Food | Judy Dominic Fiber Artist

June 25, 2014

Two glasses …

… of champagne with a few canapes (one of cucumber slice and crocodile meat, another of kangaroo meat), two glasses of white wine with dinner (too many wonderful edibles to describe) and two glasses of port with dessert (which went down so smoothly it was like drinking water) and we ended our day under the stars!

The day started with seeing the moon and morning star (Venus) very bright in the sky as the sun was rising. Had another lovely breakfast (this is by far the best breakfast that comes with a room!) and headed out to Uluru. After circling the stone, we walked to the base of the rock by the Mutitjulu Waterhole. Loads of good informational signs all around explaining what is being seen as well as the cultural significance.

Janet and I then split up, she to go ahead with the car and walk back on the track and me to walk the Lungkata track to meet up with her. We then walked the Mala track to Kantju Gorge together. Observed sacred men’s and women’s spaces, sacred water spots and initiation areas. All against the big red monolith.

There were several spots where I could actually put my hands on part of Uluru – a lovely connection to the earth and creation.

Lunch, a short nap and some internet time and then we were bussed off to see the sunset on both Uluru and Kata Tjuta. A very talented didgeriedoo player added to the sunset ambiance (as did the champagne). Three native dancers/musician/singer welcomed us to the dining area just down the hill from the sunset viewing. Our tables were immaculately set in the red dirt so that as dusk faded and it got really dark, the stars were fantastically arrayed above us. An entertaining storytelling astronomer pointed out the Southern Cross as well as other important heavenly bodies and we finished the evening before it got too cold.

Shared our table with a newlywed couple from Melbourne – who were glad to be in the Red Centre as Melbourne is currently experiencing a terrible winter storm. A lovely mother and daughter team from Sydney rounded out our table companions. About 40 tourists, a chef and some waitstaff – that was our group for the Sounds of Silence dinner under the stars. Perfect ending to a perfect day.

Can’t get more than one pic uploaded today, sorry!

June 23, 2014

Time …

… at Alice Springs was a blur of activities, people and sights.

After an hour delayed flight from Melbourne, i connected with Janet dB and Phil H. Janet and I did the whole walking tour of the Alice Springs Desert Park – some very interesting displays of birds, nocturnals, plants/flowers and kangaroos.

Phil co-emceed the Eco-Couture Fashion Show Thursday evening that showcased 6 regional artists with their current recycled/reworked clothing. Some very cool work seen in a very cool setting (temps and ambience) as the event was held in the current airplane museum – the actual plane hangar from which they had to push out three small planes while the runway wound under the wings of an old DC3.

Friday dawned cool and sunny and we jumped into Beanie Festival activity early by attending the sponsors’ coffee inside the beanie competition exhibit space. Some wild creations! (See pics below.) And a quick look thru Beanie Central proved to be overwhelming with amount (7,000), color and variety of styles, shapes and sizes.

Janet and I then made our way to downtown Alice Springs, strolled through the mall and hiked to the Pink Botanical Gardens where we had a lovely lunch.

A quick trip back to the Art Centre and I was teaching a random basketry class outsied under the trees. A great group of ladies and they all created wonderful work. We hung around for the official opening of the Festival. Had a deluxe meal (grilled sausage, potato salad and saurkraut all piled into a huge hot dog bun) from one of the outdoor booths.

Saturday was full-on with bookmaking, mudcloth and rust dyeing classes during the day. Phil and I took in the view of Alice just at dusk on top of Anzac Hill, viewing the Macdonald Mountain range that curls around Alice.

Sunday was another busy day with repeats of rust dyeing and bookmaking with the addition of a soft book class. Turns out I have a groupie! One gal came to the Festival just to take classes with me and wound up in three of them. Too funny! Love it, Anne!

A predawn pick-up by a tour bus on Monday heading to Uluru, southwest of Alice Springs. The desert is lush right now due to summer rains and a big storm earlier in the fall. The first large rock formation seen was Mt. Connor which is larger and older than Uluru.

More adventures to come in Uluru!

June 12, 2014

Rain again today …

… but it did not keep us from getting things accomplished. Although, without the floor heaters I doubt there would be anything dry. Paper flowers pulled last Friday were finally dry enough to pop off their wire moulds. Paper leaves made just Tuesday in the rain were also dry – these had the advantage of being pressed, so that helped the process. The inside of the studio was jerry-rigged to handle three different drying stations. Still have a few more flowers from last week drying out and then all that will be finished.

The really large sheets that Mark started pulling during Tuesday’s intermittent showers are still waiting for the sun – promised for tomorrow. And we will pull at least 6 more of the big ones. (See pics below for some of the process.)

The sun is being counted on for all sorts of drying tasks tomorrow – we have two loads of laundry that need to dry, too! And the yard really needs to dry out as we are starting to make some muddy messes with our gum boots.

The best part of the constant cloud cover has been the fact that the temperature has not gone below 40 degrees F (nor has it gone much above 45 F – my hands and feet can attest to the damp temps!). With clearing skies, freezing temps will return at night.

We’ve had plenty of hot water (heated by the wood/coal stove), very hearty and healthy meals (including freshly made bread and desserts) and my hands/feet are currently warm – so all is good!

May 28, 2014

Playing around …

… in Melbourne with Anne N and her hubby Tony this past week has been great fun: making books, stitching, planning mudcloth clothing, checking out constuction sites, visiting other basketmakers, having teas, trading stories with neighbors and friends, traveling to the countryside, doing laundry, moving bricks, eating and drinking and watching more TV than I have in a long time. Way too busy to post any blog reports, sorry!

Ann and I motored east to Traralgon today tomspend a couple days with Glenys M before teaching mudcloth thus weekend in Meeniyan. Along the way we stopped in the village of Darnum for a coffee/hot chocolate and delicious piece of honeycomb caramel cake with cream at the local Tearoom. We also drove by the Musical Village just down the road from the Tearoom. Lovely vistas of the valley paddocks. (See pics 1, 2.)

Glenys toured us around the hillsides to view a brown coal mine and the results of the Churchill Fire that went through about 4 years ago. Blackened tree trunks amid the small blue gums that have been planted to help reforestation. Eleven lives and many homes lost. (See pics 3-5.)

I was just introduced tonigt to the Australian author and illustrator Shaun Tan – really cool work!

April 24, 2014

Play day

Had a great day yesterday (Wednesday) introducing Perthians/Perthites? to the fun of working with sausage casing. Some really nice items were developed – will post a block of pics on my flickr page at some point, but not today.

Today was spent chillin’ at home, catching up on emails and finances, gathering more olives off the ground, giving Martien a hard time, walking around the block, bundling more op shop clothes. Here are pics of the olives, currajong and lemon gum that I used:

And here are the lovely things ripening on the back yard: