Hiya Mom..it's one of those Fridays... no-one in the house......not doin' much, feeling a bit, y'know...how about you? ...want to do something? Come round?

You bet!! Time for a beautiful Autumn drive down south in the country, a touch of retail therapy...

Ahhh....Much better!!

What might these green and gold inflatables be on the beach in Western Australia? Well you may ask. They are called "thongs", something that has to do with scanty underwear elsewhere in the world I believe.. but thongs are thongs here, whatever you call them - jandals/flip-flops/slippers...These photos are courtesy of Eugene at "Eugene - my view on things"....eugine-chin.blogspot.com If you live in Western Australia, you can choose one and compete in an event on the beach. doubtless something to do with the sun and the surf...

My daughter wrote a poem recently about Australia,of course it features thongs, and a lot of it is not about pretty sunsets and sprawling cattle stations...(sorry Baz, Hugh, Nicole..). I love it's rawness and honesty...and there are lines I love such as "Women have hair that won't behave, despite best efforts"

I know what she means. A few years ago, when I was on holiday in Darwin in the tropics of Australia, no-ones hair behaved. No-one behaved.No, that's not true. The chook and I, perfect ladies. Things can get wild and wooly there sometimes. Put it this way - there's not much genteel tea and scones, and there's more beer than lemonade bottles in the recycle bin.

There's also a line in her poem "kitchen sinks always face the window". Do you like this kitchen sink? I loved staying with aquaintences here in their open air house they built in the tropical undergrowth of the Northern Territory...
Beautiful to wake up in the morning and walk into this for that first cup of coffee...Anyway, here is the poem. I had a great deal of trouble with spacing and lines, which does not do this justice, but am told that if she or I try to fiddle with this , to how it is actually supposed to be,we'll be right back where we started, and believe me, that won't be fun.I hope you like it. Please imagine it spaced appropriately...(and I hope my daughter will forgive me).

"Rambling thoughts about my country".

Australia.

Packet of redhead matches in everybody's kitchen drawer.

Thongs.

Kitchen sink always faces the window.

Women have hair that won't behave, despite best efforts.

Always squinting against the heat, the wind and the nagging voices in the head that there's something better.

Everybody knows the words to Crowded House.

Most people have trees that they didn't plant in their backyard.

Young married career men rarely seem happy,

their kids hang off them like needy fruit, they can't wait to get back to work.

Wives behind sunglasses, they don't know what to do.

Lino in kitchens.

Endless cups of tea, the mugs leave milk rings on every flat surface imaginable.

Homeless people rant and rave in public parks, then sleep during the hottest part of the day, sprawled out under Eucalyptus trees in faded and dirty sportswear.

Atheletes in some bizarre race.

Uni students on public transport view this scene and shake their head, disgusted at the widening gap between the rich and poor.

Their concern, though genuine, is transient, it will only last as long as it takes the bus to move three blocks, then it's time to change the playlist on the iPod and start planning the next overseas trip.

Apathy is worse than disgust.

Summer arrives without warning one night, and doesn't leave until March.

Restless sleep.

Shift-workers.

Salary monkeys.

Hippies in Broome, with tanned, lined faces.

Kids with ice-cream on their hands.

Floods,

Bushfires.

Beer.

Racists.

The sad, desperate changing of locks.

Men still hit women when the lights are on. Women still let them.

Too much homework. Cordial too strong.

Paul Kelly.

Sand in hot chips.

News at 6 o'clock.

Paint peels off the ceiling in every lounge room of suburban bungalows everywhere from Brisbane to Adelaide.

Refugees, immigrants, tourists.

People from every corner of the world who are running from someone or everyone or themselves.

They stay a few years or forever. Nobody minds.

Mosquitoes are an ambivalent audience for such huge and laughable dilemmas.

(Manly Beach - Sydney)

Australian photos courtesty of Flickr.

Ooooo- a rust dyers dream! These are collected bits and pieces that Robyn at Art Propelled http://artpropelled.blogspot.com/ is fossicking through. I'd be wrapping them up, tying rubber bands around those stones in the fabric- they won't dye but will leave a shape - and as for that rusty cog thing...mmm!! She's thinking of throwing things out...if only I lived closer!It just gets better...Robyn's tray of goodies...

Mine...empty ... I want what she's having... Many of you have asked about the when, why's and how's of botanical dyes. All credit for any of my dabblings in this must go to India Flint, an incredibly talented and creative woman who's professionality embraces working in design ,art, theatre and fashion. She is known nationally and internationally for the "development of the highly distinctive eco-print". India, as her books states "has been working with plant dyes for more than 20 years". India is a botanical alchemist. I am at kindergarten entry level, but I am having fun with the equivilent of botanical finger-painting. If you are seriously interested in persuing this method of fabric manipulation to a higher level, please consider purchasing India's book "Eco Colour-botanical dyes for beautiful textiles" published by Murdoch Books. ISBN 9781741960792 (hbk.) Murdoch Books website is http://www.murdochbooks.com.au./

India Flint helping a student at a workshop I attended .This is reconstructing a garment pre-dying. There were some great results that came out of this weekend many years ago.

Natural dyes...his shirt on the left... mine on the right (you can see mine rinsed, pressed and finished in the previous post)This is what he requested... this is what he got...he likes it a lot...au naturelle Australian bush -colour variety amongst the more conservative commercial offerings...
There's a ring-in in the wardrobe, a eucalyptic cuckoo in the nest... a changeling in the shirt world! Move over Rivers, Target and Billabong, eco-shirt is here!!
Rubbing shoulders with the best of 'em -looks good by gum!!

I've been having the best fun with natural dyes.Colours reflecting our Australian bush... I'm back in my happy place. Choosing threads for works in progress. Early stages yet, but I know where I'm heading. Just like the pins, three months ago I felt I was just holding it together. Now we've blown off a yucky psycho landlady, love where we live, are healthy and happy, daughter had great success with her comedy Format performance for Adelaide's Fringe Festival (last night was the final performance), Mum's cast is off, and I am preparing art pieces for an exhibition with other artists (I still do not wear that mantle comfortably though others seem to encourage me to use it to define myself). So, I blew away the cobwebs and went for a walk with my husband to feed the ducks and gather some materials for dying. The two shirts, his and hers, had been mordanting in soy milk for days.
A nice fat bag of goodies (should have been a string one I know...) Actually it's best to use dried leaves, so I threw in some of those as well... It's a second go for this shirt for him...

Simmer...

unwrap......

dry in the sunshine.....

and wear ...Ta Daaa.

This week's subject (I know I'm late) for Illustration Friday http://illustrationfriday.com/blog is "Intricate", chosen by Lauren Gentry at http://www.laurengentry.blogspot.com/ . Keeping with a textile theme, I've chosen to highlight the work of Sue from http://travelfibreandthread.blogspot.com/ Sue is from Nottingham, and, like my mother, battled through with an injured arm, and I admire both women for tolerating the inconvenience of this type of injury(guess you don't have a choice!) requiring surgery, and the patience to allow healing to take its course. Sue has some fascinating photos on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/ . These are from her Bedfordshire lace series. Healing and bobbin lace - the sort of things you certainly can't rush! Textilosophy Quotes:

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once" Einstein.

"Victory is won not in miles, but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later win a little more".

and ...

"Let us not run the world hastily,

Let us not grasp at the rope of wealth impatiently;

What should be treated with mature judgement let us not treat in a fit of temper;

Whenever we arrive at a cool place, Let us rest sufficiently well;

Let us give prolonged attention to the future,

And then let us give due regard to the consequence of things."

-Yoruba odu (recita) translated by E.B.Idowa.

I love this illustration from Bella at Bella Sinclair Doddlespot http://bellasinclair.blogspot.com/

..I have been feeling a bit under the weather lately, worrying about parents who are in their eighties, and not having the best time of it . Mum fell and broke her arm in two places, and the cast comes off on Friday. Dad is, um, how can I put it... being Dad.I think it's safe to peek out about now. Tentatively. Hopefully the umbrellas will be down soon, but one is always prepared for showers. Downpours are a bit more difficult.