TUESDAY'S TRIVIA.

Tuesday started cold, frosty & foggy.

The grass covered in frost taken from the back verandah.

Along the top of the sleepers.

Ice on the pond.

After much debating & deliberation with our morning coffee, we came to the decision to head out to get some parts for our trailer, which needs a bit of TLC.  Made some lunch & thermos to take with us & headed off.  As we were going to be close to Braeside Park, we made that our destination for lunch & a walk.  Somewhere we've been before, but not for a proper walk.  Um... a lot of photos were taken, so join me as we potter along.
Starting with the tree sculptures, which I have posted before with one of my quilts, but there are several more than what I showed.

The view while eating lunch.

The pelicans.

Sugar Glider.

More of the Sugar Gliders.

                                                   The tree below has many animals.

A wombat peeking out.

A large lizard or maybe goanna.

A koala and kangaroo.

Pharlap and either trainer or jockey.
This was one of our famous race horses who was trained in this area.

Carrying on with the rest of the walk, we saw many interesting bits and pieces, so here are some I snapped.

One of several ponds & dams throughout the park.

A post for your camera, but it was at such an angle, all I could capture was sky or grass.
Due to being quite old, the climatic conditions etc., it had moved over the years.
Could be remedied if someone would do it.

Snake signs appear quite regularly on my blog...................😏

Teepees again, but this time not at the beach.

Bracken fern, all green & lush, but such a nuisance in a lot of places after being introduced in colonial days.

Now this was a lovely little surprise.  A painted stone, very like what I've seen on my friend Kate's blog in the UK.
I didn't see any more, but hopefully this pretty one will make many more people smile.

Reflections in more water we saw.

And for a few trees, very much favourites of mine, but I try not to overwhelm you with too many.

So sculptural.

Notice the beautiful markings on this log.

And eucalyptus leaves, so pretty in colour & shape.

After picking up some trailer parts, we headed for home.  Stopped in Tooradin to have a cup of take away tea and snapped these few pictures along the banks of Sawtell's Inlet.

A rather grotesque carved gargoyle.
I've never seen him before, but we usually go to the cafe on the other side of the highway.

The tide coming in from Westernport Bay & flowing down what I always think of as a river, though it's only a tidal inlet.

Looking further down the inlet.

That was our Tuesday and although freezing to start with, the rest of the day was lovely and sunny and made a difference as we actually had an "outing" with social distancing firmly in mind.  I'm still not game enough to venture anywhere there might be lots of people close to each other.  Luckily most of our outings are just us two & we don't need to gather as some people do.  We'll wait and see what the future holds for being out & about.
OH.......one last bit of trivia from the weekend.  We did make a very short trip up the highway to see this parked at the weigh-in station before it made it's way to one of the big power stations in the LaTrobe Valley.

This load was being pulled by 3 prime movers and being pushed by two more.  It was huge and could only travel during the night as the road needed to be closed, so it could use either side of the highway.
There were also many support vehicles and these loads always cause quite a stir & lots of people taking photos.  Whoops, just like me, who finds them fascinating.

OK, my lot for now.
Take care all, stay safe & huggles from down under.
Susan.

HEARTATHON! DAY 8

Following on with I live, I love, I craft, I am me.

Today's will definitely be the quickest one I've done so far.
After spending the afternoon out on our Cake & Coffee run, we didn't get home till nearly 6pm, so have rushed around making tea, folding washing & hoping to finish the shawl this evening, whilst watching some mindless TV,  Oh, and doing this post.  I've also just fed one of our magpies, as it was caroling outside the study window.

I snapped this stone, thinking it looked like a heart and remembered very recently that I had it in the archives.
It was found along the Cotter River in Canberra when we visited our youngest son & family over Christmas in 2015.

Best go as I'd like to see the weather forecast for the next few days, though hubby has already said it will be 38° tomorrow. Not quite that hot today.
Hopefully I'll be able to post earlier tomorrow & also show a finished shawl.
Take care all,  Susan.

MUDDLED-HEADED WOMBAT!!!!

Yes, that's how I felt on Wednesday morning, after I pulled my large star quilt out to work on it.  This is the foundation paper pieced project I've been working on for many years, and have set myself a challenge to finish it this year.  Was I having a "seniors moment" or am I just dippy?  Took fabric and papers from box, unfolded said quilt then couldn't remember which way to cut fabric.  Was it right side up or wrong side?  Which side of the papers to place on said fabric, then suddenly I couldn't even remember which side to stitch.  Breathe, Susan, breathe and take your time thinking.  Ahhh, it all came after about 15 minutes of flipping and flopping fabric and paper.  And I did achieve something after all.

Said quilt awaiting last corner to be finished.

This is and two similar pieces were made by lunchtime, then put away for the outer corner section to be done over the weekend or next week. (maybe!).

For those unfamiliar with "foundation paper piecing", here are photos of front of star and the papers on the back.

Front

Back.  Sorry, but a little crumpled.

I've still not finished binding on small quilt because of very sore fingers, due to a new crop of CHILLBLAINS.  I have suffered with these every winter since I was born. Occasionally they get extra painful and I find it hard with just a few things like sewing with needle and thread, so started some crochet which is much easier.  This is what I'm doing.

Giant granny square rug.

I can do this easily whilst watching some of my favourite TV programs and just at the moment some new episodes are on.  Yeah, and The Ashes.

SATURDAY WALK.

I was going to post this Wednesday, but time and tiredness got the better of me.
We found a rail trail we'd not known about and started with a short part, although it was quite wet underfoot.  I'm looking forward to doing some more of it soon.

The 1km marker, though we did go further than this.

TEXTURES.
I've not posted these type of photos for a while, but took these whilst on the walk.  Enjoy!

Remains of the old bridge over Pilgrim Creek.

We think this 70 marker was for the speed allowed on this section.

Fungi, even though it's been so cold.

It was very muddy in parts.

WHOOPS!!!!

Something I overlooked when I wasn't feeling well, but this parcel arrived in the post and was a lovely surprise that brought both tears and smiles.

My lovely blog friend Hawthorn from I live, I love, I craft, I am me,  sent this.  She found the book at her local church book sale and immediately thought of me and my love for The Dales.  I've dipped in and out looking at the place names and have found it so interesting.  The postcard at the top was actually still in the book and postmarked 1994 and the bottom right of the three is a small notebook.
Aren't I so lucky.  Thanks Hawthorn for you thoughtfulness.

The weekend is supposed to be cold and wet, but we'll try and go out and I may have may start posting more often again with our exploits both at home and out and about.
Take care all,  Susan.

HOW HARD IS IT?

Jo from Through the Keyhole nominated me for an award and I've decided to take it one step at a time.  I will start by answering the questions she asked of me.  That should be the easy part, but no, I'm really struggling with some, but here goes anyway.

1)  If your house was on fire, what one thing other than family members and pets, would you save?
A.  Probably photos and my computer (photos on this as well), but my fabric, quilts and books would have to come a close second.

2)  What other than your children, is your greatest achievement?
A.  Nothing I can think of!

3)  What would be your dream job and is it a job you do or have done?
A.  My dream job was to be an architect, but I've certainly never done that.  Just at the moment I fancy thinking up the challenges for "A Great British Quilting Challenge" and being a co-host or something.  Please don't laugh at that, but if Mary Berry can do it at her age, I'm sure there'd be hope for me as I am a tad younger and have so many ideas.

4)  What is your dream holiday destination?
A.  Yorkshire and there abouts of course.

5)  If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you bought.
A.  That is a hard one, but maybe a house in Yorkshire with stunning views!

6)  Name your top three films of all  time?
A.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to answer this one as I don't watch many films or go to the movies, but three just popped straight into my head.
     (a)  Dirty Dancing.  (b)  Calendar Girls.  (c)  Mama Mia.

7)  If you could have a conversation with a famous person, dead or alive, who would it be?
A.  I couldn't make up my mind as I thought of so many, so alive, can I talk to both Monty Don and Alan Titchmarsh, and dead, it would have to be Leonardo de Vinci.

8)  What is your earliest childhood memory?
A.  Staying with my great aunt, whilst my Mum had my brother.

9)  What is your favourite season and why?
A,  Sorry, but I'm going to have give my least favourite as the others are neck and neck, and that is summer, as I just don't like the heat and dry.

10) What made you start a blog?
A.  A certain person made a suggestion about when was I starting one, after I began to take part in a Xmas Quiltalong and my photos had to be put on someone else's blog.  Hmmm!, what a journey that has been.  Wonderful actually.

11) What would you like the future to hold for you.
A.   Health and happiness, for both hubby and I, family and friends.

I will endeavor to think of 11 random things about myself for my next post and the rest will come later.

Just a few photos from our trip that I want to share.

Not sure whether these were oast houses or maybe for chicory.

Colourful foliage on these trees where we ate lunch one day.

We had to slow down to let this goanna cross the road, then we stopped to take a pic as he ran up the tree.  Click on the photo to enlarge and see him better.

The old trestle bridge over The Snowy River at Orbost, which I've shown before from another angle,  This definitely shows how it is deteriorating with all its lumps and bumps now. 

The Information Centre at Orbost is housed in this old slab hut.

Now that I'm feeling more at home with my camera, I'm starting to see a lot of "textures" around me.
Here are two photos and it's made me want to take more.  Our world is such a fascinating place, both natural and man-made.

I hope to be able to post a couple of "finishes" this week, and if it's not too hot, get some others done too.
Enough of my waffling and hope everyone has had a great weekend.
Huggles Susan.