Mother's Day

Mother's Day

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Mother's Day is a great time for flowers.  Usually, we sell our flowers wholesale in large quantities, but being an artist, I love the creative challenge of making retail bunches.  I'm not trained in floristry so they are not technically well constructed, but I love combining colour and texture and making the flowers look their best.  My local General Store sells bunches for me, and I love the challenge of creating bunches that say "buy me" to shoppers.  This week, I made some Mother's Day bunches.  Here are a few snaps!

 From the field to the bucket, and from the bucket to the bunch!

 Happy Mother's Day

kekeliruan durjana.

kekeliruan durjana.

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Aku tak suka post yang emo oleh itu aku namakan post ini, post bukan emotional. Sebelum mencurah ke ladang gandum, aku just nak ingatkan diri sendiri bahawa esok, Sabtu serta Ahad akan berlaku satu ujian yang sangat-sangat membunuh jiwa dan raga. Dahlah Isnin konvo, so how? kena pakai topeng ke hari Isnin sebab muka macam apam gula hangus yang hilang serinya?

Apa yang merungsingkan aku sekarang? aku rasa sekarang LLB ini disekadar dipinggiran, bukan lagi masalah utama. Walaupun acapkali diserang virus meroyan dek kerja yang melambak, tapi masih stabil tanpa sesi air mata, atau sesi mengorilla kan diri. Sihat dan masih sihat. Masalah aku adalah tentang identiti aku, sangat-sangat merungsingkan, umur pun semakin tua, bukan semakin muda, hidup berkerjaya akan berlaku dalam lapan belas saat lagi, tapi aku masih tidak tahu siapa aku?

Siapakah aku, siapakah aku. Kenapa aku rasa macam robot, dan kenapa aku rasa macam ini? Akukah A Galak? adakah aku Alex Pettyfer?

Ada sesiapa yang jumpa identiti aku tak? sila pulangkan. Terima kasih ek?

P/S: Kalau aku rapat dengan sesiapa, tak semestinya aku menjaja jiwa dan raga, habis tu korang rapat dengan abang mat tu, korang merangsang ke? OK bye.

Sugar Bush

Sugar Bush

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It is generally thought that winter isn't a great time for flowers, but proteas are the exception to this.  There are many protea species that flower in autumn and winter, when other flowers are hard to find.  They grow through spring and summer, sending up long stems, and then in autumn they set buds and begin to flower.  Three years ago, we planted some new proteas called Protea Repens or Sugar Bush.  They have flowered for the first time this season, beginning in autumn, and continuing now into early winter.  I am delighted with them.   They are quite different to our standard Pink Ice protea.  They are waxy rather than hairy (!) and don't have the silvery bloom that many common proteas have.  When we have a new flower, I love to put a few on my kitchen windowsill and watch them open over days and weeks - I guess as a kind of road test!  Here are some of our new beauty.

We have spectacular sunsets at Swallow Nest Farm.  I think that the autumn sunsets are the best.  Its something about the autumn light here in Tasmania - and probably helped by a bit of smoke from Forestry burn offs.  This was the sunset that provided the soft lighting in the protea photo above it.

As the Sugar Bush flower opens, its colour starts to soften, and the centre structure starts to collapse into a wider, less tidy shape. I think its quite beautiful.

Busuk abang itu.

Busuk abang itu.

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I am to sit for a test that would decide my future in few hours, but I guess since you get so much pressure on daily basis, you start to careless, and pull some sihir keajaiban alam agar hidup kekal aman walau dilanda pelbagai tekanan yang boleh membawa kepada aktiviti meroyan.

Minggu ini sangatlah sibuk, tak pernah hidup dengan penuh chic seperti ini, dengan 5 test dan pelbagai cacian dan makian untuk minggu ini, I have never been any more calm. By the way, minggu ini penuh kesabaran juga,  Ahad habis berhimpun ala demonstrasi bersih dihadapan kelas, tetiba dengar Dr Bahasa Melayu cakap,

"ujian bahasa melayu ditunda kerana ketiadaan kelas oleh itu hari ini kalian tidak perlu menulis surat kiriman rasmi atau menjawab soalan-soalan yang boleh bawa tidur"

Bersurai, dalam perjalanan pulang di ajak rakan sebaya untuk melahu di Pavilion. OK sumpah seronok, dahlah hari tu aku sangat selekeh, so memang cantiklah. So bila sampai dekat sana, merewang dari satu kedai ke kedai yang lain.


Ermenegildo Zegna, Oh god, to die for, bila kami berjalan dekat luar kedai, ternampak sepasang pasangan melayu, sedang berdiri sambil membuat muka paling confused, oleh sebab itu, kami terpanggil untuk turut meraba-raba kasut-kasut yang berharga $2000 dengan mereka. Dengan penampakan kami, tidak semena-mena abang tu terus cakap dengan nada paling kuat,

"Berapa ribu kasut ni?"

"I tak kisah nak bayar dengan cheque or cash, I have money"

"Takkanlah pilot nak pakai kasut macam ni"

Rasa nak je jawab,

"Abang kaya gila sangat-sangat ni, zakat dah bayar belum? by the way abang dengan muka abang yang ehem tu, pakai kasut buatan dari syurga pun tak kemana, tak perlu nak pasang mode speaker masjid kot. Insaflah."

Bila pegang baju Givenchy ni, terus confused aku pokok atau burung. Bird of Paradise sangat.

The Silver Tree

The Silver Tree

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At Swallows Nest Farm, we grow one of the most beautiful foliage plants of the proteaceae family.  It's commonly named the Silver Tree, but its actually a Leucadendron with the proper name of Leucadendron Argenteum.  (Just Latin for silver, really!)  It really does look spectacular at this time of year, and provides the most beautiful soft textured foliage with a silvery green colour that perfectly compliments the other proteas flowering at the same time.

The Silver Tree does actually grow to small tree proportions, but if it is picked regularly, like it is in the cut flower trade, it remains at a reachable height.  Some of our trees have been unpruned for a while and we were so excited to find that the female trees began to produce the most spectacular cones.  They begin as a soft silvery green, like the leaves, but look like they are made of metal.  When they dry, you end up with a beautifully structured cone, about the size of a tennis ball, on the end of a long stem.  They make a great statement in a vase, as a dried flower.

The bark of the Silver Tree is unusual too.  In their native South Africa, they were at one stage used as a firewood tree, because they grow quickly and burn well.  It's unusual wood - quite light, but the bark! I think it looks like elephant skin!

It's a remarkable tree, and we love growing it!

Sandra Azwan's fashion night out.

Sandra Azwan's fashion night out.

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So many things happened in my life these days, and the fact that things happened in huge packet, series of events I am more calmer these days. Kalau dulu, mahu berpeluh-peluh lepas tu cakap pun tunggang langgang. Kata orang yang kita sayangi, bila kita semakin meningkat usia, jadi semakin matang dan teratur. I guess it is happening to me now. I thank god for that.

So apa yang menarik berlaku dekat diri ini? Lepas bertukar dari guna phone zaman batu kepada Black berry, banyak yang berlaku, I got contacted by so many people. Bila bangun tidur tengok BBM request ada banyak, lepas tu gelabah. I posted my BBM pin on twitter, kenapa? sebab aku tak rajin nak text seekor demi seekor rakan sebaya, bila hantar secara pukal, lebih afdal dan menjimatkan kredit yang tak seberapa. Bila BBM pin direpost dan repost, aku dah macam trophy. I'm glad I added some of you, sebab anda sememangnya menyeronokkan dan mengiurkan. Amboi!

So I was contacted by someone I met here, on the internet. Siapa? sudah tentulah kena mengena dengan fesyen, truly he is an amazing designer. Walaupun aku gemarkan fesyen, aku tak pernah berpeluang dan memahami how clothes construction works, sebab aku bayangkan lukis-lukis lepas tu masuk dalam mesin magis, panggil Doraemon dan tiba-tiba siap. Sudah tentulah bila dicontact designer  Sandra Azwan, aku macam manusia hilang pedoman sebentar, bila Sandra message di twitter, 

"Babe, add me on BBM, **********"

Are you kidding me? someone I stalk everyday on blog tetiba message, adakah aku dalam Candid Camera? MTV flash prank? Kami bertext-text dan aku meroyan sekali lagi, berbuih-buih, macam syndrome meroyan suami mati isteri. I was invited to his fashion show, dimana? Celebrities Club, Solaris, Mon't Kiara.

Sandra in person is very down to earth. I didn't expect that, very futuristic, for me out of all other designers, he bears so much potential. Cakap dengan dia lapan ratus kali, he reminds me of Raf Simon and Kris Van Assche. Tak terkejut in near future, he would be someone in Fashion industry. OK post bunga-bunga ni bukan sebab he invited me to his show, ni memang ikhlas dari sanubari.

Sandra to me, is a very young designer, who is very fashion forward, jauh dia fikir, and it translates in his creation. He is very good in playing with little-little detail tanpa kelihatan sarat. Mampu? I told him (tak ingat, ye kot, kalau tak kalau Sandra baca ni kira sudah bagitahulah *smile*), with his talent, people would want pieces of his design, with people ribuan subscribing to his blog, I bet if he starts designing some fashion items for men and women, semua akan meroyan to get a piece termasuklah diri ini, walaupun tak akan muat anything mungkin jacket tu hanya mampu dijadikan stokin atau kupiah.

Homaigod amazing.

Very clean and very sharp, I f love it. Jujurnya aku kalau perihal pakaian wanita ni agak suam suam kuku, tidak menyebabkan adrenalin membuak-buak. Aku lebih gemarkan pakaian lelaki sebab lebih simple dan tidak rumit. Sarung dan layerkan dah cukup nampak mengiurkan, kalau pakaian wanita ni penuh kesenian dan banyak perincian. Tapi bila tengok baju Sandra, first time aku dapat perasaan berdebar-debar macam pertama kali jumpa cinta. The same feeling bila aku tengok collection Lanvin, especially bila the finale look, the middle dress, that light fabric made quite an entrance, kudos to the model and the designer. I say genius combination.

There were three designers showing their collection that day, his (Sandra) stood out very well, aku agak bosan dengan pakaian-pakaian ala kelambu, yang pelik-pelik macam students' final project. I didn't get the lelaki gold spender and gold bathrobe, ala ala king of Thailand. He (the model) looked quite uncomfortable (the other designer), which I find defeat the entire purpose of fashion, to make you confident dan bersinar-sinar ala Anita Sarawak.

The sole male model, cum the organizer, wajib tengok kasut yang dia pakai, its this fatass huge boots with platform, reminds me alot of Kazaky, well in androgynous way, somewhat awesome like K*ss that band  I didn't have the opportunity to touch or have a close look on the all the clothes, sebab I was on the second floor, macam tenung-tenung dari jauh dari belakang abang-abang Iran, so I hope Sandra would post the pictures of all the dresses on his blog really soon. Tak sabar.

All the jackets are to die for, boleh jual buah pinggang dan adik beradik untuk beli satu. I love the color combination (gold, brown very bumi atau earthy) and the construction too, boleh kesima sebentar,  nampak well done dan well executed. Kemas dan kemas dan kemas. Dari drawing comel-comel, he constructed an amazing collection. he told me a complicated design would take approximately 2 to 3 days to complete, hampir-hampir aku jawab,

"Kalau I, I would take lapan juta tahun, tu pun tak pasti menjadi bentuk, mungkin design dress akan menjadi kain pelikat with ribbons lilit, tak pun jadi kain kapan, or baju kupu-kupu lepas tu namakan collection J'adore A paris, walhal design ala ala batik kelantan"

Finale look, serious aku dekat atas macam nak lompat turun bawah and dance under that light fabric, macam berterbangan, the same effect in Lanvin's collection. Aku serious terdiam, sementara all the iranian girls next to me were busy cam whoring, 

"Kau buta ke apa kiah? fucking amazing pieces and kau sempat cam whoring dan joget santai bersama Norliah Ghani? hellow! lukisan bunga-bunga matahari tu can wait, nanti boleh camwhore disebelah gambar tu, not now, look down!"

Bila dah pulang ke rumah, ada banyak benda yang aku fikir, macam pergi final exam, feeling-feeling student graduate dengan Anugerah Naib Chancellor:

• The event didn't do justice to Sandra Azwan and all the other designers, people were there to have fun, in which aku pun tak pasti sebab ada lapan orang je on the dance floor. During the fashion show people were more focus on the friends next to them, so aku hampir-hampir lepuk muka lelaki iran sebelah aku yang busy mengorat pengkid sebelah dia. Hello! Ar-Mah-Zing stuff down there.
• Memerlukan industri fesyen yang tidak buta akan bakat-bakat (kelas!) baru macam mereka ni, based on what I've seen, Sandra represents many others out there, who can create tres beau, fantastic collection but not given opportunity to shine. I'm not shocked these people would be someone in near future, sebaris dengan Prabal Gurong, Philip Lim, Altuzzara, Zang Toi, dan Bernard Chandran. Waktu tu, gigit jarilah kau, pergi buat fesyen show KIKO.
• Magazines, more exposure please, I saw his spread in Intrend (tekan sini) played on huge screen at the event, mati-mati aku ingat international designer. Nangis, please people start eyeing on these designers, editors maybe, sebab bila mereka dah international, kau gigitlah jari, buat editorial seronok sendiri, lepas tu gunalah baju Marc Jacob dan Versace yang kau pinjam lima hari lepas tu pulang balik.

"Thank you Sandra Azwan for the opportunity, I hope the best for you, and whatever pun just don't stop what you are doing, you are on the right track and insyallah I'll see you one day di atas sana, di Kota Paris mungkin, berdiri bangga di tengah-tengah Grand Palais dikelilingi 34 models sambil ditepuk gemuruh oleh Anna Wintor dan konco-konconya."

Sandra Azwan

bysandraazwan.blogspot.com

P/S : BB aku rosak, kena sumpah pontianak, so bila dah OK, boleh sex chat. :)