real life

Sunday Selections #68 A ceramic edition

by frogpondsrock on May 6, 2012

in blogging,cancer,ceramics,environmental stuff,friendship,Fun,real life,sunday selections

I like to make rocks. I get a great deal of personal satisfaction from making ceramic rocks. As I am making rocks I go elsewhere in my mind and I find a place of beautiful stillness and in this space I am working at my most intuitive.

I enjoy making all the work that I make, otherwise I wouldn’t make it BUT it is these rocks that give me the most pleasure.

So without further ado here is the Ceramic edition of this weeks Sunday Selections. There are some rules to this meme but I am fluid, follow them or not, it is up to you. I do ask that you link back to me though.

The Blurb

I take a lot of photos and most of them are just sitting around in folders on my desktop not doing anything. I thought that a dedicated post once a week would be a good way to share some of these photos that otherwise wouldn’t be seen by anyone other than me.

I am also remarkably absent minded and I put photos into folders and think that I will publish them later on and then then I never do.

So I have started a photo meme that anyone can join in and play as well. The rules are so simple as to be virtually non existent.

Just add your name and URL to the Mr Linky.

Publish your photos on your blog using the “Sunday Selections” title.

Link back here to me.

The Photos

These little lidded vessels are about the size of a squished tennis ball. I call them puzzle boxes because it takes a few twists and turns of the lid to make it sit correctly. I had heaps of fun making these.

This is a candlestick and incense holder. We had a power failure recently and I didn’t have anything to stick any candles into.

This is the side view of the same candlestick and incense holder.

This is part of the first platter that I made in response to my recent trip up to Burnie. I can still feel the psychic impact of driving over the hill into Devonport and being smacked in the soul by the ocean.

This platter is available in the Off Centre Gallery in Salamanca Arts Centre

And then we leave my rocks and travel to the other side of my artistic brain and have this work, which I also adore making. These three pieces are part of the Rose Exhibition, which is showing now at the Lady Franklin Gallery in Lenah Valley. I have donated all of the sale price of this work to the Cancer Council.

{ 28 comments }

Worlds Greatest Shave 2012

by frogpondsrock on March 24, 2012

in cancer,Distractions galore!,Fun,good causes,Hope,potential insanity,real life

Today is the day my lovelies.

I am not nervous today at all which is a blessed relief. On Tuesday I was extremely nervous and every time I thought about The Shave my chest would tighten and I would have to concentrate on my breathing until the moment of minor panic had passed.

With the ever useless gift of hindsight I can now see that it was the scheduled trip to hospital on Wednesday that was making me the most nervous, not the impending shave. Though I am having a little hyperventilate now *gulp*

Tonight at approximately 7.30 (ish) I will be shaving all my hair off.

I wont be shaving my hair off in a quiet corner of a locked bathroom somewhere, oh no that would be far too easy.

I will be shaving my hair off in the middle of a roller derby match.

How did I get here? How did I go from thinking, “Jeez I am sick to death of my fucking hair”, to “Let’s shave it all off in an arena chocka blok full of strangers?”

I blame you.

I lay the blame squarely at your feet, internet.

It is all your fault.

You make me feel like I am ten feet tall and bullet proof.

You make me believe that I can do anything, that my harebrained schemes aren’t that harebrained after all.

Every single one of you that reads this blog, or leaves a comment, or sends me an encouraging email.

This is all your fault.

And I thank you from the very bottom of my heart.

Together we have raised over THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS and my total meter thermometer thingy, on my fundraising page is flashing and blinking and saying GOAL ACHIEVED with a shininess that hurts my eyes.

So any Hobartians out there reading this blog, you should come along to the DEC tonight, it promises to be a fun night and all proceeds go to the Leukaemia foundation. The doors open at 5pm (cash sales only though) and the first bout starts at 6.10 pm.

Scott Bacon MP will be wielding the clippers and I will lose my locks at about 7.40 pm.

Scott Bacon is the Minister for Tourism,Hospitality and Veterans Affairs and I will be sitting with him before the shave. It amuses me no end that I will have my very own hostage, I mean politician in the box with me tonight. So any questions you want asking of the local member for Denison you have about 5 hours notice to email them to me and I will engage the minister in polite conversation.

Veronica is coming along with me as my personal photographer and I hope to have some photos up on the blog tomorrow.

Thank you all so very, very much and hopefully I will see some of you at the DEC tonight.

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Blue Tongue Lizard Photos

by frogpondsrock on February 21, 2012

in Distractions galore!,fauna and flora,gardening,real life

The other night we were all outside, doing outside things. The Spouse was watering the veggie garden and I was picking what was left of the plums whilst loudly bemoaning the fact that the bloody possums were destroying my plum trees. I gave Harry the dog a stern talking to about keeping up with his end of the bargain. I reminded Harry that it was HIS job to bark at the possums, not mine and that he had better lift his bloody game. Harry gave me a shamefaced woof and promised to do better, ten minutes later he made amends by showed me where a a blue tongue lizard was lurking in the wood pile.

This is only a small blue tongue, compared to the resident lizard that lives under the water tank and often scares the shit out of me by impersonating a tiger snake.

Normally blue tongues are quite shy and it isn’t often we see them out in the open like this one. He didn’t seem to be frightened of us at all and posed for a number of photos. Harry decided that the middle of the photo shoot was the time to make amends for his lacksadaisical possum scaring performance and was keen to protect me from this vicious, vicious lizard, sigh. I am sure that in Harry’s doggy mind the blue tongue was about to leap for my throat with all the ferocity of a pythonesque rabbit. So The Spouse caught the blue tongue for me and after we had checked him over for tics, we released him into the garden near the frog ponds and he disappeared under a large rock.

The next day the blue tongue was out in the middle of the yard again and I spent some time filming him as well as taking some more photos. I don’t know how long this lizard will survive here, as he is very nonchalant about his personal safety. He spent ages out in the middle of the yard in full view of any passing predators and at one stage he decided that it would be nice to rest against my foot for a bit.

It is quite difficult taking a photo of a lizard leaning against your shoe, as I had my foot tucked under the chair and I was on an awkward angle but I think this photo is quite sweet, in a this is what my life is really like kind of way.

Here are a couple of the macros I took yesterday and from these photos you can see why it is that when the large resident lizard does his tiger snake impersonation I nearly have a little heart attack. Those few seconds between the thought, “Eek a snake” and “Oh its only you” make my heart beat rather quickly.

So there you go my lovelies I hope you enjoyed these photos of one of my favourite wild creatures that share my backyard.

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The Greatest Shave Adventure…

by frogpondsrock on February 8, 2012

in cancer,Family,friendship,good causes,potential insanity,real life

I would like to start this blog post by thanking you. The words thank you seem so small when I write them down, they don’t really capture the enormity of grateful emotion that swells in my chest every time I receive help from you.

As each email telling me of a donation comes in, I feel an excited *squee* bubbling up and I am so very, very grateful to you.

The section of the internet that I frequent really is filled with lovely, lovely generous people. And due to your help in spreading the word of my shave we are going to be able to help the Leukaemia Foundation help families who are facing the darkest battle of their lives.

Cancer really and truly does suck. It is a terrifying reality to have to face.

It is the little things with cancer that you don’t expect.

I wasn’t prepared for how much I spent on petrol driving to the hospital over and over again, the car seemed to be continually running on empty(as was I) and all other household bills were put on the backburner as the costs of Mum’s cancer came first.

When you live any distance away from the hospital, appointments seem to take up whole days. I don’t think I cooked a meal for my family in the last few months of Mum’s life. I know I certainly didn’t do a scrap of housework.

Small things internet, small things that build up and can cause huge stress in a family.

It is my own experience of cancers destructive impacts upon a family that made me decide to join the Worlds Greatest Shave. I was grumpy with my hair and I saw an ad somewhere for the Leukaemia foundation and BAM just like that I signed up.

Now of course I am shitting myself and trying not to think about the impending haircut, as each time I think about it I start to hyperventilate a little bit.

I am impulsive and I never ever think about the consequences of my actions. I just decide to do stuff. I certainly hadn’t thought about the logistics of actually shaving off my hair until a conversation happened on facebook and I was given a link to this page, Miss Be Shavin’

And before I could say “Roller Derby looks like fun” I had joined up with these girls and the logistics of the shave are all being taken care of for me.

	Tasmanian Roller Derby meets ‘World’s Greatest Shave.’

	Tasmania’s Derby Leagues will be coming together to support The Leukaemia Foundation’s ‘World’s Greatest Shave’ in Miss-Be-Shavin’.Convict City Rollers will be facing off against Devil State Derby League, followed by South Island Sirens taking on the Van Diemen Rollers Join us on Saturday the 24th of March at the Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart as the North and South leagues take each other on in two rounds of this unique sport in a family-friendly event!

Tasmania’s Derby Leagues will be coming together to support The Leukaemia Foundation’s ‘World’s Greatest Shave’ in Miss-Be-Shavin’.Convict City Rollers will be facing off against Devil State Derby League, followed by South Island Sirens taking on the Van Diemen Rollers

Join us on Saturday the 24th of March at the Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart as the North and South leagues take each other on in two rounds of this unique sport in a family-friendly event!

I just wont think about the venue, or the hundreds of people that will be there.

I will do my best Scarlett O”Hara impersonation and think about that tomorrow, internet.

On my birthday Veronica took some photos of my hair for me.

After all that hair modelling I was exhausted and the kidlets and I retired to the couch, with chocolate.

If you would like to support me and donate a couple of dollars I would be most grateful.

So far internet we have raised Raised: $1,508.00

You can DONATE HERE. *grins*

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Twenty Five years.

by frogpondsrock on February 3, 2012

in Family,friendship,real life

Wow internet that is a long time.

Well it’s not really a long time if you are a tree or a rock or a giant squid.

BUT it is a long time to have been married.

Today is my anniversary, The Spouse and I have been together for 25 years.

I often flippantly say that I found him on the side of the road and decided to keep him, well that is true, up to a point.

I didn’t really decide to keep “The Spouse” until four years later.

What I don’t say is that I only went out with The Spouse for a few months when I was seventeen.

“The Spouse” swears that for him, it was love at first sight. He says he just knew that I was the one for him.

At the fickle age of seventeen I just thought he was rather hot and very fuckable. I went out with him for a few months and then dumped him when he started to talk about long term plans.

At the words lets settle down,I went WTF and bolted.

I bumped into Jeff at the pub again when I was 18 or 19 and one look into those eyes of his and I was immediately smitten again. But once again he vowed and declared that I was the only one for him and I was off like a shot.

At the age of 20 I was living a rather torrid life. The share house I was living in was full of crazy people doing crazy people things. I was working night shift in a popular blues nightclub and I wasn’t just burning the candle at both ends, I was putting a blow torch to the middle of the fucker as well.

Enter “The Spouse” into my life again

Third time must have been the trick because on my 21st birthday I decided that maybe there was some merit to settling down with this bloke and so I jumped onto the back of his motorcycle and we have never looked back.