WINTER SOLSTICE

Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.

They had a week of celebrations in Fed Square in Melbourne. We went one night, it was nice.
Lots of dances by different nationalities, pretty cool music and interesting performances.

The music was mostly trancy, which combined with the costumes nearly put me in some sort of hypnosis.

They built this pyramid thing a couple of weeks ago. Kids could decorate lanterns and then they put them up on the structure. For some reason they turned them off most of the time, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Of course it takes two supervisors to watch over a fire.

Nice fire pit. They could have thrown a couple of more logs on it.

Fiiire.. oops, just put me into a trance again..

Loved this woman from the Japanese performance. They did a dance to remember the people who died in the Japan earthquake. Sad.

Good Night! And lets hope summer comes sooon!!

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH MY LIFE

This weekend we are moving into a new house. We were actually planning on moving (back) to Berlin in spring next year, in April, but then we postponed it for another year.
We have been doing this for probably the last 3 years and i'm feeling truly sorry for my 3 friends back home who i'm always telling i will be back soon.
I have been living in Australia for almost 5 years now and i'm not sure if it's life in the suburbs, Australian culture or my dead end jobs, but my brain feels like it has been soaked in fabric softener for too long and it's not a nice feeling.

But we decided to be sensible and stay another year, need to save up quite a bit of money to move there and not stress about it. But i REALLY wanted to move into a new house. The house we got now.. where do i start..?! We actually found a new one quite quickly this time, i loved it straight away, it's got floorboards, a nice kitchen and bathroom, it's fairly big and bright, it's got a patio and even partial solar power. Now, that is pretty cool.
So now it's all comparing fridges, carpet cleaners and electricity providers for me. Not too exciting, but i'm looking forward to getting it all organized and settling in.

My label has been on the back burner for a little while now, actually a year, since i started working full-time again. I'm getting a new studio, it's smaller, only one room, now i got 2, but i'm sure it's gonna be nice. So once i set it all up i might be able to focus on some new stuff.

I also booked a new craft class, just for me. It's an upholstery class and i'm pretty excited about it.

It's gonna be great to do up some old chairs i got around the house, i also wanna get myself some cool sanders for Christmas. Awesome. Stay tuned, because i am planning on putting up before/after pictures.

I also told all my twitter friends about my new upholstery obsession and my lovely friend Kerri decided to book the class with me. I'm so excited. Now we can drool over fabrics and power tools together.

 

So that's basically it, i'm staying here for now, got a new house, a new studio and hopefully some pretty upcycled furniture soon. And i also wanna do a dressmaking class, once i find one that fits my schedule. 

  

You got any exciting new plans?  Let me know, i'd love to hear about them.

I took the photos in New York. I Love NY. And i miss it. I call the pictures 'Studies in Steel', i love steel too.

THINGS TO DO IN MELBOURNE-EUREKA TOWER

The last weeks i have been feeling a bit uninspired with my blog. I can barely catch up with everything in my life, even without trying to deal with safari and its several disorders(on my computer my blog only runs on safari).

A while ago we went to the Eureka Tower in Melbourne. I guess it's one of the things to do here, highest building and all and good views and such things, it was quite nice, so i thought i show you some of the pictures.

This is Melbourne.

As you might be able to see, Melbourne is like an island. The CBD has some tallish buildings, but all around it are suburbs, which are basically ugly clusters of little houses.

That's the other side. We got quite a lot of beach here.

Looks like toy buildings.

I like this picture. It expresses my general mood quite well.

Apparently you can also buy nazi paraphernalia in the souvenir shop. People might wanna check certain hate codes before printing merchandise, but hey, not everyone can know those things.
Still, who buys a jumper with the number of storey's of a tourist attraction printed on it. I mean seriously?

TEXTURES OF TASMANIA

As i said in my last post, we had a little treat planned for my birthday.

So we went to Tasmania for 4 days, last weekend.

It was quite cold and raining a lot.

I wasnt impressed, but it was ok. And i quite liked getting out of here.

Tasmania is quite redneck, the towns are small and the nature is pretty and probably nicer to travel in summer.

We spent my birthday in Launceston, its very small and it was very rainy and windy. 

The prettiest thing there is the Gorge, its worth going to, got lots of walking tracks and chair lifts and stuff. Thats where i took most of those pictures.

I only took pictures on the 1st day coz then my memory stick was full with 330 pictures and i cudnt buy a new one, no shops open on Sunday and no computer. So only one day.

I like Hobart and surroundings, very interesting historically, convicts and stuff and the day we went there it was really nice and sunny.(more about that later)

Lots of animals roaming around Tasmania, the streets and the sky. Lots of roadkill too. Sad.

Because of the weather my favourite pastime was checking out old candy stores and i scored quite some treats there.

WEEKEND TRIP

Over Easter we went to Adelaide. It was very nice. Much better then i expected. But then i have lowered my expectations considerably. When it comes to travel and in general. But Adelaide was nice.

buildings near the river

We drove there. It was nice to see the country again, at least for the first 4 hours.

fountain on the river

Adelaide has a lot of food, especially around Gouger Street, where we stayed and ate out every night. Lots of Chinese restaurants but you can find other stuff too.

South Australian Museum

We went to the Adelaide Museum.

something scratching its back at the South Australian museum

And the Art Gallery. 

the Big Mother/Art Gallery of South Australia

And to the Immigration Museum too.

kids clothing in the Immigration Museum

My feet hurt SO much by the end of the day, the first night i could barely stand up to go to dinner.

Interesting statement in the Immigration Museum

On Sunday we went to the Glenelg Beach, which was pretty nice, some shade and lots of families around having picnics. Not like St.Kilda Beach in Melbourne, which is mostly infested by junkies and backpackers.

Lion welcoming you at the South Australian Museum

Then we went to the Barossa Valley, where they got vineyards and tree lined country roads and stuff. Pretty. Lots of German immigration history there too. If you are into those sort of things, its the place to go.

weird mask at the South Australian Museum(imagine wearing that, urgh)

Ah, yeah, on the way to Adelaide, we also had a stopover in Hahndorf. Its some sort of Bavarian/German looking tourist village, where you can buy shit, like fancy sausages and gift baskets and eat pretzels. Well worth it.

random Hahndorf picture

Since i decided to limit my time in Australia now, i kinda wanna see it all before i leave. Its always a question of money and time tho. Next stop is Tasmania, that shud be nice too.
                                          

another random Hahndorf picture

THE AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRE AND HOW YOU CAN HELP!

The fires we had in some parts of Victoria on saturday were totally devastating!

The death toll is up to 230 now and over 1000 houses were destroyed, let alone the damage done to nature and wildlife!

The DUST team(Down Under Street Team) on etsy set up the OzBushfireAppeal shop to raise money to donate to the Bushfire Appeal of the Redcross.

I want to Thank everyone who helped setting up this shop and is raising awareness about this issue and all the people who donated items and bought items from it! Thank You!

So far we raised about 5.000Aus$!

If u want u can go to the shop and purchase or donate something!

U can also donate directly to the red cross fire appeal,

to Wildlife Victoria , or to the RSPCA who are taking care of injured wildlife.

If u cant donate money, but want to help, u could donate 

blood, clothes and toiletries

or offer ur time as a Volunteer.

But Please BEWARE OF SCAMS!!

Bushfires in Australia are fairly common and a great risk for people, wildlife, nature and infrastructure.

This year was especially bad, because of drought and days in a row of 45C(113F).

Then on saturday, we had high temperatures up to 47C(117F), and very strong winds, which is like a hair dryer in ur face basically and makes fires, once they are started, move very fast.

How do these fires get started? I guess it just takes a little bit of inconsideration from one person, the flick of a cigarette butt, a barbeque, or even an electric saw to make the sparks fly, if that wasnt enough some of these fires are lit DELIBERATLEY!! Which i find extremely sickening and id call mass murder, coz those people know the consequences of their actions!

But i DO think these people deserve a fair trial and the whole circumstances a thourough investigation to make sure to get the right people!

Im german and i have to say that here, to make clear i dont have enough information about the history of bushfires and the education about them!

BUT, i do think education about fires, prevention, escape plans and options shud be hammered into every childs brain in school.

The government has to put more effort in education And also plans for evacuation, like they do in california for example! It shudnt be optional and taken lightly in extreme cases like this, people shud be more aware of the consquences of staying and the possibilities for defending their homes!

There has to be a better early warning system!

I Do hope, something like this doesnt happen ever again, at least that people are more prepared and a death toll like can be prevented!

But with the  change of climate and Australia getting hotter and sunrays becoming more cancerous every year, all we can do is take the BEST care of our environment we can, and be far more prepared and educated about situations like that!

Lets just take our thoughts to those people in need and do what we can to help them!

(picture courtesy of tredlightphotographs.etsy.com)

ADDITION TO MY LAST POST

This is my front lawn, its a sad and pathetic joke! Its ridiculous really!

HOT AND BOTHERED

Thanks to all my blogger friends for being so patient with me!!(coz update a bit late)

We had the heat wave here last week(45C/115F) -no fun at all, i can tell u!

Especially without AC!!

Anyways i survived, just about, by staying in my cave the whole day(which i do most of the time anyways).

Also, i had problems uploading some pictures onto my blog the other day and that wasnt funny at all, coz i was overheated and im never in a good mood when im put under pressure(heat) and tested like that(pictures).

But anyways, the pictures are from NZ(New Zealand) where we went a while ago and i think they are quite refreshing.



Here are a couple of facts/observations on the heat and me( and i guess people in general).

-There is not much u can think about when it hits 40C, its survival/cooling down mode
-blood pressure is high(thats what i think) and ur brain is like somebody is poking needles into it, u get very annoyed very quickly, luckily ure too lethargic to act on it tho, most of the time). i cud have smashed something when i cudnt upload my pictures onto my blog, but im not that stupid and crazy
-sewing, taking pictures in wool dresses, being locked out of ur house with no money, keys, sunscreen or anything and ur partner coming home in 13 hours is not a good idea(i didnt, but my imagination was working overtime!)
-Auto-pilot time

-everytime i got up i felt my temples pounding against my head and terribly dizzy
-we were in the german news -Yay, famous!
-why is it if the temperatue is 10C below our body temperature, we are comfortable, but if it acctually IS our body temperature, we are freaking out(most of us) let alone 5 degrees above it?




-in my home town it was 27 below 2 weeks ago, not sure if that was record, but here were about 45 degrees(and lets not talk outback here) than that makes about 70 degrees difference,
imagine experiencing a temperature difference like that in a second, that wud be crazy!!

Well im not doing too well in the heat, dishevelled wud describe my state pretty well, but i persevered.
This week i was/am tired, coz im getting up really early now, but thats good, more time to do stuff!

Thanks for reading!



The pictures are taken at the Huka Falls on the north island and Milford Sound on the bottom of the south island, the last picture is the fjord meeting the Tasman sea, quite amazing!:)

SPIDER CHECK

i hate spiders, snakes, generally all creepy crawlies.. i go into the water just with my legs, ..i got a shark paranoia now too, ..jellyfish and the water and the beach arent the cleanest anyways.

everytime i drive my car i do a spider check, it saved my life before.. 

one day i had a huntsman spider sitting Right inside my door frame.

if i wudnt have checked it, it cud have killed me, theyre not poisenous, but having a big spider crawling up on my shoulder while im driving 80km, well a lot of hyperventilating and breathing difficulties dont really help with ur road safety.

(of curz i wudnt put pictures of these spiders on my blogs; are u kidding, check them out here)

when i go to sleep i do a spider check now, one woman i know told me she found a spider once, under her duvet. Great, another thing to worry about!

one night i switched the light on for some reason and there was a big spider right next to the lamp, Next To My Headboard!

usually i scream and demand for them to be taken away, ..by my boyfriend, i bought some spider sprays, so i feel a bit safer again.

we have to sleep with open windows now, coz of the heat.. well no comment necessary..

one time i went walking with my boyfriend and we saw a brown snake,

'The Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis), often referred to as the Brown Snake, is an elapid snake native to Australia. It is one of the world's deadliest snakes.' from wikipedia

of curz he had to get close to take pictures of it! That is the snake. i think he is crazy, sometimes..

im not 100% sure if it was a brown snake or not, but it was a big snake and it was brown and im german, so i dont know it better, but that is ALL i need to know.

well, what can i say i wanna go back to europe, but its soo cold there! damn it!

DAY-OUT

today i went on a day out with my boyfriend. we drove somewhere nice and green and i took some pictures. first there is that one. i dont know what it is!


it says 'do not disturb', but i dont know what! bees, spiders... what is it?!
any ideas?

i took some more extra nice ones.


and that one.


i hope u enjoy them as much as i do! i like walking around in the green stuff. fresh air, quiet, not many people, wide open
spaces.
well who wudnt like that?!