Girls Day in the Country - Friday

Everything seems a bit quiet now that the big weekend is behind us.  After so much build up, we had a hectic couple of days, and now it is a whole year before the next get together.

I had quite a drive on Friday morning, leaving home at sparrow’s fart.  The plus side of that is I was able to enjoy the beautiful sunrise.

My route took me across the gorgeous Bylong Valley.  By the time I reach Muswellbrook I was ready for a nice coffee and cake.  You can’t rough it, you know.

We have been really fortunate with recent rainfalls here, but the further north I travelled the dryer it became, with quite a few cattle on the road.

 

After checking in at the caravan park, I headed over to the pub, where everyone gathered for our usual lunch.  You can’t half tell we are bloggers, cameras were clicking madly. (Kate, Alison, Peg and Dale)

Everyone was having a lovely time getting reacquainted.  Lots of chatting – fancy that!

Here we have Cheryl, Fiona and Dzintra.

Miss Jules and Kerri.

Sam, Shez, Ann and Maree.

I wonder who that masked woman is?  I tell you what, you can dress them up, but you can’t take them out.

And that’s all the photos this slack blogger took on Friday – too busy chatting. 

We had a lovely visit to Kerry’s shop, which look fabulous after her revamp.  A few bits and bobs may have come home with me and rather a lot of chatting took place – fancy that !

After lunch we had a storm go through and then it was drizzly during the rest of afternoon.  Funnily, no one complained at all.

Nibblies were enjoyed in the barbecue area, due to the weather, but we still had a lovely time.  Lots of chatting – fancy that!

Then, as usual, we headed to Mount Misery for dinner and lot more chatting – fancy that!

It was a great day of catching up, ready for the big day on Saturday.

Today’s Happenings

The things you see on the way to work.

This chappy seemed quite happy sitting on his high perch.

And, the mushrooms were delicious.  Wild mushrooms have a wonderful taste of their own.

The spinach and tomatoes were from our garden and the eggs from our chooks, so only the bread was not our own produce. Happy days.

The Story Continues

The young man and woman, who are not quite so young any more, have owned their little piece of paradise for nearly 20 years now.

As much as they love their home they don’t spend nearly as much time there as they wish, or should.  They are either at work or out and about, going places and doing things.

About six months ago the man and woman made the big decision to move back into town.

They will miss their little piece of paradise, sitting on the verandah in the peace and quiet, with its lovely view and lots of birds and wildlife.  They will miss the drive to and from town.  However, they will have wonderful memories and feel very privileged to have lived there for so long.

They are now ready for a new adventure. 

The man and woman decided to look for a block of land to build on and have found one, at the end of a cul-de-sac in a relatively new estate, with a lovely view.  It is the last block to be built on in the street, so they know that they will not have anyone build in front of the view. It is only a couple of minutes away from the woman’s mother, who is now quite elderly, and still quite close to the centre of town.

OUR BLOCK FROM THE STREET

VIEW TO THE WEST

VIEW TO THE NORTH

For the last few months they have been visiting display homes, researching fixtures and fittings and learning lots about energy efficiency.  They have marvelling at all the changes in building styles and features since they built their home all those years ago.  It has been great fun for them and a house will be created that is quite different to the one on their little piece of paradise. Many hours have been spent scribbling away, working out a design that will suit their new lifestyle.  The plans are going to be drawn up fairly soon. 

They won’t be building it themselves.

The man and woman have to now prepare to  place their little piece of paradise on the market.  There will need to be a bit of freshening up and quite a bit of downsizing.  That will prove difficult for two collectors of all things old, interesting or which have wonderful memories.  The woman will particularly struggle with this, but it must be done.

Unfortunately, this will mean that the woman will not be doing as much stitching as she would like for the next little while.  However, she can live with that, as when their new home is built she will, for the first time ever, have her own sewing room.  She is very excited.

The man is also happy to still be going to have plenty of room for his motorcycles and a nice big shed, as he has had a wonderful big shed on their little piece of paradise.

Let their adventure begin.

Fairies in the Garden

Since the rain started a couple of weeks ago the occasional mushroom has poked its head up in our back garden, which is quite unusual for us.

Yesterday I noticed a definite fairy ring under the clothes line.

This afternoon we had quite a heavy shower go over.  Mick took this great photo of the cloud on his way home.

As he got home at a reasonable hour this afternoon, Mick went for a walk down the paddock.  He returned with a nice bag of fresh mushrooms.  The warm, damp weather is perfect for them.

I can’t remember the last time we picked mushrooms here, if ever.  Remember when mushrooms were something you only ate as a treat when you were able to pick them in the paddocks, not something that was on the weekly shopping list. When we were first married, we were lucky enough to have access to a nice wooded area which grew lots of mushrooms in the right conditions.  It was great fun to go foraging and have mushrooms on toast.  I can even remember collecting them on the school oval in primary school and taking a lunch box full home – I think I was a bit of an odd child.

Joey decided to have a little peak at what was hiding in the bag, but I don’t think he would be too impressed with them in his bowl.

I’m looking forward to fresh mushrooms for dinner.

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time and young man and woman fell in love and decided to live happily ever after………..They just had to find somewhere to live.

They bought a little cottage – the cheapest house that wasn’t falling down - and started to renovate. It was a labour of love, with many new skills being learnt along the way. They also started collecting antiques.  This came about as they had little money and it was much cheaper to buy old furniture and restore it than buy new.

About ten years later the young man and woman decided that as they had finished renovating their little cottage they would like to live out of town on some small acreage in an old house.  They couldn’t find what they were looking for, so they bought a paddock instead.

For the next two years they saved, built a big shed and arranged to sell their little cottage, which was now very cute.

The man liked the idea of a house built out of corrugated iron and they both liked many of the features of their little cottage, so they designed their new home to incorporate both and to showcase their growing collection of antiques.  They also wished to feature some recycled building items into the house.  They couldn’t find a builder prepared to take on the job, so the man and woman decided to build the house themselves.

For the next two and a half years the man and woman lived in their shed while their dream house became a reality. 

They were very happy with the home they had created for themselves and were thrilled when it was featured in the magazine “Australian Country Collections”.

The man and woman love nothing better than sitting on the verandah of their home in the peace and quiet, with a lovely view and lots of birds and wildlife.  They had created their own little piece of paradise.

To be continued……..

Snubby by the Sea

After Phillip Island we followed the coast north.  We’ve never spent much time down that way, usually just travelling through on our way to Phillip Island, and we haven’t even done that for many years.

Our first port of call was at Eden. We found a nice caravan park and went for a short stroll on the beach.  It was quite blustery.

We had a better look around the following morning, but first things first, breakfast.  I don’t think I mentioned that I refused to cook while we were away.  It was one big moveable feast.

Breakfast parfait.  It was so good, and found at a little organic cafe called “Sprout” in Eden.

Now to see what is around. “Snubby” by the sea.

Continuing on with my theme from our trip to the Isle of Man, another lighthouse.

Next town was Merimbula.  I just loved these pelican sculptures.

Tathra was the next port of call… at the old wharf.  There were so many people fishing in one corner.

And they were all catching fish.  I can’t remember the name, but it is the smallest of the tunas.  They were just a nice sized fish.

Looking at the bird book, I think this is a “little tern”.  It was trying very hard not to get blown off it’s perch.

Bermagui was our next stop, with another shot of “Snubby” by the sea.  It was fun calling in at all the towns along the way.

Watch out for the goanna crossing the road.  I don’t want him in the sidecar with me.

Yes, another light house.

And a nice spot for fish and chips for lunch.

We had planned to stop over at Batemans Bay, but it was so windy that we thought our little camper would blow over, so we kept going up to Braidwood, which is a lovely town.

We got an early start the following morning and arrived home before lunch, which gave us lots of time to get unpacked, collect the cat and restock the fridge.  It was startling how dry it was as soon as you left the coast……..and hot, so hot.

It was a lovely few days away.  We felt that our batteries had been recharged.  Sometimes a little break is just as good as a longer one.

Racing at Phillip Island Australia Day Weekend

This was the first time we have attended the Island Classic races.  We had heard lots of good things about them.  It is the biggest classic bike racing meet in Australia.

The Island Classic Races are very different to the Moto GP.  You can wander all around the pits, getting up close and personal with the racers.

There is a wide range of racing, from the locals to an international competition between Australia, New Zealand, the USA and the UK.  One of the drawcards for us attending this year is that some of the main racers from the Isle of Man TT were attending.

This is the UK team pit.  You can see John McGuinness’ leathers hanging up (with the picture of a pint of Guinness on his bum).  He is the fastest TT rider and this is his first time at this race meeting.

And, the man himself, being interviewed.

Oh, and I’m a bit of a groupy.  We had our photo taken with John in August on the Isle of Man, so I took it down and had him sign it.  The other fellow in this picture is Garry Johnson, another great Isle of Man TT race winner.

Australia’s favourite son in TT racing is Cam Donald.  We have had our photo taken with him a couple of times on the Isle of Man, once with me sitting on his race bike, so I had them signed as well, we just forgot to have a proper photo with him.

Here he is, ready to race on a Harley.  Unfortunately, although he would be leading the races, the bike would let him down.

On a more local level, there were two sidecar outfits from Bathurst.  Mick sometimes does some work with the rider of #11.  Unfortunately, their motor gave up the ghost during the weekend.

We also know the lady in the  sidecar of #128.  They did really well, keeping in touch with the leaders all the time.  I think they came 4th overall.  There were quite a few lady “swingers”.  Not for this little black duck.  I think I’ll just stay in our sedate sidecar. 

On the Saturday, we watched from a different spot along the track.  It was great being able to take you bike right up to the track, quite unlike the Moto GP.

The racetrack is in a really scenic location, backing onto Bass Strait.

Saturday and Sunday proved to be great days for racing.  The only downside was that we got rather sunburnt, despite wearing blockout.

After a great weekend, we headed north on Monday.