MAY DAY

Happy May Day, and look what I found on my 2017 Canadian Bird Calendar..

Our roses continue to bloom their little hearts out, bless them.

They are as happy as we are with the cooler Autumn temps..

Little Aussie and his Dad came for the Long Weekend.

Aussie had a plan, a big plan, to Make a Monster Movie..

See how quickly I rustled up some props.

He had already named his four monsters, and sat down and drew up costume  and makeup ideas for Rock Monster, Grass Monster, Lava Man and Water Monster.

Next he dictated the script to me, and I typed it in Word.

This took all of 30 minutes.  It was going to be a long Long Weekend...

Rock Man has red eyes, quickly cut from an old Christmas card..

Aussie insisted he must be grey, and happily put on a grey linen shift dress of mine...

Filming went at a cracking pace, with scenes filmed on his father's iPhone as we created each costume.

This is Lava Man rising from his volcano..

Mr C growled and roared as Grass Monster, popping out from behind trees in our jungle garden..

As filming progressed, Aussie introduced another character, Professor Longbottom, who observed the Lava Man.

My offer to be the Water Monster wearing a long blue floating caftan with a silk scarf printed in Monet waterlilies tied around my head was rejected...

ha ha, I wonder why...

The little scamp put on a blue shirt and a bit of blue tinsel around his head, and did his water scene so quickly I did not even get a picture.

Later his father edited all the scenes and made them into a narrative.  I thought we were finished, but apparently next time the monsters are going to meet each other.  That will be interesting...

He really is growing up, but there is always time for Lego.

Grandchildren are such lovely fun, and we were totally exhausted!

Meantime, over the past few weeks I made this silk shirt dress from two metres of silk found at a factory outlet at $4 per metre.  I tested it with a flame to be sure it was silk, and it is.  Love my $8 dress, even if Summer is just about over.

It has a concealed placket down the front with buttons and buttonholes hidden within.  Tricky, but I was quite proud of that, and the horizontal pattern matching.

We went to a church book sale today, and found three interesting bargains:

'My Love Must Wait', an old historical novel by Ernestine Hill (pub.1941), which tells the story of explorer Captain Matthew Flinders (1774-1814), the first person to circumnavigate Australia.

'The Peggy Guggenheim Collection' which we all know is one of the best things in Venice.  Good colour pictures and information about every art piece.

'The Small Treasures of a Lifetime' is a memoir by one of Australia's greatest artists, Lloyd Rees (1895-1988).  Always good to keep up the research.

Winter shoes are appearing in the shoppes.  My boots need replacing and I bought these solid looking ones to wear in Canada at Christmas.

DD thinks any boots bought here will not stand up to the snow and slush.

Thoughts?

Have a wonderful week, and don't forget to smell the roses.

XXXXX