Beach walking

Yesterday was a bit windy, you can see a windsurfer in the first photo if you look carefully. Today has been much windier and really quite rough.
This little box fish just didnt make it, I love box fish, they look so unreal under water, I dont know if some one caught it on a line or what happened, he was very fresh looking but unfortunately dead.
A few trauma's today as one of the foals has a damaged eye and we couldnt get the vet out but did manage to collect some ointment for it. We will see how it goes tomorrow. Of course I cant even see how bad it looked. I am too blind to be of much use these days.
We went up to look at some paintings in galleries today, a short afternoon but it was nice to be out together looking at things we like. Not terribly pleasant driving though as it has been almost gale force winds. At least its not hot.
John and I have been working to get the area where I have some pots by the back door cleaned up, the jasmine had taken over so I now have a rather bare spot which is getting full sun, but I have some potted geraniums who I hope will like it and brighten it up a bit.
I cant wait until we get the new guttering up and I can really make it look better. I have a small statue waiting for some where to go but no not before workmen have been.

A bit of my world

I hadnt had a good night, again! I forgot the pain killers and woke this morning with all my joints aching. Mind you, the weather is changing too, cool with a southerly wind today although when the sun came out it was quite hot.
Frustrating that I cant do all I want to do but at least I can still walk along a beach and pick up a shell or two and take photos of the small whiting in the shallows and the lovely colours on the sand under the water, sky and sun and the Bluff. If you click on the photos you will see the fish and not just their shadows.
That was yesterday, we walked this evening but it was a lot rougher and we went along near the Hindmarsh River end of the Bay.
I am draughting out patterns for softees, the new rage at the moment, and spent most of the day working out how to make a bird stand on wire legs and feet and then how to cover them. I think I have done it photos possibly tomorrow.
I had fed all the animals before we went as I seem to get so tired lately but came home to thinking about food for dinner, something I sort of hadnt made up my mind what to do but at least John was happy, a rather spicy dish made of chicken, small red onions, garlic a tin of baked beans in chili sauce and a small jar of medium hot salsa. In the oven for an hour, oh forgot salt pepper and some chopped mint leaves. Tasted pretty good. Just hope my stomach doesnt rebel. I love cooking when I am in the mood but I find it a chore if I am not.
I am hoping that tomorrow we will go and look at a few art galleries in the McLaren Vale area.
I can hear the wind and crickets out of the open bedroom door and it is cool so I hope a good nights sleep.

A small quiltlet and in the garden

I have finally finished this small quilt, made from rusted fabrics and bits of rusty things it is now backed onto some black and finished.
I was walking in the garden early yesterday and this magpie on top of the old electricity pole was carrying on, singing and making a great to do. Of course by the time I got the camera trained on him he had stopped and just looked a bit embarrassed.
I loved the way this white agapanthus was showing up against the darkness of the shrubs in the back ground and this is the dark blue plumbago, not the lighter one we have had for years, it has the best blue flowers and grows rampantly here, needs a lot of cutting back but I dont mind. Any thing that grows is welcome here.
We had another walk along the beach this morning, but I havent sorted the photos as I have been busy making more funky chickens and some more owls, I bought a nice jacket at the op shop the other day for $2 and it has some lovely buttons on it and is made of a mix which included a bit of silk and is going to make nice owls I hope.
I thought I had finished making stuff but it was suggested that a series of 3 chickens and 3 owls would be nice so I am having a go, but do I have enough stuffing? I am not sure. Any way I need to keep my hands and mind busy.
It is warming up again, I am so looking forward to autumn, the end of daylight saving and some cooler weather that makes you feel as if you need to be outside.
Annie I did get your comment about slow wireless thank you, and thank you again to those who left a comment.
Off to water the pots, feed the dogs and chooks and think about dinner.

This morning and yesterday

Here are my delightful pair, Millie my grand daughter and Mason my great grandson who were having a kiss and a cuddle when we arrived this morning at Millies home. Tab tells me they do this every time they see each other.
Actually I wasnt quick enough with the camera so this is a re enactment!
Millie is potty training hence no knickers.
I had a lovely hour or so with them this morning, havent seen either for a week or more and I miss them, they are funny, awful and delightful all at once.
Yesterday morning John and I walked on the beach and here are a the menaces, a tree full of corellas after the pine nuts, we havent seen them for a while but the big white cockies have suddenly made a return. They are terribly destructive and very noisy. These were in a pine tree by the railway line where we park the car to go down onto the beach near the Hindmarsh River.
The beach was wide open and beautiful, I took some photos of the rock pools and the incredible blue that the sea was. I love the movement of the water and the reflections of the bubbles on the surface on the sand below.
Hotter today and we did manage to get the house sort of clean.
It doesnt sound as if there will be any fishing over the weekend. High winds are forecast. So I am not sure what we will be doing, there are a few art galleries to go and look at and beaches to walk.
Today apart form cleaning and washing I have a few more textile bits under way but nothing to show.
I do wish my back wouldnt give out every time I decide to do the vacuuming, I stagger around the house like a demented old woman, which I am not, well perhaps a bit of me is, it doesnt bear thinking about.
We had yummy whiting fillets for dinner and a salad, with a nice drop of white wine and followed by cheese, is it any wonder I am having problems losing weight!
I really must thank all of you who drop in and leave nice comments, I am not very good at getting back to people, partly because this internet at the moment is so slow. But thank you any way, and to those who dont leave comments but do what I usually do, lurk thanks for visiting.
Isnt that a wonderful word? Lurk, so many connotations in a word like that.
Well I havent done a sketch so nothing on my other blog, and I am off to watch the news and see what idiotic things our politicians have been saying.
Oh and congratulations to our aerialist who managed another gold for Australia. Only our fifth gold in all the years they have been going and this year we managed to get two super well done.

Around the garden

I have been having terrible trouble loading photos, I think because we are on wireless and when I try suddenly every one else is too so I am trying a bit earlier today.
I took these a couple of days ago, although I feel as if I havent done much I dont know where the time has gone and now I am trying to get a few more odd things made for the show in April, just when I thought I had almost finished.
John has been attacking things with the hedge clippers so luckily I took a photo of the rose at the top of the drive before he got at it, it will recover, it is that lovely old rose called Lamarque and I love her but she does grow rather well. Behind is the red cedar which I also love but is probably not a terribly suitable tree for where it is. It is a northern rainforest tree with buttressed roots!
I havent had as many belladonna lily flowers for years, I know this is a scrappy looking place for them to grow but this is what they like, dry and no grass.
Maybe I put this one up before, I cant remember, but the top of the bed looking across the drive with garlic chives and gaura flowering and the sedums all starting to flower. This bed is so dry as it has a huge lemon scented gum growing next to it so succulents like to grow here, I am at a stage of whatever makes a show stays.
The next one is of a long flowing branch of the afore mentioned gum tree, flowering over the bed and the orchard in the distance. The kikuyu grass in the lawn always greens up in a hurry if we have had rain, and although not much we have also had a few damp and foggy nights so it has greened up amazingly.
No fruit from the trees in the orchard though this year, only a hoard of brightly coloured and hungry lorikeets.
Oh and finally this fuchsia which must be the hardiest thing around, it is on the eastern side of the house and does get a bit of water, but hasnt stopped flowering, although it does get cut back a bit in winter if we have a frost.
John and I had a lovely walk along the beach this morning, such a lovely morning, blue skies, a gentle breeze and a low tide. Unfortunately it is warming up for a few days, but at least they are not forecasting over 40 degree heat.
Signs of autumn are around too, a I heard a thrush the other morning as well as some currawongs and to me that always means autumn is not far away.

Catch of fish and a day out

These are the fish John caught yesterday, only one for the cat but some nice ones for us. Garfish in batter tonight with some lovely fresh beans I bought at the market.
John had a meeting in Goolwa about 1/2 an hours drive away, Goolwa is where the River Murray goes into the sea, but it also has some lovely old buildings and a surf beach which is where I went to have a walk and a cup of coffee at the kiosk cum cafe there, I must go back with John for lunch it looks great. So first is a view of the beach and then a bit of the sandhills. This is where we come to drive along the beach and gather cockles when they are in season.
From there I went along the river which has been artificially filled with water as this time last year it was almost dry, this is basically at the moment a man made lake.
The birds were loving it and there were plenty of black swans, ducks, pelicans and sea gulls around.
Finally back to Goolwa itself and I parked under a shady tree and sketched the boats while I waited for John to ring and say he had finished.
In the background you can see the once controversial bridge over to Hindmarsh Island.
It was a lovely day a bit windy but not too hot and I had a lovely time checking out all the little shops, getting in a walk and a coffee and going to a couple of the art shows that were on in town.
As part of the Adelaide fringe festival the art show on at what was once Signal Point and now is the arts center is called The Heysen Trail and is being held in about 5 different points simultaneously, each artist has entered a painting in each venue, along parts of the Trail, from here to Parachilna in the Flinders Ranges.
All in all a really good day.

Sunday

I was up very early this morning taking photos of the sky. I hadnt slept well and John was going fishing early.
I did a wander around the garden with my camera while I was moving the hoses and saw the peacocks out near the paddock, these young males have nearly lost all their tail feathers, there are pea cock feathers all over the garden.
I have finally finished this little lady, she is rather sweet and I am quite fond of her, she will be in the selling exhibition we run over Easter. She is made from hand dyed fabric I did ages ago, beaded and embroidered with a gele on her head. I finally got the sea glass and bit of wire done to put on her today. I have actually stitched her hands together but she can go either way. I finally found a small ring to stitch on her to hang her on the wall, talk about not seeing things when I look for them.
This box will be there too, covered and lined with silk and with my burnt and gilded bits of organza decorating it.
I needed to do a bit of alteration to the lid pattern but I think I have finally got it right.
John has come home with fish and Oscar is out there paying rapt attention to his every move, but this time he only got one fish and we have several.
Hot and sticky again, not as bad as yesterday but bad enough. I spent some time diving in from my work room to watch the winter Olympics and marvelled at our no 2 bob sled team coming down on their heads, looked terribly uncomfortable but when you think that the only place they can practice back home is on the beaches I think it is a miracle they manage at all and they have to do the whole thing on a shoe string.
I did spend a bit of time trying to enclose a beach stone in craft wire, it is on my other blog here.

Walking Encounter Bay

It has got very hot and muggy again, in fact not at all nice, if we could only have a bit of rain.
We were up early this morning and in to the market, I got my vegetables and chatted to friends while John got the papers.
He was supposed to go fishing this morning but the winds were getting worse, in fact it got terribly blustery for a while so they will see what it looks like tomorrow.
We went down to the bay for a walk, another low tide and the sand has cut away a bit from last week when we walked here.
I rather liked the sea gull with his reflection in the water and the Bluff looked a long way away in this shot, you can see how far the tide is out.
I took photos of the signs that are up on the cycle track but of course they are not on every entry down to the beach.
I have been trying to finish my little triangular box but it needs some modifications and is taking longer than I thought.
I have backed my tantrum for Dale's "thing" this is my second one so I hope she likes it. Still a few things to do before it is finished.
Despite the heat John and I did a small amount of tidying up in the garden and I have had hoses on all day. I have been told I can only use the ones from the spring as the dam is getting low - again!!

A day in Adelaide

I spent Tuesday of this week in Adelaide with my friend P.. she took me around and about and one of the places we ended up was here at the Alberton railway station, now used as a hairdresser by an incredible person who I dont think does much hairdressing but had a wonderful collection of pin ups and memorabilia so here he is in his shop talking to P.
I think the first photo may have been the old station masters house, on the opposite side of the road a row of lovely old shops, all closed and my photo of them was not very good.
The road side of the station, we couldnt get over the line to take the station side.
It was a lovely bit of nostalgic nonsense.
The last photo is of a Russian cold war ship that is being reconstructed at Port Adelaide, I didnt quite get the gist of why she was a tall ship but here is her photo any way.
Since then I have had a fairly busy and slightly traumatic few days with my mother having a fall, and I was the one to be there while she was being stitched up. Four stitches in the back of her head but at least she had it done at the nursing home and wasnt sent off to the emergency at hospital which would have been much worse.
As if going to Adelaide with one eye that doesnt see very well isnt enough to be traumatic trying to drive the car was even more so.
Any way all seems to be well today.
This morning early we went for a walk on the beach, and I forgot my camera, it was a lovely morning, the tide was out and the sky was blue and it got quite hot by the time we had walked back to the car.
Shopping done and I am back trying to get some stitching done. It never seems to end.

Textile snippets

I have only put up bits of these, the first is a work in progress to I hope go into the textile tantrums, only a tiny bit as I cant show the whole, and any way it isnt finished yet.
The second is a part of a small triangular box that was in Stitch magazine, only I am using silk and the cut out bits are what I have been doing as samples in my on line Holey Moley class with Dale Rollerson of The Thread Studio. This was snippets of organza with a grid on top and then burnt back with a heat tool and a few bits of gilt rubbed over the top.
I hope when I finish the box it will look quite nice, but again I have still to finish this!

My morning

The first photo is of what I do early, have a piece of toast and a mug of tea and write up my diary, then go to the computer and read e mails and blogs.
Next I get up, shower and make the bed, so here is the bed, complete with Oscar on it. He arrived with my mug of tea and has to be shooed off.
As you can see, a cast iron double bed in original condition! Bedside tables covered in books and walls covered in photos and paintings. The Modigliani print was one of the first we ever bought, possibly because John thought she looked a bit like me, and certainly in those days I was a skinny little thing and the children when small were all convinced that that was Mummy.
Incidentally the wall paper is original, when this wing of the house was built in the late 1960's it was all the rage and much as I keep asking for the room to be painted, the wallpaper has survived and I quite like it again now.
What you cant see are the piles of books on the floor beside each side of the bed as well.
Is this all a bit too intimate? I am not sure.
Do you have as many books and paintings as we do? I am sure you do.
As you have no doubt realised, I am running out of things to put up, it was a day of ironing and tidying as we will be in Adelaide for the next two days.

Walking the cliffs

I have finally managed to do a walk along the cliffs today, this is an easy walk, not too many steps and rocks although a bit of a pull up from the final beach.
this goes from Petrel Cove along to Kings Beach but we didnt do the full walk.
I have these photos badly out of order, the one which says the beach is unsafe is Petrel Cove, where aged about 16 I nearly drowned, a bad little cove with rips that suddenly take you.
From there the walk goes past one other small beach on top of the cliffs and then onto another beach that you walk along before continuing on to the Kings Beach car park.
It was quite windy and latish in the afternoon but I managed to do it and get back without my knee being too uncomfortable.
Stunning views of the sea and surf and not a soul in sight.
I have been working on my textile things again today and am making a bit of progress, quite cool and windy which has been nice.
The girls have just rung to say our Cob stallion Pen-nant Prime Time had gone Supreme led of show and Champion ridden at a big all breeds show at Murray Bridge. They are very late coming home having left at about 5 am this morning but are really pleased with themselves and the way the big boy went.
Oh and the last photo Stephen of the golden fish was talking about what he saw when he blogged, well this is not quite what I see now, but it is what I can see in the morning when I check out the e mails and blogs from my bed on the little notebook which John very sweetly brings in with my morning tea. A small corner of the bedroom.
I hope every one had a lovely Valentines day, we dont really observe it but we had a lovely day none the less, it was too windy to fish so John was home for the day.

Sea urchin, clouds and a Birthday

On the walk the other day I found this bright little sea urchin with red spines.
It was pretty cloudy and Thursday we had 13 mm of rain which was good, made everything so much fresher.
Last night we gathered in one of the pubs to celebrate Gaby's 18th Birthday, here is a photo of her son Mason who was eating everything that passed him by, he and Millie had a lovely time roaring around, luckily there were not too many people for them to annoy.
The birthday girl herself with little sister Millie, I had made a cake, but forgot all about the camera when the time came to blow out the candles and cut it!
Today John went cockling so they have plenty to take over to Coffin Bay in May and I went to the market and came home and spent 2 fruitless hours looking for something, I did finally find it and in the mean time I did manage to get some tidying up done but it is so frustrating as I cant see things with this wretched eye that are virtually staring me in the face.
I have been burning some organza with my soldering iron but it is not finished yet so no pictures this is part of my Holey Moley on line class and it has made me do something I have been wanting to do for ages but some how couldnt quite bring myself to do it.