SUNSPOTS and LAUGHTER

HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS

Laughing Kookaburras - Dacelo novaeguineae.

She struggled thru the endless wet to feed her brood, begging for food every day at my kitchen window - see her in other pix by clicking kookaburra tag and here in my Flickr Anu Wilde World Set.

Today the laughter from the Native Tamarind tree (Diploglottis campbellii) brought me outside to record her successful breeding season as I see 3 juveniles and her mate with her, all cackling like crazy.

So I cackled back. Impossible to be sad with this mob around!

SUNSPOTS.

Yes a few spots of sun from time to time, but still showers most days.

The cooler weather has brought back my need to crochet again. Last winter I started on a granny square rug called Sunspots.
I put my cache of finished squares away in one of those ubiquitous plastic crates with the onset of the wet weather of early summer.

SUNSPOTS IN STORAGE

But I posted the details of its' creation on GrannyAlong. Today I revisited the site and saw another has come up with a similar pattern so I'm inspired to finish Sunspots, despite the fact that it hasn't stopped raining and the air is humid and moisture-laden. This bird-blind of a studio isn't conducive to a dry atmosphere, I'm surprised my computer functions sometimes.

I have been busy organizing in the world of Tapestry Crochet lately.
Met Megan Jack who makes extraordinary and beautiful hats.
Go to the Tapestry Crochet site (sidebar) to read about her and see other artists in this field I'm uncovering since I started the Flickr Tapestry Crochet group.

APOPHYTIS

I'm having a rest from fractals for a while. I think I've got the hang of Apophysis, enough to rest on my oars for a bit and gather back the shreds & threads of the life I once lived before the Apophytis virus took me over. My main fractal cache is on Flickr and Picasa if you want to see what I've done so far - see sidebar links.

I've never had an obsession before and now I can see why addicts' lives fall apart. Time to show who's the boss of this ship! The lure of something so beautiful, so attractive, that becomes so dangerous. Now I've had that experience and can see how others can be taken over by various traps life can present. Just watch the news and see the fallen and the falling. Hear the stories of the victims who could not resist that siren song. Just like overcoming smoking or drinking, it is a matter of finding inner resources, of recognizing a certain objectivity and exercising willpower. It's all to do with personal freedom. Unfortunately many don't know how imprisoned they are by their own stupidity. We are, each and every one of us, such flawed and fallible creatures.

THE VIEW OUTSIDE MY WINDOW!

Hello...
...the Very Big Snake digesting the 2nd last pademelon ....
....goodbye...!

Click on tag at side to see more of her.

EVEN MORE GOOD NEWS

Kevin the Reformer is showing us his stripes. What a powerhouse we have in him & his team. The last few weeks have shown his dazzling diplomatic form with his OS trip. Here in Oz we've seen, among a plethora of much-needed reforms and initiatives: work place reform, climate change, 2020 Summit, China (Olympics, Tibet & all THAT!). His latest coup is the appointment of the (first-ever) woman, Quentin Bryce, as our Queen's representative. Could be the last too, as Kevin, Julia and the Mob are openly declared Republicans and I feel we will be a republic before 2015, if not sooner.
Not a moment too soon for me.