Behold!

So...today I used our new oven for the first time and made some 'Dulcie Biscuits' and some flapjack for my Dad.

Easter at The Piano Mill.

So...today we visited The Piano Mill at Wilson's Downfall for a moist, misty, atmospheric afternoon of sound in nature.The Piano Mill is a hybrid building and musical instrument, designed and purpose-built to house sixteen reclaimed pianos in a tower structure. The instrument is designed to have the sixteen pianos played simultaneously. The Piano Mill, constructed in Wilson’s Downfall, Northern New South Wales, Australia, was designed by architect Bruce Wolfe specifically for composer Erik Griswold. This structure is a copper clad tower approximately 9m tall with a footprint of 4.5m X 4.5m and its lowest floor is 1.6m above the ground allowing the pianos to be installed post-construction. The mill is equipped with tuned grader blades as chimes and two sonic periscopes. The Piano Mill has won awards including a World Architecture Festival 2018 Award for the Culture category, a National Commendation at the Australian Institute of Architects 2017 Awards and a National Award for Experimental Music at the 2017 APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards. (Wikipedia).The venue is on the edge of The Great Dividing Range and for much of the day we were in the clouds. It is owned by Bruce and Jocelyn Wolfe. There were a number of different performances pieces that we attended throughout the afternoon finishing at The Piano Mill itself.Firstly we were in The Lagavulin, a stone clad building to hear 'Sonic Dreams: Extinction', a piece composed by Vanessa Thomlinson and performed by her and Erik Griswold. Following that we wandered through the forest encountering different musicians and performance artists before visiting 'Limeburners' another building where 'three human performers join a host of birds on the sonic journey from sunset into darkness.' Finally we all gathered outside the Piano Mill itself to hear the World Premiere of Tiangong by Alistair Noble.Hmmm, it was all very atmospheric and an incredibly beautiful setting but much of the music was discordant and improvised and I cannot say that I enjoyed it. We didn't stay until the very end as the weather got wetter and the music was not melodic. It was a visual and sonic experience unlike any other I have seen though.

  

Crazy day.

So...today was a little exhausting. We headed into town this morning to look at a log burner heater for Blue Moon to find the World and her husband had also decided to head into town. I have never seen it so busy and wondered where all these people had come from. We ended up buying the heater, which will just be perfect for our new tiny house on the coming Winter nights, but had to collect it later. Leaving the shop Will got a phonecall/cry for help help from cheese factory asking him to work. We drove there and I dropped him off in the overflowing carpark outside and headed back into town to get a few things and pass a couple of hours before I could collect the heater. I could hardly find anywhere to park and the supermarkets were packed. They were all closed yesterday and it was as if everyone was panicking that it was going to happen again. Actually they are all going to be open over Easter at some point. I braved the crowds and eventually picked up the heater and the box of flue pipes and accessories and headed back home. I had not been home long when Will rang ready to be picked up so I drove back to the Cheese Factory. The car park was still busy and inside there was a long queue of people waiting to taste the cheeses. At last Will managed to escape and we headed back home to find our neighbour had connected up the gas cooker in our absence.Oh my goodness, two years after we started this build, we could finally move in...except that we were too tired today to do anything about it.Tomorrow we venture to see something a little out of the ordinary....more on that later...but if we can get the heater fitted on Monday it might be 'Farewell Frogknot!'

The 'Book Cave' Book of the Week.

 

Galore by moonlight.