The Perils of Multi-tasking
May 29th, 2009 § 11 Comments
I’ve been playing with ink to create seaweed. I’m quite chuffed with the way it dried so glossy in places that it still looks wet and very much like the real thing… Is that the time? Better get dinner sorted, quick sticks!!…
Mmm, lentils and rice from my favourite cookbook, ‘Apples For Jam’. Tessa’s kids eat it so mine will too, right?! Right. OK, back to my creative space post…
Ahhh, Nancy Drew! I have these books out on my desk and love them as much now as I did at ten. I intend to write a post wholely and solely dedicated to Nancy Drew for all her fans… Oh, better check on dinner…
So this is where you imagine that we all sat down to a delicious healthy dinner and chatted about our day and laughed, and laughed… I wish!
I tried to cook biscuits at the same time as dinner,
they burnt and billowed smoke into the kitchen,
the smoke set off the smoke alarm,
the kids went berserk, they HATED the lentils,
the littlest threw hers across the table and onto the floor
and when I picked up the bowl something went click in my back… OWW!
So this post is just one big excuse for my late creative space post and serves as a warning. Multi-tasking is only for the slick, the brave or the foolhardy. So true!
For more creative spaces, visit Kootoyoo. Thanks Kirsty.
Yellow bike, yellow socks.
May 27th, 2009 § 5 Comments
Just a quick sketch to show the hither and thither path inspiration often takes (with me that is). I should be busy working on other things and yet all I can think about are regular folks and their beloved bicycles.
Wistfully I watch as lucky strangers glide by on gleaming bicycles in every juicy colour imaginable. But it’s not just the bike that has me sighing, it’s the whole imagined lifestyle that comes with it. The dream of living in a beautiful, relatively flat, village where I can cycle everywhere (sorry San Fran). A place that hasn’t been hijacked by car, bus, truck and airplane pollution.
Imagine being able to actually hear someone whistle as they work, to see little ones happily nestled into rickshaws and to smell the first spring flowers rather than fumes on the breeze. And how great to get to wear socks that perfectly match your bicycle. Mmm, that’s the life for me.
How to capture a purple bee
May 23rd, 2009 § 6 Comments
It’s a story about the flower and a purple bee
who asked if he could have some of her pollen. She said “Yes”.
Then some roots came and nearly ruined her,
so she turned into a spider and chased them away.
And then, when she turned back into a flower,
she had purple on her nose and she was happy.
Words and pictures by Lauren, age 3.
While we were away I had time enough to wonder at how quickly my girls are growing and changing. Sometimes it seems as if it happens overnight. It must be an extra sparkle of knowledge in their eyes, or somehow they just seem a little taller.
I always planned to put together a large hatbox of childhood memories for each of my little possums. So when Lauren painted this picture, I asked her to tell me all about it and faithfully transcribed every word. I love that it perfectly captures a moment in her world. And what an intriguing world it is!
The List
May 20th, 2009 § 1 Comment
Since arriving home it has struck me just how badly I (we) need to sort things out around here. There’s nothing like a break and some fresh country air to shake things up a bit. Of course there is a reason why the things that need sorting haven’t been. They are all incredibly, mind numbingly DULL! Filing, finances, fixing, car maintenance, insurance… yawn! I would much prefer to be strolling through an art gallery gazing at achingly beautiful Vermeer paintings… sigh!
BUT, the pile of nasty errands and paperwork has grown to the point that it might prevent access to the front door let alone a gallery. It needs to be dealt with before a lovely new (cue birds singing in the trees) balance can be restored. So for the rest of this week, behind the scenes, it’s all about lists, lists… ho hum lists.
Image | Girl reading a Letter at an Open Window by Johannes Vermeer | The Yorck Project | aka ‘The List’.
Finders Keepers
May 18th, 2009 § 3 Comments
I’m fairly sure my Dad’s been here before. Sometime around 1845. And in his previous life he was a prospector in the thick of the Australian Gold Rush.
I think maybe he struck gold and then his life was snatched from him before he’d had a chance to enjoy the prize. Since the obsession of a gold-crazed digger is, by it’s very nature, obsessive, it’s stands to reason that he’d be back.
OK it’s just a crazy theory but, there’s no denying the old prospector in my Dad. Setting up his ‘digs’, exploring and finding the most amazing things from Australia’s very own wild west past (old mining tools, crystals, crockery, opium bottles etc.) from the Eureka days.
And there’s also no denying how good it feels to take a short break and spend it in the crisp autumn air of the tablelands, watching the poppets run around with roses in their cheeks and relaxing in front of a campfire with the smell of sizzling sausages tickling my nose. Yep, there are riches there, sure enough.
Images | B.O. Holtermann with gold nugget, 1873, Charles Bayliss | Diggers hut, Solferino, 1872, J.W. Lindt | Both from ‘Eureka! The Rush for Gold’ ~ State Library of NSW Discover Collection | Click link for licensing.
A short break
May 12th, 2009 § 4 Comments
Uh oh! Spot the newbie blogger! I completely forgot to leave a note to say I’m away on a little break this week. I’m busily typing this on the only computer in a tiny one horse town. I had to frighten the chickens off it and use a crank to start it up. (Nah, not really that small, but it sure does feel that way)
Anyhoo, I’ll be back on Monday with some fun ’Show and Tell’. Take care till then. x
