jannimary

Australia Day Outing

2012-01-26T20:11:00.001+11:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Australia Day, even if it was a bit damp.

We had grand plans of getting a group of us together and motorcycling to Carcoar for their Australia Day Street Fair. However, as the weather was looking somewhat inclement it was decided to take the car. In the end there were only two couples, so they just came along with us.

Of course, it didn’t rain at all on the way out there, as Mick kept reminding us. We could have brought the bikes after all.

Although it was not raining, it was a grey old morning and the usual crowds did not eventuate. We still had a nice look around the lovely old town and all the stalls. The things you see wandering the streets.

There were lots of bric-a-brac stalls and I had a chuckle at one to see items that I had sold at our last Swap Meet, twelve months ago. The dealer still had them and I was interested to see that her prices were only a little more than what I had charged. I saved my pennies, except for a lovely scarf at a garage sale.

A feature each year is a re-enactment of the mail coach being held up and the subsequent gun battle. You wouldn’t want to mess with this feisty old bird. She is one of the goodies.

Here are the baddies.

If she can’t shoot you dead……

She will jump on top of you and thump you dead. Like I said, don’t mess with her.

Next we had a look at the toy museum. This was the first time we have found it to be open when we have been in the area.

My favourites – Kimba and a Rubiks Cube.

Gollies, although none like my old one.

Mick liked the ray guns.

This is for you Fiona, quite a collection of pencil sharpeners.

After fortifying ourselves with scrummy scones with jam and cream we hopped in the car to continue our adventure. We had no plans, so ended up heading over to Canowindra for the best fish and chips lunch.

To our delight, it started to rain. Now there was a valid reason for travelling by car and Mick couldn’t carry on.

We girls had a lovely time exploring the gorgeous gift shops. This one was especially lovely, although I was strong and didn’t bring anything home with me.

Meanwhile the well trained boys waited patiently. Yes, that is rain making the photo grainy.

We only looked through the window of the patchwork shop, as it was closed. However, there was a very intriguing item of patchwork in the window. I took a photo, but it didn’t turn out very well. It was a combination of recycled tweeds, denim and corduroy. Now that has definite possibilities. I do like the look.

After we delivered our friends back home we had one more stop off before we headed home. My camper trailer quilt has been quilted already. That was much faster than I could have hoped for and it looks great. Now I just have to add the binding for a finish. I’ll aim for January OPAM. I’ll have to see how I go.

A Late Gift and Forgotten Photos

2012-01-18T18:34:00.000+11:00

I was just a tad late in sending Loulee her Christmas gift and there was no way it was going to make it for the big day. It did, however, take quite a bit longer to arrive than I expected.

I made another shoe bag from Anni’s latest book. I think Loulee should be able to find an opportunity to make use of it. I also sent over a quilty calendar, but forgot to take a piccie before I posted it, so you will just have to pop over and visit Loulee. Her kitchen smells devine at the moment.

While I was hunting out the photo, I discovered some other piccies that in all the hustle and bustle of Christmas I forgot to share.

Firstly, we have had some visitors to our raspberry bushes – sulphur crested cockatoos. Not the best photo, but you can’t get very close to them. They did leave some berries for us.

Then, a week before Christmas we had a storm go through. This was the view to the north east from our house.

I think this is the brightest rainbow we’ve ever seen. It just glowed.

Then, when we looked the other way from the back verandah, towards the south west, this is what we saw. Just spectacular.

What you can’t see above is what was on the ground. The next photo is exactly the same, except with the camera focussed on the ground, not the sky. So totally different (and with a rather weird, over exposed effect).

See the two roos sitting watching me. You will have to zoom in. I love to see them around.

We were so lucky to be home to see the wonders of nature after the storm.

Working on a WIP (Or Maybe a UFO?)

2012-01-17T20:07:00.000+11:00

Back in March 2010 we went to Albany in WA for the Ulysses AGM Rally and bought our Camper Trailer to tow behind “Snubby” the silver sidecar.

Shortly afterwards I found some lovely fabric and started to make a quilt for the bed in the camper. It is a really simple square in a square block. I made the comment “I nearly have the top pieced, so will be able to show it soon”. That was at the end of May 2010. Do you think it qualifies for WIP or UFO? Yep, I think that equates to UFO.

I had some scraps left over of the fabric, so have made a Baseco Bag and bookmark, tissue cover, Lavender bag purse and table runner and made the comment that I’ve had more fun with the scraps than the quilt. There are still more scraps, so I’ll have to have another play with them one day.

Meanwhile, the quilt languished in a box – all pieced except for the borders. The borders were cut and joined into strips, and the binding was cut, joined into a strip and pressed, ready to attach to the quilt. All sitting in the box. I just didn’t seem to have the sewjo to finish it……..until now.

The Ulysses AGM Rally is in Mildura at the end of March and I have to have it finished by then. Also, we are travelling to Mildura via Nundle for the Girls Day in the Country. Yes, Mick is coming along too, although he has declined to join in with the stitchy day. He will have a lazy day reading and wandering around Nundle. That is an extra reason to have the quilt finished.

It didn’t take long.

It is now with my friend Val to be quilted. I will just have to add the binding, but I’m a bit strange. I don’t mind sewing on bindings.

I’m quite excited at the prospect of it finally being finished. I’m not very good at finishing UFOs as a rule and haven’t made an actual quilt for about three years. About time I had one finished.

Vege Update and Charging Station

2012-01-16T19:44:00.001+11:00

I’ve been a bit of a slack blogger lately and have a few bits and bobs to catch up on.

Firstly, the frost did zap the veges rather well. However, there is still a little bit of green growth underneath, so with a bit of luck, they may come back a bit.

Now onto the fun stuff.

A couple of weeks ago I was browsing in Pinterest (what a great way to waste time) for organising ideas when I came across a charging station for all those electrical gadgets we just must have. (Although we have less than many.)

Now I’m definitely not organised, and I should spend more time “doing” rather than looking for inspiration. Anyhow, back to the story, we have a double power point above the kitchen bench that is used for charging gadgets and all the leads live in a big tangle in a big bowl in the cupboard below. I had once seen an idea of keeping leads in a big biscuit barrel and even have a big canister to use for that purpose (when I get organised) – I digress.

Anyway, there were some really clever ideas for charging stations and I was drawn to a couple of simple ones, one of which was a ribbon box and the other was a shoe box covered in pretty paper and with big eyelets in it. I thought “I can do that!” and went shopping for a power board with surge protector. Next stop was the $2 shop to get some pretty paper, where I changed my mind and bought another pretty box instead. It was great that I had the power board with me, as I was able to get one just the right size without having to guess.

Next, we went low tech. Mick got his wad punches and punched four holes in the front of the box for the connections and three big holes in the back of the box, one for the power cord and two extra for ventilation. No eyelets, but that doesn’t matter one way or the other. Some quick little tags to label the holes at the front and Ta Da! One cute tidy charging station rather than a tangle.

Another idea I saw on Pinterest was using a roll top bread box. Now I may just be on the look out for one for the future, rather than a cardboard box, but it will do for the time being.

Brrrrrr

2012-01-12T06:45:00.001+11:00

Look at that…

Yes, that is frost!!! In January!!! In the middle of summer!!!

Not happy!

I’ve been out hosing the tomatoes, zucchinis and other frost tender veges. Hopefully I’ve been able to save them, but I’m not all that confident.

People laugh when we tell them we have had frosts as early as February, but I’ve never seen one in January before. There is always a first.

Some Kind of Wonderful – Making a Start

2012-01-02T19:55:00.001+11:00

For the first time I have joined in Chookyblue’s Stitch-a-Long. I’ll be doing my appliqué using blanket stitch on the machine, otherwise it would never get finished.

Firstly, I found my fabrics and a rather cute box to use to store the project in.

The creams came mainly from the stash, but I cheated and visited Anni’s shop to buy the coloured fabrics.

Nothing more happened until Boxing Day when I finally made a start. I cut all the appliqué block backgrounds, traced the pieces onto vliesofix and cut whisperweft until I ran out of both and then stitched until I needed more matching threads.

Now that I’ve been to the shops, I spent all day yesterday working on the quilt, without doing a stitch. I do have all the appliqué blocks prepared to just stitch and have enough little squares and strips cut to keep me going for a while.

At least the first block is now completed. Hopefully, I’ll be caught up by the end of January.

I’ve really enjoyed playing with all the blocks and can’t wait to have some more finished.

Stitching Group Christmas Swap

2011-12-28T12:31:00.000+11:00

I’m part of a little group that meets each fortnight for an afternoon of stitching, talking, laughing and eating. Unfortunately, I don’t get along quite as often as I’d like, but the time I do spend with “the girls” is great fun.

We met for our Christmas get together a few weeks ago and I still haven’t shown our kris kringle swap items. This is what I made.

A simple little mug rug to team up with the cute tea for one that I found. I think they go rather well together.

I was once again spoilt when I received this gift. A heat wheat pillow and wrist pincushion.

Bron does the most lovely stitching.

We had a lovely afternoon together for our Christmas lunch and are all looking forward to our get togethers next year.

So Very Spoilt

2011-12-27T12:10:00.001+11:00

We had a really lovely Christmas this year. Whereas normally everyone comes to our place, this year we did the driving.

Firstly, we visited Mum and Dad and had morning tea with my side of the family. Mum had the fine china out, which was made it special.

While we were there I opened my SSCS Parcel from Karol-Ann. Yes, that is where the being spoilt started.

Karol-Ann made this gorgeous folded hexagon bag. Her stitches are so very tiny. Just beautiful work. The handles are also gorgeous and quite unusual. I know it will have lots of use. There is also a cute mouse pincushion, little notepad and quilt block key ring. Thank you so much for spoiling me and thanks to Chookyblue for going to all the trouble of coordinating the SSCS.

The next reason that I am so very spoilt is the result of a squishy parcel all the way from the Isle of Man. Loulee has been busy sewing too. This is what arrived.

A scrummy table runner in nice rich colours. I have just the spot for this little beauty. If you look closely, you can see something sitting on the runner. Here it is a bit closer.

I saw some brooches made out of Manx tartan when we visited the Isle of Man in 2009, but was unable to track down the lady to buy one. My intentions were to buy one this year when we were over there, but time just got away on us. You can imagine what a thrill it was to receive this from Loulee. She must have had a little inkling that I liked these. Thank you so very much.

After we left Mum and Dad’s we headed to Mick’s sister’s place for lunch. We ate outdoors under the big shady trees. You couldn’t have had a nicer day for it. It wasn’t too hot, there was no wind, flies or mozzies, the food was delicious and the company enjoyable.

Then we drove to Mick’s brother’s for afternoon tea. This time I was the giver of something handmade.

Yes, the gift I finished at the last minute for my sister-in-law. I love this pattern for a shoe bag out of Anni Downs’ latest book “Some Kind of Wonderful”. I think I’d better make one for myself as well.

Then it was home for a very quiet evening.

By the way, this is what I sent to Judith in the Netherlands for her SSCS gift. A bag from one of Anni Downs’ patterns and a Christmas table runner.

I also had fun overing a tape measure, which turned out rather well.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas day and that you were also very spoilt.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T22:14:00.001+11:00

Wow! Only one more sleep till the big day arrives – well not even that, really.

This year we will be doing the visiting, rather than having family here for Christmas lunch, so today has been a rather relaxed day instead of running around madly. It was a nice change.

The weather was glorious, not too hot, and no storms.

I even did some gift sewing this afternoon. Nothing like leaving things to the last minute.

We are about to head off to the Midnight Church Service now, which is a lovely way to start off the special day.

I’d just like to wish every one a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Have a wonderful day.

The Postman Has Delivered

2011-12-12T19:13:00.001+11:00

I was getting a little worried that my SSCS parcel had taken the long way round to arrive from wherever it was coming, but today when I came home from work Mick announced that there was a parcel for me and that he had taped some paper over the Customs Declaration so that I would not get any hints as to what the contents are. Isn’t he a good man. He knows that I like surprises.

Anyway, this parcel came from the UK and I loved the little robin sticker on the front. There is just something about robins and Christmas that go so well together.

My swap partner is Karol-Ann from England and she had made me this cute little heart decoration.

When you turn it over, she has added a A”Made in Great Britain” tag. What a great little detail. I had a little squish of the parcel, but now it will not be touched until Christmas.

Thanks for the lovely ornament. I can’t wait till Christmas day.

This is the little Owly ornament that I made and sent to Judith in the Netherlands. I’m happy to say that it has arrived safely.

Now to check in with Chooky so that she can tick me off her list.

Comments not Playing

2011-11-30T20:25:00.001+11:00

I’ve noticed a little problem with comments being made on my blog posts not coming across as an email into Outlook. Some come across, but not all. I’ve checked the settings and all is as normal. Sporadic problems are always the hardest to sort out.

Is anyone else having this problem, or knows of a solution?

Peas Please

2011-11-29T21:19:00.001+11:00

I’m very much a hit and miss vege gardener. Last year I missed completely.

When we came home from our big trip I wanted to plant something and peas and spinach were about the only options at that time of the year.

We have been eating snow peas and spinach for a while, but have now started to pick real peas in the pod.

Some could have been pick last week, but life got in the way, so we picked them when we got home on Sunday. It’s hard not to eat them all straight from the plant as you go.

We picked a nice amount.

It was a lovely evening, so we sat on the back verandah and shelled them. Just enough to freeze for three meals.

We’ll be picking them most days now for a while. Yummo.

Mick and Biggles had a nice rest after it was all done.

Yes, There Were Quilts

2011-11-28T22:07:00.001+11:00

There were some lovely quilts at the main exhibition in Braidwood. This one featuring Kiwi fabrics was so simple, but so very effective. It would be a great way to utilise a layer cake.

There was a challenge set by the local patchwork shop to make a small quilt using the fabric featuring English cathedrals. This one was my pick. Funnily enough, I bought half a metre of the same fabric in Canterbury while we were over there.

Here is the completed quilts. I always love the different interpretations that the quilters come up with.

There was another challenge on display as well. This one had the theme of Yellow and Purple and I think it was organised by the Quilters Guild, but not specifically for this event. Anyway, there were heaps of entries, and once again the array of different ideas was rather amazing.

I think this was my favourite quilt in the show. The colour selection was so very effective. A traditional design using modern fabrics.

It wasn’t needle turn appliqué. I was quite fascinated by the technique. It appears to have had the red background fabric completely quilted as a whole quilt with a quarter inch diamond in red cotton, finishing up with quite a thin dense quilt. Then, the design was appliquéd on using monofilament and a tiny zig zag. What a terrible lot of work.

I think this quilt must have been made by the same quilter, as the technique was very similar.

I just loved the scallops on the border. They were black on a fine black and white polka dot. The effect was quite striking. Just coming up with different ideas is half the battle.

Now this one is rather stunning. Beautiful work.

Earlier in the morning I purchased a “Little Twister” ruler, as I’ve seen some small quilts using them and love the look. After seeing this quilt I went back to the stall and bought the matching larger ruler as well. The colour placement on this quilt really makes it.

The colours are also spot on with this cheerful quilt.

That’s all the photos I took at Braidwood. The following quilts were in the exhibition at Bungendore, which was on a slightly smaller scale.

This is such a simple effective design with beautiful colour selection. You just want to snuggle under it, as it looks so warm.

This was a smaller wall hanging.

The machine quilting really set it off.

When you look closely at this one….

You see that it is all machine pieced. What a lot of points to match. Very effective.

On the stage of the hall this quilt was on display. It had won a prize at the Sydney Quilt Show.

No wonder, once you see all the detail in the appliqué and quilting.

There were quite a few quilts that had been made with jelly rolls and Bali Pops.

This design shows off the larger scale prints well.

There were only three different fabrics in the next quilt. A very clever design.

And finally, this one really stood out, being so nice and bright. A very effective design.

It is so generous of all the talented quilters to share their work. It certainly made for a very enjoyable weekend for us all.

I don’t know if it was clear in my previous post that it wasn’t ten women that went down to Braidwood, but five women accompanied by our husbands. We are all more usually at motorcycle events, but this time it was a weekend for the girls. Mick is getting used to being dragged around quilt shows without too many complaints, but for a couple of the men it was their first exposure to this sort of event. I think they were suitably impressed with what can be created and the work and time that goes into them. It was also just a good excuse for us all to get away for the weekend and have a lovely meal together. We are hoping to do it again some time, and hopefully we will actually get see the quilts on display in the street.

Braidwood Weekend

2011-11-28T07:25:00.001+11:00

After planning for several months, the weekend finally arrived for a group of ten of our friends to visit the Braidwood Quilt Event. I shared our previous visit in 2009 here. I had also visited before that with one of my friends.

As you can imagine, we were rather disappointed when looking at the weather forecast last week. However, we all decided to go anyway, it was a good excuse for a weekend away.

It was rather a slow trip down with driving conditions like this all the way to Goulburn.

After Goulburn we started to see just a little bit of a milky looking blue patch of sky in the distance. It had actually stopped raining by the time we reached Braidwood and we didn’t need the brolly at all. What a relief for the organisers. However, it was too late to hang quilts from the balconies, which is usually a main feature of the day. The market stalls moved out of the park and down the main street. Numbers of visitors, unfortunately, were way down on our previous visits.

Was it worth the visit? You bet!! There was still lots to see. I think my favourite exhibition was “For the Love of Wool” by a lady named Caroline Ogilvie. Just lovely work.

There were just a few quilts hanging outside. Notice the colour of the sky now.

The museum hosted an exhibition of art quilt Waggas inspired by the make do nature of the originals. They were all made by a man.

There was a display of Asian Textiles in the beautiful Courthouse.

Just look at that sky!

A few more quilts made it outside.

The Anglican Church is a lovely backdrop for more quilts.

Isn’t this quilt gorgeous.

Next door in the Masonic Lodge there were more quilts.

There was even an exhibition of wedding dresses owned by a local lady at the Services Club.

After so many things to take in we all gathered at the pub for a well earned relax in the beer garden. There were a couple of these little fellows buzzing around. Does anyone know what it is? It was like an oversized, iridescent mozzie.

We finished off the day with a beautiful meal at one of the restaurants. I can’t believe that I forgot to take a photo of us all together.

While we were in Braidwood we heard that there was also a Quilt Show on in Bungendore on the weekend, so made a detour over there on the way home. We haven’t been to Bungendore in years and years, so it was a great excuse to have a look around.

The weather was so much more pleasant on the way home than yesterday morning.

Yes, I did take some photos of the main quilt exhibition in Braidwood and the one in Bungendore, but I’ll share them in a separate post.

Latest Happenings

2011-11-25T21:50:00.001+11:00

I can’t believe it is nearly 2 weeks since I last posted. Time has just flown.

There has been a bit more news with my Dad. My aunt and uncle duly delivered Mum and Dad home safely last weekend with no further incidents. However, he had more pain on Monday night which ended up with trip to Sydney for him. He is now back home with a stent in one of his arteries. Other than one blockage, all looked fine. Here’s hoping that he will be all better now, once he gets his strength back.

In the middle of all these happenings I did manage to finish off a little secret sewing which is now winging it's way somewhere far away.

Phew! I’d have hated for it to be late.

Tomorrow we and four other couples are headed off to Braidwood to the Airing of the Quilts. We have all our fingers and toes crossed that the weather fines up. Mind you, we are looking forward to our weekend away regardless of the weather.

Sunday’s Travels

2011-11-15T07:24:00.001+11:00

On Sunday I left Coonabarabran and drove to Dunedoo before stopping for breakfast. I’m just not a fan of motel breakfasts and nothing was open in Coonabarabran in the morning.

I was so pleased that it worked out this way or I wouldn’t have enjoyed the White Rose Cafe.

As you get closers you start to see the cafe’s heritage. Lovely original painted windows.

Once you enter you are greeted by this wonderful original decor. I just love the polished aluminium counter with the red laminex top.

Check out the chequered floor in the red and pink.

And there are even the old marble topped tables. Wouldn’t they be the best for making pastry on.

To top it all off they make a terrific egg and bacon roll and skim mocha, which really hit the spot.

It all reminded me a bit of Peters Cafe in Bingara that we visited recently.

As I continued on my merry way I saw a sign pointing to the Gulgong Swap Meet. Never one to miss such an opportunity to compare other swap meets to ours, I followed the signs. I’m rather glad that I did. The fact that I may just find some treasure was of course in the back of my mind.

It was a surprisingly big swap meet for the size of the town and really well set out.

There were all sorts of things for sale, as well as a show and shine for motorcycles and cars.

The old engine group also had a display.

Yes, of course I found some treasures. I saw an idea recently of storing all your electrical gadget chargers in a large biscuit barrel, so have been on the lookout for a large canister to store ours in, as they are so hard to keep tidy. This aluminium one will fit the bill perfectly. It just needs a bit of spit and polish.

I don’t buy much green glass anymore, but succumbed when I saw this gorgeous oval platter. It glows under the black light and will be American, going on the elaborate design.

The frosted bowl is actually from a second hand shop in the little town where Mum and Dad are. I loved the deco lines.

The oblong plate caught my eye, being that lovely 30’s cream and green that suits my kitchen so well. It is “Gracelite” hotel ware for Grace Bros Sydney, although made in England. I couldn’t leave it there.

And, of course there is always room for a few more old bakelite buckles.

I was still home in time for a late lunch.

So, all in all, a very enjoyable day’s travels.

Back Home Again

2011-11-14T07:32:00.001+11:00

Thanks so much for all the well wishes for my Dad. He is now out of hospital but he and Mum haven’t travelled home as yet. My aunt and uncle will drive them back later in the week, after Dad has had some more rest. I drove their car home over the weekend.

Of course I took a few photos while I was away.

The lovely Bathurst Plains as I headed to Sydney on Tuesday. They won’t look this green for long.

As we flew over the Blue Mountains there was lots of low cloud. You could still see the sandstone cliffs. They look tiny from the air.

My uncle lives in a typical small Queensland town. Nothing flash, but all the basics are there. However, for anything else it is an hour’s drive to the nearest regional centre. That is not too bad for such a large state.

There were some lovely flowering street trees.

The gum blossoms were so fragrant.

As I drove home there was lots of prickly pear in flower.

Typical country letterboxes.

And roads leading off into the scrub.

Once I reached New South Wales, the harvest was in full swing. Lots of headers and grain trucks on the road.

The silos were all in action.

A bit different to home, where the crops are still green and harvest quite a way off as yet.

I drove as far as Coonabarabran on Saturday and went for a bit of a stroll in the evening. The clock tower looked lovely in the afternoon light.

Lovely art deco tiles on the old pub.

I just loved this old shop with its original features. Art deco would have to be my favourite style, with the pressed metal ceiling, gorgeous painted lettering and nickel plated window frames. They were a feature in so many towns across the country.

I took a peek through the window. What a pity it was closed.

There was another shop from the same era, but the only feature not obliterated was the window frames. What a pity. I suppose the architecture doesn’t suit the image the shop owners are looking for. It has been the fate of so many old buildings.

Anyway, on with my walk. Up a little alley way there was a great feature from the Girl Guides.

Each panel was made up of terracotta tiles. They looked like little wall quilts from a distance and the colours suit the side of the building so well.

I’ll share Sunday’s drive tomorrow.

By the way, I packed a little bit of SSCS stitching to take away, so fortunately, I will still have it ready to post on time. Phew!

Unexpected Happenings

2011-11-08T21:39:00.001+11:00

When I left work yesterday I assumed that is where I would be today.

However, today I’ve flown on the local commuter plane, another plane to Brisbane, then four and half hours in a hire car and am now in a small Queensland country town. I’ve seen jacarandas, banana trees, road trains, bottle trees, high set timber houses and experienced 35 degree heat. No photos, as I was driving.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t for pleasure. My Mum and Dad drove up to visit family and while here, Dad has had a heart attack. Fortunately, it is not as bad as first thought. He is rather a tough old bird. He is being well looked after in a small country hospital, but we are all a bit up in the air as to how long he will be here, what treatment will be required and when and how we can get him home.

We are very lucky that we have family here who are being wonderfully supportive.

Hopefully we will all be home again very soon and he gets much better.

A Quick Make

2011-11-04T19:23:00.000+11:00

Another of my work mates is headed overseas. This is her first trip out of the country and she has a brand spanking new passport. I thought this would be just the ticket for her.

It was a nice and easy pattern I found on A Spoonful of Sugar. I’ve had the fabrics for a while, just waiting for the right project.

I used plastic on a roll bought at Spotlight for the pocket on the inside. It was a little testing for me, as it tended to stick together. Therefore, it also stuck to the bed of my machine and the foot, so wouldn’t feed through.

To sew the binding on I had to lay a piece of fabric under the plastic so that it would feed through. The pattern says to baste the plastic to the lining fabric before sewing, but there was no way I could do that, but then it didn’t want to move, so it wasn’t a problem. The next challenge was the stitching down the centre of the plastic to make the two pockets. In the end I used my teflon coated foot from my little Elna Stella machine. Luckily I had one, as I don’t know how I would have proceeded without it. I was supposed to top stitch around the edges, but that just wasn’t going to work and I think it looks fine without it.

If I made another one of these (and I think I will, as I want one for my passport) I will use a different plastic. I’m thinking the plastic from a heavier duty sleeve for a 2-ring binder might work well, as it is more slippery. With the right plastic it would take no time at all to make.

Anyway, it was well received and I hope it gets lots of use over the coming years.

Motorcycling is Magic

2011-11-03T19:44:00.001+11:00

Or so the bumper sticker says.

A group of us rode up to Wellington on Sunday for the Annual Motorcycle Awareness Week ride. There was a good roll up, with the street being lined with bikes and quite a few stalls in the park.

We had a bit of a wander around checking out the bikes.

There were big ones and little ones.

Ratty ones. Don’t you just love the graphics. They are done in texta.

Shiny ones. This is the same model as Olga, only in pristine original condition.

We were the only sidecar there. Snubby created quite a bit of interest.

After lunch we took the long way home, via Yeoval and Cumnock, checking out all the quirky bicycle sculptures along the way.

We stopped in Cumnock for an ice cream.

It was a lovely day spent with good friends and we also caught up with lots of people we know, from right across the central west of the state, that we have got to know through motorcycling. You couldn’t get a nicer bunch.

Annual Play Date

2011-10-31T07:31:00.001+11:00

One of my friends and I have a very special day out each year that NO ONE and NOTHING gets in the way of. We visit the local open gardens and catch up on all the gossip. You can seen previous years here and here.

This year we were joined by her two daughters, which was really nice. I don’t even think that they were too bored with it all.

Most of the gardens had never been opened before, so it was worth going along. The Rahamin Centre is a community ecological garden. They had a great plant stall where I purchased lots of herbs, my tomatoes and some strawberries.

The next garden has been established for only about 5 years. The couple previously had a beautiful country garden on their property.

There were still lots of rural elements.

They have really made the most of their sloping site, the retaining wall still being a work in progress.

I think this was my favourite garden for the day.

No day out is complete without a visit to Blair Athol. A rather grand garden. Here we caught up with a friend visiting from Coonamble with their garden club.

There seemed to be more vege gardens than previous years. I always love seeing them.

One of the new gardens was beautifully manicured and looked so lush with its green and white theme. No flowers here.

This was the most surprising garden, as it was just on a regular suburban block in one of the newer subdivisions. Not what you would expect at all.

Next we headed out of town to visit Mary Moody’s garden at Yetholme. It hasn’t been open before either. She said it wasn’t a show garden and it isn’t. However, it is a lovely comfortable country garden around an older home. We really enjoyed our visit.

I loved the quirky vege patch.

We were so lucky with the weather, but finally, during the last garden we visited we were rained on. We still had a nice wander around.

As you can gather, we had a great day out and can’t wait to see what next year brings.

Weekend Goings On

2011-10-23T21:41:00.001+11:00

It has been a wonderful weekend here with nice, warm weather for a change. The temperature actually reached 30 degrees C, somewhat of a shock after a week or so back. It is so nice to not be feeling cold.

Yesterday I went along to my local stitching group, which was nice, as I’ve missed the last couple of get togethers.

Today I packed away my winter woollies and brought out the summer clothes. It is the first time this spring that I have felt confident that the cold weather has finished. I hope I am right.

This afternoon, while Mick watched bike racing and rugby on TV I made this little zippered pouch for one of the girls at work who is visiting the Big Apple soon. I hope she likes it.

I just love the New York fabric. Unfortunately, all the London and Paris fabric had sold out by the time I discovered it.

Everything Old is New Again

2011-10-22T09:04:00.001+11:00

Remember the bottle top trivet I found at Bingara the other day.

Well, I’ve just stumble upon a tutorial for a fabric one in the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop.

Who’d a thunk it!

Birthday Girls

2011-10-16T21:17:00.001+11:00

Tomorrow is my Mum’s birthday and my niece celebrates hers later in the week. This proved to be a great excuse to get out the pretty china and linen for afternoon tea.

It was the first time we have used the Royal Doulton tea set I found here last year.

I had fun making some birthday cake bunting. So quick and easy.

I think everyone enjoyed themselves and had plenty of yummy things to eat. I certainly didn’t need much for dinner tonight.

More Collecting

2011-10-15T22:31:00.001+11:00

Today I visited my favourite Church Fete that I’ve mentioned a few times before and we always seem to bring home a few treasures. This time my favourite white elephant stall was down a bit on stock compared to previous years, but I still found a couple of things.

I have a few vintage egg cups and I love gollies, so was rather excited when I spotted this one.

The other two items are just because they were cute. I think the acorn would have originally been a sugar bowl with a lid and handle.

I was also a little excited when I spied these moulds. I don’t collect jelly moulds, but seem to be getting quite a few lately.

I also picked up a few tatted doilies. There were six that matched, but in different sizes. It isn’t often that you see tatting. I couldn’t leave the lovely old tracing wheel (I already have a couple) and old curling irons are quite an unusual find. Don’t ask me what I’ll do with them, because I’ve no idea.

This diary was on the book stall. I missed out on seeing the textiles section of the V & A while in London (it is being relocated to another building and won’t reopen until 2013 – very disappointing) so at least I can have a look at some of the items in here.

So, while I’m doing a bit of show and tell, I’ll share my finds from our trip to Goondiwindi.

I found this little sandwich tray doiley at a country op shop. It is in lovely condition, so I am thrilled with it. I wonder if the lady who made it designed it herself, as the bottom writing is off centre. It just adds to the charm.

The following items were found in “Upcycled” at Bingara. I know! Another jelly mould and a cute cake tin. The tiny spinning wheel pencil sharpener is for my Dad, seeing as he spins and is the Mr Fixit for spinning wheels around here. The final item had me intrigued. It was sitting on an old timber ironing board with a flat iron sitting on top of it. I don’t know if it was designed as a mat for an iron, or just as a teapot stand. It is a lovely old “make do and mend” item. See the little bit of frayed edge.

Now look closer. What a clever idea. It is quite old, as I pulled the bottle top out and it was for Leeds lemonade – remember that? Not only is it an old variety, the lid is lined with cork. I can’t remember that style of lid, so it is old. It appears to be constructed by making individual bottle top covers and then sewing them together. The back then has a triangular crocheted panel sewn to the top.

I couldn’t believe it, when on the way home we called into a little craft shop and there was a bunch of grapes on the wall made using the exact same technique, but with thinner crochet thread and a felt backing. To have never seen the technique and then to see it twice on the same weekend is quite amazing. I’m glad I found the old version.

Back on the home front, Mick has started slashing our paddock today. We don’t have any sheep on the place at the moment to keep the grass down, so we need to reduce the fire risk for the summer.

We don’t have a tractor, so he has the use of one neighbour’s tractor and another’s slasher. We are lucky to have such wonderful neighbours. He will be at it for quite a few hours to get it all done, but we will both be much happier when the job is completed.

With the better season we are also seeing a much greater number of kangaroos. Whereas, for most of the time we have been here we occasionally saw them in the paddock, and if so, a family of four. Now it is unusual not to see them when in the car and the family has grown to six, and quite often we see several more and usually some joeys in amongst them. Yesterday, they seemed quite happy to sit in next door’s paddock and have their photo taken.

The one on the right doesn’t look all that big in the photo, but when he sits right up he would be well over six feet tall. He is a big powerful looking fellow.

The only downside to all the roos around is that they often on the road and being hit. Not a good outcome for the cars or roos.

I’ve no sewing to show, but I have made a bit of a start on the SSCS projects. Once I decided what to make it was so much easier to get going on it.

What’s in My Name?

2011-10-07T22:33:00.001+11:00

Dawn has asked this question of us all and it is amazing all the different blog names and what their origins are.

Mine is rather simple. As a littly I used to refer to myself as “Janna” – or so Mum tells me. Apparently I used to tell her “No nawny Janna” when she scolded me.

Move forward about 25 years and a work colleague used to refer to many of the girls at work by both of the Christian names – me being Janice Mary. Of all of them, mine seemed to be the one that stuck and I started referring to myself by the shortened version of “Jannimary”. Long after I no longer worked there I still seem to call myself “Jannimary” if I’m talking to myself – hopefully not the first sign of madness. More along the lines of “Come on Jannimary, get a wriggle on”.

When I started my blog I had no idea what to call it, as it was to be about all parts of my life. I don’t do enough craft to include that in the title – it would be a bit presumptuous, so “Jannimary” it is.

Off Exploring Again

2011-10-05T22:56:00.001+11:00

Each year on the October long weekend, or thereabouts, we like to go to dinner with some friends of ours. They live in Rockhampton, so it is a bit of a trip. This year we decided that Goondiwindi was the ideal venue, a nice halfway point.

We had planned to ride up, but after watching the weather reports ended up taking the car.

Along the way we had time to poke around in places like this.

We stopped in parks for a cuppa and picnic lunch.

We called in at the little country town of Bingara. This is one of those places that we always seem to go through when we are in a hurry to get somewhere, or when everything is shut. For a change we had time to browse. There is some lovely leadlight on the shop fronts.

Around the corner from the main street, Mick spotted a ladder out the front of a shop, so we went to investigate. It was rather well spotted.

Upcycled was a fascinating shop, with lots of people in there browsing and spending their money. I left a bit there too, just quietly. I just haven’t taken photos yet. Don’t you love their bunting.

Next was the craft shop with this rather splendid fellow out the front. He is made entirely from stuff found at the local tip. His feathers are binding twine.

Over the road is the magnificent old Roxy Theatre.

Mick had a peer through the windows.

Just then a lady came up and told us that if you go into the tourist office, a few doors down, they do guided tours. As we weren’t in a rush, we partook.

The theatre is celebrating its 75th birthday this year. It was started by three Greek fellows and they also had the adjoining cafe.

The architecture is stunning, although difficult to photograph. They were setting up for show that night.

The seats and drapes are not original, but the wall finishes and lights are. There are shutters behind the ornate screens, which would have been used for ventilation before air conditioning.

A lot of money has been spent on the theatre, but it was well worth it. Even the loos were in keeping with the style.

Next door, Peter’s Cafe has been restored as well. They use it occasionally for catering, but are looking for someone to run it full time. The timberwork behind the counter actually came from another cafe across the road.

The tables and chairs came from a cafe in Inverell. However, the original booths were found in a shed and have been reinstated.

After we dragged ourselves away from Bingara we went into some fairly stormy weather, so were pleased we ended up travelling by car. The scenery was wonderful. I just love the wide open spaces.

It was still wet when we arrived in Sunny Queensland. The temperature, at 1.30pm was a whole 12 degrees C! Not what we expected, and especially not what our friends from Rocky expected. Fortunately, they had packed a jumper.

We even had some hail, which apparently is quite rare. It didn’t clear up for some time.

We had a lovely evening with our friends and then in the morning started to head south again, this time travelling down the Newell Highway. Mt Kaputar looked spectacular out to the east.

Our next destination was to visit some friends who also went to the Isle of Man on their bike. Part of the reason we took the car was that we had about 30kms of dirt road to drive and it had rained the previous week. Fortunately, it had dried out fairly well, and as long as you followed the tyre tracks it was fine. It would have been a bit interesting on the bike though. Excuse the bugs on the windscreen.

The weather had cleared by now and we spent the evening sitting in front of a lovely fire, eating food cooked in the camp oven and chatting with good friends. You can’t get much better than that. The lovely Chookyblue and her family were even in attendance. I will note that she was busy crafting as well as chatting while there was sufficient light, unlike the rest of us that just chatted.

The next morning we went to a neighbour’s to see his collection of old bits and bobs. The fellows in the Car Club would have been drooling.

Finally, we started to head home again, stopping briefly in Gulargambone to check out the Galahs.

Then in Gilgandra to check out the windmills.

We were both rather tired by the time we got home. We had covered quite a bit of ground and seen so very much. It is amazing what we crammed into such a short time. Now we have to decide where we will meet up next year.

Finally, a Finish

2011-09-29T07:29:00.001+10:00

A couple of months ago I bought a charm pack of “Oasis” fabric and made a table runner top the same day. I cut the backing and binding and that is as far as I got.

Finally, last night I finished it off, just in time to join in OPAM. I can’t have a month with nothing finished.

The colours are a lot “prettier” than I often use, but I think it goes well in our dining room.

It is rather a dull, wet morning here today, so not the best photo. We are enjoying the rain as we so need it.

Our Weekend Camping

2011-09-27T21:27:00.001+10:00

The Sidecar Rally was on last weekend. The site is beside the Macquarie River, along the Bridle Track and only about 80kms from home, so a nice and leisurely trip out. It is the third time we have attended this friendly, family oriented rally.

We took “Snubby” the silver BMW and the camper trailer this time. Some good friends joined us for the day on Saturday on their brand new Triumph Tiger.

The weather on Saturday was glorious. Ideal for sitting beside the river and going for a bit of an explore.

There were a few tiny wild flowers.

Also, some maiden hair fern hiding under a rock. When I was a kid I used to love looking for the different ferns when we went to collect fire wood, and dug some up to take home as pot plants. I know that is a no-no now, but they actually did quite well.

I loved the colour of this gumleaf that fell onto my lap.

Walking beside the river gave a great view of the old road construction. The Bridle Track was exactly that, a track to the goldfields at Hill End for those on horse, or foot, pushing their barrow. It was too narrow for a stagecoach to get through.

Not far beyond where we camped there is a really steep part, called Monaghan’s Bluff, where the road is only just wide enough for a car, with a sheer cliff above and another below to the river. About eighteen months ago, in all the wet weather, there was a landslide and a rather large boulder is blocking the road. The Council doesn’t know how to move it, so the road remains impassable, except for solo motorcycles. As a result, the road surface this year left a bit to be desired. Actually, it really is just a track at the moment.

Back at the campsite, there were silly games. I just love this photo of Mick in full flight. He is supposed to be running, but it looks more like skipping to me. Of course, he still has his trademark hat on.

Here’s another shot of the river. It is such a lovely spot.

We all sat around the campfire in the evening and started to get a few spots of rain on us. Unfortunately, there was a bit more rain during the night and when we got up in the morning it set in to be quite wet. We got ourselves packed up and headed back to town. The road was really quite treacherous, being really slippery as well as rough. We came across one sidecar that had split the sidecar tyre, so once we got home, Mick turned around and went back with the ute and trailer and a spare wheel he had borrowed from a mate. Fortunately, the wheel fitted and the fellow was able to ride home. Mick has since learnt that there was quite a high attrition rate of bikes on the way out.

As we drove out of Bathurst we noticed lots of water everywhere. Obviously much heavier rain had fallen in town and then the landscape turned white! It looked like a reasonable fall of snow, but was in fact hail. There had been a really bad storm in a relatively small area, but it caused quite a lot of damage. It was only small hail, but lots of it. I was able to get this photo of it on the road, although this was no where near the heaviest area and was also about three hours after the event.

By way of contrast,at home we had only received a light sprinkle. Not even enough to settle the dust on our road. To cap it off, we had to stop on our drive to let a brown snake get out of the way. The first one we have seen at home for the season. Yuck! Just as well Mick saw it in time. I don’t like the idea of riding over one. I’d feel a little too vulnerable in the sidecar.

Technology Tweaking

2011-09-20T06:42:00.001+10:00

We’ve had a major upgrade on the technology front – in two respects.

Firstly, I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned before that we didn’t have a television. It was stolen in 1987 and we hadn’t bought a new one. You can’t rush into these things you know. LOL! We’ve lived very happily without one and had no plans to change matters.

That was until we told our potential house sitter, before we went on our trip, and she said “Oh!”. To cut a long story short, we now have a TV that gets watched on Friday nights for the footy and on Sunday nights for Grand Design and the odd Moto GP race. As you can imagine, I’m not totally enthralled by the footy and have been antisocial and still gone into the office to read blogs.

Secondly, we are on satellite internet. We have three computers – my desktop, Mick’s laptop and our little laptop for travel. Mick’s and mine are connected to the internet by cable and to use the little one, we have a Telstra dongle with next to no reception. Finally, I had a revelation. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. Why couldn’t we get a wireless router with the satellite internet? For some reason I thought it wouldn’t work.

On Saturday I bought this little treasure and on Sunday night I hooked everything up. It works! Beautifully! While Mick was watching hours of Moto GP I was able to sit out there with the little laptop reading blogs in front of the heater. Only the desktop needs to be hooked up by cable. How good is that.

I’m still blogging on my desktop, as that is where my photos are, but I might just tweak that too. Once again, you can’t rush into these things.

The Week That Was and Whacky Weather

2011-09-18T22:37:00.001+10:00

I seem to have quite a few odds and sods to tell you about today.

Firstly, I’ve been rather amiss in sharing a lovely parcel that arrived in the mail from Peg. I was one of the lucky ones to win a prize in July’s OPAM draw. I’ll have fun with these. Thanks so much Peg and Kris.

I do love taking part in this challenge, as although my finishes are rather thin on the ground this year, apart from when we were away, there has always been a little something. Without OPAM I don’t know if that would be the case.

Also, remember my “Spring” quilt block I made last week. Well, I was lucky enough to win second prize. First prize went to a block which had lots of beautiful stitchery, and was it was well deserved. During the patchwork day at Spotlight they also had a few guessing competitions. One was to guess the length of some strips of fabric all joined together. It was about half the size of a Jelly Roll, so I guessed 27 metres. It was in fact 31 metres, so I won that prize. I was very lucky. Here are my prizes.

I’m not sure where I’ll use the fat quarters, but I know my niece will have fun with the butterfly yo-yo maker. The little rotating cutting mat is something I’ll really make use of. It will be ideal for squaring up blocks and cutting charm squares.

On Friday night we went with some friends to the O’Connell Amateur Dramatic Society’s Melodrama. These are a fundraiser for the school and held biennially. Our community is blessed with some very creative and talented people. Two of the ladies write these hilarious and somewhat risqué melodramas. They are held in the local church hall over two weekends and tickets sell out in about an hour. Last weekend would have been wickedly cold, but this weekend was much better. We all had a great time.

As you can guess, this was Mick’s favourite scene.

We were supposed to go to a motorcycle rally at Tottenham this weekend, but at the last minute Mick had to work. However, in the end it was only for Saturday, so we were able to go along on the Historic Car Club run for a picnic in a farmer’s paddock. Sorry, I forgot to take photos – too busy nattering. This was our first ride on Olga since we came home. She is certainly running a lot better, but it was evident that she still needed a bit of tweaking. So, when we got home Mick changed the oils and did a bit more fiddling. She is slowing getting better. I secretly think that Mick is just enjoying the tinkering.

While Mick was playing in the shed, I planted these. A bit late getting them in, but they should be nice and bright in summer.

Our few vege seeds I planted a while ago are doing nicely too. They were from seeds that were in the bottom drawer for several years. I put them in thinking that if they come up well and good, if not, nothing is lost.

I can’t believe the difference in the weather, compared to last weekend. Last Sunday reached a maximum of 8 degrees C, today it was 28 degrees C! Try figuring that one out. I dare say there will be at least one more relatively cold snap before we are through.

Spring Quilt Block

2011-09-12T17:52:00.000+10:00

I received a Spotlight catalogue in the mail in Wednesday advertising a quilting expo at their stores on Saturday. As a part of the day they wanted people to make a 12 inch square quilt block with a Spring theme for judging and then to be used to make community quilts.

So, on Friday night (nothing like leaving things to the last minute) I pulled out some nice cheerful fabrics.

I fiddled and faddled and cut out a few bits and pieces, before going to bed.

In the morning I made this block.

I think it looks like spring. It even matches my new ironing board cover that Mum made me for my birthday at the beginning of the year.

I was pleased to have my block to Spotlight on time and also to see that there were quite a few others. Hopefully a nice quilt will be made from them.

Daffodils at Rydal

2011-09-11T19:38:00.001+10:00

The weather has turned rather wintery again this weekend. However, that wasn’t going to stop us visiting Rydal today for the daffodil open gardens. They are open again next weekend, but we will be away then.

It was a great chance to wear my vintage overcoat that I found at the Swap Meet several years ago. I just love it, but it isn’t very often that I need to wear an overcoat, as we usually just go from one heated place to the car to another heated place. It is so snuggly and warm.

We try to visit the gardens most years, and I’m surprised to see that I haven’t shared them before.

The first country garden we visited was “Karingal”.

Until recently it was owned by friends of ours and it was wonderful to see that the new owners are taking great care of the garden.

I just love the magnificent old oak trees with the daffodils underneath.

Rydal itself is an old railway village just west of Lithgow and there is now a wonderful park beside the track and old station. The progress association have really spruced up the place in the last ten years or so.

The Union Church is always decorated beautifully.

The yellow really highlights the lace in the altar cloth.

This sprawling garden is only about five years old and incorporates lovely old mature gum trees.

I still think the King Alfreds are my favourites.

St Matthews Church – a typical country church. Yes, it has daffodils too, they are just out of sight in this shot.

My favourite garden is “Rose Cottage”. Behind this old tin cottage is the most gorgeous garden, which has been featured on the cover of “Country Style” and “Country Ideas” magazines.

The entrance to the garden makes you want to explore further.

The owner has a wonderful sense of style.

Each year there is something new to see.

I could spend quite a bit of time sitting here.

Lovely touches wherever you look.

Even the vege garden is beautiful.

This year we just wandered around the village rather than visiting the other country gardens. There are three other country gardens, which are all gorgeous, but, as we have seen them several times before and it was cold, we decided to head elsewhere.

Our destination was Running Stream, which is a locality between Lithgow and Mudgee and somewhere that we never go near, as it is out of our way. There is a cafe there that we had heard was good. It was a great venue with nice hot soup. Sorry, forgot to take a photo, too busy tucking in. Then we took a rather long wander home up lots of back roads. Rather a pleasant way to spend a cold, showery, wintery day.

No, we weren’t on the bike, we were in the nice warm car.

Okay, Here’s the Front

2011-09-06T08:09:00.001+10:00

After my recent post showing my new “do” I was asked to show the front.

Well, it is six weeks since it all came off and now it is even a bit shorter and a slightly different colour.

Here ‘tis.

I think I am happy with it now.

Our Olga is Home

2011-09-05T07:12:00.001+10:00

The final chapter of our holiday is now closed as Olga the old girl is back home.

She’s actually been home since Friday a week ago. The shipment of bikes ended up being a few days later back to Australia than anticipated, but all bikes passed the quarantine inspection with flying colours, which meant that there were no extra delays with collecting them.

If you recall, after being washed a little too vigorously at Felixstowe, Olga had to be towed to the shipping depot. Mick had hoped that once she had fully dried out that she would start. Unfortunately, this didn’t eventuate, so there has been much tinkering happening in the shed. Finally it has been established that the electrical coil had failed. This is a new part that Mick had put on, so it is disappointing that it gave up the ghost so soon. Not to worry, a new one is on order and she should be up and running again this week.

When we sent Olga home, we filled her with all the bike gear and winter woollies and other bits and pieces that we wouldn’t need for the rest of the trip. We also packed a few other goodies. It was fun unpacking. I’d forgotten some of the bits and pieces we had collected along the way. I’ll share a few over the next few days.

Ta Da! A Finish

2011-08-29T18:43:00.000+10:00

We had a Christening to attend yesterday, which was a perfect excuse to get sewing.

I used this little bundle of goodies.

Which turned into the little fellow hiding behind my teddies.

Meet “Roberto” robot. I found the pattern in Patchwork and Stitching Vol 10 No 12. I’m quite pleased with how he turned out as he is wonderfully squishy and cuddly.

He had fun exploring the garden before we left home.

I hope is well loved by little Jacob.

Of course, he is also a OPAM finish. Just in time. Yay!

Going for a Drive

2011-08-28T21:33:00.001+10:00

Yesterday we went for a drive to the Burraga Sheep Show. Burraga is about 70kms south of Bathurst and is one of those places you normally have no need to visit, as in not on the way to anywhere and there is next to nothing there. The road was only sealed a few years ago, but it has made the village much more accessible and the road has become quite a popular motorcycling destination, as it makes a good loop back to Oberon.

The sheep show is also the village show with pavilion events and displays.

The Bathurst Spinners and Weavers were there, including my Dad with his spinning wheel.

Of course, we had to check out the sheep.

Lunch was in the typical small village park, complete with war memorial and playground.

There are a few interesting old buildings too.

As the weather was rather lovely and springlike, we then ventured to Burraga Dam. This was build in 1910 to service the mine, which was the reason for the village’s existence. When we last visited, a few years ago now, it was a real goat track to get in. This time the track was excellent.

We went out onto the wall to have a look. Apparently there was a trout hatchery here in the 1950s.

The walkway isn’t very wide.

We were in no hurry to be anywhere, so just had a lovely wander around. Most of the time we were the only ones there. Mick remembers coming here for picnics as a kid, as he grew up just down the road.

We hope to go camping out here one weekend, even though it is only about an hour from home.

It is just so lovely and peaceful.

It was nice just sitting and watching the view while having our thermos of tea and home made brownie we had bought earlier.

I played with the my new toy taking lots of photos. I loved all the different textures and hope I don’t bore you.

It was a rather pleasant way to spend the day. I hope we have the chance to go out there again soon.

The Promise of Spring

2011-08-24T22:17:00.001+10:00

I love seeing everything start to awaken after the depths of winter.

It’s amazing the difference after a few warm days.

This morning there was a pea souper fog and the new growth in the orchard sparkled.

The quince with its lovely furry leaves.

The apricot just starting to blossom.

A lovely spiders web with reflections in the dew drops.

It is also wonderful to be getting home from work with a little bit of daylight left.

I have a new toy. My old camera nearly wore out while on our trip, so I have a new camera. Another point and shoot, but it has a wonderful zoom and plenty of great features. Best of all, it is small enough to live in my handbag all the time.

A Bit of a Change

2011-08-17T07:05:00.001+10:00

Before

After

OMG!!

ABC Tour – Cuckoo Clocks, Cake, Colmar, Coming to an End

2011-08-10T21:09:00.001+10:00

SATURDAY 16 JULY - BLACK FOREST AND COLMAR

Today was our final day of the tour. The week had gone so very quickly. We woke early to a beautiful morning with a lovely view out of our cabin window. Luckily I took a photo when I did, as shortly after another vessel double docked and we couldn’t see anything. We were now moored on the German side of the river again at Breisach, which is only about 70kms from Basel where we finish up tomorrow morning.

For something completely different, we had an early start and hopped onto a bus. This time we travelled for about an hour and a half up into the Black Forest.

Firstly, we drove through wine growing regions.

The terrain then changed and became more hilly. We stopped at a pretty lookout.

The style of buildings was also quite different. Sorry about the quality of the photos, but once again snapped through the bus window.

Then it was into the actual forest.

Mick was so wishing that he was not in the bus but travelling on a bike. There were quite a few out and about, as it was just perfect weather and roads for riding.

I loved a convoy of old tractors and caravans that we met along the way.

Our destination was a cuckoo clock shop which served traditional black forest cherry cake at the village of Niederwasser. At the side of the building there was the world’s biggest cuckoo clock.

After our yummy cake, we went for a stroll around the village. It was so nice to have a warm, blue day.

When we returned to Breisach there was quite a collection of cruise ships moored. Ours is at the back.

We had signed up for another optional excursion after lunch to the town of Colmar on the other side of the river in France. Mick decided that he had had enough of walking tours through old towns and opted to spend the afternoon walking at a much faster pace around the smaller town of Breisach. So, I headed off on the bus without him.

It turns out that Colmar is considered one of the most beautiful small towns in France. We soon learnt why. It turns out that it didn’t get destroyed in WWII, whereas most of the surrounding villages were razed to the ground. Apparently it was liberated before it was destroyed.

One famous feature is “Petite Venice” along the river. They even have punts.

The buildings have always been painted up in many colours.

The market hall has recently been refurbished and reopened.

Lots of yummy things on offer.

We went down the street than had housed the tanneries in times gone buy. Apparently, it was really run down and the council obtained a large grant to fix it up.

Don’t let the facades fool you. Behind the original facades are ultra modern homes and apartments, complete with lifts.

There was a stork nesting on the church. We actually saw several storks on nests during the day. There is a frame on the roof for the nest to sit.

Mick would have loved this sidecar outfit, but I think he would have been a bit big to ride it.

I loved this crooked building.

We had a lovely wander around in our free time. It is amazing how a modern shopping precinct can use the old buildings.

Before we caught the bus back to the boat, we enjoyed a nice cool beer here. Very refreshing.

In the evening there were lots to photos taken, email addresses swapped and goodbyes said. We met some lovely people on this trip, which really added to our enjoyment.

Sunday saw yet another early start to be on the bus to Zurich to catch our plane home after ten weeks away. It was with mixed emotions that we headed home. It was sad for the long planned trip to be coming to an end, but we were really looking forward to getting back home.

We don’t know that we will do another trip quite as long. It is a long time to be away from home and also to be in each other’s pockets all the time. During our normal life, we are both at work during the day, so only see each other of an evening and on weekends (when Mick isn’t working), so you do get to the stage that you need a bit of space. However, after doing a similar trip in 2007, we knew that would happen.

Overall, our trip was wonderful. I don’t know what the highlight was, but the Rhine River Cruise was definitely up there. We have never been on any organised holiday before, always preferring to do our own thing, but it was so nice not having to think or organise anything and we were so spoilt by the staff on the ship. It was quite a luxurious way to travel.

The bike trip on Olga was great, although Mick found it quite hard handling the old dear. We felt quite a sense of achievement in completing our lap of the UK, but were glad we didn’t have to go any further, as I don’t think she would have lasted much longer. She actually performed better than expected.

We loved how we would arrive at a town not knowing anything about it or what was there to see and then quickly learning that there is lots to do and see and ended up staying for extra days. Stumbling on the Beaulieu Auto Jumble, the Vintage bike run at Wells, lovely waterfalls at Braemar in Scotland, a concert at Kings Lyn, riding a bike in Hyde Park in London, catching a steam train into the North Yorkshire Dales, riding in a punt in Canterbury and so many other things I can’t think of at the moment.

Of course, the Isle of Man was fantastic. Not only was the racing spectacular, it was wonderful to catch up with our friends over there. They really make our visit special. We have already booked our accommodation for TT in two years time.

It has been good keeping a record on my blog. Even now I look back at it and find things I had forgotten about. There is no way you could ever remember everything after such a trip.

We will have to see where we will end up on our future travels (other than the Isle of Man). We have a couple of ideas, but nothing definite for a while. It is just nice being home.

ABC Tour – Canal, Cathedral, Clock, Countryside, Cute Towns

2011-08-07T19:38:00.001+10:00

FRIDAY 15 JULY STRASBOURG AND ALSACE

A bit of background.

As we followed the Rhine along, we come to a section where the river forms the border between France and Germany. Our first port of call was the French city of Strasbourg. The city was founded by the Romans, but it has been a rather tumultuous area over time, being claimed variously by the French and Germans over many hundreds of years. The city was German for 700 years, but in more recent times changing hands several times since 1870. Unlike so many other cities, however, it was not destroyed during WWII. It is believed that this is in part due to the fact both the Germans and French felt a sense of ownership of the city. Strasbourg is now French and the people definitely feel French.

Our introduction to the city was on a canal boat tour. The boat had a glass roof, so it was a bit hard to take photos.

The weather was glorious, so it was a pleasure to be out and about.

It was interesting hearing all the history. We learnt so much more than if we just visited on our own. Some of the areas we saw on the canal were the very worst slums in past times. They were used by the tanners, whose industry was dirty and smelly, scraping the flesh of the hides and using urine in the tanning process. You can identify the old tannery buildings by the open eaves, where the hides were left to air dry over some time. Many have since been closed in, but some remain open as a reminder of those times.

After the canal tour, we continued our tour on foot, visiting the cathedral. The European cathedrals are such a contrast to the English ones, as they still have all their carvings and decorations, unlike their English counterparts, which were stripped bare by Cromwell and his cronies.

All the statues around the door arch would have been removed in England.

A famous feature in the cathedral is a planetarium clock. Our tour was arranged so that we would be there when it chimed at 10.30am and see all the mechanical bits and bobs do their stuff. It was quite amazing, considering the age of it.

The pipe organ was quite unusual and very ornate.

Outside, we had some free time to explore.

We were tempted by this shop.

Just look at that! All those yummy biscuits. We did treat ourselves to a little goody bag full to nibble on. Not that we really needed anything more to eat.

We could have spent rather more time wandering around, as it was a lovely place and the buildings were just amazing. However, we had opted to go on an extra little excursion, so had to make do with the bit of time we had.

After lunch we hopped into a bus and travelled on the motorway for a while.

Our destination was the wine trail through the French Alsace region. This took us through several pretty little villages.

Many of them were entrants in the local competition for the best floral display by a village.

The village wells were all decorated beautifully.

Most of the villages were walled and the bus had to squeeze through the arched gateways.

Of course, we passed some vineyards.

You can’t visit the area without sampling some of the wares. We called in at a cellar for a little tasting.

We expected to just be given a little bit to taste, but no, we were all sat down and the winemaker explained how to go about tasting the wine.

For novices like us, it was really interesting.

We brought a bottle home with us and will save it for a special occasion. (I’m sure we can find an excuse fairly soon.)

Then it was back on the bus to visit the town of Obernai for yet another guided walking tour and a bit of free time to have a wander around.

The day was finished off with the gala farewell dinner, although we still have one more night on board. It was a lovely evening, so after the delicious meal we went up on the top deck to enjoy the sunset.

Only one more day to go.

ABC Tour – Cathedral and Castle (Fancy That!!) and Crew Show

2011-08-03T22:14:00.001+10:00

THURSDAY 14 JULY MAINZ TO HEIDELBERG

Our days are starting to get into a routine on the cruise now. After sailing through the night, a guided walking tour starts the day’s activities after breakfast. This time it was through the city of Mainz.

Once again the city was badly damaged during WWII but still with enough surviving to be an interesting place to visit.

The cathedral is a little different, in that it is of the Romanesque style, rather than Gothic.

The main highlight, though, is the Gutenberg Museum. We didn’t know what it was about, but afterwards, we were really pleased to have visited. You see, way back in the 1400s, Mr Gutenberg, using his metallurgy skills, developed a method of printing using metal letters. He was, in fact, the inventor of modern printing. We were given a little demonstration of how the printing press worked, but no photos were allowed in the main part of the museum.

Prior to his invention, it would take a scribe two and a half years to write out a bible. With his invention, Gutenberg printed 180 bibles in three years. He initially used vellum, but after using all the supplies of hides available, had to continue with paper.

If you were wealthy enough to purchase one of his printed bibles, you would have only received a pile of pages with black writing. Then you would have to take them to a scribe of your choice to write the title on each page and some of the text in red, and to do the fancy lettering at the start of each paragraph. Then, you would have to take your pages to a book binder to be bound into two volumes. Therefore, each bible is unique.

The museum holds one complete bible and half a bible. There are only 49 still in existence. They had the two volumes open at the same page. One was only in red, blue an black ink, but the artist’s work was very detailed and fine. The other volume would have been more expensive at the time, as it had much more colour in the lettering and quite a bit of gilding. However, the workmanship was much cruder than the simpler version.

In the afternoon we had a second excursion, this time after an hour’s bus trip we visited Heidelberg Castle, famous for “The Student Prince”. It dominates the skyline of the city.

It is one of Europe’s most famous castles and is, in most part, a ruin, albeit a very picturesque one.

The views are spectacular.

We had a bit of free time before our bus left Heidelberg, so as is becoming the norm, the boys found a cafe to sit and have a beer while the girls checked out the shops.

On board, after dinner, we were entertained by the crew, who put on a show for the passengers. We all wondered what they would do, and they weren’t giving away any clues beforehand. Well, it was wonderful. They had some hilarious skits, one in particular showed us how a waiter should not operate. It had us in stitches. A highlight though, was a traditional Balinese dance performed by one of the girls. It was just beautiful.

Everyone really enjoyed the performances and then started to let their hair down, getting up and having a dance. A lovely English couple on the cruise really enjoyed singing and we had them up singing duets. As the evening progressed and the crowd thinned out, we all ended up having a sing-along. We sang all sorts of songs.

The Aussies even ended up singing “Kookaburra” in rounds, with the fellows and girls singing different parts. I’d never have expected to have done that.

I think the evening was a highlight of the trip.

The Circle of Life and a OPAM Finish

2011-07-31T18:03:00.001+10:00

Through the week we were saddened to hear of the death of an elderly dear friend. However, he had been ill for quite some time, so it was a blessing that he is no longer in pain.

Life came full circle when we also received the news on Friday that some other dear friends had their first child. They have called her Poppy Alexandra, which I think is a really pretty name.

This of course, was just the thing I needed to prompt me to get out my sewing machine after our holiday. Our little sewing group met yesterday afternoon and I had these whipped up nice and quickly in amongst the chatter. I love this pattern that Mum has been using for years, and now I use all the time.

I’m glad to have a little something finished for OPAM, so that I only ended up missing out on June.

ABC Tour – Coblenz, Castles, Castles and More Castles, Complicated Mechanical Musical Machines

2011-07-25T21:34:00.001+10:00

WEDNESDAY 13 JULY 2011

Another early start, this time for a walking tour of Coblenz (Koblenz). Like Cologne, it was founded by the Romans and most of the city was destroyed in WWII. However, there are still some lovely buildings to be seen.

There are also lots of quirky sculptures around the city and our wonderful, passionate guide delighted in telling us the stories behind them all. She really brought the city to life.

Koblenz did not think that it was of any strategic importance in WWII, but forgot about being at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers. Their big statue of Kaiser Wilhelm lasted until right at the end of the war, when it was destroyed. The metal ended up being melted down and only the original head retained. Finally, in the 1980s, a replica was built and the corner of the rivers is once again complete.

When we visited Europe in 2007 we rode our bike beside part of the Rhine River. When we reached Koblenz we didn’t realise that any of these interesting old places existed. It has been so much better this time around.

The section of the River we rode along was the Rhine Gorge and it is mainly because of the beauty we saw then that we came back this time. We knew that we wanted to have a better look. This afternoon we sailed along that stretch of the River and it was funny recognising some of the spots we had seen before.

There are so many castles and picturesque towns and villages along this section of the River.

We were given a sheet which identified 27 castles. No wonder it is called the “Romantic Middle Rhine”.

The town of Boppard.

The sundeck was the best place to be for viewing, but unfortunately it was a grey old day and quite cool. Several passengers went and got blankets to wrap around themselves.

This section is really pretty, but at the same time is about the most difficult section to navigate. Not only were there several tourist boats like us, but all the usual commercial river traffic.

This is the statue of the famous Loreley, who, legend has it, used to sit on a rocky bend of the river and distract sailors with her beauty and singing, which caused them to crash and sink.

River tolls were collected at many points in the past and a chain was put across the river from this castle on an island. I took a great photo of Mick on the bike in front of this castle (in the rain) last time we were here.

When we visited last time we explored Bacharach, which is a walled town and truly lovely. This time we just sailed past.

Can you vaguely see an iron basket hanging out from the tower at the front of this castle? Well, apparently people were put in that basket as punishment. Let’s hope they weren’t too scared of heights.

Of course, this is the home of the famous wine growing region. Lots of vineyards on the sides of the hills.

Eventually, we left the most scenic part of the river and docked at the town on Rudesheim. Here we went on another little walking tour and ended up at Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Instruments Museum”. There was every type of whirdy girdy that you could think of. This was my favourite.

Not only was it a pianola, it also had violins. It is incredible that such detailed music can be played mechanically.

It was raining while we were in Rudesheim, but we can’t complain as it was the first rain we have had on the trip. It didn’t stop us having a wander around the streets. The boys found a cafe for a beer, while the girls explored Christmas Shops. Imagine being here in December when they have the Christmas fares.

More pretty buildings.

Can you believe I took 382 photos today. I think I got a bit carried away.

Have you also noticed something else? Remember that I said this was the be the relaxing, wind down week before we go home? Well I don’t know what happened there!! To be truthful, it could be a lovely relaxing holiday if we wished to just stay on board and watch the world go by. However, we have partaken in everything on offer as we don’t want to miss out on anything.

Another big day is planned for tomorrow.

ABC Tour – Cologne Sightseeing, Cathedral

2011-07-24T20:50:00.001+10:00

TUESDAY 12 JULY 2011

We sailed through the night and this morning we were able to have a bit of a sleep in. We arrived in Cologne late morning.

We passed quite a lot of industrial areas on the way.

The sight of the Cathedral and bridges is quite stunning.

After lunch we were met by local guides who took us on a walking tour of the old city. We were each given a head set, which linked into the guide’s set. They are brilliant, as we can all hear without having to get really close and them yell.

Like most of the main cities along the Rhine, it was founded by the Romans.

The old fish market square was our first taste of the old German architecture. Just lovely.

Of course, the Cathedral, or “Dom” is the most imposing building. 90% of Cologne’s old city was destroyed during WWII, but fortunately the Cathedral survived.

It dates back to the 13th Century and is considered one of the finest in Europe. The 510 foot high towers were only added in 1880.

The beautiful medieval stained glass windows were removed in WWII and put in safe keeping for the duration, so are now back where they should be.

There is a major archaeological dig taking place of the old Jewish Quarter of the city.

In our free time I explored the more modern section of the city.

Meanwhile, Mick climbed to the top of the Cathedral tower. It is 503 steps and, as the day was quite warm, he said it was quite hard.

After such an effort we had to try the local “Kolsch” beer at one of the local beer houses. It is light and refreshing and comes in 200ml glasses.

Then it was back on board for the daily six course dinner before being entertained by a Belgian string trio. What a treat. They were rather wonderful, after which we set sail overnight.

ABC Tour – Canal Boat, Commencing the Cruise

2011-07-24T20:45:00.001+10:00

MONDAY 11 JULY

There was no sleep in this morning as before we sailed we went on a canal boat tour of Amsterdam. We were to be ready to depart at 8.15am after a wonderful breakfast.

The best way to see Amsterdam is from the water. About a third of The Netherlands is below sea level, so managing water is a major part of their infrastructure. It was great to see the wonderful facades on such a nice day.

I was surprised at how old these buildings are. Quite a few are a bit lopsided where they have subsided into the spongy soil.

Of course there are lots of lovely old bridges as well.

Many people live in houseboats. We saw people sitting out on their decks enjoying a leisurely breakfast. What a life.

The many modes of transport available.

Another stunning bridge, although this one is fairly modern.

This bridge is only just wide enough for the barge.

There are bicycles wherever you look and the most amazing parking lots for them. Apparently they are always being stolen and they regularly have to clean lots of them out of the canals.

We started our sailing just before lunch on the Amsterdam Rhine Canal, which took us to the Rhine River. The countryside is flat but really pretty.

We traversed our first lock.

How it works is that the water level in the lock is lowered to the same as the canal, they open the doors and the boats going downstream sail out.

We, along with several other boats sail in.

They close the door behind us and fill it up with water to the higher level. Then they open the front door and we sail out and continue on our way. This is one of the bigger locks we went through. Most will be only wide enough for one boat, and some are quite a tight squeeze. We go through 14 all up.

After a while we made a turn and were on the Rhine River. The river is really busy with cargo boats. They carry all sorts of things – oil, coal, stones, dirt, shipping containers, you name it.

We enjoyed the afternoon lazing on the sundeck, watching the world go by.

After our six course dinner we went back up onto the sundeck to see this glorious sunset. Yes, could definitely get used to this.

We sail through the night tonight.

ABC Tour – Catching a Cab, Train, Cab, Bus and Boat

2011-07-24T20:39:00.001+10:00

SUNDAY 10 JULY 2011

We had a bit of a busy day today. It was an early start to get to the train station in time to catch a high speed train to Amsterdam. We allowed plenty of time, only to find that our half our cab ride only took 5 minutes on a Sunday morning and that catching a train to another country is easier than catching a suburban train. You just rock up, walk straight onto the platform and show your ticket at the door. It is that simple. It doesn’t seem right.

The train took us through Belguim, to The Netherlands and Amsterdam, where we caught another cab to the port to check in for our next adventure, a one week Rhine River Cruise. How exciting! This is the finale of our trip and something we have both really been looking forward to. It is to be a relaxing wind down week before getting home.

We had plenty of time to spare before sailing, so we took advantage of the optional tour to the Dutch folk village “Zaanse Schans”.

Here we visited a working windmill that grinds pigments for artists’ paints, a wooden shoe maker’s and a cheese maker’s.

It was really picturesque.

The weather was glorious, so there were lots of people out and about. We were really taken with the gorgeous boats, both at the village and in the harbour at Amsterdam.

After our tour, we boarded the “Avalon Felicity”, which is to be our home for the next week. It is only twelve months old and somewhat luxurious.

I think we might spend a fair bit of time up here.

Once we boarded we were introduced to the crew and then there was our first experience of the food. Dinner consisted of six, yes six, courses. Surprisingly, we were able to eat it all and didn’t feel overly full. They were just little tastes. A great way to dine. I could get used to this.

Generally, everyone is finding their way around, getting used to the routine and meeting the other passengers.

Tonight we stay berthed in Amsterdam and start the cruise tomorrow.

ABC Tour – Continuing in Paris, Climbing a Tower

2011-07-24T20:34:00.001+10:00

SATURDAY 9 JULY

We had no real plans for today, so we just went with the flow.

Firstly, we hopped on the green bus again and headed to Montmatre, past the Moulin Rouge.

Up to the Sacre Coeur.

It is really light inside, especially compared to the Notre Dame.

The views from up there over Paris are wonderful. One major landmark is not visible, as it is further around to the right.

Just up the road from where we are staying was an antique market today. We had a good look, but there really wasn’t much that grabbed our attention. I just bought a little few buttons.

We have been staying in the Madeleine district, and today we finally had a look inside the Madeleine Church. Apparently the building was built and they didn’t know what they would use it for. It was eventually decided to use it as a church.

We found a patisserie which served delicious tarts for afternoon tea.

Before we left home we planned a little treat for ourselves – dinner on the Eiffel Tower. It was hard to find a way to just have dinner, without incorporating a river cruise or Moulin Rouge, but with a bit of help from Mr Google we were able to book a table for two for a 9.00pm sitting at the “58 Tour Eiffel” restaurant on the first level.

We arrived in plenty of time so had a nice wander around. Look at the size of the queues to go up the tower, even at 8.30 pm.

Of course the views were spectacular and we had fun picking out the landmarks. We were lucky that it was such a lovely evening.

The obligatory photo of us.

The meal was delicious and the service spot on.

It was great having the later meal, as there was no pressure to be out in time for another party coming into the restaurant after us. By the time we had finished it was dark and we had another wander around enjoying the night lights.

For the millennium the tower was wired for sparkly lights to be on display on the hour, each hour. As everyone loved this effect so much it has been retained. We first saw this when we visited in 2007 and it is really beautiful. This time we experienced the sparkle all around us as we were still on the tower. Something very special.

Isn’t it beautiful. A special evening to remember.

ABC Tour – Coming Home to the Cold, Catching Up on the ZZZZZZZs

2011-07-24T20:28:00.001+10:00

We’re home again! It was a bit of a shock, as this is what we came back to.

Yes, that is a little bit of snow. Not a lot, but enough to be a bit of a shock after the weather we had been used to.

We flew into Sydney on Monday afternoon and drove home on Tuesday. I think the animals were glad to see us home and we are now all settling back into ~~normal~~ usual life. Mick was back at work on Wednesday and I returned on Thursday. We are glad it was a short working week.

I’ll catch up on the last bit of our trip over the next couple of days, before I forget what happened.

ABC Tour – Chunnel, Coming to Paris

2011-07-10T02:12:00.001+10:00

THURSDAY & FRIDAY 7-8 JULY

Thursday saw us catch the Eurostar train to Paris. It only takes a bit over two hours, with 20 minutes in the tunnel. The world just whizzes by. This was the only picture I got without blurring or just being trees.

Our hotel is in the Madeleine District and is really nice, with English speaking staff, which helps. We just went for a wander that afternoon to get our bearings.

Today, we hopped on the open topped bus and went for a tour of the main sights.

The Louvre. We didn’t go in, as we visited it last time we were here.

The arch opposite the Louvre.

The Champs Elysses. They are getting things ready for the finale of the Tour de France.

Around the Arc de Triomphe.

Backwards and forwards over the Seine. This is on the Alexander III Bridge.

The Church of the Madeleine, just up the road from our hotel.

We did the full loop and then went back to the Notre Dame Cathedral to have a look.

It’s a splendid building. Apparently it was in disrepair, but after Victor Hugo’s book they restored it.

The queue moved really quickly. The queue to the ladies’ loos was slower, and Mick had to wait at the door for me.

Another lovely interior.

Lots of stained glass windows.

A couple of the bridges over the Seine had lots of locks attached. They are “Love Locks”. Apparently it has only been going on for a few years.

So we added ours.

There it is, in among all the rest.

We wandered along the banks of the Seine looking at all the market stalls.

Then we hopped back on the bus to the Eiffel Tour. We just wandered around the base.

There are heaps of fellows selling junky Eiffel Towers. It is a constant battle between them and the police. They are always on the lookout and when the police come along on pushbikes they all bolt. This happens all the time.

We then went and wandered around the fountain over the road.

Mick loves watching the traffic, which has us both amazed. It is like a continual dance. There are no lanes marked on the roads and traffic just goes where it wants and you just have to watch out for them. Add heaps of motor scooters zipping in and out, loads of busses and pushbikes as well and it is mayhem. However, it seems to work. Don’t ask me how. I think there is about 15 abreast here waiting for the lights to change.

We finished off the day with a lovely dinner. Mick tried the snails and they were good.

ABC Tour – City Tour & Congestion

2011-07-07T05:38:00.001+10:00

TUESDAY 5 JULY & WEDNESDAY 6 JULY

Tuesday was our day of exploring London on a big bus. You travel around the city and can hop on and off at different points.

We took in all the famous sights. Big Ben.

The Houses of Parliament.

St Paul’s dome is such an important part of the skyline.

Over the Tower Bridge.

The wonderful view from where we had our picnic lunch.

We then went on the river cruise part of the tour. The Tower of London.

A tour ship was visiting in the Thames.

Of course the London Eye is the new major item on the skyline.

Westminster Abbey.

Then we went for a walk past the Marble Arch.

This morning we went to visit the Victoria & Albert Museum. The main exhibitions I wanted to see were the Textiles and Furniture. Well the Textiles section is currently closed and being moved to a new site and won’t reopen until 2013. The furniture section is closed until 2012. Oh well, nothing we can do about it.

Next stop was Harrods. The toy department was fun to visit. Rather flash toys.

The interiors are spectacular.

Then we visited Liberty.

The famous Carnaby Street.

Mick hates crowds. He was very brave to face this.

Today is the last day of our time in England. It has been a fantastic eight weeks. Tomorrow we catch the train to Paris.