Sculptures in the Garden and the Bathurst 1000

We had a busy time on the second week of October.

This was the second week of the school holidays, but more importantly, the week leading up to the Bathurst 1000 car race, which draws a crowd of about 200,000 visitors to the town.

The proceedings start on the Wednesday with a street parade of the car transporter trucks followed by the drivers in open top cars.  The drivers then have a signing session in the park.  I was able to take an early lunch break to have a look see.

The trucks are seriously big and super shiny.  It highlights what a massive industry motor racing is.

Craig Lownes was very popular, this being the Holden driver's final year of full time racing.  He went on to win the race, which was a very popular outcome.

I just enjoyed seeing all the Corvette Stingrays.  There were other cars, but these were my favourites. I've never seen so many together before.

On the Saturday, we hopped in the car and headed over to Mudgee to see the Sculptures in the Garden display.  We visited for the first time last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so jumped at the chance to visit again.  Here is a sample of what we saw.

There was a great variety of styles and it was good to see that several pieces had been sold.  The day is a fundraiser for the Guide Dogs, which is an added bonus.

On the way home we were reminded that the drought is still holding its grip when we came across this mob of cattle on the road.

After the glorious weather on Saturday it was a little more wintery on the Sunday of the Great Race.  Most importantly we had to watch the start of the race on the TV.  Joey was quite settled.  He is a great fan of sport on the TV, always gravitating to a lap.

We always hope for a bit of rain during the race to make it interesting. It did rain in the early afternoon and the commentators were referring to the "Drought breaking rain" that was being received here.  I think it was quite an exaggeration, as I popped out the front of our house and took a photo looking across to Mt Panorama.  If you can look closely, you will see that there is a shower raining on the Mount, but nowhere else.  That is what I call an isolated shower!  We didn't get a drop.

We only watched a tiny bit of the race.  I spent the day in the sewing room getting my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks completed, but they can have their own post.

October's One Monthly Goal

Well, it is time to set my goal for the current month.  I haven't spent much time in the sewing room since we came home and have been procrastinating over my goal, as all the easy to finish UFOs are done and now the ones left have a bit more work involved in them.

So, as I haven't worked on any of my Splendid Sampler II blocks since we returned home, I now have seven that are waiting patiently.  Therefore, this month's goal is to have my Splendid Sampler blocks completely up to date by the end of the month.  There will be three more released by then, so that is ten blocks to make.  I think I can do that without too much trouble.  I'll get in and cut kits for each  of  the blocks I have now in one go, which should make things much easier.

In the background, today the final block was released in the Squared Away Sampler, which is part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Those blocks are always fun to make.  I can't wait to see them all laid out together and find out the setting diagram next month.

Also, today we were out and about and in a junk shop I found a remnant of a good quality upholstery style canvas fabric.  There is about a metre, but with a bit cut off the side.  It should make a nice, heavy quality tote bag.  That is my project for tomorrow.

I think that little lot is quite enough for now.

I'm linking up with Patty over at Elm Street Quilts.

Leura Garden Festival

We did make the most of the October long weekend and the glorious weather that came with it.  After our afternoon on the steam train on Sunday, we hopped in the car on Monday morning and headed down to Leura in the Blue Mountains.  The climate there is perfect for gardens.  I've visited this event a few times as a kid, but surprisingly, Mick and I have never had a look.

Enjoy.

This next garden was our favourite.

Complete with garden gnome in pink.

The next garden was quite a contrast, being leafy with lots of under plantings of shade loving plants.









Now for some more random photos from other gardens.















Let's have a peep inside an art studio that was on show at one garden.







What a lovely light space.



That's a different way to treat a storm water drain.  Very picturesque.





One of the gardens backed onto the escarpment.



The house does not give any inclination as to what is at the rear of the property.



You would spend so much time on this back deck.



Wow!  What a view.





Mick looks rather settled.



Apparently, the garden was established down the side of the mountain in the 1970s.  Imagine the work involved in laying all the crazy paved paths.





The further you went down the more rustic the paths and the garden gradually transformed to the native bush.



Looking back up to the house. from one of the upper paths.

The final garden we visited was the National Trust property "Everglades".

















One final stop before heading back home. 

What a wonderful way to spend the day before heading back to work.