October 2018

The Big Fella took almost all of October off, the first two weeks at home and the second up north in Cape York for his annual hunting trip.  It was so good to have him home for a bit after being away so much this year!  As usual, he had his list of things to do, which was WAY longer than the time he had available.  I think that's a common theme for us!

The start of October saw us girls at work helping out at another site while they attempted to recover from the shock of losing their workmate.  It was the first time I've been on an actual mine site.

My final assessment for this subject was due in the first week of October.  I made it, with no tears (a significant improvement on my previous study experience 12 years ago).  I've since received my marks back and achieved a HD in both assessments and overall for my subject.  I'm proud of the work I've put in, and what I'm learning from it, and that I've been able to study and work and all the other stuff.  Although, it beats me how mums can work full time, study full time, and doing all the mumming and other stuff as well!

We have a gorgeous little garden out the front, but we'd let the grass grow in one end.  No, let me rephrase that.  We didn't LET the grass grow, we just didn't keep up with getting rid of it when it tried to grow in there so it fully took over a two to three metre section and was about 40cm tall.

So, we dug out the plants we wanted to keep and put them in pots in the shade, then spent the day digging the grass out, turning over the soil and pulling out all the little bits and pieces.  Then we re-planted the old plants and a bunch of new ones, in the hope that the ground cover style ones will help to keep the grass out.

Some have since died, and I've put a few more in, and the grass has come back and been re-pulled a few times, but some of the ground covers are quite effective, so if I can just get in there fairly regularly, and keep adding plants when others die or whatever, I might just be able to keep the grass under control... maybe.

The Little Big Fella's school had their 50th anniversary reunion in October.  They did a great job, with a petting zoo and rides for the kids, memorabilia set up in the school hall, some market and food stalls and a bunch of festoon lighting set up across the main quadrangle.  It was a fun afternoon/evening/night.  Unfortunately the rain kicked in not long after dark, so the uncovered quadrangle wasn't such a great place to hang out.  But people seemed to have a good time and lots of people got to catch up with old mates.

He begged me to take this guinea pig home!

Then the evil little thing took me on the tea cup ride.  Did you know those things can make you sick?  When you get spun super fast, they totally can!

The festoon lighting over the quadrangle before it rained.

Fully loaded funnel cake... fat, sugar... deliciius!

The Art Society also had their 50th anniversary this year, which we celebrated with a dinner at one of the two local restaurants.

Nearly all set up with our art on the walls and easels, and lights and flowers on the tables.

Everyone chilling out and catching up before the meal is served.

Some of the awesome women I get to hang out and create with!

This photo includes our founding member, and one of our newest members!

It was really awesome to hear some of the stories of how the Society began and how the building came about.  And I loved that the atmosphere of friendship and welcome that I love about it is actually something that has been there from the beginning!

We were each asked to bring a handmade item as a memento of the night.  I did some watercolour bookmarks:

In the end, I didn't include the one on the far right (the buildings) because I wasn't happy with it.  I laminated the other four and they came up beautifully.

The following night was our exhibition.  I was SO proud to be a part of it because it looked amazing!

Steve's cocktails were pretty good, and kept us going until the very end of the night

I ended up doing a few pieces for the exhibition, two of which were quick "throw togethers", one of which I quite love and has ended up being a Christmas present for my dear friend, and the flower one, which ended up selling.

This is a larger version of the mini challenge pieces from last month that I ended up getting framed.  I really like it!

I quite like this one!  You can't tell so much in the photo, but the bronze colour on her skin shines in person and looks fantastic (if I do say so myself)!

I was quite surprised when this one sold.  It was fun to try a few different techniques, and the picture goes around the sides and top, so it looks pretty cool on the wall.

October, of course, ends with Halloween.  I didn't end up doing anything this year - the school used my decorations for their Halloween disco, and I was sick so didn't end up going.  But the Little Big Fella decided on the night that he wanted to go Trick or Treating with the older kids from our street, so we made him up as a zombie and sent him off.

Not too bad for a last-minute, "no dress ups in the house" costume.

And there we have it, October 2018 done and enjoyed.  Although May and October end up being really busy, I enjoy all the arty stuff so much.

See you soon for November's review!