Recognisance

I’m doing a bit of back tracking with my blog posts at the moment.  We seem to have been rather busy, as you will see, and with little or no internet access each night.  Therefore, I’m going to try to prepare some blog posts of an evening and attempt to have them post in the early morning…..Fingers crossed I can get access then.

Remember a few weeks ago we attended the Trunkey Creek Show.  That was on the Saturday of the V8 Car Races at Bathurst.  On the Sunday we had to make a quick trip into town.  On our way home Mick mentioned that he would like to go out to Oberon sometime soon to see the dam.  Oberon Dam is a water supply dam that has not had any boating access for quite some years.  Last summer they changed the conditions to allow unpowered boats on the dam.  Mick has his kayak and wanted to see where the boats can be launched.

We aren’t avid followers of the car races, just watching the start and finish and popping in every now and then to see what is happening.  So, when I suggested we go to Oberon there and then it became a plan.    Nothing like doing it while we had the chance.  There are a few different roads we could take and I was trying to second guess Mick at a couple of intersections.  After then I said that I knew which way he was going as there were no further options…….. and then we both said “Yes, there is.  Let’s take it”.

This is the road less travelled.  We have actually only been on it once before and in the opposite direction.

Initially the scenery was rather lunar.

However, before long it became much nicer.

The creek crossing is rather deep.  You wouldn’t want to attempt driving through it after rain.

The area had been settled for many years with some lovely old relics.

Once we crossed the creek the scenery changed again.

Eventually we popped out at the other end of the road, not far from the famous Mayfields Gardens.

More interesting old relics.

Finally we arrived at Oberon Dam, which was looking a picture. 

The water level is down a bit, but the granite boulders are rather stunning.

Mick was happy with what he saw, so hopefully we will get a chance to take the kayak up there some time this summer.

I’d be quite happy sitting on the bank in the shade with some stitching or a good book.

I’d never tire of looking at this scenery.

After checking everything out, it was time for fish and chips in the park, (having been talking about going fishing on the dam – good trout). 

Once we returned home there was still plenty of time to see the finish of a somewhat eventful car race.  A great way to spend the day.

Nesting

Remember a while ago I shared all the birds I had seen or heard on a Sunday morning.

Well, since then I have seen or heard quite a few more.  There have been red rumps, galahs, a yellow throated scrub wren, white breasted triller, jabaroo, thornbills, swallows and dusky wood swallows.  I’m sure there have been others I can’t think of at the moment.

Here is one of the dusky wood swallows.  It doesn’t look much here, but they are so pretty.  Their colouring is “dusky”, just like their name implies and they have a white flash across their tail when flying.  We really enjoy their visits each year.

The most exciting thing though, is our little robins.  Remember I hoped they would nest.  Well, the week after my post about them, there was lots of flitting to and from the cotoneaster, just below our verandah, giving us a bird’s eye view.  Pardon the pun.

Firstly we couldn’t see anything.

Then Mick spotted something.  Can you see it?  A very well hidden nest made from wool, so it will be nice and cosy.  It looks very frail.

After we had the snowy, stormy night a couple of weeks ago I checked and the nest was still there, but there was no sign of either Mum or Dad Robin, so I was a little worried.

Then a few days later I heard and then saw Dad.  Still no sign of Mum.  Then another few days later I thought I saw Mum.  Then we saw Dad flit into the cotoneaster again, so had a closer look.

She is so tiny and the nest is very well camouflaged.  There is only one small gap in the leaves that you can see through.

We had a really wild wind storm again a few days ago and I was worried how they would go, but after checking, she was still in the nest.

Now we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the babies. I’ll keep you posted.

While on the subject of our feathered friends, our new chooks are doing well.  They have now filled out nicely and are giving us four eggs a day.  We are giving eggs away left, right and centre.  The eggs are getting to be a good size now and we have even had one with a double yolk.

There hasn’t been much computer stuff happening here lately, as our internet connection is somewhat tenuous of late.  It is rather frustrating not being able to connect and then, when you do, everything going at snail’s pace.  No, we haven’t exceeded our limit, it is like this all the time.  It was never like this until recently. I wonder if the towers are just not coping with the volume lately?  Let’s hope things improve, as I’d like to comment on blogs………but at this stage I can’t even get to read them most of the time.

Trunkey Creek Show

Last weekend was the busiest of the year in Bathurst with the car races at Mt Panorana.  On the Saturday we usually head off to a calmer part of the world – Trunkey Creek. However, on last Saturday even Trunkey Creek, population about 60, managed to have a traffic jam.  The reason was that the local show was on.  I have shared our previous visits here and here.

This is a typical country show and it is thriving.  First stop after our drive was coffee and cake.  Rather stylish cup cakes at that.

While we sat and ate we listened to the Canobolas Highland Band.

Now that we were refreshed we were off to explore. Come along for a walk.  These two gentlemen looked resplendent in the carriage.

Pavilion entries were up on last year.  Lots of beautiful irises.

The Spinners and Weavers, including my Mum were there in force.

Check out this dress made from men’s ties.  Very clever.

This section of the pavilion is new and so wonderfully light.  There were some lovely quilts.  No, I didn’t enter anything this year.  The show crept up on us before we realised, so I didn’t have time.

Now that I’ve sewn some curved seams this one doesn’t look quite a daunting, but it was oh so very effective and a great use of scraps.

I loved this wall hanging.

The next one was gorgeous.  The fabric selection, piecing, appliqué, embroidery and quilting were all so beautifully executed.  I don’t know who the designer is, but it does look rather like the work of Red Brolly.

Let’s look closer.

Sheep and wool are a big part of the show.

As are the sheep dogs.

Of course, the kids have to be kept happy.  I’m sure every kid wins a prize on the clowns.

I’m amazed at this old merry go round.  It is so very basic, but you know what?  The kids were having a ball.  It just goes to show that you don’t need the biggest and the best of everything.

Then it was on to formalities.  The entire school got up and sang for us.

The Scots School Pipe Band played. 

Yep, lots of bagpipes this year.

And we were entertained by a local band.

All in all it was a lovely day out.  The weather was absolutely glorious – getting up to the low 30s and there were lots of people enjoying themselves.

As you can imagine, we didn’t travel home on the same road that we went on in the morning.  We had to do another little explore down a dirt road that we haven’t been on before.  It was lovely and quiet and we discovered a pretty little creek crossing.

Now look up to the right as we cross the creek.  I could quite easily sit and have a picnic here, but we had to head on home.

Another nice day to add to the memory bank.