Getting more summery ... slowly

We are happily noticing every part of the changing of the seasons. It's a very immediate experience when you're out in it every day. It's definitely getting warmer but not quite full summer - we had the fire on the night before last, it was freezing - but I'm in shorts today. 

We haven't had much rain so the grass is getting a bit crunchy and I've had the hose on the roses. There's no watering system here and it's something we might consider ... we have a bore so there's not the guilt that would come with using town water (or the panic of relying on tank water). One of our many longer term plans.

The roses are in full glory. If only it wasn't so windy! It has been a really unusual amount of wind and even our sheltered hollow isn't enough to stop rose branches snapping off. I've staked up a few of them but you can't do every branch on 104 bushes; every time I do a walk around there's another bit of damage. 

This aren't our roses but a garden we visited with the gardening club last week. We went to four gardens in the new subdivision in town which was really fascinating. They are all about five years old and it was interesting to see what they'd done with a blank slate. All keen gardeners of course and happy to share their knowledge. We got some good tips (and in fact Brad swapped phone numbers, went back on Saturday and got a bucket of cuttings, along with more good advice).

A friend came out on Monday and took this photo of us - woolly jumpers! That was a very cold day. Yesterday was much nicer when three friends took the day off work and came for lunch. It was lovely. This afternoon we got hot and sweaty cleaning down the quilt stands in the shed at the back of the hall (where they had been since last year, the shed is not weather tight and is filthy). 

Yes Dad, I am entering some quilts, for what it's worth. They are not really "show" quilts but I think it's good for visitors to see quilting can be done by anybody, regardless of skills and/or patience. We spent Saturday pinning on labels and matching them to the entry list, and yesterday pinning on little sandbags for the ones that are going to be hung outside off the buildings. I hope it doesn't rain...

And in even better news we have finally exchanged contracts on our house with settlement next month. After nearly a year! We had to drop the price a lot, which is a bit sad because I had already mentally spent the extra money several times over, but there's nothing you can do about it, and clearly it wasn't worth what we hoped. We have done some scrubbing already and a bit more to do but it will be SO GOOD to have that chapter over.

Crafty things

Here's a wrap up of some recent crafty activity. I knitted another pair of socks! These fit much better - I made them a bit smaller and they hold up better after a day's wear. The first ones stretched a bit and ended up enormous. 

The wool is also a bit softer and nicer on the foot. I will make more....

And I finished a little medallion quilt but it was too windy to put it on the clothesline for photos so I just did the kitchen floor. 

I started with that floral print and worked from there. It ended up quite pretty but a bit darker than I thought it would; the print has a lot of navy.

I quilted it in baptist fans - old favourite - and called it "Hiding from the party".

And here is the sofa at the moment - full of quilts for the quilt show next weekend. I am storing them all before the show; most of the quilts are from people out of town so we have a few drop-off places and I've been collecting them or taking delivery before they all go to the hall on Wednesday. Possibly. If all goes according to plan. 

Sketching in groups

One of the things I'm noticing is how different it is to draw in groups, rather than on my own which I've always done up until now. I tend to do things quickly but badly, and being with other people who do things slowly but well has reduced my pace, which is good. It's useful to get other people's feedback and see the way they've tackled a similar scene. It's also a very good vibe, everyone happily doing their own thing together. Sometimes with biscuits, or wine.

I went to urban sketchers on Sunday in Canberra where we went to the Kingston Foreshore, which is a fairly ugly collection of apartment buildings, canals off the lake and restaurants. Lots of lines and people, so I went a bit impressionistic. The bridge at least was curved. And I even went to lunch with them afterwards! Such socialising bravery.

On Saturday I went to drawing group where we did still life. I got out the pastels again - they are fun! mucky but fun - and did a fairly literal rendition of bottles and oranges. 

There were a few arrangements set up and I had some time at the end, so did a quick pastel of another table which had a flower and a coffee pot ... it's meant to be "free" i.e. a bit blurry. 

And at the art classes I finished the sunset which is OK. I don't like the headland but bits of the sea are acceptable. This is a technique where you do an underpainting of pastel then wash it out with a wet brush. The results are kind of similar to a watercolour underpainting but not the same, and you can't do wet into wet or anything like that. Then you go back in with more pastels for detail - you can add lights which is a different way of attacking it - and pastel pencils too. 

It's a fun technique so I used it again for this landscape, which I am much more pleased with. It doesn't look a lot like the reference photo (artistic license!) but I have put it in a cheap frame and it will be hung in the kitchen, where bad art belongs.

Yet more flowers

The garden is looking amazing at the moment with so many flowers out ... we are enjoying seeing what is blooming where, although I don't know if we'll be remembering any of it for next year. I'm attacking a few more beds rather than wait for winter. I know it's not good form to do severe pruning in spring but I know I need to do it while the enthusiasm is there. At least the camellias are meant to be pruned back after flowering. Here is the before.

And the after.

It has made a huge difference to the amount of light that gets into that bedroom! It's east facing but we've never thought of it as particularly sunny. Nor has the cat, but she figured it out pretty quickly. Nearly makes up for the lack of a constant fire (but not quite, she loves the fire).

About a quarter of the roses are blooming with more coming out every day. They are all sorts and shapes and sizes and - generally - pretty healthy. I gave them another fungicide spray because we weren't expecting rain and then it rained for 24 hours, which is typical gardener's luck. 

In the instruction folder for the house there is a collection of rose labels, and we might try and match them up to the plants. I'm not sure how accurate it will be. A rose is a rose is a rose, after all.

And here are the different rhododendrons, to go with the bright pink one that flowered first. The purple is particularly lovely, it's not a colour I associate with rhodos.

Busy time

We've had a lovely couple of weeks with various things including visitors from NZ - my brother and sister-in-law came over to stay and see our new little town and big garden. They were very happy to chill and enjoy the garden ... although we did put them to work with a spade and (in my brother's case) a chainsaw. He is quite a bit taller than my husband and I, so various trees got a surprise in their lower branches.

We went into Canberra one day to move some things out of the old house (see "extra tall", very helpful) and do a bit of light shopping ... otherwise such tourist delights as a pub lunch, took my sister in law to quilters, poke around the shops, all very lovely. I picked them up and dropped them off from the tiny train station at Tarago which is an adventure in itself. The weather was extremely up and down - they had 38 degrees in Sydney then 2 overnight here (we had the fire on most days). Spring! The flowers are gorgeous but the temperatures are crazy.

More art

 Here's an action shot of me at art classes last week - the teacher took it, I'm not sure why, and sent it to me. I am pondering the deep deficiencies in the pastel work in front of me ... I used water to brush in the under painting - interesting to do with pastels - but it's hardly the glorious sunset I'm trying to recreate. I'll keep picking at it and see.

The class before I'd finished my shed picture so picked up some charcoal and the folder of nudes .. apparently it's what you do between times, a bit of life drawing. I was thoroughly intimidated because my people have always been shocking but the teacher broke it down for me, showed me how to look at it, and away I went.

I am quite pleased with these. They look like people. The faces aren't good but faces are a different thing altogether. 

Generally it seems that looking at the shapes in front of you and re-creating them on a piece of paper is something that, broadly, it is possible to do. Huh. 

I also got my pastels out of their raggedy little boxes and tins and put them in my Wormproof Tackle Box. My memory is that my dad gave me this while I was at uni to keep my sewing threads in. My memory is also that I thought (possibly said?) "why the hell did you give me a Wormproof Tackle Box [which is what it had written in big letters on the label] I'm not about to go fishing" ... it was then explained to me it was good for reels of cotton and needles, and of course it is one of the most useful gifts I've ever received and been in constant use for nearly 40 years. I now keep my cotton reels in see through containers so I can see the colours, and the Wormproof Tackle Box has a new life to store pastels. Yay.

Berry

We went with the garden club to visit some open gardens at Berry - a little town on the coast about a two hour drive away. The garden club took a bus but I am too motion sick to think about that so we drove separately ... good decision as the road is quite windy. All sealed (except for about 5 km) but still not something I'd be happy doing in a big bus.

The gardens were all lovely although Berry is a very different climate - higher rainfall, higher temperatures and not the deep frosts. It was stinking hot when we were there; only 32 degrees but humid enough to make the shade very welcome.

The gardens were all different but not really anything we felt we wanted to re-create at home, and not just for the climate differences. They were all very manicured - although, in fairness, if I was having several thousand people traipse through my garden I would have it quite manicured as well - and very designed. We did think that having a bit of garden art might be a good idea though. This ballerina framed a view and looked super cool.

Some of the broader views were just amazing. So lush.

This photo was taken in an old turpentine  plantation where they'd kept the big trees and underplanted entirely with shade loving plants. And lots of seats (we need to put in more seats). It was really charming, and not just because it was out of the sun.