Camping at D'Entrecasteaux National Park

We spent a couple of days camping at the D'Entrecasteaux National Park which is approximately 500kms/310miles or 5 hours drive away.  The park is named after the French Admiral Bruni D'Entrecasteaux who was the first European to sight the area and name Point D'Entrecasteaux in 1792.

Photo Credit goes to my hubby for this great pic!

We stayed at Black Point which is named after the basalt columns from a lava flow that occurred 135 million years ago. In August 2013 we went to the Giant's Causeway in Ireland which also has hexagonal basalt columns. The Black Point ones are eroded by the crashing waves each day where as the Irish ones are higher up and have suffered less erosion. 
It is four wheel drive to get there, and there are no facilities apart from long drop bush toilets - so no internet connection or no phone service either, no showers - just nature and us and about a dozen other hardy souls!!!

The following day we drove to Jasper Beach.....

And to Lake Jasper - which is a freshwater lake....

Then we went to Moore's Hut near Coodamurrup Beach - Moore's Hut was constructed in 1911 using native bush timbers and slavaged oak from the coast. We were all alone there apart from a couple of people camping closer to the beach.  The weather was great, much cooler than Perth which was experiencing 42C/105F+ weather.

Here are some animal tracks...

In the afternoon we set off for Point D'Entrecasteaux at Windy Harbour to see the views from there.

We had to drive through the beautiful Karri Forest.....

Now we are home and I've done 5 loads of washing and cleaned the house so I deserve some art time...

Weekend Wanderings

A few photos from our weekend trip to visit friends on their farm about 3 hours and 300kms/186 miles away in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia.  They have a wheat farm so there are no cute baby farm animal pics, more on the road pics.

Saturday afternoon - Salmon Gum Trees (I think).

Sunday afternoon - on the way home - wheat fields, Red Morrell gum trees, Dowerin Tin Dogs, and dark grey clouds and sunshine.

How was your weekend?  Hope it was a good one!

New Art Space

I've been busy setting up my new art space and have found that it's a great space for art journaling. There's nothing really special to show you about it  except that it's my space. (For a really great studio then check out Kelly Rae Roberts - esp her home studio on Instagram.  sigh....)  It was my eldest son's room but he's moved out so we put his bed in the attic and put up some shelves.  He left his chair behind as he doesn't like it and I'm borrowing the card table which isn't really suitable as it has a soft top.

I've also got all my paintings together....eeek....some need to be thrown out, some haven't been varnished and can be painted over....the 'good' paintings are hanging up around the house....

This space ^^^^ is upstairs...oh have I shown you our stairs....spiral staircase as you open the front door.....hate it....but to change it means we may have to move the front door.....it's difficult to get things up there so my paints and easel and gelli printing gear is in the downstairs room...

The downstairs room was chockers...choc-o-block full.... now I can get in there grab my stuff and take it to the kitchen where there's plenty of light, water and benchtops.

Here it is full...

So now I can pop upstairs for an hour or so and collage and art journal with my gelli prints and all the gorgeous happy mail that I've received.  I'll show you some art journal pics tomorrow.

Thank you for NOT pinning the above pics to Pinterest. Ta, Mxxx

BF2013 Day 17 Colour in the Bush

Spring has sprung down under and our native flowers are blooming.

This afternoon I took a walk around our block to photograph the beautiful flowers, the Marri trees flowered in March and cause many of us to sneeze. The little orange rocks below are nick named pea gravel and can be very slippery, larger rocks of it are called coffee rock, there is also a lot of granite rocks in the hills whereas down on the flats/plains the ground is very sandy.

Coral vine, grevillea, kangaroo paws, leschenaultia....

Pink and red bottlebrushes, Geraldton Wax.

Marri trees....the new growth is reddish brown on the smaller trees....

English garden.....

I wanted to photograph a stem of purple flowers up near my letterbox but couldn't find them - I think someone has them in a vase in their home! They've been stolen! How would you feel if your artwork was stolen and put onto products without your permission or compensation - read Lisa Congdon's story here - this could happen to any one of us!!!

Update - Cody Foster is also stealing from Abigail Brown and here's a link to a flickr page full of other artists they have stolen from.

Reminder that I'm having a giveaway - if you'd like to win one of my heart pendants then leave a comment on Monday's blogpost!

Shells' Sunday Snippets

Here's my week in photos....playing along with {tinniegirl} and {sunday snippets} A collection of photos from your week. No need for words. Let the pictures tell your story.  (Except every now and again...)

 Family celebration of our 25th/Silver Wedding Anniversary.

These family photos are not be used/copied in way, shape or form.  Thank you.

Collaging a Chocolate Box...still working on it....

I've started making my own Smash Book!!!!

Silver Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 25th/Silver Wedding Anniversary!!!

Wow!!!  and Julie Townsend said it would never last.....lol....

Here's the fruit/wedding cake I just iced, family are coming over on Sunday for afternoon tea and I have friends who love fruit cake and then there's me, I love fruit cake too...so it's big but it will get eaten....  :D

We went away last weekend, down south for about 3 hours to Nannup, where we stayed at a bed and breakfast we had been to 17 years ago. We went to the coast, to wineries, breweries, ice creameries, chocolate factories and to a jeweller.

Hubby bought me this beautiful metal art, the African Princess, which I have loved for months and have even painted my own version of her, by Inge Giebeler.

This is the silver ring he bought me from John Miller Designs in Yallingup:

Secrets to surviving (lol) 25 years....apart from the basics of good communication, never going to bed angry.....eating dinner together every night, going out on date nights, giving the other person space and room to do their own thing - hubby loves motorbikes and I love art - so he goes off and rides his bike and I'll stay home and paint, now and again we'll go off on the bike together and have breakfast or lunch out and look in a small town art gallery.