THIS 'N' THAT.

A little bit of what has happened in the last few weeks. 
I've not always  remembered my camera for our local walks, but did take it one day last week.

 From the small park behind our court, we head down the next street and this is the view that beholds us.  A big new estate with clouds of steam from a La Trobe Valley power station in the distance.

 The new school on that estate under construction.  Looks to be quite colourful.

And further along a new wetlands appearing.  We saw a lone pelican circling over this and I didn't have the camera with me.

A DAY OUT.
Before we headed back into lockdown in Melbourne once again, we had a day out in our own area.  We can still do that, being a regional shire, but due to our car being in for repairs, we are a little stuck for going anywhere.
This particular day we made for the coast, picnic basket & thermos in the back & looking forward to a nice walk along the beach.

Just as we headed south, we noticed the mist hanging between the hills, so stopped and took this                                                                                          photo.

Our destination was Shallow Inlet on the south coast of Victoria, about an hour's drive away.

Looking across the inlet to the mountains on Wilson's Promontory. 

 Our car sitting on the sand of the deserted northern side of the inlet.  There were some cars at the southern end with trailers, as this is where fishermen launch their boats to go fishing.

 Walking to the end of the sand, you see this vegetation leading on into marshy land at the head of the inlet.

                                                       DH all rugged up on the track.

                                                       Looking out over the marshy ground.

              Back on the beach, I noticed these 3 pelicans had dropped by to do some fishing.

A FAMILY VISIT.
One of the best days happened about 3 weeks ago now, when some restrictions had been lifted and DD & family could make their way across Melbourne & visit us.  It was wonderful & although I don't show photos of them, DD did bring some of her crafty stuff for both a fun playing session. Crochet blocks & fabric star blocks and also a quilt for me to pop on the big machine when I can get some appropriate backing fabric.  Still can't get to my favourite quilt shops.

The crochet squares on the floor.

And the stars being played with.  A few more are needed, then she has big ideas for some borders.

This the quilt she left here for me to quilt.  I remember her appliqueing these hearts many years ago.
The round plaque on the wall above the ladder was made for me by my younger brother who is intellectually disabled,  at the support group he attends in Sydney.  A mosaic of pebbles & colourful pieces of glass arrived in the post last Christmas & was a lovely surprise.

Occasionally over the last few weeks, we've driven 5 minutes out of town, whichever way we feel like, to give our Morris Minor a run to keep her going.  Taking my camera I was able to snap a few photos on different days.
South of town we have a DAFFODIL farm & it's fun to spot where they have put the bulbs each year.

Rows of daffs in flower last week.
I'll try and remember to see if I can get another photo, maybe soon, to show more.

To the north of town we often spot this camel and lucky for me he was in the front paddock this particular day.

TRYING TO STAY BUSY.
Although I've always plenty to do, I'm struggling to find my mojo at the moment, with this crisis not going away and our cold and dreary weather.  Over the weekend I did some baking & put a little quilt on the machine.

Blueberry Muffins.

Malted Mocha Slice.

                                                                     The small quilt. 
I'm not exactly happy with the quilting, but so be it.  The blue stars were made many years ago & the stitcheries a little later.  Not sure what I had in mind for either, so they ended up as this.

OK, enough waffling from me and I'm off to make us some lunch & wait to see if our car is ready for picking up.
Take care all, stay safe & huggles from down under.

MISERABLE......WEATHER & MOI!

The sky today from our front garden.

Yes, our weather has been dull, dreary, cold & damp, not necessarily pouring with rain, but just so bleak & wet underfoot.  Not much happening in the garden & trying to stay focused & motivated on anything is somewhat hard to do at the moment.  I'm way behind on both my own blog & reading others, so finally sitting here doing this one. 

Finding & finishing a few bits'n'bobs.

A child' jumper.

A summer cardi & I no longer have the dress I was going to wear it with.

PARTICIPATING IN A MYSTERY QUILTALONG.

            The quilt is now waiting till I can get some backing to put it on the big machine & quilt it.

I fussy cut some of the 2 1/2" squares.  This QAL was hosted by my friend Joy in Ballarat who blogs at Days Filled With Joy.
Another crafty thing is slowly coming together too.  I bought & showed an old picture frame I purchased at a vintage market earlier this year & it has now become the frame for these, but still needs a fixing for hanging it.

DH made these musical cutouts after finding them photocopied (by me) and thought I'd done them for him.  Anyway, I loved them & I just fancied them in a frame.  I've quite a bit of blank wall space, so once done & hung I'll show them on a blogpost.
IN THE GARDEN.

                                                                Pottering about.

Some waiting for repotting & others for the garden.

A bit of colour on the plant stand & retaining wall.

The first fully open flower on my camellia - Volunteer.

One of my dark hellebores with the darker one on the right, which always flowers last.

One of my white/green ones.

My Garrya, after not flowering for the first four years has "ONE" flower & going by it's length, it's the male variety..
Yeah!!!!!

Lastly, a bit of nonsense.

Can we call this "snail mail".  How I got it from our letterbox and only about an hour after the postie had left it.

Well, that's about it from me and with Melbourne now being in lockdown once more, we have limited access, so can't venture far.
Oh for some sun and to feel somewhat normal, rather than being on edge all the time.  Hopefully I'll post a little more often and show what we've been busy with during this next half of "weird" 2020.
Everybody please take care and stay safe.
Huggles from Susan.

JUNE PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT - 2020

That time again!

Linking with  the lovely Kate at I live, I love, I craft, I am me, to find photos to go with her list of words provided each month.  I am ever so grateful to her for keeping us blogging & focused on the beauty around us, even in these difficult times.  THANK YOU...😊😊😊

1.  MY GARDEN.

OK, this is my old garden at No.4 which was looking very pretty one Spring.  Ours at the moment is quite bare, so popped into the archives.
2.  FLOWERS.

I picked this bunch from the garden yesterday.  My first hellebore flowers & snowflakes, along with ti-tree & diosma.  I find that diosma, although not a pleasant smell, seems to be in flower nearly all year.  And where did I place these.

                                                       On the chest in my sewing room.
3.  INSECTS.

Witchetty grubs

DH found these two lurking in the wood he'd been chopping for our fire & called me out to rescue them.  I picked them up & put them in the garden amongst some leaves.  I took the info* below from the web & they had named a few of the moths, so I was surprised to see that one of them was the Emporer Gum moth, which I'd taken a photo of at one of our Car Club outings & shown on the blog last year.
*The witchetty grub (also spelled witchety grub or witjuti grub[1]) is a term used in Australia for the large, white, wood-eating larvae of several moths

Emporer Gum Moth.

4.  SUNRISE/SUNSET.

                              A photo taken back in 2017 from our driveway & not edited at all.  It was                                                                                               amazing.
5.  SOMETHING WILD.

Butcherbird on the left, Rosellas bottom right & King Parrot top right.

Last weekend whilst sweeping the verandah, I could hear my Butcherbird's call & looked up to see him sitting in the leafless tree behind the shed, along with to my amazement, 3 Eastern Rosellas & a King Parrot.  Flew inside to grab the camera, put on my big lens, hoping they'd still be there & voila, a photo.  Please click to see it full size.  I didn't dare go any closer as they'd have flown off.
6.  MY OWN CHOICE.

A nursery at 4 Elms in Kent, UK.

I just loved this nursery with both plants & old ephemera plus a cafe.  I could see so much of this being used in a gorgeous garden.  Wasn't sure what to put for my own choice this time & kept tossing thoughts around, then thinking about gardens & what I'd like to do in one with odd bits & pieces.  Not going to happen any time soon, as we  may be in lockdown again soon with a spike in cases happening again. 😣

OK, my lot for this month & hopefully July will bring a slow down in this virus & we can slowly find a new normal, but of course never the same as we've known most of our lives.

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

Susan.

FEELING BLUE.

I've gone quiet according to someone I blog with and yes, I've been feeling rather low.  What with this damn virus lurking around, cold & murky weather which doesn't help & my woefully painful, swollen fingers due to persistent chillblains, I think perhaps I should pull my head in & try to be more cheerful.  We have been out (keeping our distance), just the two of us & been keeping busy about the home.
A little of what has been happening, though the garden has taken a back seat because of my hands & the dampness underfoot.
My friend Jayne at The View from Bagend posted a photo of her fire lit one night in the middle of summer in UK & asked who else had done the same.  Well, we had.

Looking cosy.

Last Thursday we took ourselves for a drive to the water's edge with picnic basket, thermos & camera.  Ate lunch in the car looking at this view & also had a quick walk along the beach, which was quite deserted.

Looking south.

Looking north.

There is a headland with parking area between the 2 beaches at Mornington, overlooking Port Phillip Bay.
We've also done some local walks & luckily have taken my camera a couple of times.
I noticed some weird cloud formations the other day.

These clouds had formed over the LaTrobe Valley where there are a couple of power stations.

Today we took ourselves off on one of our usual walks down past the farm in the middle of suburbia & what did we see........the cows in the top paddock surrounded by hundreds of cattle egrets.

You may need to click on this to see the birds.

I've come to a bit of a slow patch on the sewing front.  I'd started a row by row quilt of my own design, but hit that low spot & then started another QAL with my friend Joy at Days filled with Joy.
A couple of photos  to show that I've not been completely idle.

What I've achieved for the QAL so far.  We have another update today for the next part.

My dahlia rug (Attic 24 project) now finished & some of the rows of my Row by Row design inspired by the colours of the rug.  All the fabrics were found in my stash, though there is one I've run out of & will have to find a replacement for my first border.  Oh dear!!

OK, that is all from me today.  Not much has been happening in the shed by DH either, but today he popped up to start a small project, so will have something to blog about on that front too soon.
At least I've actually made the effort to blog finally.  Nearly time for our evening meal & the fire has been lit.  Best go, take care all, stay safe & huggles from down under.
Susan.

CENTRED QAL LINKUP.

Joining in the link-up with Sandra from Musings of a Menopausal Melon (mmm.quilts) to show my finish of this Centred quilt.

FRONT.

BACK.

This quilt was made using fabric from my stash for front & back.  The quilting pattern is Arcade by Natalie Gorman.

Now for 2 hero photos.

This one taken on our day out to Braeside Park in my last post, along the path with all the tree carvings.  Being quite windy, I did have a lot of trouble trying to keep it one place, hence not the best photo.

And this one this morning & again not the best as we've no sunshine today, just leaden grey sky &lots of wind again.
Just a quickie today & now off to do the "linky" thing.
Take care all, stay safe & huggles from down under.