NEW JEWELLERY

It's been positively ages since I showed off some of my recent pieces of jewellery. Above is the resin and lampwork necklace I was asked to make for a friend. I made a similar one for my sister's birthday.

Below, is a mother of pearl and Swarovski crystal necklace, with some earrings.


AND...saved my favourite to last. This is one I made for me, using resin, semi-precious fluorite, freshwater pearls ,Thai silver and a beautiful shell.

I'm really going to have to bite the bullet and start to try and sell some of my jewllery. I really enjoy the process of creating, especially the decision-making...colours, type/combination of beads, symmetrical/ pattern or not, but if I don't attempt to sell it, there really is no point except that it's sending me broke !! Just a bit lacking in confidence in 'pushing'...hmmm...not really the best word...my jewellery on to others.

The photo above is not a recent one...it comes from 30th June,2005, when we had an amazing rain event at Caba. However, it is a fairly accurate depiction of last Friday night, when we had 97mm of rain in about 45 minutes. It was very very scary as our street once more filled to overflowing, yet drivers still tried to find a way through. Because I live near a corner,and because maybe someone had to do it, I went out with my torch and attempted to warn any drivers reckless enough to attempt it.

It is still raining here....and I can't believe how ungrateful I sound in saying that we've had enough.There are many more areas in our wide, brown land that are far more needy.

CLASSIC COUNTDOWN

My favourite radio station is ABC Classic FM, part of the public broadcasting network here in Australia. Every year, for the past four years, they have invited listeners to vote for their favourite pieces of music. In previous years, the station has compiled The Classic 100, The Classic Piano 100, The Classic Opera 100 and The Classic Mozart 100.

This year it's the turn of the Classic Concerto 100.

As I type, we're currently listening to number 66, so perhaps, if you choose to click on the Classic Concerto 100 link, you'll get an update on the countdown. Also, you can listen online here.

My vote, after in-depth consideration, was for the Beethoven Violin, but I expect other favourites to be in the top 10. These include the Mendelssohn Violin, Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano , Mozart's 27th Piano and Bach's Brandenburg 3. It goes without saying the whole world loves Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, but as it has topped 2 of the previous charts, there has probably been a bit of sabotage going on, methinks!

DOLPHINS

My friend Paul and I had a wonderfully relaxing day on the Tweed River the other day, swimming at our favourite little spot. That's it in the photo above...at an almost full tide, the water is magnificent, and the sandy beach is perfect for collapsing onto!

On the way back to the boat ramp, several pods of dolphins swam past us. This was the absolute icing on the cake!! My attempts to photograph them were a joke...as soon as they saw my camera aimed at them, they'd stay submerged, till it was pointed elsewhere! Tricky things!

New ATCs

My muse has been busy recently, creating both new jewellery and Artist Trading Cards for swaps I'm in, in 2 Aussie groups I belong to.

Above are the 2 ATCs I did for a Childhood swap. The 3 blondies are my nieces and nephew, in a photo I took about, maybe, 14 years ago.

Below are the 2 I made for a swap where we had to use wax crayons. I used them in the background, by ironing shavings from the crayons, using baking paper.


And finally an ATC for a Halloween swap and for a Blue swap.


If you are interested in trading ATCs, please leave me a message by clicking on 'comments' below.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today is my sister Robyn's birthday....happy birthday Rob! I'm sure it will be a special day, shared with family and friends, and with lots of smoked salmon and bubbles! I wish I was there to celebrate with you! Have a fabulous day!

Creepy Crawleys!

Like many people I know, I enjoy being out in the garden in the early morning. The camera came with me today (I don't always take it...it kind of seems to change the way I look at the world) and what a good thing. On the underside of leaves on both a grevillea and a banksia,I found spectacular ants' nests.

**WARNING** If you don't like creepy crawleys, look away now!**

My blood still goes cold even uploading these photos...they were big ants, about 8mm, long. They had built the nests from what looked like sawdust or something similar, and the nests were quite solid. I tried to poke into them with a stick ( eeerrggghhh) , but the stick didn't make any impression.


The curled-up leaf below, closest to the camera, is about 22cm long, and the nest on the underside is about 12cm long.

The photo below shows the underside of the same leaf....the nest was about 5cm wide, and about 4 cm high. There was a little tunnel down one side of it, so the ants could come and go.

OOOOOooo..my skin is still crawling.!!!

TAGGED!

My fellow blogger Marie, at Montpellier Daily Photo, has tagged me...many thanks, Marie.

As with all things these days, there are rules :-
1. Link to your tagger and list the rules.
2. List 8 random facts about yourself.
3. Tag 8 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

However, as the name of my blog implies, the only rule is there are no rules! Rules are there to be broken, as long as nobody or nobody is harmed.

OK...ummmmm.....8 random facts about me....

1. I was at the Wimbledon men's final in 1985 when Boris Becker won his 1st championship, aged 18 ( I think). Check out the Beaut Aussie Sheila, above, sitting in a stand on an outside court that day.
2. Hated reading all through school...the day I left school, I started reading and haven't stopped.
3. I love drinking Eden Valley or Clare Valley riesling.
4. I love being in very isolated places, especially with vast distant views.
5. I am a chronic procrastinator.
6. I used to play the French Horn quite well, but my trumpet playing was truly awful.
7. Christmas is the best time of the year...my opinion only.

Yes, I know..only 7 facts, but 7 is more interesting that 8 I reckon.

Now...to tag some fellow bloggers.....

1. Sewcilla
2. Cat
3. Irina

OH...that'll do for now...yep, nowhere near 8, but too bad!

Corellas

There are many reasons for planting wattles. Apart from the fact it is our national floral emblem, they are very quick growing, even if a little short-lived. For me, the number one reason is that parrots love to eat the wattle seeds. This poor wattle has taken a battering in the last 2 years, with storms breaking branches and borers as big as your index finger munching into it. However, it put on a great flowering show about 2 months ago, and these corellas, above, have been visiting every day for both breakfast and dinner, as have plenty of galahs.

I wasn't quick enough yesterday...no...it was more that my excitement was the problem! Having a munch on the seeds was a pair of Eastern Rosellas.

But it then became more amazing, because also eating the seeds was a magnificent male King Parrot.

Voice-to-Voice!

Having re-emerged from my little break away from the all-consuming world of blogging, I must acknowledge Jules' role in enticing me back. We spoke on the phone this morning, voice-to-voice, as real people, not just names on a blog page! It was amazing...we talked about other bloggers we have in common, so there should have been some ears burning in different parts of the world! We talked about her holiday in Vietnam, about our own lives and the role blogging has in our lives. I am still gob-smacked by it! Thanks Jules.

The above photo places me in a dreamily isolated place, on the Dampier Peninsular, in Western Aust., back in 2003...I really wish I could say that's where I've been for the last 2 weeks or so!