26 April 2020

Staying at Home

Staying at home due to restrictions imposed by our government to help reduce the spread of Covid 19 seems to be working.  It has not been much different here as both my husband and I enjoy each other's company and have never been big on social gatherings. We are still able to do our weekly shop and our hobbies are home based and we can keep in touch with family and friends via phone or online video calls.
The general atmosphere has affected my pottery making as I just did not feel inspired to go to the studio.  The studio was also cluttered with materials that were to be sold for a fund raiser that was cancelled.  It took me ages to finally realize that by putting a few things outside and doing a huge tidy up I could clear my working space.
a few of the many boxes of materials cluttering up the studio
some of the old test tiles from my training days removed from the studio
The clean up extended to my house and I found this iconic children's book - Dot and the Kangaroo is an Australian classic written about a young girl who gets lost in the bush and is saved by a kind kangaroo.  In the story the kangaroo gives her berries to eat that stave off hunger but also allow her to understand what the animals are saying.  Wouldn't that be cool.

 Autumn in Sydney means that many of the camellia's start to flower.  This single one is one of my favourites.
 Just before the restrictions came in we made it to the nursery to get some compost and seedlings.  The cosmos have come to life with the drought breaking rain - they should have been flowering during summer but it was just too dry.  The marigolds starting flowering within days of being planted out.
I'm back in the studio at last and will be catching up on a commission and a few other pieces to fill the kiln.
Take care everyone - be patient with the restrictions and keep yourself and others well.

8 comments:

Peter said...

How nice that you made it to the nursery before the restrictions, it is so very good to be able to get some things done in the garden. That camellia is a real beauty! We are not far away from winter in our part of New Zealand, with night time temperatures just two or three degrees above freezing some nights now. Lovely autumn colours in the trees around here, and a steady patter of falling leaves when the breeze gets up.

Elephant's Child said...

I am so glad to hear that you are back at work.
Stay safe, stay well (and a big sigh at the Sydney beach goers testing the boundaries and our safety.

Barbara Rogers said...

Wonderful to have those flowers...good timing. It sounds great that you've had some rain also. Good for you to get back into pottery. Our community studio is closed of course.

Anna said...

Hi Peter that sounds very cold to me.. I do like the autumn weather here with warm days and cool nights as in 12C - the coldest winter morning would be 7C. I have put my heater into my studio as it holds the cold which is good in summer.

Anna said...

Hi EC yes it is good to get my hands back in clay... some people just don't get the restrictions do they :( hopefully enough will do the right thing and we can get through winter with only normal type flu around!

Anna said...

Hi Barbara yes all the colleges and community studios are closed here too. No meetings for the group I belong too. Lots of plans in suspension for now so I am very lucky to have a home space to work. I hope you are able to get back to yours soon.

Linda Starr said...

wow that is one beautiful camellia; I haven't done much in the studio either, we got notified that artists and craft folks will not be allowed at the market through the month of June so not much use for me stocking up on pottery to sell, we get our money back for the booth space, so we shall see for next year. we can go to the lumber yards, grocery and wally world but all our forestry roads are closed. and we can now go to the hairdressor, gym, or a tattoo parlor but no farmer's market and all our forestry roads are closed, some crazy rules here.

Anna said...

Hi Linda glad you like the camellia. I also have a double white that is lovely but it flowers much later than this one. We still can't go to the gym though some restrictions maybe lifted shortly. Crazy times indeed. May we all live through it to pot another day.