phew! made it out alive!

Ok -- I'm not going to sugar-coat things

or dwell in a melancholic maudlin manner



so let's just say

2014 has been a helluva year

(and leave it at that eh)

BUT

you know what scarlett o'hara said

'tomorrow... is another day'




so for 2015 I've decided to look up

(literally)

(but more about that tomorrow)

for now it's time to wish you all

a happy new year!


....

N o E L ...

may your festive season be full of peace, love and good cheer

and 2015 be a stellar year


xxx

a most remarkable week...

We've had what can only be described as
A Most Remarkable Week

 

 

as five mammals on two bikes
(aka Artist as Family)

turned our small creek world 

 upside downsy inside outsy

(in the best possible way)

with long conversations around the table

 that ranged from eco poetics and cultural interventions
to the art of bicycle maintenance
and all stops in between:

 permaculture, radical homemaking, foraging, farming, gardening
stealth camping, dog whispering, philosophy, activism, 

the pitfalls and delights of social media,  

why-post-modernism-isn't-relavent-to-anything-at-all-so-lets-just-ignore-it
and

wild yeast baking....

 (look guys -- its ALIVE!) 

oooo its been a heady old time!

(and mostly one where the camera was forgotten as the moments were thoroughly enjoyed)


I first 'met' Patrick, then Meg, a few years ago in the marvelous melting pot of blogland
we've shared intermittent notes to and fro since I stumbled over
Patrick's blog Permapoesis and followed their arty projects with growing interest

I was nervous about us meeting up In Real Life
would they (or worse, WE) be totally boring, false, weird or wonky
beyond the sanctioned medium of the blog?

the reality was a mutually delightful and magical time was had by all

...

While Patrick, Meg, Zephyr, Woody and Zero were hanging around our region
they delighted folk with their story on the local radio

and in person at our local wholefood shop/cafe

 

but before we knew it, it was time for them to push on 

slowly making their way south to home in Daylesford, Victoria

with our sassy-boyo joining them on the highway for the first 6kms up to Cobargo

 

(look at that smile -- he's just a little bit happy about the chance to join the adventure wot!)

bye bye

Meg and Patrick and Zephyr and Woody and Zero

lets all keep an eye out for Artist as Family (and all cyclists) on the road

and for the book on their journey
(coming out sometime next year? stay tuned)


....

sams creek throws out the welcome mat...

a couple of days ago

five special beings

arrived at the creek

on two tandem bikes

its been a magical and wet - but still magical time since

but this is not really my tale to tell
(we are but one small rest in the story)

please drop by here and read the tales

of meg and patrick and zephyr and woody and zero

(you won't be disappointed... trust me... )

....

black and white and read all over...

Life has been busy-busy
(but not terribly blog-worthy)

This week I've had my arm twisted (contorted really)
to help a lovely family with a small arty project
that involved hands and words and meaningful bits
as a gift for a treasured friend

this is the result of our unusual of collaboration...

 

....

and more books in the garden...

Phew!

how hectic was that!

I've just waved off the last of the local garden club members (my mumsicle)

who arrived just as the coach-load of U3A members were leaving

and now I need a golly good lie down!

but first here are a few pics from around the garden....

 dontcha just love the form and colour of this protea?

mmmmmm foxglove 

(pink iceberg rose -- note the aphids eek!)

the chimney garden
(oh ok - its a bay tree flanked by two pots of agave ....
and a few pineapple sage chopped down in the background

 but look at my lovely old rust brick chimneys)

the raised beds vege garden -
not quite into the swing of spring production just yet...

 black bamboo
(because I like to live dangerously)

orange topped sticks 

(just because I can...)

phil's potato bed... waiting to be planted with seed potatoes
(because phil likes potatoes and he also likes growing and hoeing potatoes)

yes yes yes - but I promised you BOOKS in the garden didn't I...


wellllllll will 3 colourful book gabions satisfy? 

 

here's a blue book gabion

 

and a red book gabion

 and a blue and a red and a blue book gabion

I have been desperate to make a book gabion
for years and years and years
and I am thrilled with the results

YAY for book gabions!

and lastly...

book rock book
on rock



and now for my large cup of tea and a good lie down

(with a nice book)

...

books in the garden....

In the post this week
was my bit of paper from Monash Uni
(that Master of Fine Arts is now officially in my hands)

I celebrated by pulling out my book towers
and placed them permanently in the garden....

when you walk into our place now
there - off in the distance
is a tower of sorts...

  (my dear old bimmy-boy is unmoved by towers in the distance
- he is an old hound and he cares little for the whims of arteeeests...
wise hound)

there is it - one half of
pulvis et umbra sumus - 'we are dust and shadows'

perched on a pear stump

the second tower of the work is tucked over in the shadows of the front garden...

 (and you can spy it in all its charcoaled glory from the other side of the garden bed too..)

view from the front verandah

(if you click to embiggen you might be able to spy the two towers....
as well as four of the six hounds)

...

tomorrow the local garden group is coming for a visit

so we have all been busy making everything neat and tidy

and I have been creating a few other surprises for the guys and gals too

here's a wee insect hotel I created for the local mini beasts...

(the wasps loved the look of the work so much -
they were already checking it out while I was still constructing it!)

oooo goodness - is that the time?
I have so much still to do!

(I have a separate local interest group
coming to visit my studio tomorrow too
eeek!!!)


I'll show you some of my other garden projects in the next little bit

right now the paths need to be swept,
and the wheelbarrow needs to be moved,
there's a ladder to put away,
and the vegies need to be watered
and... and... and...
and..

oh no! the chooks haven't been fed yet!

...

solace...

 I've been creating a small something for

the solace project

when I thought about what offered me solace

one word came to mind

family

so I started with something of familial significance:
the patched and very worn linen shirt
that belonged to my dear Nana T
(which I've been wearing for the past couple of decades but I finally
have to admit its so old and frayed now that its beyond my simple repairs)

I particularly love the frayed elbows

and I like to think about how both my nan and my elbows
have been pushing through the fabric over time...

I've reconfigured the sleeves by hand stitching

 

and I've roughly stitched a line from emily dickinson

on the newly made flag

(and the hole is honoured - as frayed holes should be)

I dipped the small flag in a pot of tea

(as tea was the beverage of choice from my Nana and Pop T)

and hung the small pennant of peace and solace out to dry

(before bundling it into an envelope bound for south australia)

xxx

spring...

new green grass
newborn calf

...