artist and a twig

We have been very blessed the last week to have an artist - Trevor Flinn - stay at our home as part of an arts project called "twig" which is funded by Acre and Regional Arts Victoria.
Trevor is staying at four different properties over 4 months and each week he is at a property he is to create "something" with what he finds around the place.  On the Friday night he hosts a "twig" at the farm and the works are shown as well as a fire and food.
Ours was last friday night and it was great - great friends, not that great weather but there was a lovely warm fire as well as soup, fresh cows milk in champagne glasses as well as a green drink in shot glasses.

Here are two of the things he made - the first is from ibis feathers which he wove into the mat that usually sits on the back of the ute.  The second is from old ear tags from the cows - very creative!

abseiling

Here's me at Melville Caves yesterday - we had a leadership programme day with the Loddon Murray Community Leaders programme and half the day was spent abseiling - lovely day too to top it off (except when the wind blew and you were in the shade)

6 years!

Goodness its hard to believe that Gary and I have been married for 6 years!
We've had our ups and downs in that time but somehow we have gotten thru - drought, flood, you name it we've had it
Hopefully the next years will be less stressfree!

And yes I still love (and like!!!) him

Happy 5th birthday Mia

Look who is now 5~oh how quickly the years go by!

maddison dorothy rivett

Praise God for the wonderful arrival of Maddison Dorothy Rivett at 2.14am on Sunday 26th February 2012 in Bendigo (and yes I was present and yes it was a privelige)

loddon murray community leadership program

Because I dont have enough time as it is, and because I want to expand my horizons and challenge myself - this year I am going to be part of the loddon murray community leaders program
Last night was the launch for this years program - there will be 24 of us embarking on this journey
This is this years program -

Date                     Location                               Theme
17 Feb                  Kerang                                   Launch
25 &26 Feb          Axedale                                 Opening Retreat Weekend
18 &19 March      Donald/Birchip                       Innovative Communities in Action
30 March              Bendigo                                 Vision of the Region
29 & 30 April       Swan Hill                                Growing Regional Economies/Art in the Community
18 May                 Rheola                                    Pushing the Boundaries
17 – 20 June         Canberra                                Understanding our Political Landscape
16 July                  Maryborough                          Health and Well Being
28 July                  Cohuna                                   Agriculture in our Communities
19 – 21 August      Melbourne &
                            Macedon Ranges                     Metropolitan Communities. the Urban Fringe
9 & 10 Sept          Castlemaine/Maldon               Cultural Diversity and Change
8 October             Pyramid Hill                            Our Natural Environment
27 &28 Oct          Echuca                                    Tourism and Events/Final Retreat Weekend
9 November         TBC                                        Graduation Evening


Should be interesting, challenging and hopefully fun!  Met a few of the participants last night and they seem lovely - so wish me luck!

my toy

I dont think Ive showed you my favorite newish toy - when Gary got the new tractor - this is what I got....and I love it.
We do have a lot of lawn to mow - and actually since I got this there is more and more as I go further afield each time I do it.
Yesterday spent a lot (and I mean a lot) of time mowing and cleaning up in the yard - looks quite good now!
Now to find some suitable trees for a tree line against the back of the back yard(and ones that cows and rabbits wont eat)