KEEPING COOL

Happy Monday!

Over the weekend we flew off to see Pocket Farm Garden, the location of the Qld Plant Fair through Open Gardens Australia.

Pocket Farm has a beautiful country cottage garden, established in 2003.

It is a wonderful example of how to create a cottage garden effect in a tropical climate.  

Dodging showers, we enjoyed one of the guest speakers, Noel Burdette of Radio 4BC, on the 'best plants to begin a cottage garden'.

The Red Cardinal garden was created by a previous owner, in a cottage style.

It was overgrown and challenging when we came here, and we have struggled over the years to get it into some semblance of order.

At the moment, with the help of the hot and wet summer, it is looking quite good.  There are flowers, and the grass is green.  

Some years this is beyond achievement!

There were lots of stalls at the Fair, and we bought new salvias and geraniums, and a couple of African violets, resisting the allure of the orchids.

We were so inspired, we gardened up a treat on Sunday...

Went to choir practice on Friday...

It was so hot, I looked along the row and everybody had fans.

My two neighbours in the Alto line posed for this pic..

I love culottes...

Made them and wore them, back in the day.

Pretty sure I had this pattern once.

Definitely wore a jumpsuit with long wide flares when I was about 21.

Well, they're baaaaaack...

Style Arc patterns have released Erin Woven culottes..

and I produced these...

Cool rayon, graphic print from Spotlight, nice and easy to wear..

Finished purchasing your Easter confectionery yet?

Have a lovely week

XXXX

NATURE AND FREIDA

Hello,

We had two days of heavy rain and rolling thunderstorms over the weekend.

Quite unseasonal, and very good for the garden.

It looked quite dramatic as the storms rolled in towards us..

Local readers will recognise our TV towers, 

shrouded in rain up on the mountain..

Then the rain cleared and we were able to take my father out for a day.

We admired this plantation of magnificent trees..

and he told me they were Moreton Bay Ash trees.

When I looked it up, he was right.

Isn't the human mind amazing?

He no longer has a clue who I am, even when told repeatedly.

He made a joke and told people in a shop that I was his girlfriend -

a cover up because he can't recall names and details.

But he still knows about nature and trees.

Well done, Dad.

There was a lot of interest in my previous post about David Lynch, filmmaker and visual artist.  So many of you enjoyed his Twin Peaks series, that I have ordered Series 1, which has just landed on my doorstep.  Goody.

I have long been fascinated by the art and persona of Mexican artist Freida Kahlo [1907-1954].

Her autobiographical, surrealist paintings, chronicled her tragic life after an early traffic accident which left her with ongoing physical pain and difficulty.

Freida is well-known for her exotic, colourful and charming costumes, based on traditional Tehuana dress.

I have a paper doll book of some of them, taken from her paintings..

Her floral headdresses were unique and beautiful.

It was a delight to find a post from Tamera Beardsley, with her gorgeous modern take on Freida's floral crown.  Pop over and have a look.
Wouldn't you love to wear such a crown?

Take care 

xxxx

LUCK OF THE IRISH OR POT LUCK

Hello!
A Happy St. Patrick's Day to ye all..

Behold the  Birthday cake Little Aussie & I made for the Irish Lass last week:
green jelly shamrock, sugar roses, giant candle ...

We are multi-cultural in the Red Cardinal nest..

I also made some Australiana bunting, (available Spotlight), a gift to Canada:

You know I love a red bird.

My friend N sent me this one.  Take a closer look, and what do you see?

And another puzzle:

D R M F S

Looking at these letters, which letter comes next?
Let's see who is first with the answer...

In other brain challenges, this week I am working on the new exhibition at GOMA ...

David Lynch:  Between Two Worlds

This is part of the Entry installation, based on his 2007 painting:

Two doors - two worlds can be light/dark, good/evil etc.
Lynch's work looks beneath the surface, as there is always something more...

The title comes from Lynch's 1990s television show, Twin Peaks, about a world hidden with a deeper truth, where Glastonbury Grove is a path to the counter world.  Must admit I have never seen it.
I'm sorry now...

However, Lynch is beginning work on a return series, to be released in 2016.

David Lynch is known for his movies: Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and so on.
But he has also been a keen visual artist for 50 years.
There are 200 fascinating works on display: paintings, sculpture, lithography, photography, video, music.  Lynch is a multi-talented artist.

Last week I gave in to the lure of H&M's sequinned skirt.
And I Love It!

I think it enjoyed its first outing, to the Qld Symphony Orchestra.
And the wine.

On the program was Soloist-in-Residence, violinist  Shlomo Mintz, playing the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, Op.47. 
Exquisitely..

XXXX

AUTUMN THOUGHTS

Hello,

While the first week of my favourite season, Autumn,

 has been a battle with Mr Global Warming and another of his record-breaking hot days..

I've been off stitching with the Sewing Sisters, and did a bit more on my French themed quilt - 

finding a good use for a piece of that special chocolate ribbon from Paris..

Coles have those $9 bunches of roses again -

and I'm dreaming of some cooler weather in Canada...

and the excitement of Springtime:

H & M have finally made it to Queensland, and opened in our local Mall.

I have visited their shops when overseas, but never bought anything.

Popped in today to have a look.  The 'Made in Bangladesh' tags worry me..

but I did like the black sequin pencil skirt.

Nice for the Opera.

And look who's back:

Mr Pesky wild bush turkey, infernal nuisance and destroyer of gardens.

I can hear him outside my window as we speak, scratching and marching about, systematically wreaking havoc as he goes..

He is lucky he is a  Protected Species...

My old father likes to tell us how they shot and ate them back in the day.

Hmmmm

Little Aussie is coming for the weekend.

Goody.

I feel a Lego fest coming on...

Have a lovely weekend

XXXX