FRIDAY PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT - FARM.

 Today our word is "FARM" & I kept thinking of more and more things that fitted, but have decided to work with our own area of Gippsland here in Victoria, supposedly some of the best farming country in Australia.  Although suburbia is catching up with us fast, there is certainly plenty of farming, growing & supplying food still going on.  Linking up with Astrid once again

Where do I start......................?

1.  Daffodil farm just south of town which covers many, many acres and is a sight to behold come August.

2.  Dairy farms, which are dotted all around us supplying milk to dairies at Darnum, Korumburra, Leongatha and Poowong among others, further afield.  Cows on the way to be milked one afternoon, taken on one of many forays into countryside.

3.  Tomatoes.  We have some of the hugest glass houses and undercover growing for tomatoes & now we believe aubergines and a few other veg.  These are opposite the big new estate a few streets from us and hopefully will be staying for a long time to come.

Taken yesterday afternoon and I just couldn't get in the whole lot, then took a photo looking toward the hill to the right which is where live.  Photo below.

4.  Apples & stone fruits.  The orchards of today seem so different from what I grew up with in the 50/60s, when we visited the Hills area northwest of Sydney to buy fresh fruit from the roadside stalls.

5.  Canola (rape in UK), potatoes & sheep occupy these paddocks below.  Taken one day when we went for a short drive through countryside around the Thorpedale area to our southeast.

The bright yellow of canola above and sheep grazing in front of  ploughed land ready for potato planting.

6. Hay and silage. 

Tractors working, raking and baling the cut hay, above and below colourfully wrapped silage.

7.  Wind farm.  Taken yesterday after looking in my archives for a few more "farm" type photos and not finding any, we decided after our Podiatrist appointment to head toward the coast.  Just outside Wonthaggi, we have a small wind farm, though I'd love to have gone further afield to one of the larger installations, but this will have to do.  

Click to enlarge and see the wind turbines.

Sorry about the photo above, but it was cloudy & showery yesterday and made taking photos difficult.

Now, some of the others farm types that popped into my head and Keith's were Solar Farm, Lavender Farm and wait for this............Sewerage Farm - ugh!  No photos available of these, but maybe one day.

Just a little more................the farm we can see from our front gate which is in the middle of our town, surrounded by houses and streets, but still has some cows and old buildings.  One day we know this will be housing as a few streets end at the edge of the paddocks & another main street has driveway crossovers already formed, but for now, it is still the "farm in the middle".

Cattle and cattle egrets.

The old shedding at the top of the hill, which we see from our driveway.

ONE LAST ITEM.

Not sure everyone will recognise this, but I think my UK bloggers may well remember a TV show from past years.  I even got to meet the said Jimmy.

Well, sorry this is so long winded and I did get carried away, but for me farms and farming are a fascinating way of life and although I've never been a farmer, they play such an important part in our lives.  Thank you if you have got this far and hopefully I've not made too many spelling errors or grammatical stuff-ups, as it was done in a few stages due to other commitments today.

Take care all, stay safe and huggles from down under.

Susan.

PS:  Wow, it is very cold today with an icy wind blowing in from the southwest and intermittent showers.   Brrr!!!!

UNCANNY!

 Having a tough time with blogging, but I feel I don't want to offend anybody with writing about how I feel and that we've had a bit more freedom than some countries in the last few weeks & been able to get out within reasonable distance here in Victoria.  We've no new cases or any existing ones in our state & hope it stays that way after this Easter break.  

This post is just a strange little incident that happened to me yesterday as I turned over the perpetual calendar I have in my sewing room.  I've just started working on one of my own Quilt Wizard patterns that I designed some years back using fabric from my stash.  Had the centre partly cut & began sewing late on Sunday.  Hope the photos say it all.

The centre cut and laid out beside the sewing machine ready to start sewing.  Actually some is already sewn.  The colours aren't showing all that well as the sun was shining off the window.

The central part of the quilt printed out for me to follow.  Notice the name of this block is "Crown of Thorns".

On Monday morning I went back into the sewing room to turn over the calendar & this is what appeared.

Notice the name of the block for April 5.
Crown of Thorns.

And then I realised it is Easter & what did Jesus have on his head, but a crown of thorns.  Not sure whether this is all just an uncanny coincidence or has some meaning for me.  

Now, a quick question as to whether any of my followers would like me to do a little late catching up on some walking out we've done or a couple of places of interest that we were able to visit during the last few months without crowds, though there were a few people out and about, all keeping a safe distance & usually wearing masks?  

OK, done and dusted for todays funny little post and I'll start putting some of the photos together for the other "maybe" posts.

Take care all, stay safe & hugs from down under.  See you Friday for the Hunt.

Susan.

FRIDAY PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT - APRIL - Chocolate!!!!

 

Linking today with our new hostess Astrid at Dragon Stitches and Stuff.

Today we are kicking off April with chocolate.................it must be Easter, but today is also our wedding anniversary, though not much chocolate appears here these days via the bunny.  

Here we go and hopefully I've thought outside the box.  I did have visions of getting photos of a chocolate Bilby or Platypus, a couple of our confections that are truly Australian with money raised to care & protect our endangered species.  Never mind as I'm still joining in.

Playing with a selection of items featuring chocolate, being a cookbook, a quilt book, a bar of cooking chocolate, fabric with the words chocolate all over & an old tin saved from many years ago that had Old Baileys chocolates in it.  Looks good full of foliage & a camellia, which has just started flowering.

And homemade  Chocolate Orange Mousse, which has actually appeared on my blog before.  Not made it for a while, so may remedy that in the coming weeks.

Again I'm doing short and sweet, but enjoyed finding all my "CHOCOLATEY" bits which was part of the challenge for today.😏

I'm off to linkup now, and will pop into the other Hunter's blogs a little later tonight.  Thanks Astrid for taking this on.  Take care all, stay safe & hugs from down under.

Susan.

YORVIK - A DreAMi POST.

 

                                     Linking with Sandra from mmm.quilts chasing squirrels.

Designing this quilt while in lockdown last year, I'd not really thought about making it, as I've so many on my laptop & in my graph book, that it was way down the list.  I happened to show it to someone (along with a few others I'd printed off) & she admired it & said it could be a good QAL, but as I can't write instructions very well, it became a "squirrel" & told me, "Make Me".  It was made from fabric from my stash & the back is leftover backing fabrics cobbled together.  It has been quilted with a pattern call Snowglobes.

On the design board, unquilted but all sewn together.

And now for 2 hero photos, taken this afternoon, but not quite what I had in mind, as we had limited time after visiting the dentist this morning for our final appointments for now.

Taken at Lancey Lookout with the South Gippsland hills in the background.

Outside a derelict old building in Korumburra which we think may have once been a shop & residence.

OK, as I'm running way behind on this, it is short and sweet.  Thanks Sandra for hosting this each month.

Take care all, stay safe & huggles from down under.

Susan.

BTW:  Had a mild reaction to the Covid vaccination, but feel fine today.

FRIDAY PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT - LIGHT/DARK

 Joining in with Kate from I live, I love, I craft, I am me for her final windup of the famous Photo Hunt.

As this is the last photo hunt, I was reluctant to join in with the dark  mood I've been in since the start of the year, but here I am trying to stay motivated, sane and level headed.  We have been out and about a "little", but I get so anxious about everything it  was getting me down & I do understand that nothing will ever be normal again, so blogging maybe one way to stay in touch & calm my feelings.  Not sure any of this makes sense, but I hope my followers can bear with me. 

LIGHT.

I've a feeling I may have used these photos before, but we have the "light" coloured kangaroos at Bordertown, S.A., which are so different to what many think of as their usual colour. Taken in August 2013. Notice one brown one on the righthand side.  This is more like the ones we see around here in southern Victoria.

DARK.

And on the "dark" side we have a whole paddock of black swans looking for a tasty meal.  This photo was taken from the archives too, and was not far from Payneville on the east coast of Victoria.  Taken in August 2017.

OK, that is my lot and not having anything ready has been my downfall this month all along.  Not used my camera much, something I think I may be missing along with crafting and just feeling so blah.  Some of it is probably due to back pain & not being able to get in to see our doctors for long periods of time, though today Keith & I had our first Covid jab.  I'm sceptical, but we did it.  Enough from me.

I'll pop in tomorrow morning & catch up with all the other hunter's posts.  Sorry I've been delayed doing this.

Take care all, stay safe & big hugs from down under.

Susan.

FRIDAY PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT - SUNRISE/SUNSET.

First off, I have a big THANKS for all the lovely comments on my last post.  Sorry I've not got around to replying, but we've been slightly busy.  DH had his birthday last Monday, so we rewarded ourselves with a lovely day out, amongst keeping up with housework/garden etc.   We have another busy round of things to round off March, including dental visits, which I'm absolutely dreading.

 Linking with Kate for our second last hunt.

I love sunrise/sunset, but seem to be lacking good photos, so I have one of each to show today, both taken in the past from my archives.

                                                                           SUNRISE.

This photo was taken at our old house (No. 4) on the other side of town where we could see the sun rise beautifully of a morning.      I think it was taken around April 2009.

                                                                            SUNSET.

Taken in January 2019 here at No. 5, where we can spot the sunset when as it shines through our front door.

I have one other & I cannot work out whether it was taken here or the short space of time we lived in Ballarat.  The dates seem to be somewhat wayward on the properties page, but I didn't even edit it & it's quite spectacular.

                                                                   VIVID SUNSET.

I'll link up & look forward to seeing all the other wonderful photos.

Will I keep blogging when this is finished?  I'm not sure where life is taking us for the moment and this chaos is depressing me terribly.  Is anyone else feeling the same?

Take care all and please stay safe.  Huge virtual hugs from down under.  

Susan.  💓

FRIDAY PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT - LOOK UP/LOOK DOWN

I'm finally able to join in & link up with Kate of I live, I love, I craft, I am me for the photo hunt this week.  Sorry I've been AWOL  & explanation will follow at the end of this post.

INVERLOCH.

An afternoon out, way back in 2016 and while walking along the beach I happened to look down. 

Jellyfish

Octopus

Turtle

I think some children must have been having some fun.  Definitely better than I could do.

Still walking along and saw one of these & yes I've shown them before..............

BUT.....................lay down on your back underneath and what do you see when you look up-------

SALTBURN.

Again these were taken in 2016, but a long way from home.

Looking up from the footpath & watching the tram starting to descend.

Travelling to the top and looking down from where we'd come.  A most enjoyable experience.

ARTHUR'S SEAT.

Back on home soil once more and a day out on the Mornington Peninsular in May 2018.

Looking up at the cable cars hanging precariously off their steel cable.  

Looking up to see a Wedgetail Eagle soaring overhead on the thermals.  I absolutely adore birds of prey.

And looking down, a plaque about Matthew Flinders who along with George Bass circumnavigated Australia in a small boat.

Aha, fungi, so it must have been Autumn.

That's my lot for today, cobbled together very quickly, although I'm sure I could have found plenty more.

Now for the explanation.................We've had a month of malfunctions here in the Smith household, one of them being me losing the plot somewhat.  

Remember I needed a new iron & the one I've bought just doesn't like playing with a quilter, so will probably be replaced with another Tefal when they come in.  Next, just after I posted the last February Photo Hunt, my PC gave up on us and to top it all off, my breadmaker shredded it''s belt while I was making some more blueberry jam.  To be truthful it was all too much for me after the year everyone has experienced (not just me), and along with my back playing up again, I wondered whether it was worthwhile sorting out the computer & keeping up with my blog.

Good news is that it was only the monitor that needed replacing, so here I am once more & will endeavour to stay focused on being grateful that we are both OK & able to enjoy life a little at the moment without being in full lockdown.  Hopefully, motivation will return & I'll get things done.

Thanks for reading, if you've got this far, take care all & stay safe.

Hugs Susan.