I worked it out!

I am excited

Seems like I finally worked out why my blog page was broken

Up grade to Google chrome and suddenly I can 

Justify, spell check, 

move around the page without depending on the 

up down arrows

I bet photos are even quicker to up load. Yes!

All my cries for help went un-noticed but...

I worked it out!

Spring is in full swing in the garden. 

I have picked many buckets of Rannnculi, 

these Larkspurs are the poor mans Delphinium.

Just breaking ground are the Dame Edna Gladdioli mix

Snap dragons for Lou! 

Some really nice colour combinations

 And then there is the fruit.

Loquats are looking good on these three year old trees

Mullberries, this is the Australian weeping variety

Two crops a year from this tree. 

The spring one is the best but there will be another around

Easter. I am going to freeze some and try Mullberry smoothies

This is my Farmer Brown view,

The rabbits break in from the forest and chew everything.

They like Ranunculi, Tiger lillies, Dahlias,

You name it, they like it, except weeds. 

They could have grown fat on clover......but no

Gillardias to finish off.

Out foxing the foxes



                                   We have been putting the sheep away every night.
                                  A small yard in the corner of the paddock has given
                                       protection for the mothers and young lambs.
                                         We also put on a flashing yellow light
                                             that friends refer to as the Disco.
                                   I don't have a photo but the larger lambs have taken
                                            to using the shade cloth cover as a trampoline.
                          They love it and run in there at night, straight to the trampoline,
                                        as you can imagine, they are wrecking it!      

                             Not only have we saved a lot of lambs, we have also saved
                                    the black gold, a bit smelly but steaming goodness
                                                           for the soil.
                        Initially I tried to move this beautiful stuff with a rake and shovel
                                        Not possible, so in with the bobcat

                             That too was a difficult job. I could pile it up near the pen
                                 but I needed help with getting it over to the compost
                             This tin has now been filled and settled and then filled again
                                       There is also pea straw and bedding straw
                              we put in their pen when it rained, fantastic prepared
                                                         compost ingredients.

                            I tried to photograph the rising steam but it sort of vanished
                             The compost was so hot it took just a couple of  weeks
                                                     to settle down to half full.
                                            I can't wait to use it on my new rows.

            
                                           In other news this flower is very unusual
                                         It is quite small, quite black and sometimes
                                         looked like a spider. It is some sort of Iris?
                                          It put on its best every display this year.
I have not been blogging much as my page is broken, can't us the cursor, can't access spell check, can't close post settings, have to use the up, down arrow to navigate the page. It has become very frustrating, If anyone knows how I can get Googles attention to fix this I would be most grateful as Blogging used to be fun...now it is getting just too hard.

Back to Broken Hill

Broken Hill Symposium sculpture's at sunset

on a Tuesday!

There were people every where.

Cameras, tripods, Artists and Grey nomads

This one's artsit statement says that only Fred Hollows

and the artist really knows what this is all about.

Silverton is an interesting Ghost town.

There used to be 10 hotels, 3 breweries, and a whole town full of people.

Now there are 5 or 6 Galleries and just the one pub

A museum and a caravan park.

We stayed at an old convent back in Broken Hill

Fantastic old place. Very comfortable

I was there for a Design conference

This is what they call the Studio

Hired to film companies for movie making.

Mad Max? was going to be filmed in Broken Hill recently 

but the desert was too green so they went to Africa

There has been many movies filmed in and around Broken Hill

Great weather, great light.

Vast expanses

There is another one of these buildings that has not been

cleaned up since the removal of the engines that made the power

that ran the mines.

These became obsolete when the town hooked into the grid.

Amazing huge spaces.

The sound echoed down the length of the building and then

like the ocean came back.

I loved the sound but it was distracting.

It sounded like the ocean to me.

Winters end!

Flowers for The Deakin Caravan Park. They are my best regular customer for flowers. A fresh bunch or two for the ladies toilets every week is most appreciated by the tourists. Pink tones suit the decor best so this pink daisy is ideal as is the purple verbeena and I can't help myself but use rocket flowers as an easy grow white fill flower. I struggle with gypsophila which is the most common white fill but rocket grows itself in my vege garden.
I don't like to wish my life away, it goes fast enough as it is but I can't wait for spring!

Election soon?

                                                 I should be happy with the news and
                                                     might be if I wasn't so annoyed.
                                                 A Ballarat politician has launched a
                                          "Why aren't we using Australian made stuff"
                                                      Why indeed??????????????

                  www.news.com.au/national-news/victoria/senator-john-madigan...

                                                               Good for him
                                  and this news item describes him as a blacksmith so he
                             understands the difficulties of making a living from his craft!

                                      Call me cynical but was it made in Australia or
                                      was the parlimentry decal stuck on in Australia.
                          Will this attitude continue once the election is all done and dusted?
                          Suddenly they are talking Australian made cars for politicians, next
                        there may be an improved interest in Australian grown food, gas, paper?
                        It's a fad with a parlimentry prize are, we so desperate to fall for it?
                                   I have been busy this week with my "Pipe dreams"
                        sculpture for the Wentworth show. I will be heading over today
                                                      to photograph it on site.
                                           There was sprinkle of rain overnight
                               but the forecast for the rest of the weekend is good.
                       Check out what has been happening in the world of clay with
                                          http://mudcolony.blogspot.com.au/

Awesome Echidna

I had to show you this

David's Echidna

From this

to this

I have a commission to complete

500 Jacaranda flowers for a sculptural tree

at Jacaranda Villiage, an old folks home in Redcliffs.

  I have delivered 240 glazed so far

fiddly work indeed.

They have to be dipped in underglaze, fired then waxed

and dipped in glaze.

A steady hand is needed when loading the kiln.

The domino effect is easily started, frustrating!

I have also been working on some mugs for a local Rotary club

                                         And I found this on the shelf I had forgotten I made it.



It's a bisque fire this weekend so it will be ready for glazing next week.

These little treasures will also be ready for glazing next week too.

The club is working towards an exhibition and we have an oil lamp theme

surprise surpise

This won't be the only turtle.

I will link this to Mud colony,

check out what is happening in other pottery studios this week

by clicking on this link

                                           http://mudcolony.blogspot.com.au/

  



Spring is coming!

I abandoned all work related study to concentrate on the paddock.

Spring is nearly on us.

I want to be ready with new flower rows.

I have Zinnias in mind, they are summer flowers but

I want to get in early.

The row on the right is 70 metres long!

Now full of organic matter and de cooched?

Rain was predicted for today but came early overnight.

I am glad I got some horse poo and peas straw

into some of the the rows before the rain.

I am going to plant peas directly into these trenches and green manure them.

Dig the growing plants into the soil for fertilizer.

In the distance you might notice a freshly ploughed paddock,

preparation for some lucerne for stock feed.

Soil is heavy clay and needs heaps of organic matter.

I might even mulch between the rows like I have done in the garden.

Thanks to my new worker Caitlin,

I have refreshed some of my paths in the garden.

Raking the forrest for the fallen gum leaves is very rewarding.

I am hoping it encourages the huge bush worms.