Our 'Lil Christmas Lily!

We have been gifted an orphaned newborn (4 days old as I write this on Sunday) Black Angus Calf. She is absolutely beautiful and healthy and large! (The demise of her mother it seems) Hubby works with the owner; and because they are going away over Christmas they won’t be around to bottle feed her… Guess what? We have a new member of the menagerie…. Her name is Lily.

My 2 youngest kids are with their father for 3 weeks over Christmas but we have a houseful anyway (5 extras!) with hubby’s twin boys (15), his daughter (19) with her boyfriend and my eldest daughter (18). So Lily has been very well received and spoiled and will grow up to be the tamest cow ever!

She has the most beautiful big dark eyes with the longest lashes you’ve ever seen and is the most adorable creature! She is so easy to love… and I doubt that she will end up as steak! The original owners would like photographic updates!

Lily

Black Angus Calf

4 Days Old

Little Black Lambi

Approx 3 months old

Hasn't Lambi turned out to be a handsome boy?

Merri

Indignant about her new haircut!

Belinda

Occupied with her favourite past-time

Something Old..... Something New!

I bought a pomegranate whilst doing groceries the other day... Not to eat (well not yet anyway!) but to paint! We had a pomegranate tree at home when I was growing up and I'm afraid I haven't even seen a fruit for years and years! These were imported from the US and I just knew one had to come home with me as inspitation! They have such a gorgeous voluptuous shape and beautiful colour  topped with a quirky crown!

Pomegranate on Saucer

 WIP

Collage

Still quite a lot to be done on this; highlights, shadows and I'm not so sure about the window frame colour.

Here's something else new, pretty faces painted onto onion skin dyed silk.

Pretty Faces

Painted Silk

WIP

Now for the something old! Here is this mosaic style stitching I was working on a few months ago. The stitching is finished but I haven't done anything with it yet!

'Mosaic Rose'

Rayon Thread on Inkjet Transfer on Cotton

This little cross-stitch was completed about 3 years ago. I designed it from a pastel painting I had done (with the aid of some Cross Stitch software)

'Posy for Klimt'

Cross Stitch on Linen

This Tree of Life is my own design too; from an acrylic painting. It's also about 3 or 4 years old.

'Tree of Life'

Needlepoint on Canvas

And the shape of the day is... SQUARE! All these pieces are square format; which is not usual for me as I'm a circle fiend! (Except for the last photo which is a bit off skew as it hasn't been blocked yet!)

Looking back, I have also noted that generally I am using more earthy colours than I have ever before... My work is becoming more muted, rusty, earthy... I think I like that.

I love colour and I have always used quite saturated colour; lots of colour contrast and solid colour with black and or off white. (This is true of my home too... ) Maybe it's an age thing?! Or maybe it's just a realisation that maximum volume loud colour isn't the only way to get noticed! Or maybe I just don't care about being noticed at all!

My alpacas are shorn and I have another couple of bags of beautiful wool to play around with! Really must get my act together and hunt down some carding combs! Think of all the fun I'm going to have! The girls really aren't happy with me and seem to be quite indignant about the whole process- and they do look rather hilarous without their thick coats!

Cycles of Life.............

Sadly, one of my alpacas died today. Her name was Prima Donna (Donna for short), she had been brain damaged at birth. -She was 5 1/2 years old. (We were gifted her when we picked up the other girls from the breeder- it wasn’t a hard decision to make to accept her!) She walked with a bit of a stiff legged gait and wasn't as agile as the other girls but she was so sweet. She was a bit doddery and wobbled her head around a bit at times; I don't think her eyesight was particularly good either. I called her Ditzy Donna and she was always a bit of a special girl...

The vet and I moved her into the shade but the heat today- at least 38degC (100degF)- took her quickly even after the vet did what vets do.
I don’t have a photo of her to post here. We lost some photos earlier in the year with a computer crash but look what I found in a native frangipani tree close to their paddock…. 3 bubby Willy Wag-Tails in the cutest nest - with Mum and Dad dive bombing me as I got too close! (Hence the photo quality!)

Cycles of life……….