TIF for December finished

On this the last day of December I have finally finished my Take it Further challenge, the last fir the year,
I have more or less used the colours and also Sharon asked us to think about our ideas for what Christmas means, the giving and sharing and so hearts and hands were my choices, I make a lot of our gifts and they are made with love and great thought.
I will eventually make the 12 months challenges into a book but I am inundated with friends and family so it will have to wait for a while.
Had a lovely day today as I walked the beach and wandered town and had coffee with a friend and then we went out to see Tabby and Millie and my foal.
I would like to wish every one a very wonderful 2009 and may it be a safe and happy one, and may you all achieve great things that you are proud and happy with, may your families be loving and kind and generally even if the economic climate isnt great, make the most of what you have.

Kangaroo Island re visited

I have done nothing since I came home but wash and clean, the washing still isnt all done and I have done some of the cleaning.
Spent most of the afternoon in Victor, first with the Physio who had another go at my knee, a few more of those will be needed, and then supposed to be in to see the Dr for a routine after blood test at 3 and it was nearly 4.30 before I saw him and by the time John had had his driving test overhaul it was well after 5.30 and still some shopping top be done.
So home late, chooks and dogs to be fed, a meal to be prepared so I thought a few more Kangaroo Island photos would cheer me up, dont know about who ever follows this blog!
The first two were taken at Pennington Bay on Christmas afternoon and then one taken when we went to look at the Billygoat falls, I need to go back to those photos and fix some, dont you love this Yacca? We call them blackboys (because of thier skirt and the fact that when they flower the flower stalk is tall and thin and black after the small flower have finished) but these days that is politically incorrect, but then I always was!
Then two on the Playford Highway going towards Cape Borda. This was where we saw some of the loveliest areas of native flora, and in flower which was late as most plants here flower in Spring.
I am reading a book set in Kangaroo Island that I bought while I was there, I am not terribly impressed with the way it is written although the story itself is ok. I think it was probably self published and for the American market as the Australianisms are a bit much and cringe making, any way it is called Beyond Passion which should have warned me off and is by some one called Tony J Boyle. I think he needed a good editor.

Leaving the Island on a damp and drizzly day

The first picture is the mainland, I always forget in which order blogger loads photos, I am sure it was the other way around before.
Any way the mainland under low cloud, then towards the Island also under cloud, the other ferry as we passed it on the way home and then two of Penneshaw looking damp and mizzly. It wasnt cold, just a lot of low cloud and at least when we got home things were beginning to damp up a bit. It is always interesting to see the Island from the sea.
I am sad to be gone, missing the view from all the windows, coming home is always such a pain, packing up and then unpacking and being over tired.
My back is aching but I have unpacked every thing and put them away while John has spent the entire time re doing the computer we took away and looking at bills etc, so he is cross and grumpy too.
We have had to re jig everything with my computer as the screen died so I now have a seperate key board, that I like and a new flat screen which is rather in my face on my little old desk but at least I am not craning my neck to see it.
Less room of course but isnt that always the way.

Miss Millie at the beach and in a bath

Millie doesnt have a bath at home, only a sink so a bath was a big new adventure and so was the beach. tab was introducing her to water but she wasnt very frightened and loved the sand and the shells.
a slow day today, several walks on the beach, a long and fairly liquid lunch, oysters and a sea food salad, we go tomorrow Millie and family go this evening, none of us want to go.
I loved the photo of tTab taking Millies photo with John her partner and his sister, the ferry and two sail boats in the background, this is Penneshaw at its best.
Proud Grandmother photos, sorry!!
Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Rock Pools

Today we have been busy as Tabby and her family have arrived and so we have done lots of eating and drinking, although we have done a walk along the beach and Tab and I went out to see what Bernard had that was new.
I have been taking lots of photos and I rather loved the rock pools, the sea anemones were showing up well as the tide was pretty low and then when we went to Pennington
Bay there were fish which dont show up very well in the very blue pool.
I have a bit of a thing about rock pools, the thought of all that small life living in a tiny enviroment which gets water twice a day, bringing sometimes food and sometimes predators.
Limpets, dead shells, sea weed all in small packages.
Today when I walked I found a cowrie, my second this week, and a frilled cockle.

Christmas morning at Penneshaw

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, HAVE A HAPPY DAY, and if you are of another religion, a lovely day for you as well.
It has got a bit grey and windy this morning, still warm enough for a stroll along the beach in a t shirt but not the lovely day it was yesterday, but a better day for over eating traditional food, which we are not, oysters and champagne and salad for us.
We are so lucky to be able to still do this and enjoy it, the sea always soothes me and it is bliss to wander and pick up shells and greet strangers.
I thought I might show some of what i do and what comes with us, silly I know but these are the special dolls and gifts from people mostly the gifts are on the two small trees and the ones on the shelf are my creations, love those silly Father Christmas's, interestingly there was a letter to the paper about what had happened to Father Christmas, here that is what he was, never Santa. Our traditions are being over ridden by other cultures.
Just love the elenor peace bailey nativity scene too.
The last is our table for today, I picked the fuchsias, the candle and shells were here already and we look out over the bay at the glorious view.
I hope all my blogging friends have a really lovely day.

Todays doings

A page from my altered book, a collection of shells, the incredible colour of the water in the bay and the sea gull who waits for food to come his way and stands by the kitchen door.
A simply lovely day today, warm enough for a sleeveless shirt and 3/4 pants, I have had two walks, one along the beach and back and one to the shops. We are going out for drinks tonight. the bay has been full of the ferry doing a huge number of trips all day and people swimming and playing.
I sat outside looking at all of this and did some embroidery while John relaxed on the bed!
we have stopped running around like crazy people and have decided that if we dont get to some of our favorite places well it doesnt matter and relaxing is what it is all about.
Tabby and John and Millie and John's sister will come over for 2 days and a night on Boxing day which will be fun.
I hope this glorious weather holds. It hasnt been like this for quite a few Christmases.
I will be blogging tomorrow but I would love to wish all who read this blog a very Happy day tomorrow.

A bit of this and that

Flowers in the back garden, A lovely Banksia we saw yesterday, a page from my altered book and the tiny marina here with a lovely yacht berthed in it.
All part of my day, we have a very nasty little easterly wind blowing today so a trip to the galleries and the shops in Kingscote was the order of the day, lunch on the pavement and then a sleepy drive home.
I have been painting every day, see my other blog, and I have been slowly doing stuff in my altered book. the pages here I used a plaque I found in the house and used the paper casting I did of it to put on these pages. I thought I thought I would do stuff like other people but have finally gone back to doing what pleases me. Probably not very arty, but important to me, like the feather I found outside the back door which is now glued down on another page, the heart shapes I really like, probably because they are easy to do!!
I am thoroughly enjoying a book I bought to bring over here, written by an American, she does lovely misty paintings and fun sketches it is called When wanderers cease to roam, A traveller's journal of staying put by Vivian Swift, some one reccomended it and it is lovely. Got on Amazon of course, just before the $ went so haywire.

Drive to Cape Borda

John wanted to see how the scrub had regenerated after the fires this time last year. So we did the long drive from Penneshaw to Cape Borda. I am now very tired. Some areas had regenerated really well but even in the one that shows the blackened Banksias there was a carpet of baby Banksias below and the yellow little flowers were every where. Banksias are one of the plants who grow to be very old but need fire to get there seeds to germinate.
We also called into Scott lookout where I took the misty looking cliffs, it was drizzling and rainy down that end of the Island.
We called into the visitor centre at Flinders Chase for a coffee and to see if the rangers knew what the funny blobby flowers were in the second photo, they didnt but I hope to find out.
Home now and all we need to do is organise dinner.
We did manage about a 3.5 km walk at one place we went to,my knee was feeling a bit sore so we didnt go the full 5 km, there are lots of photos of texture etc that I took there, I will put them up later on.

John's Birthday

The first photo is of the farmers market taken by John on his mobile, the next photo is of the sunrise at about 5.30 this morning (early morning loo call!!),
then there is John going down to the beach with a bucket to get sea water to defrost the oysters for lunch.
We had been to the farmers market early and bought all manner of goodies. So lunch was oysters, various things to put on them, sauvignon blanc from D'Arry and followed by a lovely mango and icecream, of course John had to follow that with a piece of christmas cake, we have done nothing but eat, infact John is cook tonight doing the normal Sunday night pasta.
Then a photo of the beach in front of us, it is actually called Hog Bay as in the early days the sealers had released pigs so they could have some meat, the fact that there were huge numbers of kangaroos which were much better eating didnt deter them from releasing something that has become a major pest.
We have been walking this beach night and morning.
I have been collecting shells to try and make some paper castings of, to use in the altered book.

Leaving Cape Jervis and here on Kangaroo Island

Sorry my photos are the wrong way around.
We left Cape Jervis at about 9 am this morning after a very early start for us and I took two photos from the ferry, the lighthouse and the view across to the island. We had a lovely trip over saw dolphins playing and I had a long talk to some people who are from Longreach in Queensland and going on the day tour here and then leaving tomorrow on the Ghan for Darwin. It will be hot and sticky up there.
We arrived and unpacked and put away and finally I have got the little tree up but the photo didnt come out very well, you can see the bay and the mainland behind it.
We had a lovely lunch, ham sandwiches and a terrific glass of reisling then a siesta!!
Off for a walk along the beach.

Family photos

Last night I had my eldest daughter and her family over for dinner to celebrate John's birthday, Sarah's and her daughter Fenella's
21st Birthday. the actual Birthday is on the 21st but as we will be on Kangaroo Island then we had it at home, only her family could come as there is a bigger party later on.
Fenella was having a few problems cutting the cake without hitting the bottom so her wish would come true.
So Sarah, her husband Peter, Fenella and then John, I am afraid my photo of the other side of the table wasnt brilliantso I wont inflict that on any one.
The next are photos I took this morning of Gaby and Mason, he didnt much like the sun and I couldnt get a photo of a smile but he was smiling and gurgling and is a beautiful boy, 10 weeks I think.
I have packed some stuff, am not organised at all, will forget something I am sure but clothes and my to do pile are organised a few food things but most I cant do until last thing as it is frozen.
We were given some lovely looking prawns for Christmas day.
I cant wait to get over there, it is always such a lovely relaxing time and I really hope to have time to do some painting.