RETAIL THERAPY

NICE TO SIT IN BED and shop - late at night.  new shoes :0)





my old faithfuls, worn
thin so i've ordered
a new pair

in the birdbath today

more painting today, i'm over it. just want this book off to be scanned but there's a phone conference for author/publisher/designer feedback to come - fingers crossed
there's not much fiddling to do... i have other things i want to do.

TUESDAY - A GOOD DAY

A BIG WALK to start off with, lots of birds on the island.  then some painting, i found out Swan Lake made the notable books list.
Then a swim, a lie in the sun with the crossword, pilates then a glass of wine with anne afterwards. now i'm home and relaxing, tired but happy :0)

WEEKEND

I'M SITTING in bed, 4.30 a.m. and i actually feel a bit chilly - so nice.  yesterday, sunday, i woke up to a cool breezy morning and the whole day was just divine, i didn't do much - just enjoyed it. went to two movies, 'black panther' with sonja, she's a big marvel heroes fan. it was a bit all over the place, not my kind of movie.  then 'finding your feet' an annoying and patronising movie about seniors.  still, i like the peace and darkness of being in the cinema.

i'm ordering two windows for the new studio today, after originally looking for a secondhand one.  the builder bruce said 'do yourself a favour and get a quote for a new one.' it was so reasonable i'm getting two so i'll have a great view over the fence into the  trees and across to the river where the sun sets :0)

working away at the book and getting close to finishing but i'm still waiting on comments from the author and publisher.  so there'll be a bit of tweaking i guess

the moon last night

STINKER

I'M OVER SUMMER - humid and 37 today so i painted in the morning and escaped to the movies again this afternoon - this time i saw Lady Bird, which i really enjoyed. there have been so many good movies lately (maybe because we have a new company running the cinema)  so i've seen The Darkest Hour, The Shape of Water, I, Tonya,  3 Billboards and Lady Bird - they've all been terrific but i really Ioved The Shape of Water.

now for some more painting with the fan right on me.

STEP 3,4 and 5

a couple of cute pics from sayaka - recently in my bath, late at night after i'd gone to bed so i missed it 

and mara 
was two 
on the 21st

i'm gathering images

 of working dogs

 in the sheeprun

for one of the illustrations 

Yesterday the Sunraysia Daily came out to do a story about me for their free magazine.  here's journo Megan holding the photographer's reflector (aka an umbrella)   look out Mary Poppins

WALK ON THE ISLAND

THE DARTER'S baby is now a full sized teenager and there are     birds everywhere

 look at this gorgeous thing :0)

i guess this darter is about six weeks old

rainbow eater

STEP ONE, STEP TWO

SKETCHING

DRAWING DRAWING - roughs for the last spread in my book - getting to the finishing off stages :0)

SUNSET

ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL - and a reward at the end of a very warm day

RURAL VANDALISM

an artist's impression

I'M HORRIFIED at this proposed project - the RSL is applying for  $1million in funding to paint ten silos. the first painted silo was impressive, but more and more have been painted and the quality of the images is getting lower with each one.  i realised small communities may benefit from these although i've seen no effort to do so.  a coffee caravan at Brim (site of the first one) could be a good idea but really, i think most people just drive through and take a pic on the way. i'm not sure the towns are capitalising on the silos.

this is the only silo that works in my humble opinion
- near the tiny township of Brim

and the fact that the RSL wants the 10 new images to be commemorating our war efforts is awful.  

the untouched silos are a powerful reminder of our agricultural heritage and set amongst the wheatfields as they are, they reflect the light against the blue sky and create a wonderful avenue of majestic structures along the highways.

TWO SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

NIGHT ONE:  can't sleep so i get up and pad through to the kitchen, step on a wet patch of rug and realise that it's been damp two days in a row.  not a spillage - i then see water trickling down the wall and drips all along the cornice - the new cornice and wall that replaced the damaged soaked wall 6 months ago.   the leak in the ceiling has returned.   my fault - i should've been nagging steve the plumber to come back and do the proper job we'd agreed to.
so i went up the ladder at 2a.m. to shine the torch around, and threw a stack of towels under the leak.  i could've climbed right into the roof cavity but had visions of not being able to drop back down onto the ladder - headlines  'senior trapped in ceiling for five days!'  hmmm.  i decided to leave it and ring the plumber in the morning.
steve arrived, got up and had a look and said  'looks like i'm gonna get wet' and went out to change his shoes.   and this is what he was wearing when he returned

NIGHT TWO

Steve did a temporary fix (sunday and he had a family do) and for some reason i had another completely sleepless night last night.  partly due to the fact that i'm having airbnb problems and their 'help' people insist on texting in the middle of the night. now i'm on the couch feeling like a zombie but long story short - the plumber's been, fixed the problem and also fixed my broken aircon ducting in the ceiling at the same time.  :0)   i'm taking it easy today.

it's been pretty warm, in the 30's, but still and calm. but yesterday evening a wild duststorm swept up the river, i ended up with a branch in the front yard and dust everywhere, but a light rain came and settled everything and cooled down the house.  it's a lovely

cool breezy morning, i might just go back to sleep 

this is the downside of life in the mallee - dust storms.  luckily they don't happen often and are usually brief, heralding the arrival of a cool change