Wet Welcome

We arrived home from Melbourne pretty exhausted. My class went really well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I think enjoyed the slower more relaxing pace of a busy few days.


This afternoon we had a wonderful thunderstorm complete with hail. I don't think has rained for a while a our garden was pretty dry but this made up for it. We live just under the yellow (very heavy) patch near Sydney airport .



The gutters had trouble coping and the street completely flooded and there were whirlpools around the drains.

A car came through while we were watching - probably a bit too fast but who can resist a big puddle?

Managed to get my entry for the Sydney Quilt Show in the mail today and tomorrow we get all our stuff back from Melbourne so a day of carrying and unpacking. Then to start dyeing again to fill orders.

Melbourne on a Saturday Night

Tonight we had a lovely walk to Akland St in St Kilda near to where we are staying. One of the many benefits of doing shows like the AQC out of town is the opportunity to have a mini holiday as well. We work hard during the day and are usually totally exhausted at the end but we have to eat don't we?
St Kilda is a beachside suburb of Melbourne and I spent many holidays here as a child as my parents had friends here.
The sun was setting as we walked down to the water.

Luna Park is a relic of the past and still open - definitely takes me back to my childhood.

Another allyway

Akland St is full of restaurants (and at least 4 cake shops).
We had such a multicultural (and some would say decadent evening)
Dinner at a Polish restaurant that had chicken soup and matzo balls (also a relic of my childhood) followed by an extremenly welcome Thai foot massage. Havn't had one since my last trip to bangkok nearly a year ago - not quite up the genuine standard but still very pleasant on these tired aching feet. The evening was topped up with a visit to a totally over the top desert at a South American chocolate restaurant. Thick hot chocolate with chocolate covered churros, ice cream and strawberries. Death by Chocolate!!!


As an aside - there was this really overweight guy who sat down at a table recently vacated by 4 others and proceeded to eat their remaining food. He cleared it all up and then had the nerve to ask us if we had any loose change to give him. Couldn't take a photo as it would have been a bit obvious but couldn't resist one from under the table. Actually I feel this fat now after all that chocolate.

Melbourne & AQC Day 1

Another early start today as the AQC had a preview for delegates before the show opened and it was a wonderful way for them to check out everything before the general public came in and they had to go to class. Certainly a very happy bunch of ladies and many familiar faces. I was especially thrilled when some of last years customers brought in their completed projects with our fabrics. We sell so much fabric and it goes out into the world and we never see it again so this is alway a wonderful moment.


On the way to the tram stop (a novelty to me) we pass a vacant block of land which used to be a nursery I presume. It has a wonderful fence which was obviously created especially for it but now looks a bit lost. At least it has been retained which show appreciation for the work of street art.





There is also a little laneway which has some painted street art. Melbourne is quite famous for this type of laneway art so I will try and find more.

Tonight we are dragging our tired bodies back into the city to see Spamalot which I am really looking forward to.

AQC 2008

We got up well before dawn to catch an early flight to Melbourne today for the Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC). Unfortunately we got to the venue well before they were ready to let us in - lovely cup of honeydew tea - ok it smelt better than it tasted but we live and learn.
Once inside we were dismayed to only find one of our two pallets had arrived. Of course the missing one was the one with the ladders and tables and starting bits and pieces so a small wait until its mate was found. Finally a couple of hours after arrival it was found so we started.

Didn't take too long this time (about 4 hours) so we must be getting into the swing of it.

I also got to attend the Tutor Briefing as I am teaching my beading workshop. It was fun to play with the big kids - they are an impressive group of tutors which I was honoured to be a part of.
Some others weren't quite as fast as us - a long night ahead for some.

Tagged

I have been tagged by Michelle - thanks so much (I don't think)

Now, here are THE RULES...

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged


Facts about me
1. I am very paranoid
2. Need noise around me all the time - tv /radio/ people
3. Don't cope well with aggression and tend to retreat into myself
4. Hate the taste of wine and most spirits
5. Am very aware how lucky I am with my life and family
6. Hate exercise
7. Hate the fact that my body is falling apart.

Now who to tag....
Maggie - creative friend who still manages to find time to be creative
Jamie - brilliant artist and author
Dale - owner of the Thread Studio and such a creative person
Nic - wonderful friend , award winner quilter and artist
Jenny - quilter extraordinaire - currently living in Egypt and teaching all over the world
Rayna - surface designer, quilter, teacher and soon to be published author

Erosion

Here is a piece I finished a little while ago. More textural felt and beads. I have called it Erosion as it has that sort of feel to it.



Detail

Other Glimpses

Back to Calcutta..

A wall of murals brightens up a street although I don't think they are very old.

This is College Street which is full of book stalls. Another long awaited planned destination for Peter

Don't think I would fancy a swim in this local pool!

Tiffin (or tea time) was very important in the past. This is a famous Tiffin Hall

Finally the news that Peter had been dreading - BOOK FAIR CANCELLED! The day before it was due to open the organizers lost their appeal to the Supreme Court and the Book Fair was cancelled on Environmental Grounds. The mind boggles!

Having seen the best Calcutta seemed to offer - the lovely people at Thai Airways allowed him to rebook his flight for an earlier one.

I think he has India out of his system for a little while now. I know there are wonderful places and amazing cultures and art in India - I just think he wasn't in the right place at the right time.

Sea Foam

Taking a break from pictures of Calcutta to show you a little piece I call Sea Foam just to prove I am being creative.
This work was created accidentally while doing some wet felting when the fabric used to keep everything in place decided to felt itself into the piece. I loved the effect so much I left it there.
Some beads added themselves magically for additional texture




I am a member of the Australian Textile Arts and Surface Design Association and they have just updated their website. It is worth checking out.

Architecture Extremes in Calcutta

The variety of architecture in Calcutta seems to be be far more extreme than other cities I have visited, The relics of the past are more impressive than the future.





Decay is a sad thing - especially for buildings



This seems more common though



This is an old English cemetary and the groundsman was very proud of his work in maintaining it. Evidently the Duke of Edinburgh is coming for a visit one day. Not a bad place to spend eternity I guess.

Not my idea of fun

My husband has a passion for reading and books. He has always wanted to go to the world's second largest (Largest is in Frankfurt) Book Fair. It is usually held annually in Calcutta (Kolkata) and this year he decided to go. As I am not big on heat, crowds and dirt I graciously declined the invitation to join him.

As I have nothing creative I can show you at the moment as I am knee deep in a large quilt and preparing for the Australasian Quilt Convention I am going to share some of his images.

The hotel he stayed at was the Fairlawn which is one of those places that he had read about that you have to see before you die. It certainly sounded like a bit of history. Building has been there since 1781 and according to the website it is 'defined by its idiosyncrasies'. Perfect description I think. This is the balcony outside his room.

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This is the water heater in his bathroom - note the black hole on the switch plate which is exactly that - a hole showing the wiring- just the thing to mix with water I would think.

The Book Fair was being held in the Madan - which appears to be a large park. The stands were all being made of bamboo - this was a couple of days before the planned opening.

And these are the toilets under construction.

As in all of India - the rivers are used for everything

Loved these postboxes

The only way to get to school don't you think?

More tomorrow.

Bad Day for the Environment

I try to be environmentally responsible but today I was not a model citizen.

We had over 100m of fabric drying on multiple clothes lines but the persistant (however welcome) rain has tried our patience. So we finally decided to take the lot to the local laundromat for drying. So down it all came and into the car and loaded into nice big commercial dryers. Drive home then return back to collect the dry load.

Only problem was that everything was so dry that it would need ironing which just didn't appeal at all. So we decided to wet it all down and try our luck on the clothes lines again. Luckily the rain stayed away for long enough to get it all dry enough to bring inside again.

So with all the washing machines, dryers, driving I don't think I have been a good environmental citizen today.

Serves me right - now I have to cut it all up. But my water tanks are full now so that has to be worth something.

Also I had two new visitors to the blog today from Mongolia and Iran - the mind boggles about how they found me but I hope they enjoyed what they saw.

Am I a geek?

Well the answer just has to be YES!

I have been converted to Apple Macs and we now have two in the house. I have such fun with them but have been absolutely hanging out for the Apple IPhone to come to Australia. Unfortunately patience is not one of my attributes and I have decided that I needed an IPod - I don't really but I can justify anything if I want to.

The sale this week of my Journeys piece was just the impetus I needed to buy an IPod Touch which is basically the IPhone without the phone. Nobody rings me on my phone anyway.....


So I bit the bullet and bought one - spent all day yesterday going through the 90 page manual and now have it all set up with my contacts, my calendar, music, podcasts and soon will have movies, tv shows, my photos and anything else I can find to play with.

I have noticed that I prefer to listen to music instead of the tv in my studio and I have been spending a lot of time in there lately ........ see I told you I could justify anything.

But - hey - why not!! Life is too short.