AUGUST DrEaMi

 Linking with Sandra at mmm.quilts for her "drop everything and make it" for the month of August.

I've struggled through this month, but did think I'd join in a QAL with churn dash blocks and though I had good intentions couldn't  muster enough OOMPH to do a whole quilt.

Somewhere at some time I'd done a quick sketch of a churn dash type block and so I got out my graph book and after five tries, came up with some OK measurements and here is what I made.  

It isn't quilted as yet, but Sandra said I could show it.  I've called it Churn Dash Twist and the 2 centres have fabric  I bought in Whitby some years back while on holiday in UK.

I'm keeping this short and sweet, but hope to be back tomorrow with a catchup post of all sorts of things.

Being a bit down is not good, but we've actually had some sunshine yesterday & today, so that is helping somewhat.

Hope you've all had a good weekend & next week goes well.

Take care all and huge hugs from down under.

Susan.

A DAY OF MANY THINGS.

 1.   Happy Yorkshire Day.

A very old applique that is still awaiting placement somewhere.

This is a greeting to all my family and friends who reside there.

2.  Horse's Birthday.

OK, they are 2 ponies & I took these photos on Saturday where we spent a lovely afternoon with a friend and her foster grandchildren.  More later in the post.

3.  Wattle or Arbour Day, depending on where you are.

Wattle in bloom.

4.  A 50th birthday greeting for my cousin's daughter, who was the first great grandchild of my maternal grandfather, then along came my daughter to make 2 for him in the one year.

Now for some quirky bits'n'pieces from the end of July.

Two photos I snapped while we were cutting firewood at our friend's farm.

A conical sort of toadstool.

A wee frog, some of which end up coming home with us in the wood.  I rescue them and put them in the garden near our pond.

A few from our garden.

My Garrya which is looking gorgeous with its catkins.

It has been cool, but this is the first ice we've had on the pond on Saturday.

Saturday afternoon saw us call at a friend's place and as I mentioned above her 2 grandies were there, so as it was one of our first sunny days in a while, we took the ponies from their paddock, gave them a brush, then out came the cart and she took each of them for a ride up and down the lane they live on.  I'm being very good and will just show my friend making sure everything was right.

J, pony and trap.

And I was being hassled by my favourite little girl.  I've known her since she was a pup & I think I showed the 2 little dog coats I knitted a while ago and she was one of the recipients.

Gum blossom in J's garden, just coming into flower.

Now for a little jaunt we took yesterday for some much promised photos of the daffodil fields that are just south of town.  Each year the leased paddocks seem to change & it ends up a game of trying to spot where they are.

Looking toward the hills.

You can see cattle being fed out on the hill in the distance and the odd white jonquil in among the yellow.

Looking another way and you can see more up and ready to open.

On the other side of the road and going up a hill with a couple of rows of white ones.

I love seeing all these coming into bloom from mid July and expect the markets in Melbourne are now well stocked.

Further on we decided to do a round trip and a few photos follow of a view and the steepness of the countryside once in South Gippsland.  There is a "very" bad photo to end this lot today and I'll explain in the caption.

Can you see just how steep this hill is in the foreground and there is a tractor to the left in the far background.

Now for an explanation. 
Here we have a wombat nibbling on grass, but I was standing on a very precarious piece of ground, it was windy and I was cold and shivering by this time and just didn't manage to get a worthwhile photo, but here it is anyway.  They are just so cute and I do love our native wildlife.

OK, enough of my twaddle today and I had intentions of posting some quilt and crafty photos, but although I could share something, with having 2 partial days out and being somewhat cloudy today, I've not fancied trying to take the photos of 2 flimsies, so later this week, we'll do an update.

Have a great week all, take care and huggles from down under.

Susan.

CATCHING UP WITH A BIT OF THIS'N'THAT

 I'm really struggling with so much uncertainty and dear old Oz in the grips of another wave of Covid.    We are staying home a lot with little snips of time spent with a local trip in the car, pick up a takeaway coffee and finding somewhere scenic to drink it.  I've picked up a free ticket for the quilt show in Melbourne, but so unsure whether to go or not.  Other people are not quite as anxious as I am and we have had our 4 jabs, plus the flu vaccination.  Will I on won't I?  

Anyway, let's see what we've been up to anyway with a few photos of local countryside & crafty bits.

Looking out over Bass Strait from Kilcunda on very windy day.
I nearly got blown over trying to take this photo.

Another day saw us go slightly further afield for me to try and pick up some fabric I needed to finish a quilt and as we were coming home, we decided to take a detour to somewhere we'd not been before.  We had noticed the signpost to Yaringa Boat Harbour often, which turned out to be a small marina on Westernport Bay.  We may go again in summer to take a better look, as it was a cold overcast day threatening to rain, but we did enjoy the extra jaunt.

Another day when we realised that we'd have a little sunny break so we headed out to take a small walk on the Two Towns Trail which connects our town to the nearest to the west of us.

And what did we discover in the park in front of Council Chambers but a new to us sculpture.

A beautiful gum blossom planted in the middle of pond, where I have taken quilt photos just recently near the small waterfall behind this.  It certainly makes a statement.

Now for some crafty bits we've been up to.

This the start of what I have on the go at the moment, after buying very pretty acrylic yarn that was on sale at Lincraft for an absolute bargain,.  I don't really need another, but I loved the colour.

I finally finished the blue and white jumper which has been on the go for a few years due to not being able to get the stripes to match up on the sleeves as I don't need them as long as the pattern, but it took some working out and I've worn it recently.

Hubby remembered a broken toy that we had squirreled away and decided to play at Repair Shop tactics and mend it.

My mother had given us this when she worked in the office of a large company that imported these big dumpers, I think, and our boys played with it when young.  Somewhere along the line it had broken, but with a lot of effort all these years later, we have......................

                                                                         Now mended.

Can you see the Butcher Bird sitting on my hanging basket?

Well, one morning I looked through the kitchen window to be taken aback by him sitting on the edge of the combie planter that I'd put on the new plant stand out of the weather right in front of the window.  By the time I'd got the camera out he'd flown down the length of the verandah, hence the above photo.

QUILTING.

This very old pieced top went onto the machine last week and is now awaiting binding.  Turns out I made it in 2001.  Oh dear, shameful.  I'll possibly donate it to the foundation my brother attends for their Christmas raffle.

 Two works in progress.  The top one is from a book and the lower one, a design of my own.  More to come about these two soon.

                                            

                                                                         WEATHER.

Yesterday saw more rain and even a thunderstorm and this what the sky looked like as it came across Middle Farm.  We've certainly had our fair share of inclement weather so far this winter.

The gutters in our street were awash.

OK, that is my lot for today and this post has been a real hassle with blogger not playing along nicely.

Hope all my lovely blogpals are either staying cool or warm depending on where you live.

I'll try hard not to be so wayward with posting.

Take care all and big hugs from down under.

Susan.  xox

FAVOURITE FINISH LINKUP.

 

Linking up with Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs for our favourite finish for June.

Not a lot has been achieved for June on the quilting front, but I did put the binding on my Pop Star No.2 quilt and took some photos in the great outdoors today, once the fog had lifted around lunch time.  We took a short drive out of town & ended up in Ripplebrook where there are some wonderful views of Gippsland.  I also took an extra quilt with me, that although finished a month or so ago,I'd only shown it unfinished in an earlier post.

POP STAR.
Trying to capture the extensive views behind the double chimneys, old cart and large tree.

A closer snap.

WACKY ONE. 
A design of my own I posted about with it's beautiful bright backing last month.

A little closer.

Just a few quick photos of where we were today and what we followed along the narrow roads through farmland.

We followed this seeder behind a large tractor for quite some way.  Not the best photo as I took it through the windscreen.

Those wonderful derelict chimneys that I've wanted to use for years.

Lovely gums on the grass verge.

Stacks of hay near a farm gate.

And from over the road I was being watched.

OK, enough from me and I have wandered a little from the Favourite Finish, but being so cold, wet and grey lately I've not taken the camera out much or even inside the house as it's been so dismal.  Yesterday, we didn't have power all day, so had a little trip out and think my mojo may be returning.

Linking this up now.

Take care all and big hugs from down under.

Susan.

BEGINNING WITH......................F

First, it's about time I try and blog more regularly, but with weather, price hikes and a feeling of melancholy about world wide problems, I've not had the impetus to put words on paper or use the camera much.  Yesterday, although very overcast and cold, we took ourselves off to do some firewood collecting out at our friends farm.  I took some photos too and realised they all started with "F" & thought it would be a funny, funky post.  Notice all those f's.

                                                                      FIREWOOD.

                                                                  The trailer being loaded.

                                                                               FARMS,

Views of distant farms from the paddock where we were collecting the fallen timber.  Notice the mist on the lower slopes and the ranges in the far distance.  Typical weather at the moment.

                                                                         FUNGI.

                                                I noticed this lot as I was walking about.

                                                                      FASCINATING.

                                   Our eucalyptus (gum trees) have the most wonderful shapes.

                                                 FURRY FRIENDS.  (Tups or rams, depending on where you live.)

What are you looking at?

Maybe I should join the others.

Are you back again with that black thing?

                                                                    FINISHED.

Hubby had been busy before the frightful weather hit and was making me a plant stand out of pallet timber.  Hasn't it turned out nicely.  I will get to with pots of herbs and maybe a few cut and come again veg. soon.  Too cold at the moment, but will hopefully get some sunshine in amongst the cooler days.

All from me today.    

Take care all and hugs from a wintry down under.

Susan.