Back home

Didn't I say I always come back from visiting Mum with at least one piece of old china? Well I did this time too except this isn't it. I wasn't allowed to steal this one so I just took a photo of it instead-beautiful romantic looking hand-painted wisteria.

It was COLD up there! And that's just not right. Still, it meant we got days like this one where the sky and sea merge so beautifully.

Back in Qld for my Grandfather's funeral, he was very sad and wanted to go, so it is a good thing, but we will miss him terribly.
He was three days short of turning 93.

gothic roses

Yesterday, I checked out the place where I'll be doing my pottery course on Saturday (with Sophie Milne teaching -yay) and despite a few minor issues finding it and navigating trams etc. I eventually got there and am now really looking forward to it. I suspect my first efforts may be rather pre-schoolish, but hey, you've got to start somewhere right?

To celebrate that, and the news that I am FINALLY getting paid for some design work I did a thousand years ago, I bought myself a bunch of roses on the way home. I loved the way they looked in our dimly lit lounge room last night, and so I took some rather gothic photos of them. It's interesting how with some objects you don't really need to see them clearly at all for your brain to instantly recognize what they are...roses are like that.

amazing nature

How incredible is the pattern on this shell? My mother, sister and I found it while walking on the beach last week and although we've seen heaps of these before, we've never seen one with such a clear and perfect pattern (and also colour) on the reverse side as well.

Things like this, created by nature just as she's going about her day to day business, strike me dumb with awe. Pattern for me is not a superficial thing, but deeply significant...and mysterious. All woman or man-made pattern no matter how sophisticated or frivolous, is originally inspired by nature.

I really am quite happily pagan.

unusual wall things

Found these ideas at Emma's blog and liked them- good for big areas of wall where you can't hang anything too heavy but want to put something big...I'm working on something big myself involving many pages of an old Gray's Anatomy text book and oil pastels. I'll do a post on it when it's done...which may be quite a while...

trapped

Snapped these lovely dead flowers this morning while trapped in the house waiting for the landlord to finish trimming the grapevine out the front...and stomping on my nasturtiums, which I might add, are just about to flower. Or should that be were just about to flower.

I know I rent, and I know I don't own this house, but I really like to pretend I do... and having your landlord savaging your garden at 9am on a Sunday morning makes the illusion very difficult to maintain.

Still, I took some nice photos of some dead flowers.

family visit

Just got back from a last minute visit to see my family in Queensland- usually it's sunny and warm up there but it rained (hard) and it was even lovelier to see the rain come down when they need it so badly.

Visits to my family always involve me returning with at least one piece of old china- this time I brought back three! But this rose-bud plate I had to leave behind and so I took a photo instead...so much old china, so little storage space...sigh.