Last Day of winter ... Spring is here

We're nearing the end of winter here in Sydney, still a few cold nights but the days are very nice. Sonday My friend Des and I started getting the veggie patch in shape for summer planting. Des has'nt have a patch atm cause they renting. I had bought a few seedings from Bunnings 6 beefsteak, 2 Roma 4 cherry tomatoes which Des planted in the half barrels, My vision of the expensive corragated raised beds.

All it is 200lt steeldrums cut in half and a split hose pipe around the top, but better still you can buy half drums that have the nice rolled edge on top. Drill a few holes for drainage Cost $20.00 A slap of paint if you worried about it rusting.

Anyway to get back to the garden, we planted beetroot, more tomatoes, sweetcorn,radishes, peas, cucumber, lemon grass and goose berries. Composted sheep poop and hay from last season's lambing had composted nicely and was ready to be used in the garden. Des prepared raised bed no 5 mixing old soil, compost and more top soil from the nursery, with the rotory hoe, this is where we planted the sweetcorn.

The hens are laying 6/8 eggs a day atm but that should improve as the pullets get a little older. Hen 13 Roosters 5 (not for long)One is getting fattened for the pot. 1 Broody silky with 3 orpington eggs. I have sold eggs to my fellow workmated and the egg money goes to buy chook food again. I am hoping for a few more orpington chooks this summer, maybe a few for the pot too.

We are expecting 3 suffork lambs anyday now, I let the girls in very late with Nelson, while the neighbours ram jumped the fence and forsure did the deed with the other two ewe's. Not happy cause that would be a mixed breed, let's just hope it boys. Daisy the goat is fully grown and is just the sweetest thing ever.

Well that's all news for now. And need I remind you to leave a comment for the give away, if you would like to take part.
Rina

More holiday pics ... and give away details.

The weather was so great, a little snow on the mountain just outside Hobart which looked so nice. I would have taken a pic of it but this trip I was cameraless and Pina was using her mobile phone just as a backup expecting me to bring the camera. Well the blond one (daughter) borrowed it, for her trip to the USA. The old Canon stayed behind, we have got so spoilt with the digital one. Anyway I am amazed at the quality of the phone pics. We toured mostly south of Hobart, trying not to miss anything, Port Arthur was an amazing place to visit.







On the way back we stopped of at the Tassie Devil Park, just as the next bird display was about to start. Here I got roped in to play part of the tree, (Might be cause I was dressed in green)I did get upclose to my favorite bird, Tawny Frogmouth. A young mother T/Devil refused to showoff her little ones.





A tour to the Cadbury Factory was on top of the list. Here I bought a teatowel as part of my holiday giveaway. The whole process of making chocolate is explained, the cocoa pods are bigger than I expected with shades of yellow to bright red.. Most of our cocoa beans come from PNG, roasted in Singapore then ground into a fine powder,then shipped to Hobart. What a place to work at though, how could you resist taste testing them choccies. We did get to visit their onsite shop and bought a good supply. My favorite is still Crunchies and peppermint Freddos.



Now let me tell ya, there is no way you can see Tasmania properly in a week or even two. There is just to much to see and do. So we will be back next year.
Until nexttime
Rina

PS. I have a small give away, so leave me a comment even if your overseas, on any of the last 3 posts to join in the fun. Draw ends 2 weeks from today. Good Luck.

Cascades Female Factory 1828 - 1904

Convict bonnets become Roses of the Heart

Thousands of replica female convict bonnets being made across the country and beyond, will become a powerful visual symbol of reconciliation with Australia's convict origins.


900 Bonnets
I (Christina Henri)was searching for a way to communicate the grief experienced by convict women at their unjust treatment. I spent months experimenting with a variety of art investigations at the Female Factory Historic Site in South Hobart, Tasmania.
One day I was away from the Site at another historic establishment, Narryna Heritage Museum in Battery Point, and I stumbled across a large number of white boxes containing baby’s christening bonnets. I reflected on how colonial mothers in all levels of society had suffered from the loss of their young. For the upper classes though they had ways of dealing with their grief and building monuments to pay tribute to their loved ones. Convict women, on the other hand, were afforded no such avenues and given no consideration during their time of anguish.



It was then the idea came to me to create an installation incorporating images of the beautiful christening bonnets arranged in such a way as to be a moving evocative memorial.
900 silk-screen images taken from photographs of the christening bonnets placed individually on A4 acetate sheets that hung in nine rows of one hundred images suspended from the ceiling by slender wooden bows.
From this concept followed ‘Departures and Arrivals’ (Tasmanian Bicentenary Project) an installation of cloth christening bonnets installed in the shape of a cross. I felt involving the community in the making of the bonnets added a layer of meaning to the artwork. The empathy of the bonnet makers added to the powerfully visual impact the rows of baby’s bonnets had on the viewer. Departures and Arrivals has been installed both indoors as well as outdoors.

They suffered very much at the hands of their captors and many were raped and had babies whilst incarcerated, the babies had to live in another room.. it is thought that the babies were probably not clothed or taken care of properly, for at least 1,100 babies died…the women were also punished for falling pregnant….

The concept came to artist Christina Henri, after she discovered some babies christening bonnets in white boxes at a Museum from the time… people from all over the world are ordering the bonnet pattern and making a bonnet……to be a part of the Roses from the Heart installation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Roses from the Heart ~~~
Gather them roses of yellow and red
Call out their names to start
and send them a rose from the heart
Gather their bonnets to wear on their heads
and send them a rose from the heart
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A lot of the women who have sewn the bonnets, found a real connection with the life of a particular female convict, they went on to research about her and share the information with friends and family and they then embroidered her name and flowers onto the bonnet….as a sign of respect



On the show they had a ceremony in a church with a big old row boat up the front and all the ladies wore the bonnets as a sign of respect…then went forward in a beautiful procession, removing the bonnet and placing it in the boat….oh how beautiful…to honour these poor women…who had probably stolen just a morsel of bread to save themselves and loved ones from starvation, but sadly, such a small thing was considered a serious crime back then excerpt
Sew a bonnet and be part of history. 25,266 bonnets made with empathy for convict woman who endured much received so little recognition. Their economic and social contribution was enormous, yet the ‘stigma’ shrouding their existence always precluded discussion of their value.

Just a few comments ...
sandysartstudio
That is so beauitful, thanking you for sharing. I am not one descended from a convict but my heart goes out to them. ...........Sandy
.Karin Taylor replied
thank you sandy, i am uncertain whether we are descendants or not of a female convict, but we think we have a male convict…and perhaps a female aboriginal ancestor … as many in our family have brown eyes and some features that make us wonder :) x my heart goes out to them also :)
. barnsis
Well my mom wore a bonnet to work in the field and my father was a convict but we are not from down under so I guess I am still not qualified. } :>)
. WhiteDove Stud...
Thanks for sharing Karin, my hubby is descended from both male & female convicts (who married). What a powerful part of history you have shared here and what a beautiful, poignant concept/tribute to these women. If I had any sewing skills I would – sadly I have none lol.
. Trish Woodford
PS – we have the old trial transcripts and he was sent out to Australia for stealing a hankerchief and she for stealing a dress. Sad but true, all they would have endured for that!)
. bev langby

Thank you for sharing this interesting story. I’m not Australian but my heart bleedes for those women…
. Mui-Ling Teh

Thank you for sharing Karin-sama!!
Amazing story of the artist and Australian history.
. catherine walker

There's nothing I can add to this story, except please go visit this historic site when you ever in Tasmania, it left me a little angry to think women could be treated this way, no matter who they were. It is a very sad place.

Market and a little music

We follow the sounds of a bagpiper playing a beautiful quick song while keeping beat with his foot. This busker is a young man dressed more like an artist than a bagpiper, his blond hair framing his face. A backdrop of sandstone walls, a bakery with tables outside. We round the corner to find blue and white gazebos,down eitherside of the road, we decide to start rightside first making our way around all 300 hundred stalls.



Stallholders are selling their wares, homebaked goods, beautiful painted silk scarfs blowing in the slight breeze, pure homespun wool socks, beanies and scarfs in shades of creamy browns and greys and brightly coloured felt made into flowers to pin onto hats or cloths,baby slippers ... wooden bowls turned from local wood, honey and jams by the bottlesfull. We share a bowl of tempura mushrooms with sweet chilli sauce.







We find a few stalls selling fresh veggies, fruit and flowers. The display is so inviting, we buy some asian greens and a bundle of sweet carrots to stirfry for our dinner with some leftover chicken.



The busker has moved on and now a group of young irish musicians are playing celtic/blue grass music. They're very good, a huge crowd is standing around listening to them play. (I had to buy a cd) We end the morning with bowls of soup and pied bread at the bakery.





Afternoon entertainment is a little bit of culture, we drove to a winery (Meadowbank Winery about 1/2hr outside Hobart) no not winetasting but music and song "A Little Light Music" by The Tasmanian Chorale, a group of 45 singers, from Bach to Billy Joel. A lot of winetasting was done that afternoon. Conducted by Stephanie Abercomby. After a nice afternoon we headed back to our resort.