http://www.wheatbelttourism.com/en/Wildflowers/Current+Wildflower+Season/default.htm

Cliff Humfries resepcted aborigine raised in kellerberrin district.
'interviewd at the age of 74 he said there wwere some things he missed about the past . He said he would like a reserve that had been set aside for wildflowers returned to the aborigines so that they could choose between living in town or in the bush: if a little cottage was put out on the reserve i'd be very pleased to live in it . Id stay out and make a homein the bush where i once belonged - go back to what we used to do in the early days'




i think the noise of traffic here is finally getting to me so I am embroidering native flowers on ear plugs for the community to block out the sound of trucks and trains passing through .. and bringing back a bit of nature to the town .

shopping list 6 August 2008

rain

more rain

16d bra

a naturopath in town

a beauty parlour

dating agency

childrens shoes

more sleep

perfume

a community garden to involve young people

a clone to do all the dreary stuff

more hours in the day

fresh fruit and veg

shoes

a garden on Mars where there is more water

undies

a woman

more choice

free or affordable petrol

quiet trucks and trains

nothing really

more days in the week

clothes

a ticket to England

a money tree

a way to deal with difficult family members

a travel companion

a cinema

a cycle path or walk path

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=182&ContentID=88436

shopping list

embroidered onto a shopping bag

'Governments are currently working in conjunction with retailers to phase-out single-use plastic bags by the end of 2008.
If you don't have plastic bag alternatives reusable bags such as calico and green bags ready to go in your store by this date, you'll be left behind.
By acting now, you'll have plenty of time to explore the alternatives, choose either paper, calico or green bags the right one for your business, cut your plastic bag costs and start marketing your actions to your customers and the media.
Reusable bags are emerging as the smart alternative. They offer affordable practicality, plus the satisfaction that comes from making environmentally responsible choices.'

http://www.ecobags.com.au/

'farmers wanted for sewing group'

I may revive an old tradition of sewing wheat bags and encourage farmers to join my sewing group to sew some rain .. i can imagine it will be as popular as my plan to get fishermen to knit fish when on a residency in the outer hebrides ..

i might just advertise it anyway in the local mag for a laugh..apparently it was a terrible job and they all hated it

ideal shopping list for kellerberrin 5 august 2008

rain

more rain

a beauty parlour

dating agency

childrens shoes

more sleep

perfume

a community garden to involve young people

a clone to do all the dreary stuff
more hours in the day
fresh fruit and veg
shoes
a garden on Mars where there is more water
undies
a woman

free or affordable petrol
quiet trucks and trains
nothing really
more days in the week
clothes

a ticket to England
a money tree
a way to deal with difficult family members
more choice
a travel companion
a cinema
a cycle path or walk path

overwelmed by the scale of everything (the farms, australian landscape, trucks!) i am now looking at small things/ plants leaves and wild flowers

http://asgap.org.au/design/indig1.html

i am thinking of embroidering hybrid flowers plants or HM plants ( historically modified !) eucalyptus , wheat, wild flowers .merino wool, gold leaf , salt

hy·brid

n.
1. Genetics The offspring of genetically dissimilar parents or stock, especially the offspring produced by breeding plants or animals of different varieties, species, or races.
2. Something of mixed origin or composition.
3. A word whose elements are derived from different languages.




What is 'genetically modified'?
'The cells of all plants and animals contain DNA; it's like a blueprint for life, passed from generation to generation. Strands of DNA are made up of genes, and it's these that carry the information which gives organisms their specific characteristics, including physical appearance (such as green eyes or purple leaves) and physiological functioning (such as drug-resistance in bacteria).
'Genetic engineering, or genetic modification, means changing the DNA by transferring genes between and within different living things. For instance, you could take a gene from a fish that lives in very cold seas and insert it into strawberry DNA, so it can survive the frost.
Some argue that genetic modification of organisms is not new: last century Gregor Mendel was cross-breeding pea plants to create specific outcomes, such as pink flowers from red and white ones. Earlier this century scientists started cross-breeding distant plant relatives (say two varieties of corn) to create 'hybrids' with desirable characteristics from the originals (such as a high-yielding hybrid variety of corn). Many of the food crops we have now are the result of such cross-breeding.
But the genetic manipulation of organisms we're seeing now is a radical departure from cross-breeding, because it crosses the natural boundaries between species, and even between the biological 'kingdoms': plants, animals and microorganisms. Molecular biology has advanced so rapidly that it's possible to do things now that were totally unimaginable only twenty years ago.'

Kellerberrin on the Great Eastern Highway so lots of trucks and lots of noise in beautiful rural area

Great Eastern Highway, Western Australia is a major road linking Perth with Kalgoorlie. It is a key route for vehicles accessing eastern wheatbelt and the eastern goldfields. It also forms the westernmost 595 kilometres (370 mi) of the main road transportation link between Perth and the east coast of Australia.

shopping list for kellerberrin


ideal shopping list for kellerberrin 1 august 2008

1. rain
2. a clone to do all the dreary stuff
3. more hours in the day
4. fresh fruit and veg
5. shoes
6. a garden on Mars where there is more water
7. undies
8. a ticket to England
9. free or affordable petrol
10. a woman
11. quiet trucks and trains
12. nothing really
13. more days in the week
14. clothes
15. a money tree
16. a way to deal with difficult family members
17. more choice
18. a travel companion
19. a cinema
20. a cycle path or walk path

http://www.actnow.com.au/Issues/Rural_Australia.aspx

shopping list for kellerberrin

i have been asking people what they want to be able to get in Kellerberrin ...

shopping list so far 3o July 2008

rain
fresh fruit and veg
undies
a ticket to England
free or affordable petrol
a woman
shoes
quiet trucks and trains
clothes
more choice
a travel companion
a cinema

rain

its been raining since i got here so i reckon i brought it with me .. its a precious commodity here for the farmers so i have been collecting it .. i have an idea to bottle it and auction it off for a high price . Maybe i should import it from scotland or ireland ..


http://www.met.ie/climate/rainfall.asp









http://www.weatherzone.com.au/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=10073&list=ob&ut=2


http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/aboutus/Pubns/gso/GSOutlook_index.htm




“Everything is ready but we just can’t get the weather to get going' Ian green farmer morayshire scotland .




http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2008/07/31/111460/harvest-halted-by-rain-in-northern-ireland.html


http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2007/08/31/106415/no-progress-in-londonderry-as-rain-continues.html


http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2007/08/30/106404/rain-prevents-start-to-morayshire-wheat-harvest.html

Water Bag

Water bags were commonly made from kangaroo skin. However, they were sometimes also made of smaller animals, including rabbits, in more recent times. This bag is made from the tanned skin of a Bridled Nailtail Wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) which is now extinct in New South Wales.

Australia is one of the driest continents on earth. Drought is common. Despite regular droughts, Aboriginal people have lived successfully in large parts of the arid inland regions of Australia for thousands of years. Over time they developed a sophisticated and intricate knowledge of their environment that was vital to their success in these conditions. There were two key elements to their subsistence strategies: knowledge of where and how to find water, and how to collect and make flour from a range of native plant seeds.





http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.austmus.gov.au/snapshots/arid/images/400/b8551.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.austmus.gov.au/snapshots/arid/bags.htm&h=229&w=400&sz=13&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=o5sg9QVoA_SE8M:&tbnh=71&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daboriginal%2Bwater%2Bbag%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

maybe i will make jars of preserves at a horti show ... jars of speciality rain with embroidered tops/ labels...

http://www.tasmanianrain.com/

When talking about what i will make of exhibiton someone local suggested i make something 'salty' for my exhibition here at IASKA as salinity is a big problem here .

http://www.environment.gov.au/land/pressures/salinity/index.html

http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/salinity/default.htm

'Dryland salinity, the gradual loss of farm and grazing land to rising salt, is a massive problem, hard to comprehend and harder still to stop. There is salt everywhere in Australia; vast amounts of it, mostly located underground. It has built up over many thousands of years, originating from the weathering of rock minerals or the simple act of sea salt dropping via rain or wind. The native Australian vegetation evolved to be salt-tolerant. Many of the woodland species, for example, have deep roots and a high demand for water. Whilst the system was in balance, the salt stayed put. But when European farming arrived and replaced the native species with crop and pasture plants that have shorter roots and need less water, the inevitable happened. With every fall of rain, unused water "leaks" down to the water table, raising it, and bringing the salt up with it. That process continues today, and the volumes of water and salt are vast. Under the soils of the Western Australian wheabelt and part of Eastern Australia the salt store is so immense, and the movement of sub-surface water so slow, that restoration to fertility of salt-affected land will take generations. Some areas may never recover. In Australia, it is estimated that many billions of trees have been removed. 2,5 million hectares of land are affected by salinity and there is a potential for this to increase to 15 millions hectares, much of this in some of our most productive agricultural land. It's taken a long time for the political establishment to grasp the seriousness of the problem.'

http://www.wadidge.com.au/didgeridoo-news/revegetation-project.html

salt underfoot -------salty shoes

salt crust

a shop being described as a 'universal provider'......... a shop that would provide all your needs... a shop that would have anything you want.. what would people want . i have been asking people what they cant buy in Kellerberrin and will compile a list .. I may ask what they would want if the shop could have anything

. Including, relating to, or affecting all members of the class or group under consideration

• common to all purposes, conditions, or situations: a universal remedy..
• Of or relating to the universe or cosmos; cosmic
• Knowledgeable about or constituting all or many subjects; comprehensively broad
• Adapted or adjustable to many sizes or mechanical uses
• Encompassing all of the members of a class or group.
• A general or widely held principle, concept, or notion.
• A trait or pattern of behavior characteristic of all the members of a particular culture or of all humans.

• One who supplies a means of subsistence: parents who were good providers.
• One that makes something, such as a service, available: primary health care providers.

the co -op had been described as ,universal providers '


u·ni·ver·sal

adj.
1. Of, relating to, extending to, or affecting the entire world or all within the world; worldwide: "This discovery of literature has as yet only partially penetrated the universal consciousness" Ellen Key.
2. Including, relating to, or affecting all members of the class or group under consideration: the universal skepticism of philosophers.
3. Applicable or common to all purposes, conditions, or situations: a universal remedy.
4. Of or relating to the universe or cosmos; cosmic.
5. Knowledgeable about or constituting all or many subjects; comprehensively broad.
6. Adapted or adjustable to many sizes or mechanical uses.
7. Logic Encompassing all of the members of a class or group. Used of a proposition.
n.
1. Logic
a. A universal proposition.
b. A general or abstract concept or term considered absolute or axiomatic.
2. A general or widely held principle, concept, or notion.
3. A trait or pattern of behavior characteristic of all the members of a particular culture or of all humans.


pro·vid·er
n.
1. One who supplies a means of subsistence: parents who were good providers.
2. One that makes something, such as a service, available: primary health care providers.

The IASKA exhibition space was previously a drapers shop which local people say 'sold everything'

• haberdashery
• shoes
• mens and womens clothing
• undies

Some of the shops on Massingham street Kellerberrin are empty so on first impressions it seems nothing much goes on here but once here for a while you realise there's alot more going on .

'although Kellerberrin major thoroughfare Massingham street can on days be near - empty. This can be deceptive. It is not a true measure of the towns standing. There may not be as many people around anymore but beneath the surface there still flows a strong community spirit undiminished by the burden of agriculture's changing face and its affects on the district. Thus spirit is applied conscientiously to its commercial , social and welfare activities '

boomin the bush

late night shopping in Kellerberrrin in 1967 a recent innovation - was proving to be very popular and there were plenty of chops in which to spend that money burning a hole in your pocket. one report of the times boasted that in contrast to many country towns Kellerberrin has no empty shops to rent'

shops had changed . gone now was the friendly highly personalised service of the shopkeeper. Before that happened going to town was still a dress up event.. best dresses, hats ,, gloves stockings etc for the women and suits or sports jackets ties and hats for the men on arrival to town were were able to place our weekly order at eh co-op ' then it would be off to do some socialising returning later to pick up the orders already packed into boxes and set off back to the farm'

Kellerberrin farmers cooperative

'trading began there in 1917. In the intervening years farmers and townsfolk alike have shopped for all manner of things at what became known as the Co-op. The cooperative movements emerged at eh beginning of the twentieth century in Western Australia. Farmers at that time had come to the conclusion that by cooperatively buying and selling products they needed to run their farms, any profit made from such sales could be returned in the form of dividends rather than to merchants they would normally deal with'.

hairpins to hams to hardware

'Kellerberrins co-op actually got under way in the dying days of 1916. It was probably in the next year that it rented and set up shop in Mr Mc Cabes generally store in which you could buy anything from hairpins to hams to hardware . . Emblazoned across its facade was its new name The farmers co-operative co.Ltd. and other advertising made the bold claim that the co-op and its agencies were UNIVERSAL PROVIDERS'

a man his dog and a dead kangaroo . terry spence

'the ugly mans competition was a fun way of raising money during wartime with one man from each of the towns of Doodlakine and Kellerberrin vying for the title . It was also another form of the quite lovely rivalry that always existed between the two towns . Lots of fun was had in the contest and there was constant coverage of its progress in the local press usually headlined with the question WHERE IS THE DISTRICTS UGLIEST MAN?. All sorts of functions at which the contestant would appear were held to raise money with the winner being the one who chalked up the most votes which cost a penny to buy.'.

the wheatbelts war
a man his dog an a dead kangaroo. terry spence

When looking through some Australian quilting craft magazines given to me by a local lady , I found a stitch called colonial stitch and have been trying to find out more about it as i have not seen the stitch referenced before.

http://www.craftculture.org/World/dskinner1.htm