SkyWatch ~ A So-So Sunset

The only opportunity this week to capture a little hint of
colour in the sky, driving back along the Murray Valley,
looking back at the foothills of the Mt.Lofty Ranges.


*
The sky showed some promise so I pulled over and hoped...
*

*
plenty of clouds with the sun peeping through
*

*
no trumpets blaring, no bells and whistles, no heart stopping
rush of awe at the sheer magnificence, just a gentle fizzing out,
leaving the vastness of the sky just a vastness without
adornments.
*

*
Hope you have better luck elsewhere, just click the Logo to
find out for yourself.
*
Thanks to all those people who have kept this meme going for
such a long time.
*

MY WORLD ~ A Walk in the Park

Last week was rainy to overcast but no matter, I felt the call
of the wild so on with my Wellingtons . . . for those of you
unacquainted with these handy devices, a brief explanation:
The Iron Duke (Wellington) seemed always to fight his major
battles in wet, very wet, weather which. needless to say with
so many soldiers, cavalry, cannon drays and the like, created a deal
of mud. When the trusty rubber boots were invented they
naturally were named in honour of his Lordship, the hero of
Waterloo.


*
My feet now safe in my Wellies, My camera tucked under my
jacket, I ventitured forth across the paddock to the park. For
many reasons I had not been there all winter and now was
already mid-spring.
*
Above the bearded flowers of maples, below, the sunny gold
of my favourite Wattle, Acacia saligna, bright even on a grey
day.
*

*
Resilient nature way paying tribute to the first really soaking
rains since 1997, everything looked bright eyed and bushy tailed.
I have seldom seen such a prolific flowering on the Banksia,
really quite a sight with its candles all alight.
*

*
You may not think it but this cascade of gold hides a path . . .
Either wade in the dam or play Tarzan and break through
the jungle. Fearing to drown my camera in the former mode
of progress, I opted for the latter
*

*
and safely made it through to the other side. Looking back,
my passage was once more blocked as though I had never been.
*

*
As you see below, the dam/swimming hole is fuller than full.
The overflow is running nicely thank you and it will again be
possible to dive in and cool off in the summertime, snakes
and all!
*

*
The Logo is a peep-hole into other people's lives and surroundings.
*
Thanks to our ever industrious MY WORLD Team we can once
again link hand across the oceans.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Pink and Pretty

It is spring time and bink blossoms abound of Prunus,


*
and Nectarine,
*

*
the first carnation to open
*

*
and another Prunus that completely covers its branches.
*

*
Last but not least, this gloriously perfumed Oriental lily.
*

*
There is a great deal more in the garden in flower, so much indeed
that I could fill a book . . . but maybe not today.
*
Click on the Logo to enjoy different colours, different flowers and
different parts of the world or just to join this lovely meme.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ Defining Light

I hide in the shadows my beauty concealing and yet, the

light still finds me . . .

*

*

Sunrise light, illuminating and casting shadows in equal

degree changing the look of the landscape..

*

*

Photos clickonable for enlargement . . .

To enter this shadowy world, click on the logo, join in at

HEY HARRIET and come out to play!

A little Philosophising . . .

Life, fragile as a butterfly, a tenuous thread to reality, precious

beyond all else . . .

*

*

God willing, by tomorrow I can count another year of it, how

much longer we have, not one of us can know or determine.

This last year I have spent a little too much time knocking on

those pearly gates, yet each time been knocked back and sent

away. Sometimes I was not too happy with that as passing over

would have been so very easy.

Then, being back and seeing the gyrations of my newly grown

up grandchildren, developing an even closer and more loving,

if that is possible, relationship withmy daughter and seeing the

garden thrive again, has given me new strength to cope with the

Prof's fading memory.

*

Every equation seems to have pluses and minuses and we cope as

best we can.

*

The blogging community has been a wonderful spur to at least a

little creativity in moments of respite. I know I have not been able

to visit as much I would have liked and yet so many have left me

kind comments when I was unable to respond. There were many

times when those caring words kept me going against all odds.

*

To my dear, dear sister/daughter friend Ces a special thank you

for the most wonderful present that arrived to succour my soul

with the wonder of her great gift of drawing. On That another

post will follow I hope soon.

*

At the moment it is daily injections at the hospital as my body

seems to be refusing to submit itself to the major blood thinner

on the market which I have been subjected to for many years.

I resent the time this robs me of but at least it stops clots forming

on my artificial heart valves.

*

Sometimes we just need to accept what is.

*

So thank you for making my life so much richer and full of

fun and I send big hugs to all of you who drop in regularly

with scones and cup cakes to take tea with me and thank

you for your friendship.

*

SkyWatch ~ Better Late than . . . .

I just caught this sunset on the way home and wanted to share
it with you , as I was loading my pictures I had a call from my
doctor and had to drop everything and dash into our local
hospital for a blood thinning injection, my INR readings had
plummeted.

Back again, so here is the contrast to a week of grey and
depressing wheather that turns ones brain to sludge.


*
Pretty fast actoion photos, the sun was moving apace and
burning my eyes out trying to get some sort of compositio.
*

*
Here, where I managed to hide it behng the tree, the colours
of the sky are quite different.
*

*
More or less satisfyed, I turned back to my car only to see the
sun hat set it on fire, not only on the outside but inside as well.
If you look closely, you may see the haft of my alternative
method of transportation . . . yes, I got myself a new broomstick
for my birthday, so if I make it to Halloween, you'd better
watch out!


*
All photos enlarge with a click.
*

I'm a weather watcher from way back, so I absolutely love

this meme. Thanks SkyWatch Team!

MY WORLD ~ End of the Affair ... 'Enfoldments'

The last chapter of our 'Enfoldments' retreat/workshop.
gloating over the books we had made - they unfold in four
directions to hold words of wisdom, wit or whimsey, drawings,
doodles or diagrams or whatever else takes our fleeting fancy
and in the end shows us who we are.
*

*

India had one more surprise in store for us, in the late afternoon
we stitched onto flimsy prefelts, covering them on both sides for

stability, wetting them and felting them a little and thoughtfully

gathering more windfalls for their dye process, this time as a

farewell to this beautiful place we had worked in.
*

Just before dark, our bundles went into yet another witches'

cauldron to soak up the magic over night.

*

*
In the early morning we did the ritual circling of the wolves

inspecting all our fished out bundles
*

*
and again after finding our own by the string we had made on

the firt evening and our individual wrapping technique, and

spreading it out for all to see.
*

*

Pegging them on the line and yet again admiring our handiwork.
*

*
The finished product:- my little book nestling on its travelling

cloak ready for additions on other journeys.
*

*
The sorceress at right with her able assistant on the chapel

steps having farewelled her students after a job well done.

*

It still amazes me how India, being well centered herself could,

in her quiet way take a disparate grup of women and by tranquil

stitching, folding, felting and dyeing and making string, imbue

them all with her own inner peace.
*

*

Enlarge if the spirit moves you.
*
Click on the Logo to see the world and discover what other

bloggers are up to.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Reminiscing of Glenbarr Station

Still wallowing in fond memories of the 'Enfoldments' Retreat.
*
Snapdragons at the dining hall door
*

*
and a big bush of these tiny flowers at our cottage door.
Sorry I can't tell you their name at present, I'm having a
senior's moment. This afternoon I had misplaced the name
of Lantana, now, when I want this one, I get Lantana instead....
*
A fair exchange is no robbery I suppose.
*

*
This old plum tree had been teasing us all week and just on the
last day it decided to treat us to some blossom on one branch.
*

*
Enlarge for a closer look if you wish.

*

Thanks to this delightful flower meme, we can all walk in fields

of flowers at will by just clicking on the Logo. Enjoy!

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ More from Glenbarr Station

A moment of captured sun warmth before the intense day.
*

*
Off to join the group while catching up with myself.
*

*
Into the starkly defined converted barn/workroom.
*

*
Just as well she can't see what is following her . . .
*

*
Groping fingers across our cottage door
*

*
and an admonishment to seek salvation and mount the steps
to the chapel . . . unfortunately it was locked!
*

*
All photos enlarge with a click.
*
Sorry I was a lazy visitor last week, life muscled in on my blogging time.
*

Thanks to tracy at HEY HARRIET we all have a ticket to shadowland

just click on the Logo and enjoy.

SkyWatch ~ Tones of Blue at Glenbarr Station

Skies at last week's "Enfoldment" workshop.
*

*
Dusk falls over the dormitories.
*

*
Next morning a lone hawk circles in the blue above our heads.
*

*
To fly the skies click the Logo and soar into the blue.

MY WORLD ~ Enchanted by 'Enfoldments' - Part 3

This place alone took us back to a time when life had a
different pace and did not run away with the speed of a
racing car. Measuring distance by how far a horse could
take one in a day and time by available daylight.
*

*

Working with the concentration of coiled springs on the making

of our books . . . writing with steeped Eucalyptus ink and a handy

stick or brush a single word over and over on a large sheet of

paper. A word that held the meaning of this week of discovery,

that summed up our personal feelings about this particular journey.

*

*

Dyeing in the steaming cauldron . . .

*

*

watching and waiting as our bundles soaked up colour . . .
*

*
letting them cool before opening the surprise in store
*

*
and wonder of wonders, among oohs and aahs, unwrapping
leaf prints of our windfaall gatherings, always under the ever

so gentle guidance of our mentor India Flint, author of

Eco-Colour, botanical alchemist, felt maker, costumiere, her

speech as soft as her imprint on nature. Only use found materials,

windfalls, garden clippings, never robbing living plants unless

they be especially grown for the purpose of gazetted weeds.
*

*
Below, the stitched, over dyed and then cut up paper for our

book covers. Somehow the hours spent in quietly stitching
pieces of cloth, felt, lace, silk or anythng else we shared, the

windfall walks to gather our dye stuff, the wrapping and

bundling using the string we made on the first evening and
then cutting up the created 'art' work grounded us firmly into

our place in the universe, diminishing our ego and letting us

enjoy the process without pre-conceived ideas. It gave us the
freedom to be ourselves.
*

*
Out of this new found freedom grew our books, pages within

pages, pockets of mementos of our rambles, writing of sounds

and impressions of our surroundings and a sense of cohesive

togetherness of these 18 women from disperate walks of life
intent on the same purpose.
*

*
Truly a week of learning, wonder and enchantment as the

individual beads strung themselves into a shining necklace

each one of us carried away in our hearts.

*

Thank you India for being our guide and mentor, a keeper

of the world and most of all for being my precious daughter.
*
All photos enlarge with a simple click.
*
To see the world through other eyes or to join in, click the Logo.