A Play Date

A good friend came over today for a play date of crafting.

Not a lot of crafting took place, but a lot of talking, oh and quite a bit of eating.  You know how it is.

What I did achieve was some garment embellishment for my friend.  She had bought some cute overalls to wear while tending her farmers market stalls, but they were too short and just looked a silly length.  Would we be able to do something?

I’m sure we could.  Let’s see what is in the stash that would be suitable.

Ta da!  The sunflower fabric was one of the first patchwork fabrics I bought, well over twenty years ago.  I had used some back then, but still had plenty and it isn’t something that I naturally gravitate towards.  It was, however, perfect for this project.  They will look rather fun when she has her stalls.

While I was playing with sunflowers, my friend did achieve a small amount of her crochet rug.

After the garment tweaking, I did a little of my slow stitching, and I had also done a little at my stitching morning on Friday.  This is where I am up to.  I said it would be slow progress, and it is. I am having a bit of fun with it.  No stress or perfectionism involved.

The overall piece.

Some details of the texture.  There will be some more stitching in the hexy, I just have to decide what it will be.  The little leaves are just tracing the fabric design.

The doiley section will be stitched down later.  As you can see, there is quite a bit more to do, but I think I am at the stage where I can pin on more fabric, as I have freed up quite a few of my appliqué pins.

By the way, Mick’s rug got its christening on the weekend while watching the footy.  The weather was absolutely freezing, so he was happy to have it.

Meanwhile, no start has been made on the Sew Together Bag for this month’s Chookshed Challenge.  I met a bit of a road block, but that has now been navigated, so a start should be made soon.

After Baradine

After Scrub Stitchin’, we still had a few days with Lou and Tony before they headed back home to New Zealand.

Firstly, just a couple of photos from our drive back from Baradine.

We love the windmills at Gilgandra.  I don’t think I’ve had a windmill photo for a while.

It was a nice Frank and Caravan photo op.

What we did notice was how much drier it was at home compared to further north of us.  But apparently, we are still way better than more southerly parts of the country.

However, the poplars were lovely, as they started to turn golden.

Lou came with me to my patchwork group one day and while we were away the boys played.

They took Rosie for a bit of 4WD playing at our mate’s place.

Mick also had Tony working at the bowling club one day.  No rest for the wicked.

Of course, there was a ride in Olga the old sidecar.  I believe Tony even had his first go at riding a sidecar.

I will post about our day at Cowra separately.

Before we knew it, it was Good Friday and time to bid our visitors farewell.  It was a pleasure to have them stay.

Other April Happenings

April was one heck of a busy month for us.  

Firstly, there was the fun of Lou and Tony visiting and travelling to Scrub Stitchin’, which I have already convered extensively.

Once we returned home, the four of us had a fun day out at Cowra.  I still haven’t blogged about that and it deserves its own post.

Lou and Tony headed home on Good Friday and Mick and I then actually had a few quiet days at home….. then things ramped up again.

Mick was busy down at the Bowling Club getting everything ready for an Anzac competition.

While, from Easter Tuesday I have been helping set up the Royal Bathurst Show in the pavilion, particularly the needlework section.  You don’t realise when you wander around the exhibits just how much work is involved.  I helped for a couple of days last year, but that was just at the very beginning.

The show is on this weekend.  After everything was uncovered on Friday morning, Mick and I had the chance to have a day of looking around.

The show closes on Sunday late afternoon.  After the gates close, into the evening, and all day Monday, it is action stations again to get everything pulled down, packed up and exhibits returned to their owners.

This also deserves its own post.  It has been a very rewarding event to be involved in.

And finally, a weather report….

We very nearly had a frost right at the start of the month, but after that it wasn’t too bad.  Mind you, the heater is on in the morning and evenings.

Our street trees seem to lose their leaves fairly early, and we had some rather windy days, which speeded that up.  By the last week of the month there were no leaves left.

Elsewhere around the place there is still lots of lovely colour in the trees.  Our council has planted lots of street trees that really glow in the autumn.

By the end of May they will all be rather bare, ready for winter.

So, all in all, it was a very full month, to continue on what has been a very busy start to the year.  We are about ready for a rest.

Scrub Stitchin’ - The Adventure Begins

This year’s version of Scrub Stitchin’ had an extra element of fun as we have been joined by Lou and Tony from New Zealand once more.

We picked them up from the train in Lithgow on Saturday, enjoyed a nice lunch and a walk around the Blast Furnace ruins.  Of course, with all the catch up chatter, we forgot to take a photo.

Sunday was a nice lazy day, but started out with a glitch.  Halfway through making coffee for breakfast our power went out.  That shouldn’t happen when you have a solar battery system.  It was eventually worked out that the coffee machine had had enough.

The went shopping and came home with this.  Very similar to what we had, but in a pretty pearlescent cream colour.  Disaster averted.  Definitely a first world problem.

We did venture out to Reckless Brewery, Bathurst’s local brewery, to enjoy another delicious lunch, and most importantly, for the boys to enjoy a tasting paddle.  They enjoyed them all.

Monday had us hit the road to travel north west.  Us in Frank the little truck towing our caravan and Lou and Tony in their hire car.  We always know we are getting close when we can see the Warrumbungles. You couldn’t have had better weather, a pleasant temperature and beautiful clear sky.

Our first stop was The Crafters Cottage shop at Coonabarabran, in Deb’s new shopfront in the main street.  It’s looking good.  I had my shopping list, found everything on it and didn’t buy anything else.  Win, win.  I really have failed with my photos this trip, as no photo of her bright shop either.

From there, Mick continued on his way to Baradine to set up the van, while I joined Lou and Tony and headed west to Chooky’s.  The sunset was gorgeous last night. This is a bit hazy, as it wast taken through the fly screen.

We went for short walk early this morning.  The light was beautiful.

It is such a pleasure to see everything looking so lush and green.

Today will be a pottering day, before heading over to Baradine tomorrow for the big event.  I can’t wait to see everyone.

Cricket, Jigsaw and Left Overs

We enjoyed a lovely Christmas Day with family, friends and too much food.

Our perfect way to spend Boxing Day is for Mick to watch the Boxing Day Test Cricket, me to work on a jigsaw and to eat left overs.

Mick was quite settled in front of the tele, enjoying seeing the nineteen year old opening batter, on debut, take on the best bowler in the world.

I pulled out the jigsaw that I purchased at Vinnies in Braidwood and made a start on it……and finished it.  It seems that my binge reading style carries over to jigsaws.  I was rather relieved to see that there were no missing pieces.  

My Mum, who is not in the least bit sporty used to spend her summer watching the cricket and tennis on the tele and doing large jigsaws.  I can see the attraction.  I have all her trays that she used to lay our her jigsaw pieces and it is quite a trip down memory lane as I continue to use them for the same purpose.

Today has also been a rather quiet day at home.  Mick had planned to go fishing with his brother, but the weather was really stormy early on and has continued to be rather blustery, so not conducive to fishing.  Therefore, he is enjoying another day in front of the cricket.

Me.  Well, the other thing I was looking forward to was making up the kit for the patchwork basket that I bought last time I was at Baradine.

I have pieced the patchwork and that is as far as I will go today.  Fingers crossed there is no wind early in the morning and I will have a go at spray basting the layers together to quilt.  Not something I have ever attempted before.  Wish me luck.

Merry Christmas

It is Christmas Eve and we have just about done all the preparation that we can in readiness for tomorrow.

Our day will consist of Mum, my brother and his family here for a cooked lunch before Mick and I then visit some good friends in the evening.

I just realised I hadn’t taken any photos of our decorations this year.  They are much the same as usual with just a few changes in the entry hall.

My little collection of kitsch nativity scenes has found a new home on the china cabinet, together with my wise men and shepherd.

Our outdoor lights are up, but I haven’t taken a photo.  There seems to be quite a few less around this year, however, our street is still putting on a great show, with most houses joining in.

I have received a new decoration from Lou.

It is front and centre on my twiggy tree that features my collection of very special hand made decorations.

I can now share the one I sent to her.

I’m not sure if this one has been received as yet, so won’t mention the recipient.  They were both fun to make.

So, on that note, I will wish you all Merry Christmas.

Here, There and Everywhere - Travelling West - Part 4

What a difference a day makes.  After the wild storm of the previous day we woke to blue skies and no wind.  However, it was time to start heading towards home.  This time we were going to head home via a different route.  We have not been on this road for many years.

Our route took us past the Lake Cargelligo Silos.  They are one of the first things you see as you drive into town and anytime I see this style of silo I think of this town I visited often as a child.  Despite it being harvest season, it was quiet, due to the rain over the last few days.

As we drove along we continued to see many wheat crops.

The first place we drove through was the tiny town of Ungarie.  There is a nice little park where we stopped for morning tea.  The town celebrated its 150 years in 2022 and there is a mural in the shelter shed.

There is also a beautiful carving - completed using a chainsaw.  How incredible. 

Ungarie has been in the news over the last few years due to serious flooding from the innocuous little creek that runs through it and the fact that the Post Office had been closed temporarily due to circumstances beyond their control.  Fortunately, it is now open again, as it is a hub of the town.  

The other reason we had heard of Ungarie in recent times was because it has The Big Football.  

This is to celebrate the fact that four brothers from one Ungarie family were all stars in AFL football.

After our morning tea we did a little wobble tour of the town, unexpectedly finding a garage with great murals and a pretty little church.  These weren’t on the main drag, so we are glad we made the detour.

Back on the road, we made it to West Wyalong in time for lunch, after a nice wander up and down the Main Street, taking in all the lovely old buildings.

Our destination for the day was Grenfell, where we free camped in the Railway Station precinct.  

Once settled in it was time to take a walk up and down the street, as we always do.  More lovely old buildings.

After tea, once the sun had set, it was time to walk up to see the painted silos illuminated.  This has only occurred since our last visit,  It was really effective.

In the morning, we took the vans up there for a photo shoot.

Although we have been through Grenfell loads of times, we played the tourist in a different part of town, O’Brien’s Hill. This is where gold was discovered in the area and was the richest goldfields in the colony for a time.  It is a nicely presented area with picnic areas and has a lovely view over the town.  There is still evidence of the previous mining activities.

Next to the mining area is the Grenfell Endemic Garden, which was set up in 1990s.  A local man was a keen collector of locally endemic plants and in conjunction with the council this garden was established.  It is only fairly small, but beautifully laid out and the plants well identified.

We were now well on our way home, enjoying the view as we approached Cowra.

Our final stop on our trip was to enjoy the Cowra Rose Garden next to the Visitor Information Centre, which was in full bloom.  This rose is actually called the “Cowra Rose” and I think it was my favourite.

It was a very enjoyable few days away.  There is so much to see when you get off the beaten track.  It was very special to share it with our good friends.