A Saucy Tale!

You are probably sick to death of me banging on about tomatoes...........they have kind of been dominating my life just lately, and I PROMISE this will be the last time I mention them. If you are still reading, tomato season in Tasmania is about to come to a sudden halt - Autumn is approaching fast, there is a nip in the morning air, the leaves are turning and the first frost is not far away. That's the end of tomatoes except for all the unripened ones which will have to be turned into green tomato relish. Here's a photo of some of what I've done with tomatoes......relish, sauce (ketchup), dried, semi-dried and packed into herbed olive oil. I also have frozen puree in the freezer.
Needless to say, I'm rather sick of the sight of tomatoes.......this is the Last Word!

Now.......what to do with all those CAPSICUMS!

A month or so back, while I was doing a bit of blog-hopping, I happened upon a bright and cheerful blog kept by Brigitte. She was having a little naming contest which I entered. Lucky me! I won the contest and here is what arrived in the mail yesterday to live here with me - two of the sweetest Danish Christmas elves who took no time at all to settle in to their new home, as you can see. Go and have a look at Brigitte's blog - it's a very fun place to visit.

Alien Tomatoes and a New Head!

We have had a bumper tomato crop this summer........after having tomatoes every possible way, making relish and sauce and still having them all around the kitchen, I'm actually a little sick of the sight of them! But should I be afraid of them? Some of them are looking like this:

.......a bit like something out of "Aliens"!

I still want to try drying some - I may be sick of them right now, but in the depths of winter, I know they will provide a welcome taste of summer sunshine.

Meanwhile, in the studio, I have sculpted this new child head - the first two show it just as sculpted  with the clay still wet and in the third picture, it has been dried and partially sanded. I usually pencil in the features like this to check for balance. I'm thinking I may paint this one in oils, in which case I will post step-by-step pictures here on my blog of the process.

In Praise of Old Dogs and Cats and Ripe Tomatoes

I'd like to introduce you to Zappa, our grand-dog. she belongs to our son who often works out and about, so Zappa gets to spend quite a lot of time with us. She is a dear, sweet fifteen old cattle-dog cross with a lovely temperament. Sometimes she forgets she is an old lady and romps around like a puppy - then spends three days sleeping it off! And this is our cat, Puss (yeah, I know, very imaginative!) She has reached the grand old age of twenty-one. She's blind in one eye, partially deaf and a bit stiff in the hips, but she still has a healthy appetite and seems happy and pain-free. I've never known a cat with such a sweet temperament - not a mean bone in her body.

The tomato is our first for this summer......judging by all the unripe ones, we are going to have a bumper crop. There is nothing as good as a home-grown tomato.