Coastal craft

I decided that my holiday crafting was going to be very very simple and brainless, so I took down the tub of random yarn ends and half balls, and used them for warps to weave into stripey scarves. Basically any length of yarn over about two metres is useable, so I had a very satisfying time finishing up many forgotten and ugly ends and not worrying too much about it. 

This type of weaving is exceptionally brainless, although the results are variable. Some worked out well and some are clearly godawful brown acrylic. I did about ten, made absolutely no dent in the amount of yarn I own, and brought them back home for fringing and wet finishing. A nice frugal way to get the creative urge dealt with when my brain had melted out my ears.  

I am slowly starting to recoup my ability to deal with things. I have made some lists, but it is hard going. 

A hard landing

Coming from beach to home, and from holiday to work, is always a bit rough, but - not going to lie - this has been a tough re-entry. I said at least a dozen times a day in December "that is a 2022 problem" and guess what! It's 2022 and those problems are flocking back home. 

I shouldn't say problems really, just things that have to be done, both at work and at home. The termite quote is for nearly $8000, but we have to do it or else the house will fall down. We are taking number two son down to uni next week which involves thought, paperwork, discussion and expense. And of course there is my actual paid work, which is a struggle when I have largely forgotten what I do and especially why I do it. I made notes about the what before I left but the why is still unexplained. 

Here are some beach photos to make me feel slightly better. We had all kinds of weather. The waves were so good the last week, and the water temperature was better - although not good enough to make my husband go for a swim! Weirdo. He came back down for the last few days and we had a couple of little outings to other towns, caught up with friends, engaged with the world and other things I had NOT done for a month. 

We went down to Central Tilba which is a cute little village with just a main street that is picturesque and Victorian and now has lots of shops that sell hand made soap and leathergoods. We went there in 1995 when friends had given us a weekend away at a bnb as a present which we thought was incredibly sophisticated :) It has become a bit more touristy and glossy since 1995 but basically unchanged.

It sits in beautiful green hills - dairying country, there is a little cheese factory - and would be lovely for retirement although a bit far from Canberra. 

I made the quarter cauliflower into dahl and it was delicious. I didn't actually hide behind the sofa from the neighbour but they had been keeping their distance - turns out mum and three teenage daughters all had covid for the week, which explains why they hadn't been chatting! Not severe but still unpleasant, poor things. Number two has had a fractured social life as people get covid then isolate then feel able to have a party again, then someone gets covid and repeat ... He is very focussed on getting to Melbourne so might be staying in his room for the next week, which seems sensible. 

Despatch from the frontier

 Beach log day 23 ….or 24? I can only hope that future explorers find this diary, which I will wrap in the last of the cling film; supplies are running low and with no means of communication or transportation I fear starvation may be my fate.

My activity levels are low as my physical health declines; the wound on my foot remains sore and I suspect infection; it may be that amputation or death awaits me. As my body runs down so too does my mental health; I am conversing with the ants. Yesterday I set an obstacle course for the Roomba to provide her with an activity, yet when a neighbour waved across the fence I hid, shaking, behind the sofa until all chance of socialisation had passed. 

But I am not short of company; the characters from my books have come to life and guide my decisions. I made the grave error of reading all the Patrick Melrose novels in 36 hours and now my shack is peopled with bitter posh people that whine about the heat and encourage me to drink with breakfast. 

Breakfast is toast. Lunch is toast. I have a quarter of a cauliflower and an apple for dinner but I find the prospect unappealing; they are not toast. The vodka has gone, the wine has gone, only beer remains and that not for much longer; common sense would suggest that sobriety would improve my situation but common sense has not been my companion since many days past. 

I will swim now and allow the shock of the cold water to restore me to my senses; sadly the period of lucidity offered by the sea grows shorter and shorter with each passing day; it may be that soon the summer will have completely overtaken my reason. The prospect is frightening but still, in my disordered state, I find a strange appeal in the thought of such madness. 

More using the small pieces

Here are some very daggy beach shorts made from leftover cotton from the shirt-with-deers-on-it-that-I-am-calling-my-christmas-shirt-even-though-they-are-clearly-not-reindeer shirt. 

There is no lower limit on the ugliness of beach shorts, luckily. I should probably have put pockets in them, but hey, I'm not exactly going nightclubbing in them. 

And they don't go with that t-shirt either. Beach FASHION as practiced in the smaller towns of country NSW.

A break from my break

I am back in Canberra for a few days to see the family and download some more movies .... although I think we have finally cracked and put the internet on in the beach house. I say I think we have because it still has to be installed, and internet in Australia is such a shambles that there's every chance something will go wrong, but I've taken the first steps. It is necessary? No. Will it make our lives better? Yes, and if we have to work from home in the future we can maybe do it there. Maybe. 

So these are some gratuitous beach shots. Ex-tropical cyclone Seth made some magic waves the last few days, which was very welcome. I stayed in way too long on Tuesday and got sunburnt on my face and hands, turns out sunblock does wash off after a couple of hours, so I have now bought an unattractive swim hat to go with my unattractive long-sleeved rashie and fat little legs. I am too old to have a peeling nose!

Thank you for your nice comments on my paintings, I think I do have more of a grasp then when I started, but that was a very low base. We went and saw the Jeffrey Smart exhibition at the National Gallery yesterday - really amazing, loved it, and some of them have such mastery in shape and colour ... inspiring and disheartening in equal measure. 

Many ice-creams have been eaten (and berries), many books have been read, and movies watched, and many more to go. Pam, I did enjoy the Nina Stibbe - but you are completely right, had to google many of the characters! I had a dim sense that I was meant to know who the people were, so wikipedia was very helpful, and I learnt something.  

A bit different

This course was a bit different - not so much painting as general illustration. It was called "Illustration Techniques to Unlock your Creativity" by Adolfo Serra and it was a heap of fun to be a bit more adventurous with crayons and watercolour pencils. This guy illustrates children's books so we did a few drawings of unusual things like foxes and wolves.

Then techniques with crayons and paint - pick an object and draw as if you were a child he says. Well yes, I can achieve that. 

Pick another object and draw it different ways: with your eyes closed, just using geometric shapes, furry edges, different colours. I do this while watching a movie, I don't think I could sit and draw for just an hour or two, but with something decent to watch it's fun. 

I bought a decent quality paper A4 sketchbook too, for things that aren't very soggy watercolours, and it's nice to have all the drawings in one place. This guy likes to audition lots of different types of characters when he's thinking about to illustrate a book, so said do a double page spread of all the different types of something: realistic, anime, cartoon, old-fashioned, anthropomorphic. Here are bugs.

And kangaroos. Markers, pencils, paints, dots, crayons. I just worked off pictures on the internet (not from life! honestly they would just be a brown blur). I like the super hero one best. 

Happy New Year!

 Not much to say - I am very happily at the beach, enjoying some good weather and wonderful swims :) hmmm auto correct changed swims to sedums, but I am doing zero gardening and very little housework. I tried to put a photo here but the phone shat itself so you’ll have to imagine a beach with people on it…

There are hordes of people here, lots of families which is lovely, but we are avoiding shops or indeed people as far as possible.  Australia has decided to rip the COVID band aid off which is not unreasonable but I’d rather not be a torn off follicle right yet. Maybe later. Does that make sense? After ten days of books, movies, sun, wine and solitude I am possibly off my rocker. Well if this is crazy I am all for it. Very contented - although mobile reception is appalling. I may have to go and find some McDonalds wifi and a filet. Yum. Normal programming will resume at some point….