Birds, fish and a rough day

I have finished these little birds, probably more on the way but not just at the moment. I love making them but I need to get some more things done, Christmas suddenly seems very close.
I received this wonderful fish from Jacky of dog daisy chains. I absolutely love it. Cant stop looking at it.
I worry about where all my loved bits will go when I am no longer here. Feeling a bit mortal at the moment as my older sister has a heart valve problem and she is wondering if she really needs to have an operation or not she is nearly 78 and not sure about how she will manage, either way. Such a dilemma when you are on your own and one son is far away and the other rather selfish and terribly busy. I have offered all the support I can give but it really in the long run is her decision, but non the less I worry for her.
I think part of the problem is we went through this with our mother and her last few years were not pleasant and that was not terribly long ago.
So this morning after a not terribly good nights sleep we blew the cobwebs away with a walk along the cliffs near the Bluff. Quite rough but not too bad and such a lovely sea

Tiddy Widdy Collage

I am home form a lovely few days at Tiddy Widdy on York Peninsula. I took lots of photos, and made a collage of a few. I notice the little brown snake lost his/her head but you get the idea. I think you can click and enlarge.
Such a lovely place, we sat looking at the sea in all its moods, from rough to glassy, I walked every day for at least an hour.
We ate laughed talked and played with cloth, I made some birds, and have a new pattern for a strange little Christmas fellow.
We went to the op shop, we read, we cooked and had fun.
the birds were incredible, well they were easy to take photos of, the red cliffs and the white silos made a lovely contrast and there was a boat in loading grain.
A lovely sleepy little area, very quiet during mid week.
The only downside for me is getting there was I have to drive from one side of Adelaide to the other, J only had to come down from up north. One of her English students came yesterday and spent the night, a lovely lady from Checkoslovakia (spelling!) . That was interesting. I left early this morning and was home by a bit before 1pm.
Now tired, it has been hot and humid, didnt expect that, and we have had a little bit of rain which is welcome as I dont have to water the pots.
Have a lovely week end. I think I will.

Making little birds

I have been having fun making these little birds, using up scraps, I will have to make a lot more before all my scraps are used.
I am off for a couple of days to Tiddy Widdy tomorrow on York Peninsula, I dont think the weather will be warm, here it has been overcast and dripping for days, but it just might be us. I know the garden is beginning to look like a jungle.
I haven packed and I have collected an awful lot of bits and pieces to take to do but goodness knows if I will do anything. At the moment I just feel like sitting and reading.
I have no doubt the car will be full tomorrow morning with all the 'stuff' I might need.
Our Rivington Welsh Ponies had a great weekend winning in various disciplines in three States, such a boost, so nice to know you are just not breeding led ponies but ones that can go out under saddle and go from leading rein to dressage.
Not sure if my cmputer will work while I am away, we will take it and try but if not I will be back on Friday.

Garden wandering

It has been a strange few days, overcast, warm and humid. My poor garden is worrying me as I am having a lot more problems with my hands at the moment, aches and a bit of a wobble. Not conducive to pulling weeds but despite that it looks beautiful.
As you can see from the first photo we have not a lot of distant visibility, infact in places it is almost foggy but not quite. Not the sort of weather we usually have.
Irises and roses are coming out, the irises are over a period of time but each individual variety doesnt last for very long.
I also have some lovely succulents flowering, the little rat tail is covering itself and the pink one seems to like me and I have it in various places, they strike so easily and reward you with flowers.
I have been trying to get some sewing done, a few ideas for simple Chrtistmas bits this year as I am not managing to get a lot done.
I am not painting either which is annoying but the wobble doesnt make for easy painting.
I am off on Tuesday for a few days to Tiddy Widdy with a friend, I am taking stuff to do and I hope to get some walking in as well. So John will have to look after himself, the cat, the dogs and the hens.
He is off fishing today, I do hope they can see where they are going in this misty weather.
Not an interesting blog post, enjoy the photos and click to enlarge them.

Not quite finished

I have had a busy few days and needed something to quietly play with. I drew some small elephants for my other blog and used the more stylised one for this small slow stitchery. I was amused when I had finished stitching the tree to see a face in the foliage. I dont think it has decided that it is quite finished, I will leave it by my chair and see.
Tuesday we went to Adelaide, well down to Glenelg where my hairdresser now is and after hair cuts and a coffee decided to park the car and take the tram up to the city center where we had dental appointments, we dont usually use public transport in the city as we have a car and drive up but it was a pleasant surprise to find that with our seniors cards we had free travel up and back (so long as it was between ? and 3, not sure when it starts, we were there around midday), so that saved considerably on car parking. I can see lots of future possibilities!
Yesterday a friend from skiing days (a lot younger!) rang to say she and 2 friends were doing something with cycling SA and could we meet, so we had a very pleasant lunch at the Anchorage on the veranda, it was pretty hot but not too bad and it was fun to catch up. John had had a physio appointment as he has a shoulder that doesnt like him so it all worked out well with us actually being in the town. We shared a fantastic coorong mullet bruchetta, new on the menu since I was last there.
It has cooled down and there is the odd spot of rain but I have hoses going full tilt in the garden as two hot and windy days, as well as smoke from deliberately lit fires in the conservation parks has dried things out, not the smoke, that was just an added hazard and now we are really worried about some idiot who thinks it is fun to light fires at risk to all and sundry. One was to the north and one the south of us and not terribly far away.
The joys of summer in the country.

Stones

Yesterday during our walk I took photos of stones, and there will be more to come, as the sand has been washed away rocks which have been under the sand for a long time have been exposed and some of the markings on the rocks have been very interesting. Not that they are all natural, the old stone well on the beach is now exposed as well and I had fun taking this photo through the two fence posts. The other non natural one is this lovely pile of stones, I think I have taken this or one similar before but I love making these at home, although something always fells them, but this was a lovely collection that would take some knocking over. My rocks dont tend to be as flat as these, This is a very satisfying collection as the entrance to the beach.
We thought the last one looked like a womans head, a very natural sculpture, dont you love the lichen on her head as a decoration.
You should be able to click on the photos to enlarge them since I disabled the wretched slide show blogger thinks I would like (I dont).

A glorious mornings walk

Finally after days of damp and drizzle where I have had to walk around the paddocks in rubber boots and wet weather gear the morning was bright and lovely even if a bit windy.
Decision made, head along to Petrels Cove and along the cliff path to the first beach. The tide was about half way, and was showing how much sand has gone from the Petrels Cove beach, so many rocks and it was rather the same on the little beach further along.
Magpies have their young out of the nest, rather late and I hate the carnage on the roads as people dont let the babies have time to fly off. At least these were not near a road.
The pigs face is flowering as are the yellow billy buttons, on the fenced side of the track sheep were grazing and down on the beach the sea was roaring in and crashing satisfyingly over the rocks.
A morning to savor and remember.

The moon last night

Coming home from a very pleasant dinner last night the moon was I think full, any way it looked pretty large and I tried to take some photos as we were driving, which is the last one, and then we stopped, the middle couple and finally at home through the trees. I took the flash off and got these wonderful affects.
Coming through the back way on dirt roads is always a bit of an adventure and you hope the kangaroos dont hop the wrong way, this time no one did.
More rain, lots of wind today, I went in to the market and came home rather damp around the edges.
Catching up on a few inside jobs and being a bit lazy.

The garden on a damp morning

The weather has been kind to us again and we had showers this morning and not a lot of wind. About 5 mm I think but it has freshened things up a lot.
My lawnmowing man came yesterday too which always makes things look so much better.
Trees in the orchard are still flowering, the pears are out now and various things in the borders are showing thier heads, as still do the weeds but I can ignore them, well some of the time any way.
I am still playing with stitch but slowly.
I have walked and we are out to dinner.
I hope you all have a lovely week end.

More fabric pages

The front and back of the next fabric page, not showing up quite as well as I would like but ok.
Then the two dolls, the first was a stamp and we made those when we were in Broken Hill last year, the second is one I drew free hand today, I had found some sharpie fabric pens in Big W and thought I would like to try them out. Unfortunately the yellow dots dont seem to show up very well in the scan. ON the whole though I am really pleased with how it is developing. A few more ideas coming out of this.
I will put this some where on the inside cover.

Quite warm today but I have finally planted out the petunias I bought over the week end and pulled some weeds, done more washing so I am up to date with that.
Spent yesterday in Adelaide visiting my sister who has a bit of a health problem, she is off to Melbourne next week and just wanted to tell me a few things and also give me my Birthday present, three lovely netsuke hares, I am thrilled with them.
Then on to lunch at a friends and there were three of us having a lovely non alcoholic time! Well I had to drive home again didnt I.
I realise I dont catch up with friends as much as perhaps I should.
I have just organised myself to the Grampians in late February too, doing a 2 day workshop with Keith Lo Bue, The class list is extensive, I thought a 2 day may not be quite as much but I do have time to quietly get most of it and thank goodness I have quite a lot any way.

Another filly foal and daisies.

This filly was born yesterday, a nice Welsh Mountain filly and especially so as her mother has only given us colts up until now, so one to keep the line going.
When I walked out to take a photo I saw this clutch of fungi and with it some cape daisies,we call them dandelions but they are not true dandelions, the bane of our life in the paddocks but they do look lovely turning them into a lovely shade of gold when the sun comes out.
From there I went looking for other daisies, the purple one whose name I forget, the yellow winter flowering one and the common or garden bush daisy.
We rely on the daisy family to brighten up corners of gardens, they are useful fillers and groundcovers, and flower almost at all times of the year here.
I also love painting them, free motion sewing them and having them in the house as flowers when all else fails.
My visitors have gone, it was only a brief visit but lovely to see them as John and Roger have been best friends since they were very young and we never seem to get to Perth to see them. Our children are similar ages and we have from a distance gone through a lot together.
After all the cleaning and cooking etc, not to mention too much to drink last night I think I will go and so some quiet sewing.