fish at Low Isles

Cooktown

Did a run up to Cooktown on Tuesday and it was fabulous- going back to photograph the place seriously in better light when I get an opportunity.
We took it easy because it is a good three hour drive from here but the road is good despite wandering stock and wildlife- and the odd road train.
Our niece from Hong Kong is staying with us at present because she has finished school and is waiting for Uni entrance here in Oz after living overseas for a number of years. Seeing the area through her eyes is an education because she has lived in Europe, Africa and Asia for the past 9 years or so and so it is all fresh to her. She was very pleased to meet a lady in Cooktown who was fostering Joeys and she got to nurse one to her huge delight.
Amber is an artist too so I am planning on get my sh*t together and sorting out my workspace and she wants to learn a few techniques I use so that should be fun. And having her to work with might return my desire to create because I have hit a bit of a flat spot of late. Feeling really lazy after the mad rush to complete the Ex work and just ever so slightly overwhelmed by the fact of the beauty of this place and finding my place here.

When I was in Melbourne the weekend before last I was feeling a bit ambivalent about pretty much everything. Did I miss it? Not the place as such but I do miss my friends- one in particular. I do miss Port Phillip Bay and the light it has that changes so rapidly, very different to the sea here which I DO love but it isnt my beloved Bay. I miss my folks of course but phone calls are frequent and they have finally been able to escape the winter in Vic and head a little way north for some warm before Mum gets all involved with her pennant season with bowls etc.
I really had a good time in Melbourne catching up with people and I didnt really have too much time to think except on the way back to the airport to fly back here and a really eerie thing occured. As anyone who knows me knows my slight obsession with Dr John and I was listening to his CD 'N'awlins. Dis Dat and D'udda" and the final track is called 'I'm Going Home' goosebumps ran up my spine as I heard it start just as I pulled into the car park at the airport- a REAL eerie sensation.
Maybe I think too much LOL but it seemed apt and I must admit I did a dance in my seat when the plane landed at the ungodly hour of 12.45am in temperatures of 24C
So I am home but still working on it and we will see how it progresses.

Exhaustion/exhileration

Since my flying trip to Melbourne last week I have been knackered lol. Spent most the week quietly with a visit here and there from nice neighbours- thankfully the not so nice one has been very scarce of late to the relief of a couple of us ;-)

I played with some discharge ideas during the week but I really have to pull my finger out and organise my workspace to do some more work.
But the weather has made me lazy- wet for most of the week til Thursday I mostly mooched around doing very little LOL then when it got sunny again went outside to play!!

I have to split my workspace in two- the room I will be using faces a large clump of lawyer vine or Wait a While- nasty stuff but the palms look so pretty in the dappled sunlight coming through the trees. The large built in wardrobe has some shelves but I can stack up my big tubs in there no worries and that will help with the issues the wet weather has shown about this house- when it rains it gets damp!!
I will do messy stuff out on the deck dyeing and stuff like that and hopefully when we extend it around the house it will give me access to the laundry area but I have made do for all these years so a couple more probably wont hurt me ;-)

The exhileration part is from yesterday, Ken took us out to Low Isles for a sail and we scraped the weed off the hull of Tau Ceti and amused a rather large angel fish who loved nibbling at the bits of goo coming off the hull. After lunch and a thaw out- the water IS warmer than Victoria of course but it does chill you after an hour or so- we went for a snorkel towed by the dinghy to the very edge of the reef around the barrier island of the group. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Massive brain corals, fans and other formations, myriads of teensy fish of all colours AND then there was the cod! A rather large coral cod with a crew of cleaner wrasses darting all over him. He let me get within two feet of him- even with the magnification of water this fish was about a metre long- and I could watch the little wrasses nipping off the parasites. so bloody cool!!!
M.O.T.H. got towed back to the boat but I elected to go back under my own steam and was surrounded by a school of small blue fish that seemed intent to escort me back to where the big Angel who had parked under the boat was waiting, as soon as he came into view the little fish just disappeared. We fed the Angel scraps of bread from our lunch and he was a greedy fishy that's for sure but so beautiful and free. As one of us observed ' A bloody perfect day'

Maybe I am not

a complete heathen because I can appreciate churches- certainly when they are as pretty as St Mary's
All shot hand held in very low light so only about six of the images are useable but I am planning on taking the tripod next week ;-)

Port Douglas in the evenings

It's pretty nice to be able to just wander around under a dramatic sky in the twilight. As my dear friend Fred would call it 'a sweet light' The fellas went sailing last night but I didnt feel up to it and just wandered with my camera and sketch book while they were out on the briny.
The mangroves are starting to fascinate me more and more- although I am not that keen on the idea of wandering through them on my own between being ever so slightly stinky and full of bitey critters I will have to find a guide LOL.

Beltainn I, II

Woodsmoke

this was previewed a few months back but shot in situ at the Charles Smith Gallery
65 Smith St Fitzroy - show on 'til September 30

Finally!

some pics of "the Work"
Solstise Eve.

Done!

The past couple of weeks have been fairly full on, but I have posted away my bits and pieces for the next exhibition. Unfortunately in the rush yesterday to pack them I was intending on photographing them but time was NOT on my side. Then himself suggested might be better to photograph them in situ at the gallery.
Oh well scatterbrained me!!

Not all my time has been taken up with work, in between slashing vines (and nasty Lawyer Vine being the worst) and other things I have become the designated driver for the Wednesday Afternoon Gents Sailing (WAGS) expeditions mounted by M.O.T.H and his 'brother' aka The Big Builder. As none of the so called adults stay terribly sober on these nights I was volunteered to do so as I dont drink very much. So it is no effort for me to stay sober and be the safe driver- I get my dinner out of it and some nice sailing although this week I didnt really feel like sailing much because I was generally blah and it was going to be a tad sloppy out there I decided to go and take some photographs instead. In particular of the boat in question that I chose the colours for- and wasn't THAT a drama in some quarters!
thankfully the drama queen hasnt been around much over the last month but that is about to change because her work has dried up so the evening sails could be bumpy and not just for the weather. (evilgrin) but I am so OVER her dramatic ways and the guys do need a sober driver and her consumption of the demon is pretty high for a woman so we will see. Stay tuned folks ROFLMAO
anyhow here are some pics of the boat and of another dragon in the garden
cheers
/R

Visitors

We are having our first visitors from Vic tomorrow- some friends are up from chilly old Vic and staying in Port D for a break and coming for morning tea tomorrow yipppee
so I am baking but we have had more animal adventures today with another dragon making its presence felt and a rather dozy frog but nature is nature

In progress

Finally some of my work is underway at last
this is an in progress shot taken for reference while I assemble the first of two- possibly three- masks for the exhibition.
Silk paper some stitch and very blurry because it is very overcast here today and my deck is quite dull but it give a guide of colours and intent

Trying to work but

the neighbours keep visiting and distracting me!!
These kinds of visitors are pretty exciting though
pademelons- no not a melon but a type of small wallaby that is fairly shy and not all the common. http://rainforest-australia.com/pademelon.htm

M.O.T.H decided to have sleep in this morning and heard them munching on the plants in the garden- we have been noticing the leaves scattered on the ground where the stems have been chewed out on a particular part of the 'garden' well it it is a jungle really LOL
We saw one, then realised another one was there too and a few minutes later after Dad wandered off the youngster came and spent some time with Mum- who seems to have a nasty scar on her leg so that means no loose animals in this household EVER

In the Tree House

In the new house

and meeting the wildlife.
I arrived up here a week ago with my sweet kitty and we camped in the house until all the stuff arrived the day before yesterday- still madly unpacking stuff but I finally got my pc out to get connected again.
Took it quietly for the week to get the kitty used to the idea she was now permanently an indoor kitty. And the reason is the pic
A Boyd's Forest Dragon in my garden- territorial lizard so he lives here!!
I have seen a wallaby in the driveway, a white tailed rat, lots of different birds and heard the bandicoots scratching around at night so the wildlife is definitely out there LOL

Jazzy talks again

Well things are strange here at the moment, the place is full of boxes and they are up to something but I am making sure they cant run away without me by staying close.
The never ending party has continued a little so I have had lots of visitors over the past couple of weeks and lots of nice boys to quote on the removal job.
Mummy has been doing some work but has not had time to photograph anything seeing she is stealing time at night when she should be packing boxes but she has been taking some photo's for inspiration.
And on Saturday it was SO cold I spent the entire day in front of the fire like any sensible person not like THEM who went out for dinner in the wind and rain those silly smooth skins!! Although Mum did spend an hour grooming me in front of the fire- I think she just wanted to hog the firebox and prevent this fluffy pussy from getting all the heat.
Despite the fact I grow a great winter coat I HATE the cold!!
OH well off to supervise the packing- gotta make sure Mum packs my things properly!!!

Of monster parties and new toys

BIG couple of weeks folks- after the sale etc we decided to hold The Last Blast. A two day party -yeah yeah I know that is something you do in your teens and at the latest in your twenties. It was fun if exhausting and those that turned up had a great time. Cooked up a big batch of my special Moroccan Goat dish, a fine veg tagine was M.O.T.H.'s contribution which was served with cous cous, pilaf, salad, bread and dips etc. Seemed to go down well and pretty much the same again the next day. As usual I made a tonne of food but not out of control too much in the way of leftovers as there has been in the past.
Saturday night was deviates night and there was a stray body for the night and the last guests got kicked out at around 2am. Then we had a visitor to collect a vehicle left behind- and we were up for it again because most of my family turned up on Sunday along with those friends with young kids. Several surprises too.
My auntie was in raptures over my haloumi and sweet potato salad which is rather yum I must admit myself especially with nice sprinkle of good balsamic vinegar.
One thing about my clan when they gather they never come empty handed. Humming bird cakes. Sponges with passionfruit icing added to that some friends who turned up with pavlova and the most glorious cannoli and profiteroles. Yes they are dessert specialists- I rarely make desserts because I like them WAY too much.
Some wicked souls made it to both days- although they were somewhat more subdued on Sunday
Collapsed in front of the idiot box on Sunday night with the kitchen an ABSOLUTE disaster area (for the very first time ever since a certain builder built me my beautiful kitchen)and had some leftovers for dinner - well picked rather than ate LOL.
Monday was clean up - it wasnt too bad I had done the garbage disposal etc the night before- and then my sister in law and her husband turned up to stay for an indeterminate time (more on that shortly) And in between that my new toy turned up.
I bought myself a laptop finally- M.O.T.H. reckons i picked it because I could get a nice colour- well it was a small consideration but not the major. Bluetooth, wireless, etc so I can work anywhere in the house.

And I booked my flight with Miss Jazzy to Queensland- weird to be booking one way. She and I are going up earlier than the furniture so I can get some painting done and our tenants had to move suddenly due to a family emergency. I will be camping with my kitty in our treehouse- I have to put together a survival kit to take with me-
Towel
utensil and soemthing to cook with etc to survive
will be interesting I am sure
catch ya

Some work

Of a kind- at last!
Strange few days but some drawing out of an idea has begun- just waiting on the silk fibres I have ordered so I can start playing with it more tangibly.
Had this idea for another mask- I like masks a lot for a number of reasons. The metaphor of a mask is an interesting one - the one we hide behind? Or perhaps simply a layer of persona- albeit a persona we might not acknowledge in our public lives.

For some reason while thinking about masks and forests and the like this image came out of my pencil- a spirit of the forest perhaps? Who knows but I am sort of looking to expand that idea a little with silk paper leaves and a mask..... wonder what will happen?
Here goes nothing

SOLD!

We sold our house yesterday and got more than we had dared hope after the way the market had softened in the past two months.
This past week has been an exercise in not going crazy- we-ell any crazier than I am already!! lol If I hadnt added that M.O.T.H would have :-)
We decided during the week not to be greedy- and the good karma seems to have paid off. Our home has been bought by a couple with two young daughters so it will be a family home again- a tad bittersweet in some ways but we are really pleased about that because the street is turning back into one of young families. When we arrived here it was one of older people many of whom have moved on in one way or the other. We will miss our neighbours a great deal to be completely honest but it was time for us to move on or we would have never done it.
Our Real Estate lady was brilliant- none of the smarm of the blokes I have come across and her honesty was refreshing to say the least. She admitted to me afterwards that like me she thought it was not going to sell because bidding was so slow initially. I left the room I was in to listen to the auction because it was killing me and I had only gone a few feet and the price had risen by 50,000 dollars!! It rocketed off yippee.
So tropics here I come and now after the end of this week when the buyers have had their second inspection I can FINALLY get down to some work for me- Yipppeee ki yay LOL

The countdown

in three hours and seven days we will know for certain if we have sold the house.
Since we had the first open for inspection there have been about 40 people at each opening on average which is very interesting and we have received a credible offer on the house. The opinion however is that we can get more at the auction.
Not that I am looking forward to that process at all- rather nerve shredding to say the least.
We have had a fortnight of non work on the place- even to the extent of not cooking during the weekends because it might mess up the kitchen LOL and the rest of the time I have been catching up on much needed sleep.
I am hoping this week to start some work for myself as such even though the majority of my art supplies are locked in a girlfriends garage as part of the decluttering process- we are living in a display home and I have re read all of the books we kept in the shelves as part of the display process so I am rapidly getting bored as there is little else I can do to amuse myself without making a mess.
I am going to spend this week making pages for a book that I am going to ask attendees of a party to put their contact details on and decorate -or not- to their desire and bind them all with chicago screws in a cover I am planning at the moment- that I can manage without too much mess and being able to pack things away if needed if someone wants an inspection during the week.

But just trying to stay calm is not easy but the pics are the results of the work I have done over the past 5 months or so -oops 'we' LOL M.O.T.H objects!!