Ta Da!

I can’t believe it.  I actually have something to show for One Project a Month after a two month drought.

Here is the little quilt I have made for a friend’s baby that was born recently.  I started it a while ago – back here, and finished sewing on the binding on Sunday.  It took me a while longer than it should to finish off and yes, there was enough of the giraffe fabric for the backing.

I had planned on taking some nice photos outside, but got sidetracked and now it is after nine o’clock on the 30th, so I will do that another day.

It is just a simple little quilt that I hope will get used lots, thrown on the ground as a play mat, washed and used all over again.

Hopefully, I’ll get to visit the little man this weekend and deliver his quilt.

Now to report in to Peg and Kris.

Sunday Morning

The weather this morning is glorious.

Unfortunately, Mick has to work but I have just been sitting on the verandah working on this.

I do love it now the days are getting longer.  Even though Mick had a relatively early start, we had a nice breakfast together and I was then sitting outside stitching at just after seven o’clock in the bright sunshine.  I could justify this as we normally aren’t even out of bed at this time on a Sunday.  We had another frost this morning, but it quickly melted and the sun was warm on my back. 

Joey was also quite contented, sitting in the sun.

One of our crab apples is the latest plant in our garden to wake up.  You can hear the bees humming in the blossoms.

While I stitched there was a background soundtrack of early morning bird calls.  I think the whole bird world was celebrating this lovely day.  I either saw or heard all of these:

Magpie, currawong, chough, peewee, kookaburra, butcher bird, sulphur crested cockatoo, crimson rosella, eastern rosella, noisy miner, crested pigeon, willy wag tail, blue wren and robin.  Not too shabby for only about an hour.  I saw my first robin on Friday and there are a pair of them flitting around.  I do hope they nest. No, they won’t sit still long enough for a portrait.

OK! Now the binding is finished and a fresh little breeze has picked up, so I should get dressed, do the dishes, hang the washing and do a little tidy up so that I can enjoy the rest of the day.

I’ll share the “Ta Da” moment when I have taken some photos.

Shadow Play

We have a couple of lovely little metal figurines.  On Sunday afternoon I noticed the shadow that one made, so Mick and I had a little play.

Let’s start with the shadow I first noticed….

And now to play….

Then we swapped it over for the other figurine.

It doesn’t take much to keep us amused.

Thanks for humouring me.

A Weekend Way to The Far Cairn Rally

In 2010 we attended the “Far Cairn Rally” at Tottenham and had a wonderful time.  You can read about it here and here.  We’ve tried to go each year since, even having paid our entry money one year, only to have life work get in the way.

The rally is run by the BMW Touring Club to raise funds and awareness of M.A.R.I. (Motorcycle Accident Rehabilitation Initiative), which arranges specialist medical treatment as well as practical support for motorcycle accident victims.  A wonderful cause that could benefit any of us one day.

This year the planets actually aligned and us and a mate were able to run away on “Snubby” the silver side car and camper trailer. 

The morning started out at minus 3.5 degrees C, but warmed up to a balmy +0.5 degrees C by the time we left home.

The scenery as you head west is always lovely, especially seeing all the canola in flower and some was even finished.  It hasn’t even started to flower in our district.

See how lovely and blue it was.  We didn’t see a cloud all day on Saturday.

Our first stop was for a cuppa in the park at Parkes.

Then we headed through Bogan Gate, where there is even a gate in the park.

And headed north through Trundle’s widest main street in NSW.

We came up to a rather large mob on cattle on the road and the majority of then were looking in fine condition.

Finally we arrived at Tottenham in time for lunch at the local cafe.  Lots of other rally entrants had the same idea.  It was great to see so many bikes in town all supporting the local businesses.

Tottenham is the town closest to the centre of NSW, so an ideal place for a rally.

After we had set up camp we headed further west from the town to the “Far Cairn”, being the actual geographic centre of NSW.

Off the tar and onto the dirt. We met a few other bikes that had the same idea as us.

There was only us and our mate out there, which was nice.

Mick had to climb up on top of the cairn again.

While I looked for wildflowers.  Last time we were here there had been big rains, so there were more flowers, but they were still lovely this time.

Most of the  wattles had finished but there were lots of this yellow bush, which I had thought was a wattle until seeing up close.  I don’t know what it is, but it has a lovely fragrance.

Back at the camp site, which is the local Showground and Racecourse, we had a quick look at some bikes.  We didn’t get to see all that many, but there were a couple of interesting side cars.  Definitely not designed for passengers.

Check out all the rally badges that were attached to this one, and that is only a few of the badges he has.

These panniers sitting on the ground grabbed my attention with all their stickers, including one from the Isle of Man.  Very well travelled.

On closer inspection of the bike, it had Colorado number plates.  Funnily enough, he won the furthest travelled trophy.

We were taken with this older BMW and have decided to take “Olga” the old girl along next time, which will hopefully be next year.

Meanwhile, they were getting ready for the trophy presentations and raffle.  This was held in the daylight, which was a great idea.  The number of people attending the rally had certainly grown since we last attended.

Lots of us sat on a lovely grassy bank.

Later in the evening they ran an outdoor movie and the bank was a great place to watch it from, but the night got rather chilly indeed, so once the movie ended we headed for our camper trailer with our doona and patchwork quilt.

The next morning was lovely, if rather breezy, but that meant that there was no dew on the canvas to dry out.

Once we were packed up and ready to head for home we played the tourist.

We came home a different way, travelling through Narromine, Dubbo, Wellington and Orange.  The scenery continued to be lovely.

Halfway between Orange and Bathurst there is “The Beekeepers Inn”, a cafe and microbrewery.  Well, they just happened to be having their inaugural Handmade Markets.  Of course we called in for a look see.

It was a delightful setting with some lovely things for sale.  One of our friends had a stall selling homemade cakes and savoury scones and the likes.  Some had to come home with us and didn’t last very long.  I do hope there are more of these markets, as they were really worth visiting.

So then it was home to unpack, wash the disgustingly dirty bike and do some loads of washing.  Quite a reality check after a terrific weekend away.

Daffodils at Rydal

One of my favourite things to do in spring is visit the Daffodils at Rydal, about three quarters of an hour east of us. I’ve shared them with you previously here.

This year Mick stayed home, and instead, I had the pleasure of the company of Chookyblue and Fairy Girl.  We also caught up briefly with Kate (Show and Tell) while we were down there.  We were so lucky with the weather, it was quite warm.

There are several gardens open in the village, as well as a couple of country gardens.  We started off by exploring the village. I can’t imagine a garden without daffodils, but for Chooky that is the case, as it doesn’t get cold enough at her place, so it was lovely to see how much they enjoyed it all.

Of course, there weren’t just daffodils.

I don’t know what tree these flowers were on, but the bees sure loved them.

I’d love to sit here with a cuppa and a good book or some stitching…..bliss.

I do enjoy seeing how the gardens mature and evolve over the years.  Last time we visited this area had a fire pit, rather than a water feature and there were no retaining walls, rather banks of grevillea.

This was an interesting display in one garden.

I could also have taken this rather tasty Thunderbird home with me.

The little weatherboard Union Church is always beautifully decorated.  This year the theme was a “Spring Wedding”. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the outside, so you will have to go back and see it last time we visited here.)  Come inside…

Isn’t it a picture.  I do think this was one of the nicest displays that they have had.

Next stop was “Chapel House”, a rather grand garden, but a real treat to visit.

I think Chooky would have been quite happy to sit here for the  entire afternoon.

Once I dragged her out of the seat, we headed off to a smaller garden by the creek.  It has never been open before and had some really cute features.  It is a credit to the owners.

Finally, we had a quick visit to “Karingal”, which used to be owned by friends of ours.  I just have to visit each time to see the lovely frilly daffodils.  We were given a precious few bulbs from this garden many years ago, which reminds me that I need to mark them in our garden so that I don’t miss taking them with us when we move.

So that wraps up a rather lovely day.  Now I just have to wait till next spring to visit again.