Viviana 's parts

Here is what my doll looks like at the moment, all in bits, she has a head a body with lace pinned on, more lace to be sewn up arms, one leg, the other is waiting to be sewn, her basket, which is the odd crinkled thing and three beaded flowers.
Now for the time to get her all together.
At the moment I am flat out after yesterdays gale force winds tidying the garden and dusting the house, vacuuming will have to wait.
I have got most of it done as I dont want to have to do too much house cleaning tomorrow and then it is back to Adelaide all day on Sunday.
We have just heard that all horses classes have been canceled for Adelaide Royal, due to start on the 7th because of the horse flu that is in the Eastern States. All that time and effort getting stuff ready, we have a gelding for sale and people wanting to see him, no horse movement at all for at least another week, we have a stallion sold to Western Australia and goodness knows when he will go, a colt due from NSW but that probably wont happen. What a mess, at least we are lucky because we dont rely on horse income but to some it will probably be the end of them.
Actually I am glad that the Royal has canceled as other wise we may have been tempted and we dont need horse flu. A terrible thing to have come into Australia as our horses are not resistant to it.

Home from Adelaide

Here are some photos I took at the Patti Culea class we had in Adelaide. Patti is sitting in the centre in the first one and in the background of the doll in the second.
We were making Viviana, one version of which is the red headed doll.
There were lots of beading techniques to learn and we had a really fun two days, although they were pretty tiring. I dont very often work with the tiny size 15 beads and had trouble seeing what I was doing but I have lots of samples and a rather angry dolls head, I may make another head as she seems to have a rather broken nose. Being me I also managed to get two left legs so another thing to do when I have time.
We stayed with my friend Kate in her lovely house and had to cross the Adelaide traffic in peak hour both ways so I have come home decidedly tired.
Very hot here for Adelaide today and blowing a gale which it also did last Monday so unfortunately I cant see any reason to dust yet.
I go to Adelaide again on Sunday and bring Patti home with me for a few days and put her on the plane for Melbourne on Wednesday.

Sunday morning walk

I walked alone this morning as John was going fishing and the decision was to go from Victor instead off in the gulf. It probably means they wont get any fish but it is a magic day.
I thoroughly enjoyed my hour long walk along the bike track at the bay and back to where I had parked the car, some of it on the beach although in some places the sea weed was piled high and made for difficult walking.
Such a delight to go out of my back door at the moment to see it all neat and tidy. Now to keep the peacocks out.
I have planted another punnet of mixed lettuce in hanging pots as if they are close to the ground the peacocks eat them. We have far too many but they are not easy to catch. I suppose another lot will be hatching soon as mating is in full swing.
I will be in Adelaide from Monday morning until Thursday night so dont expect anything until I get back.
I think I have most of the stuff for the class I am taking with Patti Culea, but I havent packed clothes yet.

TAST Persian knot stitch

I didnt do a lot to this stitch but I did like the way it is quite solid and I think I could find it a useful one in future. I cant believe i have done so many different stitches, Thanks Sharonb.
John and I worked hard today to get the pots around the back door sorted out and the Jasmine on the tank cut back so we are both very tired. A good job to get done, probably wouldnt be if i didnt have Patti coming to stay soon.
All those jobs you put off suddenly get done. There is a lot more of the garden that needs doing though.

The new foal

I took these photos yesterday morning, she has to fill out a bit but her dam is Rivington Hannah and her sire is Nattai Harri 11, I think she will be called Rivington Haley, three days old in this picture.
I am busy trying to get the shopping done and the house tidy, a never ending job I have decided and not something I enjoy, but the vacuuming is about to be done.
I have stuffed my dolls body ready for next week so that is another thing crossed off the list.
Beautiful weather at the moment but no rain and when and if we get it not much. All the farmers are worrying and those with water allocations that are just about non existant on the river may never recover. John was telling me that people are looking to agist their dairy cows off as the water in some places is too salty for them to drink. I think he is thinking about agisting a few but of course it is a worry as you may bring in a disease you dont have. Also we have to have the water to give them as well and although we have spring fed dams there are a lot of properties around here whose run off dams have not filled. I really dont want to go through all that again.

Inchie Postcard received

This wonderful inchie post card came in the mail from Sally Ambrose. We did a Playways on the net exchange.
I had another tiring day in Adelaide yesterday, my youngest daughter and I went up to see my mother, who was even more like a zombie than before. I was told she has been taken off the one lot of medication, wether she is now on another or this is just the other one wearing off, well I hope it is wearing off and no permanent damage has been done, I dont know. Tabby found her grandmother to be so different from when she last saw her a few weeks ago and was as shocked as I was.
My blogging may be a bit hit and miss for a while as I just dont feel much like reporting the same things, also I will be in Adelaide for most of next week.
The foal is drinking well and I will try to get a photo of her, she is gorgeous.

TAST scroll stitch

I cant say I particularly liked this stitch, it didnt seem to want to stay where I put the little knots. Some looks suspiciously like barbed wire, but I could see it is a useful one to have in my sample book.
I am sewing a cot quilt at the moment and have just finished the cushion I had embroidered while we were at Coffin Bay, so not totally unproductive. John is still filling cracks and painting in the sitting room so there is a total disaster in there, I will be pleased when I can dust and vacuum and get it back together again.
I was very pleased to see that both the South Australian AFL teams one yesterday and I happened to catch Ports thriller of two goals in less than a minute. Nice to see my Crows win again too.
A beautiful day and I should be out in it but I am back wearing a skirt today grr grr and so am doing some inside jobs.

Breakfast this morning

I had suggested ages ago that i would love to have breakfast at Whalers, still my favorite spot for the view so last night I organised a couple of friends and my pregnant daughter, who was without children or partner and we met at 9 am. A bit late for John who had something before we left.
It was cold but still and a magic morning, we sat outside and I snapped these while waiting for the others to arrive.
After eggs benedict and coffee and lots of chat we had a walk along to the Bluff jetty where a few squid were being caught and we came home.
No lunch will be had as the breakfast was very filling and lovely.

Another little jacket finished

Not the best photo, I am not sure how to manage photos of jumpers but this little one is finally finished, still a few more I want to do but today I collected materials for the cot quilt I want to make and cut them out. I havent made many quilts and havent made one for ages so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I think I can cope with a small one.
The next knitted one I make will be in really bright colours, have found a pattern, most of my baby stuff was for 3 ply and now things are all 4 ply and that is the wool I have at the moment. This one was in 3 ply.
I cut back some roses, late but its been cold and frosty so I do them late here, and pulled a few weeds, it is going to be warm later on this week. Jolly cold at the moment but it wont be long and I will be thinking hopefully of fires and cold when it is stinking hot.

A clutch of hearts

What you may ask is a clutch of hearts doing on my blog.
Well my daughter asked if I could remember how I made a cot string for her other daughter and this is the beginning of that string to go over a pram or cot. Nice bright colours, John says he hopes she doesnt get myopia looking at them.
I feel I have to put up something other than photos but things are being done, but slowly.
I seem to get tired and try not to feel depressed by keeping busy.
Adelaide today to see my mother, spaced out but she listened as I knitted and prattled on for almost 2 hours. If you look at my With Boots and sketchbook blog you will see my tirade on what is going on with her.
No disasters at home today so we will see what the week end brings.

painting/collage

I had been playing with this for a while, it is neither painting or collage and I dont quite know what to call it.
I am using acrylic paints which I dont do very often and I had a lovely trellis on a napkin I had taken home from some where and cut of a bit of music and a nest and painted the bird and loads of mixes of gel medium and then added the twigs. I quite liked the idea of some of the things I had seen in the latest Somerset Studio but didnt realise how long it all took, well it took me any way. the scan is a bit odd.
A busy day and I now ache all over, after a not good night, the foal had to be put down, I had to be in Victor at 8 am for a blood test, do a quick shop, collect the float, home by about after 10. John had to put the float on the Toyota and we went out the back to get the mare with sore feet, she didnt want to be caught, didnt want to go on the float, it poured with rain and was very slippery going. We did finally get her home and then I had to walk down and collect the little mare who is having her first foal, not sure when so she is by the house and I can keep an eye on her, she wasnt too bad but by the time I got home all I wanted to do was collapse in a heap.
I have found a lovely quilt pattern for a cot quilt I would like to make, but am trying to find stuff out of my stash to use, I think I will have to buy something, loads of blue not a lot of pink which I need. I am also about to sew a string of hearts to go over the cot, nice bright colours I think.
Still have a body to make and am running out of time. Oh dear.

Two more from yesterday

The first one is of the Bluff from Kings Beach looking into the morning sun and the second is of West Island and part of the Kings Beach which is thought to be the start of a fish trap.
I am feeling a bit sore and tired today, I have had a boil developing at the top of my leg where it rubs on the other and I have looked very odd wandering around in a long skirt as pants are too uncomfortable and if I wear a band aid my skin reacts.
So this morning I found a foal born, daughter who does these has flu, grand daughter has flu. Foal is in trouble with back legs not wanting to work otherwise he is strong and healthy and had a huge drink when we propped him up, not sure of the prognosis but we will persevere for a day or two. Makes me feel sick though.
I am snuffling and coughing and generally feeling "off" again!! And of course John has long meetings all day.
I am still trying to tidy up and make some sense of my work room.

Walking Kings beach

This morning as I havent had a walk or a coffee for days John suggested that we went early and walked Kings Beach. It was cold, we had a frost here this morning, with a light wind and was absolutely magic. Of course I took the camera with me and I was very pleased to finally get a wave crashing on the rocks. This is one of my most favorite walks. The Wanderer butterflies were hatching and mating and getting ready for another generation.
We called in for a coffee and read our mail. He has now rushed off to something, the wind has picked up and it is cold again.
A busy few days ahead and I am trying to get some tidying up done in my work room.

TAST Crested chain stitch

This was one I had never heard of before so I was a bit hesitant to try it but it actually came together quite well but I was pleased that Sharon b had put a few blogs my way to see what others were doing with it.
I started very small with a 5 perle without much twist, went on to another 5 perle with a bit more twist and then went to a much thicker one, the red to see what it did. The red got a little wonky as I was watching Dr Who at the time and things were getting a bit exciting. I think maybe I was getting a bit overconfident too.
I had a long walk along the beach and actually felt I had a quite productive day, a painting done, a bit more on my very odd acrylic painting and some stuff done outside.

Morning Walk

I took this photo earlier from the new Inman River footbridge. A grey and windy morning although not as bad as the last few days. Still no rain even though it keeps on looking as though it should.
John dropped me off and collected the papers and I walked, I havent had a decent walk since we got back from Melbourne.
Had Tabby and her two and John's one for dinner last night. Poor Gaby has an awful cold and a temperature, I just hope we all dont get it.
My large house felt quite small with the three girls in it.
I feel we dont get to see any of them very much, all going their own way and doing their own things and we are a bit left behind unless we make the effort.
Off to try and do some painting.

An unfortunate find

This little owl was by the side of the road, knocked by a car. Not as big as the book says he should be, at 13.5 inches and not 16 but I think it is a Boobook owl, the ones we hear at night going Morepork morepork. I collected him from the side of the road to identify him, such a beautiful bird and with feathers so soft to touch. He will be buried in the garden.
I have done very little painting in the last few days, too much other stuff to do. Tonight Tabby and her girls come for dinner. I am still knitting, another little jacket but I found some fun things in the latest Handmade magazine which I think I will do to go in the baby's room.
Simple and easy things as at the moment it is all getting on top of me.
Oh but I have just enrolled in the next years Fibre Ballarat doing an etching class with Glen Skein, I would have loved to have done several classes but you have to choose one. Jean Littlejohn and Jan Beaney and Sandra Meech are coming again and I would love to do Jeans class again, but I hope I can get some ideas of what they are doing by mooching in and out of a few class rooms!! I did a workshop with Glen last year making boxes and I dont know that I will ever get the opportunity again to learn some of his etching techniques.

Funny sort of day

I am tired, my mother is alright and couldnt even remember going to the hospital!
I have done very little all day except do the tag which didnt scan at all well and put together this page for my stitch book, and I sewed the wretched thing on crooked again.
I had to go to Victor to get horse feed, and a few other things.
Yesterday while in Adelaide we went to see the Waerhouse prize which the museum here puts on for art that is related to the natural world. this year it was great, last year I was not impressed at all. Quite a lot more mixed media too which was interesting and some lovely sculptures of various things, the winner had done a magnificent cabinet full of painted eggs, well ink really as it was all black and white with various fish and foul and animals on them. My pick was a blown glass baby echidna in a plastic wrap which was lovely. I am not sure if they have a web site but it would be worth a look, either under Waterhouse prize or the South Australian museum.

At 7.30 am this morning

The blossom by the bedroom window is just coming out and we had some showers through the night. I thought this looked rather lovely.
There are lettuce in some of the hanging pots, to keep them out of the way of the peacocks.
I had a flat out day yesterday cleaning and I mean cleaning the house and then beading last night. today we go to Adelaide to see my mother and a few other things so I am doing this early.
I hope that the rest of the week will slow down a bit as I dont seem to have stopped. I have a doll body to make for a class and I am way behind on a heap of things I want to get done, that is life.

The Melbourne grand children

I think I should have cropped these but I rather like the backgrounds. Evie is on the netball court looking worried in the red and blue and the only photo we could get of Will was the one Evie took of him hiding in the bushes. this is typical Will. They are lovely children but typically city ones, off to sport, practice, piano practice etc etc. Always doing something. Different things to my farm grand children.
We had a bit of a stressful day yesterday, the nursing home rang to say that my mother had been found unconscious in her chair and they thought it might be a stroke. John was in Adelaide with the car so I alerted him but they didnt ring back to tell me where she was, so after a lot of messing around with an agency carer who couldnt understand english(!!) I finally found where she was at 5 pm having been rung a bit before 1.30 pm. I was very cross when I finally got to someone who could tell me what was going on. Any way John went to see her and they hadnt found anything they could pin point so he took her back to the nursing home and then came on very late for dinner.
Of course I hadnt dared to leave the house waiting for a phone call that didnt come so no walk, although I did do a major clean up in the house so I suppose some good came of it.

TAST cast on stitch and Fitzroy terraces

I had to get my TAST stitch for this week in as the computer is going in to be looked at and I am not sure when I will get it back. So this is cast on stitch, I had no idea what I was doing and I am still not sure if it is correct but was an interesting stitch, I didnt want to do too much of it so began to put an outline around the bits I had done and filled them in a bit.
The photo is of terrace houses in Brunswick St Fitzroy in Melbourne, some wonderful stuff to photograph and paint in this area. It was interesting to go to an art exhibition down in Frankston and find wonderful watercolour paintings of this area there, even the pubs I had taken photos of.

Back from Melbourne

I have been having awful trouble trying to load stuff onto my blog, and while in Melbourne, even though we had the laptop something happened and it now has to be fixed! So I really wasnt able to use it.
A couple of photos, lots more to come when I have time to sort them. we managed to catch up with Wendy in Federation Square and here she is with the Flinders street railway station behind her, I cut off most of her!! I am still having trouble with the lcd on the new camera and quite often I just point and take a photo and hope it is ok.
We had a great time all up, not as much time to sketch as I would have liked but it was great fun meeting Wendy and she certainly sketches far better than I do.
Our week was very full, we took advantage of the all day seniors tickets on the railways and went down to Frankston on the train and back to Melbourne to Fitzroy doing the same thing. A day drive down to Sorrento and Flinders and back, more photos to come!
Great to see the grandchildren and our son and his wife they looked after us very well.
Not sure how much I will get done on the blog this week either as a few trips to Adelaide seem to be happening and I must get stuck into a few things around here.