rather too bright, a tealy colour and a saxe blue tweedy mix. The centre and one side were particularly rotten. I repaired nearly 40 squares and then crocheted two rounds around the outside in black 8 ply (one ball of which turned out to be indigo - colour blind in my old age!)

Then I carefully washed it.

Alas, more squares collapsed and the edge waved and lumped. I set about unpicking and repairing again. Twelve squares later I set off around the outside again. but it was no good - the 8 ply was too thick. Then in Devonport I found a bin with some odd 5 ply wools - and there was definitely some black. So I unpicked the border on did it properly this time. Above is the finished result!
And to finish, here's Shannon's cat Leon, making use of one of my creations!

Farewell to an old friend

2008-06-02T21:37:00.005+10:00

It's been a delightful tree, one of the first I planted when I started gardening. This Malus floribunda was showing signs of distress when this photo was taken a few years ago. When I embarked on a major overhaul of this bed last year, I lavished a lot of attention on it, removing huge suckers and pruning and reshaping. The bay tree on the right of the picture had blown down so I removed roots, masses of bluebells, lily-of-the-valley, rose suckers and prairie grass and created a Japanese style area with azaleas, small Miscanthus grasses and small conifers. And the crab apple was the main feature. This last spring it flowered magnificently and looked a picture.

And Miki loved it!

The other day, as autumn took its grip and moved inexorably towards winter, the base of the tree suddenly sprouted fungus. Now I'd seen the program on root rot fungi on Gardening Australia and recognised it immediately as the dreaded Armillaria or Honey Fungus. My tree was doomed.
So we spent the Sunday afternoon chopping down and poisoning the stump and now I shal have to cross my fingers that the other plantings don't succumb to the fungus' dreaded creeping underground fingers. According to my garden encyclopaedia, Armillaris is a native fungus with only limited effect on native plants but is very potent on the apple family. I had planted Malus "Ionensis" nearby. Is that too doomed?

Marcel takes on the world!

2008-06-01T14:21:00.003+10:00

While Tara is abroad, I'm minding her bantam rooster, Marcel. He's some fancy breed which I can't quite remember (Belgian?) and he's very personable. However, he has spent most of the past two weeks up in the rafters of the chook pen, keeping out of the way of the other roosters. Yesterday I was trying to set up a temporary fence to keep the chooks out of my garden, when who should appear to watch the process but Marcel. And he was in no hurry to return the way he had come.

But then Miki materialised and even a cocky little rooster was prepared to beat a dignified retreat!

The pear tree

2008-05-20T21:07:00.004+10:00

The pear tree is gone!!

This iconic tree which graced the small paddock known as the Old Yard, has been destroyed by the new broom which has likewise swept away the cherry trees which grew on the rocky bank nearby. It's rather hard to believe that the tree which had outlasted many Badcocks including Drew's father, has been uprooted by the cousin who is relentlessly modernising what used to be the back part of our farm.

I'll always associate this tree with Tara who has used its image as a symbol in those wonderful photos taken by Alan of Photobat.
The soil has been ripped up and Drew found some more shards from the Old Yard's former history.

Mothers Day

2008-05-12T10:48:00.008+10:00

Last year it was Quamby Bluff but Drew decided that we should go further afield this year and we tried for the Walls of Jerusalem (Have X-Trail, will travel). So with Fer and Ant and Ant's parents, Cynthia and John, we set off at a well prepared and steady pace.

It's probably 18 years since I last did the walk and there have been a few changes since. The first ascent up to the trappers hut is the same but where we once took a gentle path up the valley floor, we now had to climb up and over a rocky spur before we reached Solomons Jewels - the series of glacial tarns that bespangle the plateau before you reach the Walls themselves. Still, it was worth the climb. The Jewels are glorious, the reflections superb and the fringing pencil pines magnificent. We lunched at one of the last tarns but decided that we did not have enough daylight to reach Herod's gates. John had carried up 2 little fuel stoves so there was soup and tea or coffee to go with our sandwiches and the sparkling burgundy with which we toasted the occasion.

We turned and walked back and the mist started to rise up from the valleys but it was only the track that was any problem. It's quite stony and rugged and the steep downhill sections can be excruciating on the knees. However, we made it safely down and had enough time and daylight for refreshments before the trip home.

But she was beautiful!

2008-05-10T14:09:00.002+10:00

Well, Agfest has come and gone and Big Del was finished in time and shipped off to take her place. She didn't win any of the prizes but she was beautiful and one of the more eye-catching cows on display. She was runner up in the People's Choice award but that was scooped by Hagley Farm school who reportedly sent 8 classes to Agfest, all armed with the prepared voting slips for their cow, Pic-cow-so.

However, most people loved Del and every time I went past her, she was being stroked, examined or generally interacted with. My favourite sight was towards closing time when I saw two weary farmers with elbows resting on her head, discussing the days finds. I wished I'd gotten that photo!

C'est la vie!

Holy cow!

2008-04-14T14:49:00.005+10:00

The next school project is the painting of Del, the lifesize fibreglass cow, which has to be completed before judging at Agfest in May.

She's a beautiful beast, with soulful brown eyes and anatomical details absolutely correct. One suspects that the original cast was taken from a real cow. She won't of course, continue to look so beautiful. She's got to be artistically adorned and thus will descend into the Andy Warhol halucinatory lifestyle and will become host to a rotary dairy and other sundry attractions. But the first step has been taken and I have a whole day tomorrow to take her a step further and break the back of the project, so to speak!

New arrivals

2008-04-12T17:04:00.008+10:00

We have the sweetest baby guinea pigs and they're all girls. Andy and his children called in to visit and the piglets were the main attraction. They were carried all over the garden and by evening they were quite tame and very tired! There are four of them and two are the most delectable shade of silver. The other two are brown like their mother.

And here are the proud parents, The Stig and Easter Bunny.

Summer Suffolk

2008-03-29T23:11:00.002+11:00

I've finally finished what will probably be the last sheep picture I'll make (well, for a long time anyway.) It was commissioned last November, so I haven't been exactly enthusiastic about it, but I've persevered and it's done at last.

You can sense the reluctance with which I approached the stitching and I did work on it in fits and starts. But this sheep does have "it." What I mean is that there comes a stage in working when the image transcends the technique and the toil and takes on that certain magic of life and personality.

It's only a smallish picture -30 x 40cms but I'm satisfied that my final sheep is not too bad!

Happy Easter all!

2008-03-23T19:52:00.004+11:00

This would have to be my favourite Easter joke. And Drew and I ate into our chocolate Easter bunnies in exactly this way this morning, so obviously it's a universal truth!

Samuel Street

2008-03-17T21:56:00.005+11:00

It's done! And it only took me about three months! Being only a part-time quilter, that's good going for me.

I planned this quilt years ago. I had decided to make a quilt for each of the four daughters of my niece, Liz and had the first nearly finished when she gave birth to a son, Ben. So I followed Lillie-Mae's lily quilt with a bear one for Ben. Tigers for Jackie followed and finally it was time to make this long planned design. I had originally planned a house in the middle square but I managed to find this pieced "Overall Bill" which did nicely for the boy. Fer had got me the Rag doll block pattern from an old Quiltmaker magazine, and , though I have no confidence with my hand-appliqué skills, I managed to make these up without too much hassle. The problem was that they were not square blocks and I preferred a square quilt for this series. So, after some fairly violent mathematical calculations on my part, I made the green sashes different widths to bring it up to square and match up with the 6 inch blocks for the outer border.

Many years ago I had made another quilt, Samuel Town, using these different houses and trees and it had been my favourite quilt. Now as Liz and her children lived in Samuel street (a very rural road!) it was a logical name for this effort. I tried to use fabrics from my stash so I graded the colour of the background of the outer blocks. I nearly got away with it but had to buy one more fabric ...

This detail shows the hand quilting of the inner panels. Perhaps I got a bit carried away! Anyway, I've finished and I love it. Samuel Street is machine and hand stitched and hand quilted. The batting is a 60/40 wool/poly blend and it is backed with a printed cotton flannelette. The rag dolls are embellished with a few beads and lace and have hand-embroidered details. The finished quilt measures 108 cms square (3 feet 6")

And now for Pheobe's quilt ...

New Wheels!

2008-03-12T20:14:00.003+11:00

So, here she is, the new Clairemobile! She's an '04 Nissan Xtrail manual, one owner, low mileage and the poor lady nearly wept as I drove it away. (Her third child is due in 3 weeks and they're upsizing to a Pajero.)

It's so quiet and comfortable to drive that it's a strain to hear the engine and know when to change gears. I was nearly back at Exton before I realised that it had a tacho, and should be reading the revs. Like all the early Xtrails it has the speedo/tacho/other dials in the centre of the dashboard, which will take a little getting used to and my left hand on the steering wheel tends to hide the tacho from my view. You do have to watch the speed continually as I can't judge it yet - it goes very fast! The colour is called twilight.

We still have the hyacinth van which we've advertised. I hope it sells soon - I'm feeling desperately broke!

Look what the cats dragged in!

2008-02-28T21:14:00.008+11:00

A couple of weeks ago we had a nice little evening shower. The cats went out and immediately discovered , to their great delight, that when a small green frog that had been innocently migrating through the grass, was patted with a delicate paw, a high-pitched oboe noise was emitted! To save these poor frogs too much orchestral distress at the instigation of the feline music lovers, I rescued the frogs, some 5 in all and relocated them to the pond.

In the ensuing weeks, any wander past the pond has resulted in considerable splashes of surprise, leading me to believe that there were more than five frogs in that pond! So yesterday I took camera in hand and did my best commando crawl through the buttercup bespangled grass and managed to get close enough without startling my froggy inhabitants. And there they all were, sunning themselves.

These frogs are not ,as many people call them, the true Green and Gold frog but rather the Tasmanian species Littoria raniformis or Green Warty Marsh frog. (Isn't that a name the just trips off the tongue?) I settled down for my count, and as more and more kept popping up and sunning themselves on lily pads and rocks I was able to count them - 14 in all!

It's not that big a pond! Those that are bigger and seem to have been incumbents longer, have tanned to a darker bronze colour, but my little explorers are still a delicious green. They are all such a delight.

After taking my photos I crawled discreetly back the way I came .

Fire Photos

2008-02-22T17:35:00.003+11:00

These are the photos I tried to attach to the Oops entry. I was doing it on my break at school but there was not photo attachment button on the entry page. I guess it was some part of the antiporn setup on Government computers and servers! Anyway, here they are.

Oops!

2008-02-21T11:35:00.001+11:00

On our way back from shopping in Launceston one day last week, we stopped at Westbury for supplies. As I was entering the supermarket sirens started to wail. Two young chicks on bikes nearby said, "Oooh, an ambulance. Let's go and see."
My thought was , "Fire trucks have the sirens," and thought no more about it as the siren receded into the distance.

But ten minutes later, as we drove down Exton Road to home, there were flashing lights in our front farm paddock and there were three fire trucks hosing down the last of a big grass fire!

It had started where Drew had burnt some rubbish a week before when we'd had some showewry weather. He'd noticed it was still smouldering a few days later and had been down several times to make sure that it was out. But it had laid low and waited its chance. Our tenants had noticed it burning the grass and had gone down and put it out, but a little secondary finger of fire had been caught by the breeze and swept it into the blackberries. After that it was beyond them and they called the fire brigade. They arrived just as it had leapt the road and was moving towards the neighbour's poppy crop. Luckily they had it all under control in a matter of minutes.

It's such an embarassing and blatant landmark for now for Drew, but at least it has cleaned up a fire hazard!

30 today!

2008-02-11T14:19:00.000+11:00

I realised that today marks 30 years as a Teacher Aide at Deloraine Primary School! I guess this is some sort of milestone, making me the longest serving staff member at this school.

There have been so many benefits. I started out in the library, covering, cataloguing and filing and from there moved on to general work, working for teachers and administration. I've gained so many skills in the process, starting with covering books in contact film through to gaining computer skills. This latter has been the real benefit for where else could someone in my position learn these things, especially since my children have left home? We started out with little black and white BBCs with dial up connections through to the Library of Tas, until we have reached the point where the Aides computor is the biggest in the school with the most programs loaded on - not that I have had to use them all! Oh well, if the needs arise.

Today the staff have been congratulating me and I discover that it has been written up on the Staff whiteboard. Then at recess there was cake with Congatulations Claire on it and these lovely flowers. I do feel so appreciated!

It was such a lovely wedding

2008-02-04T11:09:00.000+11:00

The sun was shining (most of the time), the tide was out, but we had a lovely time. The bride was ravishing. She aparently ordered her dress from Hong Kong, just sending over the measurements, and it was done in 3 weeks at a fraction of the cost. Good plan!

So here we all are, the grooms family, and dressed to kill! It's funny to think that now were're the oldies - almost getting to be elderly! We tried not to be the conservatives in the background gossiping about everyone, but the young have so much energy!

Then there's the very young. This is Robert and Erin's little daughter, Isabel (I hope I've got the spelling correct.) She's such a little doll! She was so overwhelmed at first and didn't seem to think that her Mum was real in such a dress. But she hit her stride later and made her own little contributions during the speeches. I wish I could have got a photo then but that's the trouble with the old digital camera - there's that bit of a delay between pressing the shutter and the picture actually being captured. I had trouble later on when I was trying to get a closeup of sister Janet. I forgot that the didgital zoom doesn't register in the viewfinder but only on the screen. I have a lovely shot of Janet's chin and one of her cleaveage!

And finally, here's a shot of my family enjoying the day!

A film review or two

2008-01-26T21:52:00.000+11:00

SBS recently showed a series of Japanese anime by the director Hayayo Miyazuki. We started watching Nausicaa: Valley of the Winds and got strangely hooked by its storyline and production. In the following weeks we watched Howl's Moving Castle, Laputa, Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service and Porco Rosso. Drew remembered Porco Rosso for some years before but the other films were a revelation. I especially loved Laputa, Castle in the sky and Howl's Moving Castle. The stories were fascinating and the animation fantastic. Although the stories are set some time in an imaginary past, the machines and contraptions are just delightful and believable. Who can not be impressed by the moving castle?

The week after that series ended they showed Isho Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies. Takahata is an assistant of Miyazaki's but he made Grave of the Fireflies by himself. It's based on a Japanese story set at the end of WW2. The city (I believe it is Kobe) is continually fire-bombed by the Americans, the two children's mother is killed and they are left to fend for themselves. Seita looks after his little sister Setsuko and they live in an abandoned bomb shelter until Setsuko dies of malnutrition. Seito has nothing to live for and he dies just as the Americans land.

It sounds so depressing but there is such a joy in the love between the siblings and a happiness in most things they do together. It is a profoundly moving and unforgettable film, and because it is anime, it seems to have more impact than if it was made with real actors. I don't think I've been so affected by a film in a long time.

To the garden ...

2008-01-22T21:04:00.000+11:00

There are a couple of nice moments happening in my garden just now. After all the hard winter and spring work it is nice to see some rewards, whether planned or serendipitous. The show above resulted from the placement of the wooden obelisk that Tara and Ranier gave me, training the roses Mme Pierre Oger and Reine des Violettes across it and planting Clematis texensis "Gravetye Beauty" inside. but then these wonderful Cleomes have self-seeded in such a place to complement them so beautifully ...

The second part is this lovely sunny section that has matured enough to give me the arrangement I have been planning. Of course the bits on either side are not so good - yet...!

Miki has her feet up whilst The Stig has been busy.

2008-01-19T14:41:00.000+11:00

Well, it's been a funny old week. We start off with a nice social barbeque and then it is change from there in.

First an old friend and teaching colleague died. She was one of those energetic, make-things-happen type people who, although 85 years old, had seemed indestructable until her stroke late last year. So , when she died, it was a release for her as she would never be the woman she had been, the way everyone remembered her. She had planned her own funeral, down to the last word, and when the hearse rolled away, no-one was allowed to accompany her to the crematorium, but instead everyone, family included, had to repair to the Parish Hall for a good, old-fashioned afternoon tea and chin wag! What a way to go. Happy journey, Betty.

Next, my uncle rang to say that my uncle in Sydney was dying. This was a sadness as everyone loved Uncle Bill. And the next day he died, and, as I have no address, I can't send my commiserations. I know he did not need to suffer, but I will miss him.

In the midst of all this it is time to remember that Miki has been with us for one whole year, endearing and enlivening our lives and shaking up the cat world forever! it is sad that she's ended up being Tabasco's replacement rather than his companion and torment, but she's certainly changed the dynamics of house and garden.

And to everything there is a season indeed. After a week of extreme discomfort and Jabba the Hutt-like profile, the Easter guinea pig has finally given birth to the Stig's first offspring. There were four babies, though one was born dead, and they're desperately cute! We're so used to the harlequin colours of Twistie's children that these new solid -coloured piglets are quite a novelty. Two are chocolate and one is dark grey. One of the chocolates has a little dribble of cream down his nose!

Is this any better, Fer?

2008-01-07T21:00:00.000+11:00

Actually, the black was very heavy so I'll go subtle this time. Thank you for your constructive comments.

Today I finished and packed up 6 butterflies and posted them off. That's a weight off my mind. Got a sheep picture to do next. I sat out in the sun at lunch time to stitch butterflies and pink up my legs. First the cats descended on me and then the little flies! Drew says they breed in the pig sheds. I persevered till the brooch was finished and then beat a hasty retreat. Tonight at sundown I notice that there is a pink tinge down my shins. Yay!! (And you're right Shan, you do use a lot of exclamation marks in these blogs!)

New Year Resolutions

2008-01-06T22:00:00.000+11:00

So I've made some New Year Resolutions:

1. To create a blog! It might help the ageing memory a little and stave off dementia! Who knows? Hopefully I'll have something to write about!

2. To create enough work to be able to hold a solo exhibition. (I've not made a start on this yet!)

3. To finish digging and landscaping my Japanese pool. I think I'll wait for the cooler weather!

(So I'm feeling my way at the moment. I fell asleep planning my first entry last night and now that I've started writing, I can't remember a single word I planned! Yesterday was a big day. I pulped all this pre-soaked scrap paper and card and made some 38 sheets of heavy paper for my butterfly boxes. I ran out of cloths in the end and had to leave the rest of the pulp for this morning. I was able to squeeze out another 12 sheets. No wonder my memory is shaky!)

4. To expose my legs to the world!
Now you all may know that my legs are always decently hidden - and with good reason! But there's my nephew's wedding next month and the thought of a hot day and having to wear pants or tights is too much. So I took a deep breath and brought out the shorts. What a sight! My arms are tanned to a soft butterscotch but my legs are more like nougat! They are a translucent white crossed with blue veins, with the red cherries of Miki and branch scratches and with brownish bruises to knees and shins.

After two days of daylight exposure I'd like to pretend that there is a little colour on them but the reality is that there is a little patch of red sunburn on the back of each calf!

27 days to go!