Lost Aussie on the loose

Sunshine and Rain

The poor old Blog has been a little neglected lately....mostly because I have been busy - entertaining friends from Germany for a couple of days, working on projects with a looming deadline and co-ordinating #2 son's return to Australia from the UK.  At least this time I was spared the plane trip to the London as DH very kindly volunteered to go in my stead, nonetheless there was much to keep me pre-occupied and I did not really draw a good breath until I knew David was back safe and sound in Aus' this morning!  Phew! 

Then to backtrack a little, Christine and her hubby came and stayed with us earlier this week.  Sadly Long Island did not put up much of a show for the tourists as it rained, rained and rained some more....we did manage 4 hours of more-or-less dry moments and fulfilled Andreas's wish to get to the Beach....which is a whole 'other' story!  Who knew you are not supposed to turn "left" on Robert Moses beach unless you are comfy with the 'maximum exposure and mimum clothing' crowd?????  Not that I am a prude by any means, but some kind of advance warning would have been good!...instead of practically walking into the arms of some chap who was definitely 'very pleased' to see us, as Christine so eloquently put it!  Ahem! And thank goodness for broadminded company is all I can say!

So.... haben Sie eine gute Woche .........and may the rain just stay the heck away! Ugh!

Freedom of Flight

To lift from earth and feel your heart swell
Is a thrill no man can tell.

And to land again
As if guided by some magic mystic hand.

My sadness turns to joy,
Joy becomes boy,
and boy, becomes man!

Ron Karcz

Poetry in Clay

This weekend we braved the eternal rain to head into the City to check out the Lincoln Center American Crafts Festival.
It was a very rainy wet affair and I felt sorry for so many of the exhibitors, damp, dreary and rain-soaked...just what they did not need!

There were some interesting booths there, nothing too much that smacked of exceptional, except for the creations of this one woman - Margaret Wozniak, a most wonderful ceramic artist, who's work to my mind is nothing short of "Poetry in Clay". 

Her designs are magical, folksy and wonderfully creative! If my pocket was deep enough I would have bought as many pieces as I could have carried off, as it was, I left with one lovely pot and a gorgeous pin and hope to add to my collection of her work as and when I can!
(Hint for future Christmas presents!! aahhemm!)

The other find for the day was a couple of beautifully hand marbled silk ties which DH can sport to the office in lieu of the boring but obligatory Brookes Brothers look and knock 'em all dead!

Things I am About

Catherine  asked me if I was going to write down the things I was about at this particular moment or day in time, what would they be? She said just to write down as many things as I can until I couldn't really think of any more.

So here goes...

I am about
WAITING until I can see the boys again
WONDERING what they are up to and if they are OK
DREAMING of sunnier days when I can wear shorts and a t.shirt and finally put my winter clothes away
WORRYING about people who are important to me and are not in the best of shape
ENJOYING small quiet moments that I get to share with DH
LOVING the snuggles of my cats and our gently aging dog
WISHING I had the class proposals all figured out and finished
SEEING in my mind's eye a bunch of new designs for prints I would like to make
WORKING at honing my InDesign skills so that I can complete a project I have had in mind for a while
WRITING lists lists and more lists of things that I need to NOT forget
LABELING, organising and sorting more of the 'stuff' that is in my studio
LOOKING FORWARD to the slew of visitors that will pass our way this Summer
TRYING to give up my night owl habits (but with little success)
IMAGINING the feel of the beach sand at Mullaloo beneath my feet
HOPING there will come a day when it does not take me 37 hours to get home

and then
THINKING OF
inksplats
digital brushes
etching
Pimms
sunshine
sandals
delaware
jobs
travel
home
sunshine
oh did I already say SUNSHINE?
and the Boys, of course!
Hmmm

Treasured Things

For the last few days I have taken time out from everything "else" to spend a few days with my friend Helen, who arrived from Delaware for a little R&R.  We have known each other for at least 8 years now and although we met quite serendipitously, it's like we were two peas popped out of the same pod.  Are months only different in age, have the same UK/Aussie upbringing, same careers (initially) and the list goes on.....
It does not matter whether it's been days or months since we last saw each other, the conversation lifts off from the same place we left it last time and we can either natter like maniacal chickens or sit in peace and just enjoy each others company!  A very rare and true friendship!

So yesterday the rain let off in New York long enough for us to trip to the Top of the Rock, take a leisurely lunch in town, ride the Carousel in Central Park, sit on the grass for a spell and generally just enjoy the moments together.

Today, amid downpours and grey skies, we hunkered down at home, sipped tea, perched glasses on our noses and knitted whilst we watched the news on BBC and chatted about allsorts and everything that crossed our minds.

I think there are very few people that come your way in life where companionship and friendship are so easy and comfortable!  Thankfully I am blessed with a few on each continent that I frequent, and I am very grateful for that!

Feeling somewhat forlorn as I farewelled Helen tonight, my spirits were lifted by a little treasure I found in my mailbox when I arrived home tonight.......a beautifully embroidered tablecloth and dresser topper that my Mum had sent to me.  13 years in the making, and each stitch lovingly placed......something that will serve as a tender reminder of the value of love and friendship across the miles!

Thanks Mum...and thanks Helen, for everything!

Email Goodness

I am not a huge fan of the spammy kind of post-around things that you are supposed to send on to others or your hair will fall out or some other dire consequence will befall you....BUT..
this one popped into my Inbox this morning and instead of hitting the forward button, I decided to share it with you all here....as it really is so quite lovely!
(please note, these are not my photographs, I do not know the origin of them and all rights to them remain with the original artists!)

A Rainy Date Day

When I woke this morning, DH greeted me with the news that he had booked a Broadway matinee show and made dinner reservations for us in the City.......all that I was required to do was shower, change and perhaps wear something more exiting than leggings and a T-shirt....lipstick was optional!......OH and tear myself away from the Studio for the day!

Well...what can you say to an offer like that except....I am jumping in the shower NOW!

Sadly the sunshine that we had been promised by the Weather Man did not materialise and we had to hiphop around Manhattan with our brolly and trip over the puddles, but apart from that the day was a total blast.

We went to see "Living Together" the second in a series of three plays at the Circle in the Square on Broadway, entitled " the Norman Conquests".  We saw one of them "Table Manners" about a month ago and laughed so much and thoroughly enjoying the performance that another dose was not to be missed! Since our first attendance the plays have won a well deserved Tony award and this afternoon the cast played to a packed theatre and the drama and comedy no less thrilling that the first time.
If you have the chance to get to see a performance or "three" I highly recommend this show!

Following our delightfully entertaining afternoon we tripped down Broadway to check out the Mayor's new pedestrian mall at Times Square.....hmmm jury would still be out on that.....kind of odd with assorted deck chairs and odd tables all over the place - I guess they don't want anyone to steal any of the stuff?  And really weird to see folk lounging around on the deck chairs in the rain?   I figured they either come from Minnesota where it is still way lots colder than here..or from some drought stricken place that makes basking in the rain a delight?  Who knows?

Last stop of the day was at Pera for dinner.  A new gustatory adventure for us and largely successful, if you don't mind that they serve US lamb and not Aust or NZ (believe me there IS a difference in the taste).  Great small plates and appetisers, lots of lovely veggies to be found and you did not need to re-mortgage the house to buy a bottle of wine.....always a plus with me!
And I think DH was secretly pleased that I was not compelled to tear strips off anyone for poor service or dirty bathrooms.....

So thank you Sweetie Pie....a lovely day out..and much enjoyed!

A Few Photoshop Freebies

Unfortunately my "To Do" list is still in the same forlorn state that it was yesterday...shopping, life and a few other things have got in the way - what's new?  I have however managed to find some time to work on a few sets of Photoshop "Goodies" that I have been determined to get done.  As a tasty treat for all you Digital Divas I have posted a few freebies for you to download and play with.

They are .abr files and should work in any version of Photoshop 7 or higher and Elements as well.

Simply click HERE and download the file as prompted.  It is a zip file so you will need to download and save the zip file to your preferred location (I keep a folder just for downloads which a a nice safe and easy thing to do).
Unzip the file and drag the two abr files into your Adobe program.

Brushes belong in the Presets/Brushes folder.
If you are unsure of where that is, click on your My Computer Icon, click Program Files, click on your Adobe CS(version) or Elements, click Presets and Brushes and drag the files into there.

If you have any problems you can shoot me an email and of course I'd love to see what you come up with using the brushes!

ciao

Monday, Monday

Sunday nights I always seem to fall asleep making a list of the things "To Do' for the coming week and by the time I wake up the next day, I have either forgotten where I put the list, or, upon glancing at it, totally ignore it and go off and about and do almost every single thing I can think of EXCEPT what I've written down!

Today wasn't that much different and happily I did manage to clear off the work table in my Studio - which was NOT on the LIST...which probably explains why it got done.

Truth be told....I am in procrastinate mode...I am supposed to be writing up some class proposals, and working on a couple of other projects..everything is crystal clear in my head.......it's just getting it all down on paper that seems to be the issue....

Fortunately I don't have to write "get creative in Photoshop" on any list - ever.  That's always the easy part of the day!

ciao for now

A Little Pay It Forward

I'm embarrassed to say that I can't exactly remember where or with whom I signed up for a little "pay it forward" project, all I know is that somewhere out in the Universe I need to do some 'pay back'!

So here it is......
you have 10 days to leave a comment to accompany this post and FIVE lucky creatives will be drawn at random to receive an 8"x11" print of "Madame Butterfly"

So....feel free to leave a comment, the only requirement will be that you are willing continue on with the gesture, post something on your own blog and choose a few lucky creatures to be the recipient of something that YOU create as well!