LAST DAY OF AUTUMN

IT'S THE 31st  already  -   lockdown has meant being at home most of the time, finding time to slow down, be quiet, peaceful.   a time to take the pressure of deadlines off, enjoy some silence, read, garden.
so how come the weeks just seem to be flashing by???

saturdays seem to fly by every few days - it's winter tomorrow.  i've just driven back from a bit of a shopathon in mildura and the autumn colour is spectacular.

 the vineyards are all shades of gold, orange and red, sometimes in stripey layers disappearing to the horizon. the liquidambars, claret ash, old old english trees of all kinds are just glowing in the richest of warm colours.  i didn't have the camera with me today, but here are some pics from this week.

i bought new bedlinen in bold patterns for the spare room,  variegated fine wools to knit some fingerless gloves for sunny and probably more for other people (maybe even me)  and a few pairs of fabulous earrings on sale for $5-$7     crazy big colourful things, i think some of them will be decorations on the christmas tree :0) and some baby clothes - well, i'm allowed!!  :0)

A WEEK LATER

I THOUGHT I'D BE PAINTING all week, but no.  I got a knitting bug and couldn't stop, watched so many series and films and finished a cowl for luke and another for sunny, sent jules's jumper off in the mail.

Today i got into the studio again, no knitting project to continue on with at present so i've started another self portrait and a small still life - pears this time, not as horrible as the pomegranates, but i think i'll try a transparent more loose one next time, or watercolour.




Birds are just loving the birdbaths at the moment



Not much else, i'm laying low.  Happy to be here though.  beautiful skies morning and night.  Reading 'On the Trail of Genghis Khan'
by Tim Cope, his incredible journey on horseback across mongolia and kazahkstan to hungary.




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                   tribute to Olive Cotton 
                   these pears on the sink cast shadows that
                   made me think of 'Teacup Ballet'

BACK IN THE STUDIO!

VERY HAPPY to be painting,  working on sonja's portrait, and the first of a number of small still lifes, same size as my self portraits - 20x20cm.  days are getting cooler, it's cold in the house and i don't want to be heating it all day so working in the studio is ideal - it's warm, no heating required.

looking a bit dodgy but i'll see if i can

fix it up today

i can't resist a dog in a ute - here at the supermarket

it's good to see some easing up in the isolation restrictions, but i hope people are sensible, we've done so well so far.  i drove over to have a coffee with anne at Tara,  her home.  we sat out in the sun amongst the olive trees and had coffee and anzac bickies :0)

Shirley the dog was busy rounding up the geese 

 sunsets have been pretty gorgeous, in fact the weather in general is beautiful, i'm loving being here in autumn, sunny days that are perfect for outdoors, beautiful sunrises, sunsets,  the moon looking
fabulous as ever

 my iris garden, happily mulched with mushroom compost, rhizomes exposed so hopefully they'll flower well this year

as the weather gets colder the cormorants begin their annual mass fishing expeditions, gathering in huge numbers and travelling down the murray in masses, fishing and leapfrogging over each other, the back of the group flies over the rest and lands in front and they continue this progression right down the river  - you can hear it, water thrashing.
they also fly in huge flocks just above the water, a few days back i saw them from the window, they continued to pass, flock after flock until i could see about 1 km of birds right down as far as the view allowed

 birds on wires, can't resist them either

 THIS MORNING as i sat in bed playing WWF the mother kangaroo and her young one bounced past my window. of course i had to race out with the camera, now i'm back in bed with freezing fingers and toes :0)

PARCELS

I'VE BEEN ORDERING ONLINE and sending things to people nearly every week,  a pompom maker to gail, knitted hats to sunny, a parcel to japan for the family.   rene says his business is severely affected in these covid times not least because mail and couriers are all so busy that delivery times are out the window.  so i was relieved to get these pics of rene and kids with their treats  :0)

rene and sayaka's
special request -
spreadable
western star
butter :0)

 mara

in her

mini version

of the most

popular

dressing gown

in the world -

i have one as

do gail, sunny

and claire

and of course

the original

owner, helen

cal with his treehouse books signed by terry  :0)

MOTHER'S DAY

LOCKDOWN  wasn't a problem on mother's day, i haven't been together with the kids on mother's day for years.  maybe next year will be different if i'm living down there by then. 

this morning there was mist on the river and i wondered how i would ever leave, but remembering the horrendous heat and duststorms of last summer, i really don't want to do that for too much longer.  this house, land and the river are wonderful and i've been lucky to be here for almost 8 years.   i wonder where i'll be next??

LAST NIGHT the sunset was beautifully delicate,  i missed most of it because i was on a phone call with donnie and she mentioned the sunset as we ended our chat.  when i walked down to the riverbank i saw pelicans everywhere, obviously lots of fish in the river right now and the water is cooling down, they're a meal waiting to happen.
so i took a short video.  I've ordered a gimbal for the phone, an attachment that should make videos easier to make, looking forward to playing with it.

EVENING MEAL

THE PAST WEEK

JULES JUMPER IS TAKING SHAPE




WHAT I NOTICE ABOUT LOCKDOWN . . .

procrastination  continues  despite lack of obligation,  deadlines, expectations from anyone, unexpected drop-ins.   no matter how much time I have I find a million things to keep me from the studio
. . .  taking photos, watching wildlife, walking, crosswords, emailing, blogging and facebooking, long phone calls, knitting and binge watching (usually simultaneously), working on my book,
cleaning, cooking, even baking, which i never do normally.
and so the studio sits waiting, waiting.