Friday, September 28, 2007

FULL MOON, ORCHIDS & BETTY IS 86.



SEPTEMBER FULL MOON




Is that a UFO bottom right?
Nah...just the 747 from Coolangatta to Sydney with headlights blazing as it does its big swooparound & heads south west from coast.



Celebrated Betty's 86th last night with veranda drinks & dinner watching full moon rise over caldera. Then showed her flickr & blogspot, explaining how, if her traveling clan posted to web, she'd be able to access their pix & diaries. I think she was impressed.

Gosh....I AM! It's such high magic this technology. Here's a good shot I got of her two days ago.


Betty is a hearty 86! Congratulations Betty!

A few more orchids have come into bloom.
This one is the Tongue orchid, Dendrobium linguaforme.


Tongue orchid

Below, this is the extravagant large raceme of the King orchid, Dendrobium speciosum. This year only 1 raceme, instead of the 6-12 it usually present. The other plants of this species, usually so abundant, have not flowered at all.


King Orchid

The drought has cut deep. This morning I harvested the solitary lemon my bush lemon beside studio gave me this year. Normally they are so abundant they litter the ground at this time and I'm busy preserving them or freezing the juice.

The fact that eastern states farmers are quitting their farms, committing suicide in frightening numbers, pulling up whole orchards, looking at totally failed crops & putting the sheep to graze off what has managed to come up but is unharvestable, is not getting through to a lot of people I think.

The implications are huge. Can we survive as a population from what the Ord River will provide?

Populate and Perish.

I'd like to congratulate my old friend from way back then, Karl Kruszelnicki , who is running for Senate under the Climate Change banner in next election.



DR. KARL FOR PRESIDENT !

Karl you are such an amazing man, always had great admiration for what you do & say. You simply MUST run for President eventually.

That's all she wrote....

Sto kalo.











Monday, September 24, 2007

TAPESTRY CROCHET



This is to announce the advent of the new
Flickr Tapestry Crochet Group.

I hope it will flourish.
Already have 3 members after only 12 hours in existence.

If it were a temple then Carole Ventura is the resident guru/saint/mentor and the pix posted to its pool are the flowers on its altar.

The inspiration came about after prompting from Rufaro Crafty, my new Flickr friend, inquiring about the art of tapestry crochet.
Tapestry Crochet Flute Bag.

Further prompted, I dug out my original tapestry crochet Ayesha bag. It has been hanging on a hook in the studio for over 30 years and is showing its age. Aren't we all! So I Photoshopped the pic a bit and resampled it......

... and here it is, a bit faded, a bit tatty, but an old friend for me.


I learned tapestry crochet in Morocco sitting at the feet of Ayesha, one of the wives of the Berber sheikh who was my kind host. As I was traveling at the time I was impressed by the portable nature of the art. You can do it just about anywhere, sometimes even while walking. I made this bag to carry my flutes, yarns, hooks & drawing materials and dedicated it to her. As I look at it I am taken back to Imesswouane and Cap Rhir, south of Essaouira, on the Moroccan Atlantic coast, and see Ayesha again, her wise old kholled eyes glinting down at me as she quietly created her beautiful tapestry crochet hats.


Moroccan coast near Imesswouane and Cap Rhir
photo courtesy karolajnat



I hear the roar of the surf thundering against the mighty cliffs where the Atlas mountains drop into the Atlantic Ocean.



Friday, September 21, 2007

Orchids in the Moonlight

I'm a bit sick of all the snakes. Now I have not one, but 2, Night tigers coiled looking at me. One in dressing room beside bunk, the other behind me as I type at my computer. Small inoffensive Antichinus catchers.

So I'm posting these orchids below to create a better view than scales, coils & snakes eyes.
Go
here if you want to see the snakes.


Beautiful orchid in full flower

I had thought this was Sarcochilus falcata, but others who apparently know better, tell me it's an Asian soft-cane species. So I'll do the keying out and let you know. Meanwhile whatever it is, it is beautiful. One of the blessings I count. By full moon it will be in full bloom. Then I'll take a moonlit shot.


Dendrobium beckleri.
The Pencil Orchid.

An Australian native orchid outside my back door presenting very well,
despite, or perhaps because of, the drought.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Goodbye APEC, Hello Very Big Snake.


wotULookinat....
my comment on APEC

............................................................

Anu (would-be) Friend

This is what Spring has brought to my bunkhouse bed....I think she's about 12 feet long.

During the colder months she hibernates right above my head in the ceiling. But now she's out n about & taken to enjoying the comforts of the foot of my bed. Outside the net thankfully!



uh ooh....busted...!!


please, not the big stick again.....


evicted !

She's becoming just a little too cosy. I respect that she's a wild animal. She's just shed her skin and is looking very sleek and glossy.

I just hope I'm not in for a repeat of her mating rituals of a few years ago when 11+ males formed an "amalgum" - a formation of coiled stacked snakes all on top of the female to keep her down.

This happened on the guest bunk in direct line of sight from my sleeping position - last thing I saw at night....strangely I actually did manage to sleep...none were aggressive to me, they ranged from about 6 to 13 feet long.

During the day I couldn't walk in the bunkhouse for the snakes lunging in territorials at each other, loops of them hanging from the rafters, on the beds, under chairs...it was quite an event.

Eventually I saw so many inside, and several blind ones outside in process of shedding their skins before joining the gang bang party, that I decided enuf was more than enuf & time to reclaim my territory. So I called an old buddy in who's son had just come back from studying King browns in the Centre and he and his mother relocated quite a few.

One enormous male remained. I decided to be brave & sort him myself but got fanged thru my hand. But he got the message and left after I threatened him with a big broom.

So now this one is getting too friendly. I don't want to relocate her, she's been around for forever here. Dilemma.

And so to bed....no doubt to wrangle her out of it first......I'm amazed I can actually sleep & dream pleasantly with a monster like this wanting to get personal...but I do.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Fortress City

Satellites Above


This week APEC has taken over Sydney CBD. Sydney is in Lock Down.

Most of the citizens have exited, gone bush, upcountry, to the beach, the snow, or are just laying low at home waiting for it all to return to normal.

What we are observing, that is what we are permitted to see via the media, is very sobering. Why the nation's most populous city has to be shut down for this event is beyond me. Surely the whole shebang could have been staged elsewhere, away from population centers, so as not to incur the huge expense we all have to bear eventually.

Why not create a secure fortress in a remote outback conference center/resort, where the APEC leaders could be brought in & out by air. Where their every need could be catered for, where the main conference could be carried out in safety, well away from demonstrators, terrorists & other persons of interest that are attracted like flies to its' meat. For $300 million they could have built such a venue. It seems to me the whole thing is an exercise in stupidity. It knocks at least a week out of Sydney's economy on so many levels.

Just to remind us that the problems are right here in our own precincts, local towns are now getting CCTV street surveillance security cams.

Hello the Brave New World. Keep smiling, it's all for your benefit, blame the terrorists - you know, those who would destroy the fabric of our beautiful society. Do you see where all this is going?

I see sleepwalkers going like lambs to the slaughter. The trap is sprung, there is no way out. Protest and you are branded - one of Them. Either/Or. Yes/No. It's all so binary, no rainbows of options , all black or white.

So I just stay out of it all. It's all so harsh. A world of pain, of bullies, of violence , of people enslaved by debt and bureaucratic rat runs.


Kamertaj brings Anu to the Springs of the Muses.

For the last months I have been learning fractal art . It's my world, a world of beauty, peace, color and sweet harmony. A world of light and laughter.

So here I share with you some of my recent creations. You can see more on my Flickr site, just press on the link on right to go there.

The very good news is that the last week here has been gentle soft rain. A great start to Spring.

Stay safe, laugh a lot, be happy and make a better world, it's the only planet we've got.