GOOD BYE LEXIE!!

Hello all,

It is with a very heavy heart that we said good bye to our beloved cat, Lexie. She adopted us 17 years ago at a time that we needed her but didn't know it.

She arrived at our doorstep one night as our daughter Madeline returned home from an outing. We assumed she belonged to a neighbour and, because we live on a main road, we took her in intending to return her home in the morning. It turned out that our next door neighbours had rescued her after she had been thrown into the bushes in front of their house by a passing motorist.

Lexie kept running away from the neighbours and coming to our house, probably because they had three boys and a little dog. So my two teenage children and I wanted to keep her and the neighbours were quite happy to let us. We had one problem - Sam. He was away overseas at the time and we couldn't make such a decision without him. Unfortunately, Sam disapproved of animals in the house. Understandably so, since he grew up in a little village where animals were for food or work and not for something so frivolous as a pet. We begged and pleaded and, for our sakes, he agreed.

Off to the vet we took her and then home.

When Sam returned he was not much pleased. The cat, however, took one look at him and it was love at first sight. She followed him down to his office, had a good sniff around and selected his fax tray as her spot. She sat there, next to him all day, every day only coming up when he did. It took her about a week to win him  over. He has loved and cared for her more than all the rest of us put together ever since. In the last year or so, as her illness was progressing and she was constantly wanting to eat whilst at the same time loosing weight, he would buy the best possible food he could find including raw prawns that he would peel and feed her.

Lexie had a profound effect on all of us but, most especially, Sam. It was after she entered our lives that his innate love of all living creatures and nature in general came to the fore.

Last Saturday we went through the heartbreaking experience of having her put down. We then had a burial ceremony in the back yard with the grandchildren present. We felt it was an important experience for them, as they have been asking questions about death. And, now, we're going through the grieving process.

On to something happier. Lucy, Vicky and I went to visit my student Dianne who lives in Trentham near Dalesford, about a two hour drive from my place. Yes, she and her friend Rachel, travel that distance for every class!

Dianne is the owner of Agave Print Studio, where she runs workshops in printmaking and more. Her artwork includes printmaking, encaustic, oil and pokerwork on wooden panels, artist books, on-glaze porcelain and small scale bronze casting. She is quite a dynamo with a great body of work behind her that I cannot do justice to in this post. She has completed her PhD and is a published author. I direct you to her website Agave Print Studio for more information.

Dianne, next to an unusual dogwood, whose flowers have pointy petals. (I'll ask
Dianne for a cutting)

Dianne is also an amazing gardener. I've often been impressed by the materials she brings to class but I was not prepared for the lush and thriving, extensive garden that she has developed in just a few years, almost single handedly. We had a wonderful time walking through her studio, which is housed in the most delightful, 1970s A-frame building, then her home, which I can best describe as eclectic and then her garden. Everywhere we looked there was something unique, interesting or unexpected.

Lucy, Dianne and Vicky with the A-Frame in the background and the mauve coloured
verbena Bonariensis in the foreground.

Then, to top it all off, we were treated to a sumptuous lunch of an amazing home made pie and for dessert, a chocolate mousse cake with rhubarb sauce. Of course, the rhubarb was from her garden. We, even, got to take some rhubarb stalks home. All in all, an unforgettable  afternoon.

Next door to Dianne's place is an empty lot and at the front of it we found what looks like a broom growing wild. It was the black seed pods that attracted our attention and we cut some for ikebana.

I used three agapanthus flowers with these tall broom
stems in my self made container

Close up of the seed pods

I recently drove past the tree that supplies me with osage oranges and helped myself. These are very heavy fruit and need support when used in an arrangement. I chose to mass them at the opening of the large ceramic container. I used white hydrangeas and a New Zealand Flax leaf.

I feel I need to finish this blog on a happy note and this next photo does that for me. It is of my grandchildren Xavier and Aria. I'm no expert on photography but this picture moves me.

Bye for now,
Emily