it’s nearly two years since Old Man Crow left the stage and almost seven since Ariel flew free…
Old Man Crow and Ariel P Cat at Mullengrove Cottage 2004
Flying Free !
memory and imagination make a life…
https://itscrowtime.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/walking-home-with-mr-bones/
https://itscrowtime.wordpress.com/2023/02/17/walking-home-with-mr-bones-3/
the Alsynite for the roof of the gazebo arrived on Monday ready for the plumber to come back and roof the section over the shade cloth which is still in such good condition I am holding off on the patchwork of old windows idea til after summer to see how hot it gets in there!
10,000 litre water tank all connected up with a fire hose fitting, the garden tap is on the other side, will plant a Banksia serrata and Banksia spinulosa on the fence line with a tough low growing native groundcover, this side faces west so will get very hot in summer but need to keep an easy access there for the fire hose.
I joined our Community Fire Unit, the training was sobering & had me rethinking a lot of my garden plans, feel much more prepared for a hot summer. Dunmovin is two houses away from the bush to the North and one house away to the West where the ember attack came from in 2019 that burned the thatch on the roof of the gazebo.
Cecile Brunner rose planted on the corner of the gazebo with a Daphne and polyanthus, the forget me nots are wild things that spring up everywhere along with Herb Robert, spread 30 bags of organic compost on the garden last week as the soil has not been tended since 2015.
the studio is settling in well, the DeLonghi Dragon heater is a little beauty, heats the space in about 10 minutes! Only problem is I can’t get the external speakers to work with the computer… feel sure it’s an easy fix, the system preferences don’t want to recognize them, I upgraded the operating system recently so will look at the Apple help when I can be bothered, the internal speakers still work fine for now
Bottle of Cloud Essence by Mark Eliott and an old gyroscope I found in a garden half a lifetime ago!
I just finished rereading Mark’s book Essence of Cloud, such a magical mystery tour! The glass for the exhibition and book took 7 years to complete, a wonderful dream made real!
the lounge is the next project, it’s going to be cold and windy today so I want to just stay inside and attend to Rake’s clawing continuing the collaboration that Ariel started back in 2009!
Rake loves the garden, he is allowed out during the day when I am home but comes in at night as there is a big resident ring tailed possum and this cottage is part of his territory. They checked each other out through the lounge room window on Monday, hoping they will just let it each other be.
will spread the rest of Roderick’s ashes around the garden on the next Full Moon in September
I have fallen in love with a cat named Snake at the Cat Protection Society!
Last month I wrote an e-mail wondering why he hasn’t found a home yet to which they replied,
“Snake is a beautiful cat, however he can play quite rough. He is looking for a home where his new family will be patient in training and won’t be put off by his energetic and intense personality. He will need an experienced cat owner.
As soon as you’re settled into your new place and ready to adopt, feel free to submit an adoption questionnaire and then we’ll get you booked in to meet our cats!”
Well, I am most certainly an experienced cat owner, Ariel P Cat was an Abyssinian who taught us the rules of catiquette with a velvet paw… most of the time, occasionally he had to be a little more forceful when I was slow on the uptake so do know about playing a bit too rough.
I heard from both the lawyer and real estate agent yesterday, probate has been granted, all going well settlement on Dunmovin could happen next Tuesday and I’ll have the keys in my hands! I was going to wait until this actually happened but woke up from a dream with Snake helping me unpack so I just filled out the Cat Protection Society’s online questionnaire and look forward to meeting this fabulous feline!
June 26th 2023
Rake the cat formerly known as Snake will come home to Dunmovin next Saturday, July 1st. The house here at Hat Hill Road is all packed up waiting for the removalist to take all my worldly belongings to our forever home. Just about to pack up the computer and will be offline for some time to settle in,
see you out the other side!
our next door neighbour’s little black cat Muffin joined the circle of Bastet to bless Ariel’s grave
so good to have some cat magic ’round the house!
‘The Letter W’ from ‘An illuminated Book of Cats’ © 2010
illustrated by Mo Orkiszewski with words by Rod Morgan & musings by Ariel P Cat
Ariel P Cat was conceived on the Spring Equinox 1999
he lives on in our hearts
Seven for a Secret Mo 19
5H graphite on watercolour paper
I want to draw all the magic & wildness in this beautiful old lady of a house and our favourite haunts here in inner city Sydney over the next two years for the Sayonara Sydney show in March 2021 when we hope to move to the Blue Mountains!
an old sketch for Dark Moon Dancer with the seven feathers
it’s the Full Moon on Good Friday and I am missing our beautiful cat Ariel who passed away 2 years ago
so I’ve been stitching away the blues
Ulrike Bogdan sent this beautiful resist dyed indigo scarf awhile back along with some indigo dyed linen, so I made a fringe to give it a bit more length, it worked beautifully as a stole but I was worried about losing it!
these beautiful words have me itching to make the next moon
“The moon, second-hand, worn at the edges, was hung up in the sky like something a housewife leaves out to remind her it needs mending.”
Brothers and Sisters
The Real and the Unreal selected stories of Ursula K Le Guin
Volume One Where on Earth
page 5
Glennis Dolce’s blue moon cloth, a beautiful piece of indigo dyed silk from Louise Watson, another Glennis moon on Liz Ackert’s pennon a crow feather for flying in the dark & a stitched feather on black velvet from awhile back
yesterday we had our first house inspection with the new real estate agent with only 24 hours notice, always have to worry a bit about what on earth they will think of us and this wild old lady of a house!?
the lounge room full of plants and art
looking into the studio
the office
dining room
industrial storage shelves
the milk crate wardrobe
the view from the bedroom window is nearly private, we will celebrate ten years here on December 1st
Old Man Crow in his music room
upstairs verandah
Ariel P Cat 1999-2017
so the house feels clean, the inspection went well & looks like we will be here for a good while yet!
Cane Toad Skin Stars Mo 18
linen thread and cane toad leather
I love making these stars!
they will help with binding the blue leather branch to the palm inflorescence
and integrating Reaching for the Stars with The Dream
spring is in the air, the first jasmine is out!
The Letter U
from An illuminated Book of Cats © 2010
Mo Orkiszewki, Rod Morgan & Ariel P Cat
Once in a Blue Moon by Mo 2017-2018
W 29cm x H 9.5cm
embroidered moon on electric blue suede over papier maché mold, 1.5mm black leather cord stitched with black linen thread over papier maché mold, bamboo rungs, waxed & knotted DMC cotton, vintage glass beads, bone beads, lead fishing weights, nickel silver links, lapis lazuli
photograph by Simon Fraser Cloud Nine Image Art
last year I was thinking the whole point of this slow stitching lunacy was the retractable ladder but it didn’t quite work so a few days ago decided to make a new ladder out of 1mm sterling silver plate
which didn’t work either
x-roads cloth by Grace Forrest-Maestas
imagine peace by Liz Ackert
Moon Unit II Mo 17
Fish Bones by The Pale Rook
and the redundant silver ladder
back in the box to incubate
this may take some time…
in memory of Ariel P Cat
‘The Letter F’ from An illuminated Book of Cats © 2010
words by Rod Morgan, illustrations by Mo Orkiszewski, musings by Ariel P Cat
13 moons have passed
this morning I finished embroidering Grace of Windthread’s beautiful one line poem for the Full Moon
“We are burning Karma and it smells like incense…”
tonight I will stitch grape vine tendrils to the ends of the steel twigs
vintage silk ribbon stitched with indigo and pomegranate dyed silk from Glennis Dolce
inktense coloured pencil with red silk
this morning I edged it with ochre stained hand plied plant fibre string from a Yam Totem Arnhem Land 1976
to honour our beautiful muse Ariel P Cat 1999-2017
PS grape vine tendrils inserted into the ends of the steel twigs, wrapped in eelskin, stitched with black linen thread & black glass beads
photo taken with a flash at dawn as the weather is overcast today
It's Crow Time 