Regent Park Tasmania - lifestyle of artist in country Tasmania

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.