Slow Down!

More Fun with Polymer Clay.

 I think I will have to restring this one as it's really quite heavy with the weight of the commercial glass beads, and the clasp and crimp rings are a bit lightweight. I'd hate for it to break and have the whole lot roll away somewhere inaccessible.

                   I made this one some time ago, but I thought that I would show it here anyway.

Little Works of Art.

 These hand made fishing flies were made in Kenya and are such beautiful little works of art, apart from the hook that is!

Spotted Gum.

                                 This tree is a variety called Spotted Gum, for obvious reasons.

         This is another piece of the tree shown with a bit of Photoshopping, it has potential I think.

Another Bit of Old Farm Equipment.

Here we have 2 old rusty rabbit traps hanging on the fence. I wonder if they'd make interesting patterns on fabric in a rusting process!

Teenagers Coming for Lunch!

Potter Wasp Nest.

Since last I showed you this wasp nest, which I later found out was made by a Potter Wasp, and you can see why, a few more of the wasps have hatched out. Fancy trying to chew your way out of that thick hard mud. Such wonderfully precise holes too.

Another Sad Bit of History.

                              This is an old windmill stand that has definitely seen better days!

Abandoned in the Bush.

This appears to be an old plough which lies abandoned in the bush. I've 'found' it several times over the last 13 years, and it looks more and more forlorn as the years go by, being steadily grown over by vegetation.

Government House Melbourne.

 I went on a guided tour of the gardens at Government House today. There was very little colour to be seen, but the lawns, trees and the various different border plantings were lovely. The wife of the Governor accompanied us which was unexpected.

         This is one of the views of the city and the high rise buildings seen from the House.

Polymer Clay Play.

 It's years since I played with Polymer clay, but as I have been asked to give a workshop on Tuesday, I thought that I'd better revise my techniques. My clay was all old and dried up, but with the aid of an old food processor and some machine oil I managed to recondition three colours.

             A selection of the beads that I managed to produce with the less than ideal clay.

    These would make good buttons, but I really wanted them for a necklace and ear rings.

                                                 On fine knitting needles ready to be baked.

Lack of Rain.

 The creek bed is pretty much dry, just a trickle of water in the deepest cavities. Young trees are dying, but these Belladonna Lilies appear to love the dry conditions, as they are flowering profusely on the steepest dryest slope.

Not a Fairy at the Bottom of the Garden.

Aeiral View?

Although this actually looks like an aerial view of the red desert sand dunes of northern Australia, it's really only the rusted inside of an old water tank.  Aren't the colours wonderful?

March Textile Challenge.

 

The country chosen for March is Guatemala, and I just happened to have a strange piece of hand embroidery that I bought in that country many years ago. It's based on the images from the Mayan culture.

                                    Here is my challenge piece, not very inspired I'm afraid!

The Big Clear Out.

Despite it being a very hot day, over 30 C, we had to clear out all the 'stuff' from under the house. We have a system here whereby we can book a 'hard rubbish' collection from the council, and having made a booking for tomorrow it had to be done today. Where on earth did all that stuff come from?

Mystery Photo?

                                         A space ship lifting off or a weird tree, what is this?
                                                  O.K. I did invert the colours in Photoshop.
                                          It's part of the spine of a kangaroo I found recently.

Fly Eye View!

This cast off spider skin was sitting on a window sill and I just loved the way the light picked up the translucent quality of the legs and all the little hairs.

Crane Fly.

                 Not on graph paper but on a window fly screen. An amazingly long legged Crane Fly.

More Wasp Nests.

This huge heavy lump of a nest is obviously made from a different species of Mud Dauber Wasp. Rather than use a Frisbee for an anchor, this nest was made on an old straw broom leaning up against a wall. The pattern on the underside after I levered it off the broom, reminds me of ancient building bricks, or even a tablet of ancient writing. I'm sure I can make use of this picture in Photoshop!

Magnificent Old Tree.

I've been photographing and admiring this tree for well over 10 years now, and I never get tired of just looking at it.  During the recent drought it threw out a lot of seed and it now has a 'fairy ring' of young trees all around it, some of which can be seen behind it here.

What Wonderful Precision!

These beautifully made little cells ended up being onctructed on an old Frisbee hanging on a veranda wall.
They were made by a species of Mud-Dauber Wasp, and so far only one has been opened up by the adult wasp on its way out into the world. Imagine how many mouthfulls of mud each wasp would have had to carry to contruct these, amazing!

Morning Walk.

Spotted while out walking this morning, a Black Wallaby. These used to be called Swamp Wallabies, but as with so many things, plants and animals, they have recently had a name change.  A pity really as we always used to call them Swampies which sounds better than Blackies I reckon.

Lunch Out Again!

 Lovely Moroccan chicken salad, chicken pieces grilled with a spicy coating, orange segments and mixed greens.

                                             Dessert was a coffee and pear ring, delicious!