I love an occasion to dress for fun and enjoy good company. When such occasions are hard to come by, it pays to organise them yourself. As such, I planned a fun little event to welcome in my favourite Ballarat season: autumn. This event was a Tweed Picnic. Imagine a Tweed Ride without bikes but with cheese and wine and afternoon sun.
Now imagine all of that with wasps. European wasps are my least favourite creature. Bees are cool. Bees pollinate plants, they look for water, they make honey, they are a critical part of any ecosystem. They also usually leave you alone. Wasps hate you. They hate your face. They resent you for being in a country they don’t belong in and they want to eat ALL OF YOUR FOODS K THANKS BZBZBZBZBB. Since the incident filming last week in Castlemaine where we had to do a whole shoot with wasps all around us I have seen them everywhere. Thrice at work, in a photo shoot with my sister (got one stuck in my skirt), generally hanging around the car, in the car with my besties and I. They are everywhere and I can’t find anything on local websites about the fact there are so many. I’ve never seen so many before. They were so bad at the picnic no one could leave their drinks uncovered. We moved into the shade in the hope that would deter them, it worked for a short while but then they came back. We kept our picnic baskets closed to avoid them getting into the food, so some people went totally hungry. People left because there were so many wasps and it was really uncomfortable to sit there, not eating or drinking, sitting very still so you didn’t anger the wasps. I bought a beautiful new thermos to use for the picnic from Lark, and I didn’t even get it out, as I was very distracted by the wasps.
One of the many people there was my sister Goldfield Girl. She has her own blog now (I have forced her into blogging by setting one up for her for her birthday).
One of my favourite iconic things in Ballarat is this statue. It’s called Flight from Pompeii and it was bequeathed to the city of Ballarat along with 5 other statues that are all housed in the gardens. It’s in this heritage, leadlight glass conservatory, which is also gorgeous. It’s such an imposing and striking scene. A couple flee from the terror of the volcano holding their baby. All of them are naked, as though woken in the night and driven from their beds. The man holds over them what could be a sheet pulled from their bed in haste, their only protection from the raining ash. The sheet is caught in the wind, making flimsy cover over their exposed bodies. The woman tries to cover the baby’s face to protect its airways from ash. All around their feet is ash, punctuated by jewellery and pottery, and none of these valuables catch the attention of the young family as they draw together knowing that their family is everything. The scattering of valuables at their feet reminds of the chaos caused by the volcano. Who can tell if they were dropped by looters, or those fleeing? The couple push into the wind, but the ash is already falling, so surely they did not make it. Seeing them there, you can’t help but feel that passionate fire of hope that at least, maybe, please, let this be a happy ending. That feeling of not knowing, that longing for safety, knowing the odds but hoping for mercy in spite of that: that is the human spirit. That’s why I love this so much.
Hat: Joy the Store
Jacket: Primark
Blouse: Money Penny blouse – Review
Skirt: Vintage Fletcher Jones
Shoes: Frolic by Foot Wedge from ModCloth
Location: Ballarat Botanic Gardens
Photos: Goldfields Girl, Stu and me.
Here’s my spunky sister. There’s more photos of her over on her blog here.
We actually finished the day with a tram ride along the old track at the lake. I also forgot to use my amazing new bag from Beleza Vintage in this shoot, which I had with me. Another time 🙂
– L
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