Another project

So hubby is hard at work on another project, this time a small but complex (in my opinion), addition to the studio.  He is making an awning to go over the doorway to stop rain coming in under the door.  He made the curved pieces of the awning himself which I think is very clever.  What this man of mine can turn his hand to is remarkable.  The awning is still being built and timber yet to be painted but the photos below will give you an idea of what it will look like.  The roof section will be covered with Laserlite, a polycarbonate clear roofing sheet so as not to impede the light coming in through the glass door.

 

Sunday saw me having another good clean up in the garden, snipping, pruning and weeding.  It was the perfect opportunity to divide up a few potted plants that had got rather big.  One was this little cacti which I divided and re-potted into this little ceramic pot that use to be my Grandma's.  I put some new wire on it so it could be hung in the garden room.  I think it's rather cute and I know my Grandma would be pleased her little pot is being used again.  Grandma was a wonderful gardener, she would have had one of the best gardens in the little town where she lived after my Papa passed away.

This photo was taken out at my Papa and Grandma's little farm.  Papa and Grandma with my siblings.  I'm the baby, perhaps the red hair gives it away. 

In our neighbour's garden and hanging over our fence just a little is this magnificent magnolia tree which has delighted us this year with many beautiful blooms.

Aren't the blooms amazing?!  

 

Bee update.  We have been advised by the bee supplier to continue feeding our bees sugar syrup for a little bit longer.  The sugar syrup is made up of two parts sugar to one part water and heated until the sugar is dissolved.  Easy.  I made up a batch this afternoon and hubby put it up at the hive this evening.  I'm sure they will be pleased to see breakfast tomorrow morning.  

 

Anne  xx

Our anniversary

Hello everyone.  I've just come back from an overnight stay in a Melbourne city hotel to celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary.  27 YEARS!  I really don't know where the time has gone.  We started our celebration Friday evening by attending a concert by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and soprano Emma Matthews at the Melbourne Town Hall.  The theme of the evening was music centred around Shakespeare classics and was most enjoyable.  Our seats were high up at the back of the hall so we had a very good view of the orchestra.  Hubby loves the timpani and in one piece of music they had two timpanists performing which made him very happy.

Source

The view from our seats.  I apologise for the quality of this photo as it was taken on my phone in low light.

 After the concert we wandered around Southgate in search of coffee and cake but decided on a raspberry sundae and tea at the Lindt Chocolate cafe which was delicious.  It was a beautiful night in Melbourne, not too cold and not too busy either.

This morning after a yummy breakfast at our hotel we made our way to the National Gallery of Victoria. We were interested in viewing the European paintings on permanent display and an Asian art exhibition.  Before we viewed the artworks, we first experienced the Hyper-Natural: A sensory spring garden.   (The garden is a part of and adjacent to the gallery.)  The link gives an excellent description.  All I can say it that it was beautiful experience.  We walked around the garden amongst mist that came from pipes and at the different stands, were able to smell synthetic and natural products that go into scent design which seems to be a rather complicated chemical process.

The white stands you can see in the photos contained two different scents in little wells, the synthetic and the natural in which you can dip a sample stick to smell the difference.  There is an interesting explanation on how the synthetic replicas are made.

This Wisteria vine was in flower.

In some respects, the garden had an almost Japanese feel to it.  Visually it was very peaceful with some rather interesting sculptures enhancing the overall appearance.  Although you can see Melbourne CBD buildings in the background, it didn't detract from the garden in any way.  In combination with the negative ions from the mist, it was a beautiful experience.

In the foyer area of the National Gallery were these brightly coloured bear sculptures in different poses.  The exterior of the bear was covered in synthetic feathers so it was impossible to see how they were constructed.  Many Asian tourists were having fun posing with the bears, trying to replicate the poses and having their photos taken.

Besides viewing the Asian exhibits and the European paintings on permanent display, there was one painting in particular I wanted to view again.  In my early days of living in Melbourne, I use to visit the Gallery frequently on a Sunday afternoon just to sit and be still among the paintings.  It was this one painting below though that had me amazed and coming back time and again to view it.

The Banquet of Cleopatra, by Giambattista Tiepolo [1696-1770]. The painting shows Cleopatra a wager with Marc Anthony that her banquet would be more lavish ...

The size of the painting is huge and you can read details about it here.    Nearly one whole wall is dedicated to it's display.  It truly is an amazing piece of art, the detailing is incredible.

There were a couple of other paintings of interest to me among the many on display.  This one by Picasso, Weeping Woman.

I'm not particularly enamoured by the painting above, but rather curious as to why Picasso went from painting like these painting shown below to the Weeping Woman above.  Quite a contrast.

Picasso's portrait of his mother.

The Old Fisherman - Picasso.

Science and Charity - Picasso.

This painting below is the work of Paul Cezanne an artist whose style I admire.

After viewing the exhibitions, we went outside and enjoyed a coffee in the lovely spring sunshine followed by a stroll in another small section of garden with this beautiful sculpture.

Dragonfly by Tom Merrifield 1988

 The two photos below taken on my phone aren't so good as I was facing into the sun but it gives you a better idea of the backdrop.
 

Soon after this we headed off to look for lunch and found this lovely little cafe, Caffe E Torta in the Royal Arcade, just perfect for us.  A chicken and salad baguette and glass of bubbly never tasted so good.

Source, Google images.

After lunch we went looking for an easel for my studio.  I was gifted some money from hubby's family when I turned 50 a couple of years ago and now we've found one that is absolutely perfect for my needs, it's sturdy, very well made and will last a life time.

So there ends our celebratory sojourn into the city.

If you've laboured through this post to the end, thank you.

Anne xx

Studio progress

Hi everyone.  Things are getting very exciting now as the studio is nearer to completion.  When I say completion what I mean is that the inside will be ready enough for my craft things to be moved inside.  There will still be plenty of things to finish off inside but at least I will then have a vacant room inside the house which will become our guest room and that will be ready for when Mum visits us soon.

So the work that has been done since I last posted was the completion of the interior walls being installed, primed and one top coat has gone on.  The electrics have been completed and I now have power and lights.  :)  The architraves have been installed around the windows which I painted this morning with the first top coat.  The interior is painted in a very light colour so there is as much reflected light as possible.  If anyone is thinking it's going to look stark, just wait until you see how much colour there is going to be in there when I've finished adding my bits and pieces.  We pick up the flooring Tuesday and it will possibly be laid that day.  Hubby is continuing to work on cutting scotia to cover wall joins and yesterday I undercoated about 14 join cover straps.  So we have been very busy.  Here are some photos of our work.

Applying undercoat to the interior walls which are plywood.  I used a brush because it was hard to push paint into the grain of the wood with a roller.  I graduated to a roller when applying the first topcoat.

I had Sophie for company for a little while until she started moving around and I was afraid she would knock over the paint.

  

East facing window with architraves installed and first topcoat applied.  You can see the first topcoat has been applied to the walls too.  All those joins will be covered by cover straps.

North facing window which is going to need a very good clean.

Looking south east.  Notice the CD player.  Painting is much more fun when you are listening to Elton John's Yellow Brick Road album belting out at full volume.

Hubby working on cutting the scotia.  You can see all the cover strips I painted yesterday in the left of the photo.

Starting to look better.  There will be a small landing and steps leading down from the doorway but that will take some time yet.

So that's how it's looking at the moment.  More to come soon.

Take care everyone,

Anne  xx

Another studio update

Today hubby and I have worked hard on the inside of the studio. Hubby has been installing lining in places where the electrics are so the electrician can finish of the electrical work this week and I have been measuring, cutting and installing insulation. It's a messy, itchy business but it's all finished now.   Here are a few photos from the progress made today.

Some strange white dots in the photo.  Must have been something on the lens, sorry.

I might be able to start putting undercoat on the wall lining tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.

 

The Charlotte and Genevieve made dinner for us tonight, tacos never tasted so good. Thanks girls for cooking on Dad's cooking night.

Anne xx

Mini break in Tasmania

Hubby and I recently went to Tasmania for a mini break.  We stayed in Hobart as there were several things we wanted to do in the area so it seemed a good place to base ourselves.  We had a wonderful time, the weather was very kind to us and we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery and views Tasmania has to offer.  

We hired a car so we could travel around and our first stop after getting off the plane was Richmond.   I visited Richmond in 1984, the bridge built by convicts is still beautiful, the gardens have improved and we took the opportunity to visit Richmond gaol, the oldest gaol in Australia that has been left in it's original state. Before that we had a yummy brunch at this lovely cafe.

Richmond gaol

This is a man trap and were set to capture escaped convicts.  It looks horrible.

 

The irons prisoners were often held in.

 Although this was quite a gruesome place to visit, I was interested in learning the history of how some early our Australians were treated.  Not very pleasantly it would seem.

Opposite our hotel in Hobart was this lovely display of Violas and

there was a fountain in the middle of these trees that was lit up at night.

The view from our hotel window.  I love the yellow green colour of the leaves on the trees.

On one of our days we visited Port Arthur, stopping for coffee on the way at a lovely cafe in Dunalley which overlooked the water.

 
We also wanted to stop at Dunalley to inject a little money into their local economy after the devastating bush fires in January this year.  We saw mile after mile of burnt bushland and many houses being rebuilt as we drove along the road.

I visited Port Arthur in 1984 and am very impressed at the amount of work that has been undertaken to improve this wonderful historic site including some beautiful gardens.  There is much information available, guided tours if you like, or as we did, wander around at our leisure immersing ourselves in the history of the buildings, enjoying a ferry ride which was included in our entry fee.  Here are a few photos from our visit.

A view from our ferry ride.

Beautiful old church ruins.

As you can see our weather was lovely.  After our visit to Port Arthur, we stopped to look at the Blowhole, Tessellated Pavement, Tasman's Arch and the Devil's Kitchen, which I'll share in another post.

Anne  xx