My Paternal Grandmother

I was sent this wonderful photo by my Uncle John, Dad's younger
brother of their mother Myrtle Carletta.

She has her doll with her, she is only about 12 years old. I now own
that doll.

This is the back of the photo postcard, look at how old the doll must be  now.

Rosie goes to Nimbin

When I was dropped at Alstonville, Bec continued on a trip
with Rosie further north to Byron Bay.

She was staying in a holiday rental with girlfriends, and I just
had one request, please take a photo of my hippy car if they go
to Nimbin.

They not only went there, but my old girl made it up to Queensland
too.

Flat out since coming back, study, another short course, and a fun
market stall on Friday nights in our local mall.

 Here she is in all her glory.

 Since coming back, we have been working for 2 months 

on Fridays doing our Suitcase Forage market.

We have already sold some of these items.

A busy Summer - Gardening, marketing, artwork and more.

So much to do! The never ending list. At least this past year, and
especially Summer, we have got together and sold goods, done
home maintenance tasks and started the backyard renovation,
all long overdue.

We are all busy and often time poor, but in breaks get bits done,
progress is slow but encouraging.

This is a mixed bag of some of these.

Bec gets into it, bless her little red socks!

For environmental reasons newspaper weedmat.

The pond is overgrown with mini Papyrus, and a haven for a red belly snake. It has to be removed.

Bec has dug out the native small plants and grasses, now to shift 

all the pots and other stuff, and dig out weed lawn.

The recycled washing machine drum to be repurposed as a firepit. 

In spite of the demolition, the wooden raised plant beds are going well.

Watched over by our little tawny mate.

We cleaned and assembled and checked the girl's bunks, (they are  only 20 years old now), we got around to it eventually! Sold them within minutes of listing!

Ben relaxes on his cosy lounge corner of the deck. The deck that is lounge, 

dining, workshop, art and photo studio.

Some of our designs on cards for market. Selling well.

Art from 70s and 80s, very retro.

A caricature commission, and lots of help from the cat, who just spread 

and spread and took over the table.

A view, fresh air, a cuppa and reference.

Different applications, on a big birthday group sign card, for 21st birthday.

Hand coloured card gives a different look to mono coloured singlet.

No challenge whatsoever, short deadline, in a merino suit, get face right, 

include slackline, friend, 4WD car, and a chasm! Easy sure...

Bob eventually took over the table, at least he was comfortable and relaxed.

Blast from the past, painted rocks, a trend 70s - 90s.

I used to sell these can I do it again?

Printmaking on the go.

I hadn't had much time to use my home-made gelatine
printing plates.

I thought it could be fun to do it with Nush as an activity.

Monoprinting doesn't require a press so is portable.

The table outside was ideal and long enough for us to spread
out and share the equipment and acrylic paint.

Now to decide what to do with our prints, maybe journaling
pages or for collaged artwork.

 Spontaneous outdoor print studio, plastic covers table.

 To make it personal, we collected leaf specimens from the property. 

Feathers were used too. I had smooth gelli plates, textured plates, 

and rectangular and circular shapes.

Also made a plate from a styrofoam food tray.

Other outings.

Luckily for us some showers, and maintenance needed on
the ride-on mower meant we could go out and about and
do other things.

Alstonville is not far from Byron Bay or Ballina.

 

 The crystal themed tourist attraction had a giant Buddha, within a koi pond.

 It had spectacular plantings like this avenue of black bamboo.

 In spite of the rain, it is a great place to visit, with rainbow umbrellas for loan.

 This beach looks like the sort I love, desolate and deserted, 

but to the left of us are dogs, horses and 4WDs.

 Rosie is still young and in training.

 This was an interesting short walk, with a dammed section of river, a waterfall and 

a swimming hole. It almost is as sheer as a sink hole, reminded me of Mt Gambier.

 Ducks line up at the top, and Sacred Ibis at the bottom.

Platypus sightings

I had the very exciting experience, to view platypus in the wild for
4 mornings while at the farm.

The creek has a good flow, and a couple of deeper pond sections.
I was led to a suitable vantage point where a sighting was likely,
early morning.

Patiently scanning the water for signs, or bubbles coming to the
surface. Lots of false alarms as it is rich in fish, tortoise and water
dragons.

The creek passes by Nush's cabin, we had cuppas and 

drinks here on the verandah and long chats.

No shots of the cabin to preserve and respect her privacy. 

This was what we thought was a stick at first, but we had disrupted 

a water dragon mid-meal.He stayed like this for ages.

Next time I would use a tripod for stability. Trust me though 

these are shots over 4 days of platypus.

Blink and it's gone - diving down.

The deep pool, Nush and Rosie keeping watch.

 At day's end these lovely views of reflected trees at dusk.

 A crescent moon, reflected and above.