FEELING BLUE.

I've gone quiet according to someone I blog with and yes, I've been feeling rather low.  What with this damn virus lurking around, cold & murky weather which doesn't help & my woefully painful, swollen fingers due to persistent chillblains, I think perhaps I should pull my head in & try to be more cheerful.  We have been out (keeping our distance), just the two of us & been keeping busy about the home.
A little of what has been happening, though the garden has taken a back seat because of my hands & the dampness underfoot.
My friend Jayne at The View from Bagend posted a photo of her fire lit one night in the middle of summer in UK & asked who else had done the same.  Well, we had.

Looking cosy.

Last Thursday we took ourselves for a drive to the water's edge with picnic basket, thermos & camera.  Ate lunch in the car looking at this view & also had a quick walk along the beach, which was quite deserted.

Looking south.

Looking north.

There is a headland with parking area between the 2 beaches at Mornington, overlooking Port Phillip Bay.
We've also done some local walks & luckily have taken my camera a couple of times.
I noticed some weird cloud formations the other day.

These clouds had formed over the LaTrobe Valley where there are a couple of power stations.

Today we took ourselves off on one of our usual walks down past the farm in the middle of suburbia & what did we see........the cows in the top paddock surrounded by hundreds of cattle egrets.

You may need to click on this to see the birds.

I've come to a bit of a slow patch on the sewing front.  I'd started a row by row quilt of my own design, but hit that low spot & then started another QAL with my friend Joy at Days filled with Joy.
A couple of photos  to show that I've not been completely idle.

What I've achieved for the QAL so far.  We have another update today for the next part.

My dahlia rug (Attic 24 project) now finished & some of the rows of my Row by Row design inspired by the colours of the rug.  All the fabrics were found in my stash, though there is one I've run out of & will have to find a replacement for my first border.  Oh dear!!

OK, that is all from me today.  Not much has been happening in the shed by DH either, but today he popped up to start a small project, so will have something to blog about on that front too soon.
At least I've actually made the effort to blog finally.  Nearly time for our evening meal & the fire has been lit.  Best go, take care all, stay safe & huggles from down under.
Susan.

LOOKING!!!!!!

Well, where has the time gone since I last sat & posted.  Maybe, because we've been busy, both on the home front & out and about.

Thursday the 3rd, we popped on over to Bairnsdale to pick up another chuck for hubby's lathe & whilst in the vicinity went out to Paynesville, ate our picnic lunch then boarded the small ferry as pedestrians (free) to take the Koala Walk on Raymond Island.  It was very cold, but we so enjoyed.  I was doubtful if we'd see any grey woolly bumps in the trees, but oh, what a feast.  This could be a bit top heavy with photos.
                                                                 LOOKING DOWN.

The start of the walk from near the ferry 

LOOKING UP.

I had a sore neck, by the time we'd made it back to the water's edge.

LOOKING AHEAD.

 A Banksia tree in full flower.

And sipping nectar, is a lovely Rainbow Lorikeet.

We walked along here.

Came to this seating area where parents can watch their children paddling.

The ferry coming across the river.  It's not far & only takes about 5 minutes.

Looking across to Paynesville.

Looking along the river with the mountains in the distance.

A black swan crossing the path.

A plethora of birds......2 pelicans, many seagulls, 2 different sorts of shags & 2 swans aswimming.

                                                           LOOKING DOWN AGAIN.

Not the best, but here we have a jelly fish floating near the jetty.

LOOKING LEFT.

Now this was something I'd never seen before, both on the way to Paynesville & back.  Lucky for me they were still there for a photo on our way home.

So many black swans in a large paddock.  Usually you see them near water, but I think there might have been something tasty they were after in here.

LOOKING AGAIN.

Yesterday we needed milk, so popped out & also took a little trip to work out times for our Coffee/cake run next Wednesday & came home via a gravel road & spotted a paddock of these............

Kangaroos.

I've not seen so many this close to home, even though we use a lot of back roads in the area.  Lucky I had the camera in the car.

LOOK WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO TODAY.

Oh, BTW it is now Sunday & been reasonably warm after so many cold, inclement days, so hubby set about finishing these.  Um... just a couple of pics.

Busy, working, doing............

these.

Huuuuh!  This says it all.  I think he's glad that's nearly done.

We purchased a pressure washer yesterday too & the treads will look better for a wash, as will some of our paving once Spring is here.  These steps were timber & very narrow & as we aren't getting any younger, we decided before winter, that they needed to be wider.  We already find them so much better.

Although I'm sitting here doing this post, I've not been too idle with washing done, a Butterscotch Tart made & trying to finish this on the big machine.

A few UFO tablemats, that I popped onto the end of the Mystery Case quilt backing, which is rolled up behind.  I needed to do this, as I have a customer quilt coming in next week.  What!!!, you say. "But you don't do quilts now for other people".  Well, a friend popped in during last week & asked if I'd do one for her and I said yes. 

OK, I've babbled on for long enough & posted way too many pics, but I'm just catching up with what we've been up to.  Another busy week ahead, so may be quiet again till next weekend.

Take care all, have a good week & huggles from

Susan.

 

MAY SCAVENGER PHOTO HUNT.

Linking up once again with the lovely Kate to search for suitable photos to go with a list of words she has chosen.  This month I procrastinated somewhat, as although we are to post only TEN, the list consisted of 23 words.  Hmmm!!!!  Which to choose?  Well, here goes.......

GLASS.

The glasshouse at RHS Rosemoor in Devon, which we saw whilst visiting UK in 2014.

PIANO.

This is my cottage piano, which I saved for & bought whilst we were living in Tasmania (1987-94).  It hasn't had much use of late 😢  My hands are woeful, already this year, with very painful chillblains.  But, it will always be there for me to tinkle on when I can.

VALLEY.

This is the Buchan valley in Eastern Victoria, which we pass through on our way to Canberra quite often.  It has some lovely viewing points & a wonderful network of limestone caves worth a visit. They are open to the public with guided tours.

VAST.

The huge shearing shed in Mungo National Park, in outback New South Wales, south of Broken Hill.
It is lovely inside too, with exposed frame & many shearing stations.

WAVE.

Just a quick video clip I found in my archives, that I took last year on Phillip Island, which I do believe I've blogged about many times in the past.
OK, video clip didn't work, so here is a photo taken instead.  Same location & day.  Sorry all.

BUSH.

This is what we Australians refer to as "BUSH".  We go for bushwalks, "go bush", when we are getting away for the weekend and generally refer to our native vegetation as "bush".  These are gums & gymea lillies & photo was taken in The Royal National Park, south of Sydney.  I also lived in a suburb of Sydney as a child for  a while, called Gymea. (useless bit of information😃).

DEEP.

A very large deep mine in Cobar, NSW (again).  I can't for the life of me remember what they are actually mining here, That was a loooooooong way down.

BARK.

These are the "scribbles" on one of our native gum trees, which we refer to as a Scribbly Gum. (duh).
This particular photo was taken in Canberra a few years back.  I didn't realise how many photos I take of bark, till I was looking through my archives.


STITCH.

Something I cross-stitched many years ago, which is still waiting to be framed.  I'd thought about this when looking for some embroidery thread & thought, oooh, that would fit for '"stitch" on my word list, so out came the camera.

SHARP.

Now this is sharp, though I've only nicked myself personally, but have heard of some quite fearful injuries relating to "ROTARY CUTTERS".  I took the photo this morning to show that although I've been quiet on the blog front, I am still doing things, along with all the mundane stuff, car club bits, days out & today once I finish this, I'll make a cake and slice & also try and get quilt on the machine finished.  I'm a bit slow with everything of late due to such sore hands(I mentioned above).

I've at least 2 posts, I must get done before the end of the month, due to being busy in June with a couple of things on the agenda.

Hopefully, I've fulfilled the brief & anybody who cares to visit will find it interesting.
Thanks again Kate and look forward to what you have in store for us in June.
Huggles all and take care.

HEARTATHON DAY 2

Linking up with I live, I love, I craft, I am me.

Quick one today, as it is Committee Meeting tonight.

My dressing table.

Notice the heart shaped mirror?  I bought this whilst we were living in Tasmania.
We'd only been there a matter of weeks & I spotted it in a secondhand furniture shop called "Boomerang Furniture".  We were sat at a set of traffic lights & I couldn't take my eyes off it.  I walked to the shop in my lunch hour one day & was told I could actually lay-bye it and pay over a few months.  I was delighted as I'd seen one similar, but in different timber for double the price.  I've had it since 1987 & still love it.  This photo was taken in another house & the flowers are a lovely perfumed bunch of mock orange I'd picked.

And this is what I've been up to over the last couple of days.

These 2 little aprons will be off to DD's soon.  They were promised either last year or the year before (oh dear late as ever), & hope they will be used as their other ones I made are now way too small.

Best go & look forward to seeing what the others are posting for the heartathon.
Take care all & have a good day.
Susan.

RUSHING ON!!!!!!!!!!!

My goodness, the month of January is already more than half gone.   I thought about a post on Saturday, then yesterday and finally Tuesday morning, & yes, here I am doing it.
As to what I've been up to, I'm not really sure, but I think I've been both busy & hot.  Today is a lot cooler with a strong southerly blowing & rain overnight, but the temperatures will be on the rise again from tomorrow into next week.  Luckily the Australia Day public holiday (Thursday) is supposed to be a pleasant 26deg.  as we have a car club event that day.  

Now just a little roundup.

One evening last week I captured this amazing sky.

Taken from our backyard & it was a little surreal.  Not seen one like this in ages, especially here.

Whilst we were in UK, I bought some wool and a small crochet shawl pattern from Morley Markets & made a start whilst there.  Once we were home I did little bits of it from time to time & realised the 2 balls I had bought weren't going to be enough.  Help was needed as I couldn't purchase the same wool here in Oz.  My sister-in-law came to the rescue & got me some more.

I'm doing the one on the right & will show when a little further ahead.

On Saturday afternoon we made our way to The Vintage Shed in Yarragon, a small town not too far away, to see if I could find something small to go in the corner near my BIG quilting machine to hold a few odds and ends that I need on a regular basis.
I found this & it was inexpensive, so it came home with us.

A little shabby chic corner whatnot.  Notice the printout of the long arm quilter I found in my archive pics.  It came from the internet many years ago & I'd forgotten all about till I was searching for photos for our upcoming Scavenger Hunt.  Isn't it cute.

I've finally got round to putting the quilt on the machine and have even done one row.  WOW!  At long last, I think I'm finally getting back my craft mojo.  I've also got some of that stash busting quilt I talked about in a recent post on the design wall.  More about that in the near future.

Said quilt with part of the pattern showing up well on the white background.  Once finished I'll show a full shot.
I've named it for one of my granddaughters, and have two more in mind for the others.  

We have a weather station on the wall of our family room, which tells us both the inside and outside temperature.  This what it read yesterday about 6pm.

The lower lefthand corner is the outside temperature.  I've just noticed that it is actually nearly 7pm on the clock at the top.
Warm for that time of day, but better inside as we had the cooler on.

Just one last thing for today.
I've actually been reading this week.  Our local library requested a purchase on 2 books I'd asked about and this is the first one to arrive.  And, I get to read them before anyone else.

Lovely new book, which I saw at the Donkey Sanctuary near Leeds & really wanted to read.

So far (I'm not giving anything away), I've cried in the first chapter & been quite choked up in the next few, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends.  It is a true story and was published last year.  Some of my friends know that I'm an animal nut, & especially love donkeys.  The other book they are purchasing is about dogs, another one I love.

OK, that is enough of my waffling and as I have a busy day ahead, (meal planning & grocery shopping to name one),  best go and make some headway.

Have a good week all, take care & huggles.
Susan.

WACKY WEEK!

I'm not sure where this week has gone.  The weather has been woeful and I thought I'd do a post yesterday, but that day came and went in a whirl, so here I am now with some "awful" photos because of the poor light. 

My purchase of a stand alone bobbin winder back in December was a great idea, until, last week when it decided to stop working, so Wednesday saw us head to where it was bought with no luck and today finding that the company has gone into liquidation.  A hassle ahead to get something sorted.  I also wanted to find some paint I was using with DD last week, which led to us visiting 3 different places to find it.  Finally some luck with the third one and tubes on special at 4 for $10.  YES.
Now for a selection of bits and bobs.

Rhubarb flower I mentioned last post.

I moved the little bookcase with my cookbooks to near the kitchen from the hall.  Much easier now to browse and plan a week's menu.

CRAFTY BITS.

I have been playing with this, but ran out of pearl headed pins.

Opening a jelly roll and finding that a rose fabric I bought recently goes well with it.  I have designed a pattern and will start this very soon, so watch this space.

Bits of timber?  This is why I needed the tube of paint.  DD gave me this  Xmas 2014, so I really must get it done.  All will hopefully be revealed some time this month.


ON THE MACHINE.

Olympic Quilt.

I made this quilt in 2000 when Sydney hosted the Olympic Games.  Hubby was driving buses at them and I was home alone in Cowra where we were living at the time.  I decided to make a star block each time we (Oz) won a gold medal.  I sorted through my stash to use fabrics relating to the uniform colours worn by our team members at the opening ceremony.  I do think it is about time to quilt it, as another games is on the way this year, 16 years later. 

Closeup of one block.  There are 16 stars relating to the 16 gold medals we wond.

The wacky week continues.........
Enough from me for now as these photos keep moving when I put the captions on and it is doing my head in and not quite the post I intended.

Take care all.
Susan.