Perth adventures

If I wait any longer to write in the hopes of getting pics up first, you might never hear from me! Multiple pics seem to undo me, so…

Perth is quite lovely, weather, location and people. Martien and Geri have fully welcomed me into their home, along with the ever present Clementine.

20140422-125234.jpg

We’ve been full swing into the Easter holidays here since my arrival last Thursday. Friday was the annual Pétanque tournament – didn’t win but also did not come in dead last! The best part of the tourney held along the Swan River, besides the great group of friends that I became part of for the day, was the numerous stoppings for tea and lunch and more tea. (Tea here means a whole lot more than just something to drink!)

A good part of Saturday was spent op shopping (think Goodwill and St Vincent shops) for items to be used in natural dyeing and/or mudcloth.

Sunday saw us enjoying Kings Park as well as a park further east on the Swan River where we also did our bit to keep fires to a minimum by gathering up various leaves and plant material.

Monday Martien got the fire going under a large stainless steel roaster and, after some rolling and tying of cloth/plant material/sticks, we gave the whole bit a go in hot rusty nail water for several hours. Patient waiting overnight before checking on the outcomes.

This morning held a bit of crisp chill in the air; it has warmed up very nicely. Our bundles have been unwrapped and magic has happened

20140422-130735.jpg

We will do more dyeing next Monday when Wendy comes over. ITMT, casing calls as we prep for the class tomorrow.

Posting pics will happen, just not promising when!

The Blues recapped

Despite the lack of consistent internet connection, time in the Blue Mountains has been lovely. Cool, crisp mornings, warm sunshine when it wasn’t cloudy or rainy, lots of green vegetation, and some of the best fiber- interested folks around.

Caught up with some previously made friends, found a few small treasures in the traders hall, sampled some excellent Korean cuisine, enjoyed an anchovy pizza tremendously, drank my share of wine, was gifted – in many ways and by many people – with lovelies both physical and non.

Oh, and had some great students who did amazing work in both the mudcloth and basketry classes that I taught. All of them genius!

Will send up pics when I land next.

Get set….

Oh, the piles!  They don’t seem to diminish.  Just added clothes today to the piles. Thought that would be a good idea…

 

Will be trying to squeeze out as much air as possible from all I can to get everything to fit. I think I’ll be okay weight-wise…

 

As a little follow-up to my blue results from avocado – after a washing they are now more purple than blue!  Seriously love the magic – wish I could understand the science!

Get ready…

… For a fabulous adventure! I will be heading down under early next month for three very full months of teaching, traveling and time with friends.

The piles are growing of things I need and want to take along. Making sure it all fits and comes in within the weight limit will be a trick!

My hope is to keep this blog updated regularly during my travels…. Time will tell!

 

Score one for me!

I need to give a big shout out to my friend Linda who shared a tip for keeping mice away: smelly dryer sheets! Apparently they don’t like the strong odor.

With high expectation and mild reservations, I draped dryer sheets along the edge of the tub where the mice seemed to be getting in. Then waited overnight…

Now, I have to be up front here. The dryer sheets I normally use are unscented ones – I don’t smell things very well and I know of folks who have trouble with heavy scents, so I just go without. In fact, I haven’t even used a dryer sheet in so long, I almost forgot they were there. When hubby reminded me of the non-scent variety that we have on hand, I rushed out to the local grocery in search of the worst smell I could find.

And the grocery has just “Spring Rain”, “Spring Flowers” and “Mountain Mist” on hand. Not even a regular scent. My heart sank as I tried to figure out which lovely outdoor smell would deter a mouse – it would likely love them all! In the end “Spring Flowers” won out. Fingers crossed it would be overpowering to a mouse.

When I saw two of the sheets on the deck floor peeking out from the tub cover skirting, I figured I had lost this skirmish. But NO! When the cover was raised, ever so carefully, not a mouse was in sight and no extra floating islands appeared!  Hurray!

Gonna give it a couple more days to see how effective the sheets stay. Hope to reclaim the hot tub for my own use by the weekend!