MOVING CHALLENGE.

Oh, this harder than I thought.  Sorting, tidying, chucking out, garage sale things put aside and packing.  It's a challenge, but we know it must be done now the house is sold.
Hubby has decided to retire and we are off to Ballarat, which is on the western side of Melbourne.  Our daughter lives in the suburbs of Melbourne on that side, so it will be easier to drive and see the family.  The rertirement plans came about earlier than we thought, as the company he works for was taken over last year and is definitely not as good any more with talk of redundancies, slashed hours and changed shifts, and that is enough for us.
We are off in our caravan for a few days to try and find somewhere to rent for a couple of months to get to know Ballarat again.  We lived out of town in the mid eighties and I worked at the bank in Ballarat for 18 months before we moved to Tasmania.  There is more for us to do in this larger centre with a Morris Minor Club and at least a few places where we can volunteer.  I'll keep you posted as to what we are up to.

Now for a few photos taken this morning before it got windy and the rain started again.  We've had plenty of rain this September.

One of the jasmines in full flower and it smells so good.

Snowball bush.

Pink ixias.

The wisteria which hasn't been as good this year.

Very colourful with iris and ranunculus.

Bluebells of which I have many scattered throughout the garden.

A late flowering azalea.  It is also quite protected from the weather.

A white lavender which came up all by itself.

Green Goddess arum lily which was nearly dead earlier this year.

Closeup of above.

My last daffodil.

Not sure what I will get in the way of a garden next time, but knowing me I will try and make it nice.
Not much craft to show at the moment as most is now packed away.
I cannot believe how much we have accumulated and carted around with us over the last (nearly) forty years.
It has frightened the life out of me and I know I'm not coping all that well, but realise it is time for us to downsize and get on with life.
Thanks to all my lovely blogging buddies for your support and well wishes.  I appreciate it very much and hope not to bore you too much in the future and soon be back to my old self.
Enjoy this coming week all and take care till my next post.
Susan.

CHRISTMAS QUILTALONG.

How do I put this to everyone?.  I've not done a lot of blogging lately as I've been diagnosed with extreme anxiety, which I've never had in my life before, so why now.  Also, we have sold our house and have to move by the 6/11 and I'm terrified.  I will miss this garden so much, but know that I can no longer maintain it as I once did due to back and feet problems.  Then, we are now facing trying to find somewhere with enough space for my long arm quilting machine (Bubs) and at least access to the backyard for our caravan and some space for a small garden.  Oh, the joys of getting older.  Enough of that and although I've done little of anything except stress and now starting to pack, I managed to piece one row of my "Surprise Packages".  Below are photos of some flowers I picked last week and the quilt row.

Maple tree flowers, flowering currant, camelia and jasmine.
Not the best photo, but it looked pretty.

Mixed azaleas on the table.

Azaleas on a shelf amongst two favourite pictures.

Diosma.

The middle row of packages and the flowers I had on the chest in the studio.  That was just coincidence.

This is just a quick post as I will meet two friends today down at the biennial Lioness Quilt Show here in Warragul and hopefully have small amount of time with them.  I went down for two hours yesterday and did some white gloving for them as a volunteer.  Although it is a small show, the quilts and other crafty items were of a high standard.
The rest of the day will be spent packing, sorting etc.  I often wonder if I am a hoarder, but am going to try and get rid of so much "STUFF".  I will try and post at least once a week, just to try and stay sane and am going to pop over to seem some of my favourite blogs and catch up with the Xmas quiltalong.

Take care everyone and hope I've not bored you too much.  Susan.

POST 2 SUNDAY -- FATHER'S DAY IN OZ

This is a quick post on Sunday night, more for my benefit of recording my garden, as I may soon be starting again when we sell.  It is spring here in Oz and after such a long hot and dry summer, I'm surprised at what is flowering, though we did have a wet winter. 

 I've also taken a couple of photos yesterday of the countryside south of where we live.  We went to Inverloch for afternoon  tea.  Immediately below are these photos.

 

                                                                     Garden Photos.

Our magnolia flowering for the second time this year.

Hellebore and azalea.  The strappy plants are miniature agapanthus.

Hellebore, Ivory Prince which I planted a couple of years ago.

Iris under the weeping cherry which have been there since we moved here 9 years ago and have never flowered before.

My antique wheelbarrow with just one plant at the moment.

Flowering currant.

Tulip in bud.

Part of the Fairy Ring.

My pretty pink daffodils.  I'll definitely pot some of these up to take with me.

This camellia was nearly dead when we moved in, but look at it now.

Some freesias I replanted from out of the lawn.  They don't have  perfume like the old fashioned ones, but smell quite peppery.

FATHER'S DAY.

Hubby eating his lunch outside in the lovely sunshine today.  It got to 25deg and it's only the first day of spring!!!  He had to go to work not long after this photo was taken.



Being the first day of the month, I actually got around to changing the wall hanging in the hall.  Last month I didn't do it.  I also weeded the lawn, did some work on my Christmas QAL and caught up with my blog.

This was made many years ago to teach myself how to do flying geese the easy way with 1 large square and four smaller ones.  I've never named it.

Well, that is a lot of pictures, which I don't usually do, but I feel caught up now and will hopefully post a little more often.  Hope everyone had a lovely weekend as we did.
Susan.

POST 1 SUNDAY ---QUILT RETREAT

It seem ages ago now that we went to Bordertown for my Statler Quilt Retreat, but it was only last weekend.  It has been such a busy week, with viewings of our house and an Open Day yesterday.  I also fitted in an appointment on Monday, Doctor and a massage on Wednesday.  Hubby had both Wednesday and Thursday off, and as the 29th was a special day, I was taken out to lunch at Sky High Restaurant on Mount Dandenong for lunch.  I forgot to take my camera with me that day, so no pics I'm afraid.
Below are a few of the photos I took on my way to Bordertown, which I hope you'll enjoy.

The Pyrenees on the north side of the road as we are travelling west towards South Australia.

 Hubby did some touring on the Friday and took these lovely photos.  As I wasn't with him, I can only give short descriptions.

Buckingham Church.

A gravel road bordered by gum trees suffering dieback.

Wirrega Council Chambers,which were built in 1886 and used till 1904.  It has also been a private residence and Mundulla Tennis Club.

Rusty tin sculpture.

 He visited Clayton Farm Heritage Museum, run by local people and said he had a very interesting afternoon.
Below are just some of the photos he took.  The buildings were erected between 1876 until the 1930's.

Old utility  and other vehicles awaiting restoration.

Hollowed out log trough.

Old farm machinery (lots).

Old table in the shearing shed.

Wool shed built in 1901 from white gum tree trunks with a thatched rood.

Half an emu egg.

The Homestead.

 The photos below are all taken around Bordertown.

White kangaroos in a small reserve in Bordertown.  They aren't albinos and have been bred over the years from a white one discovered in earlier years.

Anne, this photo is for you.  Would you like one of these?  Only reason I'm in the photo is to show the size of some of these  farm machines.

A field of golden canola.  Rapeseed to those in the UK.

 The Retreat which was held at The Sanctuary ( a lovely house for the use of classes and getaways for crafty people) run by Judy.  Below is a photo taken by hubby of the six that were attending.

The girls at the Statler retreat.

Our rather messy table, but then we were all working, also chatting and watching educational DVD's.  Did some eating too.

The wonderful old fabric shop in Historic Mundulla. (near Bordertown)  The floor sloped every which way, because it probably needs re-stumping.  It made you feel quite seasick.  The lady who runs store is 75 and an absolute sweetie, so we had a lovely afternoon out on the Friday.

 Now on the journey home.

The Grampians which are to the south on our way home .

The skyline of Melbourne approaching from the west.  

Well, that is finally the post that I was going to try and do through the week.  I'll try and play catch up again during the week.  The weekend was great and I certainly learnt plenty just by listening to the others talking.
They are all very good long-arm quilters and very professional.  I am mainly a hobby quilter and only do small amounts for other people.  I stress way too much with someone else's quilt in my care.
Hope you have all had a lovely weekend.  Our weather has been superb and today is the 1st of Spring.
Take care, Susan.