There was Perth

I went to the state of Western Australia for a week in early October for the Southern Hemisphere Felters Convergence. Just me. Flew to Perth for a couple days and then a 2 hour drive south to Bunbury. It's right along the left bottom edge of Australia where if you fell off, you'd have to swim to Africa and that's really far.

I've never been anywhere so beautiful in all my life. No disrespect to Rainbow Valley or the prairies of Illinois or a Virginia woodland in April; it was just prettier.

and I was all by myself which was great most of the time but hard by day 4 when I missed my baby and really hard when I took Cave Road and went into an enormous cave and had no one to point at things with.
I let the Indian Ocean lick my ankles. I wondered why no one was in the water but took it as good advice.
I was in Bunbury to make felt and learn about it and meet 150 other felters and see their gorgeous art. I got to live in a dorm at the Cathedral Grammar School with 7 other crazy broads.
I made friends and walked in woods and said I hoped I saw a possum before I left and one was outside my window the next morning.
It all worked and the spell hasn't broken yet. I'm creating and making notes of ideas and selling my work and stealing other ideas and enjoying it immensely.
I will take my men there in 2012 and I hope they love it as much.

PS I've left room for photos if I can ever access them. White sand, blue sky. Possum like a big-eyed, really soft cat in a tree. Pine forests underlain with white calla lilies and circled by screeching egrets, pelicans so big they could swallow a child, sunsets like crazy.

2012

I'm not much for New Year's resolutions. Last year, as I recall, I resolved to be late more often, eat more chocolate, have more lunches out with friends and dress really comfortably.
Like most people, I forgot about my resolutions in short order and don't really remember whether I fulfilled them or not. Input?
This year, I'll blog. It had become yucky to do so for many reasons, none of which are cheerful or interesting.
Don't expect a lot of photos, but more regularity. What shall we shoot for? Daily? No. Weekly? Doable - especially without photos.
Going backwards from here, which is the opposite of how Blogger likes it:
CHRISTMAS
Christmas was a good day; not a Christmassy Day, but good with food and friends and pressies. The Aussies don't echange gift so much as Americans do and that's a relief. Your kid's friends don't give him more than a lolly or card (overall, there are exceptions).
Santa was tracked on the NORAD site so we could see when he was headed for New Zealand and scamper to bed. Aussies leave Santa cookies and beer and water for his reindeer. We went with cookies, carrots and the water.

Christmas Day hit 50 degrees Celsius which translates to about 123 F. We stayed in and have been since.
There was a New Years Eve party at Lasseter's Casino last night, out on the lawn (there arose such a clatter). It was still 87 when we went home about 9:30, after the fireworks.
One Aussie Christmas tradition I liked and may bring home: cherries. They are at peak around Christmas time and you find the ones with two stems hooked together and hang them from your ears. Good fun.
Carols by Candle light is cool, too where almost the whole town gathers on a sports oval and sings carols, holding LED candles. It's organized by all the Christian churches together and there is usually some short Christmas "message" from a pastor. Takes place in every bigger town and city in Australia. Can't see it happening in the US, but really beautiful.
Alright, I can't help myself. Let's try for some photos:
First, check out that transitioning, sharky smile. He sings, "All I want for Christmas is ONLY two front teeth."


How CAN he fold himself up like that?




Watching A Charlie Brown Christmas (which cracks him up!) while "acting it out" with his Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Thanks Okie Do and Aunt T.



That's it for today, don't want to pull a blogging muscle.
Happy All Year!