Such beautiful paintings

Many years ago now, I saw a painting, in a little city gallery, by an artist I'd never heard of before. In the most beautifully dappled colours, he had captured the changing light from tall tree shade to reflections by water's edge and the explorations of meandering children along the bank. It reminded me of long and free Summer days spent in waterholes and by creek beds in the place where I grew up. I couldn't afford to buy that painting, even though I so very much wanted to, but I've never forgotten the beauty of it and the memory and feeling it left me with. The artist was Dale Marsh and I have been enthralled by his paintings ever since.

Dale Marsh's beautifully dappled colours.

(Detail from The Overgrown Garden, 1985.)

I didn't know it then, but it is his work that features on the giant mural that welcomes you to Bribie Island. Children running, full of joy, down a sand dune greet you as you drive off the bridge and onto the island. Dale Marsh loves this island, referring to it as the "cradle to my soul and the inspiration of my life". He is now 80years old and still painting this place that means so much to him. 

Bribie Island's welcoming mural.

(Image credit:  The Bribie Islander)

A deep love of place.

(Dale Marsh, 2019)

So it was to Bribie, for which Dale Marsh feels such affection, that I drove last Sunday to see Catching the Light, an exhibition of his work at the island's little seaside museum. Paintings inspired by and of the island adorned the walls of a light-filled gallery that looks out upon a view of the sea. Older paintings and more recent paintings and all so very beautiful.

Catching the Light Exhibition Booklet. 

In the quiet gallery, I spent much time with each and every painting. Looking up close at the brushstrokes and dabs of colour, layers of them, and then from distance to see the painting in its wholeness and wonder. 

 Detail from Morning Ramble at Red Beach

(Dale Marsh, 2016)

Detail from Reflections on a Posy. 

(Dale Marsh, 2014)

I think a deep connection to place, like that which Dale Marsh feels for Bribie Island and which inspires his incredible paintings still, is important for all of us; a love so profound that it gives us a home to drop anchor in and a safe harbour to come back to. Perhaps, that is what I felt when I saw that painting all those years ago now. I recognised "home" reflected in its dappled colours and in its light.

Meg

  

Three Things from My Garden

A delicate spray of sweetly scented blossoms, a bunch of fragrant homegrown herbs and a simple bouquet of little flowers are the joy I brought inside from our lush and green garden this morning...

Homegrown flowers and herbs.

That single spray of white star-shaped flowers came from my climbing Stephanotis vine. (Madagascan Jasmine).  Its sweetly perfumed blossoms are also known as wedding flowers because they are often used in wedding bouquets. I placed my single spray in a little vintage milk bottle, along with some of my favourite blue and white treasures, atop the old hoop pine table near our front door. Its heady perfume will offer a long-lasting and sweetly-scented welcome home. 

A spray of sweetly-scented Stephanotis in an old milk bottle.

While the Stephanotis is covered in sweetly-scented stars, the herbs in our garden are covered in lush new growth. The bunch of pungent basil and savoury rosemary I picked are now sitting in a blue jug of water on my kitchen bench ready to add flavour and freshness to our meals. The basil is destined for a pasta sauce while the rosemary for a focaccia and some herb-y roasted potatoes. Homegrown herbs have such vibrant flavour!

A bunch of fresh, homegrown herbs.

Into another old jug, I placed a happy little bouquet of small Zinnia flowers. With their creamy petals and centres of golden yellow, these Summer flowers always make me smile. I love them so for their simplicity. They seem to match perfectly the crocheted 'lace' of a favourite vintage doily.

A bunch of happy little Zinnias.

This is the joy of the garden for me; the food and the flowers that we grow. Whether it's a bunch of herbs or a bunch of flowers or both, I am beyond content when there's abundance in our garden to pick and enjoy.

Meg

p.s. If you would like to learn more about growing the beautiful Stephanotis vine, here is a Gardening Australia video and factsheet.

Singing for the Rain

Glorious soaking rain has fallen steadily here for days and days. Our rain gauge and tanks are full to overflowing. The garden is lush and green and the grass is growing rather enthusiastically.  There's loads of catch-up washing strung up everywhere there's room for a rack or a line now the sun is peeking out again. Our gumboots and old shoes are splattered with mud from squelching about in the garden and our trusty umbrellas are still by the front door ready for the week's forecast showers. One little character, with no umbrella of its own, has found itself a spot of shelter up on our back verandah. From its perch upon the railing, it's been singing to its heart's content.

A cute little butcher bird. 

Offering up a tune.

With it's fluffed-up feathers, still the lighter brown of a juvenile, it is rather cute and not the least bit shy about its singing. It's visited many a day recently to offer up a serenade or two. Before its more melodious performances, I had seen and heard it squawking loudly for its parent birds to find and feed it tasty morsels. Perhaps it's now singing for us in the hope we'll take over feeding duties or maybe it too is just very happy with all the rain.

Meg

Birthday Cake

It began thirteen years ago now, with a little caterpillar cupcake cake for a tiny boy turning just one year old. This year, it was a 13 cake for a much older boy who is now, officially, a teenager. I'm not quite sure where all the years in between one and thirteen years old have gone but I know that every year we celebrate the day he was born with a homemade birthday cake. It's tradition!

There has been a ladybug cake, complete with freckly dots, and an echidna ice-cream cake with chocolatey spikes and a sleepy moon cake for a boy who loved the moon when he was two. Here are some of the special cakes that have held my boy's birthday candles over his years so far ...

 The very first birthday cake I made for my boy.

 For a boy who loved the moon!

 A rather red ladybug with freckly dots!

 An ice-creamy echidna with chocolatey spikes.

 A photo cake for seven!

A simple 11!


12 candles to blow out on this cake.

My smaller boy would happily leaf through the pages of our batter-splattered birthday cake book, the ever-reliable Women's Weekly Kids' Birthday Cakes, and take his time choosing the cake for his happy birthday day. He'd then ask, "Can you make this one?" Now he is older though, he presents me with his own hand-drawn cake plans and asks the same question. I usually respond with a question of my own along the lines of "Just how many Kit-Kats do you want me to fit on this cake?"

This year's birthday cake plan.

A cake for a brand new teenager.

Once the candles were blown out, it took very little time for the cake to be demolished. Whether to have a slice with white chocolate or darker chocolate icing was quite the choice! The birthday boy himself requested a slice with both! 

It does take time to make a birthday cake, to cream that butter and sugar and fold in that flour and melt that chocolate, but a homemade cake also has that one very special extra ingredient...love. 

Meg

First Soapmaking: A Heart-Shaped Flop

I imagined bars of creamy, milky soap but ended up with these lumpy bumpy hearts instead. 😞

My first homemade soaps.

My first attempt at making soap didn't quite turn out perfectly but learning a new skill often takes time. This happened when I started knitting again so many years after my grandmother taught me how to cast on. So many dropped stitches! It happened too when I began teaching myself to sew. So much unpicking! And it seems now that soap making will take practice and patience and a willingness to try again. 

The soap recipe I followed is really very simple. There are very few ingredients in it; just pure soap flakes, milk and milk powder. Essential oils can be added but I chose not to add fragrance as I wanted to limit the chance for things to go awry. But awry they went anyway! Luckily, flops like this are simply opportunities to learn, aren't they...

Lumpy bumpy bases.

During my first soapmaking session, I ran into a few problems which I think probably led to this somewhat messy, heart-shaped result.  The pot I used was one I already had and I don't feel it has a heavy enough base because it didn't heat up well at low temperature so it took forever for the soap flakes to melt, and the bottom of the soap mixture began to burn when I increased the heat. It is also very light and kept moving off the hotplate as I tried stirring the soap mixture leading to a less-than-constant temperature. I will be keeping my eye out for a heavy based pot at the op-shops before I try making soap again. 

Smooth and creamy but still too thick.

After considerable time and with much stirring, both by hand and with a stick blender, my mixture did finally reach the point where it was creamy and smooth and ready to pour into my heart-shaped moulds. I found it very tricky transferring the soap mixture from the pot to fill each heart as the mixture quickly became too thick on the surface when removed from the heat meaning I could not achieve a smooth finish for the base of the soaps. I wonder if a simple rectangular container might work better and make for an easier transfer of mixture to mould. At least until I get the consistency right.

Imperfection!

After 24hours to set, I turned the soapy hearts out of their silicone mould. While they are 'rough' on the base, they are somewhat smoother on top. So, while I definitely won't be gifting my soap to anyone until I sort out a few glitches, it's still very much usable for us here at home. Well, it will be once it cures for a few weeks. In the meantime, I'll be scouring the op-shops to find me a better pot so that I can have another try. 

Are you a soap maker? How did your first attempts turn out?

Meg