Caturday

I'm in Whakatane right now, at the midpoint of my two-week break. I've been having a lovely relaxing time hanging out with Mum and Dad and Hazy-the-cat, finishing up knitting projects, and messing around on the piano.

HRH Hazel

I took advantage of the parental picture-framing skills and got a neat print framed - this is 'Space Cat' by the Wellington artist Pinky Fang, in a clean white frame with atmospheric fairy lights:

I love the cat's glowing yarn-ball! Hopefully I can get this back to Melbourne in one piece...

It's a lovely sunny day today, so this afternoon Dad and I are going to Ohope beach to try out the new boogie-boards, and maybe get some fish and chips. :)

Bats!

On Sunday night Willie and I picked up some fish and chips, and went to visit the colony of grey-headed flying foxes at Yarra Bend Park.

When we arrived, there were thousands (possibly tens of thousands) of them hanging from the eucalyptus trees on either side of the river. A few were flying around from tree to tree, and others were waking up and stretching. They got noisier and noisier, and more and more restless, until after sunset the air was full of bats...

 

 

I'm definitely not used to being around wild animals other than birds, so it was quite disconcerting at first. Some of the noises they made were especially eerie! Luckily the bats weren't interested in us at all - they stayed well up in their trees and sky. 

I took these photos (and video) on my phone, which is why they're a bit dodgy - although I think the blurry motion effects are cool! We'll have to go back again soon with a video camera. Apparently there are also echidnas in the park, and lots of birds, so perhaps a daytime trip too. Now that Willie has a driver's license, we can take advantage. ;)

Apparently these bats used to live in the Botanic Gardens, but had to be relocated "due to the sensitive nature of the vegetation". I wonder how one relocates a colony of bats?

Silver and gold

I've been a bit quiet this month, as I've been working on a couple of super-secret knitting projects (one of which is Very Exciting). There's been a lot of knitting going on, but not much I can share just yet! However, I do have two non-secret designs in the works which I can show you...

This is a swatch for a lacy cowl in Outlaw Yarn's Vanitas (an 8ply blend of alpaca with a bit of merino). I've been playing around with lace stitches, trying to get a cool stylised peacock-feather pattern. I'm really happy with this version, with the 'feathers' arranged in columns:

The silver colour is called 'Vanity', which is most appropriate for a peacock-themed project. I am so in love with this yarn. Soft and silky, great stitch definition, pretty colours - hell yeah!

And this is another cowl-in-progress, also in Vanitas yarn - a sandy gold colour called 'Wealth'. I came up with a surface-texture pattern of stars, which I've arranged in a grid. It's actually much simpler to knit than it looks (which is always nice).

Now back to Secret Squirrel business, tee hee... ;)

Hippo New Year!

Today Willie and I visited the Werribee Open Range Zoo, together with what seemed like half of Melbourne. It was pretty amazing, despite the crowds! The 'safari' tour was really cool - we were able to see a few animals really close up. I like the idea of the animals roaming about over a huge area and the humans being cooped up in the vehicles...

Here are a few of my photos - click to enlarge!

Pansy the baby hippo, with her mum

Wide open spaces

Hello giraffe!

I was a bit nervous of the rhinos...

Dromedaries (aka one-humped camels)

And a monkey in a tree :)

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I'm not usually into New Year's resolutions, but I do have a few "good intentions" for this year. I want to:
(1) swim more often,
(2) bake more often, and
(3) listen to more new-to-me music, in addition to my old faves.

We've also done a new-year clear-out of our old clothes, which has resulted in a large bag of old tshirts etc for the bin, plus six shopping bags of clothes and shoes for the local charity shop. It feels great to get rid of all the stuff that was just sitting there unworn, taking up space.

Next up is stash organisation! We got a bunch of airtight transparent plastic bins from Ikea, which will house my yarn, spinning fibre, and fabric stash. I won't have to worry quite so much about moths anymore. :)

Hallelujah!

Our Messiah performance on Saturday was a success, and heaps of fun if a bit nerve-wracking at times! Willie came along to listen, with Chloe and Celena and two friends. They brought me a bunch of flowers, which was lovely - one's first Messiah is a big deal, after all. ;)

A lot of the choruses rattled along at a cracking pace, which is exhilarating but also scary if you're not totally confident with your part. The period-instrument orchestra was excellent, and added a lot of sparkle and depth to the music. 
I loved Chloe's comment that the choir sounded "tight" - coming from a rock musician, that's a great compliment.

Here's one of my favourite choruses, the final "Worthy is the Lamb" and "Amen". These guys take it slower than we did, but it still sounds fantastic...

I'm nearly ready for Christmas! Jam Drops, Salted Toffee Almonds, and the all-important Pavlova have been baked. My mini-solo for Christmas morning choir has been practised (a verse of a carol called "Past three o'clock"). Tonight we'll wrap presents and put up a few decorations. And tomorrow afternoon, we'll go to Chloe and Celena's house for an "Orphan Christmas" featuring a vast vegetarian feast, cocktails, a performance by Booty Pageant, and a Slip 'n' Slide. ;)

Merry Christmas all!