Meat tray stamps

 I had cut up a couple of small meat trays to take away with me, didnt have time to do anything with them while we were away but when I came home I drew these two 'rock art' look alikes and printed them in my book.
So much fun to do, simple and easy.
I have a flat out week next week with painting lessons from Monday to Thursday which I think I am looking forward to, I havent had time to think about it!
 Tomorrow my great grandson Mason has a 4th birthday bbq lunch and P comes to stay (she is to do the lessons too) in the evening.
I think I am more or less organised.
Up to Adelaide this morning, these 3hour round trips do get a bit tiring, especially as it is school holidays and the driving at times is appalling.
Caught up with friends from WA and had a late lunch and collapsed infront of the tv to watch the AFL Grand Final, the team I favoured won but it was a close fought match.
I have made a casserole for dinner, now to wait for it to cook.
Off to do a bit of handstitching.

From my sketchbook

 The top one was trying to get on paper my impression of the dry creek beds and sandhills we were flying over on our way to Darwin, done in the plane while the landscape below kept on changing. So I had to remember what I had first put down before I filled in the pieces. I would like to translate this into a painting. I will see how I go, my translations dont seem to look as nice as my sketches.
The second one were of the little things I saw around E and W's garden, the bells, hanging lanterns, water lilies, windchimes, water features and bird cages (they were for decorative purposes only, no birds in them.)
We have had 2 hot days, now we are back to cold and wind, with a little rain. Not a terribly pleasant day.
I do feel virtuous though as at least I have dusted and vacuumed, I would like to wash the floors but not in this weather, they will just get muddy.
I have to go into the surgery to have my annual (now I am over 70) drivers license check up, a pain as my usual GP is away, and I have to see another and have an ecg as well. I will be glad when it is over.

A bit of catch up

There will be more of these but 2 a day is about my limit.
We are now home and I have packed a lot into the last few days, unpacking and washing and tidying up and today a round trip to the hairdresser, 8 ish start and home a bit after 12.30 having collected the papers and the mail and some groceries I forgot yesterday. Not enough hours in the day.
I really loved the red stemmed palms in E's garden, this is not a very good sketch but we seemed to be on the go all the time.
I did the crocodile on the way home in the plane, had to do something during a 3 1/2 hour flight.
I am trying to catch up on all the emails etc from while we were away.
really I would just like to sit and think!
It was a fabulous trip, so much to see and do and we packed in an awful lot.
Yes it was hot and towards the end humid but we coped, we ate at lovely places, we stayed in a glorious house with the best hosts, we were shown stuff we may not have found by ourselves. I bought lots of lovely baskets made by the local aborigines, saw rock paintings, lots of different birds, crocodiles came back with books and paintings and so much paper stuff it will take me ages to catalogue it and made some great stuff in the workshop I went to.
Whew, and of couse life is getting hectic here at home too. I will be posting on both my blogs so go here  to see what else I have been dloing.
Off to get some more 'stuff' done.

Not a lot of time for painting

 I am doing a lot of writing and pasting images in my home made book but there has been very little time to paint.
we are having a bit of a lay day today, an early morning walk and a dinner ncruise on the Katherinr river up the gorges.
I did the first one while we were still in kakadu, some of the dyed parndanus used in weaving I was gicen at Oenpeli in arnhemland and a sketch of the spirit woman which was in our room, just pencil over a background of a tea bag.
The leaves I picked up on my walk this morning and usinf them as stencils I put a mix of tea bag and coffee over them and then painted in the details a lot of fun but all this travelling and walking in 37 degree heat gets a bit much for us old people!
For photos go and look on my back valley seasons blog.

Playing with birds

We are heading off to Darwin on Wednesday, but will be in Adelaide tomorrow as there is an early start.
I have been playing with these birds and having lots of fun, I was trying to get some colour on them but that hasnt happened. I love the madness of them, saw some on someones blog and went from there.
Trying to pack for a much warmer climate, as well as what I have to take for a class, leave things for the house sitter and hope I havent forgotten too much as we will drive straight to Kakadu and if I havent got it it wont happen!
Hope I can blog from there but if not I will be full of I hope photos and paintings and sketches to put up when we get back in just under a fortnight.
Oh and our pony did really well at Adelaide Royal Show, got a Champion no less! Not easy to do on a shoe string but Sarah is brilliant with her preperation and this year all went better than we hoped.

Another face

I have been having trouble loading photos to blogger from Picasa so I am back to loading from my pictures and not enjoying it, as what ever I have done in picasa doesnt translate through, plus I seem to be able to only upload one photo at a time. Frustrating and not making one feel much like blogging. Here I will vent a little, no one seems to do anything about these problems, or even let you know if they are when it has been going on for a while and there have been complaints put up on various forums. I dont think the bright young things who are so busy changing how things work look at problems. Off my soap box. On the whole I like blogger and dont want to change but sometimes I do wonder. Is it me? No it cant be, there are other complains about the same issues. I have now come down with hay fever, the joys of spring! Especially a strong north wind which is drying out the paddocks and sending pollen from everything that is flowering at one when one walks. I always forget I get it until John reminds me, so I have added another pill to the list I am taking and hope I dont come out in purple spots or fall over in a dead faint! There are lots of things wrong with this little sketch but some how she still pleases me, too sharp a chin, too big a lower lip etc etc, but not much sketching or painting has been done lately so I felt I had to put something up.We are off to Darwin for 2 weeks next week, so things to get together and organise for the house sitter, also the Royal Adelaide Show starts this week, daughter, grandchildren and ponies will be there from tomorrow, I hope to get up on Saturday,but I also have to be on deck to check any mares due to foal, some one always does unexpectedly so that will keep me on my hay fevered toes!