Locked Down in Daylesford....Again

Just when Adrian and I were browsing through United Airlines' flight schedules back to the U.S.A. and discussing our hope for international travel plans......Victoria, Australia, goes into another lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been another outbreak of coronavirus in Melbourne, so the state is on lockdown with only five reasons to leave our homes. Planning for international travel seems to be a fantasy, but I'll continue to hope and pray that it becomes a reality in the near future.

Being resigned to all that,  I am counting blessings that include the beauty of my backyard.....especially the birds that visit every day. 

My special visitor, Limpy, was away for a few months, but I am glad to see her return for winter. Hopefully, she'll be here throughout the cold months and while Adrian and I are sticking around staying at home. I've got plenty of time and a new bag of bird seed to kick off the stay-at-home restrictions that started at 11:59 p.m. yesterday.

I've been enjoying these bird-legged models for a few art projects. Notice the magpies in the background behind Limpy: they will be featured in a rather big art project that Adrian and I are currently working on.

It doesn't seem to matter how I'm feeling, when Limpy visits, I feel lighter and happier than before the visit. She helps me forget frustrations for a few minutes as I focus on feeding her.

The ducks that come and go are also beautiful distractions that help me momentarily forget about lockdowns and lack of international travel possibilities. Thank God for these creatures!

And these cockatoos! They really are beautiful distractions.

2021 Mountain Dulcimer Retreat at Tasma House Daylesford

Adrian Kosky and I will be hosting a 2 night/3 day mountain dulcimer retreat in Daylesford, Victoria, Australia, at our guest house: Tasma House Daylesford. To purchase a ticket, visit: www.dulcimer.eventbrite.com.au 

We can’t wait to have our place filled with dulcimer friends!

America Just Got a Little Bit Sweeter!

Congratulations to my daughter and her husband on the birth of their beautiful baby boy! America just got a little bit sweeter, but it seems to be a lot farther away. I'm so anxious to get back to Tennessee!

Regularly traveling back and forth between Australia and the U.S.A., since purchasing the old masonic temple building - now known as The Holy Moly - in Clarksdale, Mississippi, was a privilege that I did not take for granted. Being safe from the real risk of getting COVID-19 (yet "stuck in Australia," since March 2020) has been a blessing I have appreciated. I'm still appreciative of the safety measures taken by governments on both sides of the world, but I have hope to return to America soon....hoping that "soon" means within the next six months! 

Yay for tourism finally opening up between Australia and New Zealand. That is a great first step toward the return of international travel. I hope this renewed privilege of tourism is safe for both countries and continues! 

Here are a couple of pictures of the beautiful new babe....my first American grandchild....and his beautiful parents!

My heart is full of hope and thanks.

I'm Learning to Use an Apple Pencil!

A few months ago I started using an Apple Pencil with an iPad and a little app called Procreate. I've been applying my learning, by way of creating little Table Hill posters for Instagram and Facebook. Youtube videos by Lisa Bardot have been very helpful. 

My knowledge of digital art is very basic, but I'm happy to keep learning and applying skills! I'm thankful to have Table Hill music and the Radio Springs Hotel gigs as a purpose for my art fun. Here are a few posters I've created with the Apple Pencil on an iPad with Procreate.

Blog post update: 31 May 2021, I'm still enjoying my Apple Pencil, iPad, and Procreate app! Here are a few more posters I've made for Table Hill music:

Looking for Inspiration

It seems to be hard to find something blog worthy, lately. I don't have any trouble counting my blessings and appreciating them....I'm just having trouble finding something to write about that might be of interest to others. It seems like I've written it all before....I live here, I live there, I take pictures of birds and play music....and I like to share all that. 

So what's new? Well, today is my anniversary! That's the best thing to report at the moment. Adrian and I had fun going out to breakfast in Daylesford this morning. (And we didn't even have to wear masks!) Isn't that a simple pleasure that we should not take for granted! 

So I'm happy to have that to say! Happy St. Patrick's Day AND happy anniversary to us.

I'd like to thank the cockatoo that landed in front of me while I was looking for something to blog about, not to mention the ducks that are my daily companions outside my studio, as they gave me the nudge that I needed to get to writing. 

It has been over a year since I've been able to travel to the U.S.A., and I don't know when I'll be able to return to my American home. Thankfully, my Australian home is a beautiful one and my hubby is stuck here with me! I don't know how many thousands of pictures I have taken in the past year while we have been "stuck here," but it's time to sort through them and share some of the lovely moments we have had during this 7th year of marriage.