End of the Month Again

Oh, dear!

Here we are again, 8 o’clock on the last day of the month and no finishes.

Let’s do the same as I’ve done for the last four months….. quickly whip up a bib.

I’d hoped to have my great, big “Ta Da” moment to share, but it is not to be.  Hopefully it won’t be too long until I can share my finished SKOW quilt here.  I’m a little disappointed that after everything I’ve missed the dead line, but hey, if that is the worst thing that happens I’m not too worried.

Now that you have seen the finish for the month, here is the reality of my cutting area.

I must do something about that, but not tonight.

Even More Wildlife

It’s funny how you have a run on things.

At the moment it is wildlife encounters.  The other day we arrived over at Mum’s and as soon as Mick hopped out of the car he said “Quick, get your camera out”.  There was a blue tongued lizard sitting beside the driveway.  Unfortunately, before I could take a photo it scurried under a grate.  There has been a blue tongued lizard living in their yard for years, but you don’t see it very often.

Then, last weekend Mick was on our verandah when he called “Quick, get your camera out”.  In the garden below was a blue tongued lizard.  He/she sat still long enough for us to take his/her photo.

I love the zoom on my little point and shoot camera. The camera was about 3 metres above the lizard for all of these photos.

I couldn’t believe the clarity of this next shot.  Check out the wonderful detail of the legs and feet and the beautiful markings on the head.

We then left “Bluey” in peace and before long he was gone.

Open Gardens – Part 2

Following on from yesterday’s post we headed out of town to Yetholme to visit the country gardens.  Yetholme is a bit cooler and damper than Bathurst, having an elevation of 1,100 metres above sea level.

Our first port of call was “Limberlost”. This established garden had lovely trees, which I am guessing are copper beech.

Beautiful peonies were just coming into bloom.

Isn’t this a lovely, comfortable looking home, nestled in amongst the trees.

On our way back to the car we noticed this corral of interesting old iron bits and pieces and decided to take a closer look.

I’m guessing it is possible an old mine shaft, as this was all a mining area.  Anyway, the fence is much nicer than safety tape.  By the way there were several little fish swimming around in the water.

Next door is “Kurrajong Park”.

There was an old cottage here, which has now been added onto so much that the original structure is no longer visible from the outside.

Lovely gardens with a backdrop of old gum trees.

I love this old relic on the way back to the car.

Our third garden at Yetholme was “Hillandale”, a magnificent garden about a century old.

We followed a little stream as we entered the garden.

  Which ends up in this dam.

Looking back up towards the house.

We returned to the house via the perennial border.

The house is a simple 1920’s cottage.

I’ve never seen rhododendrons like it anywhere else.

Lots of peonies here as well, but only a few already flowering.

Our final garden was “Tranquility”.  The owner is very creative with mosaics.

It is a comfortable, rambling garden.

A butterfly actually sat still long enough for a photo.

And to finish off our day, I had to chuckle at this sign.  I think I need one.

We had a really nice day together and all the gardens were a picture.  We now have to put the date in our diaries for next year.

Open Gardens – Part 1

It is that time of year again, when one of my friends I have our special day together visiting the open gardens around town.

This year I forwent a trip on the bike with Mick and some of our friends to the thriving metropolis  of Albert to spend the evening at the Rabbit  Trap Hotel. I sent Mick off on his merry way on Saturday morning all by himself.

I’ve shared our garden adventures each year for the last few years here, here and here.  We had previously visited all the gardens on show this year, but that didn’t matter in the least.  It is lovely seeing how they have evolved and matured over time.  When you get down to it, it is not just about the gardens, it is about having a lovely day out with a good friend.

When I hopped up on Sunday morning there was a strong, cold easterly wind blowing and it was quite cloudy at home.  After Saturday’s perfect weather I didn’t want to have bleak weather.  Fortunately, it cleared and turned into a lovely day.

As usual, we started at Miss Traill’s House.  This is a National Trust property in town, with lovely, Victorian era gardens.

“Blair Athol” was next on our list.  Wouldn’t you just love to sit and partake of tea and cake in this setting.  They even had the Shelley china on display on the table.  Very civilised.

When we first visited, many years ago, this stream was just a raw bed of rocks.  It has now matured and softened so much.

“Wentworth” is one of our favourites.  This is only the second time it has opened. My favourite part is the incredible bank of perennials.  The retaining walls are still a work in progress.  Last year they were just posts in the ground.  This year the walls are up, but still need to be back filled.  We’ll have to see their progress next year.

There are lots of interesting items made from found objects in this garden.

Do you notice something on the back of this old fire grate?

A little lizard was quite happily sitting and sunning himself.  He didn’t mind having his photo taken at all.

When we arrived at “Mt Tamar” we were greeted by this pair hiding under their hats.  The lovely Margaret and Michelle from The Home Patch were doing their bit for the Garden Club. 

“Mt Tamar” was a lovely relaxed garden.

There weren’t many irises on display this year.  Maybe all the frosts we have been having have delayed their flowering. The colours in this one were stunning.

“Le Jardin” is just a small suburban block.  However, the owners have created the most gorgeous cool, green oasis.  This is only a relatively new garden.

It makes you think of formal gardens in Europe.  Everything is so manicured and formal.

Even the footpaths are picture perfect.

Imagine training the plants up all those pillars.

Another relatively new garden is at “Blueridge”.  There are distinct rooms in this garden, begging to be explored.  This path is just begging you to see what is at the end, behind the hedge.

There you go.  The formal kitchen garden.

To the left is a rather lovely bank planted in perennials.

If you look up the steps you can see a nice, deep verandah.  Perfect for whiling away the time, out of the sun.

The pool looks most inviting, but the nip in the air reminded us that it isn’t quite swimming time here as yet.

That’s probably enough for one day. From here we ventured out of town. I’ll share the rest tomorrow.

Thunderbirds in Town

Bathurst is visited by lots of car clubs during the course of the year.  I'm not sure why?  Maybe a certain Mount may be a bit of a draw card?  Possibly.

Anyway, this weekend saw the the Ford Thunderbird Club in town and yesterday they put on a bit of a display in the centre of town.  I popped down to have a quick look and ended up being there nearly an hour, chatting to various other members of our Car Club who had the same idea.

Vehicles from the 50s are a work of art.

There were some stunning vehicles.

Many were left hand drive and with rather flash interiors.

 

Thunderbirds were last made in the late 80s, although not quite as stylish as the earlier models.

These vehicles were the same era as our Council Chambers.

So many had number plates to match their car.

The weather was just ideal, not a cloud in the sky.

This one makes me think of Miss Penelope’s pink car in “The Thunderbirds” TV show.

As well as the Thunderbirds, there were a couple of ring ins, which fitted in rather well. Firstly, this rather tasty Cadillac.  I wouldn’t mind taking it home.

The second one was a Ford Fairlane.

It would have been the perfect day to take this one for a spin.

There was a good roll up of locals having a sticky.  It was good of the Thunderbird Club to take the time to share their lovely cars with the public.

I’ll leave you with a couple of photos of the gardens in Kings Parade, which are looking an absolute picture at the moment.