Patapan Art

My trip down south  continued with a windy weekend in Bairnsdale, where my mother-in-law's Siamese cat  appeared to have vaguely thawed towards me.  Instead of acting as if I was intending to torture her by pulling out her nails with pliers, or roasting her in the microwave, or feeding her to a pit bull terrier,  and peeing on my pillow as she has in the past, she actually remained in the room with me and even rubbed against me a few times.  Perhaps it was the cold wind blowing outside which was responsible for her good mood, but I felt awfully flattered that she deigned to fall asleep in front of me!

We renewed our acquaintance with the beautiful Gippsland Lakes by having ice-creams at Paynesville and a very nice lunch at the Metung pub.  I have always thought that the Gippsland Lakes are underated and can hold their own with England's famed Lakes District, with their added bonus of juxtaposition with the ocean and their woderful wildlife.  I have great memories of swimming, fishing, canoeing, boating and sailing round the Lakes, living as a cook/ cleaner at Ocean Grange Homestead, watching koalas on Raymond Island, dolphins near Lakes Entrance, and kangaroos near Ocean Grange, and sunbathing on the 90 Mile Beach in my younger days. Wouldn't mind owning a put-put and wandering around the bays again.

Then,  it was back to Melbourne and a week where I tried to pack in as much as I could.

  I caught up with my second daughter and her family twice, and had lots of laughs with her hilarious son.  What an evil sense of humor he has!  

Luckily, he is very loving and charming too!

I  forced my poor son-in-law, Rob to model his hats

I also looked after my poor grand-daughter who had a bad cold which managed the impossible - made her lose her voice!  When she got better, she was kind enough to model a hat I had made for her some time ago as she read a magazine ( upside down)........


 

........and accompany me on a tour of 2 local parks



and a visit to the Surrey Hills Station to watch the trains.

 Also had a very nice Japanese dinner with my youngest son where we both sampled saki for the first time.  Verdict?  Quite nice!  Topped off with a visit to Trampoline for some ice- cream, we arrived home rather full.  

 Visited two good friends, Trish and Mark,  for a wonderful Vietnamese style chicken salad lunch, a tour of her veggie garden and a reacquaintance with her insane chickens which include two eccentric frizzle chooks, then a tour of Westgarth and Fairfield shops, where I had to buy a designer t-shirt for $5 ( love a bargain).  

Went shopping in Balwyn, which confirmed my belief that each shopping strip has its own, very individual, culture which means that Melbourne is like paradise for those of us who like buying gifts for others.

And,  finally  I had a great stir fry cooked for me by my friend Derica, who filled me with belly laughs with her memories of life in Jamaica.

It was a top of 14 on the day I left Melbourne, and I arrived back at 9pm to a 22 degrees  Brisbane.  The next day was 30 degrees, and despite a wonderful Argentinean barbeque in the charming New Farm Park and some scintillating company, I expired with the heat and had to have a siesta under the coffee trees beside the playground, much to the amusement of my companions.  And no, it wasn't due to the quarter stubby of beer I drank.

Had a busy week, but managed to make it to my printing class where I picked up the prints I made last week:

Some sushi prints on some bags and aprons

 


 

And some vegetable screen prints

 

I also discovered the joys of sun printing, in spite of the incredibly gusty day.  

 

I must try this again!  It is just like magic, the way the colour fades under the cut-outs, leaves, and other objects placed on the painted fabric.