Australia Day Swap Received

I was very restrained with this swap, waiting until today to open my gifts, although this wasn’t necessary.  The parcel has been sitting there, teasing me for quite a while.

My swap partner was Julie, Swap Mamma herself.

First thing this morning there was paper flying everywhere to reveal this lovely collection.

We have:

A = Apple fabric

U = UNO

S = Scarf (made by Julie)

T = Teatowel (Made by Julie)

R = Ribbons

A = Apron (made by Julie and in Autumn colours)

L = Luggage tags (made by Julie)

I = Important travel pack (a mending kit)

A = All God’s Creatures (a lovely book that Julie got while in the USA)

Thanks Julie for the lovely gifts and for arranging the Swap again this year.

(You can see what I sent to Kerrie here.)

Australia Day Swap Sent

Jewells arranged this swap last year and I really enjoyed playing along, so it was a given that I take part again this year.

My swap partner to send to was Kerrie.  I did have fun putting her collection together.

Kerrie has already opened  the parcels, so here they are.

“A” for Apron

“U” for Unicorn post its (I was so happy when I found these, as I never thought I would find anything with a unicorn on it.)

“S” for Stitchery pattern

“T” for Thread Catcher

“R” for Red and white Ribbon

“A” for Aboriginal design fabric

“L” for Lollies (even Aussie made)

“I” for Ink

“A” for Apple Appliqué tea towel.

Now what did I receive?  A lovely squishy parcel from Jewells herself.  I may be a little odd, but I am waiting till Australia Day to open it.  Something to look forward to.  I’ll share then.

Thanks Julie for organising us.  It is great fun.

Looking Back at 2014 – November – National Douglas Rally – Centenary of Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix

There has always been a little rivaly between Bathurst and Goulburn.  Who is the earliest inland city, who had the earliest motorcycle races? Well, on the first front, Bathurst is the first inland settlement, we are celebrating our bicentenary this year, whereas Goulburn is the first inland city, having been granted that status before us.

When it comes to motorcycle racing, Goulburn held a “TT” or Tourist Trophy in 1913.  However, it has recently been discovered that the first race with the title of “Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix” was held at Kirkconnell, just out of Bathurst in 1914.

As you know there is any excuse for a party and this was a pretty good excuse.  The local Rotary Club together with the Historic Car Club decided to host a rally to celebrate.  The original race was won by a Douglas (fine machine – yes, I’m biased, as we own one). The fellows approached the National Douglas Club to see if they would be interested in being involved.  Well, they just happened to be looking for a venue for their National Rally.  How good was that!

There are actually a few old Douglases in Bathurst.

The rally ran for a week, but we were only able to attend two sections.  There was  display of old bikes in the centre of town on the Friday Afternoon.  I’ve never seen so many Douglases together.

The mascot for Douglas is a little Scotsman, so it was appropriate to have a piper, the bike at top right was ridden by a lady, some more modern Douglases and our fine steed.  “Doug” was the roughest bike there and created lots of interest.  Whereas most bikes had signs telling you to look and don’t touch, Mick had kids sitting on ours having their photos taken.  Were’ not too precious about him.

There were lots of other fine old machines on display as well.

On the Saturday there was a run to the original circuit.

We were impressed with the effort people went to to look the part.  The lady in red, was quite elderly.  She did well to get on a bike. I love her helmet.

We took “Olga” the old black sidecar for the run, so I was able to get some great shots of the old bikes trundling along.

Members of the Historic Car Club acted as the corner marshals.

One of our members is a photographer as well as Douglas owner.  He got into the spirit of things with his old camera.

The main venue was the Kirkconnell Church.  I didn’t even know it existed.  It is tucked away down a little side road.  It really is gorgeous and is still used for services.

While the boys were looking at bikes, I went for a stroll through the graveyard, looking at interesting old headstones.

Just to keep it real, from one angle you see a sweet church in the scrub, but when you turn around there are powerlines and the pine forest has recently been harvested. I’m sure they will have it planted again soon.

People really did look the part.

We took a short ride to Sunny Corner where the Progress Association had the most lovely morning tea available, with beautifully presented jars of fresh flowers.  There was an interesting display of old photos.  Coming back along the dirt road gave a bit on an indication of what the original race would have been like.

And the grand finale, was a re-enactment of the start of the race.  Mick and Norm had their own little race start.  The organisers getting everyone ready for the Mayor to wave them off.  The bystanders are a little different to 100 years ago.  Our own paparazzi.

It was a great day.  The small organising committee did a wonderful job and should be proud of their efforts.

Looking Back at 2014 - November

Blogging didn’t really happen in November.  We were too busy being out and about doing things.  You’ll get the picture over the next few posts.

ON THE HOME FRONT

The overriding thing in November was the imminent auction of our home.  Would it sell?  Keeping everything tidy for inspections. The garden was putting on a show, but the three weeks of hot westerlies were drying everything out.

GEOFF MARTIN RALLY

We like to participate in the Geoff Martin Rally, based in Bathurst, each year.  Unfortunately, the numbers were down quite a bit this year, but we still have a very enjoyable day out on “Sophia”, the red Moto Guzzi.

CARD MAKING

We attended a birthday party, so I decided to have a go at making a card.  It is amazing how much mess I can make and time I can take for one small card.  I found a cute birdy on the internet and adapted it into an appliqué. I put it in a window card and then backed it with a bit of pretty paper I had.  I even put a handmade stamp on it (a recent find). This isn’t my usual crafting style at all, but it was good fun.  Having said that, back in the late 80s and early 90s I used to make heaps of cross stitch cards for a craft shop.  I don’t think I’ll be making too many now.

SECRET SANTA CHRISTMAS SWAP

I did manage to get my SSCS ornament and gift made and away on time.  The stitchery on the ornament was one of those things that I had sitting available for any spare minute waiting somewhere.  I knew things would be busy, so got a nice early start on the gift.  Just as well I did.

That’s all for this quick post……..but there is still heaps more for November.

Looking Back at 2014 – October

I’m back with some more of our doings in the month of October last year.  You can see what we got up to for the earlier part of the year here.

Once we reached October things were getting a little crazy, but it is that time of the year.  It is the best of spring weather in our area so there are heaps of things happening. Of course, we never want to miss out on anything.

LUNAR ECLIPSE

Firstly, there was a stunning lunar eclipse.  I did enjoy popping outside every now and then to see how it progressed.

MAYFIELD GARDEN

Remember we went exploring to Oberon Dam and mentioned being near Mayfield Gardens back here here.  Well, we visited them.  They are the largest cool climate gardens in the Southern Hemisphere and cover something like 300 acres.  We visited 9 years ago when they first opened.  At the time we said, yes, very impressive, but we’ll come back in  about 10 years when the plantings have matured.  Well, in July we went to a charity trivia night and won two tickets in the silent auction.  Perfect.  That meant that we had to go. No excuses.  You see, the entire garden is only open for a four week period in autumn and spring each year.

We’re very pleased we went along.

The story goes that a merchant banker decided to build a little weekender and put in a small garden.  Maybe do a little landscaping along the way………like move a hill because it was blocking the view.

It would be nice to have some music, so build an amphitheatre and a little water feature would be nice. A few veges out the back, too.

A few silver birch would look nice and what about a chook shed (or three).  The budgie and cocky would need a cage too.

His daughter decided to get married, so they decided to just have a simple wedding in the garden at home….but you need a chapel for that.

Joking aside, this is the most stunning garden.  It has developed so much since that first open weekend nine years ago. One of our best mates did a lot of the metal work on the aviaries, the conical roofs of the chicken houses and the forged iron in the chapel.  We love seeing what he did. In the last year, there has been a cafe and nursery added and the water garden (in the top photos) is now open year round. If you get a chance to visit, do.  Make sure you allow all day.  You need it.  Oh, and bring your comfy walking shoes.  You need them too.

OPEN GARDENS

As always, my friend Lisa and I had our annual outing to the Bathurst Open Gardens.

There were a few new gardens open, which is always good to see, as well as watching other mature over the years.  We were treated to a trombone ensemble at one garden.  They really were good. My favourite walled kitchen garden was looking a treat.  I loved the way they used the fruit tree prunings as trellises for their snow peas and broad beans.  Too clever and very attractive.

WEATHER

Generally, October was hotter than average.  Spring started out rather early.  We had some storms and stunning rainbows.  However, the most surprising was ***SNOW***!!!  There was heavy snow in the blue mountains to about 5 kms east of us, but none settled at home.  This is the heaviest snow we had ever seen from our place, although we have had some light falls in the past.  It was so very unexpected and rather destructive in the mountains and particularly at Lithgow, about 50 kms east of us.

That was the last hoorah of cooler weather.  After that we had three weeks of howling, hot westerlies, which burnt everything off.

October also is the month of the church fete.  I helped on the White Elephant Stall and a few little things found their way home.  I know, I’m supposed to be downsizing and de-cluttering, but some things just have my name on them.

In the backgrounds, lots of people were inspecting our home, so we were still cleaning, tidying and keeping out of the way when inspections were taking place. 

Happy New Year and a Review of 2014

Happy New Year!

I’m a bit late with my wishes, but it seems to have taken me this long to get in the mood for writing a blog post.  A case of I don’t know where to start.  Like other blogs that I have read, so many posts written my head, in the middle of the night, or while driving, but just not transferring those thoughts into type.

Before things get too stale, I will do a review of 2014 over a few posts.  Towards the end of the year we were just so busy, that I didn’t get to share what we were up to.  There were lots of fun things, so I will do a bit of a back track.

OK.  Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start………or so they sing……

JANUARY

To put things simply, I was stressed….to the max!  I don’t think that I mentioned it at the time.  We had started to prepare our home to put on the market and there was so much to do.  It was all a bit overwhelming for me and I couldn’t see the end of the tunnel.  But, as you know, we got through it.

In the meantime, I made my first ever bread, we went over to Goulburn to the  Motorcycle Swap Meet, took a week long road trip to Phillip Island to see some classic bike races and came home via the south coast.  I also took part in Jewell’s Australia Day Swap (just what was needed to add to the already high stress level, but it was fun).

FEBRUARY

February was a bit quieter, socially.  As usual, we were very involved in the Bathurst Swap Meet, as organisers and having a stall.  Great for starting to de-clutter before selling.  The roses put on a show and we saw a stunning halo around the moon.

In the background, we were still beavering away with our de-cluttering, taking things into town to store at the house we are in now, as well as getting it renovated.  I think it was about then that we had some painting done on the exterior at home as well.

MARCH

The weather cooled down a bit, we had lots of mushrooms (yum) as well as little toadstools, the garden got its autumnal flourish, I went to the Farmers’ Market and we had some stunning skies.

March is also the time to travel to Nundle.  It is so much fun to catch up with everyone.  I love the drive up and back.  Lynette Anderson was a great tutor and the project was lovely.  The swap this year was one of Lynette’s stitchery patterns.  So many beautiful variations.  I made mine into a pincushion.  I’m looking forward to the next get together.

March was also the month I revealed our big plans to sell, move to town and build a house on the block of land we bought in late 2013.  We were still beavering away getting ready to sell.  It was taking longer than we hoped, but more important to have the presentation right than rush things.

APRIL

The weather was cooling down, with our first frost, I visited the Begonia House at Machatti Park in town and took you for a stroll.  Lucky me won a big vege hamper and  I decluttered the kitchen.  Easter arrived, complete with lots of little eggs, which seemed to disappear rather rapidly and we attended the Vintage Bike Rally on Good Friday.  Anzac Day saw me wear Dad’s miniature medals for the first time when we attended the bush service in a paddock at O’Connell.

We finally had our place ready to put on the market, so started discussions with Real Estate Agents.

MAY

Our house went on the market at the beginning of May.  The start of a rather long process.  I tell you what, there is nothing like it to keep you on top of the housework.

In other doings, we went on a Historic Car Club outing to Neville on Olga.    Hot chocolate at the pub, too cold for beer.  It was nice to get out and about.  I did a bit of stitching, although not much.  We went to the show, I visited the park and kicked autumn leaves and there were some great Artisan markets in town.  Finally, the Historic Car Club hosted its annual car rally.

JUNE

Now that the worst of the preparation to sell the house was done we allowed ourselves time to breathe.

Chooky held a 2nd Birthday Party for “The Chookshed”.  We couldn’t be there so we had cake instead.  Any excuse for cake.  I knitted a wash cloth.  We had nothing planned for the long weekend, so we hopped in the ute and drove up to see Chooky and family, attending the rodeo while there.  On the way home we visited Mt Kaputar, which was stunning.  Later in the month we went on our usual Winter Solstice motorcycle ride, this time to Canowindra.

In the background, lots of housework and scribbles at the kitchen table to come up with a house plan.

JULY

July is our typical hibernation month.  Too cold for anything much to be happening. 

I shared my new little sewing area and made the top of a baby quilt.  We had a stunning mackerel sky and we attended the Classic Bike Rally at Windsor.  We took a lazy Friday to get down there, it rained on the rally, but cleared up in the afternoon, so were able to have a lovely walk exploring the town and riverside park.  Amazing how much warmer the climate is, only two hours away from home.

Meanwhile, plenty of lookers at our house, but no offers.  Keep cleaning, keep cleaning.

AUGUST

We start to get a few warmer days, so it was time to get out in the garden and give it a good tidy up after Winter.  We checked the watering system, and the sun in the sprinklers was so pretty.

The highlight of the month was another visit to Nundle.  This time for a weekend retreat at Kerry’s.  Once again, a pretty drive up, a visit to Ratter’s Flat and lots of creativity.  I opted to make a huge Drunkard’s Path Quilt.  The top is 96 inches square.  I love the soft colours.  No, it isn’t finished yet.  I have to piece a back and get it quilted.  Must do that soon. On the way home I was able to enjoy the super moon while driving through the Bylong Valley.  Beautiful.

Still no interest in our home, so we changed real estate agents and started planning to go to auction.

SEPTEMBER

On the home front, we got some more chooks, I did some baking, we played with shadows and the garden woke up, with blossoms and snow peas. 

On the social side, we went to Rydal Daffodils with Chooky and Fairy Girl for company, on another weekend, Chooky and Fairy Girl came to stay and we did some stitching in the sun.  We also travelled to Tottenham for the Far Cairn Motorcycle Rally.

Getting close to starting to advertise the auction of our home.

OCTOBER

Now, this isn’t all of October.  What I did get to blog about was our visit to the Trunkey Creek Show and our detour on the way home, the visit of so many birds and our robins nest, and our explore on our way to Oberon Dam.

In the background, our auction was advertised, with lots of people coming for a look at our place.  Keep cleaning, keep cleaning.

However, there was more in October and heaps in November that never made it to the blog.

I will do individual posts for them as I do want to have a record of all that we got up to.

Then I’ll share what is happening in 2015….. no rest for the wicked.

Another Lovely Gift

My good friend Loulee from the Isle of Man, who now lives in New Zealand, and I also swap gifts each Christmas.  This year Lou sent me a lovely parcel.

It had a delightful angel looking after it.

What looked like 2 parcels turned out to be five!

Look what was inside.

FRIENDSHIP

Happy is the heart

That holds a food friend

What a lovely sentiment.  The hanging is beautiful.  When I get my sewing room in the new house I will have to have a wall of mini quilts.  I have two now from Lou to hang. 

Here is the rest of the gifts.  Yummy chocs, a sweet diary, a very handy bag in Kiwiana fabrics and a bag bag.  We were rather excited about the bag bag, as it was the first thing that I was going to make for our kitchen in this house.  Now I don’t have to and it is in Manx fabric.  A double win.

Thanks Lou for such wonderful and thoughtful gifts.