On third of the way - nearly.

I am about one third of the way to completing my large tapestry.  I am enjoying weaving it but it involves many bobbin changes to get the mottled look of the earth up north.  I am pleased with my "barra"; Tim and I spent lots of hours sitting beside the Ord River at Ivanhoe Crossing trying to catch a barramundi.  My job was to catch live bait which was quite a task as I am not a fisherman.  However I caught enough small fish, including a small barra about 20 cm which was thrown back. We went fishing in the afternoon to be there as the moon rose.  It is quite a spectacular and historical place and despite catching plenty of live bait, we didn't catch a barra. Each of the shapes tells a story of part of our trip and the shapes are based on escarpment shapes.  The Green shape is about the bombing of Darwin and the orange shape is about a visit to a zebra rock mine owned by friends of Tim that they are developing into a caravan and camping site. I am experimenting with the  outlining the red marks in the rocks, but this isn't working.

Changing My Mind

I know I said that I had decided not to pull out my weaving any more but I have changed my mind; a lady's prerogative. My mentor had a look at my work and thought my Darwin piece was a bit flat due to not varying the colours I used.  I took her advice and pulled it out , most of it and redid it.  As you can see in the photos, the 2nd version looks a lot better. My big tapestry is taking ages because I am taking my time. By the end of this week, I would like to be 1/3 of the way through. I have not done any weaving for 10 days due to upheavals in my life, but I should have a relatively clear run for the next little while. Despite the time I am taking, I am enjoying it.  Next time I have to design a tapestry I will employ the KISS strategy.

Spring

A large patch of clivias

Spring is here and my front garden is beginning to look lovely.  Many years ago, I uprooted the lawn so that in out dotage we wouldn't have to worry about mowing the lawn.  I instead made several garden beds  surrounded by rocks collected from my sister's property to outline the beds.  The garden design has gone from native to roses back to mostly native.  It is very easy to look after requiring half a day every 3 months or so and at this time of the year is pretty to look at.

Native hibiscus

A close up of the native hibiscus.

Orange salvia

Here you can see a touch of red in the leaves of the rose called whisky/brandy which has strong orange flowers.

I mainly designed the garden around colour - orange, purple, red.  The strelitiza, colours orange and purple is nearly in flower  and will look spectacular in the mix. I am looking forward to seeing it in flower.  I like strong colours outside the house but neutral inside the house.

I think I am a bit addicted to purple; my violets are still flowering.