CheleBellechic

And more cards...

2012-01-15T11:47:00.002+11:00

Stylised flowers

Gatefold Victorian wreath with cameo

Gatefold Victorian rose and bird flourishes

2012-01-15T11:32:00.004+11:00

Victorian BD
card 'Bonne Fete' - SOLD

Victorian BD card (2) 'Bonne Fete' - SOLD

Victorian BD card (3) 'Bonne Fete'

Victorian Christmas card - SOLD

Clockwork girl - SOLD

New cards

2012-01-15T11:12:00.002+11:00

Birds nest

Apples and pears

Japanese theme with fruit - SOLD

Pear collage

Victorian BD card (4) 'Bonne Fete'

Baby celebration cards for sale

2011-07-12T18:26:00.001+10:00

11078

11080

11081

11082

11083

11084

11085

11086

11087

11088

11090

11089

More Alice In wonderland cards for sale, more Tweety Jill Alice stamps used inside and out!

2011-07-12T17:22:00.001+10:00

Each card has a themed Alice stamp on the inside and also on the back.

11074

11071

11072

11073

Girls cards

2011-04-08T12:08:00.002+10:00

11070 Austen memory

11069 The best & most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. Sold

11068

11066 Paper tole - this stylish lady is 3D. Sold

11067 Sold

Alice In Wonderland cards

2011-03-31T20:14:00.001+11:00

11065 sold

11062 sold

11063 sold

11064 sold

I love Alice and her tales in Wonderland! Love these fun cards from TweetyGill.

Beach scenes, butterflies and birds - new greeting cards

2011-03-20T16:10:00.001+11:00

11061 'Birthday wishes'

11053

11060 'Wishing you a happy day'

11059 'Enjoy'

11056 Happy Birthday

11055

11058 Happy Birthday

11057 Birthday wishes

1105 'A Bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song' Sold.

Additional greeting cards

2011-03-13T19:41:00.004+11:00

11053

11055

11054

New greeting cards

2011-03-06T17:49:00.007+11:00

More greeting cards. I have started using a cataloguing system! At last you say?

11052 'Wishing You a Happy Day'

11001 'My Favourite Things'

11047 'Thank You'

11048 'Happy Anniversary'

11049 'Thank You'

11050 'Wishing You a Happy Day!'

11003 'Have a Wonderful Day'

11004 'Birthday wishes' Sold

11005 sold

11051

Hand made greeting cards

2011-02-20T13:01:00.016+11:00

11014 sold

11030 'Princess- Sweet girl'

Recent greeting cards hand made by me which I sell for $7 plus freight to your destination. $2 from each sale will go towards a local charity in my neighbourhood. I will save the donations from each sale and present to a charity at the end of 2011 and let you know whom I have donated to.

Each card is standard post size (A6) and comes with its own envelope stored in a cellophane bag. I use quality card stock, scrap papers, lace, ephemera. No two cards are the same, my own compositions although I do draw on inspirations from others. For custom cards please allow 10 days including delivery.

11043

11046

11045

11008

11039 'Friends Forever'

11040

11041 sold

11037 'Dream Big and Laugh hard'

11042

11006

11009

11012 50th BD

11013 Sold

11017

11019

11021

11021 sold

11022

11024 sold

11032 'Life Is Beautiful'

11025 'Precious memories'

11027 Sold

11029 'You Mean so much to me'

11031 Sold

11018 Sold

11036

11007 Graphic from The Graphic Fairy

11010 Sold

11011

11015

11020 Grandma

11023 'Lullaboy Sweet Baby Boy'

11028

11034 Sold

11035 Sold

11038 Sold

2011-01-03T20:05:00.000+11:00

Fringed Violet wildflower

Ferntree Gully - a nature walk on the Bylong Valley way 3rd January 2011

Scribbly gum tree close up

2011-01-03T19:53:00.000+11:00

We add to our Lue Pottery collection of utility stoneware pieces.

We visited Lue pottery again on New Years Eve and I just knew we would not be able to resist some more pieces! Normally I wouldn't have chosen pink, but it grew on me!

We add to our stoneware rice bowl collection from Lue Pottery!

Mudgee for New Years 2010

2011-01-03T19:47:00.000+11:00

Mudgee for New Year's eve 2010. We again stayed at Birch Lodge a short walking distance from the township of Mudgee. This cottage is 1920's period and a home away from home making it a great weekender. The linen and towels is always fresh and new and the king size bed in a light spacious airy bedroom ensures a good night's sleep. There are actually three full size bedrooms with a fourth, a single bed. The lodge would be a great group getaway for family get togethers.

View from the front of the house looking towards the back garden.

A cosy spot to knit or read or just ponder the cottage garden.

Three nights in Mudgee was a nice wind down from a busy year.

We visited Blacklea winery on Sunday and had the cooks tour of the vintner, Bernard's range of semillions, semillion sauvignon, verdelho, low alcohol red, shiraz and cabernet. Bernard said it was a great compliment to the vintner that we bought one of each style. Truth was, they were all unique in their fruity Mudgee style flavours. We stayed after the tastings for a delightful lunch - Nigel had a beef and burgundy pie and I had an antipasto platter (my favourite lunch) of Blackley's savoury jams, an exquisite cold pumpkin savoury bite, dried and salted olives which I had never tasted before, and their oils and vinegars.

The landscape was vastly different from 2009 NYE when we last visited. This year the vineyards are green and the grape canopies prolific on the vines, the landscape is green and vegetation prolific everywhere. Recent rains had severely eroded the roads and there were some very deep potholes with cautionary road signs scattered along the Bylong Valley Way from Muswellbrook to Mudgee. The roadside vergetation of tall, colourful yellow fennel and purple St. Johns Wart formed a hedge like feeling as we cut through the very windy roads. Sadly there was also a proliferation of weeds, weeds, weeds in the paddocks, the roadside, upsetting the countryside everywhere. Poor farmers!

Gorgeous Taiyo yarn knitted into a Quant

2010-10-24T15:21:00.002+11:00

Noro's Taiyo yarn is a rainbow in a ball of yarn as you can see here. I found a pattern for a basketweave quant, loved it so much I knitted two for friends. They make a nice alternative to a beanie.

Blu and White china ATC swap

2010-10-24T15:07:00.005+11:00

The theme for this swap was 'composed completely from a magazine using cut outs. It was an excuse to buy some gorgeous lifestyle magazines and dream for a while! I have collected blue and white delft since I was a young girl. Like all my fine bone china and other trinkets, they are all packed away now. I wonder if I will ever put them all out on display again?

2010-10-24T14:57:00.005+11:00

Some of my recent swaps with Flickr ATC friends in USA, Denmark, Holland, UK, Australia - kind and talented friends across the globe.

2010-10-24T14:52:00.005+11:00

2010-10-24T14:39:00.005+11:00

I started making Christmas cards last night. Couldn't resist another cup of green tea in our new Moroccan tea glasses this morning as I contemplated my creativity thus far.

I got a bit carried away at the end of last year when a local scrap book store was selling off her stock and also bought up big at a craft fair with their tempting sales. I justified my purchases by saying they would do me for the whole year!

I am not sure if I was kidding myself or was just carried away in the moment (probably both!), but I have been slowly working my way through the 'stash', not as quickly as I would have thought. We shall see how many cards I get made now that I have started the project! I made a lot of cards when I had my enforced post-op recouperation time earlier this year and had a lot of fun making cards for all occasions. It has been so nice to have a handmade card for every occasion during the year from my 'stash'.

2010-10-24T14:07:00.006+11:00

After steady rain this Spring, we are officially out of a 9 year drought in all areas of New South Wales. The grounds of Stud farm, Upper Hunter Valley, my workplace, is looking particularly attractive as I look out my office window. The rains have spoiled the proliferation of climbing roses, but their delicate apricot hue still reminds me of their beauty.

From the Common room area where we sit to eat our catered lunch each day, I am drawn to the magnificent escarpment into the distance. It feels so ancient and I never tire of this scenery.

A day in my pantry

2010-10-24T13:25:00.005+11:00

I have been wanting to clean out my pantry for 12 months now. I used to do these Spring cleaning jobs with monotonous regularity earlier in my married life but in recent times I have way too many interests, commitments and obligations, so my Spring cleaning suffers. Life gets too busy... Oddly enough, I miss those Spring cleaning Saturdays!

Yesterday was a bright and clear sunny day and I spent a happy time cleaning out my pantry, listening to tunes through the iPod dock. To the songs of Eva Cassidy and Peggy Lee I sang my heart out, rehearsing for the next concert at the Sydney Opera House whilst I sorted and cleaned, and scrubbed and sorted some more.

I don't sort my spices into alphabetical order anymore or line the knives and forks up like soldiers in the cutlery drawer, but I do still like everything to be in neat Tupperware stacks! Phew! I hear you say? I have a life! But there is nothing more pleasurable than opening your cupboards to find them clean and orderly.... life gets in the way... as I, like so many others, try to cram so much into my day with working full time, hobbies, study, interests, committees, community activities.

This is my dilemma... being 'houseproud' as my Nan and mother would approvingly comment on someone they met probably in the 1950's, having everything in order, or jettisoned into living a very full life and squeezing as much in as you can to your day.

Lunch in the Hunter Valley

2010-08-28T11:48:00.008+10:00

Last Sunday we went for a drive in the Lower Hunter valley, NSW. The craggy mountain backdrop to the acres of vineyards, cattle and horses grazing with plenty of green is very soothing to me. Crops of calves and foals tell me that Spring is on its way. We stop at our favourite cafe and have a platter of assorted desserts and a pleasant glass of wine! A nice treat. It's still chilly, but the wattle is beautiful everywhere. Winter is behind us now I hope.

Unravelling time

2010-08-28T11:35:00.004+10:00

Oh dear! A whole month's worth of knitting disgracefully unpicked and lying there waiting, waiting patiently to be knitted up again into a sample wrap. I can't bear a mistake and it would be so obvious in this pattern. See pattern here on MadelineTosh website.

The variegated yarns of this shade of Noro Silk Garden sock yarn is a little too contrasty for my taste, but once I put a deep frill on it, it may change the whole look. I love the knit fabric of garter stitch which shows up the blending of colours in the yarn so well. (I will have to find some more Austenish good movies to watch and knit by this weekend!)

My first fabric ATCs

2010-08-28T11:26:00.003+10:00

Some ATCs traded with swap groups in July, August. The fabric ATCs were scraps from a Sunbonnet Sue quilt that I was making maybe 10 years ago! I kept the piece of patched 'fabric' wondering if I would ever use it! I can't think of a nicer way to use up bits and pieces. Once you start thinking in miniature, you see possibilities everywhere and start dreaming of creations. I will never look at a lifestyle magazine the same way again! All those lovely photos of flowers, home decor... mmm...

2010-08-28T10:32:00.009+10:00

I have been having a lot of creative fun with ATCs since being introduced to them March 2010. Collage with pretty papers, magazine images, now experimenting with zentangles and watercolour and fabric. After all, I have been a fabric a holic for nigh on 25 years now! So I hope to slowly use up some of my fabric stash and ephemera. As these miniatures are just that, 2½" x 3½", I can't see the stash disappearing in a hurry, goodness only knows our lovely rumpus room table has become a casualty to collage and ephemera, with nowhere to put all this lovely stash.

Jach and Celia. This is the only photo of my maternal grandparents on their wedding day, so I thought it was worthy of embellishment. I included an Australian postage stamp with bridal roses. It is a mystery as to the flowers Gran may have carried on her day, or perhaps, none at all in lean times and being one of 16 children. I will have to find what year this was! Maybe early '20's?

This photo used to hang suspended from a very high picture rail in their tiny poorly lit loungeroom mostly devoid of ornamentation, encased in a very big oval wooden frame. I often used to stare at this photo as they stared back at me, frozen in time. The couple in the picture seemed to bear no resemblance to the hard working grandparents that I knew in the '50's, '60's and '70's. Gran always in her 'pinnie' and beanie, milking cows on the freezing cold mornings just a smidgeon past dawn, in Bullarto Sth Victoria; scrubbing and rubbing clothes on the wooden washboard until she got a new Pope washer with a hand wringer.

I have fond memories of hanging the washing on the line on a wire propped up on a pole working with Gran. Not the most sophisticated clothes line, but serviceable. Like everything my grandmother had. Their married life was all about hard work on a dairy and produce farm, thrift and recycling as much as possible.

The end of my 8 week rest

2010-05-01T11:32:00.009+10:00

Reading 'The Friday Night Knitting Club' in hospital.

It's time to go back to work after an extended post-operative recouperation time. I have done everything that the doctor prescribed and will now reap the benefits of rest and creativity. Whilst I was mostly confined to home, I was not lonely or without company.

Thanks to the social network of sms, blogs (Thanks Roz, Diana and Britt-Arnhild et al from Armchairtravellers group and fellow Artist Trading Card artists), Facebook, Yahoo groups of fellow artists and friends and emails from friends from all over the world, it has been a time of connectedness and 'virtual' support. These connections have become an important part of my daily life in the past few years and helps stave off homesickness for friends, to say nothing of news and inspiration I gleen vicariously!

In this recouperation time, I had a chance to read without guilt, having been banned from doing housework. I read some enjoyable books.

My favourite 'reading' application has become MP3 downloads to iPhone or portable MP3 books from the library. Being so portable, it allows me to read *and* play with ATC's, knit, cook or do the ironing! As they say, time flies when you are having fun! More and more I can see myself converting to this medium to 'read', but of course nothing will ever take the tactile place of a book book!

I try to always be a conscientious reader and purchase downloads from official sources and I am a keen supporter of our local library, particularly for audio books.

During March and April I read:

The Friday Night Knitting CLub by Kate Jacobs (SlimInk)

Me by Charles (Bud) Tingwell (CD)

The Thief Taker by Janet Gleeson (PLayaway)

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (SlimInk)

Down under by Bill Bryson (playaway)

Rules of Engagement by Anita Brookner (Book mooch)

The Boy by Julian Davies (borrowed from Kerrie)

The Georges Wife by Elizabeth Jolley (Bookmooch)A

Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern (playaway)

An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy (library)

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows (SlimInk)

The Blind Assasin by Margaret Atwood (MP3) (F2F bookclub)

The Road to NAB End by William Woodruff (Playaway)

The 19th Wife (SlimInk)

When purchasing physcial books I try to be a conscientious buyer and source from independent bookstores. It is very tempting to buy books so cheaply from big department stores, so when yielding, I try to buy one for one (i.e one from independents and one from Big W). It is important to be a patron of your library also, as stats prepared from visits and borrowings support future funding.

I am a keen Bookmoocher for the exchange of used books and many titles I have on my shelves are from Bookmooch.com. I also rent books online from Slimink.com.au and look forward to my monthly exchange of latest titles.

I have resisisted buying a Kindle to date. I don't like the thought of being restricted to Amazon.com for downloads. But as with everything, I will have to do some more research to see who owns websites such as Audiobooks.com and others that I currently favour for purchase of downloads.

Certainly ebooks in audio or electronic reader form are the way of the future. For me, the chance to read audio books is the chance to enjoy more books than I would ever have time to physically read. I am restricting my e-choices to fiction and non fiction stories. My already groaning bookshelves hardly have room to fit a mouse, let alone more fiction and bio books so this is a good option for me! And imagine the whole moving house concept sans books, or rather, minimal books. These two factors make enjoying eBooks a pragmatic choice for me in the future.

I do however love my reference and text books and coffee table books and could not imagine replacing them with electronic copies. I must admit more and more if I want a recipe I will first look online if I don't have the recipe. I have not bought a recipe book for many years, but then in saying that, I do have some beautiful classic cookbooks which I would not part with.

I will always have bookshelves groaning with books of all genres. And borrowing or exchanging eBooks? Hmmm... nothing will take the place of real books it seems...

ATC's - Roses

2010-04-16T14:04:00.003+10:00

Graphics and photos from IClipart and Rubys Blossom.

ATC's - corrugated/Metallic

2010-04-16T13:59:00.005+10:00

A sample of the swap. Tim Holtz lock andkey, Webster scrap paper, Itkupilli letters, Kaiser scrap paper, stamping etc.

2010-04-16T13:53:00.003+10:00

Heat emboss ATC's using stamps from Clearly Vintage (Etsy), V&A new stamp collection.

Tea and coffee ATC swap

2010-04-02T14:20:00.003+11:00

ATC - Tulip and Vintage art swap

2010-04-02T14:04:00.006+11:00

Having fun, making friends, dragging out beloved art materials, downloading public domain vintage photos, drawings... whiling away the hours...more time off work... creating ATC's seems like good therapy?

Small pieces of art to share

2010-03-23T10:12:00.009+11:00

Although an enforced rest was put upon me for 6 weeks after major surgery, I am enjoying the rest and time for creativity.

And an art form that I think is really me! Oh to use up all those little scraps of paper, lace, to use my hundreds of sets of pens, pencils, crayons, paint brushes, inks, chalks, beads. It might take me forever but hey, it's fun! Sitting in the sun overlooking my garden filled with birds, sun and light streaming all around is an inspirational setting in our lovely autumn.

I discovered ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) at the Newcastle Craft expo in February and I'm loving them! Small pieces of art to share...These little wonders are very inspiring, 2½ x 3½" using any medium, style, flattish i.e not too 3D so they can fit into a plastic sleeve, ready to swap with other ATC artists. I find I can incorporate all the crafts that I have loved for 20+ years - stamping, collage, knitting (well photos of my knitting!), photography, stencilling, painting, calligraphy, pergamano, scrapbooking, embossing, creating... playing...

I have met some fabulous people all over the world, read some inspiring blogs of kind, helpful wonderfully creative artists - all fellow addicts to altered art and ATC's. I joined two ATC swap groups and have been very productive, trying to keep up with swaps. I met a warm and friendly Canadian lady who puts out a wonderful journal quarterly with news of ATC swappers all over the world http://www.atcquarterly.com/. I subscribed to her journal and love to use this journal as a reference.

ATC's go way back and a good description with links is on wiki to save me reinventing the wheel:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_trading_cards

I have uploaded my ATC photos to Flickr, and of course at this stage, they are fairly basic, but give me time, give me time!!! LOL! http://www.flickr.com/photos/chelebellechic/ will display a photostream.

Pumpkin lasagne - comfort food

2010-01-28T20:20:00.018+11:00

PUMPKIN AND RICOTTA LASAGNE

The lasagne dish. This is a dish that many of my friends will remember, bought by my dear late husband, Don and part of a 12 piece dinner setting called Figgi from Norway. Ever since I was 16 this dinner set was on my wishlist. I still use it every day and still love it.

Lasagne sheets. If I am being lazy I use fresh lasagne sheets from the supermarket because they are quick and easy. If I am being creative and a purist, I make my own lasagne sheets. But the middle of summer is not the best time to make hand made lasagne. Sometimes we use dried italian lasagne pasta, but fresh is far superior in this instance.

First roast the pumpkin, adding a littel seasoning. Wrap up chunks in Glad Bake to keep the moisture in, similar to when you roast a whole garlic clove.

Next smash the cooked pumpkin. I like to use the Mouli, my favourite kichen (Ludite friendly) tool. It gives a texture without spoiling the cooked ingredient. Ah, trust the Italians for their simplicity.

What I like most about this recipe, is the simplicity and the observation of Italian principles, less is more. Using only few ingredients and not being overly spiced or 'souped up' this dish is easy on the palette, and even more splendid the next day. It is one of our comfort foods. The original recipe came from Good Weekend years ago and we don't vary the recipe too much.

Pumpkin, ricotta, finely grated Parmesan, good quality Fetta or goats cheese (extra tasty), strips of pancetta, butter, raw ginger grated, toasted pine nuts and lightly fried sage leaves on top. layer the cheese mix alternately with lasagne sheets and pancetta and add the fried sage leaves to the top layer. Simply delicious!

13th annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition November 2009, Bondi Beach Sydney

2010-01-23T19:51:00.026+11:00

A trip to Sydney one weekend in November primarily 'take my yarns for a walk' to a Knitters Guild meeting in Central Sydney... Imagine our delight at finding that 'Sculptures by the Sea' exhibition was still on, it's final weekend. This exhibition ran from 29 October - 15 November and exhibits were dotted on the coastal walk between Bondi and Tamarama. Nigel visited with friends on the Saturday whilst I met up with the Guild members. On Sunday we spent a morning visiting the exhibition together. After each step, my delight became even more intense. http://sculpturebythesea.com/ will take you there. Or you can see the full album here on my Facebook profile with credits and titles to sculptors:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030625&id=1577224785&l=f7171704c8

I can't believe we haven't visited this really important sculptural exhibition before! I loved the interaction with the walkers, the children, the interactive element. And all for free! We bought a calendar of course to savour the moments all year long and I have since become a friend of the exhibition to support their work.

After a truly exhilerating morning of discovery we went back to visit friends who put on a beautiful lunch for us.

Maybe you will take a trip to Bondi in October 2010 to visit 'Sculptures by the Sea' exhibition? We will definitely add this to our calendar of 'must see' exhibitions. (Dreaming that we might get to see the whole exhibition this time!)

2010-01-07T22:14:00.022+11:00

After a recent 8 week basic photography course we went on a bushwalk to a local bushland area that I would never normally have ventured into.

At first I saw only fallen branches, dead twigs, no life. But we were here to concentrate on composition and very soon I started absorbing the light and shade, single elements, texture, frames, single leaves. I did not want to disturb this virgin bushland. It was rugged, dry, but beautiful in its own right.

The rich hues and textures of our bushland. The bark on this tree reminds me of Arnhem Land in Central Australia. I love the variations on colour here.

Grasses in a corridor of rocks

A small window frame leads you deeper into the dense forest where only native inhabitants can tread.

I am still fascinated by the grandeur of the grass trees, so prevalant in our native bushlands. At Rossgole they stood tall and proud and seem somewhat foreigners even tho' they are unique to Australia.

I couldn't help thinking this looked like a watchful eye... making sure we didn't leave our stained footprints on this rustic setting.

More window frames

One beautiful gum tree

Find out who you are and do it on purpose... Dolly Parton

2009-01-01T18:19:00.003+11:00

I found this quote in a scrapbooking magazine
which really resonated with me.

1. I admire and enjoy Dolly Parton's work
and who she is. I hope she has been a
mentor to many who have not yet found the
secret to life... She has certainly inspired me with her own brand of individuality, style and grace.

2. Personal integrity - being accepted for who you are and doing it with attitude. The assurance of this little pearl of wisdom gives me confidence and sets boundaries to others.

Recently I joined the Red Hatters Society - a society of high spirited and fun loving ladies approaching 50 and beyond who get together to celebrate life, are not afraid of ageing and have good unadulterated fun. I love their philosophy... I can imagine Dolly Parton in a sumptious or sassy red hat and an outrageous purple outfit - The 'code of dress' for Red Hatters. No more is asked of you than that.

The 'been there, done that' attitude is not for the Red Hatters as you will find on the Aussie Red Hatters society website www.matildarose2.com New Year address. We are a fun loving group of ladies who have spent a lifetime looking after others whether it be family, committees or community. Now it is time to play and enjoy the companionship of wonderful sisters.

So what's stopping you? http://www.redhatsociety.com/ will get you started anywhere in the world, or google Red Hat society. This is an established group of women approaching 50, who could teach you to have fun. You will soon get the confidence to wear a red hat anywhere, at any time with the sisterhood.

Luminous greens of Spring

2008-10-02T18:41:00.004+10:00

I am lured to this place of luminosity every day around 3pm in recent days. It is a view just outside our office on a path to the Homestead (main office). ... so cooling and calming. Green is the colour of healing and who better to spread her healing hands than Mother Nature? Spring, the season of new growth colour and the promise of life! What a delight for the senses.

It is little wonder poets, photographers
artists are inspired to record these days
with artistic perspective.

I love the play on green and
dream of the chance to to sit amongst the rustling trees to paint, to meditate, just to watch the fading light as the Spring show curtain falls for yet another day.

Lemon meringue pie

2008-09-14T22:18:00.004+10:00

A kind friend gave me one dozen
eggs from her laying hens and I have been having fun making
deliciously decadent recipes such as this
tangy pie, a true Australian favourite.
But read on for its history according to
Australian Gourmet/Traveller...
Lemon meringue pie history

My favourite recipe book these days is www.taste.com.au/ and this is the origin of my recipe for the Lemon meringue pie.

Japonica

2008-09-14T22:07:00.008+10:00

The japonica flower is a delight to see. The flowers form, and then they form, and then they just keep forming for months and months before this delicate cascade of bells finally shows in early Spring. They take me back fondly to a wonderful trip we made to Japan in 2003.

Can you imagine dainty geisha girls with their ballet like grace

and hair adorned with delicate mauve japoncia flowers tinkling and swaying this way and that as they gently incline their pretty little faces to smile up at you?

Orchids

2008-09-14T21:58:00.004+10:00

My favourite old orchid has finally burst into flower. The plant itself is around 30 years old and has seen many moves. The buds dotted all the way down on each of 9 spikes took so long to open this year. I wondered if they were in shock from our recent move and the extra bitey prolonged frosts we have had in Muswellbrook. They are much happier and healthier since moving to the Hunter Valley. On the coast and one block from the sea in Port Macquarie NSW we were lucky to even see one spike per year.

A drive along the Golden Highway

2008-09-14T21:48:00.005+10:00

Saturday is my fun day and I love to go for a drive around the district particularly at the change of season. Spring in the Upper Hunter Valley is beautiful and everywhere there are signs of new life. The Golden Highway from Denman to Merriwa is alive with golden splashes of colour, perhaps not the original reason for naming this highway, but the wattle everywhere would fool you into thinking that is the reason for it's name (fools gold maybe?). Up close, the wattle is such a textural and visual experience, radiant luminescent yellow with green spikey leaves, the flowers like feathery tiny pom pons. The green and gold is so typical of Australian scenery.

View from the common room

2008-08-31T21:50:00.003+10:00

Late winter view from the common room. This is the view looking over Aberdeen escarpment as we lunch. The days are getting longer and it is really pleasant sitting out on the verandah eating our lunch, fully catered by my workplace. The girls work very hard to provide us with interesting and varied lunch menus and we just get to sit and enjoy over happy conversations and a lot of laughs with colleagues.

2008-08-31T21:43:00.003+10:00

Some views from my office window. How lucky am I to have these seasonal moody views overlooking the horse stud farm. The escarpment in the far backdrop calls me to ancient times in this picturesque backdrop. This winter the citrus trees have yielded their gifts of oranges, lemons and mandarins. Late afternoon you will hear the lament of a single bird as she calls to her family.

Muswellbrook winter 2008

2008-08-31T21:32:00.003+10:00

Muswellbrook winter. The streets are ablaze with the glorious jacarandas in foliage. The colours are electric, almost as beautiful as the purple flower of the jacaranda itself. Beautiful old trees lining all the streets of Muswellbrook I await your unfolding beauty with delight.

Scrapbook Sally 2

2008-08-31T21:24:00.003+10:00

Well the scrapbook page is well and truly finished and I am now hooked on scrapbooking. I am only frustrated by the lack of items to hand and my limited time. I sent this page in an album to Sally hoping that her daughter will add to the album at some stage. Maybe a start of something creative for Sally herself? Sally takes fantastic arty photos. I was inspired by her talent and eye to see a photo in the lens. And incredibly, even tho' we had never met before Blackall late June 08 we found we had the same camera!

Chewiest chocolate brownies

2008-08-31T20:51:00.003+10:00

I collect small pottery and porcelain dishes. I have dozens of small pieces which I have collected from many different sources. This gorgeous little platter was given to me by a lady who was leaving the company I just joined. We were so taken with one another that we vowed to keep in touch. Her present to me was a Christmas gift and an 'I wish you well in your new job' type present. How coincidental that her gift should be in a colour that I adore and feel that I could dive into for its richness and clarity? I use this little platter a lot and think of my friend Doreen. (We do see each other, and each time is like a recharge of energy for my soul). These chocolate brownies are my favourite brownie recipe decadent for their addition of cocoa and couveture chocolate... and thank you Doreen.

Scrapbook Sally

2008-06-06T21:09:00.002+10:00

Here are the elements of a scrapbook page which I intend to create and send to my friend Sally. (Her photo is on the right hand side). I have always loved paper craft and have enjoyed calligraphy, pergamano, folk art, marbling, card making, stamping, decoupage, stencilling over the years. Scrapbooking has so much potential to incorporate all these crafts. I'll post this to my blog when I have sent her the page!

Merriwa NSW

2008-06-06T20:55:00.001+10:00

I just love the trip to Merriwa which is approx 60km from Scone. Along the way the countryside is ever changing and according to season, brings surprises and delights every time.

This rock formation is grand and moody, adapting to the weather and season and reminds me of rock formations in Northern Territory and Western Australia. It particularly reminds me of the Bungle Bungles in WA. Oh to revisit with a digital camera!

Scone late autumn

2008-06-06T20:34:00.000+10:00

Today I set up my display of yarns etc for 'Festival of the Fleeces' at the Visitors Welcoming Centre, Merriwa. On my journey to Merriwa I found some deciduous trees still displaying autumnal beauty, just outside of Scone. This area with its distinct four seasons is at its best in Autumn in my humble opinion. This is an example of nature's colour palette.I am loving my new camera, a Canon S5 SI, altho' fixed range focus, the quality is very good at 8 megapixels.

The B and S Ball 2007, Scone

2007-06-03T17:21:00.000+10:00

Yes! we said when asked to help at the B and S Ball on 19th May. Lend a helping hand, have some fun with fellow workmates, their spouses, and other generous helpers and support Strathearn Village’s annual contribution to the Horse Festival held in Scone. With no background briefing about the B and S Ball or Strathearn’s involvement we went with an open mind. Would I dress up? What did our ‘help’ entail?

I was advised before hand to wear something warm, so decided on the traditional waiting ‘blacks standard’ with a twist – cashmere stole secured with a festive brooch, er, not for the husband though! Yep, it sure was cold!

As we walked onto the paddock near the Racecourse I thought we had the venue wrong! Was this a paintball Skirmish? Some of the ball attendees had gone to a lot of trouble to dress up. But what were they all painted with? Of course I had to ask what the go was (hoping against hope that us olds would not be targeted) Everyone was plastered with some sort of dye, and I mean plastered – faces, clothes, hair!

‘Oh yes! That’s what we do – spray each other with food dye. It’s a tradition of the B and S. Great fun!’ The op shops must have done a roaring trade as many commented on their Op Shop outfits. I guess if their ball clobber got trashed by food dye they wouldn’t be so concerned.

So our help on the night? Approx 25 volunteers at the B and S served Roast Beef rolls (see photo above) and sausages in rolls from 6.30pm to 2am and breakfast from 6am – 8am to a bright, enthusiastic and energetic crowd, a little bleary for breakfast maybe! The numbers? 200kg beef, 600 sausages, 35kg bacon, 80 dozen eggs, 1800 bread rolls, 130 loaves bread. I assumed no-one went hungry!!! We can’t forget the cooks and washer uppers and planners working behind the scenes to make a truly great night for patrons and volunteers alike.

The cashmere number? A bit overdressed maybe…

'We Need to talk about Kevin' by Lionel Shriver

2007-05-05T17:14:00.000+10:00

Here is an excerpt of an interview from a very interesting website on Lionel Shriver talking about her book.

http://www.identitytheory.com/interviews/birnbaum118.php

Lionel Shriver's latest novel, We Need To Talk About Kevin, is her seventh. Her previous novels are Double Fault, A Perfectly Good Family, Game Control, The Bleeding Heart, Checker and the Derailleurs and The Female of the Species. She attended Columbia University and has lived for many years in Belfast, Northern Ireland and has written for the Wall Street Journal, The Economist and the Philadelphia Enquirer. Currently she lives in New York and is, as one might expect, working on her next novel.

We Need to Talk About Kevin is the story of Eva Khatchadourian's retrospective account of her son's life up to and beyond the day he went to his high school and began shooting his classmates. As Suzy Hansen writes at Salon.com: "What we get … is an interesting, thoughtful, and surprisingly credible thriller. We Need to Talk About Kevin is about motherhood and the possibility that one's ambivalence about breeding might influence the growth and development of a child. Eva, in her scathingly honest and often witty recollections of her relationship with Franklin, her agonized decision to give up a life of traveling for motherhood, and her painful years with (the truly hideous and apathetic) Kevin, faces the question head on: Am I responsible for what my child has done?"

I loved this thought provoking book. Shriver's writing style is articulate and very detailed but her exploration of human thought is very real. As an Aussie I couldn't really relate to the issues of schoolyard crime, nor that of possession of handguns as our life seems so remote from the spine chilling phenomena of schoolyard massacres that we hear on the news from Amercia all too often. I guess the issues are still the same - if you wake up one day and realise that your son is a potential killer, what steps do you take, whose side will you take, and will you defend your own even though they have committed a henous crime. Will you blame yourself?

Our little piece of paradise

2007-04-27T23:18:00.000+10:00

Here are two photos approx 6-7 months apart of our back verandah and our family of pot plants. A lot of the plants came from Melbourne back in '98 and were already very very old, I'm talking 20-30+ years in some cases! I lost a lot of beautiful plants in the move to Port Macquarie as they didn't like the coastal climate and were probably traumatised a bit like myself at the time, but they are thriving here. Thankfully, the vintage potplants all survived both moves. The conditions are pretty harsh here - extremes in temperature and frosts etc, but the shadecloth area is a bit protected also by the ornamental grape vine for 6 months of the year and it just seems to be a good spot that they like! Perfect little nest to relax and read a book or dream or drink coffee.

The rest of the yard is 'Crunchville' - very dry and not much growing. We are still trying to keep the citrus trees alive but sometimes it seems obscene to be giving them so much water when we are in such desperate need for this precious commodity in Upper Hunter. We have become used to our arid back yard, but there is hardly a blade of grass at the best of times and when it rains, the grass has just adapted to extreme temperatures and lack of rain and made its own hybrid variation of 'grass/slash weeds'. Quite odd, but certainly not uncommon around the Upper Hunter.

Luv CheleBelle & Nigers

Welcome to the Hartrick blog spot

2007-04-27T23:07:00.000+10:00

Ooh, I'm really into this blogging stuff! This is the second one I have created tonight! t'other one is mostly for knitters inspiration.

This will be mostly a private blog for friends and I'll include photos, recipes, reviews and other musings from our happy little life here in the Upper Hunter Valley. Not sure where Upper Hunter is? http://upperhunter.local-e.nsw.gov.au/ or even better: http://www.horsecapital.com.au/uhrw/Scone%20map.htm If you go to this url and go to map west of Scone you will find our street.

Luv to you and yours,
CheleBelle and Nigers