MORE ECO DYEING

STILL NOT SWIMMING because my gastric thing is not solved and the hospital is taking its time. Nov 3  i have a consultation so i'm staying warm and seeing a new personal GP on monday.   I'm learning about the shortcomings of the public health system.

Been down to see the salties and sunrise a few mornings

SPENDING MORE TIME in the studio, experimenting and making notes.  all those leaves and onion skins, things i'm collecting, take up a lot of space.  i need to sort it and hang things.  always more to do and slow progress :0(  

some nice results from the dyepots - i need to start doing some specifically soft and tonal to possibly use in my next book - as backgrounds

MY RESIDENT PARROTS

THE PAIR OF EASTER ROSELLAS that has been occupying the nesting box on the front porch is still around every day.  It's confusing - it's been about a month with daily scratchings in the nesting box audible from the loungeroom and my bedroom on the other side of the wall

a couple of weeks ago a crimson rosella starting perching nearby every day, twice i've seen it investigating the nesting box.  It seems to be an adolescent and quite alone.  i can hear it now as i write. 

this morning i stayed at the front door with the camera for a long time, watching and waiting for the female to emerge. finally she did and the three of them flew off together.  No signs of any sitting on eggs, there's too much noise in there.  it's all new to me so i just watch and wait and take pics when the opportunity arises (very quietly and carefully with my zoom lens)

the male eastern rosella 

the crimson rosella, (completely red on the front)

this morning while the female was in the box, the male was poking around this other nesting box up high in the liquidambar

finally the female emerges from the box, thank goodness - my arm was getting really tired holding up the camera and focussing :0\

A BUSY WEEK

I'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME in the studio, sorting things out and tidying up for thursday's workshop tryout with susan, jenny and gail.  we did a snake concertina book and a wool/cotton runner with eucalyptus and things from my garden.  i did a lot of online research into mordants and made copper and iron blankets in dense weave cotton.  i had a copper pot and an iron pot and i think there might have been too much of everything.  the books on paper came out beautifully, lots of colour range but the runners on wool were very dark.

we all had a fun day though, the girls were engrossed in the making and the results and we finished up with a lunch with champers.  a good day

A VISIT TO THE GRAMPIANS

JENNY AND I drove to Don's at Lake Lonsdale for an overnighter - good time with Don and a walk to the lake, it's fuller than i've ever seen it. everything is looking green and lush, i've brought home bunches of leaves from Don's place and the dyeing i've done is sitting in the iron and copper pots right now, so i'll be heading out to unwrap them soon.

MOUNT DRYDEN in the rain

I brought home this painting of helen's and it's now on
the bedroom wall, a perfect match for the green walls

A WALK down to see the swimmers, i've missed swimming but this gastric thing persists and i'm waiting for the hospital to give me an appointment for gastroscopy and colonoscopy. it's been a nine days since i was in there.

OCTOBER 8 finally i got back in the water yesterday, great to see everyone again.  dear Karen gave me a big brown paper bag full of onion skins,  she works in a supermarket so that will be a great source, i also want to try dried avocado skins. 

The parrots are still arriving at the nesting box on the front porch, 

scuffling around in there so i'm very hopeful that they'll actually hatch some young.  fingers crossed

The blackbirds are also nesting, up high in the liquidambar

MORE BOTANICAL PRINTS

SEPT 26.  I'VE BEEN GROUNDED with a gastric lurgy so besides resting and keeping hydrated, i've been doing a lot of online research into eco-dyeing and just spent two days in the studio experimenting with iron blankets, copper baths and tannin water from the fishpond with mixed results.  but then, part of the joy of botanical prints is the unpredictable nature of the results.

DAY ONE  I made six iron blankets out of 1000 thread sheeting and laid eucalyptus onto old blanket wool.  nice but not the dramatic dark background i was expecting.  super clear prints on the cotton.

                mirror images - iron blanket and print on wool

detail of print still wet

OCT 2, DAY TWO  concertina books on 300gsm Fabriano paper - i won't use it again, it's too soft when it comes out of the pot.  the snake books were tearing as i unfolded them.     they were all soaked in the fishpond first but i don't really think it did much.  fairly disappointing results initially but looking at these pics now i think they're rather nice.  i think i had something in mind that didn't happen - and that's the attractive thing about this process - it's always unpredictabe and surprising.

ixias, unidentified pink leaves and euphorbias and the printed result.