Bliss a walk along the beach

We had a cooler night last night and a bit cooler day out here, we got to 37 degrees, but Victor had a cooler day, about 29 but the humidity was high when we went in early to go to the market and get some olive oil and then walk, John complained he was getting burnt but I walked in the water. I wished I had taken my bathers as there was a slow and almost oily break and the water was quite warm for something that comes up from the antarctic.
There were people swimming horses, not sure if that is actually allowed, walking dogs and generally enjoying the morning.
I now have to make more of these wretched charms, so I have bonded some paper napkins to felt and this time I painted some acrylic wax over them, we will see how they turn out.
I spent all day cleaning up shelves and things, after a while I have to do something and I positioned a fan near me and off I went.
My poor lemon tree has been dropping all of its lemons so I squeezed a whole heap and put them into ice block trays and froze them, I think some of them literally cooked on the tree. I filled 4 ice block trays and I have a few more to do.
When it has been so hot we dont feel like eating much so sea food salads are great, lots of salad and a bit of smoked ocean trout and a few marinated mussels, enough flavour and just what you want.

I have been making charms

It is still overbearingly hot so I have been making charms, something to keep doing when you dont feel like doing anything.
I had to do the weekly shop today and as we went in in the red ute I didnt have my supermarket bags in that car, so, John dropped me off and I shopped and then he rang to say, I went home to get them and then I forgot them again!! Long story, I bought 2 new bags and with the one we had in the car only broke one plastic bag they had given me. Now the ute has bags in it too. I think the heat is addling all our brains.
The charms at the top are made of paper napkins on felt and the edges dipped in utee, the others are various styles done on the embellisher.
It is cooler outside but the house has warmed up and John wants to go fishing tomorrow, I suppose I can go and have a walk and put my aching feet in the sea. We could do with the fish.

Silk paper

It is nearly 7 pm and it is still 40 degrees, I thought it was better than yesterday and while the strong northerly was blowing it seemed to keep the air conditioner cooler but it is now still and very hot, still too hot to go and feed the chooks, if they are still alive, and hose things down. I cant believe how hot it is and we still have another week of it, the forecast for next Thursday for Adelaide 40 degrees, and we are going to Adelaide for our wedding anniversary!!
Any way I made this bit of silk paper, painted one side of a heap of paper clay ornaments with gesso and finished buttonholing around my charms, although I have counted them and still have about 7 to make.
I will have to start cleaning out cupboards next, just to take my mind off the heat, I keep hoping that we may get a bit of releif from a trough off the coast, maybe, just maybe, but that probably will affect Victor and not us, we are far enough inland not to get it.
I cant paint, I feel as if I am waisting days of my life. Still we were lucky as so far we have not had power cuts, some people in Adelaide have had a really awful time of it with no power, and you cant even sit under a shady tree with the hose on. I think tonight they said that the 43 Adelaide had was equivalent to 110 in the old money. Whew.

It is HOT 45 degrees

It has been so hot that I have not managed to do much as I just get sticky and sweaty and its revolting. We have a bit of cloud which means humidity and the air con is not making a lot of difference, well I suppose it is but its still over 30 degrees inside.
So these photos are to make me think I am cool.
The sun spots I have had burnt off my back have got to the itchy stage too and well nothing is madly comfortable.
I have sewn sequins on 31 charms, and I think I have a few more to do. then I have to edge them and I cant find my eyelet setter or the ordinary eyelets so I have been half heartedly searching for them in my over heated work room.
I had to go into Victor this morning and at 10 when I came home it was registering 45 degrees on the outside temp on the car. It has been terribly hot and the weather bureau is telling us it will be 40 until Sunday. One hardly bears to think about it and of course the radio which I have on to let me know if there is a fire any where just keeps carrying on about how hot it is and what the latest temperature is and I have no doubt they are in really cool air conditioned comfort.

Out to dinner and the catch of the day

Yesterday was Australia Day, and we went in early for the ceremony in Victor, then did various jobs, had a walk over at Normanville prior to collecting the liquid nitogen I took the picture of the red sailing yacht there, and then out to dinner at Tabby and John's, a beautiful night and brilliant food, Tabby's John had excelled himself.
Millie was having a lovely time wandering around outside and being given wizzy's by big sister Celina, the one of her looking up is after she had sat down about 4 times trying to get her legs back. Then sitting on Celina's back and sitting on Mum. Spot the dog is usually in attendance.
The fish John had caught on Sunday when he went fishing, a very colorful lot, the red mullet was for Oscar and so was the flat head as he was a bit small but the whiting and garfish were for us. Wonderful.
Last night there were a million stars out, amazingly clear. Today over 41 degrees and cloudy and hot and humid and horrid. We are about to have at least a week of this. I am so glad I have organised not to go any where.

Patchwork hearts

I have been making hearts, this one is for a friend with cancer in the hope of getting her through it. I have been having a lot of fun doing them, very simply, a base of fabric, I used tea dyed cotton, then torn strips laid over the top and sewn on with some fancy patterns from my machine. I made a template out of freezer paper and after a tiny bit of free motion sewing I folded the new cloth over right sides up and sewed almost all the way around the edge, placing a piece of folded ribbon in to make a hanger, left a tiny bit and stuffed it, sewed up the hole I stuffed through and then made a bow from some fancy threads, added a charm and some beads and that was it. Effective and fun and easy to make.
I made a tag from some rusted paper I had made.
Tomorrow is Australia Day and we will go to the ceremony in the morning in town and then a walk on the beach and we have to get something from Yankalilla then collect my dolls and go to John and Tabby's for dinner, sounds lovely.
What is not so lovely are the high temperatures they are focasting for next week, just hope some idiot doesnt light a fire.

Millie and Mason and the Tour Down Under

I am terribly tired, I have had a heap of sun things burnt off my back which are uncomfortable, last night I went into a Zonta gala opening of the needlecraft exhibition and although the hat parade was great it went on for far too long. I was up early this morning and went in to the market and then had a walk along the beach, all very fine then I raced home and made a salad and changed and over to Pt Willunga where we got onto the tail end of the peleton to get to where we were to have lunch and then went downto the esplanade and watched the last run through and as my camera was home took the race with my mobile phone. All very exciting for a couple of seconds. A lovely lunch. home and I now want a sleep!

Reef rockpools and people

This family were having a lovely time walking on the exposed reef when I went walking a few days ago. the rock pools were looking quite interesting and the tide was low.
I have been to Adelaide today to see my mother, she seemed ok, but tired. John had a meeting at Flagstaff Hill golf course beginning at 9 and so I found my way down to get petrol etc at Mitcham and then on to see P and then up to see Mummy and finally found my way back to Flagstaff Hill to collect John a bit after 12 and then home, doesnt sound much but then it was home and feed the dogs cat and chooks as well as organise dinner.
Tomorrow will be busy with my dolls for the Zonta show having to go in and then the tour down under stage to watch, it will be fun but I am itching to do some more of my ratty tatty papers course that I am doing on line with Dale Rolleson of the Thread Studio. Class 2 has silk paper making and I love making silk paper.

Altered book closure

We have been doing an altered book in Maggie Grey's class and my book has sat there for ages waiting for me to finish making the wrap to go around it. I had made part of it and made the utee tiles, I just hadnt finished getting it all together and today I finally made the cords and sewed it all together.
Trying to get a few things finished as I am feeling rather snowed under.
I spent all of the day moving paintings around so that the new one I bought would have a good place to hang. I have so many paintings that some almost reach the ceiling, so a lot got moved to new places, which is fun and is almost as good as new furniture which I dont have a hope in h... of getting.
Then as so much was dusty I did a thorough clean of all the surfaces so I am now hot and dusty and tired. With any luck it will last another week.

By my back door

This lovely verbascum self seeds a bit around the garden, it has been so dry not many are flowering well but this one is in a pot by the back door where it gets regular water. Absolutely gorgeous, it closes and shrivels a bit when it gets very hot and then suddenly looks good again. It has been very hot here today.
I am struggling with a small book that I am attempting to make out of a table napkin, slowly getting there, but Tabby and Millie came for dinner tonight and this morning I had a physio appointment so not a lot has got done, the story of my life at the moment.
Millie has been entertaining us with a new "face" and is an absolute sweetie, I finally got the old high chair that I was supposed to paint out of the shed and it fits without the tray under the round cedar table in the kitchen so she was very pleased to graze off our plates, garfish and salad followed by ice cream and freshly stewed apricots from the tree in the orchard.
We seem to be in for a hot spell for a while, typical when the Tour Down Under is about to start.
Fine for our fellows who are used to training in the heat but difficult for the overseas ones, we have a finish in Victor on Thursday which we are going to watch,we always like to see The Tour when it is here.

More little hearts

I am absolutely well I am so tired I dont know what I am. We had a pony show today for our Welsh Pony youngstock and although it was a fairly hot day and we did very well what has killed me is that I spent all day nursing one 4 month old baby boy, my great grandson as his mother and grand mother were showing and looking after Millie. Mason was grumpy as he was out of a routine and Millie was gorgeous but wanting to be with every one and in to every thing. I took my camera, could have taken some gorgeous shots but did I get a chance to use it? NO!
So now my back and neck feel as if they have been totally thrown out of alignment and I dont feel madly happy.
The hearts are an on going project.
More on everything tomorrow.

Ratty Tatty papers

I am doing Dale Rollerson's on line course and this was one of the first exercises, great fun to do and so easy, she is very clever in the things she thinks up.
I had a very early electrician today to connect up the new air con so we were both up early.
I have done some weed pulling as it is relatively cool today and the fire near us yesterday sent a few alarm bells out we have a bit too much dry grass around. Thankfully Mr Snake was not around.
I have made bread, made some soup stock and done two lots of stewed apricots from off the tree. I love years like this when the birds have so much nectar from the gum blossoms they dont bother us.

Maggie Grey workshop

I have been slowly doing the free workshop Maggie Grey had for those of us who have purchased her textured surfaces book. we are now on I think lesson three but then again it may be 2 I cant remember and we are playing with coverings for books made out of boxes and then the books themselves, this one is made of shrink plastic which is a beast of a thing if you need a correct size as it shrinks unpredictably.
Any way I have been fiddling with these.
today we had a fellow who arrived early to re do our airconditioner.
I did arrange to collect Millie from Tabby who had to go to the dentist and also collect Gaby and Mason, so Gaby, Millie and Mason and I went to the art show for a look, not that easy with pushers but we managed it.
As I came into Victor I met the fire truck who was rushing out to Waitpinga hill to a fire, looked quite nasty but was soon put out thank goodness as it was heading in aproximately our direction.
Any way a lovely morning but a tiring afternoon with bangs and crashes. All we need now is for the electrician to come and connect us all up.

Today and last night

We survived the 42 degrees of heat we had yesterday and thank goodness the much cooler change today, even if we were in Adelaide which was hotter than down here.
No fires here but we worry about friends who live in the Pt Lincoln area and who have had another disastrous fire hit the area.
Yesterday Wendy came and we rusted papers using caustic soda and Ferrous sulphate, the papers came out well and I will photograph some later but we also tried using cloth, not hugely successful although some nice colours with the threads we tried. Poly cotton didnt do much at all although pure cotton came out slightly better. Time will tell how durable these fabrics will be.
Last night we went into Victor Harbor for dinner with friends who have a lovely house right on the esplanade and although it was still pretty hot as the cool change didnt come in until well after 10.30 the sunset, was a bit spectacular and with the palms and Norfolk Island pines we could have been in a totally different country.
Sometimes you have magic nights like this right in your own back yard.
Today was Adelaide and we had our hair cuts, saw my mother, who was tired and after about 1/2 an hour I crept away as she was in bed snoring!!
So we headed home sooner than usual and got a Hungry Jacks near Hallett Cove and ate it overlooking O'Sullivans Beach looking one way towards the now defunt refinery and the other towards the boat launching fascility ( the first photos), a lovely spot and we may go there again.
On a very sad note one of our very good but getting old Section A stallions, Rivington Hyder died quietly today of a heart attack, his mother is still alive, he was by Fairway Bryn and out of Imperial Heulwen, a lovely little stallion who did well in his day and we are glad we have a few daughters and a stallion and a colt to pass on his genes.
We have had a terrible year with the ponies, I know a lot are getting old but that is the 4th in a few weeks that we have lost and a very dear and valuable one.

Cool Cat Oscar

Oscar had his nose put out of joint a bit while Will was here as Will wanted him to play and it is beneath Oscar's dignity to do that. So poor Oscar moved chairs and beds, any thing to not be near.
Now he is king of his castle again and was posing very nonchalently last night back in HIS chair.
He also likes to sit at the table on his other chair and be there while we eat, he never attempts to get on the table but occasionally if he thinks there could be something absolutely delicious a paw comes out and pats John's hand.
Strange animals cats, Oscar does not purr, I have never had a cat that didnt purr he smooches now he is 9 but you still have to be careful that he doesnt whack you if you take too many liberties with him. He is not happy about not having his half hour or so outside at the moment but with a tiger snake around I dont want to take the risk.

A magic morning

As it was still relatively cool John and I went over to Parson's Beach this morning to walk. It was a very low tide and absolutely magic.
The air was so clear we could see all the way across to Kangaroo Island. There were a few surfers on the beach and in the water and the water looked terribly inviting, even though I know it is cold.
The last photo was taken from the car park, there is quite a long and difficult walk down and then acres of this glorious sand.
There is a bit of a downside to this beach, gutters, rips and occasionally some one gets a bit taken out of them by a shark, it is great white territory.
So that was the morning.
The rest of the day has not been quite so good, I am desperately trying to lose some weight and my stomach keeps on growling at me. Not fun.
I am also on the last stages of getting together my embellished piece for Dale of The Thread Studio's connections challenge. It has taken me forever to get my head around it but finally I think I have almost finished it. Has to be there by the end of January.
Wendy and I are going to rust papers I hope on Tuesday and I couldnt find my rusting recipe and then I wasnt sure where all the ingredients were but I have now got it all together.
Supposed to be 41 degrees in Adelaide then so I hope it isnt too hot down here.

A busy couple of days

I am afraid I am still on photos as what I am working on at the moment is not for publication.
Last night we went to the Victor Harbor Rotary Art show and then to dinner at the Beach Hut so the forst photo is of the rather nice wooden whales on the walls of the Beach Hut, they have Indian food but their pizza's are the best any where, usually we get take away but felt like a bit of an indulgence last night.
The second photo is of the interior of a small part of the huge tent which holds the paintings, John and I actually bought one, after a lot of standing around and waiting. More expensive than I usually buy.
Then this morning I was up early and in to the Farmers Market and bought what I wanted and then collected the papers and went for a walk on the beach. Came back to see if the shop I wanted to get a punch from was open and went back into the Market just as our Mayor was opening it, so I actually got to see the official opening. She was followed by some girls who did a great drumming display in the band stand and then a shot of the flower stall.
I have actually become a member as I can get 10% off and I think I will be a regular as more and more good stalls are opening.
Oh dear my photos have gone up in all sorts of order, any way if you click on them to enlarge you will more or less work it out!

Coffee

Here are some odd photos taken during the week, Coffee in Victor with Will holding Mason, very awkwardly then Millie looking at the cockle train as it went past the windows and finally Tabby and Millie, Gaby, Evie, Marguerite and Will with the cockle train in the background.
I have been so busy this week, Simon and Marguerite and the family left yesterday and since then I have done nothing but wash bedding and towels with a washing machine that I think is on its last legs.
Last night we went to the cocktail party for the Rotary Clubs 30 years of art shows and to show off the paintings the council has had over those years, one forgets how many lovely paintings there were.
We are going to the opening tonight, in a few minutes and then out to dinner.