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.

 

FINISHING STITCHES - JULY

Linking with Joy for a few things that have been completed or finalised in some way over the last few months.

I'll start with 2 "proper" finishes.

 A jumper I started before we went to UK last year.  I finally sewed it together & did the neck band at the beginning of July and it has already been toasty warm for me on some very cold days.

Bibliophile Anonymous

Now this quilt, I think, was shown a few months back, sitting on the quilt machine, partially done.  It is now finished & is being used as part of a display at one of our local libraries.  A sampler done many a year ago.

Jewel Parti.

This is the quilt I made at Judy's Mystery Case weekend back at the end of June.  OK, not quilted yet, but at least pieced.  It is ready and waiting with it's backing to be quilted this week, I hope.

Now for a few more tops I've been working on over the last few months.  There are 5, all my own designs to try and use up my rather extensive stash.  Well, I did make my first quilt 40 years ago.

Judy's Promise.
This is the one I struggled with, and is now waiting to be quilted.

Water Meadows.
Another  one to play with what I had on hand.

Do you see a trend?  My trouble is that I like designing, then see them come together, and quilt when I'm in the mood.  Naughty me.

Dotty Custard.
This is made with a jelly roll & 1 background.  I did make 2 quilts a few months back (both quilted) to show how to get two from one jelly roll & this is along the same lines.  There is another one on paper & just waiting for me to have time to start it.

Cafe Culture.
Just off the machine.  I made this in the early 2000's from fabric that depicts French Cafes.  I'm hoping that someone I know with a lovely coffee shop will appreciate it once I've done the binding.
Below is the fabric on the back.  Isn't it cool.\
It is quilted with coffee cups.

Whoopsa Daisy.
OK, this is one that shouldn't be on here, but I couldn't help myself.
Some people know that I want to write a book and have been making quilts for it, for several years.
This is one of them, but I can't tell anymore.
Yes, it's bright.

I'll leave this with one last photo.  Today is the 1st of August, (I'm running late),which here in Oz is both Horse's birthday and Wattle day.

A vase of wattle on the kitchen counter.

Have a good week all and a wonderful August.
Take care.
Susan.

JULY PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT.

Linking up with Kate for the July word hunt.

This month seemed difficult, but once I set my mind to it, I found way too many for some words.
Here we go......

1.  CRANE.

Cranes in the port of Harwich.  This is one word I found quite a few pics for, but went for this one hoping it would be a little different.

2.  RING.

When we lived on the other side of town at No. 4, the grandchildren used to call these daffodils around the silver birches "THE FAIRY RING"

3.  SET.

This word has so many meanings, it is not 'funny'.  In the end, I went to the dictionary for ideas and found that as a verb, it has 18 meanings, as an adjective, 5, and as a noun, 11.  Some of these, even have a few connotations of their own too.
This is the noun, (8), --a session of jazz or rock music, usually followed by intermission, or the music played during such a session.
So these little fellas are at the Goulburn Caravan Park (NSW) where we've stayed a few times over the years and I'm quite sure they'd be playing a Jazz SET.

4.  LIGHT.

The Illiminations in Blackpool (UK) where we went one year with our niece and her family.  I was very taken with the trouble they go to, to put this on each year and thought it quite amazing.  I did love this photo I took (it was hard to take good pics), with crown and chandeliers.

5.  BOW.

The bow of a huge ship with helicopter pad looming out of the mist in Blyth (UK again).  This is a cable laying ship which was docked and I expect picking up cable from the area, as we also saw a large yard where I think, they must make it. It was huge.
I remember seeing a cable laying ship in Sydney as a child, which we were lucky enough to be shown around as my Dad used to work for OTC, an Australian communications company.

6.  SPRING.

Springer and his mate.  Hubby made these 2 doggies many years ago from the springs he replaced in one of our cars.  The one of the left is DD's and the one on the right belongs to us.  Think I have posted these before, but just the thing for this word.

7.  OPEN.

An "open"-cut coal mine in the Latrobe Valley here in Victoria east of where we live.  I'm not a big fan of coal-fired power stations, but this is the world we live in and as long as we try and better our use of resources, it stays for the time being.

8.  GRAND.

Our first "grand" child aged about 18 months (I think) sporting the latest fashion, a tupperware bowl hat.😊  This little girl, is now a young lady who will be 21 in November.  Yikes!!!!!!

9.  PARK.

OK, probably not the most obscure use for this word, but this is the oddest colour for a lyrebird, a rather shy native bird which is often seen flashing through trees in southern rain forest areas.
It stands at the entrance to a fun park just west of here on the highway to Melbourne.  Many years ago, someone put some firecrackers up it's rear end and it looked quite sad until they resurrected it. Now the park is undergoing a, wait for it...... $50 million dollar refurbishment.  We've never been, so may make that an outing once it is completed.  More photos opportunities?

I just grabbed this photo of a lyrebird off the internet so everyone can see what they really look like. I've never been quick enough to get a proper photo, so hope I'm not doing anything too naughty.

10. MY OWN CHOICE.

Hellebores in flower along the back fence.  Hubby took this photo yesterday while I was at the Quilt Show.  Aren't they 'gorgeous'.  I'll try and do a post soon as the garden comes back to life, though a few things have succumbed to the heavy frosts.  I saw a quick news item, that Australia is having it's coldest and driest winter for a long time.  Even though dry, it's been very overcast.

OK my hunt done and not as early as I'd planned.  Can I actually say this, but I was knackered, OK pooped last night and even dozed off a few times in the front of TV after my day out.  I never do that.
Have a great weekend all and I'm off to link this up.
Take care and huggles,  Susan.

CONTRASTS!

Just a short post to fill in some gaps, that I've been wayward on over the last year.  It is nearly 12 months ago that we visited family in UK & although we had the best time, I didn't have reliable internet access, so posts were few & far between.
We belong to the National Trust of Australia, and are able to use our membership cards in the UK too, so this is a day out in Northumberland and one here in Melbourne.

CRAGSIDE.
A beautiful, very large home with a wonderful history.  The day we visited was extremely busy, due to 2 other NT properties being closed for the filming of Transformers 6 (I think).  We explored the house, but not the garden as it was closed for some work, but we did wander down to the first privately owned hydro-electric power plant.

The back of the house from the path down the hillside as we walked from a far-off car park.

The most amazing sculpted chimney breast.

Oh no!  Yes, it is an old patchwork quilt on the bed.

A beautiful old wheel that is part of the hydro-electric plant.

I've not got many good photos from this day out, due to it being very overcast and also the amount of people around.

PORTABLE IRON HOUSES IN MELBOURNE.

Hubby and I spent a lovely day out a few months back visiting these houses, which are in stark contrast to the above.

Front of one house.

A second house at the rear, which has been moved from another location and has an audio/visual set up to explain  the story of these homes.

One of the rooms which has not been touched in a "long while".

Attic bedroom, which is accessed by the steepest stairway I've ever been up.  You have to come down backwards.  Notice that the bed has a "patchwork quilt".  Seems to be a theme there!

One of the downstairs rooms that has some restoration work done, shows how the packing cases, these homes were shipped in,  were then used for the internal walls. 

 I'm not a mine of information about either of these properties, but I'm sure that you can see them both on line.

Whilst we were in Northumberland, we decided to visit Soutar Lighthouse, another NT property & the receptionist at the motel suggested we also go to St. Margarets Lighthouse, which we would find interesting.
OK, off we set and this is what we saw.

Ummm!!  Where is it?

 Well, we parked the car and looked around the complex, which I loved.  The lightkeepers cottage was well kept and we shared the experience with a small party of schoolchildren.

And what, not again, but I just can't help myself when it comes to quilts on beds.
Another old one & hexagons too. 

Here it is just appearing out of the mist.

On to St. Margaret's Lighthouse later in the day.

Here it is!!!!

The fog had again rolled in, making our lighthouses journey a bit of a disappointment, but we still had a fun day out.  There is actually a causeway out to this one, but the tide was in and it had just started to sprinkle as well, so we headed for home.

Hope you've enjoyed some late postings of days out in both UK & Oz.  I know that I'd like to occasionally catch up on our trip from last year, but next week is both Scavenger Hunt on 28th & Finishing Stitches on 31st.  We also are  a tad on the busy side next week, with a Car Club coffee/cake run & committee meeting on Wednesday and then on Thursday, I'm off to the Quilt and Craft Show in Melbourne, and have a physio appointment on Friday.  Over the weekend we might even  visit a NT property that isn't open very often.  Como House are having an Open Weekend, so will try and take advantage of that.

I've waffled on enough and hope everyone has a good week ahead.
Take care.
Susan.