It got worse.

Photo by Andy Norris of sculpture to commemorate the 1974 floods.

Click here to donate to the flood relief appeal.

Queensland floods

I can't believe the devastation that's happening in poor Queensland right now. I hope everyone I know up there is safe and this ends as quickly as possible. It's incredible.
All of Australia will feel the effects of this but we in Victoria will definitely notice a hike in food prices as a lot of our produce comes from areas that are now totally underwater.
Click here to donate to the flood relief appeal.
Do you believe in climate change now?

These images were taken today but tomorrow it could be worse.

Customs House

West End

Eagle St Pier

here and now

By Wendy McNaughton.
Yep- trying to keep this in mind after a bit of a rocky start to the year.
I'm feeling a bit battered and bruised by some misplaced trust in a friend, and it does hurt and make you feel a bit of a dope as well.
Ah well, that moment is now over and the next is about to be...so I'm going to focus on the here and now and the beautiful new Winsor and Newton watercolour set I bought to ease my pain and encourage me on my path to more art this year.

Everything will be alright

While collapsed in my butterfly chair last night looking at this sky, and recovering from a soul destroying couple of weeks at my retail job in a nightmare of a shopping centre, I made some (familiar) decisions.
Every year I wish for more time to make things and less time spent doing stuff that seems pointless (apart from paying the rent)and this year is no different. But every year I also get a bit better and focusing on what makes my life worth living, i.e. art, gardening, travelling and spending time with my loved ones and eating great food, so this year I am getting even more fierce about making time for those things...even if the greedy landlord ups the rent!

So if anyone else out there feels the same way, take heart, you are not alone and somehow we will make it all happen.
Happy (and I really mean that) New Year!

Illustrations by Raquel Marin

Love this lady's aesthetic, even if I don't understand Spanish.
If only I was doing this now..instead of contending with the consuming hordes...sigh.

Terribly clever teatowel..

by Able and Game.
Anyone who travels on public transport in Melbourne understands the depth of love this journey requires...

Inaluxe

Just spotted these beautiful images on a few of my favourite blogs and tracked them down to an Australian etsy store Inaluxe....Groovy.

Geninne's divine birds

These heatbreakingly beautifully painted little birds were available at Geninne's etsy shop, but I think I missed out becuase she is now on holidays. Wise woman.

Mel Robson's latest..

Mel is hopping off to Alice Springs for a while- can't wait to hear about her new life in the heart of Australia, and all the wonderful creative inspiration she'll find there.
Lots of luck to you and your family Mel!

Birdy fridge magnet...and garden.

Having recently discovered a passion (if not a great skill) for embroidery, I have been playing with some new stitches and they sort of turned into this little bird and its rose garden.
I turned them all into fridge magnets with some self-adhesive magnetic canvas, and the bird has flown off to live on my friend Louise's fridge (Happy Birthday Weezie), but the 2 little rose gardens ended up with me due to their slightly weird shapes.
They do make me smile though whenever I go to get out the milk...

Good point.

From Jen Bekman by Craig Damrauer.

Life etc

This time of the year always seems to get a little crazy, but I must admit I'm feeling it a bit more than usual this year. Everyone seems more frantic and on edge, and I just want to jump off and disappear into my own little QUIET world. What is it with the approach of Christmas and the apparently synchronised increase in general noise? Sigh.
Anyhoo- one thing that always relaxes me is looking at all the beautiful clever things that people out there are making while sitting in my nice comfy quiet room with only the hum of the computer to damage my ear drums.
The above is another lovely piccie from a lovely blog I found earlier...Vintage Moth/Down Abbie's Road although it could have been taken in my own garden today!

Generally not a fan of things that are too cute...but

...could not resist these ridiculously charming mice at Mouses Houses.
I mean really.
(Thanks for the link Marijka!)

Garden blackboard

This is a cement chair in my backyard that I mosaiced the top of last year, but as we often sit in low-slung butterfly chairs just near it, I found myself unhappy looking at the exposed cement on the side.
I am also currently going through a phase of painting everything that stands still long enough with blackboard paint...so guess what happens next....


And a Japanese Zen Buddhist quote from Issa completes the picture.

Car free roads- if only...

Loved this print by Tatsuro Kiuchi sent to my by Jen Bekman.