hey there ...

My brother and sister-in-law had a wee baby this past week. Nau Mai Haere Mai little James, we welcome you into the whanau bro! Your cuzzies are busting to teach you and Matthew some moves on a skateboard. James and Matthew, my two new nephews in the last 6 months in Australia. We have a Marcus. Now all we need is a Luke and John. And my other son is also named after an old testament prophet Nehemiah. All these bible names, we must be really holy. Or is it holey?

It's been a busy week getting my book work done and dabbling with some dyeing and nest construction as well. Me sitting on the back step gettin eaten by sandflies and so focused. My son in the background talking to our 65+ neighbour, giving him a tutorial on how to execute an 'ollie', that's skateboard speak for a jump. Keith, bless him, encourages my boys to share their days and experiences.
I am not a weaver of baskets (having only the basic knowledge for how to weave a kete which is different from a 'bowl' or 'nest' shape). So I figure, plait the long pieces of seaweed together like a french plait, then tie them together. Let them dry, and cut off the rope. The dried seaweed should be able hold it's shape. It probably won't hold up to close scrutiny but experiment, experiment, experiment.


I also made some with eucalyptus branches and seaweed, and a larger seaweed one. Then set them in my cooking bowls (well, it's not like I cook in them is it) to dry. I put them on my very sunny and windy steps over night thinking that would sort them out, and then we had the biggest downpour of rain during the night. Typical. Now I think they are growing mold, but I will let them be. They will eventually dry out. I don't know about my bowls though.

Here are some of my photos for artwork.

I found this big cockle shell on the beach the other day which is odd because these are not from around here. Definitely an import.
And playing around with photoshop to get some negative images, etc.


Check out this close up. I need a new camera. I want cleaner images. The more macro, the better I say!

Some sad news this week, my neice Shenequa lost her mother. It is such a pain to be so far from family at times like this. They are in Australia, Rockhampton. My mother and family are there for her and I know she is loved and supported. Still, losing your mother at 14 is heartbreaking. My brother is a great father. Both my brothers make great dad's.

Well, I may be offline for a few weeks until about the 20th, unless there is a windfall and I can get all our accounts paid. My husbands work pays out monthly and our phone bill has been behind for awhile so until the next wage, we will be a little bit piggledy. We are all well and good. If you need to contact me, you can still email me @ rachelletoimata@gmail.com or our standard email account if you have it. And the mobile phones are still good to go. Weird, they are working out to be cheaper than our landline.