musings

Exhausted but Content

The above photo was taken on one of the rare moments in Kuala Lumpur (KL for those of you not in the know) where I was able to actually sit still and breathe while waiting for friends to join me for a coffee. Just before a dental appointment if I remember correctly.

It's been chaotic. It's always good to return home, especially to see the family and friends I've missed, but two weeks just isn't enough time in which to catch up AND run around to complete all the chores and errands on my Malaysian To-Do list.

Here are photos of my mum's garden ... more inspiration for my senses and drawings. I didn't have any time in KL to pick up pencils so had to wait till I got back to France and, here, I was finally able to flick through the photos and get some badly needed therapy with the heliconia drawing I eventually produced.

Of course I arrived back in a state of complete exhaustion and then promptly caught a cold. I hate being sick, so am fighting a losing battle with my body as it's insisting I get some rest and stop working. I may eventually have to listen! It is good to be back home in France where the colours may be less vibrant but the air is full of soft, clear light. Now, what should I draw next? ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR
to Everyone!

I'm finally getting a chance to lie back and relax and do absolutely nothing today: my Christmas wish! I've done so much the past few weeks I can barely believe it's done, or almost :) Most of my furniture, clothing and clutter is gone, either to wonderful friends who will give them a new home or to charity stores. It was difficult to let go of certain things but it eventually became a relief, I feel so much lighter.

I've booked my ticket, travel for the dogs, shipping for the few things I have left to take with me ... and am now looking for rentals in France so that I can settle in and explore once I get there. I have wonderful friends helping me out -- I wouldn't be able to do it without them, or at least it would be far far more difficult and stressful without their help. They are my angels, truly.

Back here my garden is going completely wild as I have disgracefully ignored it for the last few weeks, but it insists on keeping busy and today, for the second time, I picked tons of green and purple beans, tomatoes and huge yellow and 'black' zucchinis as well as the couple of eggplants (or aubergines if you wish!) that I've taken a photograph of as I'm planning to draw them later today. It's far easier to draw from a photograph as then I have no problem with moving shadows and light!

And some wonderful, uplifting and encouraging news: The Northern Rivers Writers' Centre, where I've been volunteering since I first arrived in Byron Bay almost two years ago (oh my, almost exactly two years how time flies) have published this in their latest newsletter:

I feel so incredibly honoured I'm pretty speechless. I have so enjoyed working at the Centre, they are all such lovely people that it was more fun than anything else helping out with whatever was on hand, and it's such a shame that I have to leave. Thank you Kaley, Jeni, Susie, Bek, Jill and Muriel!

And to top it off, one of my ATCs was featured at ATC Quarterly, a lovely magazine for the creative artists who work in the ATC format. How cool is that? It's the cake ATC on the very bottom left-hand corner.

All this would already make for a lovely Christmas, but I have also been asked for the image of one of my illustrations, "Femme Fatale" (look for it toward the bottom of the page), to be featured on a new and cool website featuring Marlene Dietrich, a true honour as am surrounded by some excellent artists. Thank you Nick!

I couldn't have asked for a better way of saying goodbye to 2007. I am counting my blessings furiously. I've worked hard this year and am proud to say that I think I've improved at my art though there's still huge room for improvement, and that is my resolution for the coming year: to keep working and learning and experiencing Art and Life at its best and worst!

Wishing all of you a FANTASTIC NEW YEAR!

In the garden

Today was clean-up day at home. Time to get the dust and mess that seems to accumulate much too rapidly, out and away. It's wonderful having a clean house ... all that scrubbing leads to a clean mind. We did the deck too and I took advantage of the as-yet cool weather to get out into the garden and do a huge trim and clear. Ron was here earlier in the morning to mow the front and back and it looked completely different, so green and sweet. I tackled the dead leaves and branches on the veggies and ended up having to get a basket from indoors to place all the fruits of my labour into ... tomatoes, beetroot (white), zucchini (including two that had turned large enough to be called marrows), beans and mild banana chillies. The cucumbers are still too small. Best catch of the day was the watermelons. Naturally they decided to ripen all at the same time so we now have three huge ones. Here are the photos:

It's just so utterly satisfying to pick vegetables from the garden that has been tended to so lovingly for months. Yummy, we're already discussing how to cook everything though I think the next-door neighbours are going to get some of those zucchini and a watermelon tomorrow! I apologise for boring those who just aren't interested in gardening -- now excuse me while I decide which veggies to cook up for dinner!

Garden Glory

     On Friday I finally capitulated and got someone to come in and help me with the garden. It's a lovely little garden that I've 'inherited', but it's not 'mine' and so I hardly know where to start as far as trimming and tending to it are concerned. The whole thing was getting wild around me and, despite a few inane attempts at swinging the trimmer around and chopping off bits and pieces, it didn't seem to be responding in the way I thought it would.

     Let's set things straight here : I am a veggie gardener, and the garden we had from Melbourne we started from scratch, literally -- we even bought earth for it, and I planned the whole thing so that it would be a garden that grew only edible or scented plants. I spent three years with my hands in the earth, growing scrumptious delights and feeling brilliant at the results of hard work. It's not easy looking after a garden, even the one as tiny as we had then, but boy was it satisfying. Here, I don't even know what the majority of plants are ... well, there are gardenias, and I've discovered that the tree growing those longish tomatoey things is a tree tomato and that the fruit is edible ... and there's jasmine twining around the arches. But that's about it.So I don't feel that it is mine. And as I plan to perhaps move away in a couple of years (hopefully to a larger plot of earth a bit further inland), I don't feel like destroying the wonderful equilibrium that it is, as it is, so to speak.  I've been inspecting it and have decided that there are a couple of spots that I can safely turn into veggie patches that will keep me busy and happy without disturbing the general layout. But I'm going to need help with the rest of the unknowns, at least until, if and when, I get to know them better.

     So, the plan is to chop away the hedge that sits beside the deck. Am not too sure of why it was grown there in the first place as it cuts me off from the garden. It's like a barrier between house and green, and the palm trees next to it are purely decorative and don't provide shade, so they are going to go too. There's a whole bed that can be fed over the winter and be ready for planting in spring. Same with a couple of sunny strips in the back, just outside the kitchen. Mix in herbs and veggies and voila, I will at least feel a part of the greenery that adds serenity to my life. The gardener, Garry, works organically (no pesticides or such like thank you!) and fully agreed with my plan after having studied the sun's movements. He has transformed the wilderness into a semblance of order and it looks wonderful ...

     See the palm trees and hedge in the last photo? Those are the ones that have to go. You have to admit that everything looks quite brilliant! Now, if only I could find grass that didn't grow! Am considering (one day when finances allow for it) replacing the whole lawn with something like roman chamomile (I think that's the right kind ... or is it the other chamomile?) which grows tight to the ground and apparently smells wonderful when stepped on. Bit by bit. Meanwhile, I think I'm gong to take my cup of tea out onto the deck and enjoy the peace and the green.