Kaiki or reeds

These are the local reeds that are growing in the dam and I picked some on my walk and brought them home to draw. they look and sound fantastic en masse when the wind is blowing.
the local tribe here call them Kaiki but we just tend to call them reeds, John tells me thay are actually of the bamboo family.
I think I have a mark on the scanner as that blob is not on the paper.
Done with a pencil on a rougher paper than normal.
We are off early tomorrow so will be on the Gold Coast in Queensland by lunch time.
The cat has gone to the cattery, I am packed except for the last few bits and pieces.
I can get the blogs with the laptop but dont think I can scan so I will be reading, the photos I can unoad but they will go on the back valley seasons blog. That is if I have time!
Lots to go on I hope when I get home.

Knobby Club Rush and Euphorbia

John and I walked to Kings Beach this afternoon, a good hour or more of walking, a strong breeze and quite cool but a lovely walk, there were people fishing and snorkeling, more than one normally sees there so instead of the sea and as I only had my pen and small sketchpad I drew the rushes and the spurge that grow just back from the beach. I would have liked to have had time to add colour as some of the rocks have the most incredible orange on them.

Golden Ash

this Golden Ash is at the bottom of the garden and is sited so that you can see the hills beyond. the poor thing hasnt been watered much lately but has gone an incredible gold.
A cooler day with a south easterly breeze so my walk was quite pleasant for a change and no flies!
I have been cutting back my La Marque rose by the drive as she is leaning out and scratching the car, she managed to get thorns in me too.
John is grubbing melons, not a pleasant job.

Peachicks on the balustrade

I am afraid I am pretty tired this evening as I had a fairly big going over by the physio so this is a very quick Sketch of three of the six pea chicks who were sitting on the balustrade . They are devils to do as no sooner do you start one position than they move to another position and i cant cope when they put their heads under their wings!
Any way this morning we awoke to RAIN not a lot about 4 mm but it sounded and smelt wonderful and tonight the crickets are all singing.

Hot day

Much hotter than the weather beaureau predicted, for both Adelaide and here. We went up to Adelaide to see my mother (who looked and was tired and fragile), for John to have a beard trim and for me to deliver presents to both my sisters for their Birthdays a few days late but not badly so. We also took out my older sister for a sandwhich and coffee, my younger sister was wondering why she has just bought a new puppy!
Home and tired and the house like an oven.
So this is a branch of dying leaves on the ground just to round off my day.
I am not sure why but this blog has a wrong date on it, always a day late, but I am not going to try to fix it

More brown paddocks

More brown hills and paddocks, hot again today, we go from hot to cool with wind most of the time.
I was tryng out a small Indian made book I have which I quite like but it is very small and I am not sure about it, Instead of my good Winsor and Newton I was trying out the really nice little cotman set in a plastic travel box, it is tiny and fits in my camera bag. I like its size but will fill the pans with artist quality paint as they go down I think.
My metal paint tin is rather large and heavy, of course I still have the toothbrush case with about 8 bigger pans in it as well! No wonder my handbag gets heavy, now my camera, two paint containers, a small container of water, note/sketchbooks, pens, the mobile phone, a bit of make up, my purse and diary ,hanky, the odd band aid, and probably other things I have forgotten.

Japanese bantams

The big old cage I have these in is very shady and not easy to see into, and they move around a lot. I looked them up and they are a short legged, very upright little bird, to be seen in the Emporers gardens about 350 years ago and were used as trade gifts, so the first ones came to the UK in the 1870's ( I think).
They have one or two very long tail feathers, he seems to have lost one, and some funny upright ones all around the tail. He is of no recognised colour, although the hens are, I suppose you get all sorts, the ones I really like are the white ones with black tails. He has had a pure white daughter and a blue one and he has some dirty markings on his body. A soft crow and they cluck to each other a lot.
I went to the physio today and have another appointment for Friday, I thought we went next Wednesday but it is Tuesday.

Faces

This is John at the bottom and some other fellow eating lunch yesterday. I have had no time to draw today, although I have walked and fed the ponies, so windy drying and quite cool. My aunt by marraige and her second husband for lunch so that took up all morning. And most of the afternoon and after yesterday I feel tired.
I must find time to draw the Japanese bantams I was given, very sweet, I hope not too noisy, but I do like to hear a rooster crow. He has 4 little hens who cluck and carry on.

Goolwa Wooden Boat Show.

Today was magic day, we walked our legs off at the wooden boat show, went over at about lunch time, found a park and walked, got something to eat and then wandered, I took loads of photos of the paddle steamers and other wooden boats in the sail past,then we wandered around and looked at them tied up, One for sale I would have loved but didnt bother to ask the price!! We met up with friends, we drank wine had coffees and watched them making boats from scratch, it was such fun.
After yesterdays heat it was cool the odd scud of rain but not enough to worry any one, and a bit windy, but lovely. I sat up on one of the board walks andsketched this lovely little sailing boat.
Reminded me a bit of 'Swallow' in Swallows and Amazons.

Netball Clinic

While Sarah had people coming to look at ponies I took Isabelle aged nearly 15 over to the regional netball clinic at Myponga, this is quite an honour as only the best from each team are selected.
When I got there it was hot but I found a shady plane tree and sat under it and thank goodness a bit of a breeze. I then discovered I only had a pencil with me so these are a bit faint.
trying to draw them was an exercise initself as they move so fast. My figures still dont get any better.
we came home on the back unmade roads so now have a very dusty car.
Have a friend staying tonight, I hope it cools down as it was another stinker, most unusual, very cold overnight and then wham, it got hot.

Letter box series

I think you will know when I am tired and havent had time because the letter boxes will come out, and they will be in black and white!
I had one of those days which still hasnt stopped and I dont know when it will. I have a busy long week end coming up so I shopped, made vegetable lasagna with eggplants, dinner tonight is Indian, I made soup stock, I tidied and I washed.
I moved horses, fed horses, cleaned out a chook house, watered and I am pooped!
I am sure you get snook in Victoria, but then perhaps only fishermen catch them. They are long and thin and well snooky looking! Good eating.

Bark shapes

I took out my pencils today to try and get some idea down on paper of the huge long shapes in the bark that has fallen from the trees. This doesnt really look much like what I was seeing but it does give an impression of the shapes some of the lenths of bark were about 2 feet long. really quite incredible.
After yesterdays rant I feel much better, we had some mizzle in the early morning, not much but a bit, it has been a beautiful day all day, not too hot, so what did I do? thoroughly clean the house as I have visitors over the week end and am now tired, usually John helps with some of the vacuuming but he went fishing today, has just rung to say we are having snook for dinner and he is on his way home.
I am doing this in a bit of a hurry as I am running late, as usual.

Frustrating day

It is hot and windy, so the trees are shedding both bark and leaves, I was going to do the bark but my pen decided to play up so leaves, again.
I had a mare and foal out this morning, came in after grrr not making headway in getting them back, only to look there half an hour later and they had put themselves back.
I cant find a fibre book I need and know I have but I have turned the house upside down and cant find it., more frustration.
The garden is dying before my eyes and I cant water, that is depressing and John is depressed about the weather and lack of rain and is paying the employees, two of whom are on workers comp so are not actually working, and paying what bills he can and worrying that we will be away for 2 weeks from the 20th. Mega frustration. Sorry about the grumbles, always bad at this time of the year.

Letter box

I think this may be the start of my letter box series. I was going to colour this in as it was bright blue with yellow daisies on it but after my trip to Adelaide I am suffering from an excruciating back, looks as if I may have to go back to the physio again. I think it is tossing slabs of heavy hay to the ponies but that and feeding them grain has to be done.
Cold and windy and very drying today,I am trying to be positive but it isnt easy, still no rain in sight.

Sundail

I spent all day in Adelaide. John had meetings so I went up to see my mother (I took her for a coffee but she was anxious to get back for lunch as it was going to be outside under their new shaded area!). To try to fill in the rest of the time, as it was a lovely day, not too hot at all I parked in one of the shady streets and walked, sketching as I went.
Adelaide might be a Capital city but it is still small and if you stop for too long sketching some one is sure to come out and ask what you are doing and get a bit huffy, I think they think you may be casing the joint so to speak to rob them so I had to be very quick and careful.
I was fairly safe with this one as it was an old house that had been turned into Docotors rooms so there was plenty of passing traffic and they were not interested in me.
I did go shopping and bought a pair of sandals that I hope my feet will like.

Remains of Pt Willunga Jetty

I should have done this earlier but my morning wizzed by and I needed to finish this off. This was yesterday's walk along the Pt Willunga beach on a cool and blowy day. So I am a day behind, again!
There used to be jettys up and down the coast line but most of them have dissapeared or like this one only a few piles remain due to the severety of the storms that hit the Gulf waters every so often.
I really tried to get the idea of the waves coming in on this one and failed again.
I had a lovely time yesterday, we junk shopped, bought a bike for $35 now to get on and ride it, well actually I dont get it until next week end and I would imagine a helmet will cost more than the bike. If I cant cope with it at least it will be here for the grand children when they come.
John survived his Clipsal 500 state corporate box experience, had a few interesting things to say about some of the politicians but found some people he knew to talk to and he said the food was good, but he couldnt really get excited about the race itself and the noise was pretty off putting.

Yatch Club

I wasnt going to put up any more of the melbourne sketches but yesterday was back to 40 degrees again and steamy to boot so my walk was not one in which I stood around and sketched.
This weather is very tiring, the air conditioner is evaporative so doesnt do well when the humidity is high. I am up so early doing the ponies and I have extra ones to feed and further to walk when I do, and lug full buckets of grain.
Now we have a cooler change and all you want to do is sleep. Water is getting perilously low, are about to run out of rain water for the house, we do have one tank with drinking water in it, and we will go onto the spring water for washing and showers etc but it has a high iron content so everything tends to turn red.
I have almost forgotten about the garden well not forgotten, you cant but not much is being watered. Stock are more important than gardens.

Reception

Last night we went to the reception put on by the state government for the Clipsal 500 car race. John gets invited to these things as he is chair of a few committtees, sometimes we go and sometimes we dont. It was a lovely warm evening in Adelaide and the reception was held in a very fancy marquee with chandeliers and these incredible swathed tables which I have drawn very badly.
A few wives go and as I for once knew one or two, I could actually chat while John went off and networked.
I quite like watching the politicians pressing the flesh although from the number of name tags that hadnt been picked up there were less than expected by half.
The food was good and I felt I had had enough, usually you dont and the champagne was a good one.
Only trouble with sketching at things like this is you look a bit obvious so this was the best I could do.

Will

These are the last of my Melbourne pictures, for a while, I am working on one more.
This is Will and Evie in the pool and me trying to catch Will in various attitudes as he was trying to jump on the surf board and stay there instead of falling off with a huge crash.
Pools are wonderful for children of their age, although some one has to be around to watch them.
I tried to get these scans to mix with the photos I took but the two computers dont seem to want to talk to each other at the moment so the photos are in the other blog.
Yesterday was hot and sticky, but I got a lot done and feel happier that there is now no cat hair floating around the house. I even battled the flies and walked out past the house paddock gate.