DUST DUST AND MORE DUST!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE it's twelve days since i wrote on the blog and the weather is disgusting again.   days and days of dust, it's on everything, outside is air is brown and it's in my nose, throat and eyes.

this gorgeous kanga and her joey kept me occupied for an hour as they lounged around the lawn on a balmy evening.

a very young butcher
bird and unfortunate
Kermit

the kingfisher on the wire outside my bedroom

in between the dusty
days, the jacarandas
are looking
magnificent along
wentworth's streets









LAST WEEK the weather report was code red for the first time ever right across the mallee.   it  said that we can't guarantee firefighters
in the area will be able to control fires in these high winds and temperatures so i actually packed up the car with essentials and went to the mildura cinema all day.  after the first movie this is what it looked like outside

a new innovation

- we can now have

a glass of wine

at the movies

That night - dust settled and a beautiful sunset but the dust is back

I'm still working on self portraits plus portraits on sunny and rene

AT LAST - NORMAL WEATHER

STILL NO RAIN but the wind has dropped after days and days of topsoil  blowing in from the drought affected land and dropping all over the towns.   whistling winds have stopped too, the sky is blue and i've been out preparing an area of lawn (getting rid of it) to plant some native bird attracting shrubs.

my gorgeous nesting kingfishers are a daily source of pleasure - it's interesting to watch th
em, i'm thinking there's a young one but it's hard to tell.  their favorite large perching branch broke off in the wind the other day but they've found an equally attractive one to take its place  :0)





i've never seen our local yellow rosellas anywhere else, i love the flash of sapphire blue as they fly

tuesday i went into mildura, an accountant appointment and lunch with di and donnie, these pics were taken on the way home, it's been like these for days and our eyes, noses and throats are full of dust, not to mention the houses

 full moon :0)   always welcome

yesterday was pilates, i walked there and these beautiful grass parrots were all over the lawn at lou's

 since i've been published the old black and white pics of geelong's dance scene on facebook i've reconnected with mal donnelly.  haven't seen him for decades but he was keen to see pics of our old kombi and i found these, from our trip to darwin in 1972

 broken down at winton, it was 36 deg and ron was not happy

Ron and I at the Grand circa 1968 - i was working at the Echo and the hairdresser next to our office had done my hair for free - i was wearing a hairpiece about 2 ft long, her idea, not mine!!   and wearing my favorite black crepe beaded 40's dress.

I've finished the portrait of sunny and last sunday i was on duty at the Makers hall so i took the pics of rene and started his.  however i had a friend present who talked non stop - NON stop - for the 2 1/2 hours she was there so my work was really affected.  i dropped her at home and came back for 2 more hours, but i'm going to start it again. there's no freshness there and even though i've now added some greens, it's never going to be right.  more of an illustration 

than a fresh portrait

rene's pic -
the likeness is
there but as a
painting i don't
like it, although
the mouth is
spot on :0)
i'll do another
one in the peace
and quiet of
my own studio

MORE DUST

YESTERDAY was another horrible day - not only whistling winds and thick brown dusty skies but rain mixed up in it all.  so much topsoil being blown off the land and dumped in towns, and yesterday was also a very sad funeral.   the weather wasn't welcome, it's the worst combination of conditions. 
this morning, thank goodness it looks lovely out there.  no more wind please!!

WORST WEATHER

YESTERDAY and TODAY - raised dust is the forecast.  Spring always brings really windy days but with the drought in full swing the wind brings huge amounts of red dust with it, the worst days here for sure. i'm getting the airbnb ready for people arriving today and i'll probably have to sweep it again this morning.   Particularly awful because we actually had rain a few days before and obviously it only penetrated the top few millimetres.

CUP WEEKEND

SUNNY AND LUKE flew up on Saturday and stayed till tuesday.  we enjoyed a chilled out few days, some op shopping, worked on a jigsaw, cooked, walked, read the papers and did the crosswords. And i spent a couple of hours on a small portrait of sunny

The kingfisher and wrens have been turning it on :0)  kev
the kingfisher has decided he likes to hang out right outside my bedroom window

Enjoying a cuppa, looking out the kitchen window while chatting to vicki on the phone when i saw this unwelcome visitor

SUNNY ARRIVES TODAY

I'M HEADING OUT to the airport this morning to pick up sunny and luke for a long weekend.  after yesterday's duststorms i can
hear rain outside so i'm hoping we get a decent downpour.



The numbat - a very
cute animal.  i'm
getting familiar with
it because i have to
illustrate it for a new
fossey's gin label

the beautiful grey
shrike thrush - singing
while he has a bath.
they have the most
melodious song

The sweet little kingfisher is faithfully guarding the nesting
hollow.  i'm hoping the goanna doesn't discover it

it's the time for the
big crazy things
to come out in
the garden

a beautiful morning before a horrible brown dusty gusty day - the
worst thing about living here

I just pull the
curtains so i see
as little of this as
possible - this
morning i'll
have to mop
and dust again

this little fella
isn't worried
about the
dusty air