Today I went to the city of Melbourne for a bit of a look around.  It is a fascinating combination of old and new architecture as well as all different kinds of people.   For those who do not know much about our city it is very multi cultural with lots of cafes and places to sit and watch the people go by.  The tree is in Hardware Lane where I stopped for a bowl of minestrone soup and turkish bread.  The pic with the arched walkway is taken in Flinders lane behind StPaul's Anglican Cathedral. I worked  in the Cathedral bookshop when I was about 18 - the area I worked in is now a florist as you can see in the pic.

The photo below is of Howey Place, just one of the many lanes and alleyways in our city.  The other one shows some of the more modern parts of the southbank development with some interesting sculptures.  We have lots of works of art around the city which I really like.  I don't always like the works but I like the fact that our city fathers (and mothers) think it is important to have beautiful things as well as the practical services.

It really was a glorious day and this seagull was obviously making the most of the sunshine.  This is alongside the Yarra River.  I hope you enjoy  these pictures of our beautiful city as much as I enjoyed being there.

 I took this lovely pic the other day when my husband and I went for our morning walk.  The sky was so pretty.

Then later in the day I received a parcel in the post from a friend.  In the parcel there was a piece of muslin, some foil, metallic sheet, felt and wire form to play with.  So many possibilities.

THE MIGHTY OAK

On a visit to the garden centre yesterday I picked up an oak leaf which was past its best but I love the way leaves decay and break down.

 

I scanned it on the computer and then printed it onto some silk that I had fused to vilene.  

The colour turned out strange because I am running out of colour in my printer but I quite like it anyway.

Once it was printed I decided just to stitch with the machine as my hands were a  bit sore with the cold weather having arrived.  I added a little foil and it will be a book cover when I have time to finish it off.

A NEW ADVENTURE EVERY DAY

Today has been really strange.  Warm and windy this morning and now cold and raining with thunder and lightening.  Well that's Melbourne I guess.  

I went to a sale today at place that makes knitwear out of merino wool and possum fur.  Gorgeous warm jumpers and scarves and gloves and berets.  Yes I shopped.  Once winter sets in here it is very cold so I needed some new woolies.

I have taken a photo of some of the tyvek fairies I made some time ago.  The tyvek was painted with lumiere paints and then heated with the heat gun.  The faces are made of air dried clay and painted with lumiere metallic paints.  The hair is silk tops or wool fleece. 

Photography

It is Autumn here and the mornings are cold and crisp and the days mild and still. We have had a lot of rain which is wonderful after so many years of little or no rain to sustain the garden & large trees in the area.

We took a bit of a stroll down the road yesterday and I collected some autumn leaves to photograph and when I had done that I messed about for a while with changing the images on the computer.

Now I have to figure out how to upload the images.

GARDENING

Today is one of those perfect Autumn days that Melbourne specializes in. Cold morning, clear blue sky, no wind and it will reach about 20 degrees later today. I should be in my office but it is only 2 steps from the garden so I keep finding myself out there - first with my camera and then with the rake & spade.

We have lots of big eaucalyptus trees all around us and the bottle brush is just outside the front door.