Back To Our Travels

We’ve been away from home for nearly four weeks now and I have so much more to share.  So far our trip has been wonderful.   I’ll pick up where I left off at Goondiwindi……

Once again, the rough framework of our travel plans was altered.  Plan A was to head north to The Gums and then west to Surat, knowing that the road to The Gums is rather ordinary.

Plan B, at Jenny and Bernie’s suggestion, was to head west towards St George until we reached the little village of Bungunya and then head north to the small town of Meandarra and camp there on our way.  The roads would be far better to travel on.  It turned out to be a great route and one we would never have considered.

Meandarra is a town I had often heard my Dad refer to, as he had worked as a stockman on stations in the area in the 1950s. It was interesting to visit.

There is a wonderful camp site beside the creek, with the cost being a one off payment of $10 for a powered site for up to 3 days.  Very reasonable.

The creek is really pretty.

We went for walk up the street, which was very quiet, being a Saturday afternoon.  This sculpture made us chuckle.  It was entitled “Me and Darra”, a clever pay on the town’s name.

There is an ANZAC Memorial Museum, which by all accounts is well worth the visit, but sadly, being the weekend, was closed.  That means just one thing…..we’ll have to come back on another trip north…….such a hardship. 

The old railway bridge is just beside the camp ground.

The old railway station has been relocated into the park beside the camping ground.

There is a paved walkway that runs for quite a distance beside the creek and we had a nice wander.

I had to take this photo for Betty.  We love seeing water lilies when we travel north.

There was a nice, simple Catholic Church, which still holds services once a month.

It had some pretty leadlight windows.

When it came to tea time, we decided to go and support the local pub.  I don’t know why, but I didn’t take a photo of the pub on our walk around town.  It is a nice building and it turns out that has recently changed hands, with the former publican now sitting on the other side of the bar.  Well, when we turned up, at about six o’clock, there were a few people there but not too many.  We had a drink and ordered our meals.  By seven o’clock the pub was heaving.  It was obviously the place to be on a Saturday night.  So good to see it doing well.

It was dark when walking back to our van, but there is a path that is illuminated by solar lights all the way back to the camp ground.  Very much appreciated.

We thoroughly enjoyed our brief visit to Meandarra and can see why some people were spending their three nights camped by the creek.  Such a peaceful spot and the council has to be congratulated on the way the town, and particularly the touristy area, is presented.  You couldn’t find nicer.

An Apple a Day

A little while ago I read that Nic from Craftapalooza was doing another stitch along, this time being her Apple Pincushion.  I thought “Why not?”.  It would be a simple project and a nice one to do with my friend while we were visiting.

It’s amazing how much stuff I had to put together to make up a little kit for each of us to make the project.  There was the fabric, interfacing, buttons, thong for stalk, felt for leaves, sewing thread, strong thread, long needles (which I found in the deep dark depths of Mum’s sewing drawer) and stuffing, as well as making a couple of templates to make things easy.

Anyway, it all worked well.  The hardest part, as usual was deciding on the fabric to use.  I went with ones that would work well with the Blossie Basket I made previously.

We spent a fun afternoon and ended up with two lovely apples.

Isn’t my friend’s hand crank Singer a beautiful backdrop.

They were very different looking, according to the fabrics we used.

A lovely way to spend time with a good friend.

My Wishes for June

I’m starting to sound like a cracked record when I announce that my goals this month will be minimal.  The excuse reason this time is that we are still on the road and we aren’t too sure when we will get back home.  We are making it all up as we go along.

MY MAIN GOAL

My main goal this month is to complete the red scarf that I am knitting.  That should be rather easy.  I’m enjoying knitting a few rows most days.  I will just keep going until I run out of wool and then weave in the ends.  It will be blocked when I get home.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

In anticipation of this month’s colour announcement I packed the pre cut blocks I have prepared and brought them with me.  The crumb blocks will have to wait until I get home.  The colour for June is PASTEL.  Well, that has thrown me, as I don’t have any pastel colours pre cut and therefore none are planned for the finished quilts.  The closest I have is AQUA, so that is what I will make.  Hopefully, I will get the potato chip blocks and the solid cross blocks completed while we are on the road.  Time will tell.

CROCHET

It would be nice to do some more work on the Corner to Corner rug.  I do have a deadline of mid July for this project, which is a good incentive.  The red scarf will take precedence, so once again, time will tell how I go.

OTHER WISHES

Depending on when we get home, I would like to finish the Solid Fat Quarter quilt that I started at Scrub Stitchin’ and quilted last month.  All I need to do is trim it back and add the binding by machine.  It will take all of one day.

As you can see, I still haven’t made a start on the Alpaca jumper I want to knit.  It would be nice to make a start when we get home, if time allows.  We’ll see……I really NEED to get cracking on this one.

15 MINUTES A DAY

I’ll try, really I will.

NON STITCHING WISHES

There really aren’t any.  I’m guessing we will probably listen to an audio book as we drive along.  I have to download a new one.  That’s about it.

As always, it will be interesting to check in at the end of the month.

May Wrap Up

Here we are, with May all done and dusted.  Time to see how my little wishes/goals went.  You can read about them here. 

We have been travelling for the second half of the month, so that did slow things down  bit.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

The colour was orange and I did manage to make all the blocks.

I was pretty happy with that.

I also added the shadows to the crumb blocks, so bonus points to me there.

MY MAIN GOAL

This was to complete the quilt that I started at Baradine.  Well, I didn’t do so well on this one.

I did get it quilted, using another new to me pantograph and was really happy with how it looked.

I didn’t get to trim the backing and wadding and bind it.  I could easily have, but I usually do the trimming on the dining table and it had things on it for packing in the van.  I couldn’t be bothered to move them.  A pretty poor excuse, but it is what it is.  At least I made some progress.

KNITTING AND CROCHET

I made some progress on the Corner to Corner rug, but it still needs one more ball of yarn (which I have with me) to finish that final corner before I add the border rounds. I have worked on it while travelling, but it is getting a bit big and cumbersome.

I did, however, bring a knitting project with me to start.  It isn’t the alpaca jumper, which is one I will work on at home.  I brought some red 4-ply wool with me that I had bought at the Heritage Trades Trail.

This is much more portable to work on and I have made good progress.  It is the same pattern I have made numerous times before, and is rather practical.  I’m enjoying working on it.  The photo of the skein of wool is a much truer version of the colour.

15 MINUTES A DAY

I certainly have not worked on something every day while travelling.  This is what I did manage.

May = 24/31

Year to Date = 121/151 = 80.13%

A NEW START

I have one finished project for the month.  It is an apple pincushion that I finished on 31 May, so snuck in by the skin of my teeth.  I will do a separate post on it shortly.

OTHER GOALS

The only other thing I managed was to listen to an audio book as we were travelling along.  This series is ideal for travelling, as it is not too serious.  Very entertaining.

So, all in all, not too bad.  Now to plan for June and to continue our travels for the next little while.

Crossing the Border

When we left Narrabri the following morning the sky was crystal clear looking towards Mount Kaputar.  That would be right.

Anyway, we travelled further north and had a nice morning tea and wander around Moree.  There are some lovely old buildings.  This is just a small taste.

From there it was time to cross the border at Goondiwindi.

A walk up and down the street was required and I noticed a couple of quite new murals down a lane.

We stayed a couple of nights with Jenny (Bird on the Border) and her hubby Bernie.

We had a lovely evening that first night sitting outside and enjoying pizza from the wood fired pizza oven.

The following day, we were given a guided tour of the town.  We have travelled through countless times, but generally have just stayed in the very central area.  There is a bush botanical gardens and a nice water park.  There is also a quirky row of sculptures.  I’ll just share a few.

Notice the little table setting underneath the large one and compare the sizes.  Rather fun.

Dinner that night was cooked by Bernie and was delicious.  Gail, who comes to Scrub Stitchin’ with Jenny, joined us.  Of course, I once again forgot to take a photo.

Bernie discovered that it would be Mick’s birthday in a couple of days and decided he needed a birthday cake, which was a rather lovely gesture and a rather delicious cake.  Mick was thrilled.

All too soon, it was time to get on the road again.  It was such a pleasure to spend time with good friends.