starlight, star bright

I've been getting the guilts about not blogging.  I don't seem to have any coherent stories to tell.  Getting the washing in, I looked for the first star as I do every night, and there it was in conversation with the moon.  A sign!  So I'm having a go.
 

I often blog during Jill's Fleurieu FM radio show but today I procrastinated and practised calligraphy while listening.  Tomorrow is the final class for this term.  As you can see, I've still got a long way to go but I think I  may have come as far as I want to go.  There are just so many other things to do.

There had been a discussion at calligraphy about making ochre ink and that you can find ochre on Penna Beach.  So Jilly and I investigated.  Maybe someone was trying out the ochre shades on this log?  Having no idea what ochre looks like on a beach we aborted the search and otherwise amused ourselves.

I am easily amused

Jill is more circumspect

Good interpretation signs:

though, sorry, the print is not coming through very clearly!  You'll just have to come and see for yourself.

The adjacent dog park was a bit of an education.  The Penna Landcare group was out and about planting more trees.

They are responsible for what I had at first thought was a sculpture

but later realised is a very clever way of recycling the nutrients from a dead tree.  I have never seen this done before, and get very annoyed when people think the sole use of a dead tree is firewood for humans.

From Bellerive Beach we had the excitement of this huge ship

being anchored for days.

It was here to pick up InCat's electric ferry which is bound for South America.  Once  loaded, it had to wait a few more days for wave and weather conditions to be safe for the long haul.

Keeping it nautical,

my friend, Pat, completed this jigsaw.  I had bought it many years ago while in an independent bookshop in Tanunda.  I have never liked doing jigsaws but rather fancied the bookshop owner and loved the waves and message.  Plus it's important to support the indies.

and then Pat broke it all up and put it in its jaunty bag

Since we are now back home, let me show you my playroom:

I had been calling it my studio, but one day the memory of being a child and going nextdoor to play with Momery Twigg (now Rosa Norte) came to me.  Mrs Trigg always invited us to play in The Playroom which was actually a conservatory, a lovely light filled space.  Mrs Trigg was a wonderful dressmaker.  She gave us old Vogue, McCalls, etc pattern books to cut up for paper dolls, and we would loll on the floor and live sophisticated lives.

The only other things I have to report are my cooking,

I made the pastry...

sunny days - I made the pumpkin soup -

and signs of Spring.

staying a little bit local

I have started giving granddaughter, Sarah, driving lessons.  Early days yet, so we are staying very local.

After Lesson One we celebrated at Cugini, my local Italian restaurant.  We did indulge but these were not for us.  We were both fascinated with this line of drinks - rum and coke, or something more exotic?  There were 7 lined up on the bar.

I saw this ad somewhere when I first moved back to Bellerive but thought it was not my thing.

granny put the kettle on...

I have tried a few local exercise classes and have discovered Cult fitness is my thing, at least for now.  Tats and heavy duty machines, and conveniently situated in Howrah.  If Jilly would stay happily home alone, I could ride my bicycle here and become Amazonian.

We compromise.  I drive there, Jill stays in the car while I pump iron, then we have a little explore.  The views from Howrah are stunning.

I have also returned to calligraphy classes after a 40 year hiatus.

Again, not saying I'll stick with it long term but the classes are enjoyable and the teacher provides inspiration, like this beautiful book.  One problem I have encountered is that everything for old people is on Monday and Wednesday 12 - 1pm, and there's so many possibilities.

I have used the library a lot for borrowing books and calligraphy lessons and, recently for a film too.

There were 2 of us in the audience.  I still feel angry and ashamed at the loss of The Voice Referendum.  Aboriginal culture, like many indigenous cultures, has so much to teach us.

Filmed in 2017 in Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Sandy Bore Homeland, and Borroloola Community, Northern Territory, a recurring theme in the documentary is the traditional healing techniques.  This ties in nicely with a book Steve sent me for Christmas.  Let's hope this knowledge lasts and continues to be shared.

Jill PD and I have also checked out the Clarence Art Prize Exhibition in the Rosny Barn and School House.

When not seeking culture, we stay home and make very chocolatey crackolates  which Jill PD is not allowed to eat.

inspiration from The Gentle Art of Domesticity

just showing off.  Usually I eat them straight from the mixing bowl.

Now we're off to Pat's place for pizza 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕

Prepping

As a number of you know, visitors to my place have had it a bit tough so far.  There have been the carless times and the cold, wet and windy times.  Sometimes both.  Sandrine/Sashi Babe/Alex will arrive in September and I want her to be comfortable and fabulously entertained.

so I bought some flannelette sheets for those who feel the cold more than I do.

And I have made a pledge to do some exploring.

Sorell seems to offer a number of possibilities these days.  This is Iron Creek Bay Estate .

There is a restaurant and cherry farm so I figure it will be beautiful in Spring.  It was pretty quiet the day Jill PD and I were there, just a tractor cutting the grass between the rows of cherry trees.  Jill found some grass very much to her liking and I indulged in an orange grove reverie.

It's not all about Jill but it mostly is.  This is the new dog park in Cambridge.  It has only just opened and shows great promise.

Jill chatted to a few dogs and left some messages but was much more interested in the area along Barilla Creek outside the dog park.

For me it brought back memories of the Torrens River when we were kids, before it became the Linear Park.  There were fallen trees, swing ropes, a ford where we could catch yabbies.  Hard to imagine now.

I'm getting the hang of this exploring thing now so, having read about the Richmond Park Track in a local magazine, I decided to give it a go.  I'd been to visit someone in Richmond to the furtherance of Bellerive Heritage Volume 5 so was in a history frame of mind.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Richmond Park was established in 1810 but that seems extraordinarily early.

This is a well kept and respectful public walk - thank you Clarence Council.

As you can see on the gate, Richmond Park is private property.  Jill checked out some of the boundaries.  A lot of sheep checked us out.

An adventure closer to home.

A new park is being developed beside the Rosny Barn complex.  This area was formerly the Rosny Golf Course and the fairways are pretty apparent as you stroll around looking for the pink ball.  Jill gets distracted...

looking towards the Rosny Barn

the well kept Rosny Barn cottage

couldn't resist these parrots

That will do for now.  Pondering what's next.  I've just learned that a neighbour is a world champion power lifter but I don't think that's the next adventure.

Jilly wants  you to see her in her cosy red coat from Aunty Pat.

🐾🐾

Pleasure

You may recall I mentioned Tamasin's birthday.  I didn't go to her party in Adelaide and look what I missed.

cake by Willowa, the Cake Queen

feast by Tamasin and friends

Reading this book was some consolation.  It's quirky and in some ways doesn't make much sense but I like the idea of a detective who tracks down the meals and flavours from our past that still haunt us.

This turned out to be the best book I've read in a long time.  Admittedly I read it in translation but it is so simply written and consists of 2 stories 100 years apart.   Of course it helps that it is about a dog and it's in rural France.  The story set in 2017 explores themes close to my heart.  The story set in a small village during the First World War is gripping and for the first time made me realise how difficult it was for women to take over the farm work when their men went off to war.  It hadn't occurred to me that farming implements were designed to fit and suit men's bodies.  This made their use by women extra difficult and, of course, they still had all the domestic and caring duties they had before the war.  There's a lot to think about in both stories.

Here's Jill PD on Pat's new sofa.  I love that Pat, who is 20 years older than me...,  splashed out on the sofa of her dreams.  Steve's Mum always wanted a pink leather couch but would never buy one because it 'wasn't worth it' at her age.  I have to say that, as a dog lover, Pat has covers on hand so that dogs can sit comfortably, thus you don't get to see the full glory of the sofa.  Pat is thrilled with it and feels it is very Noel Coward.  I suggested a grand piano next.

Now a little surprise.  I never thought that going to Breast Screen could be a pleasure but in Rosny it was.

the lovely windows in the waiting room

unnecessary but beautiful detailing

The receptionist was charming and funny, the medico taciturn but calmly professional.  Even the clamping didn't seem so bad.

Oh and, later on, the results were good.

🥐🗼H A P P Y   B A S T I L L E   D A Y🥐🗼

New York New York

I have returned to watching DVDs to stop myself wolfing data.  Breakfast at Tiffany's was one of them.  It is pleasant to watch until the final scenes when our Miss Golightly is bullied by the love of a man.  So I thought it was time to re-read my beautiful Folio edition of Truman Capote's novella.  So much fun, and so liberating.  The song Moon River really captures its essence.  Holly Golightly has her own morality and turn of phrase.  I loved this:

Look at Mag Wildwood.  Or Honey Tucker.  Or Rose Ellen Ward.  They've had the old clap-yo'-hands so many times it amounts to applause.

It makes me  laugh every time I remember it.  I seem to be on a theme here.  The medication for my bronchitis:

Never on Sunday!

And leaving sex work but returning to New York, I am now a Wordle and Connections addict.  Thank you New York Times for providing these free games daily.  Get up, make coffee, curl up on the couch and Wordle away.  I don't always agree that the answers are words - rehab?  morph? emcee? - but I usually get there regardless.  Connections I find more difficult.  It often relies on a knowledge of US foodstuffs, sporting teams and tv shows.  Beats me.