The last few days

 

We left home last Saturday for a day of meetings and a dinner for the Welsh pony and Cob society of Australia annual meeting and the launch of the book on the history of the society for the last 40 years. All rather a rush and went far too quickly, there is a photo in this collage of Mark Bullen, Joan McKinley and Bob Owen holding the book. We then headed down to stay with the family at Beaumaris, more rush and we were so tired we were not sure what we were doing so did very little, had lunch at Ricketts Point where a red wattle bird had decided to investigate the sugar on the table, they are a large honey eater and are not usually as bold as this. I took a few photos as we walked home from lunch. then up to the Gold coast via Sydney and 2 1/2 hours late but did arrive eventually, even more tired, to have family and friends in for dinner, poor Jill had been running all day. It was her 70th birthday the next day and it sheeted down with rain all day. A photo of John reading his speech a photo of all the birthday people in that week, Kay, June, birthday girl Jill, her brother Scott, 2 years older and also born on the same day as Jill and Andy. I think the odd photo of the rain sheeting down, and then to lunch the next day, a typical gold Coast house on the water, lovely. Today we shopped and not a lot has been done, thank goodness. i am off for a short zizz.

Back Valley Creek in flood

 

It seems such along time ago that the creek came down in flood.It has rained solidly from late yesterday afternoon and we have had about 40mm or more. everything is saturated, dams are overflowing, rainwater tanks are doing the same, its wet wet and very muddy. Love it like that for a little while but I have no doubt we will get sick of it soon. At the moment Whoopee!!! double click to enlarge the photos.

The valley, late morning

 
 
 

As you can see a damp and overcast day, looking east along the road the clouds were huge and the next two photos looking west show the low cloud hanging onto the tops of the hills at the end of the valley. We did get a tiny bit of sun this afternoon. I have been winding wool for a little simple top for Millie, I bought the home spun and home dyed in Coffin Bay, lovely soft colours, just hope I have enough for a garter stitch top, with no pattern, just guess work! I am not terribly good at guess work, the idea is just 2 squares with unstitched areas for head and arms. I think it will work. A long day in Adelaide tomorrow and then getting ready to go away and leaving things for the house sitter. I hope my hens are ok as I have just put the pair of Wyandottes in with them, they are only young but look huge! They will all have to be shut up while I am away so today was a good time to let them settle a bit before we go away.

A cat and a cat, and the sea and the clouds

 
 
 
 

It is that time of the year again when my lovely perfumed cattlya is floweing and after I had taken its photo I realised I had Oscar sleeping on the couch in the sunroom behind it. Not that there was much sun but he does like to move around the house (and leave hair behind!) we also walked this morning, neither of us feeling terribly brilliant but it was lovely on the cliffs watching some surfers and the light and play of sun and shadow on the sea. I am not the only one having problems both with blogger and with picasa at the moment so I dont think it is my fault, but another one has popped up today. I do wish that those lovely little egg heads who decide to mess with something would double check that all is working properly first. I am so fed up you may not see or hear from me for a while until I get some answers on all of this.

A small bird and a cold wet morning

 
 

Wet and cold

I have been having terrible problems with blogger and I am not sure how to get it fixed, what I have been told to do to fix it doesnt. I await to see if finally they come to their senses and all will be well again. I admit I have had to have this computer fixed but the little notebook is doing the same so I dont think it is in the mechanics. Enough, with any luck the photos will follow. It has been very wintry for the last few days, so the fire and knitting and hot soup sound like good options. I just hate trying to work my way through computer stuff I dont understand. we went into the market this morning, a lot of cold looking people, and then it rained, so we went down to think about a walk and as you can see in the photo (if I can get it up) it didnt look at all promising so we came home. I had fun with this little bird I found in Cloth Paper scissors, but it is a lot more fiddly than I first hoped. I have a few more to make but this one is on its way to New Zealand. Off to see if I can load the photos.

More of this morning

I hate this new set up my computer, why when they go in to be fixed do they come home completely different to the way it was!!! I cant find or fix anything. Any way once more my script has gone on this post. I think what it was meant to say was... we went over to Goolwa this morning and then down to the Mundoo channel boat ramp and on to walk but the samphire flats were full of water so we went on to where you can see the mouth of the river Murray, it has moved a lot further south and was hard to see but we walked along the tidal flats and saw lots of birds, pelicans and a myriad of different sea birds, swans and a large egret by where we had parked the car. A warbird flew overhead. It was magic, but cold. We had a minus 2 frost this morning so I hope I havent lost too much in the garden. I am still wearing two jumpers as it was so cold, even with the fire roaring and the heater on in the kitchen this end of the house is cold. We had a lovely lunch at the Anchorage, they do a great Coorong Mullet focaccio and a coffee, loads of people there, but it was very pleasant, if a bit chilly sitting on the veranda

Walking at the Murray River mouth

 

A cold walk

 
 
 
 

Max and I walked early this afternoon, we were supposed to have a sunny day but it has been cloudy all day.I went in to the market early this morning and bought a lovely primrose which is now sitting by the back door. It is rather lovely walking at the moment, not too wet and muddy but the smell of the smoke from the fire and the call of the currawongs, who only come down from the hills at this time of the year. The filly foals have all been weaned and have a large bale of hay to eat and walking back up to the house the trees have mostly lost their leaves so having to blow to clear them away is almost over. We have had such warm weather that the crab apple thinks it is time to flower which it isnt and the winter honeysuckle (woodbine) is also flowering, which it should be. Well I am going back to the fire to do a bit of knitting, it is cold out here with my computer.

a few bits and pieces.

 
 
 

It is still freezing cold, not quite a frost this morning but still 6degrees when I went in to shop at about 9.45 this morning. I spent most of the day in Victor, doing all the odd jobs and finally found a jacket that I think will be useful if we ever go away at the end of the year. While we were at Coffin Bay I made a few more little houses, they are such fun to make, I think a few more will be made in the next few months. I have been doing a lot more quiet stitching on this sun and moon stitchery and I think quite a lot more is still to be done. Although I have decided that I might like to make another cowl, I will see how things pan out, my hands are not working as I would like them to. Arthritis is a pain!! in more ways than one. Today would have been Stewies 18th Birthday, John and I collected some Banksias and took them up to his grave. I know I have shown this cupboard before, it was my mothers and after I took the photo I realised that the plate behind the girl with the fish was for the Queens Silver Jubilee. I have fun with this collection, they move around a bit, treasures from by gone years, collected on travels and made by me (the dolls). I am still feeling off with this wretched cold, and John is feeling even worse, we have had a few words, not something these days we tend to do, but when both of you are not up to par I suppose it happens. This is the start of a long week end, here in Oz the Queens Birthday week end, I think we will be trying to be a bit quiet and just get on with things, slowly!

Finally a walk at home

 
 
 

Well I lost a great post again, I am not going to repeat it, here is a precis. The grass is growing, the paddocks are green and Max and I had a long walk. This afternoon the sun came out! Lovely, but tonight I think we will have a frost and I have I hope brought in the pots that would be affected, just hope its not too servere. Yesterday was a trip to the dentist in Adelaide, we both have still got colds and are now feeling rather tired, not helped by having to negotiate with 2 dairy companies as to where we will send our milk, decisions may take longer than we had hoped. Still there have been lots of excitement with the passage of Venus and the Queen's Jubilee to watch on tv. More tv watching than I have done for ages.

Arid Lands Botanic Gardens at Pt Augusta

I have no idea what is happening, I keep losing the script and only get photos, we will try this. We called in here on our way home, quite a few years since we were last here and so many improvements. Around the interpretive centre there were lovely gardens full of birds, and the song of birds. They were not easy to see or photograph but I did get the one in the lower centre, a singing honey eater I think. There were also small gardens laid out using the arid land plants to show what could be done. They were really charming. Double click to enlarge. Here it is still cold and wet and miserable, going out is not much fun.

Coffin Bay

Interesting, I couldnt post any script on the last one, Basically what I said was that in the National Park we saw emu and the lovely plants, templetonia or parrot beak and the white melaleuca and then went out to the spectacular Golden Beach area looking back to the sandhills. The young kangaroo was in our back garden eating the lawn, we looked at each other and then off she hopped. The young 18 month old wombat was being hand rear4ed by the lass in the ral estate office, her mother had been killed by a car and this little one was tiny and hairless, so she has done a good job with her. Now we are really in winter, cold and pouring rain, ok inside, it is just when I have to go out and feed up it gets interesting.

Fauna and Flora

 
 
 
 
 
 

Venus Bay

Such a lovely place, a beautiful day too. We drove the 200 odd kms up the coast on Thursday.
The people we spoke to about Stewie were great and told us where to go to see where it had all happened.
On a day like this it was hard to imagine how awful it was on Easter Saturday.
I walked the 5km round trip and we could see how dangerous the waves would have been and how fast the tide would come in and out through the very narrow gap, it was a miracle any one survived.
Later we had lunch and spoke to the local store keeper who had organised the early search, the cliffs are limestone, full of cracks, sharp edges not a nice place.
I felt quite emotional but so glad I had been there to see it all. The photos just dont do it justice and I just wish I knew how to enlarge them.
We are now home, I have more lovely photos of the last few days.
I am terribly tired and this wretched cold is not helping.
Washing is being slowly done, and I am slowly trying to put stuff away and tidy up
Oh I think I know what to do, click html and not compose, hope this works!
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