PRINTING PRINTING

ALL DAY - printing but not getting very far, it took till 2 to get  a decent print off a plate i've printed at least 70 times before - so frustrating   . . .  and i started the day with an $85 parking ticket !    }:0{

still i got five decent prints by the end of the day and had a glass of wine down at the brewery with trace from the art vault, and the two artists in residence at the moment, rod gray and sophie gralton.

a new member of the 'bathers suite' family

while i was waiting
for my toasted
sandwich to cook

istanbul protest

website below to read about this silent and moving protest in istantul's taksim square - slowly gathering momentum

THE STANDING MAN

the STANDING MAN in ISTANBUL

please take time to look at this story - a silent and moving protest gaining momentum in taksim square -

http://au.businessinsider.com/erdem-gunduz-istanbuls-standing-man-2013-6

The ‘Standing Man’ Has Become The Iconic Protest In Istanbul’s Chaos

au.businessinsider.com

So far the “Lady in Red” has been the iconic image of the Turkish protests against Prime Minister , but as the protests continue to widen,...

TONIGHT

A BATH

LOOKS LIKE i might get my bath in the next month, ken the builder came to talk again about the two bathrooms - i want to get them redone as soon as possible.   so things are looking promising, i can't wait to have a long soak in radox muscle soak.

Got a second feral cat today - so that's a male and a female.   i'm hoping that's it but because they're mostly grey stripy cats, i may have more than two and just don't know it.
time will tell.

A GOOD SUNDAY

 SATISFYIN' that's all
i can say about today.  a big sleep in (it was a cold morning) so i did a lot of emailing and googling in my super comfy ultra soft luxury bed :0)

then an afternoon of gardening in glorious sunshine -  my new lady spade is a winner, pointy so it was so easy to dig into the soft soft earth - after all the rain it's a breeze to dig a whole new bed.
ask me how i feel tomorrow morning      

i made a new garden in front of the bungalow - lots of transplanted
 irises, geraniums, and i've planted all the native shrubs i bought
a few weeks back.



AND  a NUTHER garden bed along the verandah - alyssum,
chamolile, more geraniums, grevilleas.  a paradise really :0)

there are irises all over the property, mostly planted around the far distant perimeters out front, so i've moved a lot of them around the house where i can enjoy them.

BUNCH 'O' BIRDS

Radio national has short interviews on their program Off Track, on saturdays repeated sunday morning.
i was just listening to a teacher/birdwatcher in the southern highlands who blogs about that area of new south wales - a beautiful area.   i commented on his blog

wildbundanoon.blogspot.com

and said i'd put on a page of bird pics for him, so here they are - all birds i've photographed up
here since i moved.

SUNDAY SUNDAY

ah, it's sunday morning and i got a lot of illustrating done this week 

so today is mine.  planting, knitting and a couple of films i think.

I had a nice dinner here for artist rod gray who's doing a residency at the art vault. www.theartvault.com.au    i bought one of his paintings, and he came with his wife janine and daughters nina and sienna, who were fun characters and mad about books. they didn't want the tv, just lay around on the couch with all my picture books.  we had lambshanks and berry pie,  and i had my little combustion wood heater on.

friend steve got it going for me the other day and next door neighbour gavin bought me in enough wood for a night's blaze. so that's one form of heating.  i also have a gas 'coonara' style heater (bottled gas up here) and a reverse cycle heater/aircon - very expensive. so this 

winter will be spent figuring out what's economical.  lots of clothes ?

ANOTHER RAINY DAY

IT'S STILL DAMP and it's just lovely. light rain and cool weather.  this little kangaroo was in the front today, i could see him from the kitchen window and even though he was a long way away, he spotted me too.

heating is the  thing i'm working out right now,  friend Steve came over today and lit my little wood combustion heater - it's working fine and the smoke is coming out of the chimney - it draws really well.

Steve brought over 

this wood in two old

diptins - tins that were

used by the growers here 

for grapes - they're

disappearing fast, so

i'm really lucky to

have them

my fire - ah :0)

 found this mushroom in the lawn, it's about 5'' in diameter, and now i've just eaten it in a great risotto.  

with all the wood on the ground here and mushies coming up around the house, i can live for nuthin'!

COUNTRY LIFE

Well, it's happened, i finally caught one of the three feral cats that are living in the rubbish next door. the cage wasn't set quite right before,  i realised that they were getting in to the food but could push the door open and get out again.  i finally got it right, but it's a conflicted feeling to end a life even if it's such a destructive animal.  friend peter who  lent me the cage came and did the deed or 'put a bit of lead in its ear' as he describes it.
not a good feeling but i have to stop them breeding in amongst the pile of old baths, stoves, and generally 50 years worth of rubbish that runs from the house next door down to the river.  i've seen too many bird feathers around the house and they'll be killing small marsupials and reptiles too.

pic from the internet

Dept of sustainability and environment - 

Feral cats are carnivores and can survive with 

limited access to water, as they use moisture from 

their prey.  They generally eat small mammals, 

but also catch birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and 

insects - taking prey up to the size of a brush-tail 

possum.  In pastoral regions, they feed largely on 

young rabbits, but in other areas feral cats prey 

mainly on native animals. 

last night was a public meeting in wentworth, the government is proposing to redefine boundaries between shires, and wentworth could become a tiny part of a huge western rural area of nsw.  so there was a decent turnout and it was good for me to realise how the area works,  how important the mining towns to the north and widespread farming lands are to the town. it's interesting too that wentworth is just about the most far west town from sydney, and we have such a close relationship to mildura which is the most distant victorian 
town from melbourne.  


pretty pic
writing about that feral cat episode has left a bad taste in my mouth, i'll find a photo to finish with - 

beautiful mr. egret who sits on this fallen tree just off the riverbank - every day

TEARY MORNING

I'VE BEEN LOOKING AT YOUTUBE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFKy9sNAYoc

live footage of taksim square, it's awful to see this wonderful vibrant city being rocked by
riot police shooting rubber bullets, throwing tear gas,  the protesters who want to maintain their secular society responding with molotov cocktails and other hand thrown missiles - president erdogan digging in his heels.  it's all scarily reminiscent of egypt, i hope it's resolved without too
much more upheaval and violence.   i'm wishing susan and sean would just leave right now, instead of in almost three weeks.


and then
i open up my bedroom curtains and this is what i see - could there be more of a contrast.i'm feeling very lucky to be where i am.

 my monoprints have come to life

GRANNIE ALERT

YES, i have to post a couple of cal pics,  he's looking very chilled out having a bath.

possibly a future leader?

ok - more than

a couple :0)

JOY OF SHOPPING ONLINE

AS I WRITE i'm watching a most beautiful egret flying up the river, that graceful slow beat of the wings is so elegant.

but on to online shopping  -  living in the country makes it so easy.  in melbourne staying home for a courier or even finding out when they were coming was always a big pain,

but here i order (specially fun is my favorite site STYLETREAD,  shoes shoes shoes) and before i know it the courier van is right outside the door, delivering them to me personally or leaving under cover.  it's great - in an apartment with a security door that's impossible.

  

my latest purchase (love em)

HELEN AND DON - they called in overnight on a long weekend camping trip up to broken hill and back through menindi lakes.  we had a lovely afternoon sitting out in gorgeous
warm winter sun,  big dinner of lambshanks and mash and of course, the traditional game of scrabble

off down the drive on their way up the silver city hghway. the drive is looking pretty uneven and i think if it rains much more it'll become impassable.  i have to find out how much to grade and gravel it.

MY NEW TREE
eucalyptus torquata (coral gum). one of many i've planted but i really hope this one survives, it's the feature in the middle of the circular drive and i know it's a really hardy gum, so fingers crossed. 

Last night was a big

and beautiful dinner at julie and kev's, i stayed the night and this was the sky on the way home to wentworth at 7am 

I love these old 'blockie's' houses,   rambling old homes in the middle of the vineyards surrounded by
huge old trees, so many of which are bright red and gold right now. a vineyard up here is called
 a block so if you're on one, you're a blockie.

most of the vines are bare and some are already pruned

MR. PELICAN was here to welcome me home

A FINE HALF DOZEN

PERFECTION

A beautiful family of identical pearly cream bantam eggs, gift from donnie