The country in which I live has been devastated by horrendous bush fires that has resulted in death of people and volunteer fire fighters, loss of property and decimation of forest and wild life, not to mention the loss of business and livestock. I live about 100 kms from the worst of it, but my house has been shrouded by the smoke from the fires, so that I could barely see the houses across the road- and yes that is uncomfortable- but nothing like what people have had to endure in affected areas. I refer you to an article by Jackie French in the SMH about what it has been like for people. I have friends who have lost houses , whose health has been affected by the inundation of smoke, who are still desperately preparing their properties for the onslaught of tomorrow which is predicted to bring more terrible conditions. The pain and stoicism of people is palpable. Even if you do not believe in climate change, what is exactly wrong with trying to make the planet a better place? And then there are the trolls- why in a time like this are there such negative horrible people out there ? It is like social media unleashes the worst in some people- and yet on the other hand good things come out of social media too- knowing people are safe, sending support because you know what is needed, the donations to help recovery. And people who have been dealt this blow are so incredibly brave, their stories remarkable- their sense of community so strong, their willingness to help others worthy of hero worship.

My heart blanket became more and more about the bushfires as the days went on- how we need to have empathy for people who struggle not only through disasters like this, but in their daily lives through illness or circumstance. We are a community of humans, we have to live together and to do so we need to have empathy for those who live next to us, across the road , across the city, across the sea, on the other side of the world- and we need less of the “ I am alright Jack attitude”

Background stitching is going in, with a very lightweight thread.

I am still working on the “one World” blanket although progress on it has been a bit slow- there have been distractions worrying about friends, my mum, and my country.

I seem to have acquired a rescue cat, Portia Bull’s Eye ( because of her patterning). It is lovely to have a creature here but the timing is a bit awkward, but she needed rescuing and I have missed having a cat in my life. So I will definitely need a house sitter. So if anyone is interested in living in my house for 2 months from April until June you are most welcome. Unfortunately I cannot afford to pay you ( to be perfectly honest i was a bit shocked that people get paid- I have done house sitting for nothing in the past unless people insist on paying me. )

And I have finally hung the gum leaves I created for the Aussie bush project in my windows in the lounge. I think I need to make some more for the other window as well- I quite like the effect

And I have made a new linocut of an octopus- they are such fascinating creatures and I believe the health of our sea has a lot to do with the health of our land. I will be printing this linocut on different fabrics- print measures 24 cm x 30 cm and if you are interested in purchasingemail me.