PRODUCTIVE DAY

HAD A GOOD WALK - lots to see, cockies, maggies, the golf course is beautifully green after the rain,





cormorants arrived in a horde of about 500 this morning feeding on schools of fish that were travelling downriver, it's amazing to see

 there was a feeding frenzy on the river when i first looked out the window, i transplanted a whole mass of irises and potted up some succulents, finished off the moulding on the hearth and then headed out to the print studio where i redid the last image for swan lake. and i think it's working :0)   sigh

this happy magpie just kept right on singing despite
masses of cockies flying in and out all around him

Now i'm having a well earned sav blanc and watching a bit of 'bloodline' - not as riveting now that the fabulous ben mendelsohn is not in it   ]:0|

here's sunny in japan, with rene and mara's foo

 an afternoon in the studio

SOFT EARTH

SO LOVELY to see the ground so damp, i gardened all afternoon and collapsed into a bath at the end of the day, did some more of the hearth, 3/4 of moulding on and weighted down overnight, i'll finish it today.
the parrots were loving the puddles on my walk back from artback in the morning.

MARKET DAY

WELL $$$wise today was a bit of a washout,  i sold three whole books, it was a poorly organised and cold, hardly any stalls, hardly any people.  but it was still a good day, i was next to the art vault, mia and rob, and we were the only two tables inside, the others were out in an opensided marquee on the lawn which i politely declined.  thank god.  but i met some nice people and stayed to have a drink with sonja and helen so it was a good saturday anyway.

i got a henna hand
from a lovely young
afghani girl sadia

MARKET DAY

TOMORROW is a market day at Mildura Arts Centre to celebrate their 60th anniversary so i'm having a book stand.  I had to have public liability insurance, which i have through NAVA arts organisation, $5,000,000 cover.  but that wasn't enough for Mildura City Council, i'm paying them $33 for an extra $5,000,000 - their minimum!!   crazy

 I'M DELIGHTED to see that the two parent black swans have ventured over the lock for the first time and were swimming past my place in misty rain yesterday morning,  i could hear their quiet talking to each other - that voice, it's not honking or trumpeting, it's a quiet high questioning kind of sound

PICS FROM OSAKA

Pics from Rene 

cal turns three   :0)

Mara is 3 months :0)

RAIN WHOO HOO

IT'S 

BEAUTIFULLY

 MISTY 

and damp after a day and night of rain. perhaps more to come today. it's really really wet out there :0)

HEARTH - the story continues

OK,  TILES ARE GROUTED, all good.  i've been to the picture framer this afternoon and he's mitred the corners of the moulding for me, so that has to go on and be varnished and it's done :0)
I had a bit of a detour on the way home in the rain, thought i'd go down an unmade road and realised as i went further and further that the road was getting wetter and the surface was changing from gravelly red to smoother grey - the car actually fishtailed a couple of times even though i was going at a crawl. lucky i found a spot where i could turn around.  i could've been stuck out in the sticks with no phone on a cold night.  It's quite wintry today.

along old wentworth road, it just went on and on and on . . .

BETTER!!

AFTER A COUPLE OF WEEKS of having a really tired back and sore hip, enough that it was tiring me and making me feel like i was living under a grey cloud, suddenly yesterday i was much better, walking was easy, i could stride out as much as i wanted to.  such a good feeling and as i went to get my roadworthy (necessary in nsw with rego payment)  i was told i needed 4 new tires :0{    so dropped off the car and walked around the golf club in the sun for about 1 1/4hrs. very nice



this autumn has been so gorgeous - it's like gentle summer, clear skies, sunshine and not a breath of wind.   :0)

The hearth is nearly finished, just got to put the moulding round the edge and grout it.  it's looking good so far 
Driving home from bunnings at almost sundown the river was just gorgeous at curlwaa, about 10 minutes from home.






diamonds on 
the murray

I'M BUSY entering print competitions and applying for grants at the moment,  deciding which of my swans i want to enter, not wanting to sell any of them.  tricky.   i want to exhibit them when i've done some more

DONNIE'S BIRTHDAY

YESTERDAY donnie turned 75  and she decided to have a wake.  the great time you have with friends where you all say good things about each other - only she would be there.   with bells on too :0)

75 friends (i think) and lots of planning - stef's cafe was full and there were beautiful flowers everywhere.  people from so many aspects of donnie's life, ros atkins came up from melbourne.  a lovely day

stef's has just painted the white walls grey and
it looks great, the artwork bounces against it

                         my friends ruth and marg

lovely maddie used to be at artback 

    i did the menu design to donnie's specs, lovely old pic of her

julie and ros

stefano's gorgeous mother-in-law anna and cynthia,
who's been very kind to me

                     with donnie's bestie margot who has the ravishing 
                       Ampelon property at golgol, superb gardens

ART VAULT OPENING later in the day, colin straub came to one of my workshops and had a room of interesting ceramic vessels that hung on the wall

big kev,  hard to believe he had a massive heart 
attack two weeks ago.  here's hoping he cuts down
his workload and takes care of himself.

robert introduces ros as she opens dean bowen's print show