Being A Tree

There are three here!

 The other day I was pottering around in the garden when I noticed some unusual looking branches in one of our White Peppermints. I wandered over for a closer look and found these three fellows roosting for the day. I think they are this year's young and still learning, obviously. If you want to be a tree, choose one that looks like you! The White Peppermint is not endemic to this forest, Chris sowed the seeds of these trees many years ago when we first came to live here. He's chuffed that these Tawny Frogmouths have chosen them for their occasional daytime roost, but they do kind of stick out! If they had chosen any number of other trees around here I would never have noticed them! They really do look like part of the tree when they choose one that matches their plumage. Contrary to common belief these are not owls, they are related to Nightjars. They don't have the strong talons of owls and feed off insects and the occasional frog, not rodents and apparently they sit and wait for the insects to bump into them rather than actively hunting!

This weekend I'm off for a drive up into the highlands of Tasmania, to Tarraleah for a teddy bear making workshop. This is the first gig of the year, it all starts from now.......I'll soon be off to Tooradin again for some more workshops at Bear Essence and then up to Sydney for the Sydney Teddy Bear Fair and a workshop at Teddy's Bits.
I don't know about you, but these things have crept up on me. All of a sudden, the holiday is over and things start to get busy again. So I had better get on and do some more sewing today, I have such a lot to get through and it seems not enough time to do it! So until next time......"happy trails to you"......
Ooooh and I know I mentioned a New Year Giveaway.........well, make that a Valentine's Giveaway, look out for it real soon!

Back To My Roots

While I was overseas in September I had an email inviting me to teach a workshop at Tarraleah Resort in the highlands of Tasmania. Tarraleah is one of Tasmania's old "Hydro" villages, which were built last century to house the workers and their families when Tasmania's hydro-electric schemes were being built.
My father was one of these workers, and in the 1950's and 60's our family lived in Tarraleah village, my first five years were spent there! I haven't been back to Tarraleah since childhood and this invitation came out of the blue, and of course I was intrigued. The development of Tarraleah as a resort  saved the village from becoming a victim of time and derelection. The workers cottages have been restored as accommodation, though my sister tells me that "our" house no longer exists. There is a range of different accomodations to suit all budgets from luxury through to a caravan park. If you would like to learn more about Tarraleah here is the link.
The workshop will be a basic bear for beginners, this entailed me making a sample "teddy" suitable for teaching novice bear makers. It is quite some time since I've made a teddy bear, and it was rather lovely to return to my bear making roots (though embroidering that nose was a challenge!) I'm rather excited about these weekend retreats, there is one next month (17th and 18th) and another in January (21st and 22nd), I really am looking forward to seeing "what they've done with the place"! Take a look at the website and check out the events callendar, there is a range of different weekends on offer over the Summer.
Perhaps some of my Tasmanian readers might be interested in a beary nice weekend retreat?