Regent Park Tasmania - lifestyle of artist in country Tasmania

  so sweet ... today the 'platypus' was not shy and hung around for hours.... then i realised its a baby ... i hadn't seen the platypus (the adult) for nearly three weeks ... maybe this is why ? So much great footage here as this one was quite open to its environment. so good. and there is a bit of a cleanup required along the creek edge after a night of high winds and trees that have fallen across the creek. see video here

Examples of 'lifestyle' include habits in sleeping patterns, physical activity, hydration habits, sleeping patterns. Wikipedia defines a lifestyle "as the way a person lives. This includes patterns related to personal relationships, consumption, entertainment and dress. A lifestyle typically also reflects an individual's attitudes, values or worldview." We 'know' this means tempering things 'bad' and maintaining things 'good'. Bad and good being highly subjective and individual to circumstance, beliefs and choices made. I also want to include a level of privilege. There are many lists on the internet defining 'lifestyle' to include an active lifestyle, a rural lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle, an urban lifestyle, a solo lifestyle etc. Its been a long road to this place in the country, in Tasmania - and what a place it is ... we feel most grateful and look forward to discovering all it has to offer. We have been here for 12 months...

I wrote a post about dropping my phone in the creek  here I go down to the creek daily many times a day to spend time with a platypus and the birds. Anyway I dropped my phone in the creek a Pixel … its a Pixel 2XL (I know I know, its old) but I love the phone for its camera and reliability - I don't use it for email or fb or anything other than phone, camera, sound recorder, a chat program, the weather bureau, maps/gps to get me somewhere and very occasional checking of fb posts. I was looking to get another phone this past six months and have settled on the Pixel7pro but let me tell you the story …. I dropped the pixel2 in the creek while standing on the bridge; it has a black rubber backing and fell face down and sank to the bottom - the creek is very clear but where it went in is dark so I couldn’t see it at all. I went down to the creek often at different times of day for a couple of days and saw it exactly where it had fallen - straight down - I could just see a hard edge o...

  I have this photo and frame hanging in my bedroom -as is, sitting slightly crooked within the gilt brass frame it originally came in. My Mum and Dad on their wedding day, 1955 at age 18 and 19. It was 18months later they escaped Hungary, their home and family having experienced terrible times during the '56 Revolution and the loss of their baby boy, our elder brother. Having endured the Soviet invasion of Budapest (and all the horrors that brings) for months, they opted to escape, with other young people, in the middle of the night, moving between guard points to find the right moment to get on a raft to cross the Danube into Austria. 30 years ago, living in Western Australia, I spent every Thursday night for 2 years taping my mother's stories of this experience and learned about my grandparents on both sides and what happened to them, my mother's older sisters and brother during the invasion. I have typed out what we talked about and it sits in a large pile of single ...

yesterday, last thing as I left the studio, as I usually do,  I went to the creek to see if I could see the platypus. I didnt see her/him although I did film the turbo chooks as they swam across the creek ! first time I have seen that and as I was watching to see what they may do, having reached the bank on the other side, I dropped my phone in the water. aaaargh ... (a momentary lapse in concentration). I cannot even retrieve it because that part of the creek is about 4m down from the top of a steep bank. I went to look this morning but I cant see it in the water as there is very little light on the water at that particular point. And now, no video of the turbo chooks swimming! It is midday right now and I must admit I am feeling a little 'all at sea' - I used my phone to stay in touch with V who is out and about with car rentals and he only does old fashioned kinda phone thing and no fb or messenger, etc. I do have my iPad so took a few photos this morning using that (...

  this one got away from me ... our 1 year anniversary - musing at the bridge ... in the moment we did make the date  ... our anniversary dinner. and this is what it makes us feel like ! images from our first year here #countryliving #tasmania

  THEN ... (at 6 weeks old) Archie on the left, Kimba on the right in both photos. and NOW ... (at 2 years old) Having moved out to the country 10 months ago, we determined the cats would not run free on the property for a lot of reasons with protecting the wildlife on the top of the list. The wildlife here consists of a myriad of birds (redbreast robin, swallows, crows, fairy wrens, european goldfinch, parrots, eagles, kookaburras, spotted pardolot and more for us to still discover and name), small brown frog, blackfish, protected species turbo chooks, a platypus, a resident tiger snake, wallabies, blue tongue lizard and again, so much more to discover. my you-tube channel is a hold-all place for the many videos i am taking rather than posting 3 times a day here.  you can see the platypus video here - wait for it at the 1.09, 221 and 3.03-3.15 minute mark.  and the gorgeous little echidna is here. So, the cat run - due to a variety of reasons it took 9 months befo...

 studio break - a coffee and i am east side of the creek again, on the bridge ... enjoying lovely abstract imagery across my camera as i film, silently with just the sounds around me at the time.

 i take regular daily walks to the creek as its so close to the studio and its just a marvellous time out. In this video i begin by talking about the tiger snake we saw in the cat pen today and it was the day i realised we did actually have a platypus living in the creek - east side of the bridge. i had seen it once before for a split second, surfing under the bridge on a high tide. (truly). it was so many weeks later i saw him (or her) again ... and had my camera going. wait for it ... a glimpse at mine 1.09, then again at 2.21 and then from 3.03 to 3.15 minutes on this recording. makes me smile and i go regularly to the bridge on the lookout.  another one here.   more about the platypus on our youtube channel - search platypus.

 Three goldfish have been living in this outdoor tank for around 15 years. A lovely big concrete thing which was made for plants so i had to plug the hole on the bottom and for fish you need to coat the inside of the concrete which is porous. The coating is a waterproof membrane made specifically for this situation.   They have provided years of enjoyment and some lovely photographs - like this triptych that was featured on the front page at one stage The water gets mucky over time and i need to clean it out every 6-8 weeks in summer and around 10 weeks in winter.  This image above is halfway through a cleanup - it takes hours - catch fish and remove, place in a bucket of water - half out of the dirty tank and half tap water. catch the fish and remove, placing them in a bucket of water - half water from the mucky bowl and half tap water remove potted plants and toys bucket out the dirty water until there is very little left in the bottom using the hose with a dribbl...

A late lunch after spending some time in the garden, the vegetable patch and a full morning for me in the studio. Roast pork, potatoes, homity pie and lettuce and tomatoes.   The plastic bag on the table is to take down to #Snowcone after we finish ours. She gets the outer leaves of vegetables out of the patch and tomatoe tops, potato skins and other kitchen scraps.   #Snowcone is quite the feature on our youtube channel. She is such a sweet natured dairy cow, now in retirement; my first experience with such a thing, at close quarters. When we feed her hay and pellets and I take down kitchen scrap snacks every couple of days to her, she is surrounded by turbo chook s and Walter our one-eyed wallaby. A couple of videos of #Snowcone below. Happy with these plants recently planted in various placements on the front block. I am now getting confused with my norths and souths so, I know which is the eastern block but this one out front is being called the front block...

 At the edge of a forest of gum trees behind wattle trees along the creek line from where the sun rises you will find a set of gates and on an old carpet, 2 metal chairs with a table rusting. Another glorious summer, along with which comes a drying of the blocks of pasture. Soon, the rains will come and all will green up again - the nature of cycles. i have been uploading a stack of videos to my youtube channel - I am looking to extend the channel to include lifestyle, daily doings, #getaways in Tasmania and my arts practice. early days with lots of plans. do subscribe and like which all helps.