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.
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.
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 favourites.
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 !
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.
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 !
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.
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.
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.
top row: bassian thrush common blackbird. ? not sure (a cicada?)
no idea (?) (g)
top row: little wattle bird goshawk visiting (g)
top row: grey (?) heron visiting (g)
An idle thought but i will give it a go - so many projects on the go its difficult to know when to post anything about any particular one especially since 'we' tend to wait until its done and perfect. You should see my reject pile !
So i am going to attempt to post each Sunday a look back on the previous 7 days - just images of things mostly in progress. Hopefully this will capture more (in a kinda diary way) my activities and provide the discipline i lack in posting regularly. Let's see how we go !
(I am already a day late on the very first "Looking Back"). The images reflect my week - birds visiting, creek walks and printmaking (of the creek and) flora in the garden, George on a coffee morning catchup, exploring photographs without using a camera, stitching (this piece is finally completed), monoprinting, painting, books and cooking. A middle of the night dash to the emergency as V had a terrible reaction to a virus. It was an all-nighter but a week later he is doing well having been given antibiotics.
so ... .till the next 'looking back' .... of course the weeks come around very quickly.
I do think that Spring 2023 suggested an abundance everywhere. The wattles lined the creek back to font and were in full flower .... quite lovely. The seeds of these wattles have covered the blocks and the waratah and bottlebrush were heavy with flora. The turbo chooks have so far had 2 clutches of babies as have the swallows. I have counted 17 turbo chooks on the block with 6 being new seasons babies that survived - we lost 6 to hawks and kookaburras plus a couple of unknown. The wallabies are overrun with babies (joeys) as can be seen from my nightly torchlight check from the deck. So cute - quite the nursery.
I spotted a white goshawk, for the first time since moving here, feeding on a dead wallaby one day and we have a resident eel and platypus in the creek. Meanting #Snowcone is living the life having retired from the dairy many years ago.
FUN FACT : did you know more people are killed by cows than by snake bite and shark attack combined !
Our abundance continues for which i am grateful - we continue to plant and water in the veggie patch with a few epic fails. But potatoes this year are rife and we have enjoyed lettuce, cabbage and so many lemons. Pumpkins have taken off so that should be good when winter arrives and i think i have revived the apple tree. (we shall see).
A few images here of abundance and my wish is the same for you and yours in this coming New Year.
see more about the wattles here and join our youtube channel
Lovely to find these visitors yesterday - went down with a cup of coffee to see if i can see playtpus ... he hasn't been around for weeks ... i am thinking because the creek is running high and fast.
