I love Wednesdays

What's not to love.........on sunny days.....not today......you can meet your friends, sit on the grass or under an umbrella, or sprawl in the Chai Harem and enjoy live music, coffee, tea or a cooling lemon myrtle and ginger drink, maybe an organic handmade filled bagel or a spicy samosa.  If your taste buds prefer something sweet, you can have a scone, split and filled with fresh strawberries and cream, or perhaps you'd prefer a baked cheesecake or a profitorole....it's all here.  And when you're done socialising you can go buy fresh produce, organic seedlings to plant in your garden, or pasture raised meat, add a crusty loaf of sour dough bread, some olives and home made organic goat's cheese and head home for a delicious lunch.

All lovingly grown, raised, baked or prepared right here in our abundant valley.

I LOVE Wednesdays!

The daily view today is a little cloudy.....more storms rumbling through, but the rain is very welcome.

till next time......

A little orphan bird and some stitching

little watchful face.....he gets frightened and scrambles away up high if I get too close...

(taken with a zoom then cropped )

catching some early morning sunshine

little bird fell from way up in this poincianna tree

 

sheltering from a sudden and heavy downpour

 This little fellow, a fledgling rainbow lorikeet fell from the poincianna tree literally at my feet on the footpath about a week ago. After a chat to WIRES (wildlife rescue service) a friend and I attempted to get him to stay in various trees, as his parents flew frantically around. Too young to fly, he kept falling out and would waddle around my front yard, worrying me that he would come to a sticky end. He eventually settled on the one he's in now, and seems quite ok.  I watched him yesterday fanning his little wings at the very top, strengthening, practising for flying.  Unfortunately his movements drew the attention of other bigger wild birds, and he quickly retreated where they couldn't reach and attack him.  I'm relieved and pleased he's survived this long, although I see adult lorikeets flying around, I'm not sure if they're his parents and if they're feeding him, but he seems to be doing ok. I hear him calling at dusk, but can't bear to watch and see whether his calls go unanswered! I'm worried the next stage is going to be hard for him, as he starts to fly he's at risk from other birds, but I can only watch and not interfere, if he's going to survive he has to do it on his own and he's managed so far. 

 

early morning autumn rain.......

 

 and afternoon autumn sunshine, still warm but it's lost the fierceness of  summer

 

 red lentils, cooked, pack and ready for the freezer.....just add fresh vegetables and rice and a quick delicious meal

 

***

 

this little scrap eco-dyed with tibouchina flowers

 I've been enjoying some slow stitching, working on these prayer flags.  Individual little flutters of cloth and stitch with encouraging words to be sent off on a breeze, a sigh, a thought. Just made with scraps of recycled fabric gifted from friends, pieces from old doilies and lace and bits of op shop (thrift store) finds and some of my eco-dyed fabrics.

 

 

Enjoy your day.

Basketcases

Firstly I'd like to say thankyou to everyone who commented on my last post, and left lovely messages farewelling Freya. It feels very different now there are only 3, and the others have been unusually quiet....realising something is different perhaps.

~

I went to a basketmaking workshop yesterday.  There were 10 of us, and we were all new to it.  I've wanted to learn basketmaking for ages, and since I'm also booked into a week long workshop next month, I thought it was a good opportunity to get a feel for it.

These were all made by the tutor, Jill Bose, who has been making baskets for many years.

This is one of my 'efforts'...now that it's dried, I can see where it needs more work.

My other creation.  I could damp this again and push it into a more upright shape, but I quite like it like this.  The orangey-brown leaves are philodendron, with the lighter coloured banana leaf woven through as an accent.

 

This is the very beginning, getting the base flat.  Dried banana leaf is woven around spokes of thin canes that fall from the palm tree after fruiting.


Ripe berries on the tree



Stems dry out after the berries are finished, and the whole thing drops from the tree...to be collected and made into baskets. An interestingly sculptural piece on it's own.

Getting the left to right and behind cross over action right

 

The flat base has to be held firmly in your lap to start the shaping of the sides.  I could've used a couple more pairs of hands at times.



Lajla's  finished basket.  Despite being given the same materials and instructions the finished baskets all looked very different, as we added out own touch.

Jill, the tutor, starting the framework for the large open weave basket

Hard at work



A banana leaf basket made by the tutor

We shared good food

Now that I have some idea of what to do, I'm really looking forward to my April workshop, to see how different the two tutors are and hopefully learn different styles and techniques. For this workshop, Jill used easily obtainable tropical plants, whereas the plants and fibres used in the next workshop will be cool temperate climate plants, and so will be very different. 

~

On the village green

I went to the markets at the little village of Chillingham, about 20 minutes north west of where I live yesterday. I met up with friends there, and relaxed in the shade with a cool drink and some good food.....samosas, salad and home made chutney, some easy listening music in the background, and soaked up the atmosphere.  Enjoy a walk in the sunshine around this very laid back, charming village market with me.

There's good food to be had....

All the tents spread out around the central green give it a medieval festive air...

A large old mulberry tree provides dense shade, a place to sit and eat, enjoy a coffee or cool drink and catch up with friends.

The wood fired pizza oven, with handsculptured frog atop....

 Local produce.....

Honey straight from the bee keeper

Homemade jams and chutneys, using produce from the maker's garden, as well as from the Community Garden.  I bought a Lime Chutney and Davidson Plum Jam.

Hand knitted goods

Chillingham boasts it's own community garden

 On the way home.....

The one-lane bridge, where you have to be on the look-out for traffic coming the other way, a trap for non-locals.  It was just starting to rain.

Racing the storm home....I made it just in time to bring in the washing and close the windows.

A storm has just blown in again with heavy rain, so after a brief respite this morning, with just enough of a break to get the lawn mown and finish some pruning, I'm more than happy to be indoors and to settle to a quiet afternoon of sewing.