Harbour Craft

Still no artwork to show you. I have been attending to (the never ending) home maintenance - the paint on our fuse box was beginning to peel so I have stripped and sanded it back and painted on the first coat. (so tempted to do a mural here!) So I hAVE been painting!

I had a lovely Sunday with my family - a sister visiting from Hong Kong, my brother and his wife and my other sister Cate. We had lunch in a cafe then took a walk, kids in tow, down to Balls Head, a reserve overlooking Sydney Harbour. The weather was perfect and there were at least three ocean liners in the harbour.

The QEII, soon to become a floating hotel in Dubai, the Queen Victoria on her maiden voyage around the world and the (minute by comparison) Sea Princess. The two former ships making a historic moment together. No other harbour in the world can accomodate them both at the same time. Lots of honking of their great horns and many small sea craft darting across the sparkling harbour. The photo is of the Sea Princess. The other two ships were tucked away around the corner, only to emerge later in the evening. I took this with my mobile phone so apologies, quality is a little dubious.

Catching Up

Time to get blogging and catch up with everyone! The kids are back at school now and the weather has been stormy with the humidity climbing every time the sun tries to peek out from the clouds. Jess the Border Collie and I have been going for nice long walks, but have had to cancel a couple due to the torrential rain we've had lately. Dams are filling up nicely though. Max and I have been enjoying evenings sitting on the front porch after dinner by citronella candlelight. Soon Autumn will chase us inside again, so we are making the most of it.

Cleaning out my garage a couple of weeks ago launched me into serious Spring Cleaning mode. I have managed to find more stuff to throw/give away, the latest being our old BBQ which finally gave up the ghost on Sunday. I've been washing curtains, cleaning windows, moving furniture, organising cupboards, sweeping and dusting. Thanks to all the rain the garden has been growing before our very eyes and so lots of pruning, weeding and mowing, potting up plants that have sprouted seemingly out of nowhere. Today I planted some succulents in a trough style pot which hangs from a wall on our deck. I have not been able to grow anything successfully in this spot but I am hopeful that these tough little guys will make it.

When I let myself stop for a cup of camomile and spearmint tea, I have been dipping into a fantastic book from my favourite genre 'magical realism', called 'Sun Dog' by Monique Roffey. It's about a young, pale-skinned, red-haired man raised in a hippie commune, who works in a delicatessen in London. He begins to develop a frost and sprout buds on his body. One Amazon reviewer calls it "A glorious collision of the mundane and the supernatural". The descriptions of all the gorgeous deli food - the fresh breads, cheeses flown in from France, sausages from Italy, olives, caviar, pickles and jams - has had my stomach rumbling and longing for a picnic basket to put all this lovely food into! The writing is superbly sensual and I'm loving the characters.

I have a painting going at present but have been too busy to give it my full attention this week. Rain is forecast again tomorrow so it might be a good day to stay inside and paint. Happiness is..... :)