YET More things abstract & truely psychadelic

You know how it goes......you see something AMAZING and reach for the camera, only to find that you forgot to charge it the night before.........i got less than 10 shots before my good camera battery gave up. Then the only other option was the fairly crumby work camera of the point-n-shoot variety..........sigh.........

i was heading back to Sydney from Mudgee (lovely Mudgee) early one spring morning. It was foggy. And i decided to have a quick peek at Lake Windemere just in case there might be a good water-and-fog opportunity. Got more than i bargained for as there was an algal bloom happening and all the scum was lapping up against the shore and disappearing off into the fog. I couldn't take any successful distance shots due to the misty atmosphere, so i had to teeter along the steep lake edge without putting my foot in it. the mist has muted the photos a bit, but you will get an idea from these:

yeah, WOW, but not so sure how the hat got stranded in the shrub.......
i'll put some on the flickr site for your enjoyment

A visit to Merlene's Fibre shop

Merlene has her wonderful shop in Barraba,

 (1 hr NW of Tamworth on the Fossicker's Way). She grows the sheep, spins the wool and then dyes it with natural materials. THEN if she has time left over she knits-up wonderful things, along with 4 other ladies. Jumpers to die for......in delicious earthy tones. The bright pink-magenta hank showing in the photos below is from lichen collected on her farm. The blue from chlorophyll. And most of the other colours are from onion skins and eucalyptus varieties........
(Rhonda & I will be doing some more experiments this weekend using leaves and bark from my favourite tree,  E. sideroxylon (mugga ironbark), and some lichen Merlene gave me!)

 The hands of Merlene demonstrating a simple spinning technique using a bent coathanger. Nifty, and it almost has got me interested in doing it myself........but where to find the time?????

and a couple of shots inside the shop

lovely lovely lovely fibres

a treasure trove of inspiration

Find it in Barraba, on the main street and enjoy

and now a gratuitous shot of gorgeous icelandic sheep - a mother and her teenagers looking exactly the same

these sheep are so funny to see, they love to be outdoors and hate round-up time. they come in an amazing array of colours too.