one more pic

gotta put up just one more photo. this is at wamberal beach on the central coast. last year when we were there they bulldozed the wall of the lagoon and for hours the water rushed out to the sea creating a surge of backwash. all of this delighted board-riding kids and spectators.

'tis the season for jam making

the weather is mild in sydney. we are so lucky - a few scorching days and then back to the usual summer weather. not so for victoria and south australia where bushfire threats continue.
the season of jam-making continues with massive pots of plum jam and also a much-requested chilli jam. i will post both recipe and photos soon. it is rich and dark and sweet, and surprisingly (for my hands burned for hours after cutting the chillies) not too hot.
i love browsing through flickr for everything i could possibly want to look at - from exquisite crafts to scenery of areas we wish to visit...
and tiltshiftmaker that makes your photos look like images of miniatures. so cool.

cressida campbell exhibition

i went to the cressida campbell exhibition today at the s h ervin gallery at the observatory. her work is exquisite and it was a great treat to see so many of her prints and the woodblocks too in one place.

The work of Cressida Campbell is renowned for its depiction of subtle beauty in the everyday and commonplace. After studying abroad at the Yoshida Hanga Academy in Tokyo which enhanced her skills in manipulating the woodblock medium, Campbell developed a new technique of mono-printing from hand painted wood-blocks. Drawing on the tradition of Japanese printmaking and using colour, texture and composition Campbell produces detailed still lives, intimate interiors and sweeping landscape panoramas. She is an uncompromising artist whose work is imbued with subtlety and sensitivity and inspired by the imagination. Her art comes from close observation, skilled drawing and composition and captures the most simple and complex objects and forms in domestic interiors and the landscape. The unique woodcut prints and wood blocks created by Cressida Campbell hold an aesthetic dimension in which even the most commonplace object transcends into an image of great beauty.

http://www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au/properties/gallery/exhibitions/cressida/

bucket head!

poor jessie is the dog allergic to grass! luckily all we have in the back garden is a pool. our vet wanted to put her on some treatment that would cost Au$180.00 per fortnight! imagine spending that much. how many children could we sponsor for that amount. so, no thanks, and we'll try some cheaper options. she weighs 35kg, and is adorable all though somewhat lacking in olfactory appeal.
meanwhile pete and i are recording our folk album. we got one reasonable take of the version we do of the traditional 'lady franklin's lament', or 'homeward bound' as it is sometimes known. it's about the ill-fated voyage of lord franklin to attempt to map the north-west passage. now, due to global warming, medium-sized yachts easily navigate it in summer months to reach nome in alaska.

a koala who survived

so many animals perish during bushfires, but here is a lucky survivor.

meanwhile on the other side of the globe..

my sister madeleine lives, with her husband and (now) five children, outside bath in the uk. while australia swelters and burns they are shovelling snow from the back door. here are some pics of the oldest girls and their sweet cubby house, and of the front of their home.

bush fires

we multiplied by 10 what the children pledged to donate to the victorian bushfire appeal tonight. such tragic stories emerge and yet such bravery and generosity as well as tenacity and optimism. i guess you would describe it as the iconic australian spirit. please donate via the red cross
<www.redcross.org.au>

daughters cooking

hooray! the girls are enlisted to cook once a week each... until now it has been a little sporadic with brief forays into the kitchen. rosie is already a great cook and sophie does excel at chocolate brownies and mudcake, but now olympia is gathering recipes and taking an interest. izzy is to help me once a week. bon appetit!