Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Bush Medicine

On the weekend, it was great to get back up to my friend Bella's place in the middle of the bush in Central Victoria. 
 
 
 For just over 24 hours I was surrounded only by bushland, sculpture, good friends, food and wine.  My car-pool buddies and I arrived mid-afternoon, which was the perfect time to take photos.
 
It was a gorgeous day and I absolutely love this place. 
 
(If it looks familiar, you might remember I saw the New Year in here.)
 
 
I love how unexpected things crop up in the landscape... and how good Bella is at creating beautiful things from rustic materials, and installing them casually around the house and grounds.
 
 
 She's also a whizz with cutesy colourful $2 shop finds.  This was the (outdoor) cocktail bar for the party on Saturday night. 
 
 
Kevin the (movement-sensor activated) Kick-boxer would sporadically show off his stuff and have a little rant.
 
The band room was previously a shed full of farm junk.  Bella transformed it into a nightclub!
 

The party did indeed go off.. with a live band, cocktails, fantastic food, a fire and a whole lot of laughs.  Nothing looked as tidy in the morning as it looks here.
 

Sunday morning saw us enjoying a breakfast that lingered into the afternoon, with some people swimming in the dam, some siesta-ing, some knitting ( I wasn't the only one, for a change!), some yabbying, dogs fetching a limitless supply of sticks... a bunch of city-folk soaking up as much bush-serenity as possible before the 2-hour drive back to real life.

 
And yes.... in case you were wondering, I continued my tradition of wearing wildly inappropriate  bush holiday footwear.
 
 
And as my head hit my own pillow at 9pm on Sunday night (and ...ahem...slept until 10am Monday morning...), I had this wonderful image of a peaceful, dry landscape, the scent of eucalyptus, and warm memories of good times and great people.

 
A tonic.

10 comments:

A Peppermint Penguin said...

sounds like you had a blast.

and all that sleep! jealous.

Breakfast Jo said...

Sounds wonderful. Jealous.

Katy Cameron said...

Oh wow, that looks fabulous! Love the sculptures, so wonderfully random :o)

Lesley said...

Merry Christmas Nicole and a brighter, happier 2014. With your creative spirit it does not take long to get your mojo back.x Leley

Chiara Z said...

good to hear you responded so well to a bit of bush medicine.

Anonymous said...

there is something so wonderful about the bush - we love it too

Lip seals said...

Nice and wonderful pictures.

Anonymous said...

Wasp dudes! Amazing stuff continues the good work. www.mulberryhotdeal.com

Fer said...

Love the serenity....

pandchintz said...

Nothing like the bush to restore one's soul.