Regent Park Tasmania - lifestyle of artist in country Tasmania

  <<<this image takes you to youtube We got a few ducks from friends recently and have been learning about them for 2 or 3 months now. The first problem we came across (remember we knew nothing about ducks) was our friends had given us 3 drakes and 1 female.  I soon read up on the fact a drake needs 4-6 females as they are pretty rough on them once the hormones kick in.  So we sourced 3 females and when they turned up, having chosen them from photos, it was obvious the two little call ducks are far too small for the drakes who are campbells cross and twice the size of the little ones.  As spring was kicking in here this past two weeks I noticed the boys were squabbling amongst themselves and quite aggressively.  So .... we created a bachelor pen and moved the 3 drakes out.  My thinking is i also dont want a gazillion ducks where a lot of them might be drakes.  After a short time of settling in we started to find 2 eggs a day - one dropped on t...

 I am doing monthly walks around our place to keep track of changes - monthly, seasonally and annually. this month we received new ducks - 3 girls to add to the 1 girl and 3 drakes.  the drakes are getting angsty as spring is approaching ... we must move two drakes out of the pen as they are fighting regularly. (i lose it in this video!) we may need to move the third drake too as he is very big compared to the new very small call ducks that have arrived.  and within a day 'mini' (the apricot callduck) laid our first egg and has been laying each day.  so sweet.   check out our youtube channel and the playlists which feature various aspects of artist lifestyle in country Tasmania. i am googling and finding suppliers of oyster grit, pea pebbles, pellets and i soon learned (from taking note) they ate the candy (rolled oats, cracked corn, wheat) and ignored the pellets which are more nutritious.  so now i feed only pellets and use the candy as a training t...

 i have got us into quite a pickle - we decided to get ducks rather than chickens thinking ducks are less problematic - they dont need to roost, they dont need a house, and they will just come and go when they begin to free range. well.  we have had them now for around 4 weeks. we received 3 drakes and 1 female who we thought were call ducks.  lesson 1 - too many drakes and not enough females even for a single duck.  so we brought in 3 female call ducks with the intention of moving 2 of the drakes to a bachelor pen.  well ... the new ducks are the 'real' call ducks and they are tiny !!! so i googled yet again and have established our ducks are wels harlequin drakes and duck (Daisy). they are twice the size of the new call ducks so now we have to move all three harlequins to the bachelor pen.   its nudging spring already and the boys are fighting amongst themselves trying to establish territory and the girls have been here 2 days which is not helping te...

George & Archie lots happening in the studio after a #getaway to an art retreat at Enclave organised through Artable .  posts at blackfisharts studio blog about the art retreat here and back in the studio here .   a few drawings on retreat here . a recent published haiku here .  I am an award winning artist/poet working daily out of my studio in Tasmania. in an effort to keep my activities as an artist working daily and living/learning in the country i have blogs dedicated to each area -  my art gallery is at blackfisharts this blog Regents Park is about learning /experiencing #countryliving in Tasmania. a blog about my art, books, printmaking etc is at blackfisharts STUDIO WORK  my poetry is at Emerald13 my favourite recipes (mostly from my mum) - luscious Hungarian fare - as we are heading into winter its time to add a few more. If you are enjoying my blogs do leave a message and let me know and do visit my youtube channel which has playlists featu...

 now to figure out how to get it out! 

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

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...

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)

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)  

  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 v...

 Its a beautiful Spring day here - intermittent showers with sunny moments in between.  The Camellia which was planted before we came is in full flower again.  Unusually, i think, its turned two-tone - quite lovely. The studio is lovely and clean - V & I mopped the floor a week ago - huge job (18x12 metres in and around tables and benches) and i swept it up this morning in readiness for our workshop.  A small group (as i like it) and a day of making this book and this one. I dont have workshops often as i work a lot on my own projects but i do enjoy when i hold them. Usually they are held in winter or winter's end but i am open to any time of year if groups organise themselves - bring 1 or 2 friends with you and email me your dates if you wish to have a workshop. I have placed the book workshops here. Updated my poetry site a little yesterday - big job - onward with regular updates to post in one place all my (mainly published) poetry but also some of my favour...

The birds, in mobs, are racing around, chasing, being chased, singing and heralding. The creek is high from recent rains, chinese cabbage and brocoli have bolted, the mini nectarine is already in full flower and if there was any doubt at all .....   the wattles are out. and then there is #Snowcone ... such a sweet girl - our dairy cow in retirement  find her on our youtube channel here ... and check out this hilarious one where she got out and i had not a clue what to do ! 

July and we have been experiencing many days and night of rain. we needed it as the paddocks had got very dry, turning wheat coloured over summer.  it only took a couple of days of rain to return to green again and we get these little visitors at night.     image below - link refers to info on the little brown tree frog. and it was such a nice surprise to find, online, the sound it makes - surprise because i always assumed THIS sound was crickets but it is actually the little brown tree frog.  It was October (i think) 2022 when the creek flooded - a once in 7 year flood (apparently) ... there is a  playlist of flood videos  that happened in 2022 on our you tube hoping it is is indeed once in 7 years ... or longer - we will be fine as the house is up the hill but the studio got flooded and that took 6 weeks to clean up !

recently moved to the country and more natural ways to clean and what is disposed of is top of mind ...we have water tanks and a septic tank which requires gentle cleaning products for it to work well.

on a recent walk discovered this lovely flowering - Fatsia Japonica - i wrote about it here .  a winter flowering.  look forward to seeing how big it gets - apparently quite large and wide. i took photos of this particular part of the creek, from the bridge and came back at night to take shots of around the same area, from the bridge.   still discovering things along our journey here -the creek has filled a little since we have been getting regular rains - the paddocks have greened over and the wallabies are gathering in large groups during the night to chomp on the grass. check out this video on youtube of blackfish in the creek  and i am doing monthly videos (just started this year) - we have been here 3 years and i began the monthly vids so i can notice the differences and changes each year.

On a walk across the paddock yesterday I found this plant flowering by the creek.  and today it looked like this ! so pretty. This is called fatsia Japonica and is best suited to outdoor growth.  I purchased one last year and have it indoors - it grew so well that i had extras come up in the pot and this one is outdoors growing beautifully by the creek.  The flowers were such a nice surprise - the one indoors is leafy and large-ish but nothing like this one outdoors. Things I learned from Google today. The name. fatsia Japonica . It is better suited outdoors than indoors - i am now planning where to plant the indoor one once we get into spring. The location i put the one outdoors is perfect for it - shady with some sun. it flowers in autumn (although we are winter here just now) and berries will follow !  great. so good for the birds. it will grow 6-10 feet both in height and width!  how fabulous and apparently the new shoots may get eaten but the older ones ar...

On this same day last year these two posts went up heralding our coming into our 3rd year in this place, #countryliving #Tasmania.  And here we are again. So, we are on our 3rd anniversay here (going into our 4th year) and also the anniversary (April) of these little guys coming into our lives - 4. years ago.  Kimba and Archie .... and George just fell in love too ...  the garden is growing exponentially with a few intros over summer  and i walk to the creek every day a few times a day in the hope of catching sight of the platypus, the eel or what fish are around (trout or blackfish) the trumpet flower came out first time in 3 years and it is established the tree is  a  radermachera sinica (China Doll)   and again this year with the rains, the little brown tree frog visited - sticking to our patio glass door in the middle of the night looking back over art activities in the studio this past summer here

After a pretty warm season Autumn arrived on its last day. And day 1 of Winter she arrived with a vengance. Such morning frosts every morning since and such freezing nights. Freezing being the operative word - all water bowls are frozen right through the day and i am breaking up the top of the fish tank which is totally frozen over each morning. a walk into the frosty morning here . Speaking of artist books i completed a few over the last few months - small sneak peek below - i shall be uploading the full images of the books once they are clear of future exhibitions. ALSO in relation to books, the lovely ladies who attended my earlier collage workshop have requested i run a contemporary book making workshop - so stay tuned if

 i knew it ! ... it comes around so quickly ! It is hard to believe we have been here for 2 years already and now into our third year. I have a small notebook into which i have been jotting down the plants that grow here (if i can identify them), the birds that visit and when as well as the fish, reptiles etc. The photo i took of the little brown tree frog was when he was stuck to our glass sliding door - so beautiful, really tiny. The (second) slide show below is a collection of the birds i could find online that have visited here with one or two of my own photos included where i could capture them including the little red-breasted robin and a wasp!  I have added a list of the names under the images. where there is a (g) following the name that is my own photo.                    yellow wattle bird                                   li...