Monet in Melbourne

Off to Melbourne again! 

 This time with My Dear Man.  What could be better... 3 nights in sunny Melbourne (well at this stage it is warmer there than Brisbane in some bizarre twist! ).  The usual dilemma is - what to pack!  So for Sunday Sketches today I sketched my wardrobe for four days in wintery melbourne that were suitable for art gallery cruising, cafe lounging ( Brunetti's here we come!), and tram hopping!!

More posts to follow ... hopefully with the mobile technology!  Sharing with Sunday Sketching

(My last years Melbourne holiday links posts are here...

Day 1 Marvelous Melbourne Mother Daughter Holiday 2012
Day 2 Arcades and alleys
Day 3 Things overheard
Day 4 The Zoo and pairs!
Day 5 Greek Speaking dogs, illness & Movies
Day 6 Trams and starbucks
Day 7 Markets, owls and home!

Xo L. 

Reflecting on teeth...

Do you ever wonder why?

Why the sky is blue?

why the rain falls the minute you've finished hanging out 2 loads of washing?

 

And why teeth have a use by date less that the average life span?

A sore tooth... And it resulted in needing to have it pulled. Today. I wont bore you with the details. But Ouchy. My husband came with me, and held my hand! Yay! AND has cooked me yummy mashed potatoes. An easy night, and while indulging with watching my fav movie / I doodled this gal - who tells me it'll all be ok ... And a Big reminder to everyone to look after your teeth! Happy PPF!!

A violet on the meaodow grew...

Winds wanders, and dews drip earthward; Rains fall, suns rise and set; Earth whirls, and all but to prosper A poor little violet.

James Russell Lowell Quotes , Source: The Changeling

 

We have had the rain, and today we have the sun!

Sharing this little watercolour sketch for Sunday Sketches

Looks rather pretty in a frame...

Loving this beautiful, SUNNY weather....How are you spending your weekend?
 xo L.

When it's cold out!

It's cold.
Well not to put too fine a point on things - its freezing!
Barely reached 13 degrees, and with drizzly rain... a great day for staying side, drinking tea, and looking out the window.

Whatever happened to the clear blue skies, with a crisp morning, turning into nice warmth in the sun - the usual Brisbane winter's I dream about! I am ever hopeful they will return tomorrow - 19 degrees is much more civilised.

I have totally neglected my studio this week.  It is simply too cold in there!   Thinking I should just make a posy in the corner of the family room.  Right under the reverse cycle air con - of course!

But being inside, and having re-camped myself (for work though, not fun) in the much warmer family room, it is a good chance to consider how we use the different spaces in the home.    Why should the studio be the coldest & hottest room in the house? A little oil and turps, a few paint splatters, a little spilled water... nothing to worry about. really. I could set up an art easle right here. Maybe I will!

Here is an oil painting that I've been looking at this week, that I painted last year.  I still like it... which is a good thing!

I really need to get back into the art groove - there are so many fantastic opportunities around!

Sharing with Paint Party Friday.   And if you are Brisbane I hope you have a nice warm spot for snuggling under a blanket!

Where's your best spot, or best tip, to be creative when it's cold out ( and in!) ?

xo L.

Smooth sailing

Studio orgainisation - I am STILL at it!

RE-arranging

sorting through 

Stuff to give away

Books to sell...

..."Oh Mum!" my girls say...

"You're rearranging the studio, Again?"

Anyway,  I thought I had better actually give the New and Improved

set-up a try out last night while My Man is off camping!

 

He is off with the boys for a fishing weekend

And it is freezing mind you - being our winter

And it is Raining!

So I am totally glad they have gone and I'm home all nice and warm!

 

I don't think I love him quite that much to go camping, and fishing, in the cold and wet!

I much rather love:

hot chai tea with

sourdough Chocolate Cake

Which surprisingly worked a treat considering I left out three ingredients!

(Tip to self: DO NOT try cooking while chatting to a girlfriend! Because You obviously cannot do both at the same time!)

Large recycled  postage tag, acrylic, pencil, stamps, gel pen, gesso

The new set-up worked well...except as I type my cat figures the position of the art desk is a perfect runway and launcing pad for him to access the cat flap to his outdoor run at a gazillion miles an hour to check out the bird... 

hmmm 

that might not work (for me anyway!) if there is wet paint and water pots out!

 

I'll be around for a relaxing blog visit later today!  Sharing this with Sunday Sketches :-)

Have a relaxing, and warm, Sunday afternoon!

xo L.

Painted skies

What a busy, busy time... So my creativity this week has revolved around - running around! However there have been a number of highlights ...

fresh Home made cookies....

sharing tea with new friends

Birthdays to celebrate

wild Sourdough rye bread to make

and...

 

 

Prefect, Pale Peach Painted Skies!

 

Happy Paint Party Friday!

What creativity filled your week?

xo L.

The numbers of our life...

So - what to write this Rainy Sunday afternoon? Seems like all we've had recently is rain - and looks like it's going to be a rainy winter.  At least today we got to enjoy hot chips on the patio in the wintry sun - now it is dark, and gloomy, and rainy - feels just like Melbourne - although I am sure not as cold!

So this week while flicking though my sketch book I came across a sketch I did late last year of our Bonnie Dog... and I got to thinking back...

When we got Bonnie we were a new family: 

With 'yours, mine and ours' children: 5 of us + Bonnie = six

We were six for such a long time... then we became 7 when a second 'yours' child came to live with us...  Which not long after dropped back to six when 1 went to Uni, then 5 when another moved away also... so Our number was Us, Mine + Ours + Bonnie = five

Then as Bonnie got older we   decided to get a puppy - as a companion dog for myself, and to keep Bonnie young... you know a kind of bringing in the new to see out the old...  This was a sketch I did this week from a photo taken earlier this year... and our number was back to  = 6

Then middle of last year we  I, (in a absurd moment of extreme weakness) adopted 2 young, male, Ragdoll cross cats... so our number became = eight

By that stage, Bonnie was getting older, and slowing down, and then she started coughing... and in January we had to put her to sleep as she had heart failure.  She was 13 and had had a great life -  Slept on the kids beds, waited for her bit of crust every morning, loved her walks, and was a faithful companion...  I love this simple pic  of the two dogs, and my youngest asleep in the back of the car when moving house last year...   And we were = seven

Then beginning of Term 1 this year Bella got sick - something called White Shaking Dog Syndrome (for all intents and purposes it sounded like MS and gets treated the same)... and we spent the next 3 months caring for her with steroids, and treats, and cleaning up after her... but  the time came when we had to make that hard decision... what was best for her? Was she happy? And so the hardest day of my life, it seems, was having to take her to the vet and say goodbye.   But you know it's the right decision when the vet doesn't even blink, but agrees with you - no second chance, "lets try..."   But, boy oh boy - that's a hard thing to do...

So now we are back to  = six

And six is a good number.   Its the number of Us and Ours + our two furry felines.

And for today its the number of our family.

What's your number?

Sharing with Sunday Sketches :-)

xo L.