Remnant 2

 

The first patch of  seedlings has endured many challenges over the years: rabbits, deer, kangaroos, drought….and (just for the record) sabotage. I could write a novel about it, if I felt inclined. This year I have piled sticks around  each plant – a strategy that seems to be working. Note the rare Coast Bitter Bush (Adriana quadripartita), propagated from cuttings collected just south of the shack. The silvery bushes are Olearia axillaris, whose leaves when crushed give off an intoxicating scent. I have offered up a wee little bitty prayer (as Dad used to say) for summer rain….

Bay 1

still they drift across
sun moon in search of
kindly faces

 flying south flying north
what is it
the gulls know

 looking out
seems like
looking in

 a gathering of terns
they must have heard
good news

 this rare shell
too beautiful
to keep

 old boots old hat
anchor stowed up for’ard
I’m ready

Vihuela

This beautiful Vihuela is now in my care. It comes from the workshop of a  South Australian luthier, Tim Guster.
The soundboard is European Spruce; the finger-board Macassar Ebony; the side and bottom American Rock Maple. Note the striking ‘fiddleback’ grain, and the fine Rose decoration.
Tim makes Harps, Renaissance and Baroque Lutes, Theorbos, Baroque Guitars, Vihuelas, 19th century Guitars and Hurdy Gurdies – these last, in particular, requiring a level of skill well above my level….

Ark 4

We would tend those glades of flowering stone, not quarry them. With cautious skill, tap by tap – a small chip of rock and no more, perhaps, in a whole  anxious day – so we would work.
Gimli, son of Gloin (from The Two Towers: JRR Tolkien).

And so it goes with Ark 1: wood once removed cannot be replaced. Or to paraphrase Dad: Consider thrice, chip once….