izmeina | The Creature Feature

Izzie has less than a week of slinking about around the Lair. Yesterday, finally managed to visit the City Farm markets but not to buy - rather to look. Still got some flour and wheat grain from our last visit back in June.
But in spite of being rather decadent and expensive, there's a lovely atmosphere and the place is full of wierd green creatures like the Izzie as well as the yummie mummie brigade. Did buy some cloves from Just Herbs. All the other stuff they have like wormwood, sage and rosemary, we can grow ourselves and have no need to pay exorbitant prices for.
The other big attraction are the gorgeous gardens. The whole place is designed on a permaculture basis and makes critters like Izzie simply green with envy at the lushness of it all. Was slinking and sniffing about near a grove of citrus trees. Our own oranges are in blossom now. A truly heavenly fragrance. Just come in from sitting out in the garden. One of their trees had some truly exquisitely fragrant and absolutely enormous blossoms. Was wondering what on earth they were. Not oranges or lemons. Maybe grapefruit or some of the many strange hybrid creations so common around here. Turns out our question was answered when spotting the single solitary remaining fruit left on one of the lower branches. It was indeed a grapefruit.

Next stop was the train to Fremantle and walking up to their markets to get our fix of basil before paying a final visit to our favorite sacred site which we will not be seeing again for the next seven weeks or so.
Did a bit of squiggling and got a coffee and sat in the sunshine under our favorite plane tree. Finally munched that mooncake a week late (or to be technically correct - three weeks early

Had the inspired idea of peeking in the Arts and Crafts shop to see if there were any more cute birdies. They are nice but not as pretty as they used to be. But while none of the birds were worthy of taking back to the Lair or on a grand European tour, the Iz did spot the Creature Feature of the month - an exhibition of things from the artist of the month - one Fleur Schell Never ever heard of her before but was instantly addicted. The first thing that caught Izzie's attention were the very quirky teapots - Taschi meets Michael Leunig. All green and spirally and utterly adorable. But very very expensive. But it was the blowies that blew our mind. Rows of the prettiest most twisted little fishies with faces to die for. But at 519 silver sickles for a set of four - waaaay beyond the dreams of avarice.
Izzie knows nothing about pottery at all - these are pale green glazed with lots of curly spiraly bits and probably baked according to some exceedingly complicated ritual. So so wished that she'd make postcards of the pretty critters and was most happy to find some online. But they certainly stirred our inner serpent - ceramics is complicated but nothing stopping us drawing lots and lots of adorable monsters.
Izzie was feeling cheery and chirpy anyway but cannot believe that it is possible to look on these creatures and be miserable.

And today we followed these adventures by looking at real critters. An afternoon visit to the zoo. Not like Izzie to spend precious sunshine hours in darkness but it's a long time since visiting the nocturnal house and it was well worth it. A few changes - no more giant cockroaches - instead there's a lovely collection of spiderses - tarantulas, funnel webs, golden orbs and the local redbacks. There was even a toilet seat with a full moon in the window - but not for the spiders but a home for some very pretty green frogs.
The rough pythons were pretty as usual but the stars of the show as always were the ghost bats. White squeaking little creatures - spooky and elegant and one could almost say - the albinos of the vampire world.
The other must sees of the day apart from the snakies were the Galapagos turtles and the new baby wombat. Wombats and Tasmanian devils are just the cutest critters.
Never did have time to visit the organic gardens and the evil green house so well designed that it never needs airconditioning or heating because it was built using a bit of brains and a lot of passive solar technology. It even sells its own electricity back to the grid

Spent the evening hours doing a bit more packing and tidying up the Lair a bit. Will be at the ma's place for most of tomorrow. It's her birthday - not that the Izzie ever needs an excuse to celebrate the beginning of a new minute.