LONG OVERDUE CATCH UPS.

 GADDING ABOUT.

Way back at the beginning of the year we had some days out.  What follows is a couple of these days and the photos I took.

Heading off to Korumburra, then Leongatha and then up into the ranges having afternoon tea at the Strzelecki Bakery.

The old railway line still has some bits'n'bobs along it and DH had a little bit of fun trying to move this,
but no luck.

The old station is being renovated into a community hub as far as I know.

One of our signs for the Car Club challenge.

Next, we headed down the highway towards Leongatha and had a wander around to look at some lovely murals.

DH placing his arms to act as an L to represent the town name,
though our town signs need the name in them too.
We've another one for L, so that will be shown later in another post.

A mural of a Banksia in a muted palette.  I remember the seedheads from the May Gibbs book of Cuddlepot and Cuddlepie as "big bad banksia men".  

One of our bakery signs for the challenge.

Same bakery with mural on side and DH posing.

STILL AROUND...............CATCHING UP A LITTLE.

 OK, this post will just be a quick summary of a few things.  We've been busy in a weird way, with weather interfering for the plans we'd made for June.  So much for organising our life to get different things done in the garden, a little work on the caravan & getting out in nature for our rail trail walks. 

We'll start with some quilting, then a day out.

My Village quilt which I've been doing as a QAL with Sandra at mmmquilts and isn't going to be quilted before the deadline of 30th June.  It is ready to go, but I just can't get the mojo going.

Two squirrels happened this month, so may link this with Sandra's DrEaMi post.

Let Your Star Shine.
This is a pattern by Sandra, that I've had for a while and thought I could do it with fabric from my stash for a raffle quilt.  It will go to Windgap Foundation who are carers for my young brother.

Square Up.
Just a piece of nonsense to use stash fabric from the baskets of bundles I've put together.
One of my own designs.

The photos aren't the best due to our dreary weather and having to have the lights on all the time.  Natural light is so much better.

A DAY OUT.

We took ourselves out one morning to take some photos of a few quilts in the open air, as the weather was fine & reasonable sunny.  But not long into the journey, clouds came in, then wind and then......rain!  No quilt photos, but I did snap these two things.

We'd gone to Fish Creek, where there is a beautiful art deco hotel, to take photos of my Deco Delight quilt now that it is finished, but that didn't happen.

Whilst there we noticed a new to us mural (above) & snapped it through my open window.

On our way home we noticed this road sign.  Notice anything odd?  I'll see if anyone can guess.

This was taken through a very wet windscreen.

What else has been happening?  Well not a lot except the usual housework, cutting firewood to keep warm & dry the washing and keeping up with mundane bits of life.  I did make a bit of time to gather some thoughts on using up my stash and scraps to start a few charity quilts and try and start writing some patterns.  Will the pattern writing happen?.................maybe.

A few of my own designs laid out and one actually done.
Below are the containers filled with fabric bundles that may become quilts one day.
Excuse the messiness of my sewing room, which has actually gone through a change to accommodate a new set up with my machine table.

Lastly, 2 new books have come my way.  I may even think about going in a BlogHop with the Charm Pack book, although I've never participated in one before.  Should I or shouldn't I?  That is the dilemma.

Well, that has been a strange post for me, but until I get myself together properly, it will have to do.

Just a thought..................I was talking to a few friends at our Car Club the other weekend and some of us have to come to the conclusion, that we are suffering from "Pandemic Hangover" as the world has changed so much.  With most of us being on the older side, it's been hard to deal with so much change.

OK, enough babble from me.  If you take the time to read this, Thank You.

Take care all and hugs from another dreary wet morning here down under.

Susan.

MY QUILT VILLAGE...............SO FAR.

 

I'm linking today with Sandra from mmmquilts in Canada with what I have achieved so far with my take on her Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL.  Mine is to be a quaint village, reminiscent of English villages and will be going to the Special School to hang on the wall.  

I'll start with an overall photo on the design wall and then each individual building.  Two still need to have embroidered letters for School & Library.  Wonder if you might guess which 2 they are?  Here goes..........

I've completed 8 of the 9 so far.

Trying so hard to put 2 photos on side by side so they don't take up much space, but cannot work it out.

These 4 above are my houses.

Next we have..................

The garden Pot Shop or maybe even an actual pottery.

Next comes.................

The Post Office.

I will see if anyone can guess what the next 2 might be.

I mirror reversed this one which will be in the centre of the 9.

Last of the eight I've done.

If you look closely or click to make the image larger, there is a giveaway hint in the windowpane.

The last building to come is something I think my friend Jo will probably guess before anyone else.

After nearly spitting the dummy, this will have to do for the layout of this post.  Maybe one day I'll learn the easy way of popping 2 photos side by side.

One last note of a funny day out on Sunday.  I was talking to someone at the Car Club on Saturday who just happened to mention his wife (not met her yet), was at a small local Quilt Show that was on the weekend, so off we headed on Sunday, only to find it was on Saturday ONLY.  So what did we do?

Went for a drive and ate some lunch looking out over Bass Strait & came home on some back roads.  A few photos follow.  I might add that the day was strange weather wise, with strong winds, cloud, a bit of rain occasionally followed by snippets of sun.

Taken from the car as it was so windy.
Kilcunda.

Driving through Mirboo North on a street we generally don't go down I noticed this gorgeous mural.

                                Not really the best photos as it was just starting to rain again.

OK, that's my lot for today and I'm posting this as is and must sort out a few more posts of catching up with our meanderings of late, The Silo Trail and other trivial bits.  The weather is absolutely foul again today, cold and wet and we have the woodburner lit.  Trying to dry washing too & have to do the grocery shopping this afternoon.  

Take care all and big warm hugs from down under.

Susan.

   

               

QUILTY CATCH UP.

 Whoa............so behind with  reading blogs & doing my own more regularly, so this is a short and sweet catch-up for my crafty bits.  There has been quite a few appointments that got way behind because of the Pandemic, then to top it all off, our 4wd car that is both our everyday vehicle & used for towing the caravan has a transmission problem, so we are down to the Morris for getting about till the other is fixed.  

This maybe a bit photo heavy with quilting.

Paper Chains.

This was to be my linkup quilt for Meadow Mist Designs "Favourite Finish" for April.  I did this as a mystery QAL with my friend Joy and it was meant to be finished by Christmas 2020, but didn't quite make it.

Catitude.

I wasn't going to put this one on as someone once mentioned it was like a big ugly blob, but here it is finally quilted and bound & I think looking OK.  It has a feature fabric in the middle & my Attic block border.  If you click on it to make it larger, you will see the cats having fun in a sewingroom.

Cobbles beside mural.

Cobbles in closeup.

Cobbles back.

This quilt was made in the height of the Pandemic when I was feeling pretty low and thought how dark everything had become, hence finding lots of black, black/white colours in my stash. I'd thought about posting this for my linkup with Sandra from mmmquilts for our DrEaMi each month, but I didn't get any photos till today.  I designed this oblong log cabin block a while back and now actually think it is quite a nice quilt and taking these photos against the mural on The Robin Hood Hotel, not far from where we live was quite fun. The back was once again cobbled together from many leftover backing from other projects.

OK, enough from me today and I'll be back on Friday for our word - "Space".

Take care all, stay safe & huggles from Susan.

.  

HOLIDAY BREAK DAYS 2 & 3.

TUESDAY.

The day again arrived overcast and drizzly, but we packed some lunch & thermos and headed towards Loch Sport, somewhere we've not been to before.  Loch Sport is a holiday destination & not much else, a spit of land sandwiched between the Gippsland Lakes and Ninety Mile Beach.

Emus.

Along the way we spotted these and I took a photo from my window, due to it being very overgrown along the verge & I'd probably have disappeared into it, but DH braved getting out and................oh my...... the car filled with mosquitoes.  Hundreds of them, which we then swatted at, all the way to Loch Sport.

Finding a car park not far from the beach we parked up, ate our lunch, then with a break in the misty showers, we quickly walked down to the beach.  A few photos follow.

Walking against the wind.

Looking at the small sand-hills & bordering scrub. 

Another misty shower as I took this snap of the information board.

Looking down the track to the car park from the information board.

Turning back toward the sea.

More of the coastal ti-tree beside the car park.

We decided to head for the caravan taking another unexplored route along the coastal road beside Ninety Mile Beach.  First we had to cross a small inlet to take us back through town & I just had to snap this.................

Big Nessie & Little Nessie.
Somebody has an imagination.

Oh and this was the surprise of the day and I couldn't believe my eyes.  Pulled over quickly and at least got one good photo as she turned to look at us, then hopped away to follow her two companions.

Mum with her joey in someone's front yard in Loch Sport.

Also spotted these two murals on private houses.

And a better photo of the emus, who had moved to a more open paddock.

Plus more of the coastal ti-tree and heath in both pink & white.

Finally driving along the coastal road, we discovered this..................

The last remains of the shipwreck Trinculo which you can read about on the board .

A small curly sponge I spotted beside the wreck.

After capturing the last photo, I was suddenly inundated with mosquitoes once again & made a quick retreat towards the track back to the car.   Luckily they didn't follow us and we could take the track at our leisure & more photo spotting for me.

Lichen covered trees.

                     A carpet of lime green moss.

WEDNESDAY.

Breakfast finished, we had already planned to have lunch at Port Albert on one of the days as a little luxury treat.  They have a great fish and chip shop, so off we went.  Murky weather once again and also very windy.  Taking another new to us road, we came upon the little locality of Tarraville, which boasts a handful of houses, an old school and church, so out with the camera once again.

The church, above & below.

The school, above and below.

I also spotted this beautiful derelict building and anyone who knows me well, must know that I can't resist these evocative structures.

Isn't it lovely?

Arrived in Port Albert to howling wind & much misty rain, so no decent photos.  I'll remedy that some day, but the fish & chips were lovely.  Headed for home along the South Gippsland Highway, where you pass through the small township of Alberton where I found a mural on the side of the Hotel on an earlier trip down this way.  Hence the clearer sky, as we'd had better weather back then early in the year.

Another lovely (although wet & windy) day was had, and discovering lots of new to us roads off main highways is something we delight in.  Not for everyone I know.

I'll catch up again hopefully tomorrow with the last bit of the trip, as I've lost count of all the things I've been going to post about over the last 2 months, namely some of our local walks & drives and lots of crafty bits.  Thanks for following & still commenting everyone.

Take care, stay safe & huggles.

Susan.