The Rest of July

​It is about time that I shared what else we got up to during the month of July.

Remember that I attended the California Fashions exhibition just before we went on holidays and found the vintage magazines with information in them.  Well, after we came home I had lunch with one of the organisers and gave her the extra magazines.  She then asked what I was doing on the following Tuesday, as some of the former employees were going to have a morning tea and the museum ladies were going to interview them.  Would I be able to come along and help?  You bet I could.  It was a wonderful and interesting time with about a dozen former employees attending.  I learned so much more.  I even ended up with my photo in the local paper. There is going to be a book written, so that all the research that has been carried out and information gathered from the former employees won’t be lost.

A big event each year since 2015 has been the Bathurst Winter Festival.

Last year the local council stopped hosting it so another organisation took it on.  Their venue was not idea, so this year the Showground Trust, together with many local sponsors, took it over.  It ran for the two weeks of the school holidays and was quite successful, so fingers crossed it will continue into the future.  

We went down on the first Saturday night.

Another afternoon out that I had was to attend a Sashiko Workshop put on by the local Embroiderers Guild. There were only two of us in the class.  We mainly learned how to mark out the patterns for stitching. I have to admit that I haven’t progressed the project at all since that day.  I will eventually make four panels and hopefully make a rice bag with them.

One of my informal wishes each month is to try a new recipe.  Sometimes it happens, often not.  Well, I’m not quite sure what happened in July, but I made seven new recipes.  Yes, seven.  All winter comfort food type meals.  I had a little pile of the free magazines that you get at Coles and I went through them and pulled out the recipes I liked the look of.  It ended up being a rather European centric selection.  I have just taken the photos from the magazine, as they are presented much nicer than mine.  From the top left, there was Cassoulet, seafood marinara, a Greek style lemon chicken, Spanish red wine chicken casserole, beef stroganoff and Curtis Stone’s Best Bolognaise.  The Bolognaise took much longer and was more detailed that the one I normally use that came from a Margaret Fulton Leggos Tomato Paste ad in a magazine in the early 80s and I’ve only ever made beef stroganoff from a packet before.  I also made a seafood chowder that was very tasty.  The seafood marinara was not all that great as it was too tomatoey, but the others were all good.  I did let Mick know that this experimenting won’t last and to expect just the normal old meals.

 My other informal wish to read a book didn’t happen.  Not to worry.

I finally got around to donating a couple of quilts that I finished earlier in the year.  They have gone to the nursing home where Mum used to live.  They will be given to residents that have come in with very little and therefore their rooms look rather plain.  I think that is a wonderful outcome.

And that about sums up the month.

Nundle - Girls Day in the Country

THURSDAY

Once all the girls started to arrive this was a common sight.

Yep.  Tears of laughter.  So much laughter.

FRIDAY

Friday saw quite a few of us venture out to The Cottage on the Hill for a little retail therapy.  Notice how the nice sunny blue day of Thursday has vanished.  This was more like the weather we had for the rest of the weekend.

A kit for this quilt, plus a bit extra for borders to make it larger may have just come home with me.

There is always so much inspiration here.

Friday evening saw us all gathering in the camp kitchen for nibblies and  a little show and tell.

Deb's.  

Dzintra, Jo Jo and Kerri's.

Jenny & Chooky's.

Dawnie's.

Sandy's

Susan's

And mine.  (I'm sure Chooky won't mind that I borrowed her photo).

There is so much talent among this group of ladies.  I know I certainly wouldn't have the patience to do so much of the work they do.

SATURDAY

As usual we gathered at the Town Hall.

This is what we received on our table.

And just some of the lovely ladies on our table.

We were introduced to the lovely Bonnie Sullivan who then revealed our project for the day.

Wow!  Rather lovely.

Inside is a pincushion made from upcycled bedspread.

We received pre printed fabric with a lovely saying.  It was so easy to just stitch straight over the printed text.  Here is mine ready to applique to my circle of antique quilt.  How much use must this quilt have had?  The colours so soft and faded.  Yet, it has been beautifully created, with lovely, even, small hand quilting.  I wish I had taken a photo of the back before I stitched through it.  This is a great way to add life to something that would otherwise have been just put at the back of a cupboard.

This is as far as I got on the day - although the bird was stitched down before I left.  I also completed my pincushion.  I love that each sewing box will be different due to the unique scraps of quilt. I opted to have my steamer painted a French blue which should go nicely with the quilt piece.  It won't take long to finish the project.  That can be my Easter project.

There was a trading table of Bonnie's projects.  They really are lovely. 

As always there is a swap on the day.  We were given a design of Bonnie's and could make whatever we liked with it.  I came up with a little sewing holder.  

I received a lovely pin cushion made by Deb to add to my collection.

At the end of the day there was the usual group photo of all the bloggers.  

This one is rather special, as it is the last.  Yes, at the end of the day, rather than announce next year's tutor, Kerry announced that this, the 10th Girls Day in the Country, would be the last.  To say we were sad is an understatement, but we can understand that it is time for Kerry to move on to other things. To achieve what she has over those years is something she should be so proud of.

However, this will not be the end of our get togethers, as plans are afoot for something for next year.  I can't wait.

SUNDAY

So, while most of the girls were tucking into a yummy breakfast, Mick and I were packing up our campsite, ready to drive back home.  We'd enjoyed our stay in Nundle very much.

We travelled home the same way we had come.  I was hoping to see the other big cliff, as you drive out of the Bylong Valley, all lit up with sunshine, but alas, it wasn't to be this time either.

One thing we did notice coming home is just how dry it was on the tablelands, compared to where we had visited.  We had been missing out on all the rain.  Fortunately, that has now changed.

Hopefully, we will get to visit Nundle again in the future, despite the fact that there is no more GDITC.

Bathurst Blog Meet

Last weekend saw quite about twenty bloggers descend on the little village of Perthville, just out of Bathurst, for a weekend of chatting, laughter, eating, drinking and even a bit of stitching. (Mick wonders what the collective noun for a group of bloggers is.  Is it a Blogalot?)

The hoards descended on Friday morning and left on Sunday.  Seeing as I live locally, I just joined the girls for Friday night and most of the day on Saturday.

I didn’t take all that many photos, but here are a few of the girls flat out, working away.

Peg and Dale, in the flesh this time, after being unable to join us last year.  Both of them finished quilt tops.  Very  productive.

Cheryl deserves a medal for travelling down from Brisbane, despite battling a nasty cold. She is doing beautiful needle turn on her quilt.

Dory was there, being  bright and cheerful as always. Her show and tell was terrific.

Lea shared some of the gorgeous quilts that she has made recently and was very industrious in working on the little project we were all given…..although it may have helped if she read the instructions first.  I thought that was just a man thing?

Kate was her usual mad cap self.  She always amazes me how she can be everywhere, chatting away and still, at the end of the day, have been really productive.  Her birdy pincushion came up a treat.  Yes, she did finish it.

And quite a few of the girls took the opportunity to sit and stitch out in the sun.  We were blessed with the best weather we have had for months.

Me, I did some more on my knitted cowl - it is nearly finished. I made a couple of Christmas decorations and made slight progress on my table mat from Nundle this year.  It was nice just doing a bit of this and a bit of that – nothing that needed too much concentration.

Anni from The Home Patch visited and provided a special project kit for everyone.  It is the most beautiful little sewing set.  I can’t wait to start it, but just have to finish couple of other things first.

Having Anni there was also a good opportunity for a show and tell of the partially made Nature’s Journey quilts.  It was nice to see them in the flesh, so to speak.  I love the variation of colours used.  Sorry, forgot to take a photo.

As usual, there was a “Make It, Bake It, Fake It” swap.  I took along a coat hanger and camphor sachet, which went to Googy Girl.

I was lucky to receive from Kylie a Scrap Bag from The Home Patch and some yummy Peanut Brittle – my favourite.  What a terrific gift.

Last year there were some gifts for all sorts of silly reasons, which were wrapped in alfoil, as nothing else was available at the time.  It seems to have started a tradition, as we all had to take along little gifts roughly wrapped in foil. Mick reckons he could have even managed to wrap these.

Mine  contained some silly little creations.

This is what I received.  All very sweet.

It was lovely catching up with everyone again.  I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.  Well, they all seem to be talking about returning next year, so it must have been good.

Thanks so much to Chooky for making it all a reality.  We do appreciate all the work that goes on behind the scenes.