July Wrap Up

Apart from stitching, I have only posted about the Winter Festival and our tour of the Carillon for July.  We have been up to other things as well.  However, the month was actually quieter than the last few, which was a nice change.

I met most of my goals as well.

READ A BOOK

I read two.

This one was set in Belfast during the 1980s and the troubles.  Not a bad read at all.

The second was a very simple read, so really doesn’t count. I was cleaning out a cupboard and discovered this little gem that I have obviously picked up somewhere along the line.  Although I have been aware of Brambly Hedge and seen the crockery, I’ve never read any of the books.

The illustrations are delightful, featuring sweet patchwork quilts and even a patchwork tea cosy in this one.  There is so much detail in them that you could look at them for ages and still see something extra.  I can see why they were so popular.

TRY A NEW RECIPE

Yes, this is Creamy Chicken Simmer Pot, from Taste.  Yummo!  There were left overs and I think it tasted even better the next day.  A nice winter’s night meal.

Not a new recipe, but Mick got out the camp oven and cooked a delicious roast pork dinner.

Karen from Karen’s Korner shared a recipe for a Coconut and Lemon Slice, which sounded rather nice, so we had to try it out.  Another recipe added to the book to use again.

HAVE A FUN DAY OUT

We still managed to have a few.  The Winter festival and Tour of the Carillon, of course.

We also went to the Mudgee Small Farms Field Day.  We used to go to this every year, but haven’t been for about six years.  We did very well, as all we bought was a coffee and our lunch. We did catch up with two lots of friends we haven’t seen for a while, which was nice.  Funnily enough, they had both purchased a green house.  Even funnier, we didn’t, as we already have our little potting shed/greenhouse, but we did go to their talk on using them and when we got home ordered their specialised reflective shade cloth for our shed.  That was the sewing I did with Mick’s fishing line.

Anyway, we had a really nice day out.  A highlight of the day used to always be the fashion parade, sponsored by Woolmark and featuring clothes made from wool.  There used to be queues to get inside.  That has all changed now and the fashion parade is just clothing that you can purchase on the day.

One of the designers made beautiful patchwork coats from upholstery fabrics.  Rather lovely, but I don’t know where I would wear one.  They were nice to see, anyway. Sorry about the poor photo quality.

It was rather muddy under foot and I was glad to wear my little ankle gum boots, unlike some ladies wearing suede shoes and boots.  I hope they were able to clean them up OK.

The scenery is always nice on the drive over there. I loved this small patch of sunshine in the otherwise grey day.

OTHER GOALS

As expected, we didn’t go for a motorcycle ride or use the caravan.  I didn’t completely catch up with blogs, but am so very nearly there, which is a relief.

So, what else is there to report?

Let’s start with the weather.  At the start of the month we had some cold and dreary days.  Not a lot of rain, but quite a few pea souper fogs, that Bathurst is renowned for.  However, in the second half of the month we have had some good frosts, but glorious warm days.  Our back yard has reached 20 degrees C on a couple of occasions.  Warm enough to be down to a tee shirt, which is just crazy for July.  The next week or so is also forecast to be quite warm.

Our garden has a few tiny pops of colour, if you go looking.

We have a few different coloured violets.

 A couple of little jonquils are in flower, as well as a polyanthus and several hellebores.  

I do so love finding these little blooms at this time of year.  They are small, and most are tucked away, where you have to go looking for them.

A few days ago, I was outside just on dusk.  Looking to the east, the sky had such a pretty pink tinge to it.  Probably nicer that the actual sunset.

We have had our stereo system for over thirty years and it has finally given up the ghost.  Really?!  They don’t make things like they used to any more.  LOL. Having said that, the turntable died quite a while ago.

Anyway, time to go shopping for a replacement.  It was really hard to find what we wanted, but in the end we are happy with our new setup.

It is so small compared to our previous one.  The sound is great and the fact that the turntable is connected to the speakers via Bluetooth, makes everything so neat and tidy.  The little cupboard it sits on used to belong to Mick’s Dad. It is just the right size to store Mick’s record collection.  We used to have a retro toy truck sit on here, which we used to display one of our little Christmas trees. We remembered that Mick’s Dad displayed a vintage gramophone on the cupboard, so it has come full circle, which is nice.  Meanwhile, we are having fun rediscovering some gems from the late 70s and 80s.

Finally, Mick has been playing with the tow bar setup of our ute and caravan.  After a couple of days tinkering he reckons he has it set up just about perfect.

And that about sums up the month of July.  Now to look forward to August and whatever it may bring.