Update

Been away teaching.......but I found a little time to attach the arms and finish the neck joint of this multi-jointed doll I'm working on: now she can pose and play! The painting is not quite finished, but soon she will be wigged and dressed and ready to go on her way. This doll has got me thinking about other jointing possibilities.........elbows, wrists, ankles..........for a greater range of movement possibilities. We'll see!

Multi-joints

Be better when the arms are on!

Watermelon Summer

We've never tried to grow watermelons........Tasmania's climate is just too cool to try growing things like that - we thought. A couple of months ago Bob came home from a trip to the nursery with a couple of melon seedlings....."to throw in the greenhouse and see what happens". No expectations. Well, it did happen! One day I was watering in there and a saw several large, green, globular objects.....MELONS! They had seemingly appeared overnight.

I had no idea about how to tell when they were ripe, so they just sat there looking green and smug, swelling slightly by the day. then someone told me to knock them, and when they sound hollow, they are ripe. So I did that, and with great trepidation harvested the first one last night.....and I must say it was astounding - so delicious!

Grandson Laurence about to take the first-ever bite!

And here are a couple of little projects I have completed in the last little while.

With some friends!

Did I ever mention that I love my job?

Little Lady All Done

With a travelling cape, stocking and shoes, this little lady is now completed. 

She looks like she has rather large feet in the picture above - but it is only some sort of weird exaggeration that my camera does. If I knew a bit more about how to play around with the depth-of-field thingy, I could probably fix it!

I really like the fabric that I used for the cape - it was given to me by my dear friend Rosie Rojas and it has been in my stash for a number of years. I believe it is silk.

A Hint of Autumn

As a bountiful summer draws to a close, we have had the odd hint of what is in store, with a few cooler nights and a little rain. The garden is producing magnificently, with a lot of it preserved for use during the winter. The garden, in our mild climate, does keep producing food right through winter, but the saved summer vegetables make a welcome change from cabbage, parsnips, turnips and carrots!
Here's what we had last night........all of it from our garden and cooked within minutes, except the eggs in the zucchini slice (thinks: must do something about the chicken and egg situation before next summer!) Simple, but delicious.

Meanwhile, work in the studio carries on apace.......I sometimes feel a bit snowed under with orders etc, but I try to keep on top of it. Only one pair of hands though! I have decided this year, to enter some things in the Exeter Show, because it is the centenary show and it is a long time since I entered anything (probably about thirty five years, actually). I also think it is a good idea to try and support local happenings. Most of my work is sold overseas, so lots of the locals have no idea what I get up to. I thought having an Open Studio day a few times a year might be a good idea, too. Here's what I'm working on right now: 

..........choosing from the stash of old lace and fabrics for something suitable to wear!

OK - updating with a couple more pictures of the finished dress......

Florence

...........is finally finished! I made her a red wool coat, hat and shoes with feather-stitched details and now she is ready for anything! The coat is meant to have a deep lace frill around the collar, but I am inclined to leave it as it is. The coat pattern was kindly sent to me by Connie Tognoli who researched all her "Columbian" patterns from original dolls. So apart from the possibility that I MIGHT add lace to the collar, this doll is done!
This doll was made for the MAIDA challenge which ends in a few days. Go to the MAIDA site to see all the "Columbian" interpretations.

Elephants and Cows

We have some boarders in our paddock - our neighbours' sweet, gentle jerseys with newborn calves at foot. I love looking out of the studio window and seeing them right there!

Remember the little knitted elephant I made late last year as a Christmas gift for my youngest grandchild? I'd written enough down to remember what I did, so I whipped up another one while I was away at String camp last week (in between rehearsals etc). I gave him a little embroidered felt jacket and hat. I may write this up as a pattern for my Etsy store........if you can knit in the round on four needles it is pretty easy and straightforward and it makes a great huggy toy for a small child.