Social distancing and Isolation II

 Would you like to join me in the room where I spend a lot of my time resting in between chores or just sitting early in the morning watching the sun rise through the trees and over the vines? I also do a lot of reading and contemplating there....
the book case is jampacked with ,well, books of all types and genres, science fiction and murder mysteries (mostly Brian's) classics and gardening in which we are both interested... The hanging in the corner was done as a mourning piece at Springfield after we had to leave our beloved Hughes park. It was done in cross stitch with my handspun Merino wool in natural colours on a rug canvas. The pattern was meant for a table cloth

 and represents a snowflake in the Hungarian tradition. So it was wonderful to see it expand to this size.
On the right , behind the settee is the wine cabinet with a delicately fashioned Celtic cross and to the right of that a tree both done in fine scroll work by my artistic friend Meredyth. They are wonderful to gaze upon and admire.
The glass crab on the serving platter on the wall was created by our local glass artist Glenn who has a studio in the Willunga main street. It was a present for Brian whose zodiac sign is the Crab.

 To the left of the door into the study is my rendition in cross stitch of the Fisherman's prayer. I found this prayer in the hut on Currango in the Snowy mountains where we used to go trout fishing late March early April, between crutching and lambing...it is a lovely prayer and I stitched that when we lived at Inman Valley for Harry's 75th birthday....I had good eyesight in those days.... The pear wood frame I saved up for back in the 60ies and cost 10 shillings.....from a second hand store in Clare. I could become quite sentimental here...

 Well, now, here is the pond Kym constructed for me out of the kerbside timber he found and the bath which has been sitting here which we inherited from the previous owners 30 years ago.
I have put in the native lobelia which apparently came from Warrawong  in the Adelaide hills. It loves water and has the most delicate blue flowers. The fringe lily is there also and the strawberry plants may or may not thrive along the long side. I have caught  five little goldfish and they love the cave I have made for them out of bricks and a slate tile.

The Bougainvillaea has exploded into a riot of colour and I had to cut some of it back quite severely as the thorns on it are intensely sharp and were preventing me from getting to the rainwater tap.
I use that water to irrigate the rhubarb which, I am slowly coming to the conclusion, isn't worth bothering with as it just won't thrive and looks wilted a lot of the time....could be the quince tree is sneaking its roots under it of course, so perhaps I may give it another chance by shifting it to somewhere else......
Do click on the photos to get a closer look...

Social Distancing and Isolation....

Now we are all confined to our homes, I started wondering how other people are managing and living with an unexpected time of restrictions.
I found myself this morning, looking more closely at the every day things we live with. Let me start with my new bedroom...since Brian became very ill last September, I had to leave the marital bed and move into one of the spare bedrooms. I started sleeping with my cello as cellos don't have to get up numerous times a night to use the en suite, nor do they forget to turn off the light  ...and I do so need a good nights rest.....

 The beds in this room once upon a time were the beds John Dutton and his poet brother Geoffrey Dutton, slept in when they were boys living on Anlaby, their parents Merino sheep stud 10 miles from Kapunda. The beds are very narrow, only 80cm wide....and I have to tuck the sheets and blankets in tightly so I don't roll over and fall out.....The large painting of bright flowers I bought for my late sister Attie one afternoon coming back from a walk along Henley Beach beach. A woman was painting outside,on her verandah and I could not resist buying this bold painting for my sister. The little pictures are painted fabric with hand stitching done by moi.....

The recycled bath is sitting in its cage now ready to be surrounded by gravel and  soil so plants can be planted, the bath filled with water and water plants and fish to be put in from the pond..
I love water plants and really like looking at the fish in the pond. These ,by the way, are breeding up at the rate of knots and I see little groups of tiny black fish swimming about among the plants.

The crested pigeons were courting each other in front of the dining room window the other day. You never can tell who is who here, as they both display and fan out their tails,
showing lovely flashes of iridescent colours.
The males can be quite brutal with each other and will whack each other with their wings. This goes on for quite a while sometimes.

The Galah on the right here, sat in front of the window last Saturday and looked as though he was on his last legs. On his own and just sitting there looking miserable, yet an hour or so later he flew off when a noisy mob of his mates arrived.
Was it isolating itself too? did it know something might be afoot? It does come back to the pond to drink on its own from time to time, so perhaps it is an escapee.....seeking quiet, away from the maddening crowd......