onward

A belated but heartfelt thank-you to everyone for your kind comments on my (long past) last post, along with emails and instagram checkups in the interim. The second half of 2013 was basically a write-off, so I'm doing away with my predilection for continuity and instead charge valiantly toward a future where blogs sometimes actually get updated.

In the interest of such advancements; some photographs from March - the Labour Day long weekend - where we camped by the beach at Johanna. The sun was hot and the swells were altogether too powerful for swimming, but the beach was something to behold, and falling asleep to the thunder of waves crashing a welcome reprieve from the hum of the suburbs.

HALF A GLASS

August? Ugh! 2013, you are too much. Herein lies an attempt at a life update:

Firstly (as those that follow me on instagram already know), I went to Sweden! Three weeks away with Apryl, visiting our friend Helen who has been living there for some years. We spent the first half of our trip in Stockholm, where we subleased an apartment in the suburbs and spent our time picnicking, swimming, sleeping in, cycling, eating foods, and generally exploring the city at a leisurely pace.

Sadly just a few days into our trip I received word from home that Meg had suddenly fallen ill, having displayed some difficulty walking one evening which digressed to complete immobility by morning. Friends rushed her to the vet but there was no hope, and there she died being petted and loved by three of my dear friends. Meg was 16 years old, a real sweetheart and a friend. The quiet of her absence was such a sad thing to come home to. She is missed.

But, as they say, the show must go on. The second half of our time away was spent cruising, sailing, summerhouse-ing, sunning and exploring. Sweden is really, really good at summer and I did, dead kittens aside, have a really great time. Promise.

And then… three days after I arrived home I was, how do you say, hit by a car while cycling home from work? I wont say much about the accident other than that I was lucky to get out of it so lightly, all things considered. A collarbone broken in two places, some impressive bruising, a few stitch behind my ear and then, two weeks later, a very small subdural haematoma - a bleed on the surface of my brain – the delayed result of head trauma from the collision. Its been four weeks now of hospital, pain, shuffling from bed to couch and back again,  learning to function with just one arm, and then more (new, worse) pain, more hospital, being really sick and sleeping for a whole week (all this while being looked after really well by excellent babes), and now, finally, healing slowly. 

Yes, really. Half a glass. See?

TROPICAL SHIT

In March I went to Hawaii. It was good and there was heaps of pretty tropical shit. I still have another five billion photos of palm trees to share. Soon.

TOKEN

Hello? Is anybody still here? Life got kind of busy and suddenly it’s almost June and I haven’t updated my blog since January. But I’m still here - around - and with some new photos to share over the coming weeks.

Above are some images I recently shot for Two Hills latest collection TOKEN. Rhi's jewelery is always so delicate and lovely, but with a hand made quality that makes them extra special. Melbourne folk can buy them at Monk House Design or Life With Bird , and for everyone else, of course, theres the internet.

Last Day

The last day of 2012. A day spent at one of the nicest beaches Ive ever been to, and the night at a house in the middle of nowhere. Plus a pretty sunset and reenacting this scene always. All bases covered.

(& the first sunrise of 2012)

CORPSE FLOWER

Melbourne's first Titan Arum bloomed at the Royal Botanic Gardens on Christmas Day. They are the worlds biggest flowers, smell of rotting flesh, and only open for a few short days before dying. Naturally, I queued for almost an hour for a few short minutes with this sweet prince. Plants are the coolest, forever. Amen.

Two Hills Studio - Outtakes

Oh hello you, has it really been almost a month since we last met? It seems that Christmas & New Years & moving house (!!) & SUMMER may have gotten in the way of regular blogging again. Imma try & do better this year, promise. Or perhaps you should just follow me over on instagram, where I'm around somewhat more frequently, anyway? My username is bawkbawk.

As promised (...albeit a little late), some outtakes from my studio visit with Rhi from Two Hills, who shares her lovely space with fellow jewellers Henrietta Walker and Amina McPhee in the Nicholas Building (and who *ahem* happens to be my new housemate).

(view part one here)

A Unit of Measure

From the week just past. We extended the Cup Day holiday, spending both Monday & Tuesday at my friend Dexters family's holiday house in Rye.

As it turned out we were a day late for swimming weather, but the rock-pools provided entertainment enough. The coat of 'fur' which covered the rocks that day was so thick & soft & made the place seem just a little surreal.

But it was so nice to visit the Mornington Peninsular for a change. I grew up in Geelong, so have a tendency to head in that direction come summertime. Though we were just across the bay, the coast here felt somehow different. Or just new, perhaps. Unfamiliar.