Funks in Winter

Now that school holidays have begun, we took the opportunity to both spend time with our Gembrook family (and the surrounds).  Our grandkids are truly fun to be with.  This time we came prepared with fabric craft (Barb) and woodcraft (Peter) so our time with them was not just bouncing on the tramp (even though that did happen and much fun was had doing it).  In the process we were able to mind the young ones for Bec and Gord to go watch a movie.  We feel blessed to have had such kind Winter days and to spend this way.

Committee Call

Brother souls hear my call

Men to gather one and all

Fire bright in the standing

Prayer and pipe in the handing

Lifting flames and the falling

Beating heart hear me calling

Sharing deep a new day dawning

Starry night fuggy morning

Manna on the Mount

Manna has to do with food that God supplied for the Israelites in the wilderness. The meaning of Mount has more to do with this edge of Melbourne, Mt Evelyn. Neatly tucked behind a larger dwelling sits an inconspicuous one bedroom retreat. We went there.

We were given a voucher to stay overnight at this place. Unfortunately, there is a good chance that through a change of ownership this retreat for couples won't serve in this way after August. Nonetheless, the vision is a good one and many couples over a six year period have stayed here soaking in the tranquility of the place. A lot of attention to detail within and without has made this place feel rich and inviting, like the welcoming music, chocolate with the tea set on the table, and the breakfast goodies in the fridge for cooking up in the morning. The presentation detail in the place is the vision that people can take away and emulate. The following snaps hopefully capture the ambiance of the place. We returned refreshed, glad that we went.

Blanket Dying

Barb is very pleased with this effort. The blanket was rolled up tightly round an assortment of gum tree leaves and gum nuts, and then boiled with purple cabbage for quite a time. The result was quite exciting. Natural dying of natural wool fibres is a bit hit and miss but with great rewards for perseverance. Pictures below shows closeups of this latest one.

Abigail Ten

Last Sunday we celebrated Abigail's tenth birthday at Azurea Cafe, a place we have been going to a lot lately. She would have another party with her peers the next day in her classroom at school, so this one was part of our usual Sunday outing. We gave Abigail some unusual gifts (such as a sound machine, a wooden laptop and a grunge bracelet) and Barb made a chocolate cake with solid chocolate over the top. Of special interest was the sparkler numbers which were hard to light, 'one' burning through before 'zero' got started. It was all fun though and Abigail loved the sound machine the most.

Cathedral Wedding

On the first Saturday of this month we had the pleasure of witnessing Rosemary and Michael's wedding. Rosemary is the fifth and last daughter in the her family and she and Michael made their union is real style tying the knot in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne. This was our first cathedral wedding experience and a good one. The pictures say it all.

The reception afterwards was a grand affair in Northcote, close to home. We couldn't get through all the food that kept on coming. Suffice to say that Peter felt wrecked the next day! Great memories though.

Eight Stools

Earlier this year when Peter found a dining/meeting/craft/games table for the home he did not buy the chairs that went with it. That would have made the purchase way too expensive and the available space was too tight for chairs. Then for months the table sat there not being very useful for anything except storage under it. Finally Peter put into action the vision he had - to make eight stools.

Stools look and act more stable if their legs splay outward so the project was immediately challenging for him. He was never quite sure whether an angle was the right one or a joining angle will prove correct at the assembly stage.

Peter selected a solid heavy hardwood timber called Merbau and had the planks cut into manageable sections for legs and cross framing. The dowel lower down to hold the legs at the floor were actually factory off-cuts of Tazzi Oak and so had to be stained to match the Merbau. Everything was much harder because the timber was so very heavy and dense.

At last the time came for the assembly. The first two legs pictured above gave Peter a great surge of encouragement. It looked good from the start. The only real trouble was the constancy of it... to make eight. Peter would look back at the unfinished ones and sigh... still three to go! But that table did need eight!

All the seats were from Myrtle plank off-cuts, a gift from a friend. They were also rugged and dense and took some effort to dock and sand into shape. The first coat of clear finish brought out the distinct Myrtle colour and it harmonised reasonably well with the Merbau frame and legs. The painting stage served as a nice way to relax and enjoy the spectacular and successful project. It is such a relief from being at it in every spare moment for a number of weeks and with everything else on hold to have it behind now.

The table is Mango Wood and the stools of Myrtle and Merbau were finished on Mother's Day. There is some poetry to that.