Manic May

 I took this photo last Saturday during a planting bee at the botanic Gardens - it is a silver bean or Sophora tomontosa tree, an Australian native used for medicinal purposes by the aborigines.  I don't do the planting, I take the smoko, much to everyone's delight!  Click to enlarge the photo and you will see the beans better.

 This shaded path winds through the nearby area.

 I titled this post Manic May as that is what our visitor Services Officer Maya calls it - there are extra activities every weekend during the month, and as well as that she has an exhibition in the gallery at the Gardens!  This sculpture, which is about a metre and a half long, is part of it.  The exhibition is all about seeds, and this is representing a dehiscent pod - one which scatters seeds in an explosive fashion.  I read that, I did not know the name before!  Maya wove it  from palm inflorescances, coconut leaves and a cane.  She ended up sitting in a small wading pool in her togs as she couldn't keep everything wet enough otherwise - that is dedication I think.

 Another of the Fibre Fever ladies has had a birthday and this is the card I sent.

I have had some fun with attachments which I made several years ago.  The top three magnets have decorations from my melting pot, stamped, then extra paint and embossing powder added.  The bottom ones are all from a hot glue gun squigled onto freezer paper, then painted with acrylic paint, and embossing powder added later.  I must do some more as they make very useful attachments to have on hand.
 Only 20 days to go now, I am really counting - and trying to get everything done beforehand as I don't really know for how long I will be incapacitated.  I am assuming only a couple of weeks, but who knows.

More photos next week probably.  There is a Palm Fete this weekend, usually a very large event, I have to be there by 7am to help set up - there are usually dozens of customers there by 8am - or earlier - the official opening time.  A different group is running the fete this year so it will be interesting to see how well run the day is.  The previous organisers were pretty hopeless so this should be better - we hope!