Off to the Seaside

A friend and I are driving north into foreign territory tomorrow, and heading to the beachside town of Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast.

Images from Caloundra Tourist Centre

I used to belong to the Down to Earth Forum, (which is now closed) an online meeting place for those interested in simplifying their lives, who came together from all over the world to share ideas about homemaking, gardening, frugality and all manner of other topics related to our homes, gardens and families and just to have fun.  Before the Forum closed, a Queensland get-together was suggested, and this is happening this weekend.  I haven't met any of the ladies who'll be there, but I'm looking forward to meeting them, and continuing our online conversations face to face. Once again, it's a case of the internet being a positive influence and bringing like minded people together.

We're taking the scenic route north, avoiding the motorway and going out through the countryside where we'll will stop for lunch at Somerset Dam.  I'm sure there'll be plenty of litle towns that will beckon us in for a look as well.

See you all next week..........

Is it a bird?

or maybe a chicken?

hmmm?

whichever...I'm mighty pretty!

Pat, the recipient, unfortunately couldn't make it to lunch yesterday, so I'll have to wait until next month when we all meet up again to find out what she thinks.  The others, Lajla and Eileen both liked it, so that's a good start.  Chicken bird is about 15 cms (6") high, and half of that is long legs.

I'm pleased with how it turned out ....

....til next time

What a day!

I was woken about 2am yesterday morning by a loud noise, a thwumping kind of sound.  I got up and checked on all the animals.....all were fine.  As I headed back to bed, I suddenly realised what the noise was, so I stuck my head out the back door and sure enough, the huge jacaranda tree belonging to next-door's had fallen......into my yard!

Here it is in all it's glory a couple of years ago.

 

and here it was at first light this morning, laying sadly on it's side, broken and finished, it's roots ripped out of the ground.

 

My weaving frame, and a couple of chairs are under here, 

My neighbour was out there pretty quickly with his chain saw and had it all cleared away by mid-morning.  Luckily not much damage was done, part of the fence was buckled, and my garden weaving frame ......that's it in my header picture.....was pushed over, and some chairs near it were flattened.  If the tree had fallen during the day, there's a good chance I'd have been sitting right there, where I have a little table and chairs set up, and Mirrhi and the chooks gather there with me of an afternoon.  The weaving frame is ok, it was able to be pushed back upright, and will just need a couple of metal pickets to support it and stop it falling over again.  Luckily I'd put the table in my car the day before, ready to take to the markets yesterday.

With the tree gone, a huge gap is left on the western side of my yard, and will change the whole climate of my garden, as it provided welcome shade from the afternoon sun in summer.  My shade-loving plants will need to be moved I think, and replaced with sun loving vegetables and flowers, so it might be not be all bad.  The birds will miss the tree as a huge variety made it their home.....I will miss the birds!  My chooks are very nervous now about being in their run, as they've lost their safe 'jungle' overhead. And I'll miss the beautiful blue-mauve carpet of the blossoms as they flutter to ground come spring.

Here's the space with the tree gone, luckily there wasn't much damage done to my neighbour's tropical forest, so there's still a lot of greenery there.  It's different now, but other plants will grow and thrive without the competition from the hungry tree, and soon it will seem like it was never there.

***

As if that wasn't enough excitement, my friend Jan and I had our first market stall together at the Tyalgum Markets.   The markets are set up in the beautiful rose garden of the local B&B, with gazebos set up around the perimeter, giving it the look of a medieval fair. 

 Jan arranging our stock

 

 We call ourselves The Kelpie & The Cat......there's the table that missed being squashed!

 

 

 This little tyke spent the afternoon napping on my knee, he'd come to the market with his owner, a fellow stall-holder.  It was a pretty quiet day, with steadily worsening rain keeping any customers away, but a pleasant afternoon nonetheless, sitting and chatting in good company.

 

'

til next time 

Gutter Gold

I joined a couple of friends at the Tweed River Art Gallery yesterday.  The Gallery alone is worth a visit.  It sits on a high parcel of land overlooking the Tweed River, green and rolling pastureland and with spectacular views to Mt Warning and the Caldera rim to the north. 

Source: Art Gallery Website

 

While we did enjoy fun and laughter and a delicious lunch out on the balcony, the real purpose of the visit was to see an exhibition by Adrienne Kenafake, a Gold Coast artist who says of her work......"my works focus on the immediate environment by investigating the flotsam and jetsam of daily life.  All the artworks are made from found and recycled materials, my sculptures have become a visual record of the unwanted items we carelessly discard on a daily basis"

 

 'Rare as Hen's Teeth' . Source antheapolsonart.com.au

 

Silly me, I left my camera in the car, so these photos are from various art galleries, with credit to these sources. Not all of these were in the exhibition, but were on a similar theme, so you get the idea
.

Adrienne's work is stunning and confronting.  As well as using fabric she colours with windfallen leaves and barks from local plants in the style of India Flint,  Adrienne uses tiny bones from road killed animals, mostly wallabies, rat vertebrae, fish scales, human hair  and the fabric segments are roadside discards or from council clean-ups.

Her titles and imagery are telling too.......this is called 'Introduced Species".  Sorry, the pics are a bit blurry, but you get the idea.  She also made the little wagon from recycled materials as well.

 

'Introduced Species'.  Source antheapolsonart.com.au

This next one was on show at the gallery, and was my favourite.  It's so iconically Australian, the sad sight of stiffened road kill all along our country roads.  You can't see it on this picture, but this one has an injured tummy, with big blowflies sitting on it, made with fabric, and fish scale wings....so very lifelike.  It's claws, if you look closely, are wallaby bones, and it's made from plant dyed silk.

                             Flyblown'.   Source artguide.com.au

 

 

                                      'Wanderlust'.  Source antheapolsonart.com.au

                                                

 

                 'Stay Together'.....that's human hair on their heads!   Source barebonesartspace.com.au

 

This was a great exhibition, asome amazing, very detailed, thoughtful work from a very talented artist with some clear messages.  In her own words .....broken, busted, forgotten, lost, flyblown, shiny new, here in the gutter lie the treasure of the suburbs........golden traces of existence waiting to tell their stories.  If you find yourself in northern NSW, or hear that this exhibition is coming to a gallery near you, give yourself a treat and go along and see it.

 

We also checked out the new Margaret Olley Centre, a space dedicated to her paintings, sketches, education and workshop spaces and an amazing recreation of her studio and over 20,000 items collected in her lifetime.  More on that though in another post.

 

.............til next time