Lichen in the morning, has me exploring

Rusty Roo workshop Sept 2009. Long week of creativity.


A week of creativity. Where to start ? A good walk, glass of wine, sharing of stories, laughter, and an evening meal shared with the wallabies and a bright moon . .. then more stories . . . Yes, I'd say it was a good start!!
An explorative evening walk exposed lichen awash with the glow of an evening sunset. Natures pallette of ruffled colours inspired us to try representing these designs and patterns.So it was out with the 'grounds' and on with the backgrounds . . .

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Friday night we had a lovely evening with friends . Cool breezes, crystal clear skies, with lots of good food and laughter . . . The skies were so clear in fact, that Cameron and Warren, being members of the local fire brigade, hopped into the car to vamoose down the road to see if the red glow in the sky, was a raging bush fire. NO, it was the glow from the city . . . along with Stefan's beams meandering across . . . it made us remember we are actually only a short distance from the fast lane.

When we first started establishing the Rusty Roo,(http://www.rustyroo.com/) we though of it as a place, where city people would visit to escape the hustle and chaos of their hectic life style.(bear in mind that that included US !! )
However, as we insinuated ourselves into the life of the area, more and more we began to realize that it is a place that even the locals like to drop in. . . . . and stay.
Without appearing too crazy, I have to say, that I feel it is the spirit of the land. You feel the peaceful vibes permeate through you, creating a complete aura of oneness with the place.. . . . do I hear giggling ?
Any ideas !!! Conjecture ? WHAT THE !!

So okay, no more along those lines . . . but, I do have to add that at long last, after almost 10 years, the wild life are loosing their wariness/fear of us. This lean toward being friendly is resulting in numerous sightings of various birds and animals throughout each day. For some time I have been document a timetable of their visits, which is starting to show a pattern. Each species appears to have a schedule . . . . I am now wondering who is in charge of their time table? . . . and is it the same when were are not in residence ?


Early morning the Black cockatoos arrived. They looked fantastic against the blue sky.
By Saturday mid morning there was a heat wave spreading up from the land. It was as if a moisture suck had started, which was resulting in the air feeling like a heavy layer of molasses.

Strangely this haze was accompanied by a hot dry breeze. This combination was confusing. Even the wildlife seemed perturbed by the atmosphere and the usual time schedule of visits was abandoned, as they made their way willy nilly up to the house, to enjoy the relief bought about by the water mist, created when we put the sprinkler on the grass.
By mid afternoon the air was whiter than a, Beijing pollution induced fog.

Saturday night the air was clear again, as the heat lifted. Though it was still balmy and we couldn't believe that only a couple of days prior we had been comforted by a roaring fire.
Cam and I took our evening drinks and the bean bags out to the grass area at the side of the Rusty Roo. We sat/layed in the dark watching the stars listening to the night visitors closing in around us. At one stage the snuffling snorting sounds were so loud and close, I turned on the torch to see what was not more than a meter from us . . . Cameron thought it was hysterical that I wanted to sit out in the dark . . . but, then wanted to know exactly what was out there with us. We were in the midst of friendlies; 1 huge possum, an owl and 6 wallabies, all enjoying a feed of the moist grass and seed . Magical !
We have four workshops happening between here and the middle of October. The long week of Indulgence with various facilitators, Water colours with Mia Clarke, Ikebana with Lily Karmatz and Mixed Media. The long weekend & water colour are full, with only 2 places in Ikebana and 3 in mixed media remaining.If you are interested email me for information.
Then, we close in November, with a break until March 2010

New homes for rent

New homes for the birds. We are thrilled to have a lot of new life around the place. So . . . . new homes needed.

Being at the Roo more often means we are able to leave out bird seed and other treats, of an evening and early morning. We have enjoyed the antics of the King parrots, pink galahs and white cockatoos.

The Wallabies have appeared more often too. We thought we had two regulars with babies in their pouches. No!, we have 8 mothers with joeys, all at different stages of development.
Amazing the difference a good rain makes . . . . . for everything.

Sight . . is something I use every day. . . . yet often I forget how fortunate I am to have this asset, that brings such delight.

After the rains the foliage is lush and green, the flowers bountiful and the bird life abundant.

It comes as no suprise that I find inspiration from playing with flowers and vessels at sunset. There is an infinite bounty of spectacular reflections and micro visions with the end of each day.

Work is slowly progressing for exhibition in 2010



After my illness i had to stop using oils and their additives. Ahhhhhh !
As a result I had to take the time to rediscover using acrylics, which I had previously delegated to the bottom of the heap . . . . as limited in their possibilities. For me, they always appeared to be thin in their application and lacked the lusciousness of oils, that I had grown accustomed to. . . . . .and loved !
They say necessity is the mother of all invention . . . . I may have to agree !!
Recent experimentation is slowly revealing some positive aspects of this medium. I have to admit that I am enjoying the process and will continue with the ' re-discovery'.

Winter has the most perfect days


Aren't these days Divine. The sun seems to have a penetrating soothing affect. We have enjoyed having visitors with us for the past three weeks, but now we are immersed in the freedom of solitude.
The Roo's are back with all their babies.
The birds are numerous and even the bee's, which I had sorely missed, are back busily buzzing.
The water in the Dam is up, the grass is green & at long last the trees are growing . . . not just surviving.
Makes all the hard work . . .very worth while.

Three weeks of creativity...Bliss

Throughout June & July, Cameron and I were fortunate to share the Rusty Roo with numerous friends, family members and artists.
We are always facinated to see what everyone gets up to. All had a very enjoyable time experimenting, exploring and looking at the Roo through interested and connected eyes. It was facinating to see what everyone eventually decided to do. From tree markings, jewellery making,creating roads to no-where and rearranging the landscape. . . . it was all extremely creative. We always feel extremely blessed to be able to share such a magical place with so many.

Celebrating 150 years

With the help of a Government grant, we have assisted the children with the design and installation of colourful and imaginative mosaics.
The students involved were helpful and happy to learn a new skill. They used their individual knowledge and interests to design the layouts for each seat.
The seating created, will be a reminder of the celebration for many years.

Ikebana at the Roo

The Light radiating through the bottles made them look like expensive crystal. The shadows and reflections bounced and danced. Then the brilliant oranges and reds of the evening sunset permeated the entire landscape. It was lovely. We spent the time between sipping wine and Ohing! and Ahhing and taking more pictures.

Link to; The Rusty Roo

Time to celebrate another extremely enjoyable day

As the evening starts to cool and the light takes on that expansive glow, you know it's time to put down what ever has occupied you throughout the day and move onto the front verandah, to share the evening sunset. . . . wine, laughter and the all abundant nibblies. Ahhhhhhhh! Yes!, life has a plethora of wonderful 'small joys'.

Beijing 2007

Cameron, Brianna, myself and a friend Jen will be going to China.

I have organized a lovely meandering tour. We have been into the CBD to apply for a Family Visa, visa for up to 180 days. It's been approved.

I've read many travel books, looked on the internet and asked advice from our friends who have visited china or have contacts in China. Using this information, I've stitched together a tour that will take us from Brisbane to Beijing, then after a week we fly to Shanghai. A week there and then we will be met by a local driver and a guide. They will take us around every day and do a good portion of the trip with us from Shanghai to the Yellow mountains, where another guide will meet us. After this another guide and driver will take us to Xi'An.

First stop after Shanghai will be Suzhou.(2,500 years of history. Venice of the Orient. Water boat of suzhou and tour of Tongli. Visit jade markets and cloisonné factory. Silk products village.) Then on to Hangzhou (Humble administrators garden. Tunxi old street, markets etc.) Followed by a trip up the Yellow Mountains, (will stay up top on the mountain) Huangshan mountain. Then onto Yulin,(Museum, Yuntian cultural city, gardens, markets) and the Li river. Will do a river cruise to Yangzhou village for a week.  Onto Xi'An to stay for five says, and out to the terra-cotta warriors. Across to Luliang and onward, back to Beijing. 

There are many stops in-between. We will only travel a few hours each day and I have arranged to visit local villages that produce silk worms, silk, silk products, pottery and the carving of wood. We will go white water rafting, visit quite a few gardens, art galleries and museums.

All in all it should be approx. 5,300Km or 60 hours of actual driving time. Not counting the time we are in hotels or staying put. I estimate that we will have 28 days between sleeps to travel from A to B. This should mean that we will average 2- 2 1/2 hours of driving per day. Depending on everyone's need to go to toilet, stop for petrol, impromptu shopping or other? 

I think it is very doable and shouldn't be stressful as most of it is on well-maintained country roads.

It will be an adventure.  EXCITING!

                                                         

First stop Beijing. Fairmont Hotel. An oldy, but a goody, central to most tourist attractions. 

Yong An Dong Li, Jian Guo Men Wai Avenue, Chaoyang - first outing, The Forbidden city.

Bought tickets online so can go straight in ... woopie!

                               

Forbidden City. What a truly amazing place. Looking in all the many pavilions for the concubines and other dignitaries was incredible. 

We were lucky to have a day that few other people visited. If we saw a dozen people we thought it was crowded.

   

The artifacts from their day to day activities were still there in the rooms. They were covered in dust. The windows were open and you could just poke your head in and take a look. Should have taken more photos, but was too busy looking. 

   

    

 
  

 

The Sacred Way - this is one of those places you feel is on some special meridian. The poplar trees were rippling in the wind, there were birds ... and us. It was magical. 

Where all the other people are, we do not know.

 Playing in the park. A kind Chinese man gave Brianna a happy sack that you kick with the side of your foot. 

The Great wall of China. We hit a touristy spot. 

Walked it for a few miles and decided to find another spot.

   

Riding a boat on The Royal Lake at the Summer Palace. Door and carvings in palace.

Brianna jogging around the gardens.

 

Riding push bikes on the top of the city wall.

I organized to go to as many parks, gardens and local markets as there was time to see.

This market was frequented by the monks, for the Tibetan beads. A kind gentleman showed Brianna how to play a local instrument. It's carved from stone and engraved. We now have 2.

Selling lotus flowers for people to eat the seeds.