in the air and on the ground

silkymerino rolls looking much like bread dough

 last week i followed an old marmalade stain on the map

and found myself back at lovely Glenmore House

it had been a long day so i was particularly happy to be lulled to sleep

by the scent of my favourite jasmine [polyanthemum]

thoughtfully placed in my room by Mickey, bless her

a sniff and a whiff of that particular flower and i am seventeen again

at least

on the inside

we had a glorious sunshiny bluesky day for our "heart and hand intensive" 

botanical alchemy workshop

during which i was so busy that i hardly managed to take pictures

fortunately Mickey [and Alex the kindly gardener]

took lots. you can find them here

i did manage a happy snap of the cumquat icecream and rhubarb compote

swoonworthy deliciousness. 

and of our cooking fire

had there been time we would have stitched the glowing morsels [below]

into tsunobukuro bags

but by 4pm everyone was worn out

the next morning i prised myself out of bed
and hit the road for Tamworth
where I had been invited to come and inspect the gallery
prior to my exhibition there in December
the plan was to arrive on Friday evening, in time for the opening
of the 2nd Tamworth Textile Triennial

unfortunately
the inadvertent slashing of a tyre
caused by avoiding a close encounter of the unpleasant kind
with another motor vehicle
delayed my arrival until well after ceremonies had concluded
it would have been cheaper and faster to fly
even without the added cost of a new tyre
but the four hour wait was good writing time
and the five hour + drive was good thinking time
even if i did have to drink an awful lot of coffee





wandering around Tamworth on Saturday morning
i found a lot of men in hats



a rock from which someone had chipped all the bits that did not look like snake



an old friend far from home
[California poppy in a dry creek bed]



some stones to play with



and some rather too friendly seeds
Bidens pilosa
which had to be individually removed
NOT something i want to take home to the farm
even if they do resemble tiny stitches

after i had picked my dress clean
and had some breakfast i betook myself to the gallery



my favourite among the works in the Triennial
was that of Ilka White



the work below, by Gillian Lavery
based on a simple premise
of timed daily sitching
10 minutes with a piece of thread that measured from her
mouth to her belly button and back
needle in, needle out
breath in and breath out



every day for one calendar year
remarkable in its dedication and execution

there were others too
that i would have liked to have shown here
[but did not want to embroil myself in Viscopy issues]
including Kate Campbell-Pope
whom i had last encountered when we were together in the 'Seven Sisters' exhibition curated by Kevin Murray in 2004

it is an exhibition well worth seeing...and as it is touring Australia for the next couple of years many red island readers stand a good chance of finding it not too far from home.