Experimenting and gardening

I am still procrastinating, having more or less finished the practice book - now I have too many ideas floating around and am not sure of being able to put any of them into practice! I would prefer not to be working in black and silver and white - I think that is the main bother.

I have been experimenting with a few paper casts and different paints and sprays to see what I like, also sewing some fascinating spirals I learnt with Carole Wilkes at the Textile Convention in Brisbane earlier this year. They don't show up too well here, but can look very good.

Then, just because the day was so gorgeous, I decamped into the garden for some overdue pruning and potting up seedlings.

This is our Congea vine which has been a cloud of dusky pink flowers for about a month now. Our boys loved pulling off the petals and dropping them from a height when they were children - they really twist and twirl all the way to the ground. I think the vine is related to the lovely blue Petrea, but Congeas will only grow in the tropics.

This is the last of the zygocactus flowers - should have been over weeks ago, but still a lovely splash of colour.

I alsays love the flowers on the crotons - often think they lend themselves to textiles.

We had such a wonderful wet season I shouldn't complain, but I would LOVE some rain for our garden - we haven't had a drop since the beginning of June and all my plants are looking very thirsty. I try not to water too much, but in this weather it has become a necessity.

Now it is bedtime, so I can sleep on the thoughts of the book and try again tomorrow!