Right!!! Time for an update!!!

We've been playing around with a few ideas (and by "we" I mean May and I, no idea what Natasha's been up to) and today we had a meeting with Penny, our Learned Lecturer, and presented some of our ideas and she provided us with a deluge of information. But first, more of the messages between Natasha, May, and I, as I think they are both interesting and informative. (Note: about half of this conversation occured BEFORE today's meeting with Penny, and the final post (mine) takes place AFTER. You should be able to guess this for yourself as in it I write "We spoke to Penny today". Just trying to kill the confusion before it kills you.)

Zara:

Penny wants you to bring some Indian cloth back for Ellerslie!!! I was telling her all about this idea I had (a "Sleep Garden") and she suggested that you bring back some pretty Indian fabric and cushions etc. for a bed. May and I were thinking something blue as it's a very tranquil colour, not like the bright reds and oranges etc. one normally finds. If you can't find blue (though blue would be PERFECT, I think) a dark shade of purple could do. Just... see if you can find something. I think it should be something of quite good quality as this would fit with our clients being so DINKY with lots of money. Don't worry about the price, we can help reimburse you afterwards from the Ellerslie fund or something. (Of course, it would be best if it just LOOKED expensive but wasn't really.)

Even if we don't do the Sleep Garden idea, we probably still could fit some fabric in somewhere. It would probably be best if it was Indian fabric as we're thinking of having a marketing angle of being a garden with several different cultures fused within it - maybe tropical plants for May and little Indian-type details for you and a "simplicity of layout", as Penny described it, for me. Yes. I know. I get the boring bit.

Another idea we had was if we got a couple of mist-makers to give our garden a mysterious feeling. Mist! Surrounding a bed! In a garden! AWESOME!!!!!!

And I'm sure that I could convince Phil to paint a mural for us if we needed one.

Oh, and I've come up with an idea for a combination outdoor fireplace/water feature - essentially fire burning behind a veil of water. Could look pretty incredible, na?

Natasha:

I LOVE everything you'll discussed about Ellerslie!!Can totally imagine it!and it looks so so so GOdAWesome!!!!!!I'll get Indian fabrics, awesome ones!

and and and it just struck me! "sleep garden" is innovative as hell, I love and want it, i looked outside my window, and it looked exactly how i imagined, in monsoons its all misty-misty, but its not cold, like chilly, its super comfortable, so comfortable that i hang around in chaddis all day! will try doing some photography here, for inspiration

so,we'll obviously have to do stuff to keep the "sleep garden" comfortable in all seasons! create micro climates!! or my sister just suggested, put a hammock instead of a bed, with cushions, so its multi-functional, it can be chucked out during rains and bad weather!and it is still a "sleep garden". I'll start working on this idea more!

Zara:

Spoke to Penny today!!! She told us a lot of stuff about what the actual course-part of Ellerslie entails. I got another copy of the sheet she gave us and I'm leaving it on your bed.

We have a task to do! We have to create a Timeline of everything we need to do before the course hand-in date of 11th of October. She suggested we download this programme called Gantt to make it. But we can do that once you're back, because you're pretty much the most organised person out of all of us and probably the most experienced. :-P

What else... I took notes...Ah, yes, well, seeing as none of us are doing Documentation this semester and therefore none of us know anything about how to do proper construction drawings, Penny suggested that we ask Nikolai Popov (the lecturer, who also takes CAD) for help and ideas. Construction drawings are good as they give a fairly accurate idea of pricings and how much things cost. Apparently. And also, apparently, CAD can be pretty useful for conceptual drawings. So you guys will both have to do that, seeing as I'm not taking CAD (doing that next sem). Penny also suggested we could make a model, as in, physical model with pretty trees etc. It'd also be good in helping us think about how we would construct the real thing. And I could do a few Sketch-Up models, I'm pretty much pro at them now. XD

What else...

Ah, yes, apparently the Project Implementation course we're doing is going to be very useful. AND AND AND we can use Ellerslie as the project for that course!!! It's a proverbial two-birds-one-stone scenario!

We've agreed not to have another Ellerslie meeting with Penny until you get back as we think we'd be getting too far ahead of you. So. HURRY UP AND COME BACK, AS NOT ONLY WOULD THIS BE ANNOYING BUT I DIE A SMALL DEATH EVERY NIGHT I SPEND BY MYSELF!!! *cries* :-P

Wow. Just realised that May played no part in this conversation. Ah well. She was having a "brainwash" with me on Saturday and we threw lots of ideas at each other, so I know she's doing something.

I was intending to post some of the ideas May and I came up with, but I'm using the Unitec computers to post this as my internet at home is not working and the Unitec library closes in fifteen minutes and I don't have the time. Ah well. Look for a post tomorrow with all our mean as designs. (Note: The word "mean" is used in a colloquial fashion, meaning "really awesome" as opposed to "designs that will strike you down without mercy". Once again I am ruthlessly slaughtering the confusion. And that previous sentence was a metaphor. Confusion, being an intellectual concept referring to the state of one's mind, cannot be slaughtered, ruthlessly or otherwise. I think I should shut up now before I collapse in a whirlwind of self-correction. Oh, my, what an ironic final statement.)