Edition9

Garden Life

2011-12-19T08:43:00.003+11:00

What I learned in my garden over the weekend: Goanas are very fast. Frill necked lizards scurry quite noisily through the undergrowth but are well camouflaged and invisible when they stand still. Snakes slither silently... too silently.

Calendar is ready

2011-11-07T07:30:00.004+11:00

The 2012 calendar is ready! All the artwork is from my linocuts: some are new ones which I made especially for the calendar, and others are from my recent series entitled 'The Lost Snail' which was exhibited at Sheffer Gallery in July/August.

The calendar is in a CD-style acrylic case and opens up to sit on your desk. It is a great present as it is unique, useful and arty, as well as being easy to post. You can buy it online at Duck Books :-)

Summer is coming

2011-10-19T10:26:00.004+11:00

...... time flies.

The weather is getting warm again and the sky is beautiful clear blue today.

I got very sick at the end of July and spent most of August in hospital, but now I am recovering well. New art ideas are developing in my imagination. Time to tidy up my studio desk and get to work on the 2012 calendar!

"Things left behind"

2011-07-02T08:47:00.005+10:00

Heather and I have been friends for many years and when we realised that both of our current work relates to traces and memories of childhood, albeit in very different ways, we decided to collaborate with a joint exhibition.

So we are having an exhibition at Sheffer Gallery which opens on 19 July, and we would love YOU to come.

The vernissage will be a bit unusual and hopefully also alot of fun, because guests at the gallery on 19 July (6-8pm) can have a drink and a chat with Heather who will be "attending" via skype from London. I will be at the gallery, so you can have a drink and a chat with me too :-)

Heather is currently working on her Masters in Printmaking at Camberwell in London; I am doing the same at Sydney College of the Arts.

Narrabeen Printmakers

2011-06-30T13:38:00.006+10:00

Last night was the end of term for the "Narrabeen Printmakers", and we celebrated with a print portfolio exchange.

Everyone did such beautiful prints and it was fun to share them. Now each of us has a folder with a suite of linoprints as a souvenir of a group of lovely artists and a fun term.

We also enjoyed with a glass of wine, some soup and a loaf of warm fresh bread, followed by Tara's delicious chocolate cake. A good way to warm up on a cold evening.

Thank you so much Anne, Richard, Tara and Philippa :-)

Book of Birds

2011-05-31T12:46:00.003+10:00

I am working on a small artist book, tentatively titled "Book of Birds".

Meanwhile, there is a man outside in the rain, chopping down some trees.

Poor trees, poor birds. Poor garden now looks ugly and empty.

Red washing

2011-05-29T12:49:00.002+10:00

Today I washed and hung out my red washing, but then the rain came.

Wet red washing.

Day 26 - The shoebox

2011-05-23T09:38:00.007+10:00

On my last day before leaving for Papua New Guinea, the girls at school gave me a present.

It was a shoebox that had pictures of models from glossy magazines cut out and pasted all over it. On a nest of tissue paper inside were lots different make-up things. It must have cost a fortune.

I felt like an imposter, receiving a gift like that. The other girls looked mature and sophisticated when they put on make-up; I just looked like a clown. I liked Pot o'Gloss though, because it tasted like delicious sweet berries. It was usually gone from my lips in about three minutes because that's about how long it took me to lick it all off.

In any event, I never ever used any of it because I would have felt totally out of place wearing make-up in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

It only dawned on me years later that this lavish present had not been bought but that in reality, light fingers must have pocketed the items from department store shelves.

Day 25 - Pot o'Gloss

2011-05-19T22:38:00.010+10:00

In my second year of high school, I felt like I was beginning to fit in. My friends still teased me about my very uncool pigtails hairstyle, but still, we did stuff together on weekends and during the summer holidays, and we talked about which songs and which bands were groovy, and we made ourselves look glamorous with Mary Quant eyeshadow and Yardley Pot o'Gloss on our lips.

When we went back to school after the Christmas holidays, our science teacher handed out text books for the new school year. I told her that I didn't need any because I was going to Papua New Guinea the next week. The teacher laughed and told me not to make up stories. The other kids told her I was telling the truth. She looked dumbfounded because she had never heard of anyone going to Papua New Guinea before.

I was looking forward to this new adventure, but I at the same time, I sort of realised that the fleeting moment of those few months with the cool girls had just slipped through my fingers.

Day 24 - Brown legs

2011-05-15T21:00:00.006+10:00

When I started high school, I saw how important it was too be cool, only I wasn't very good at it.

Most of my friends knew how to be cool and often on weekends, we went to the beach with a transistor radio and we stretched out on our towels in our bikinis, and talked about the surfy boys. Only I didn't know what to say about the surfy boys so I just stayed quiet and listened. My bikini was a hand-me-down from one of my friends.

On school days, we all sat in a row on the concrete outside the classroom in our lunch breaks. Our legs were stretched out in the sun and we smothered them in cocoa butter. It was cool to have very brown legs. That was the only cool thing I was good at.

Day 23 (sort of...) - Artist vanishes (sort of...)

2011-05-15T20:23:00.004+10:00

A week of spasmodic posts at best. I may have bitten off more than I could chew.

I realise now that it would have been better to do the "challenge" as two separate 30 day projects with a gap in between, because at the moment, I am a bit exhausted.

One more story will be posted a little later today, and then I will take a couple of days to write and draw new material. I will be back online in a few days, hopefully refreshed, to continue the 60 days.

But for now, here is an elephant tree for you :-)

Day 22 - The librarian

2011-05-11T23:33:00.003+10:00

Our school got a new librarian in February. Her name was Mrs Milton and she was very old fashioned and very proper and she looked strict. But she turned out to be very different from how she looked.

Each week Mrs Milton helped everyone in our class to find just the books she knew they would love. Thanks to her, I became a veritable book worm and I started going to the library about three times a week. Mrs Milton also read unusual books out loud to us in the library lesson.

But on Mrs Milton's first day at our school, we all laughed at her mercilessly. It had been a very hot day but in the afternoon, dark clouds filled the sky. Just as the bell for the end of the school day rang, the clouds burst. Amidst thunder and lightning, and pouring rain, all the students were pouring out of the classrooms to go home.

Mrs Milton stood on the steps of the library, watching the children streaming out of the school gates, with tears rolling down her face.

"The poor poor children! They're getting drenched to the bone. They'll all catch pneumonia!" she cried.

We all laughed at her because we thought she was stupid to think that a little bit of rain would bother us. But when we got to know her better, none of us ever laughed at her again, even if she did think we were all just delicate little flowers, because we realised that she was the most delicate little flower of all.

Day 21 - Golden dragon

2011-05-09T23:33:00.008+10:00

We never went to restaurants. We didn't have enough money and anyway, if there was any extra money, it was better to save it for travel adventures or to buy worthwhile things we needed for the house.

A few times when we did the bus trip to do the weekly grocery shopping, my mother would buy us a finger bun as a treat. That made helping to carry the bags of groceries from the bus stop to our house a little easier. And in summer, my mother sometimes bought us an icecream when we went to the beach. Also there were times when we bought fish and chips, which was a rare treat.

But that was as far as "eating out" went in our family.

And so, when we drove into Dubbo on our way home from one particular camping holiday out in the far west, I could not believe my eyes when my father pulled the car into a parking spot outside the local Chinese restaurant with exotic signage on the glass shop front and lace curtains. My parents told us they were going to order take-away Chinese food for our dinner. I didn't think they even knew how to order food in a restaurant.

But it turned out that they did know, because out they came 15 minutes later with take-away Chinese food for us all. We took it to the park in the centre of Dubbo and ate our exotic meal by the banks of the Macquarie River. We feasted on such delights as spring rolls, fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and some sort of dish with very fine noodles. Dubbo became the international culinary pinnacle of my universe.

Chinese restaurants in country towns still always remind me of my 'introduction to world cuisine' and even though it is a long time since I have been there, I have a soft spot for Dubbo. But I still don't know what prompted my parents to buy Chinese take-away that day.

Day 20 - Drumming grasslands

2011-05-07T21:45:00.006+10:00

On one camping trip in the arid far west of New South Wales, we went for a walk on a very hot day. The dishes had been washed after a long, slow breakfast and my parents decided that it would do us all good to stretch our legs.

We had walked for about half an hour through scrub and hummock grasses and were now approaching a stand of mallee trees. Suddenly we heard a strange drumming sound that was so powerful that the earth seemed to vibrate. With no clue what it was, we were all a bit tense but curiosity got the better of us. Very silently and very carefully we continued on towards the trees.

All at once, the noise stopped and the silence was almost as eery as the drumming sound. Still we walked on toward the trees. What we saw in the grasslands beyond mallee trees, just a bit over a hundred metres away, took my breath away.

The drumming sound had been a mob of more than a hundred kangaroos bounding across the grasslands. And now the silence was the kangaroos at rest. Camouflaged in the shade of the trees, we stood and watched this rare sight for a while before we began our walk back to camp.

I have never seen anything like that again. And I don't think I will ever hear anything like that again.

Day 19 - Red dust

2011-05-06T22:51:00.006+10:00

Each day at work, my father was surrounded by people. So in the holidays, he just wanted to get away from people. And explore the Australian countryside.

While most of my classmates had seaside holidays, my family preferred to head for the desert for the holidays.

While we were at school on the last day of term, my mother busily packed everything we would need for two weeks away from civilisation: sleeping bags, tent, camping cooker, cooking utensils, lots of water, food supplies, cameras, torches and matches. Each of us kids packed our own small bag of clothes and a few toys, books and paints.

The next day, we would be on the road before sunrise. We headed out of Sydney and drove and drove and drove. Many of the roads and even highways were still unsealed then. Gravelly, dusty and pot-holed. If a car or truck came in the opposite direction, we would spend the next few minutes choking on red dust.

It would be close to sunset, after a full day of driving, that we would look for a suitable remote spot to make our camp. The holidays that were the most fun were the ones where we camped near a river. My mother and father worked quickly to get the tent pitched before sunset.

In our own world away from it all, we saw kangaroos, emus, goannas, snakes, galahs and also rabbits and foxes. Some days we went on long bushwalks; other days we stayed at the camp and relaxed by reading or painting. My brother and I scraped elaborate roads into the red dirt to play with our matchbox cars. We also built towns with houses out of sticks and leaves because the roads had to go somewhere. This game could consume days.

The nights were filled with strange bush sounds and all around it was incredibly black but up above there were just millions of stars. And always a shooting star.

Day 18 - Bandaid princess

2011-05-05T21:55:00.006+10:00

So then my youngest sister was born.

Until she was about three, she had almost no hair at all but then when it did grow, it became a wild mop of curls.

When her curls grew, my baby sister became obsessed with her clothing. She usually had at least three complete changes of clothes during the day. I'm not sure why. When we came home from school, my mother would tell us how many times my sister had changed her outfit that day.

She was also obsessed with bandaids. She loved to plaster them all over herself and could very easily 'require' twenty in a day. The weekly shopping list had to include a sufficient supply of bandaids.

I'm not sure whether she outgrew the bandaid obsession, or whether the weekly shopping was just no longer able to accommodate it.

Day 17 - Going boating

2011-05-04T23:43:00.009+10:00

After a few years of working hard, my parents were able to get a bank loan to buy our own home: a little cottage on the northern beaches.

Not only a house. They bought a boat too. It was a 12 foot tinnie with a 6 horsepower outboard motor. For the next few years, we spent most summer Sundays boating on Pittwater, exploring secluded little bays and having picnics on tiny little beaches that we had all to ourselves.

Once in a while, an irresistible urge to flirt with danger impelled my father to steer our tiny boat into the open sea. On one such adventure, the weather changed suddenly and the swell grew monstrous. I think my mother was terrified.

But she needn't have worried. A couple of dolphins suddenly appeared beside our boat, as if they knew that we were in danger and that none of us had life jackets. Gently they guided us back to calmer waters and we got home safely.

Day 16 - Modern things

2011-05-03T21:08:00.004+10:00

Mrs Pearson was our landlady and I think she must have been nearly a hundred years old. She lived downstairs with her stout little dachshund who was the only dog I wasn't terrified of.

She liked modern things but really, it was a long time ago when they were modern.

Mrs Pearson fascinated me and even though I knew I wasn't supposed to disturb her, I loved to go down to visit her sometimes. She didn't actually mind being disturbed, and she would show me her treasures which were very colourful costume jewellery pieces that smelt strongly of stale perfume.

On a pedestal in the hallway, stood a black bakelite telephone with an old silver dial that still had letters as well as numbers on it. A few times, my parents asked if they could use it and Mrs Pearson said they could.

In the laundry out the back of the house, there was a washing copper with a gas boiler underneath to heat the water. Not quite a modern washing machine but I didn't mind because I loved the smell of the soapy boiling water and best of all, I loved it when my mother let me turn the handle to squeeze the clothes through the wringer.

Day off

2011-05-02T19:12:00.003+10:00

Dear Readers, thank you for visiting my blog :-)

I am having a day off today, so I hope you come and visit again tomorrow. I'll have a new story and linoprint for you then.

Day 15 - Sad moon

2011-05-01T23:39:00.007+10:00

One night I couldn't sleep so I got out of bed and went to the bathroom.

There was bright light streaming through the frosted glass of the bathroom window and it didn't seem to be from a street light. I wondered what it was, so I climbed onto the toilet seat and stood on my tippy toes to open the old window to investigate.

I pushed the window open and saw a beautiful big full moon. But the moon looked sad and I thought maybe the moon had a sad face because he knew I should be asleep in bed.

"Please don't be sad, moon. I'll go straight back to bed, I promise." And I did.

But the full moon still always looks sad.

Day 14 - The baby

2011-04-30T23:53:00.006+10:00

Then my sister was born and she was a real Aussie. Now our family had a solid connection to this new country, because no matter where else we might go, my sister's place of birth would always be Australia.

She was just beginning to learn to talk when I started school. Each day when I got home, I proudly showed off the English I had learnt, although I often mixed up the two languages. I was working through my 'David, Sue and Wendy' book at school, and sometimes I cried because Wendy was such a difficult word that I thought I would never in my whole life learn to spell it.

But my baby sister was immersed in two languages from the start and she just absorbed them both with an impish smile.

Day 13 - Fish in the pan

2011-04-29T23:27:00.008+10:00

Our next home was closer to the sea again. Although this neighbourhood lacked all the little 'continental' shops of the inner city, it more than made up for it with beaches and headlands and bushland. It was a lovely suburb for going for walks and we often went to the beach to make sand castles and to play in the waves.

I think we had very little money during that time, so sometimes when my father came home in the afternoon, he would go rock fishing for our dinner. All four of us went on these afternoon fishing excursions. While my father fished, my mother watched my brother and me as we played with toy boats in rock pools or climbed on rocks.

Some days my father caught a big fish, but mostly they were pretty small.

My parents didn't want relatives in the old country to know that things were a struggle for us. To reassure the relatives that life in Australia was simply perfect, my mother and father asked me for my dolls' cooking set. My father had caught three little fish that day. He and my mother artistically arranged one of the fish in the dolls' frying pan, with a few mini tomatoes alongside to give a sense of scale (they were supposed to look like big tomatoes).

When our relatives received the photo in the next letter, they marvelled that my dad caught fish that were too big to even fit in the frying pan!

Day 12 - The old quarry

2011-04-29T00:39:00.007+10:00

Berlin and Melbourne are flat cities, but Sydney has lots of steep hills. Each day, my mother took my brother and me on a walk up and down the hilly narrow inner-city streets near our house.

We walked to the post office to buy aerogrammes and to post letters back to family and friends far away.

We walked to the little deli that sold 'continental' groceries which you couldn't buy in 'normal' grocery stores back then: things such as dark rye bread and olives and gherkins and liverwurst and cheeses that weren't cheddar.

We also often walked to the little park with the swing. The little park was at the high end of a street and it had a sort of rock cliff that dropped down to the streets below. I wonder if the area down there may have once been a quarry. My mother didn't like us going close to the edge, but I loved it because from there, the houses down below looked like they were a sort of toyland.

Once my brother rolled a big glass marble over the cliff edge. I hoped that it would bounce all the way down to the miniature-looking houses at the bottom, and knock them all down. But instead the marble just disappeared.

My brother was very sad that he had lost his precious marble. I was sad that I had missed out on seeing the demolition of toyland.

Day 11 - No noise please

2011-04-26T23:37:00.008+10:00

The first place where we lived in Sydney was

an inner-city terrace house on a narrow street.

It was quite a change after having lived close

to the sea in Melbourne.

My family shared the house with a man who

was a student. Although we almost never saw

him, we knew he had a lot of important work

to do because the sign on his door said that

we must be very quiet.

I had a feeling the sign really meant that the

man didn't like children very much. Maybe my

parents had that feeling too because we found

a better place to live before too long.

Day off

2011-04-25T21:36:00.001+10:00

Dear readers,
I have decided that if I am going to do this for 60 days, I need to have one day off each week.
I will have a new story and a new linoprint for you tomorrow.
I hope you understand :-)

Day 10 - Easter Egg

2011-04-24T20:16:00.002+10:00

After a couple of years in Melbourne, we moved to Sydney. Something to do with my father's work but I didn't understand what.

Our old black car had recently been replaced by a new green VW beetle which was very nice even though it was a bit of a squeeze with all our luggage. We headed out on the long road north on Easter Saturday.

The adventure of moving to a new place was so exciting that I almost forgot about Easter. Anyway our usual Easter tradition was to paint hard-boiled eggs, and there wasn't much opportunity for that on the road. We camped in our tent on Saturday night, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

It turned out not to be so bad to be in the middle of nowhere because apparently that is where the Easter bunny lives.

On Sunday morning, my brother and I just could not believe it when we crawled out of the tent and each found a big Easter egg. Beautiful, shiny,colourful and made of chocolate!

Day 9 - Forest trance

2011-04-23T23:39:00.012+10:00

My favourite fairy tale; the one I always asked my mother to read, was Snow White and Rose Red. These sisters were named after rose bushes and they were kind and gentle and so beautiful. I wished I were Rose Red.

I didn't really care for the fairy tale ending of their adventures, but I loved that when Snow White and Rose Red were children, if they should happen to forget to come home from playing in the forest before it got dark, they would just curl up against one another with the moss as their pillow. There they would sleep safely through the night in the forest and go home the next morning. No wild animals harmed them, for the wild animals were their friends.

When we went on family walks in the old forest near Healesville, sometimes the late afternoon sunlight filtering through the enormous trees made me imagine I was in Snow White and Rose Red's forest. I could believe that I had glimpsed a deer or a bear or a dwarf in the distance.

But then a wallaby would hop past and break my trance.

Day 8 - Raven

2011-04-22T23:39:00.005+10:00

We had an old fashioned black car. Sometimes we would go for a drive to the mysterious old forest near Healesville.

One day as we got out of the car at the forest, I saw a big glossy black raven looking down at us from a tree.

It was very hot weather but walking beside the little creek and under the shade of the giant trees was lovely and cool. We saw lots of other bush animals along the track. Lizards, birds, butterflies, wallabies and also a snake.

I noticed that the raven followed us on our walk, appearing every now and again on a nearby tree. Sometimes it would disappear and then I would catch a glimpse of its black wings swooping through the air. Next moment, it would be sitting on a high branch just ahead of us. It patiently stayed with us whilst we had a picnic and stayed as our strange guide all the way until we got back to our car.

I didn't know what it was trying to tell us, but I liked that raven.

Day 7 - Time changes

2011-04-21T23:32:00.007+10:00

My parents had planned that we would

only stay in Australia for a two year

adventure, and then return to the family

and friends left behind.

That was a long time ago now.

Things change.

And so does time itself.

Day 6 - Lost Snail

2011-04-20T23:53:00.008+10:00

On an outing to the city one day, I got lost in the crowd at Flinders Street station and I didn't know enough words to ask for help to find my mother.

My mother searched for me and she asked the ticket collector if he had seen a little girl with green eyes and brown hair in plaits, but he couldn't help.

Well, there are lots of little girls with green eyes and brown hair in plaits, so it was no wonder he couldn't help her. I told my mother she should have asked him if he had seen a little girl with two spots on her nose that looked like retracted little snail tentacles.

But she said that the two little freckles on my nose were not really my most distinguishing feature. I didn't believe her.

Luckily she found me anyway.

Day 5 - More milk please

2011-04-19T23:44:00.012+10:00

After a few months when we had settled into life in the new country, I went to kindergarten three mornings a week.

I liked to sit on the swing there.

When it was morning tea time, all the children sat at a long table and we were given biscuits and milk. Whilst the kindergarten ladies were pouring milk into each child's cup, we had to sit with our hands on our heads. When everyone had their milk, we were allowed to take our hands off our heads and morning tea began.

"Hands on heads" and "More milk please" were the first English sentences I learnt at kindergarten.

Day 4 - Tropical Paradise

2011-04-18T20:10:00.010+10:00

At the beginning, we lived in Melbourne. Above a shop, next to a petrol station.

The entrance to our place was through a back door and up some dark stairs, I remember that. I have forgotten most of what the inside of the house looked like but I remember that on Sunday afternoons, we used to look out of the front windows which overlooked the wide street and the awning of the shop below. From there, we could watch the Salvation Army band as it marched up the street. On very hot summer days, the marching music floated up the street long before we could see the band and it sounded like the heat of the day distorted the music.

Our Christmas tree for our first Christmas in Australia was a palm tree. My father took photos to send to our relatives in the old country, so they would see that we lived in a tropical paradise.

Nothing at all from those times seemed real to me. It all seemed like a hazy, brightly-lit dream which mostly pleasant but always confusing.

Day 3 - Tall Tales

2011-04-17T23:46:00.005+10:00

My father didn't read us bedtime stories when we were little. Instead, he told us very very tall tales.

My father's escapades in dangerous and difficult situations would have made Baron Münchhausen and Till Eulenspiegel blush with envy.

He told us his tales very earnestly and we almost always believed that they were true. Anyway, it seemed to hurt his feelings if we didn't believe them.

Day 2 - Bedtime stories

2011-04-16T23:23:00.009+10:00

Each evening our mother read us a bedtime story.

But a story at bedtime was not enough. So during the day, I spent hours and hours looking at the big old illustrated volumes of Grimms Märchen and other books.

I might have been still too young to read, but I could make my own stories from the pictures.

Day 1 - Across the sea

2011-04-15T23:40:00.008+10:00

Across the sea to a land far away.

Everyone speaking a language that was strange.

I loved the books which we had brought with us because even though I couldn't read yet, I knew they were in the language I understood.

New print challenge begins today

2011-04-15T11:04:00.003+10:00

Portfolio with print exchange was finished last night. A nice way to share work with other artists.

And today I begin my 60 day print challenge, in preparation for exhibition at Sheffer Gallery in July/August. Comments and support will be greatly appreciated.

(Artists names in photo of portfolio blurred for privacy)

Bidding has begun for Red Cross Japan fundraiser auction

2011-03-28T09:20:00.003+11:00

The Illustrators Australia fundraiser auction has commenced today and will conclude 3 April.

All the artists are donated 100% of the money raised to the Red Cross Japan and Pacific Appeal 2011 for earthquake and tsunami victims.

This is a great opportunity to buy original art and help a great cause at the same time.

Please take the time to check this out!

Illustrators for Japan

2011-03-25T17:44:00.005+11:00

Illustrators Australia has organised a wonderful fundraiser to support the Japan earthquake victims, with 100% of proceeds being donated to Red Cross Australia's Japan and Pacific disaster Appeal 2011.

Many artists, including me, have donated works which will be auctioned on eBay. The images above and below are only a small sample of the illustrations which are being auctioned.

Have a look at the wonderful works for sale here, and please, bid on your favourite works when the auction goes live on 28 March 2011. You might snap up a bargain, and you will be supporting a great cause.

Little big prints

2011-03-08T10:41:00.003+11:00

I am working on prints for an exhibition in July. I want to exhibit larger prints and yet, the logistics of my small workspace mean that it is difficult for me to work on large linoblocks. Not to mention that I do seem to prefer working on a small scale...

So I have decided to create a series of 'collage prints' where a whole lot of smaller linoblocks are printed together to make a larger print.

Lots of ideas going round in my mind. Hope the prints turn out interesting.

The Insomniac

2011-03-04T13:05:00.005+11:00

The moon is still high when the insomniac wakes. Thoughts and worries churn through her mind, and all efforts to fall back asleep are in vain.

She hears the clock on the mantlepiece go tick, tick, tick, tick. When the sun is almost ready to rise and the morning bird sings its first song, she finally nods off.

But in half an hour, the alarm will wake her to begin another exhausted day.

Glass Half Empty

2011-03-02T11:05:00.005+11:00

Optimists, they say, see their glass as 'half full' because they appreciate what they have.

My sister looks at this quite differently: she says that 'half full' means that a drink has been poured into your glass up to the half-way level and that you are happy about this. Good for you!

But if your glass is half empty, it must be empty of something. Your glass was full, but now half has gone. Where did it go? You drank it, which means that you have had half a glass of something nice and refreshing to drink. And lucky you, you've still got half left!

So the 'half empty' people have double what the 'half full' people do.

She's very clever, my sister.

Govett Street

2011-02-24T10:43:00.006+11:00

It was very late but the party was still in full swing when I decided to leave and walk the short distance home.

The cool night air would clear my head. I had had a little too much to drink and it wasn't agreeing with me.

I turned into Govett Street and looked at the house on the corner. Someone there was feeling even worse than I was. And I think he was having nightmares too.

Duck Books website has been updated

2011-02-03T13:44:00.003+11:00

A bit more colourful, a bit more information. Have a look at www.duck-books.com. Hope you like it!

Duck Books in the news!

2011-01-29T12:23:00.006+11:00

Noosa Journal has half page article on p11 about Roisin Glynn Jones' book 'Dancing with the Devil'. I am very excited about this as it was published by my company, Duck Books.

2011 calendar is finally ready

2010-12-24T06:50:00.006+11:00

My calendar theme this year is sketches from walks with my dog up to the headland at Mona Vale in the northern part of Sydney.

Its a bit late. I'm sorry about that but I hope you like it anyway.

Visit www.duck-books.com if you would like to buy a calendar.

Book now on sale: "A Cat goes Kayaking"

2010-08-23T09:49:00.004+10:00

As some of you may know, the "30 linoprints in 30 days" project on this blog became an exhibition at Sheffer Gallery a few weeks ago.

"A Cat goes Kayaking" is the book based on the exhibition and the blog. It contains all 30 linoprints and all 30 stories.

You can buy it here: www.duck-books.com

Exhibition

2010-07-19T15:12:00.002+10:00

I know that I said I would post on my blog twice a week. I know that I haven't, but I sort of needed a break and got a bit to busy with a few other things, including getting ready for my exhibition....

... and book launch!!

Here are details of the exhibition opening:

Bye bye, big sky

2010-06-15T12:49:00.004+10:00

Going to be living closer to the ground very soon. I'll really miss the big sky, but the trade-off will be that I will be closer to the sea.

Which is not bad.

Invitation - Melbourne

2010-06-06T14:08:00.004+10:00

If you are in Melbourne, you might like to go to the A3 Show in Northcote, which opens on Friday, 18 June. Both my prints from the Sydney show will be in the Melbourne exhibition. You can also buy prints from all participating artists online ... click here.

Party People

2010-06-04T09:21:00.003+10:00

Sometimes at a party, you see people you haven't seen for years and years. And you might think: "My, how the passing years have been unkind to them."

Of course, you reassure yourself that time been far gentler to the friends you see all the time. They haven't changed much at all.

Of course.

Rhino Travels

2010-05-30T02:44:00.005+10:00

I know a lovely librarian who rides with the rhinos in her dreams, and sometimes also in her holidays.

So that the rhinos recognise her as one of their own, a horn curiously grows on her forehead when she travels to their land. Just as curiously, it disappears again before she goes back to the library.

But I still know it was there.

Sleep

2010-05-27T19:33:00.005+10:00

So, what now?

I am very happy that I finished my 30 linoprints, because at the beginning, I wasn't sure I could do it. And even though the project was exhausting and sort of took over my life, I am a bit sad to leave it behind.

Still, it's boring to stick with one thing forever, and I have new ideas that I want to work on. As for this blog, my plan is to put up something new ~~every Tuesday and Saturday~~ twice a week. Stay tuned.

Before that, though, I am going to catch up on some SLEEP.

Day 30 - Washing Lines

2010-05-26T23:10:00.005+10:00

Most people hang up their washing all wrong. They don't realise that the most important thing is to get it looking lovely. All the t-shirts together, all the trousers together, all the towels, all the socks, all the undies. And of course each line has to have the same colour pegs all along.

The other thing is that washing should be hung so that things dry quickly (ie, no big overlaps) and so that there are no creases in awkward places (I love washing lines but I really don't like ironing). Most people don't seem to think about this, either.

Whether it's washing that is hung up all higgledy-piggledy, or whether it is perfectly neat, I really enjoy looking at washing lines. And I have discovered that quite a lot of people share my obsession with the matching pegs. Which I find surprising.

Day 29 - Breakfast Sausages

2010-05-25T15:41:00.007+10:00

When I was 16, I lived in a town that had pretty cold winters. Often, we would warm ourselves up by starting the day with a full English breakfast. I remember one particular morning:

Jennie: "How many sausages will you have?"
Me: "How many are there?"
Jennie: "Seven."
Me: "I'll have seven."

We sat down to breakfast and Jennie put all the sausages on my plate. They smelt good, and I knew the others really wanted some. And I'm sure they thought that I would be happy enough to call a joke a joke, and then share the sausages.

But in my stubborn teenage mind, it had become a dare, and I had decided I would eat them all, even if I exploded afterwards. Which I nearly did. All day at school, I felt ill. All day at work, the others probably felt hungry.

Funnily enough, I became a vegetarian a few years later.

Day 28 - TV Game Show

2010-05-24T23:20:00.003+10:00

Once, I was a contestant on a TV game show. It was a sort of bravery dare to myself and it was exciting but I was very, very nervous.

Apparently I somehow made the other two contestants very nervous too and they made lots of mistakes. Which was surprising because, the night before, David the 'carry-over champion' nearly had the highest score ever. But on this night, the three of us managed to achieve the lowest scoreline in the history of the game.

Anyway, I won lots of prizes even though I only lasted a single episode.

Day 27 - The Perfect Shop

2010-05-23T13:41:00.009+10:00

Every Wednesday evening, when all the other shops were closed, we went to our shop and sat on the red sofa and talked and enjoyed a very nice bottle of wine.

It was the perfect shop because it never had any customers, but we closed it after a year.

Day 26 - Hungry Monster

2010-05-22T21:16:00.006+10:00

We walked along a narrow street one day and we saw a graffiti monster sprayed on the wall. Just then, a motor scooter drove up and parked right by the graffiti monster. A guy hopped off the scooter and went to deliver a pizza.

I turned to talk to my friend, and when I turned back, the scooter was gone.

I think the graffiti monster ate it, and it still looked hungry.

We crossed to the other side of the street because we didn't want it to swallow us too.

Day 25 - Forest Stories

2010-05-21T16:15:00.004+10:00

I went to an exhibition yesterday, where lots of giant transparent leaves hung from the ceiling.
The leaves told stories of the forests.
Some of the stories were very sad.

Day 24 - Swimming

2010-05-20T22:17:00.005+10:00

Where the sea is warm and where the little fish dart to and fro in the shallows of the clear, turquoise water;
that's where I love to swim.

Day 23 - Starry Night

2010-05-19T17:56:00.008+10:00

I'm out of the city for a few days. Walking home from the little restaurant where we ate a lovely dinner, I looked at the sky.

Without any cars around, it was so quiet.
Without street lights, everything was black.
But up in the sky, there were millions of stars. In the city, all the lights make it impossible to see the stars, but here the night sky is just magical.

A shooting star flew by and I made a wish.

Day 22 - Flying

2010-05-18T17:03:00.002+10:00

When I look out of the window of an aeroplane and see another plane flying not all that far away, I feel slightly anxious.

Day 21 - Clouds

2010-05-17T19:29:00.002+10:00

There's a chill in the air today and the weather really feels like autumn now. It's cloudy too.

Living in an apartment that is up high feels like you are living in the sky. Its sort of like a nest high up in a tree, but not as windy.

Even though I'm not much of a cold weather person, cloud watching is fun from here.

Day 20 - Cup of Tea

2010-05-16T22:16:00.002+10:00

Ah, my morning cup of tea. I love it so much that I drink it out of a cup the size of a bucket.

Well, nearly the size of a bucket.

Day 19 - A Day in the Life of Dog

2010-05-15T21:52:00.006+10:00

Two long walks. One in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Another couple of shorter outings for Dog to take a leak and sniff interesting smells in the courtyard and on the street.

Morning spent on self-appointed duty of scaring birds off the balcony.

Afternoon spent playing fetch up and down the hallway, as many times as he can persuade someone to throw his toy.

Waits till no-one is looking and then finds a nice clean basket of freshly washed and folded laundry. Climbs into the basket and snuggles into the freshly washed clothes for a little nap.

Looks very guilty when someone discovers him in this 'hiding spot'. And sort of embarrassed.

Day 18 - The Kayaker

2010-05-14T22:33:00.004+10:00

When Dog and I went for our walk by the river this morning, I saw a strange sight. A man was paddling his kayak in the direction of the city, and the strange thing about it was that there was a cat sitting on the front of the kayak.

The man was wearing a business suit, which was also odd. I mean, if you were really going to work by kayak, wouldn't you wear boating clothes, and change into your suit when you got to the city? Also, I don't know of that many offices in the city that welcome cats.

All day I have been wondering whether the man was really kayaking to work, or whether it was a performance of some sort.

Day 17 - Sounds

2010-05-13T22:54:00.004+10:00

This morning I was sitting at my desk, listening to the sounds of a piano that were drifting into my apartment. I thought, "How nice that someone's piano practice today is Satie's Gnossiennes."

Only a little later did I realise that it wasn't someone doing their piano lessons, but that it had wafted up from the shopping centre down below. Mostly the shopping centre's music isn't as pleasant as Erik Satie. It gets switched on early in the morning and although it isn't loud, it is always there. Until mid-morning, that is, when other noises join in and the muzak is drowned out by the coffee grinder of the café downstairs, and the gardeners in the courtyards, using their blowers and hedge trimmers, and general people noises.

One night in December, they forgot to turn the muzak off in the evening, and Christmas carols penetrated my brain the whole night through. When I woke up the next morning, I was very tired.

Day 16 - Body of Water

2010-05-12T21:06:00.008+10:00

When I came home from Fifi's exhibition, I made a linoprint of the sea, even though my sea will never be as liquid as hers.

Fifi's paintings are beautiful! The exhibition opening was tonight and was just swept away with the loveliness of her work.

There were lots and lots of people, so I didn't stay all that long because I'm not very good with crowds. Fifi and I introduced ourselves in real and not just in cyberspace, but we only said a few words because it was very busy. I think I will go to the gallery again in the next couple of days, because I would like to take a bit more time to look at the pictures.

Day 15 - Coconut Macaroons

2010-05-11T22:22:00.003+10:00

My Grandfather used to love it when I baked coconut macaroons, but he always ate too many.

When he became diabetic, I once modified the recipe to use some sort of artificial sweetener instead of sugar. That turned out not to be such a good idea because he still ate too many and they ended up having a fairly strong laxative effect.

He sort of wasn't quite so keen on macaroons any more after that.

Day 14 - Kitchen Goddess

2010-05-10T23:28:00.003+10:00

One day, Jane became a kitchen goddess. She whipped up a feast for ten people and she even made four salads.

"Call me Martha Stewart!" said Jane.

But I don't think it will ever happen again. To tell the truth, the kitchen is not really her domain.

Day 13 - Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T22:44:00.006+10:00

Yesterday, I was at a shopping centre and there were flowers for Mother's Day on sale everywhere. It was probably the same at every shopping centre in the whole country and I wondered how much fertilizer and pesticide was used to get all these perfect looking flowers ready for exactly this day.

So I thought I would make my mother a picture of some daffodils instead. I hope she likes it.

Happy Mother's Day. x

Day 12 - An Adventure at Sea

2010-05-08T16:54:00.005+10:00

Sometimes I think I would like to go on a great sea voyage in a trusty small and sturdy boat. I'd have an adventure on the ocean like Tim in "Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain" or like Moominpappa in "Moominpappa at Sea" or even Pi in "The Life of Pi".

I might see whales and sea monsters, and they wouldn't bother me a bit.

But then, an enormous wave would come and I would wish I was back at home, snuggled up in bed with a book.

Day 11 - Slim Dusty

2010-05-07T22:44:00.008+10:00

Up in Guyra, they have a 'Lamb and Potatoes' festival each January, although I'm not sure that the lambs find the event all that festive. A few years ago, Marc and Moni and the kids and I happened to be in Guyra at the right time, so we strolled around and we bought our lunch from festival stalls. The others said the lamb was delicious, but I just had a bowl of chips.

There were lots of other interesting festival stalls along the highway. In one section, about a dozen small, restored steam engines were on display, with their motors chugging along and steam puffing out of the chimneys. I couldn't figure out what they were for, but they smelt like the engine room of the old Manly ferries, and I liked that.

A bit further along, there were arts and crafts stalls. One local farmer was selling pottery figurines. He told me that he had made them at evening classes. All his figurines were of country music legends. I have never been a country music fan, but the Slim Dusty figurine was so wonderful, I just had to buy it. It sits on my bookshelf and I look at it every day.

Day 10 - A loaf of fresh bread

2010-05-06T22:13:00.003+10:00

None of the stories I wrote today turned out the way I wanted, so eventually, I just decided to draw my hands writing in my notebook, and make a linocut of that.

Then I baked a loaf of wholemeal bread and made a pot of pumpkin soup. I love it when the house smells of warm fresh bread. Tastes delicious, too.

Day 9 - La Paloma

2010-05-05T23:35:00.008+10:00

Up in the attic of a very old house that I used to visit once upon a time, there was an antique music box. It was a disc music box and was quite big. You had to wind it up and then, when you dropped a penny in the slot, a big metal disc would begin to turn and music would play.

Whenever I was alone in the old house, I would quietly climb up the stairs to the attic and wind up the music box. There was a jar of pennies next to the music box and I would drop one in the slot and then I would listen to it play La Paloma (Click to listen). Tears would roll down my cheeks because I loved that tune so much.

When I am drawing, I often absent-mindedly hum the tune of La Paloma. I still love that tune.

Day 8 - May 4th

2010-05-04T21:12:00.003+10:00

This afternoon, when I picked Malo up from the school bus, without even saying "Hello", he burst out with, 'Today is International Star Wars Day."

I said, "Errr, hello. And you know, there is an International Day for Children, and an International Day of Peace and an International Day of the Tree and lots of other international days, but I am pretty sure that there is not an International Star Wars Day."

Malo replied, "Yes there is. May the fourth be with you."

Day 7 - Hairsalons

2010-05-03T21:25:00.004+10:00

Quite a few years ago now, I used to like my hair to look as weird as possible.

Old photos remind me that I once had it all dyed very bright blue. Another time, I had my hair all dyed in black and bright orange horizontal stripes, with the right side cut into a bob, and the left side cut very, very short. For some reason that now escapes me, I also once had a lightning bolt shaved into my hair at the back.

These days, I usually just have my hair in a plain ponytail, which sort of seems like a missed opportunity, since there are 4 hairsalons just an elevator-ride away, in the shopping centre downstairs.

I am pretty sure that my kids are grateful for this missed opportunity, but I do wonder how all these hairdressers find enough customers.

Day 6 - In the Fog

2010-05-02T21:15:00.006+10:00

It was very, very foggy this morning. I couldn't see the city in the distance. I couldn't see the river or the ferry. I couldn't even see the other apartment buildings close by.

All I could see were seagulls that were very near: swirling and circling and endlessly squabbling in the grey mist.

Day 5 - National Permaculture Day

2010-05-01T08:29:00.005+10:00

Today is National Permaculture Day: 'A Day of Positive Action for you and the Planet'.

Permaculture is not just organic gardening: it is conscious system of design for a sustainable and agriculturally productive ecosystem that has diversity, stability and resilience, and is in harmony with the landscape and people.

There are interesting events around Australia: www.permacultureday.info

(Sorry, the print is a bit rough because I printed it very quickly and with not enough ink.)

Day 4 - Very Hungry Pigeon

2010-04-30T22:55:00.003+10:00

I had lunch at a cafe in the city with a friend today. We sat at an inside table because I felt cold. While we talked and waited for our food to arrive, we watched pigeons pecking crumbs that fell to the ground at the outdoor cafe tables. One pigeon had nibbled so many tasty crumbs that it could literally not fly. So it just kept waddling between the tables, looking for more fallen crumbs.

Day 3 - Blue Mountains

2010-04-29T13:30:00.002+10:00

The other week, we went for a bushwalk in the Blue Mountains. We looked at the Three Sisters and saw the cable car glide by. We walked a long way and in the evening, our legs felt very tired.

Day 2 - Spoilt for choice

2010-04-28T10:20:00.002+10:00

I grow vegies on my balcony and I harvest some of them fresh each evening to cook dinner or make a salad. But if I don't feel like cooking, there are 6 restaurants within fifty metres of my apartment. One Italian, two Japanese, one seafood, one Chinese, and a restaurant that just calls its food 'Asian-style'.

30 linoprints in 30 days

2010-04-27T10:24:00.000+10:00

Am I foolish to set myself this challenge?

Friends who know me well, know that 'time management' is something I find a bit challenging. Doing things to a schedule often just collides with the meanderings of my imagination, where time is elastic and where I discover all sorts of wonderful unexpected things.

Nevertheless, I plan to post a linoprint a day for the next 30 days. Any encouragement will be greatly appreciated :-)

If things don't change...

2010-04-03T20:59:00.000+11:00

I like this list of thoughts I read a while ago. They will you get through almost any crisis. And if they don't, I think you will still feel better for having read them.

1. Indecision is the key to flexibility.
2. There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation.
3. One-seventh of your life is spent on Monday.
4. Never wrestle with a pig: you both get dirty, but the pig likes it.
5. Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
6. If things don't change, they will stay as they are.

(Thank you to the unknown originator of this list. The pig is for you, but you will have to share it with Tolli.)

Illustrators Australia Exhibition

2010-03-25T13:49:00.000+11:00

Should be a good exhibition. I have two pictures in the show. You are all invited!

Icecream Truck

2010-02-22T14:49:00.001+11:00

I was out walking with Dog this afternoon, when the icecream truck went by.

It drives near where I live fairly often. With so many apartments, there are always bound to be a few kids wanting to buy an icecream.

The icecream truck used to always play 'Greensleeves' but lately, it often plays 'Lambada'. Did they change the tune to catch the attention of the demographic that pays for the icecreams?

Today, the truck played 'Greensleeves' and it reminded me of a man I knew, who was once a little boy. The little boy's mother often didn't have enough money for icecream, so she told her little boy that when the truck plays the music, it is the driver's signal that he has run out of icecream. For years the little boy believed this story.

The man grew up and had two children. He told his children that when the truck plays the music, it is the driver's signal that the truck has sold out all its icecream. But his children never fell for the story.

Happy New Year

2010-01-05T07:46:00.001+11:00

Happy New Year! (Slightly belatedly.... well..... I'm not exactly known for my punctuality.... )

I have a feeling that it will be a very great year.
Malo and I watched the New Year's fireworks from our balcony. We couldn't see the fireworks cascading from the harbour bridge, because we're too far away, but we had a great view of all the fireworks in the sky.
We had our own little party, we lit lots of sparklers and we drew patterns and words in the air with them, we shared the sounds of celebrations of people in other apartments., and at midnight people yelled 'Happy New Year!" to each other across the buildings. Malo also insisted that we listen to ABBA, so we did.
Dog hid under the bed. He doesn't like fireworks, even if they're far away.

Thank you

2009-11-27T09:56:00.000+11:00

Dear readers: thank you for reading my blog this year, and for your kind comments, even though my posts have often been intermittent at best.

I plan to blog much more regularly from now on.

If you would like to win one of two calendars I am giving away free, just let me know in the comments below. I will randomly select the two winners next Friday (4 Dec). Free postage to anywhere in the world included :-)

At last

2009-11-23T12:15:00.001+11:00

The 2010 calendar is finally ready. The illustrations are a bit of an assortment: a few linocuts, a couple of watercolours, pencil drawings, even a multi-plate etching and a screenprint. here are some images that are a few years old, but I liked them and thought they needed to come out from just sitting in an art folder.

As usual, the calendar is printed on recycled card and is in a CD-style cover that folds out. If you would like one (or more), you let me know via the Edition9 website, or here. If you already have a cover from a previous year, I can send pages only at reduced cost.

Hope you like it!

Comet

2009-11-19T15:18:00.000+11:00

The moon sleepily cast its silver light over the meadow, as the gentle cow still nibbled on dew-covered blades of grass, late into the night.

A strange box-shaped comet burnt across the sky, but nobody saw it, and nobody heard it.

Alien food

2009-11-16T08:34:00.000+11:00

I found these pictures again yesterday. They are from a few years ago.

They reminded me of the time when Malo told me that he was half-alien. For some months, my little half-alien would only eat mash potato with sauce pictures. I was endlessly peeling and boiling potatoes. Mashed with butter and milk, then got to work with the sauce bottle. There were sauce family portraits, sauce drawings of the moon and the stars, our car, our house, and Malo's name (frequently). But these are the only ones I took photos of.

Anyway, he survived the mono-diet and seems to eat 'normal' food now.

The cosmologist said...

2009-11-13T12:44:00.000+11:00

I vanished for a while. Sorry if you missed me. I slipped into a wormhole and took a while to find the way out again.

Anyway, last night I had dinner with my friend Catherine and she told me that she recently had a conversation with a cosmologist. That must be an interesting job. I wonder, are they physicists or philosophers or both or neither? The cosmologist commented that, when humans on our planet look up at the dying sun in 5 billion years time, those humans will have as much similarity with us as we do with amoeba.

For me, that idea is simultaneously completely comprehensible, and utterly incomprehensible and beyond imagination.

White laminex

2009-09-03T15:13:00.000+10:00

When I hear the phone ring, the first thing I do is pick up a pen or pencil. The second thing I do is pick up the phone.

It doesn't matter if I don't have a piece of paper I can use right there, because the top of my desk is white laminex.

As I talk on the phone, I subconsciously scribble and draw and take notes on the laminex desk top. When there are so many scribbles that there is no room for any more, then I wipe the top of my desk clean with eucalyptus oil or metho, and I start again.

Postage Stamps

2009-08-17T08:05:00.000+10:00

All day, I design imaginary postage stamps and I dream that, one day, Australia Post will ask me to design real ones for them.

Chain letters

2009-08-14T16:42:00.000+10:00

A week or so ago, my son received a chain letter. (See letter to the right. Click on it to view larger image.) I was wondering what I should do. He was overwhelmed by a guilty kind of sense of responsibility, but to help him to keep the chain going just went completely against my gut instincts. So I wondered some more, and did a bit of thinking, and then I wrote a letter back to the parents of the (very young) child who sent the chain letter to my son:

Dear Friend,
You say that the chain letter you sent to my child was commenced in 1998, and has never been broken. If this were true, then it would mean:

If one child started the chain letter in 1998, and sent it to 6 other children, and each of these children then sent it to 6 others, then after these 2 rounds, 36 kids would be involved.
The chain letter instructions state that it must be sent on within 4 days. Let us just assume (to make the mathematics simpler) that the post takes 3 days to deliver each letter. So then, this would mean that every 7 days (or each week), the number of participants increases by a multiple of 6.
Thus, after 8 weeks, already 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 children are involved. That equals 1,679,616 children. After only 8 weeks.
From 1998 to 2009 is 11 years. In 11 years, there are 52 x 11 weeks = 572 weeks.
So, if the chain has never been broken, that would mean that the number of kids involved in the chain is 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 ..... and so on, for 572 times) ie, 6 to the power of 572.
Now think about this for a moment. After only 200 weeks, the sum would look like this:
The chain letter was two hundred weeks old in approximately 2002 or 2003 and already the number was incomprehensibly, ridiculously astronomical. It has 155 noughts after if, for goodness sake. There are not even nearly that many people on the planet. Probably not even that many insects. But you never know with insects.
Therefore, it just is a mathematical impossibility that the chain has never been broken and the contents of the letter must be a hoax.

You see, chain letters operate on the basis of guilt. The recipient is made to feel that you will let down ALL THE PEOPLE BEFORE YOU if you do not keep the chain going.

It is not good to be manipulated by feelings of guilt, especially where that guilt serves no productive purpose. If I write letters premised on guilt, then I prefer that they be for Amnesty International, where pressure through feelings of guilt might serve some useful purpose, like saving political prisoners. Or something like that....

It is pathetic to manipulate children through mindless guilt.

Therefore, I am sorry that I am unable to allow my child to participate in this alleged Guiness Book of Records Chain Letter.

Kind wishes,
Ulrike

Swimming Pool

2009-06-12T12:44:00.000+10:00

I was 17 when I discovered that not everyone else saw the world as fuzzy as me, and that I needed glasses. Wanting so badly to be cool, wearing glasses just didn't fit the image I was pathetically striving for.

My parents were always pretty tight with money, but somehow, I managed to persuade them to get me contact lenses. That was in the days when contact lenses were very expensive and had to be cleaned with a cleaning solution and then boiled to disinfect every night.

One summer Saturday, the parents of the two little girls I regularly babysat, told me that I would be babysitting the girls at the house of a friend of theirs that day. As it turned out, a mega-rich friend with a fantastic mansion and enormous swimming pool. The girls would have their cozzies and I could bring mine too. There was another little girl at the friends' house and I was looking after all three kids while the parents were out.

It was a hot day, and we had such fun playing in the pool. Such fun, that I completely forgot that I was wearing contact lenses. It wasn't until it was time to go home that noticed that my right contact lens has vanished. Into the pool, obviously.

When I got home, I was terrified of telling my parents. I knew they would not react well My dad yelled at me: did I have any idea how expensive contact lenses are, and why wasn't I more careful? He said there was only one thing to do: he was going to get his scuba diving equipment and find the missing contact lens in the pool.

Like a drowning fish, I gasped. In disbelief. In horror. Was he completely insane to think it was even remotely possible to find a tiny invisible plastic sliver in a big swimming pool? Did he truly think that the pool owners would let a complete nutcase go scuba diving in their pool? Did he want to ruin my life?

In an instant, he was already putting the scuba gear in the car. I pleaded, I begged, I promised I would never ever be so careless again. Eventually he relented. I've never been sure if he realised himself what an idiot he would look like, or if he eventually figured the health insurance would pay for a new contact lens.

The memory still sends shivers of panic and embarrassment up my spine.

I am still here

2009-04-23T10:35:00.001+10:00

"After a few years living in Narrabeen, I felt we were on the verge of becoming 'normal Australians'... "

I have been working like crazy lately, and also been on the road alot, so I haven't had much time to blog .... not even to look at my favourite blogs .... I have missed you all.

At the moment, I am at the blue house in the forest. Saying my farewell to it, because its time to move on. I wonder where my adventures will take me next. Feeling a bit sad, but also excited about what might come next.

Driving up here last week, I visited a friend I had not seen for 38 years. She lives in Armidale and I stayed the night there. We talked about old school days in Narrabeen. Rusty memories suddenly became vivid again.

The furniture is all out of the blue forest house now. I am sitting on the floor of the empty house, with the sun streaming in. Tomorrow I am on the road again with Malo and Dog. They are wonderful fellow travellers, both of them.

Leonard

2009-03-06T21:01:00.000+11:00

vesna has the most beautiful feet
there's a guy in an apartment in the next building who always plays his leonard cohen cd very loud on a friday night. he's probably heartbroken, but i love listening to it.

Dog

2009-02-19T10:34:00.000+11:00

Sometimes you see a dog wandering along on its own. It might be a stray dog, or it might be a dog that has just decided to jump the fence and go on an outing alone while its owner is at work. Until a few years ago, when I saw such a dog, I would have crossed the road to the other side of the street to avoid it: because I was afraid. I had a few bad experiences with aggressive dogs when I was a kid, and those experiences sort of left their mark. I did not understand dogs at all. I thought they just like to sniff and bite people.

But that changed when Dog wandered into my life. You could say Dog has been rescued twice, because his previous owner rescued him, full of good intentions, from a doggie rescue shelter for abandoned or abused dogs. But the previous owner found that he was unable to cope with all that caring for a dog requires.

Given that I was sort of afraid of dogs, it is strange that Dog should have ended up with me. I did not want a dog at all. It is a long story, but suffice to say that he sort of insinuated his way into my life.... and also, Mog really wanted him.

So now Dog, the almost-non-barking, doe-faced, Jack Russell/Mini Fox Terrier/ Australian Red Cattle Dog cross, has been with me for about 3 and a half years, and I have definitely become a dog person.

I love going for long walks with Dog. I chat with other dogs and their owners when we are at the park. I love the way Dog races up to me with his tail wagging like crazy after I have been at work all day. I love the way he does a face like the cat in Shrek when he is begging me to play with him or throw his toy for him.

I even let him sleep on my bed. None of my friends can believe that one!

So now I just have to look out that the python in the garage does not eat him. Because I am very fond of Dog.

Urban oasis

2009-02-04T08:56:00.000+11:00

The usual route Malo and I take to walk to his school bus is along the river, and then up the hill past a building site, then a little further along to the bus stop. After I say goodbye to Malo, I walk home with Dog via a different route, which is through an industrial area where there are lots of mechanics and panel beating workshops: a pretty ugly urban landscape, but Dog likes it because one of the car workshops has a dog he likes to talk to.

So this morning, we were doing our usual thing. The bit along the river is quite nice. We feel smug that we are not caught in the daily traffic jam on the bridge, we count pelicans, and watch ferries. Malo usually ends up a bit wet because he likes to jump waves made by the ferries' wash.

On my way back home along car workshop street, something different caught my eye. Something green. I looked again, and I laughed. The Guerrilla Gardeners had been at work overnight. A vacant lot which had been just bare soil littered with broken glass, had been transformed into a small urban oasis. A green space for the mechanics and panel beaters to eat their lunch, with even a kennel as a shady resting spot for the car workshop dog!

The whole street looked infected by this sudden arrival of a small green jewel. A happy start to the day.

Celebration

2009-01-26T19:56:00.000+11:00

Today is the Australia Day holiday, and until about an hour ago, it was a hot sunny day. Not noticing the change of weather approaching, I took the dog for a walk. We had only been out for about 5 minutes when it began to drizzle. Not too heavily, though.

A little further on, Dog and I encountered a group of about 30 laughing, inebriated young people, leaving the lovely riverside park. Seemed that the rain had brought an end to their celebration. Quite a few wore shorts or t-shirts sporting the Aussie flag; one or two were even draped in the flag.

Dog and I walked on, and got to the park. The scene the group had left behind from their barbeque party in the park left me puzzling about what tricky thing it is, loving one's country ...