IT STARTED WELL!!!!

Ah, today started with all sorts of plans in my head.  Eat breakfast on the verandah, as it was mild, overcast & fresh.

Being sung to by these two on our TV aerial.

After the usual housework, I decided to get to grips with a quilt that has been languishing on the machine, off the machine for unpicking, then back on the machine.  Photo one taken just after morning tea at about 10.30am

Photo two taken around 11am.

Yes, we are off again, due to a few issues with the belts which are connected to the computerised system of my machine.  While I wait for a phone call about all this, I am doing a long overdue blog post.

Due to all the "extreme" hot weather we've had lately, it's been a bit "stay in & try to keep cool" and I don't enjoy being too housebound.  There has also been so much smoke around from the fires, which are still burning here in both Victoria & Tasmania, which has made being outside unpleasant.  Anyway, lets go on a photo heavy couple of days out.
DAY OUT 1.
Powlett River Mouth.
Our youngest son J, came down from Canberra for a few days with B2 & Little E & one day they thought they'd like to go to the beach.  It was one of our milder days, so we all set off to find somewhere along the coast & we ended up here.

The river near where we had parked.

Walking further down, you have sand dunes on the far side.
Just on the ridge line, we have J & B2 looking out to sea.

DH & I didn't cross the river, as I had shoes on & didn't want to get my feet all sandy to put back into them, but one day we will go across at low tide, which is what it was.  We walked on out to the rocks where the river flows out to sea.

DH making his way along the riverside with the waves breaking just beyond.

Another look at the dunes.

Don't these colours look stunning?  Rocks, crustaceans & seaweed.

I suppose you are now wondering what on earth this is.  As we were walking down along the riverbank, we'd noticed horse hoof prints & came upon this, which both DH & J remarked looked like a dead horse!!  The kids were a bit shocked..............but it was weird decomposing seaweed, which, if you had imagination did resemble a horse in the sand.  We saw more of this decomposition "stuff" as we walked, but mostly in grotty looking lumps.

DAY OUT 2.
Blind Bight & Warneet.
Last weekend on another cooler day, we set off for a drive/walk & ended up going back to a place that we once went into & out again due to time restraints, but always said we'd go back to explore.  This happened to be the day.  Somewhere we'll go to again for some walks.
We headed to the floating jetty at Blind Bight first.

A picnic area looking out over the mudflats & mangroves.

The mudflats at low tide.

I think this sign says it all.

Can you see the jellyfish?

Little mangroves poking through the mud amongst the rocks.

 As we wandered along the track from the mudflats we came to two ponds with a path between them & sitting on one of the posts is a shag.

                                      And here we have a bee in the centre of a gum blossom.
              Hopping back into the car to drive on to Warneet, we stopped to take this photo.

Warneet is only a stones throw from Blind Bight, but quite a different feel, with a long jetty & plenty of boats moored hereabouts.

Some odd photos to finish up on, but I know that we'll be popping back to this area again before long.
People who know me well, won't be surprised to see a tree photo.

I wonder which way the prevailing winds blow?

                                      The new community centre sports this lovely mail box.

 

The boatyard with works in progress.  Whoops, that sounds like a 'quilter' talking.

This said "quilter" is trying to put together a section on my blog called TALKING QUILTS, which I was going to start at the beginning of 2019.  Alas, it's still in my head & hopefully I'll make a start before February ends.  It will deal with how I go about finding ideas, focusing on using my stash, books/magazines (authors/designers will be given credit when used) & how I now play with a computer program as well.  I started out 40+ years ago with absolutely no idea of what I was doing or where it may lead, so for me this will be a bit of documenting my journey.  The gallery pages I hope to update too, with lots of photographic sessions so you see finished quilts instead of only pieced tops.
OK, enough from me today.  This started as photo archive of my day, but we ended up with some long overdue ramblings, because of a long-arm machine glitch. 😊
Take care all & huggles from Susan.

JANUARY SCAVENGER PHOTO HUNT 2019.

Thanks to Kate, here we are again for another exciting year of "hunting", for photos & photo opportunities.  Thinking outside the box can be both easy & difficult at times & I'll admit that these really took some brain power, then, the metallic one led me astray!!!  Too many ideas & pics has me seeing triple.  Hope nobody minds.

1.  METALLIC.

Pelican sculpture at San Remo near the bridge to Phillip Island made from metal, old cutlery & various oddments.
Taken Christmas holidays in 2017 when our nephew & partner were visiting from UK.

Rusty Rita.............hee hee!
OK, she is the Angel of the North, taken whilst in the UK in 2016, although not the best photo, she is metallic and very large.

Lovely silvery fish on the gabion wall  beside the Leeds to Liverpool canal  in Todmorden, taken on a trip in 2011.

                                      All three of these photos have come from my archives.

2.  PLATE.

Throat plates.

I so wanted to think outside the box on this one and came up with number plate, name plate, gold/silver plated, china plate, the earth's plates, foot plate on a steam engine, woodcut/printer's plate or even plate glass.  Which one to use?  But no, I couldn't find anything other than a china plate, which of course we all have in our homes.  Aha, whilst sewing yesterday, it struck me!!!!!  I have 'TWO' throat plates for my sewing machine.  The zigzag throat plate, the one on the left, is standard with all sewing machines, but you can also buy the single stitch throat plate to make life easier if you do lots of quilting & don't want a tangle of stitches underneath at the beginning of your stitching.

3.  MADE.

Kilcunda Beach in November 2018.

         A beautifully constructed moated sand castle/fort left by some children after a day at the beach.
                                                        Quite intricate if you look carefully.

4.  AGED.

McCrae,s Homestead, (National Trust) at McCrae on the Mornington Peninsular taken in 2017.

This is what I am using for aged.  An old wall lined with newspapers and the bed sporting a well worn hexagon quilt.  Some of the hexagons are thread bare and others nearly unattached, but still beautiful in its own way.

5.  MODERN.

The glasshouse in the Ballarat Botanic Garden is very modern and angular.  On my last post I showed some of the variety & colour of the plants in there at the moment.  I may have used this photo before & that is my DH strolling down the path, so no need for cropping or otherwise.
Clicking on any of the photos, will bring them up to a better size & you'll see more.

6.  MY OWN CHOICE.

Old wares in Thirsk.

This shop with the intriguing name says it all.  I was looking in the window, then popped inside to ask if I could take a photo and use it on my blog and they said it was fine, but it never made it on till now.  Taken in 2016.  I love browsing through shops like this, which bring a lot of memories to the fore and are great to while away some time.  I very rarely com away with anything these days, but still love doing it.
This lot had me thinking for the last few weeks, so well done to Kate for making me use my grey matter.

My lot done and yes, I am early.  Tomorrow is supposed to again top the 40+ temperature mark and they have said there could be statewide power shortages for both Victoria and South Australia due to the ongoing heatwave conditions.  Many fires are burning across 3 states - Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales, so not very pleasant here.  We desperately need rain and cooler weather.
Take care all & can't wait to see all the other photo hunters posts.
Huggles, Susan.

HERE AND THERE.

Hoping to blog more this year, so I've been thinking a lot of late about what I want to achieve.

     a.. A little more about my quilting & other crafts, including DH's.
     b.. Days out/holidays in photos.
     c..  Around the garden & house.
     d.   Walking to keep fit.

As I take my camera, basically, everywhere we go, I've always plenty of photos to hand, but it is thinking of what I want to say in words.  My friend Kate, has such a way with words & I struggle to make anything sound interesting enough to warrant reading.
Last week, we took a short break to Ballarat to test the car was up to pulling the caravan on a warm day & all went well.  As I sit here, thinking & writing this, it has topped the 40deg mark again & we are in for more of the same on Tuesday & Wednesday, before the temperature drops back to the low 30s.  We desperately need some rain too.
A couple of photos from before we headed off last Tuesday.

I picked these daisies, Eryngium & Echinops before a hot day was predicted so I could enjoy before they wilted outside.

On the Monday morning, I had these two visitors.  King Parrots, a male & female, which I don't get often enough.  Aren't they beautiful?

Monday evening saw the sky looking like this, due to a large bushfire, burning in East Gippsland.  It has been contained, but these heatwave conditions aren't good.

Tuesday, off to Ballarat.  I saw my friend Joy for a chat on Tuesday evening, then Wednesday we headed down to Torquay to visit a large quilt shop called Amitie Textiles.  I forgot to take any photos, but did purchase just "ONE" piece of fabric.  Amazing!!!!  We ate lunch near the sea.

Looking west.

Surfers among the waves.

Looking east.

Next we headed back towards Ballarat, exploring new roads as we went.  First stop was the lighthouse at Split Point.

The lighthouse & what would have been the keeper's cottage.

From a vantage point on the boardwalk, we could see this lone rock.  There are many of these along The Great Ocean Road, which runs along the south western coast of Victoria.

On Thursday, we took ourselves off to Ballarat Botanic Gardens, which some may remember, have featured quite a bit on my blog, especially when we lived there for a short time.  Of course, first stop was the giant glasshouse.

Lilies, which smelt heavenly.

Masses of fuschias, perlargoniums, hosta, japanese maples, all in pots, so they can be moved in & out seasonally.

Hydrangeas.

Heuchera, hostas & a few other bits.

This time of year they were planting up outside, getting ready for the Begonia Festival, held in March/April.  I spotted some topiary, which is quite new.

Think everyone will know what these are!

Lastly, a few special trees, classified by our National Trust.

Bunya Bunya Pine.

Tasmanian Blue Gum & a rare moment of hubby hugging a tree.  That's usually me.

Enough from me waffling on.  I'll be here again before January closes to start, what I hope, will be a couple of ongoing challenges/goals, I want to do this year.
Take care all & huggles.
Susan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY & A CRAFTY CATCHUP.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

And we have another birthday!!!!!  Today it's our youngest.   Son J,  celebrates his 41st.  Happy birthday.  That's our 4 done with birthdays till December this year.  I omitted  two, as I just wasn't blogging, so we now have our older son who is 42 & my stepdaughter who is now also 46 too, 13 days older than my daughter.  All have done us proud.  Thanks a squillion kids.

CRAFTY FINISHES.
A few very old, small UFO's have been finished.

An apron I designed from curtain fabric samples I was given & a 10 degree wedge ruler.

Leftovers from a baby quilt, which I may donate as a premi baby quilt.

A table mat I designed, along with a laundry hanger.  I blew up letters from the computer, popped them onto fabric & appliqued them.  These two were lots of fun just playing around.

That is my problem at times, as I love designing & then suddenly, I think of something else & it gets put aside.  I also have another problem of getting tops quilted, if they are not being given away immediately.  I still have my "tub of shame", though it is a little lighter after quilting this lot, below.

Dilly Dally Deco.

I know I've shown this before it was quilted, whilst I was piecing it.  I designed it to use the leftovers from a jelly roll I used to make Dotty Custard. (this post).

Detail of quilting above, the pattern being Japanese Tiles by Kerryn Emmerson.

Fair Isle,

Another of my designs, now quilted & bound, which I took with me and started at a Quilt Retreat in Bordertown, which I blogged about here.

Mormors Quilt No.2

This was the second time I'd made this particular quilt from a very old book called More Lap Quilting by Georgia Bonesteel (1985).  Made around 1996/7 from a border fabric print and made with both templates and a rotary cutter.  Very different from the first one I started in 1986, before rotary cutter days and using templates, tape measure & scissors.  No. 1 was finally finished  with a meandering quilt pattern, using my first short-arm quilting machine purchased  in 1999 after I was made redundant from the bank.  No 2 has a lovely all-over pattern called Little Leaves, also by Kerryn Emmerson, even though it was suggested I do a custom job on it.  I think it works beautifully as is and the fabric is too busy to see much anyway.

Mormors Quilt No.1

I've two others I've done, but bindings aren't finished yet, so will show them soon.

I talked about our hectic 2018, but forgot all about a few odd hiccups throughout the year.
April saw our 13 year old microwave die and also on the Thursday before Christmas our 18 year old washing machine took its last wash.  I am now the owner of a (my first ever), front loading washer.  I also needed new glasses, which added to our expense list, but we did make a few purchases, that we've both been hankering after for a while.

Bandsaw for K.

And he started this.

     

A lovely neat & comfortable chair for my sewing area.
I used one of these over at Judy's, & it is much better than my larger office type chair I used.

One more photo for today, then I'll retire from the study, to a cooler part of the house.

Low loader now finished.

BTW, did I mention that it is HOT today.  Our weather station is showing  42.6deg & the wind is blowing from the north, straight from the middle of Australia, where the mercury has been in the 40s this week around Alice Springs.  A cool change is forecast for later this evening & hopefully in the low 20s tomorrow.  Can't wait for that................😌
A few last words........ Thanks to all my blogpals for taking the time to read this little blog, commenting & being my friends, although I've not met all of you.  I didn't think I'd ever be able to do this, but come the end of January, I have  blogiversary   "No. 6".   Can you believe it?
Oh, one of the highlights from last year, was that I was published in an on-line magazine.  Maybe again this year!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK, I'm off for a cool drink & to veg in front of the cricket for a while.
Take care and huggles from Susan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY & THE YEAR THAT WAS!!!!!!!!

Today, 46 years ago I had my first baby & here she is when she was about 2 years old.  She is a wonderful daughter, wife, mother of two and works as a library technician.  You couldn't ask for  more.  Happy Birthday daughter.

OUR WACKY, HECTIC & EXPENSIVE YEAR.

A quick wrap up of the year in words. If you think it may be boring, skip this post.
This time last year we were entertaining our nephew & partner, who were visiting from the UK.  Once they had departed, it was a trip to Canberra for some child minding in late January.  Come February I did a workshop in Torquay with Angie from Gnome Angel at Amitie Textiles.  On to March & our step granddaughter arrived from UK & stayed with us & we also celebrated hubby's 70th.  May saw us making an emergency trip to Sydney for my little brother who spent a week in hospital. This was the start of many car repairs, having to have a new alternator fitted whilst away.  June saw our DD have a foot operation and  at the end of June we took a trip to Bordertown for a Mystery Case Retreat with Judy,  (News from Jude blog), and to meet with my friend Joy, (Days filled with Joy blog), who was visiting from Dubai, when she isn't at home in Oz.  At the beginning of August we headed north to Queensland for a family get together, as my stepdaughter & family from the UK, were visiting friends up there.  Whilst on our way to where we were staying, we broke down (with caravan in tow) & had to be towed to Ipswich, where we had a new radiator & 2 thermostats fitted.  Expensive!!  We arrived home just before my birthday & were (may I use this word?), knackered.  A quick few days in Geelong was lovely, as we had  day in Ballarat too & saw Joy again, & as she is living back here in Oz, we'll be able to spend a bit more time seeing each other & talking quilting.  We decided at the very beginning of December, we would take time out for a week to visit our two boys in N.S.W. & the A.C.T.  By just after lunch on the first day, we were on our way home again, once more on the back of a tow truck.  Luckily for us this fix wasn't too expensive, but we are yet to see if it is going to be the last in a series of mishaps.  Christmas saw us over at DD's for the day, with no incidents.  Yay! 
I now think I know, from putting this on paper, why I may have been a bit overwhelmed by 2018.

TODAY.
We are in second day of some very extreme weather.  I made the effort to pick some blueberries this morning, but just one small section from one of my two bushes.

600 grams worth in this lot.  I'm keeping a tally on the fridge.  Some of this lot will be in my freezer                                                                             for next year.

Our weather station reading just before lunch.  It has only gone up to 36.3 so far &is still around that temperature.  Yesterday, it reached 39.6 here, though there were places in north western Victoria and South Australia which were in the 40's.  Marble Bar in central Australia, reached......48 degrees. Ouch, that's way to hot.

OK, enough from me today and I'll post a roundup of some crafty moments in the last few months, that, I think,  I'm proud of.  I've been in "finish that up" mode, even though I've been very flat metally.  I'd not realised that I'd actually done quite as much.  Hubby has also been busy with his woodwork, so I'll sort some photos & give you a bit of an overload possibly.  I've also got a few posts I'd like to do next year with some odd days out & holiday snaps, taken in Queensland.
Until then,  take care & huggles from Susan.
PS>  Thanks if you do take the time to read this.

MERRY CHRISTMAS from Down Under.

                                          A very Merry Christmas to all my lovely blogpals.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post at the end of November & sorry I didn't reply individually as I usually do.  I'm slowly getting my mojo back, I hope.
I've made many friends through having a blog & feel I've let everyone down just recently due to an ongoing anxiety problem, but am dealing with it now & will hopefully post before the end of the year with a wrap-up of a wacky 12 months. 
Enjoy the "silly season", take care and big huggles from Susan.
PS:  I borrowed the above picture from  "somewhere", on the world wide web, but can't remember where.  These are the wonderful 6 White Boomers, pulling Santa across our large continent.  There is a Christmas song about them, but I've no idea how to put it on so you can hear it.  😞