The koala and joey (after Ferdinand Bauer c.1800) that I commenced in February 2020, following dreadful bushfires in my home State of Victoria, Australia is, (after a year which included a house-move, injury to my shoulders and Covid lockdowns!) finally nearing completion. This journal entry shows the work, in the final stages of the portraits with the addition and development, of a dramatic background. In the earlier journal entry about the work, this background was not planned or even conceived, but recently I decided that it needed a contrast to the greys, browns and whites of the koalas. I began looking again at photos from the bushfires and did a small drawing on which to base my background. The large leaves were extracted from Vietnamese applique placemats, and I’ve included several actual gumleaves in cross-stitch. Some of the applique leaves will be tea stained and have singed edges. The dramatic background and the new title “Flee - Koala & Joey (after Ferdinand Bauer)” hopefully give the work more sense of urgency about the plight of our exquisite icon and the relationship between endangered species in the natural world and disappearing traditions of the home. The last few photos show the work in the process of being mounted ready for framing.