a rat in the duck pen ....

 now to figure out how to get it out! 

#anyexcuse Drive to nearby Burnie Tasmania

 sometimes i am a passenger in my own car so as to give V a go at driving the Diva.  a few images on the road to Burnie using slow exposure.

birthday #getaway #anyexcuse to drive the Diva

I am late to post but here it is.  my birthday #getaway this year was a train ride after the road trip to Queenstown. #anyexcuse to drive the Diva.

We had to leave very early to make the 9.30am deadline arriving in Queenstown on time, enough to grab a coffee. The road to Queenstown is extremely winding which, needless to say, the Diva handled beautifully and V was quite happy to be driven (notwithstanding he takes calls all the time - running his car hire business on the move).  He did drive a portion of the road to give me a break over the 3.5 hours it takes.

We had fun and some nice food, sparkling orange juice and Tassie chocolates.  The weather was (Tasmania) damp, chilly, not uncomfortable with random sunshine.

The train trip, of 34 kilometres, on The Wilderness West Coast Railway Tasmania is very well setup taking us through 'rugged terrain and breathtaking scenery' whilst telling of its history and that of the area. 

love that little TOOT at the end

We had a stop at Lynchford where they have snacks and toilets and a  museum space with displays and artefacts. You can try your luck in the outdoor gold panning exhibition which is a nice connection to gold mining activities which took place in the early days.

We did Queenstown to Rinadeena where the train is unable to turn around so they switched the engine to the back attaching it to the last carriage which then became the first!  Great to watch all the chuff chuffing of the engine as it moved from front to back. 

We were in the front carriage which on the trip back became the last carriage. And everyone swapped sides to get a different perspective on the way back. 

heading back out of Queenstown

check out the art gallery

Two new prints - unique, one-of-a-kind, available, float mounted (edges are shown) ready to take to your framer.  #workingeveryday 

hellebore1

Updating online art gallery with new monoprints and small collages for sale (with free postage anywhere in the world - small collage series only).  I created a bundle of collages as part of a #freebie #giveaway to my subscribers of the art gallery. and kept creating them.

hellebore2

I have also updated the look of the site so that artworks can be seen as a whole across the screen with a quick, easy look at the detail. ... let me know what you think

living with cats

These two are funny ... Millie is his baby - and the only female of 4 cats. 

We have two black and whites and two gingers.  check out the building of their outdoor facility where they go each day, if the weather is not foul.  the playlist of videos for the cat run are here.  

some of my favourites :

Archie escaping the pen which caused us to put up electric wiring - needless to say he tried to escape again, only once.  

Millie was the first to come down the ramp leading out of the house and to go into the big tunnel (under the road) to get to the pen - her first time.

our youtube channel is regularly updated with experiences in the studio,#countryliving, #tasmania, artworks including artist books and more including #Snowcone - a dariy cow in retirement that lives with us.

she has her own playlist that she shares with our turbo chooks

and #George - the old cat

i would love to hear about the animals you may live with

a little house sparrow a narrow escape

This tiny bird was caught up in the 'v' of the bird stand - you can see i have plugged it with a little vase at the moment.  the bird was stuck in the bottom of the V shape with each wing splayed around two legs.  fortunately it did not struggle while i lifted it out by its two little wings. 

it was extreme luck i was passing having just walked up to the house to get a cup of coffee.

.  

with eyes closed and shock kicking in i put it into a shoe box with the lid askew in the studio for an hour.  checking a couple of times its little body was breathing heavily while it recovered.

and thankfully, recover it did!  it was bright eyed and alert when i put the box outside without the lid.  with other bird sounds around, the little mite chirped loudly and i saw an adult come over to the box.  the little one soon flew off with the adult.  so good.

is it a house sparrow ? i googled but i cannot see any images with the yellow marks on either side of its beak.

new season Turbo Chooks - babies being looked after by the extended family

Early Spring our couple of Turbo Chooks that live on the block outside the studio had 6 chicks; they managed to raise 4 to young teenage status and 3 days ago the whole family of 4 teens and 2 adults marched 6 new little chicks out across the lawn.  so lovely to see how they all pitch in. (images below and you tube video below images)

WELCOME TO SUMMER & the occasional newsletter

Occasionally i send out a newsletter to my subscribers and have posted here the latest sent out this week.  There is a free gift promised that will be sent out after Christmas.  See the newsletter here.

Subscribe to my list here. (in the left hand column)

AND A CHRISTMAS haiku written today

Christmas ideas - support a local artist

Blackfisharts Gallery is a new place where i have been placing artworks made available and selling now.  It is being regularly updated as i find, record and load artworks. 

A few artworks are up on blackfisharts tasmania site -  there are paintings across media such as acrylic, oil, pastel featuring abstracts, pears and landscape.

and prints, most being one of a kind monoprints or digital. 

Textiles are new to the site - years of slow stitching at night culminate in wall hangings such as these. 

The section Collage includes the textiles due to the way they are worked - a few analogue collages are loaded on the site.

Turos Teszta (cream cheese pasta) - Hungarian recipe

Turos Teszta - pasta with cream cheese

I love the simplicity of this dish that speaks of winter comfort.  My mum taught me this recipe in my teens when my sister and I had to take turns to cook each weekend.- it is usually made with fettuccini, bacon, sour cream and cream cheese.

I made this dish last night and have, over the. years, adapted it to bring in a range of extras. i dont use a measure and go by quantities i want for the number of people, adjusting the additions accordingly with regard to balance and taste.  

This recipe is well-suited to being a vegetarian dish by leaving out the bacon and sausage and adding other vegetables.  Questions? ask away.

INGREDIENTS

• Fettuccini - i used Guzzi egg fettuccini (half a pack)
• smoked bacon - chopped into squares
• chorizo - chopped into half circles
• red onion - thinly sliced 
• carrot - chopped into squares or half circles
• mushroom - chopped into small squares
• broccoli tops - finely chopped
• cream cheese - i used 200gms * cottage cheese can be used
• sour cream - i used 200gm

METHOD

• put on a pot of water to boil
• prepare red onion, carrot and mushroom by chopping them into squares or thin circles/half circles and place into hot oil in a fry pan.
• move on to chop the bacon into squares and chorizo into circles and add to the frypan
• add fettuccini and salt to boiling water in pot, cook until al dente and drain
• place cream cheese in microwave until softened
• stir sour cream into the softened cream cheese
• fold the cooked fettuccini into the cream cheese mix then stir in vegetables until well mixed
• stir in most of the finely chopped broccoli
• serve in a bowl with a sprinkling of finely chopped broccoli on top

Jó étvágyat!  

(i wish you good appetite)

Out and About Spring happening

Baby turbo chooks happening all over the place .. these live outside the studio - they started with 6 and unfortunately lost 2 to goshawks.  These 4 have been doing okay - the image was taken 2 weeks ago.  We have kept fallen trees along the edge of the creek which is providing shelter and hiding spots for them.  so good. so cute.

Did you know we have a youtube channel that has a playlist for monthly diary walk arounds and living with fauna (among others). - here's one.  October diary walk 2025 

and this one (September creek after rains)

 

#anyexcuse to take The Diva for a drive

Happy Birthday to V - i took him on a mystery tour encompassing 1.5 hours drive one way, that he guessed just 15 minutes from leaving home.

Seahorse World at Beauty Point - a lovely drive, new vistas to take in and  Aussie eats beginning to our trip - pie and sausage roll. stopped at Exeter Bakery enroute.

We keep getting the signage wrong in taking photos - happy birthday V

The Diva - #anyexcuse 

Spring joy is fast becoming the most stressful time of year

 

Normally we would not see the daily machinations of the native hens (turbo chooks) that live with us however, we have a pair of turbo chooks that have set up house on our front lawn - they have been there for 3 years and have not yet grown their babies to adulthood.  

Its fast becoming the most stressful time of the year for us.  This poor little bundle was picked up by a goshawk, turbo chook mum and i went hollering across the hill and the hawk dropped the chick. If it were not for the talons i wonder if the chick would have survived.  She is now buried under a shrub.  

This little one (above) was part of 6 day old chicks and as of today we are down to 4with one that is hopping having hurt a leg.  Today has been the most stressful as goshawks have come and gone and now a crow has noticed the little one that is not walking well. Mum has chased it away twice and it is just upsetting to think of the battle these little ones endure daily.

a short video here of the turbo babies a couple of days before.