Fresh Start

Red Fish

Happy New Year! A time when a large part of the world hits the re-set button and off we all go again!  Wishing everyone a fresh start in 2011... I hope it's a good one for you!

The above painting is water colour, acrylic and ink..

The Wildlife

Black Prince

This is a once highly prized, Black Prince Cicada that we used to try desperately to collect when we were kids.  There are hundreds of them around now, this one on my front doorstep.  Max tells me a Water Dragon ate him soon after this pic.  The law of the jungle!

Speaking of the law of the jungle, my cat Phoebe caught a foot long water dragon (lizard) this morning and brought it inside the house between her jaws.  I rescued it and set it free across the street, hopefully it is okay!  No pics of this little drama!



Lorikeets





















This pic was taken at around 5.30 pm in the afternoon, feeding time for these lorikeets.  His friends & family were in our neighbour's backyard and he was the only one feeding on bottlebrush. We keep the cat in when the birds are around! 

Simple Pleasures

I've been playing in my studio, as you can see!

Life is happy here at the Villa Alecia.  Colourful lorikeets fly past my kitchen window at daybreak and dusk.  They chirrup constantly, so we know when they've arrived, often as many as a dozen at a  time!

Tonight it's an omelette for dinner, already chopped - fresh, vine ripened tomatoes, basil and chives, a little parmesan - smells heavenly!  Simple pleasures!

Christmas Table

The table is set and ready for Christmas Eve celebrations when my daughter arrives.  The first family celebration in our new place.  The candles are sandalwood and the scent is heavenly! 

My studio is all set up now, thanks to my husband's efforts putting together a trestle table from Ikea and moving in some shelves for me.  A few of my paintings on the wall, a rug and voila!  The best present I could ever dream of!  All I need to do is chase Phoebe off the chair and I'm back in business....

I hope your celebrations are happy ones and that your holidays are nice and relaxing, whatever you choose to do.

Flow

It's word of the year time again so visit  Christine Kane  for some reflection on 2010 words and inspiration for 2011.

I'm thinking my word will be Flow.  Not pushing the river. The last word I chose was Change and I certainly have had plenty of that this past year and it's time to ease up a little!  Lots of plans for the new year, so with a little direction from me, we'll see where they take me.

I'm off to the pet grooming salon today to give Jess the border collie a much needed shampoo and clip for Christmas.  She's going to be (even more) gorgeous!

We're In!

We're in our new villa at last and it feels good!  Living here is like being on holiday!  This is the front porch where we spend a lot of time talking and breathing in the view over a glass of wine, while Jess the border collie sits at our feet.  Although we live in suburbia, this vacant land across the street is full of gum trees.  We have water dragons (foot long lizards) skittering around our sunny patios.  They are quite comical and I will get a photo if I can catch one! 

This family of lorikeets arrive on our fence every morning and evening to feed on the grevillea's and bottlebrush flowers.  They are noisy, playful and very affectionate with each other.  I have put out a bird bath for them but they don't seem to want to use it yet.

 

The move went very smoothly and we have unpacked everything except my studio, which is on hold while we work out some shelving.  The desk I chose to use will not fit in the room so I have to re-think that also.

Anyhow, we are all very happy in our relaxing new home.  And life goes on....

Sketchbook Challenge

I will be following.... 
 

.... just as soon as I land in my new place and get settled.  The blog is up and you can get yourself a badge there. Some wonderful artists will be participating, following monthly themes and I can't wait to see what other artists do in their sketchbooks.

 

Thank you for wishing us luck with our move.  Will let you know how it goes!

 

Zentangling

I've been doing a little zentangling (if there is such a word!)

Christmas is on its way here in my neighbourhood.  Twinkling christmas lights are up on houses and the street christmas party was held last weekend.  We have been head down and tail up getting ready for our move so it's been good to see festivities going on around us, even though we can't join in yet. I have not set foot in a mall this season either and I'm not missing that experience one bit!

Lots of unseasonal rain about this summer, in fact a good chunk of our state has been declared a disaster area due to floods and we're expecting rain on moving day.  If so we go to Plan B!

Please send some healing vibes to Suki who is facing the possibility of an operation next week.  May all be well there.

Counting Down

I am counting the days down on the calendar till we move with big yellow highlighter pen X's.  Eight days to go....  My endless lists are merging into one final list and after that, it's all in the hands of the gods!

In the meantime, I am enjoying....

• reading home decor books from the library.
• freshly picked, fragrant gardenias sprinkled with summer rain
• summer salmon and pasta salad
• zero housework (it's way too messy for anyone to care!)
• my pets Jessa and Phoebe - constant companions!
• cicadas chirruping in the evening