BACK ON THE ROAD

I'M IN MELBOURNE again - seems like only yesterday when i left.   it's good to have housesitters, the big waterski and boat races are on this weekend in wenty and friends from the rowing club are sleeping out on my riverbank :0)

Ted and i hit the road at 7.30 and got to melbourne 5.30 in the evening, just time to fit in the gipps street salvos and get the APW Impressions show.  i'd hoped to catch up with lots of people, but it was mostly buyers.  Did see some
printmakers i know though.  and there's lots of great work on the walls.  i'll go
back and look again when the place is empty.

SPUD and TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

   This street sign 

set me off on this

series of pics,

hope no one 

was watching :0)

this amazing cactus had the perfume of frangipani

at the Australian Print Workshop Impressions show last night

chris and ray carter

susan wald and friend tim

Louise Donovan and her sweet granddaughter

CAT PATROL

FINALLY after three days, the council-provided cat cage had a cat in it this morning.  Sadly it was a very atrractive young one, but just as i was feeling sorry for it it went completely nuts, hissing and spinning around in the cage.  the poor ranger left with a badly scratched finger - it scratched him right throught the cage as he carried it out to the van and off to the vet.  I think they've killed about half the stumpytails i had here.   goodbye puss

A DAY AT HOME

NO BIG PLANS FOR TODAY,  it's lovely weather, some gardening i think  -  peastraw round the fruit trees.  
I've been on a walk out to the point again - the confluence island is lovely and it's the first time i've been back in three weeks.  too much travelling and i'm off again down to melbourne on friday.  friends staying in my house while i'm away which is a good feeling.

the lovely 'coonawarra' was travelling down the darling and i ran half the distance to the point to get there before it disappeared.  puff pant puff pant.   worth it to see it turn round at the lock and come back up the murray heading for mildura

there's no way to capture the scale of these trees in a photo

BUSY DAY GOOD DAY

GOOD NEWS - i get my licence back on the 28th!!

Deborah Klein and Shane Jones arrived yesterday so i saw them today at the Art Vault. Their shows are up on the walls.

 deborah's mini-zines (left)
and shane's oil painting
'grey day at the races'
below

Tonight i joined the community singing group started by new resident and musician Merrilyn Air. It was fun to meet some new people and many i knew at the Captain Sturt Hotel.  Very informal and friendly

On my way home from singing I stopped at

the lock to take some

more pics of the

birds at the 

lock,  it was

almost dark so they're a

bit grainy but everything

looked so good

in the half light.

TODAY'S BIRD

THE BLUE FACED HONEYEATER - i think these may be nesting too, i watched this one last night working his way up and down this tree trunk, often upside down,  finding quite large insects and taking them back to another tree.  Again and again. there are at least two of these around. not a great shot - i took a lot but the bird was always behind grasses and small branches.

I also have a little family of white plumed honeyeaters, much smaller than this. i think there are about four or five young ones busy exploring the garden en masse. 

PHEW

THE WILLIE WAGTAILS all seem ok after the hailstorm and wilhemina is back on the nest :0)   not just sitting but singing at the same time 

FRIDAY PICKUP

WELL MY ARTWORK HAS GONE - and i won't rest until i hear that it's arrived.  I don't like sending things over a weekend.
Had dinner at the pub with sam and di from the rowing club and an early night so i could get up extra early for the market day.  All my stuff is sorted.  We want an early start because it's supposed to be about 38 today.

Got up at sunrise and
while photographing
the river i saw that
the willie wagtail is
sitting on the nest
again so my little
willies might have
siblings soon.

terrible pic but that is the willie wagtail on its nest

 ANNIE'S MARKET DAY has been going for a few years, in april and november. My stall was Annie Spud's Emporium - vintage handbags, lots of jewellery, shoes, vietnamese silk and a good stock of three of my picture books.  It was a really great and busy day, the stall opposite me sold wonderful fabric handbags, 'jennifer with love' is the brand. everyone had a good day and made money.

 irrepressible 

marg whyte

and her 

collection of

cards and

calendars

the cafe staff were run off their feet but still managed to give all the stallholders wonderful sandwiches for lunch

this lovely lady in her long skirted indian suit just flung a couple
of scarves around her neck and bought them.  ageless style

at the end of the day we all sat down with a bottle of champagne to relax when suddenly a mini cyclone descended, rain just bucketed down with squally winds and then big hailstones pelted down on the courtyard  -  it was wild, only lasted about 10 minutes but the rain gauge showed about 30 mm.  Now i'm worried about the willie wagtails, the birds may have been injured or killed or at least the eggs may have been smashed by the hail. i'll check today