Food shopping this morning

There are wonderful shops up here, just around the corner so more photos, J is amazed at what I take photos of, perhaps also are so many others, I dont know, but it is fun to have so many records.
These are all olives made in every way possible!
The fruit and veg, and then I couldnt resist the ice cream area, isnt this incredible (click to blow it up).
Finally next door was this glorious kitchen shop. Just as well it doent live near me or I would be broke, aprons in every colour imaginable and utensils I only see in books.
I took lots more of these but picasa only lets me do 4 photos unless I make a collage.
I am a real country bumpkin in these places.
9 for dinner tonight and I am the main cook, never cooked a large lump of beef on the BBQ before so it will be interesting.
walked around the little Botanic gardens here too this afternoon but forgot my camera. I never forget my camera so John had to use his phone, the photos are not brilliant.

Around and about Surfers

I may be making more collages, at the moment I am doing very little, it is nice to relax and just wander around with my camera, taking photos of anything that catches my eye.
Most of this is our wander yesterday down to the spit with a few rather more tropical plants thrown in than I see at home.
The skies were in credible yesterday, today it rained a lot and J had a funeral to go to so we didnt do a lot but a bit of retail therapy was done, some wine and some anti itch stuff and2 new handbags, not expensive but could be useful.
we did discover that the cat loves prawns, J is allergic to them so we have them for lunch when she isnt home. Huge and Yummy, 4 each was all we could manage.
Not sure what is on the agenda for tomorrow, no doubt a walk, we had a short turn around the park this evening, I hope no more midge bites!!

Bit more of Surfers

We are being in holiday mode today, so a few more odds and sods photos.
The orchid in flower in the garden, a close up this time.
The view from just inside to the balcony where we eat if the weather is good and the wretched midges eat me because I forgot to spray myself, so I have very itchy wrists, in summer it is ankles!
We went to look for some clothes this morning and came home empty handed but I was rather interested in this shop called I think Never old or some such thing, very shabby chick stuff and at least a bit different. So many sales, I wonder how many will survive when they have up to 70% off in some stores.
We wandered around the neighbourhood yesterday, my lead up walk to see how far I could go, and although we do this every year, I still like to take photos.
To me this is a very Surfers Paradise house, this is the street front, the other side is on the water.
More photos to morrow of our walk to the end of the spit and the crazy things some of the Asian tourists do, now to help get dinner and then drinks with friends.

Now in Queensland

From the plane en route to Melbourne, loved the circles.
Melbourne airport, we flashed through here twice, once on Saturday morning and again on Sunday on our way to Sydney.
Next, unnamed well known Welsh members at the very funny AGM and conference dinner, I dont think too many Welsh breeders read my blog so I hope they and I are safe!
We seemed to be travelling all day yesterday, but the morning was spent being told a heap of stuff I already knew, but it was great to catch up with so many old friends.
Then a mad race to the airport and we seemed to be running all day, almost from one plane to another , then dinner with the tennis crew, lots more old friends and finally fell into bed at about 10.30, a long, long lovely day.
Not terribly good photo of J's garden.
Now for a week or so of fun.

Sun moon stars

I have finally finished this small slow stitchery that I was doing in Jude Hill's on line class,
I am afraid the photo wouldnt crop and the face doesnt show up terribly well.
Lots of bits and pieces went on here.
Lots of slow hand stitching, some bleaching and playing around.
Very damp today, but I am catching up on things and getting packed to go away, trying to clean the house and leave it for the sitter.
I do hope that Melbourne isnt too cold and Queensland is warmer, not sure what I am packing, I may end up washing and wearing the same things over and over again.
More importantly what sewing and painting stuff I am taking with me.

In the garden

I have just taken these photos a few minutes ago. the garden is soggy and some of the winter flowers are damaged after the deluge of over 44 mm and the wind on Monday night but the sun was out and I needed a walk. the little blue wren was hopping around hoping I would disturb some insects. Not sure if this is a male or female, as the young males look like females at this time of the year. We have several families who claim territories in different parts of the garden but they are so tiny, and so quick I never seem to be able to get a good photo.
We call them the flying mice.
We have a large branch down off the liquidamber, luckily not the one near the house, and the quince still is holding some autumn colour.
My camellias are getting ready to put on a brave show although the first out, Debutante is almost over. The Cootamundra wattle is just starting to show its golden orbs, and jack in a pulpit was hiding amongst his leaves at the base of the pin oak.
Winter cheer is coming into flower and the datura still had some flowers and buds and my tree dahlia miraculously managed to not be flattened to the ground.
By the back door the tall sedum is starting to flower, sometimes this gets knocked by frosts but not this year, although it had a hard summer .
My poor garden is showing signs of great neglect, I have not been able to do much since I had the knee repair and now the hip is not helping(or to tell the truth my shoulder) but I will tidy it up just before spring, so long as it is not too boggy to get into it.

A bit of play and rough weather

I have spent most of day mostly inside, we had gale force winds last night and over 40 mm of rain, at one stage I really was afraid the roof was leaking. This all happened after we got home from Adelaide.
We ate a hamburger overlooking the old oil refinery site and the small marina there and the waves were going over the marina wall at times. I did get out of the car to take these photos, it actually was still quite warm there.
Not too bad until we almost got home and then we hit the rain and the wind.
Today I have washed, ironed done really dreary things and finally when I had finished I sat and played with some free motion embroidery , this is a series of layers, base was some fabric paper, then a piece of cloth I had used to bash some periwinkle flowers on, then some transfer paints on curtain material, this I sewed, then stamped a leaf stamp and finally a piece of sari ribbon with some metal cut from the top of a bubbly cork covering using a paper punch and a small sari ribbon rose.
Dale from The Thread Studio had sent me her book using sari ribbon and some of the ribbon itself. Fun stuff to play with.
I am getting a few things done, but I am being so slow though that it is driving me crazy. So much to do and cant get my act together. This is something I had never contemplated having a problem with, now ...

My tea cosy

Using scrap wool I made this over 2 days and my strange little tea pot really likes it.
Very simple to make, why havent I made one before? No idea but from now on my tea pot will not get cold.
Up to Adelaide for a meeting and home again, raining and horrid on the way home the meeting went on for far too long, when dont they. As usual I probably had too much to say, but hey things should be run correctly, always were when I was on there so what is so different now? The people involved I suspect.
Perhaps I am just becoming a grumpy old woman.
Back again to Adelaide tomorrow, I hope its not too long a day.

Needle holder and a walk

I saw a nice little needle holder over last week end and decided I would like to make one, I am not sure where I found the pattern for this, I searched and searched on line and this is a bit smaller than i want so I will make another but I was quite pleased with the way it turned out.
For such a simple thing it is amazing how long it took my rather fuzzy brain to work it out!
We walked finally this morning, not terribly far and as far as I was concerned very slowly, along the base of The Bluff, but it was lovely to at least be by the sea again.
A very high tide with the odd big surge but mostly this earie dark blue sea.
I havent done a lot today, I feel I need to relax and try and unkink the muscles in the back of my neck, not sure I have done it but I do feel a bit more relaxed.
A trip to Adelaide tomorrow for a meeting and another on Monday for hair cuts wont help so if things dont get done here, well too bad.
Thank you to all who have said nice things to make me feel better, oh and I never did explain about those doll shoes, I cheated, and although I can make some shoes these were ones I have had for ages in a drawer thinking they might come in handy one day. I think making them is probably beyond my capabilities.
I hope those of you in the northern hemisphere are having lovely weather, here it is now cold and bleak and more rain on the way, but one must never complain about rain, we always need every drop, especially when your house uses only rain water.

Surprises in the mail

I am still having a slow day today, not supposed to do much with the shoulder for 48 hours, not that I havent cut up pumpkin for soup and cooked the pears for dessert and other things but I had a lovely mail today as Angela from Land of no cooking blog in the uk sent me this wonderful little bag and chocolates, oh yum! and a great little atc I was so pleased to get them and now I have a fancy small bag to put my sewing projects into.
While I was away Suz of Suztats blog from Canada sent me one of the lovely cards she is giving away on her blog, I think there are a new lot if you like to look.
I love the generosity of the blogging world, nothing asked in return but a thank you, although I do intend to send something back at a later date.
A couple more photos of my Mambray Creek walk, a wonderful piece of old machinery just asking to have its photo taken and perhaps later a painting, and a wonderful base of an old red gum in the paddock.
I have taken photos of both these before but it is a few years since I stayed and had time to walk.
Not the nicest of days today, cold and overcast, that wretched volcano in Chile is upsetting plans, not ours, yet although we head off to Queensland in 10 days via Melbourne and Sydney so I hope the ash cloud has gone by then, but our granddaughters partner was due home for his week off from the mines in Western Australia and went all the way down to Perth to be told he may get a flight on Friday, he has gone back to work and we really dont know when the flights will return to normal, there will be a huge back log.
I am taking things slowly, food has also got terribly expensive so we will be eating out of the freezer and what veg there are in the garden for a while, seems a lot of people are in the same boat, not sure what our governments think they are doing but it is certainly not helping people, all they seem to want to do is add extra taxes, or even sneakier , put prices of everything they have control over up.

Doll making week end

I am home from a fabulous week end at Mambray Creek making dolls with Pam Grose from WA. She is a very gifted and giving teacher with so many ideas running around in her head.
I shrunk the pattern a bit so my doll is different, but I am so pleased with her, she looks like all my grand daughter, aged 14's netballing friends, hence the shoes and short skirt.
I am afraid I am not into terribly fancy dolls so she pleased me no end and I finished her as well.
Isnt there such a wonderful variation> A few had gone home so they are not all there but they all looked fantastic. I am toying with shrinking the small round faced one as well.
I did struggle rather as it has been terribly cold and the aches and pains were not easy to work with.
I have been in for numerous X rays today, as well as an injection in my shoulder, but they are not sure how well this will work as I have a lot of bone on bone on my shoulder joint. so the pain will go on and I am not sure where to go to next. I know hips and now knees are being done but I think shoulders are a different matter. The joys of enjoying things when young that then come back to haunt you.
The last two photos are just a couple I managed while staying at Mambray Creek, the Flinders Ranges, looking green and wonderful and the last one in the evening light, this may have been caused by the volcanic cloud of ash that is coming over us from the volcano in Chile that has sent ash around the world to us and is disrupting air flights here in Australia. Unbelievable.
That will be no man made Global warming that is for sure, how to tax that!! The Australian Government has gone mad.
Now back to reality and doing house work etc.

Last walk

This collage is the last one. It was a very low tide and I wandered down to the little beach and out over the exposed mussel beds, the gulls were having a fine time foraging for food.
I saw one sea urchin that the oyster catchers had missed and a lot of red star fish.
I was drizzled on as I wandered, luckily only a bit but there have been some short sharp showers and it is a lot colder today.
I am slowly packing up, trying to think what I need and what John can take home. I have made 2 loaves of bread and stewed a few more quinces but most of the day was sitting cosily by the heater winding silk floss onto cardboard bobbins. Some were easier to wind than others!
I am cross with myself as I must have lost one of my good sketching pens when I sat on the end of the promitory drawing, and I am finding walking hard enough without having to go back, so lost it is.
The fellows got their bag again today, so they are pleased and there is not a lot left in the cupboards, but I think we will feast royally tonight, and have the odd glass of bubbly as well.
Hope to be back next year.
Double click to see better.

A little bit of stitching

Just to show that I have been working as well as playing, although I suppose this could be called play as well.
The top one is part of Jude Hill's on line class, sun and moon and I have had fun doing this quiet bit of sample stitchery. Some of it is not showing up terribly well, I may have been better to use a darker background for this.
The second is my little Gail Wilson doll, I bought this pattern when I was at DollU in California, it seems so long ago now, in either '99 or '01 and have always meant to make her up. I was so pleased to find a fat 1/4 of reproduction civil war fabric in the local quilt shop over here in Pt Lincoln for her dress.
Poor child she doesnt really need the grinder handle sticking out of her head!
I am about to go and do a very modern doll with Pam Grose but every so often I love to do these simple little dolls.
My joints are still playing up, I am now wondering if climbing up and down the stairs, which I dont have at home are the culprit, still it is lovely to feel I dont HAVE to do anything if I dont want to. (Well apart from make the bread and do the washing and help make dinner, and now the dishwasher has blown up, wash dishes!)

This evenings walk

Funny day today, quite misty and damp this morning but not a lot of actual rain.
This afternoon the sun came out and some huge clouds to the south.
As you can see I am besotted by pelicans.
There are a lot of boats in the bay near the shops and houses and while I waited for the fellows to come in I sketched a few, not at all well.
I have finished my little doll but have yet to take her photo.
I have crumbed 20 fish and stewed some apple for tonights dessert, just have to make a batter to go ontop.
Last night we were taken out to dinner at the yatch club, it was a lovely meal, a beautifully done steak, a nice glass of bubbly and a choc nut sundae with Kahlua over it. decadent!
Feeling my joints rather today, must be a change coming.
Double click on the collage to see it better.

Its windy today

Not a lot of rain but very strong winds, not withstanding the fellows went out after gar fish and I have just been rung and told they have 30 so a good haul and fish for dinner.
After another disturbed night with oyster overload I havent felt much like doing a lot and walking in these winds has not been very comfortable so I have finally painted and done some sewing.
The little doll is one I have been playing with, she now needs her clothes. The pattern is cut out, I will sew it tomorrow.
Now how do I stop this font? I have tried changing it and it doesnt like me, the mysteries of the computer.
Dont you love the Pelican preening on a light pole, they are magnificent. I dont think I can ever have enough of pelicans.
The window sill collection of bits and pieces I have picked up on my walks.
I love the little plastic crab and dinosaur ( I didnt do anything and I have gone back to normal writing!!) shells, a rock, a collection of fishing line and hooks and a broken plastic hammer, dont parents pick up after their chidren.
Hope you are all having a pleasant week end.