A Long, Long Weekend Part 1 - On the Road Again

It's nice to sneak away for the June Long Weekend and on a few occasions we have taken the Friday off work as well.  By doing so this year, it actually meant that I had no more full time weeks of work ahead of me, as I am now transitioning to my part time role.

We hooked up the caravan behind the ute and headed north to warmer climes.  I wonder what the above picture is of?

It is the gorgeous textured bark of a tree outside the information centre at Gilgandra, where we had our lunch.

After lunch we kept on our way north, getting into big sky country.

As we had plenty of time up our sleeves we were able to stop in the country town of Coonamble and have a nice walk up and down the street, something we've never had the chance to do before.  I've known of Coonamble and Wilcannia since I was little, as one of my best friends always had her dad absent for her birthday due to him shearing at one or other of the areas at that time of year.  All country towns have an impressive pub somewhere.  This one is a feature on the main corner.  Isn't the street garden lovely and colourful.

We decided to cross the bridge and have a look at the river.

The sign above was rather amusing, considering the river was sand only.  I'm not sure what sort of boat to be aware of and didn't happen to see any water with a strong current in which there would be a fish .........which is a pity, as rain is desperately needed in the area.

We were surprised at the size of the aquatic centre, but it would be very welcome in the heat of summer.

The mural on the wall was rather impressive too.

The majority of the buildings in the main street seemed to date from the late 1920s to early 1930s, so I thought it must have been a boom time for the town.  It actually turns out that there was a big fire in the main street in the late 1920s.  Makes sense.

There was another mural, this time for Moorambilla, which is a children's performance program for the western region.

Mick found a book to read in the op shop.  That will keep him amused for a little while.

We also found a quilt show.  Fancy that!  Poor Mick got dragged through another quilt show.  He is very patient.  More on that soon.

We had been told that we must visit Mink and Me for a coffee, so we did so after the quilt show.  This is the cheerful facade that greeted us.

Wow!  What a gem to find in Coonamble.  Such a treasure trove.

I think I may have to chop a branch off one of the yukkas on our verandah and grow it hydroponically.  What a statement piece.

On the other side of the shop there is a huge communal table and comfy lounges.  Perfect for enjoying our coffee and decadent brownie and caramel tart.

Lucy was delightful to chat to and has created a beautiful place to visit on the way through.

OK, we really must get a wriggle on or we will run out of day light for the rest of our trip.

Vintage Motorcross

Early in the month Mick saw a small article in the local paper advising that there would be a vintage motorcross meet happening at the track at the back of Mount Panorama.  It was being run by a visiting club, rather than the local club.

Seeing as he had been tagging along to quite a few quilt shows lately, it only seemed fair that I tag along with him.

The morning was cold and foggy at home so we rugged up.  However, up at the top of the Mount it was sunny and warm.  No need for the coat and beanie.

There was a great variety of older bikes.  

These were the models around when Mick was just a whipper snapper.

This took me back as well.  You see, Mick was a member of a dirt bike club when I met him over thirty years ago.  However, he had never entered an event.  Some of his mates were excellent motorcross and enduro riders, but Mick always either acted as their support or in an organising role.  

When I came along I became active in the club as well, working in the canteen and being roped into becoming the treasurer before I knew it.  We even went to the Snowys one Easter to do the special tests on the national Six-Day Enduro.  All great fun. Times moved on and we became interested in other things and our membership lapsed.

We arrived as they were about to start a race.  I can't remember pink being part of the riding outfit for blokes 30 years ago.

And they're away! Isn't it a gorgeous big tree they are starting under. See, it's not just about the bikes.

It wasn't long until we started to see the jumps.  Rather a nice view in the background as well.

After a while we moved to another section where you could see a lot more of the track.

This was a better place to see them jumping.

Some were rather more spectacular, particularly for the age and design of the bikes.  As Mick said, the tracks were a lot tamer back in the era of these bikes.

It was also interesting watching the blokes.  I noticed that the more impressive riders were rather svelte. A lot of the blokes riding would have been riding these bikes when they were new.  Quite a few weren't quite as slim as they would have been back in their youth.  Some were obviously happy just going around at a more leisurely pace and enjoying the ride.

We didn't stay up there too long, but it was good to see such a large turnout.  I do hope they all enjoyed their day.  We did.

Fwd: Finally Some Binding

It's only taken about three years, but the binding is attached to my drunkard's path quilt.

It took a visit  to the Chook Shed.  Great fun.

Chook Shed Birthday Party Sewing.

I received an email from Chooky this morning saying it was all well and good that Mick baked a cake for the party, but had I done any stitching?

The answer was a big fat "No"!

Yesterday I did go into my sewing room looking for some fabric.  There is LOTS in there, but I can't find the particular fabric I am after.  You see, Chooky and I bought some fabric to share a couple of years ago, with the plan on making matching quilts.  Next weekend was going to be the time we put the plan into motion........but I can't find my parcel of fabric.  I'll just have to work on something else. It must be in one of the many boxes of STUFF we still haven't unpacked.

I don't think that searching for fabric really counted as a Chook Shed Party project.

That has now been remedied.

There were two little projects required for our new office.

Firstly, a most important fixture on our desk is the lolly jar.  This gets filled with little Easter eggs each year and we gradually eat them over the next couple of months.  It looks so pretty when it is full.  As you can see it is just about empty.

Mick commented that the jar is rubbing on the desk top when he pulls it out to get us some eggs.

A quick little make should fix that up.

All done.

My side of the desk has a great little feature, in that I can slide my keyboard under the monitor, out of the way.

However, it is also rubbing the desktop.

A quick fix for that one too.  The fabric has been hanging around and is rather appropriate with old office images.  An old typewriter is perfect to sit a keyboard on.

I even attempted some free motion quilting.......bad move.....it is terrible.  I was too lazy to do a practice piece.  Not to worry, it won't be seen.

There we go.  All done.

Tucked away where it belongs.

I may get something else done, but I'll just have to see if there is time among the other things that have to get done.

I hope these will count for Chooky.

Abba-solutely F-abba-ulous Weekend Part 2

Back to our weekend at Trundle at the beginning of May.  You can read the first part here.

After perfect weather on the Friday, Saturday morning had a rather ominous cloud to the south.  Yep, we had a shower mid morning, but it didn't put a dampener on anyone's mood and we were fortunate in that the day proved to be fine on the whole.

Once we went up the street to the main event, we were entertained with Abba songs, as well as others,  by the Panorama Chorus from Bathurst.  This was the first year they had attended, but they hope to return in the future. They certainly got into the  swing of things with their outfits.

Speaking of which, it was amazing how many people dressed up.  Here are just a few.

Most people who were attending for the first time were not dressed up.  (We just wore our Abba Festival Tee Shirts.  At least that was something.)  It seemed that most people who had been before made the effort.  Maybe I'd better start looking for some wigs......but I don't think I'll go the white lycra.  There was quite a bit there on people that should probably not have been wearing it. But you know what, no one cared and everyone was having a great time.  They probably wouldn't wear white lycra anywhere else either.

A special train arrived at lunch time with lots of happy revelers.

After lunch the main proceedings got under way, with some speeches.

Look at the size of the crowd.

An umbrella is a good walking stick if your knee is still a little tender.

The Swedish Ambassador and his family were there.  They will return next time and he hopes to create an official relationship between this festival and the Abba Museum in Sweden.

Then it was time to dance.  Firstly, with a dancing competition.

Then an attempt to break the world record for the most people dancing to "Dancing Queen".  We all got into the swing of things. This group looked just a bit organised, compared to the rest of us.

What about this lady that was bopping along!!  I hope I can move like that when I'm her age.

We even had a rainbow to add to the colour.

By now the gates were open for the concert by" Bjorn Again", so we headed to the park.  All these events are within easy walking distance of each other and the camp grounds.

The opening act was "The Kransky Sisters".  They were hilarious.

We'd heard Bjorn Again are good, but they were fantastic.  Here is a bit more about them.  They announced they will be back again next year.

And then it was all over, so we headed back to our van. It was rather family friendly, being over by about 8 o'clock, which let people travel back to wherever they had come from.  Apparently one bus left Newcastle at 3.30am and was then going back that night!

What we didn't realise was that the party continued up the street after the concert, with  all the food vendors being open until very late.....we will know for next time.

Sunday dawned fine for our trip home.  The perfect way to finish the weekend.

This was such a feel good event.  Everyone was having a great time and joining into the spirit of things.  It was also extremely well organised.  I think the Abba Festival will continue to grow each year.  Trundle should take a bow.