From the balcony in Queensland

We have arrived safely, rather tired but it is warm and sunny and lovely. J is moving far better than I was at the same time. Friends caught up with and J taken to have her staples out. A lovely lunch on the balcony and a very quick splash of paint with smokey the cat. I have just worked out, I hope, how to do this from my tablet. Yay.

Aloes

Yesterday the aloes at Pt Elliot were almost all out and looking magnificent with a back drop of the sea behind. I love their vibrant colours during winter, they have been planted all along the coast as they do so well. Originally from South Africa. We have so many plants from there, thanks to the ships calling in on their way from England to Australia. Some brought on purpose, some in soil used for ballast. A fun thing to sketch and then paint.

Gold fish

I have a large fat goldfish with swim bladder problems in a big chinese pot by the front door. Here he is when he has managed to right himself which he does when i feed him. Poor fellow. We walked this morning, over at Pt Elliot, there was a northerly wind blowing the big southern swells back on themselves. A nice walk.

Playing

Some where, I think possibly from Ro Bruhn I saw a method of using the insides of business envelopes and doing simple drawings on them, fun and addictive, I have used a simple sharpie fine point pen to outline and the cheapest of the felt tipped pens I have as they dont go through the paper like the more expensive ones. I have had a fun day doing very little but play. Well we did walk this morning and I have had an X ray on my knee, and finally the sun came out and I pulled weeds in the garden!! I feel better.

A mad and quite silly bird

It is fairly obvious when I havent done much and I come up with another bird. I love doing these birds and I was trying out a new pen very cheap which seems to work, it is not water soluable which I like. I have had a very busy week, my sister down for a few days, which meant a fast trip to Adelaide and back on Monday, meals to cook, house to tidy etc and a few drives around to see things she hasnt seen for ages, my shoulder didnt like some of the driving. Then back to Adelaide on Thursday to take her home and spend the night with P who always looks after me well. Friday morning I was off early to the Stitching and Craft show and had a lovely time collecting bits and pieces, caught up with Ian and Dale of the Thread Studio and bought quite a lot, I love it when I can actually see what I am buying although I did have a long list from their catalogue. When I go to these shows I get a bit confused by all that is on offer but I found some lovely wool felt and some other bits and pieces and met several friends who I didnt know would be there. I like this show it is smaller and not as crowded as the big quilt show and it seemed easier to get into the stalls and browse, admittedly I had got there when it opened. Home tired, and have been on the go all day today, visiting my niece and nephew and their partners and children who were down at the Gorge farm at Normanville. I had found some old letters of their mothers which I thought might fill in a few gaps for them. I am going to be a great aunt in a few weeks time too which I hadnt realised since my sister died I have been trying to keep in touch but it isnt always easy. Better go and organise the cauliflour in cheese sauce to go with the corned beef for dinner.

Village scene

I have just had fun finishing this little scene off, Using my inktense pencils and a water brush by the fire. I think a village like this might be nice to live in. It is freezing cold and I think if the clouds clear we will have a frost not that I want one but it does help set the fruit for the fruit trees. We walked this morning, just managed it before the rain set in we went where the whales have been seen, two mothers with calves, newly born but the seas were terribly rough and I would imagine they had moved out away from the shore a bit, huge waves coming in again. This really is a bit what I would call a normal or nearly normal winter for us. It is very pleasant sitting by the fire and sewing, reading or drawing. Not that is all I have done, I have cleaned out the spare bedroom for my sister and made beds and dusted and vacuumed and made my shoulder ache, hence the slothful sitting by the fire! Off to feed the chooks and Max and Oscar, then sort out something for dinner.

Wisteria leaves and a bit of excitement

While I sit here at my computer I can see the last of the wisteria leaves outside the window on the door, the bright yellow leaves are slowly falling but on a dull day they look bright and luminous. My bit of excitement is that I have an article about this blog published in threads in Fusion an e magazine put out by Dale and Ian Rollerson of The Thread Studio, if you dont follow Dale, she has a blog as well as the wonderful shop and is on face book. Instead of blowing my own trumpet I had better get on with something non productive, like dusting!