marvellous Melbourne

Posted on November 27, 2015 by kathy

Last weekend I ventured to the big smoke to spend some time with my sister from Adelaide. We had a lovely apartment on the thirtieth floor on Southbank with expansive views to the south from the balcony.

1.south view 1 2.south view2

The ocean of glass to the north dazzled with stunning reflections that seemed to change constantly

8.north7

and the shifting light added dimension to the adjacent tower.

We were fortunate to be in Melbourne on the weekend of the Mind Body Spirit Festival held at the Exhibition Centre where I enjoyed a whole range of new experiences.

Our days were filled with shopping and we walked for miles, taking in the sights along the way. The river is a tranquil centrepiece to the bustling city.

17.river3

Towering edifices line the footpaths, some with a certain kind of elegance

while others like to make a statement.

I think the older buildings have much more charm

and some of them stand firm in the shadow of progress.

After a days exercise we enticed our aching feet a little further to savour the delights of the eateries on Southbank

and admire the city lights.

52.night view2

Melbourne is a fabulous place for a long weekend but it’s nice to come home to the forest.

renovation ruminations: part 3

Posted on November 25, 2015 by kathy

The lounge required more of a makeover than renovation. The previous owners added the extension and despite the cream carpet, the red brick walls darkened the room.

1.before lounge 2.before lounge 3.before lounge

The first part of the project was to render and paint the walls to match the rest of the house.

4.rendering 5.rendered 6.rendered

The window was replaced with double glazing and new curtains soon followed.

7.new curtains:window

We removed the carpet and most of the tiles around the fireplace. The concrete slab was sealed and Tasmanian Oak flooring laid & polished.

8.stripped floor 9.raw floor 10.polished floor 11.polished floor

A new sliding door opens onto the deck.

13.new window

The new step linked perfectly to the original timber flooring through the dining room and along the hallway.

12.new step 14.after1

The new modular lounge suite and rug completed the picture.

15.after2 16.after3 17.after4

fascinating fungi

Posted on November 18, 2015 by kathy

I love the variety and intricacy of fungi. Sadly, my fungi identification skills are severely lacking, so I won’t even try…..

lyrical luthier

Posted on November 14, 2015 by kathy

In September 2012, Michael realised a dream to make his own guitar. A Melbourne based luthier instructed his five students during an intensive two weeks at Highfield House in Stanley.

The course culminated with a dinner and musical evening at the local pub, a good excuse for me to join him for the weekend.

The finished instrument is a unique 7-string acoustic guitar with a celery top pine front, rare tiger myrtle sides & back, Queensland maple neck, Queensland gidgee fretboard & bridge and blackwood rosette & bindings.

At the dinner, we learned that the same course was run in Italy each year and so, in May 2014, we ventured to Benabbio in Tuscany. Michael created another masterpiece, labouring long days in the 16th century workshop of our villa residence.

The view from his workbench was quite tolerable.

This is how it happened. The sides were shaped, glued & clamped and given a light sand.

The back was glued & clamped, then the kerfing & scalloped bracing was added to create rigidity.

Meanwhile, work on the neck was underway.

The rosette was carefully inlaid into the soundboard, the struts on the underside were precision scalloped and the bridge was glued into place & clamped.

Michael had designed a Tasmanian Tiger for the headstock. The blackwood was inlaid into the musk here in Tasmania and travelled with us. This was glued in place and the soundboard was attached to the body.

Gluing & taping the bindings was fiddly.

A bit more work on the headstock and the neck was dovetail joined to the body.

The holes were drilled for the machine heads

and sanding & shaping continued

despite the momentary distraction of an exotic bird.

A few coats of oil and a final wax

and the strings were attached

The result is a magnificent instrument with huon pine soundboard, figured blackwood sides & back, Tasmanian oak neck, Queensland gidgee fretboard, bridge & bindings and Tasmanian musk rosette & headstock. The sound is beautiful and I have it on good authority she is a pleasure to play.

You can hear some of Michael’s music here http://michaelcannon.bandcamp.com/album/invisible

captivating canyon

Posted on November 10, 2015 by kathy

Leven Canyon is another favourite of ours to show off to visitors, an hours drive through some very picturesque countryside. An easy ten minute walk along a shady track

brings you to Cruikshanks Lookout, rewarding you with spectacular views of the Loongana Range and beyond.

275m below, the Leven River flows through the limestone cliffs on its way to Bass Strait.

Black Bluff, at 1340m, is usually the first peak in the area to have a covering of snow in winter and the remnants linger well into spring.

You can take the leisurely walk back to the car park or, for the more energetic, the circuitous Forest Stairs Track. 697 steps descend through magnificent rainforest.