9 Moons Ago

  

Sooo… what have we been up to over the past couple of weeks?

Well, Daniel and Adrian came over to visit with us, and we went out to split servings of fish, veggies, chips (french fries), pizza, steak and oysters… topped off with champagne, tiramisu and hot chocolate! YUM!
Then we headed back to the house for more hot drinks by the fireside. What a lovely evening!

We stopped by Worco again, where I wrote letters to my family and drew Alastair at work on a harpsichord keyboard, as he is teaching Cameron a bit about the trade. Went out for lunch and dinner with the guys. Dinner was at my favourite Melbourne restaurant, Cafe Umut in Preston! Not a fancy place, but the food is amazing. It puts the Turkish food at South Street in Philly to shame!

I sold an illustration to someone who saw my work online and loved it. She’s going to send me a copy of the publication (a business brochure) and will add my name to it too. YAY! I sold artwork without even trying to! Great motivation at a time when I’m making preparations to set up an online shop -probably on Etsy- where I will sell some of my paintings!

I’ve been working on some website themes for friends, but they’ve been slow-going so that’s a bit frustrating. Lots of things are competing for my attention.
I haven’t let myself re-design my own website yet, either, so that is another thing I want to change!

Cameron and I caught a daytime movie and had the theatre to ourselves. Watched “The Simpsons” and loved it! “Spider pig, spider pig. Does whatever a Spiderpig does…”

Watched the lunar eclipse and took photos which were quite good, considering our camera wasn’t meant for such long distance shots.

After fully recovering from the tonsillitis and stress of dealing with health problems, I’m back to job searching and attended a job interview today. *Fingers crossed*

And every day the dogs and I are enjoying our walks in the fields. Sometimes they take a dip in the water, and sometimes we take apple and pear cores from my lunch to Leo, the horse. He’s rather anti-social. He comes up for pats rights away, but leaves after a minute or two (whether or not there is food) but sometimes he unexpectedly comes up and tries to eat my scarf or ear and it makes me laugh and squirm because it’s very “tickly”.

Have been seeing the return of the large water birds such as heron and ibis, and watching kookaburras sitting high in a bare-branched tree, laughing loudly, and seeing the little fairy wrens hop around as they create their nests and it’s all breathtaking! The weather is gorgeous, warm, sunny, slight breezes, there are colorful blossoms on the trees, red bottle brush appearing, and new green all over. Drinking it in….

And, I’ll continue the update another time…

  

Gus has been feeling better and wanted to thank everyone for the well-wishes and love. Here he is bird-watching and enjoying the fresh air in Mum and Dad’s backyard this past weekend:

I tried to get a picture of the rainbow-lorikeet parrots in the apple tree, but they were being camera-shy.

Yesterday I had a doctor appointment near the city and afterwards Cam surprised me by taking a detour on the way home…to the beach! YAY. It was a beautiful day..sunny, but with a nice cool breeze. We went to Elwood Beach which is a large bay area, where you can see the city skyline on one side and gorgeous large houses on the other side. The water was deep blue and sparkly, contrasting greatly with the white caps of the waves.

There were a few people there, but it was nice and quiet. There was a couple walking with their baby daughter who was wearing a bright green sweatshirt and a diaper. She loved splashing her feet in the water and kept wobbling and falling in the sand with a big smile on her face.

After I waded for a bit and picked up some shells and sea glass, Cam and I went to a cafe for lunch where we had a seat overlooking the beach and water. It was so beautiful. And the lunch was delicious. I had beer battered fish and chips, and a cranberry juice. We watched a group of children on the beach who had just walked over from a school or daycare.

Though we didn’t have the camera with us, I found some pictures on a tourist site of an area very close to where we were. I am still amazed by the palm trees here, after all these years!:

For some more gorgeous shots of the area, go here: Elwood Beach.

I’ll take these shells back next time we visit and exchange them for a new handful:

It was great to see the ocean again! I’m sure we’ll get there again before the cold weather hits.

Otherwise, things are busy as usual, but good. If I don’t appear with a new post before next week, have a happy Easter!

  

Yesterday I was out in the yard playing ball with the dogs when I noticed two flecks of brilliant red in the grass beneath the clothesline. There was movement, and the dogs seemed to be oblivious, so I decided to put them inside the house for a few minutes before they wised-up. Then I went outside again to observe the Crimson Rosellas pecking away at the ground for food. I actually got pretty close before they flew up to a nearby branch to perch. (Teefy, I thought you would especially be interested in these brightly colored “chickens”!) Pretty amazing!:

(click on picture for a larger view)

(click on picture for a larger view)

  

Well, my new banner is up, thanks, in part, to the delightful stripe-y pattern provided by a wonderful whimsical artist, Delphine. I’ve been smitten with her work for the past couple of days, since I stumbled upon her site, and have been checking out all the archives and soaking up inspiration.

Besides her charming illustrations on non dairy diary, and bright, hip patterns for photoshop, she has many fun crafts which you can print out and make. I jumped into the paper crane making straight away. I used to make these a lot and forgot how to, with lack of practice.

I first learned the art back at Moore College of Art when we had students from Japan visiting. They brought us gifts of chopstick holders, and cold packs with cute and funny illustrations on them, and lots of origami paper. I remember the fun we had that week, sitting around a low table in the lounge and learning how to make brightly colored cranes.

Here is my most recent family of birds, resting on top of my mac:

Took a break from gardening today..it was too chilly and wet. But we did manage to squeeze in a game of fetch with the pups! There was yummy bruschetta for lunch, and an easy roast made in the crockpot for dinner, and I think I’ll make some popcorn for a snack! Yum! See ya later….