January - A Final Wrap Up

I've just been tidying my photos and thought I'd better do a final wrap up for January.  It's been a rather full month.

The third block of Moda Blockheads was released yesterday.  I'm happy to say that it has been made on the day of release.  The fabric in the centre has inspired all the colours I am using.  Sadly, I only have a fat quarter of it, so will have to use it sparingly.  This block was fun to make and there wasn't even any reverse stitching.  You have to be happy with that.

I have been stitching black and white half square triangles as a leader and ender project.  There are now 42 squares ready to turn into nice neat blocks and then play.  I did some stitching this morning and really miss having a leader and ender project.  Time to cut something else out to sew.

I have started playing with my next UFO for Cheryll's WOOFA Challenge. This is the project from Girls Day in The Country at Nundle from 2015.  (I had to look it up.  I didn't realise it was from that long ago.)  Each year I say I will have it finished for our annual get together and do a bit more, but it still hasn't been finished.

I've pulled it out again and made a start.  The bunnies now have tiny patches added, I cut the next papers, covered them and have added three.  Surely, I can have it finished for Scrub Stitchin' this year.  Accountability always helps, so I am pretty confident it will  happen.

We had originally planned to have a week away at the start of the month, but when the weather was forecast to be stinking hot we decided against it.  As it turned out, the areas we were planning to visit were all on fire, so it was a good decision.

Therefore, Mick needed a project......

Something he has been planning for some time is to line our back verandah roof.  He has made a good start.  Now he is just waiting for the weather to cool a little before he finishes it off.

In the middle of this drought we have had a few storms.  We haven't received a great deal of rain, but on one afternoon there was a very short, sharp storm.  I was at work and we hardly got any rain.  Mick said we had the heaviest downpour he has seen since we moved here nearly four years ago.  We received 17mm, so not too destructive, unlike some in the area.

As a result of the bit of rain and some cooler temperatures for the last week or so, I was surprised to see this delicate little mushroom pop up in the back yard.  Our very dead lawn is now sprouting some green, which is lovely to see.  However, we are now in another heatwave, with temperatures up to the low 40s, which is expected to last for the next few days, so that will be hard on everything again.

When our guests arrived last week, they came bearing gifts.  He is enjoying playing with recycled timber.  The recipe book stand is made from an old falling down farm gate.  I love it.  So practical.

He also made some bookends for Mick.  They work really well with the coffee table we made over 20 years ago.  Mick has used one end to add a frog for a pen holder and uses the other end to keep tabs of his reading glasses.  They won't stay here, rather move to beside his chair, but they were the ideal gift for him.

And, when a mate comes to stay for a few days what do you do?  Find a project, of course.  They had a great time building a mezzanine floor in Mick's shed.  He now has plenty of storage out of the way, creating floor space to store "Snubby" the silver sidecar, while still having room to work on things.  

He still wants to sort a lot more things out, but he can do that at his leisure.  It's just a tad too warm up there at the moment.

They also removed some dead shrubs from the garden.  The garden beds are really deep and we've never been able to get to the back of the beds.  A few more shrubs will be removed, creating quite a gap. There is the possibility of yet another project in the future - a potting shed come green house.  Just in the scheming process at this stage.

While the boys played in the shed, the girls played in the sewing room.  Nothing to show for it at this stage. 

This week Bathurst has come alive for the Bathurst 12 Hour Race, which is held on Sunday.  There are practice days, with support races, today and tomorrow.  Yesterday, a selection of the race cars came downtown for a display.

We know nothing about this type of racing, but there were some very flash cars.  I'd hate to think of the value of what we saw.  

There was a really good crowd having a look.  Lots of autographs were being signed, but I've no idea who any of the drivers were.

The cars all had the driver's names and flags of the countries they come from.  Yes, lots of Aussie drivers, but so many internationals.  I didn't even recognise some of the flags.  The race is televised world wide and apparently has the potential to become bigger than the Bathrust 1000 Supercars race.  It can only be good for Bathurst.

Finally, there is no photo, but I tried a new recipe for lunch today.  

I made some rice paper rolls.  They were not too bad, but not photogenic either.  I'll definitely have another go at them.  As a result, I have a new respect for the shops that make heaps of them each day - fiddly jolly things.