Scrub Stitchin’ - Meanwhile, Back at the Camp

This year Mick and I were the only ones who brought our caravan to Scrub Stitchin’ and Mick was the only husband to tag along.  Quite a contrast to last year when there were several hubbies and Mick played tour guide.  He enjoys our annual visit to Baradine as much as I do.

He was looking forward to a quiet few days, reading, going for a walk, maybe playing some bowls.  So much for that….. He ended up being a gopher for all of us “Scrubbers”.

He helped set up the room on Tuesday, did a couple of jobs in the garden for Chooky’s mum, and most importantly, collected and delivered our scones for morning tea on Thursday.  He did receive payment for that little job, with his own parcel of scones.

On Friday, he went into Coonabarabran to have lunch with a mate who moved up there a few years ago.  While he was there he was given the job of collecting some items at the patchwork shop…….oh, and while you’re there, can you pop out to the other patchwork shop to pick up some things?

On Saturday, after taking all our photos, he did get to have an informal game of bowls with some locals, something he really enjoyed.  He then had his next job of helping to set up the room for our special Saturday night dinner.  

Add to all that, he had a bit of a play with “Frank”, starting to run some wires to connect the UHF radio and caravan reversing camera.  Both jobs that will be completed back home.

The poor fellow had not rest.

Having said that, he did get to finish the book that he was reading.

He was not starving either.  We had bought some sweet treats on the way up, so he enjoyed nice morning and afternoon teas.

Rather than join the girls for breakfast, Mick and I had brekkie in the van each day.  I love the way the steam shone in the morning sunlight.

Dinners weren’t too bad either.  He had dinner at the pub with Chooky and Jules’ hubbies on Wednesday, while all us girls were out the back.  On Thursday he cooked a BBQ.  Friday was Chinese and raffles at the Bowlo with the locals.  He always enjoys this, as they make him feel so welcome.  On Saturday night he received a serve of the roast dinner that we enjoyed. No slumming it for Mick.

The campground is such a nice peaceful place to spend time.

You can see  what a lovely setting it is from his drone shots.

The weekend was capped off when he received this on Sunday.  He was tickled pink.

Now to wait twelve months until we do it all again.

Scrub Stitchin’ - Part 4 - The Boys

This year, there were several hubbies tagging along to Scrub Stitchin’, both international and Aussie.  Most had not visited the area previously, so Mick took on the role of unofficial tour guide.  Let’s face it, the girls wanted them out of the way while they stitched.

Mick borrowed Chooky’s seven seater and they firstly headed off to the Sculptures in the Scrub at Dandry Gorge.

This was followed by the Salt Cave and fire tower.

After that rather full morning, they all had quite an appetite for a late lunch of burgers at the local cafe. 

The following day, they headed out again, this time to the Sandstone Caves.

After lunch at a pub in Coonabarabran, they visited the Siding Springs Observatory.

Finishing the day with a Chinese meal and meat raffles with the locals at the Bowling Club.  The place to be on a Friday night in Baradine.

On Saturday things were quieter, with Mick and Tony having a game of bowls at the Bowling Club, and having a play with Mick’s new drone back at the camp ground.

Finally, a camp oven corned silverside was prepared for a few.

I honestly think the boys had just as much fun as the girls.  I know Mick was worn out after such full days.

Exciting Times

Yesterday was the culmination of plans that have been evolving over the past year.  Who’d have ever thought that we would have friends from New Zealand, Germany, America and Australia all having lunch together in our home.  It was a wonderful experience, as we all start to gather for our retreat “Scrub Stitchin’” at Baradine next weekend.

The fun started on Saturday, when we drove to Sydney to pick up Lou and Tony from the airport.  As their flight arrived late int the afternoon, we called into the village of Glenbrook on the Blue Mountains to find somewhere for dinner.  We stumbled across a little Italian restaurant which has absolutely delicious food.  A great way to start the fun of the next week or so.

Not a great deal else happened in the last week.  The weather has turned decidedly autumnal, with our street trees starting to change colour and now lose some of their leaves in the windy weather.

When we were in town the other day, Mick wanted to have a look at drones and now has a new toy to learn to use.  He has been talking about getting one for a while and I think he will have fun with it on our travels.

Meanwhile, I noticed our Jacobean lily has flowered.  I bought the bulb some time ago.  Mum always had a plant in her garden.  They are quite striking.

I had to make a quick change to the little shelf in the kitchen, now ready for Easter.

Despite having quite a few things to do, I did take time out to read a book.  You know how it is, when there are things you need to do but can’t get enthused.

The book was ‘The Enemy within”.  The front cover said it was a Guaranteed Good Read and it was.  It is set in Sydney in January 2020, as bushfires rage and just before COVID hit.  The author is an ABC journalist and the main character is an investigative journalist.  Apparently, there are a couple of other books with the same main character.  I’ll have to look them out.

I did manage to maintain my 15 minutes a day.  I did some secret stitching and otherwise continued with my knitting.  I could cast it off now, but will continue a bit further, otherwise I would have nothing easy to work on over the next couple of days.  I’ll link up over at Life in Pieces.  I’ll update my stats next week.

As soon as I pick up the needles, Joey decides that my lap is the place to be,  At least he was reclining in this photo, usually he decides to sit up like Jacky, which makes things a little difficult.

On our way to Sydney we called in at the wool shop in Katoomba for me to buy some more knitting needles and this ball of very pretty 2-ply wool just happened to jump into my shopping bag.  It will be made into a lacy scarf.  They had one as a shop sample which wa absolutely gorgeous and so soft.  I couldn’t resist.