BOOK WEEK

august 22  after a lovely two days with sunny and etta i'm now in deniliquin, driving on to Hillston in the Hay Plain NSW for two days of illustrator talks.

I've been really stressed and nervous about it, haven't done any for years. I feel so much older - am i still relevant?  spent a lot of time getting my talk organised in my head and making sure i packed the car with stuff for every possibility.  so long as the technology works i'll be fine and i've brought my own paper and charcoal to make sure it's the right stuff.

then yesterday morning as i jumped in the car to go, it wouldn't start!!! i really freaked out, i'm in a pretty stressed state these days, all part of the moving and settling in process plus medical interruptions.

rang the mechanic who drove straight over and started the car straight away!  aaagh! he says the starter motor could be on the way out but i should be right for the trip so here i am. it's 8am and i've just been out and started the car.  hopefully it starts again :0[

i drove pretty much all day and on the way trevor chappell started talking about book week and how it was a celebration of writers and illustrators.  that cheered me up, a new viewpoint.  then a woman called joan rang from portarlington and mentioned me and how much she loved my work, so i pulled over and rang Trevor too to tell him about my involvement in book week.  that buoyed me too :0)

got to Edward River Hotel in Deniliquin around 5, earlier than expected. 

From the outside it looks fine but inside - what a dump, a bloky dump with corrugated iron walls, one fat bloke with long white hair and wispy beard sitting on a stool watching tv.  all dark and dingy, the barmaid and a woman going through piles of scratchy tickets. after waiting about 10 minutes for the owner to come and check me in  I walked out and went down the main road to check out other pubs.  Pubs everywhere, i went into the Globe and they had no accomm at all but the chef said she's just put wagyu scotch fillet on the menu so i said i'd be back.   she recommended the Coachhouse up the road - they were booked out so i got a scotch and set about googling and calling.  everywhere was full or too expensive so Scotty, the owner got on the phone and organised this motel for me.  it's fine, a bit more than a hotel but it's got what i need and i had a comfy night.  now i'm ready to hit the road and get up to Hillston mid afternoon so i can check out the library and decide how i do my talk.    Two groups of eighty from kinder to grade 6 so this morning i suddenly realised they don't have to draw,  they can watch me do some demos.

had the beautiful steak at the Globe and congratulated the chef, a lovely chatty girl. then home for a restless night feeling like i was getting a UTI :0{   So i drank heaps of water and this morning i'm fine after a pretty crummy night. hopefully tonight will be more relaxed when i've seen the space i'll be in

ok, i'm off, here's hoping the car starts again.  I can't wait to get home on friday - collapse in a heap then get stuck into sorting the studio now that the plan drawers are pushed away from the middle.  i wonder if trent will finish off the window trims this week.

emus and canola on the drive to Hillston

AUGUST 26 - HOME AFTER TWO MORE DAYS ON THE ROAD

Book week visits were all great! I got to Hillston with no dramas, the day in the library went well. the kids fitted, only one group didn't draw, they were just too big to spread out with paper so i did a demo with one student beside me.

SPRINGTIME in Hillston, blossoms all along the front of the library

Hillston is a pretty town, lovely old original shop fronts

the op shop - front and back, which looks out onto the Lachlan River

Had a terrible chinese meal from the RSL club across the road from my motel, the only place to eat really.

KIDS AND DRAWINGS  - all as wonderful as ever

]

I GOT TO

SIT IN THE

SPECIAL

CHAIR

:0)

end of the day 

After the last session i drove to Goolgowi where the motel keeper, a chatty country lady, big Collingwood supporter :0) presented me with complimentary piccolo chardie on arrival and i sat in the late afternoon sun reviewing the days photos.  a nice end to a busy day.

next day at goolgowi school it was dress up day.  a lovely little school with acres of green grounds and big old trees.  lucky kids!

GOOLGOWI PUBLIC SCHOOL

THE BOY ON THE RIGHT was a funny kid, dressed as matilda in the most casual throw-on way :0). he was a great little character

Then on to Rankins Springs about 3/4 hr away. 
more great kids and drawings.

first ever twin cats in rankins springs workshop

the drive home was golden, wattle in full bloom on both sides of the road as well as canola fields as far as the eye could see. an overnighter in shepparton then a leisurely op shopping drive next day - home around 4. and the car started perfectly every morning in frosty conditions.  the trip was  tiring but good and i've made enough to pay for the new doors and windows which trent finished off while i was away.  they look great and the work to get the studio organised has begun. 

 What's been happening over the past two weeks? 

i hand-coloured this bathers print 'Esther's Sister' 




Survived some heavy seas down at the yacht club - fun!

Each month we celebrate birthday - sarah, stella and gael are august babies

we had our first knitters

group at the general store,

there have been two now

and i'm hoping it keeps

going - a nice social thing

to do. this is joy in her

amazing octopus hat

Karen greeting the morning with a few seagulls

I went for a walk up Ibbotson Street near my place and this beautiful group of red-browed finches turned up :0)

FINALLY!! I've got all my artwork up off the floor and onto the walls. the rooms seem so much more spacious now i can see to the skirting boards and it's lovely to be able to look at all the works again.

THIS SEAL HAS BEEN RESIDENT down near the yacht club for a few weeks now, recuperating from an injury.  I hope he's getting better, fishermen say he is, they keep an eye on him and he's swimming now

ANOTHER WALK down Ibbotson Street and this group of yellow-tailed black cockatoos was munching on pinecones.  there were several groups i couldn't see until they all flew off, must have been at least fifty of them - that beautiful slow flight and the unique sound of their calls, love em

SUNNY AND ETTA HAVE JUST GONE after two nights here.  we cooked, op shopped, etta discovered the joys of my hose fitting and spent a lot of time chasing sunny around the yard 😄  Lovely to just have time with them both, they came down to the beach this morning after my swim.  Jenny and freddie called in yesterday for lunch and chocolate cake for sunny's birthday.  they helped me start disassembling the plan drawers so i can rearrange the studio.  i need space if i want to hold classes and everything looks so different now that trent has come and put in the new glass doors and windows where the old metal garage doors were.

     The beginning of reorganising the space

PICS FROM THIS MONTHS SWIMS

AUGUST ALREADY

JULY was a bit of a down time for me, i often feel a bit glum in winter - all that grey.  but it was nice to get together with the girls for greek lunch at Mavs in Geelong.  We've decided to make it a monthly catch up which will be lovely.  i miss our old thursday night drinks and after living so far away for so long it's nice to be able to whip into town to see them all.

I've just been working on the house, repairing broken patches in the slate floor by filling them in with mosaic, mooching around and feeling like i'm not getting anything done.  but trent came round and is quoting on putting all the new windows in the studio, so i'll have a lightfilled space for the warmer weather :0).  I'm still dealing with a stiff neck and dodgy shoulderblade but i'm getting help and exercise.

the end of the month was the highlight - i went to melbourne on the portarlington ferry for the first time.  what a trip, leaving just on sunrise and arriving through docklands, seeing a whole new view of melbourne and so many buildings i haven't seen before. 

i saw three exhibitions - Spirit Rising, fabulous rooms of indigenous art installations upstairs in flinders st station.  the ballroom work was just stunning as was the space itself.  then across the road to ACMI for Goddess - glamour, power, rebellion  Fab costumes, photos, clips and information about the history of women and power in the film industry, then up to NGV to see Pierre Bonnard, rooms full of wonderful paintings, photos and prints slightly diminished by the very big design of the exhibition, advertised as a feature.  i thought it was unnecessary and distracted from the gentle nature of the works. on its own it was attractive but i didn't see the point of trying to complement Bonnard's work. 

ACMI - a beautiful

outfit worn by Tilda 

Swinton in

'Orlando'

- never seen it,

must watch

my favorite - Mae West's platforms, worn 
80 years before Lady Gaga, they added
to Mae's tiny 5' and were instrumental
in creating her famous sashaying walk

Pierre Bonnard show - also works by Vuillard and

other contemporaries including the Lumiere

brothers and their early photos and film

    the amazing ballroom installation, moving projections on an Uluru 

    colored termite mound shape, the cyclic seasons, growth, death . . .

    it was absorbing and wonderful

It was a full day, i also had a look inside st paul's cathedral and a sunny lunch at Time Out watching the people in fed square :0).     then a tram out to sunny's for an evening with family

NEXT DAY - a full day with sunny and etta, museum, pub lunch, 

time in the park.  just lovely 

BACK IN THE WATER

AT LAST!! Almost two months with only one swim.  After my shoulder op and 2 weeks in a sling i had a trip to Hotham for a week, then sore shoulderblade and treatment which concentrated on heat so no swimming.  then a week in halls gap and wenty after which i got a cold.  isobelle and i did visit the salties on the winter solstice swim but this week is the first time i've been back in the water. Temperature has gone from 12 to 8!!   it is really cold and i overdid it the second day, swam to the pole, hung around with ros and alex chatting and taking pics and got motion sickness on the way back.  was actually sick when i got home and went back to bed.  i'd had only 2 hours sleep the night before so it all came together to wipe me out for a day.  but i've been back in since and it's fine.  also went back to the myotherapist and he's encouraged me to swim.  it does feel so good, counterintuitive but true.

driving home through portarlington

THIS WEEK