Cold, frosty, windy walks and a touch of colour in the garden

It is mid winter, although there has not been a huge amount of rain, just cold cloudy and yet frosts at night. sitting by the fire weather although we have walked most days. I moved the little girl statue so I can see her from the kitchen window, just a bit of colour with the pansies. Yesterday I drove over to Willunga to collect some oysters, the truck was late delivering them but I had a lovely chat to M and A who we usually go to Coffin Bay with. This morning there was another frost and it then again became overcast, last night the wind was up and roaring. After shopping we walked the beach which was unusually flat but every so often a large wave came in, had to watch what I was doing or I would have got swamped. Found a few shells, not many, the beach has changed again, great gutters through the sea weed. All very interesting. I need to make some rock buns as I have been feeling guilty about buying biscuits and I need to use up some eggs, the hens are almost laying too well. Off to do dishes and tidy up, trying to work out where we will go tomorrow for the SALA (SA Living Artists) events, they are on in various venues all around the State for a month, great fun going to see them but I need a plan.

Another bit of the coast with wild waves

This morning our walk took us to Pt Elliot to see what was happening there. We didnt walk as far as the council is re doing part of the path but the waves were still pretty spectacular, this time pounding the granite boulders, every so often there was an especially loud thump. Not as regular here as they were yesterday. We woke to a cold frosty morning, frost on the flat but we did get a little bit of sun. I managed to do some washing and some of it is inside, as well as dust and mop, just needs a vacuum. I have to get John to do that as it kills my back. I am doing a fun class that is free on Carla Sonheims blog, it is really for children but adults may join in.

things in the mail

In the mail this morning came a lovely post card from India as I participated in her Solace installation. Thanks India, its great. I also finished off a couple of tags that I made from a Beryl Taylor tutorial, that I found when going through things, fun to do but in gessoing some swing tags from clothes I managed to spill the gesso, luckily not on the carpet but on my desk. Amazing how it goes every where, but I finished these little hand stitched and beaded fronts. Then we walked this morning and as one of the surfers we passed on the cliff top said, "it was an angry sea". so much has changed on the beaches in the last couple of weeks. Great waves and thumping waves, but not good for surfing. Interesting weather.

A walk around Nangawooka reserve

It was still pretty cold and blustery and with the odd shower this morning and we felt that a walk by the sea would be interesting but not terribly nice so we did a walk we havent done for years, a visit to Nangawooka which is a local reserve maintained by volunteers, of native plants. A little bit early in the day for good light and for much to be out, but still plenty to take photos of. These are not just plants from South Australia but from all over Australia. It was lovely and quiet, apart from the screeching of the sulphur crested cockatoos in the trees above and in the paddock next door. No one there but us. Double click to see the photos better.

Winter on the farm

We didnt have a very satisfactory beach walk this morning, too much soft sand and sea weed so when I came home I took Max for a walk down to see the ponies who are near by. I did take my stick with me as I find walking in rutted paddocks not very nice and the stick gave me more security. I took photos of some of the ponies, weanling colts and brood mares in two different paddocks, as well as some of the mud, probably not as much as I thought there would be as we have had a lot of wind, which didnt really make for a pleasant walk but has dried out some of the areas. Of course wherever cows have been they pug things up. Back inside now and listening to it roaring around the house, the wind I mean. Off to do some hand sewing.

Two days of walks

Actually with a gap in between as we were in Adelaide all day yesterday.There were 8 of this little plovers on the beach, more than normal and they were showing not a lot of inclination to fly. I loved this naked sea urchin sitting in amongst the sea weed, this was on Wednesday. this morning we walked along the cliffs, always a bit different, looking down on Petrels' Cove with the waves rolling in steadily and no sand, or not much on the beach. I rather liked these two small posts on the cliff edge. It was cool and we missed a heavy shower of rain. More showers for the next couple of days, we had a light frost yesterday morning. A lovely trip to town, had our hair cuts and went to one of the best exhibitions I have seen for ages at the Art Gallery called treasure Ships, following the race to bring spices back to Europe. I bought the most expensive book but it is very well done and there were some lovely textiles in it as well as other nice design features. Saw my friend P and my sister so all in all a good day.

A little bit of stitching

I have been doing a little bit of stitching for a while, something to keep me occupied. It didn't look finished until I found the piece of lace and the buttons. Is it finished now? I am not sure, perhaps a bit of couching. I will sit on it for a few days and see. Adelaide tomorrow, hair cuts, deliver some eggs, lunch and a visit to the art gallery

Yesterdays frost and this mornings sunrise

I am afraid the sunrise isnt too good but if you double click you may get some idea of how spectacular it was. Yesterdays frost doesnt look all that impressive either but it was cold and although I didnt get a photo I couldnt believe it was on the roof. some plants were burnt but so far most dont look too bad except for the green lillies. but then they always get knocked around in winter and then come good in spring. Today we have gale force winds and although still cold no where near as bad as yesterday, I managed to get some clothes on the line and almost dry, they are now in the sun room which isnt getting a lot of sun. I had my last physio appointment today, he seems pleased with me and I am still to go bn exercising but for a bit longer and only once a day. John took me to lunch, lovely food and a glass of fizz, havent had one for so long, I think I got a bit over heated! We had to stay in town as John had to pick up some stuff from the surgery prior to his colonoscopy in a week or so. Keeping the aged bodies going is never ending.

workshop with Grizella Warburton

I have just had a wonderful 3 day workshop over in Goolwa with Grizella Warburton , she is a lovely mixed media textile tutor and artist from the UK. These are a few of our samples, nothing finished, still more stitching to be done and others to work on. I found it a great design and composition class and it made me think, realize I didn't have enough contrast in the fabric I had painted and prepared, but it was also fun. Although I am starting to realize that I am getting older and it takes me longer to sort things out! Had a great time meeting go old friends and also making new ones in J's lovely house. This morning was rather interesting, -3 degrees and a frost on the roof, haven't had one of those for a very long time. No shower as the pipes were frozen. I have some photos but they are in my camera and I am tired, 3 days of concentration have caught up with me.Ready for a small sleep in tomorrow, 7 am instead of 6.30 and not as cold I hope.

Over to Goolwa this norning.

We were just about of wood for the fire and the chainsaw was over at Goolwa being fixed and there was an lovely exhibition on over there too that was about to close so we decided to walk there as well. The chain saw needed more parts, the exhibition was lovely, all small collections and the walk was dry and interesting. I love walking along there, and at this time of the year not many people around. I love these silly moor hens, and the boats so many all battened down for winter or people working on them. Being a very old part of South Australia and the river port at the end of the river Murray there are some interesting old houses, one that took my fancy and the lovely gated boardwalks down to the boats. Walked too far and I came home rather shattered but also enthused. double click to enlarge photos.

Wild,wet, windy and cold

double click to enlarge. Sorry about the blurry photos, rain on my lens. We made another foray into Victor to try and walk and all looked quite calm in the town itself but by the time we got to Petrels' the wind had come up and the sea was what we call washing machine like, huge waves every so often pounded in and went half way up the Bluff. We nearly got blown off the path the wind was so strong and getting stronger. My poor camera kept getting rain on the lens and I would shove it back into my pocket as I was afraid of losing it. The squalls of rain came in quite fast but we rugged up well and managed to walk almost to the beach, not much point in going down as the water was against the steps to the beach and there wasnt much beach there any way. Invigorating but it was lovely to get into the car with the heater on high and dry out our pants. so far this is being a proper winter but one does rather want to sit by the fire and not do a lot. Still waiting for the creek to come up though.

Gifts!

I love give aways and very rarely win them but this time... so my heartfelt thanks to Jackie Bowcutt of Stitchworks blog in the UK for this glorious little stitchery. Love, love it. Then from Barry metalworker in Queensland I was so pleased to win this lovely pendant made from recycled metal and filled with resin and two of his little words stamped into recycled metal as well. I think I begged for these. Brightened up a generally dull and cold day with showers going through all the time, so many that I only fed the chooks and hardly stuck my head out all day, although we did try to go in for a walk, tried yesterday too. I need to walk as my visit to the doctor yesterday was rather depressing, my sugar levels are up, again, I have been so good not eating, off the grog, didnt seem to matter and of course the walking has been a bit sporadic. Maybe I will get some form of exercise machine, but then John wont go walking with me. Im on another pill, this one may help me lose weight, might do other nasty things too. We will see. Seems so unfair that I became a diabetic because some wretched virus decided to attack my pancreas. The older I get the harder it all becomes and ... no we wont go there. So thank you so much for making my day so much better, Barry and Jackie.

This mornings photos

We walked the cliffs near Petrels Cove this morning. According to the weather people we were supposed to be having gale force winds and possible snow on the higher ground. This may still happen or may be happening somewhere else but so far here we had a brisk breeze and it was coolish certainly not as cold as it is when we have a frost. The tide was pretty high so we didnt go down onto the beach as there wasnt much sand to walk on. When I came home I did a quick wander around the house, the little vase of flowers I picked for the kitchen, I dont really know what the purple flower is but it is making a fine show and is about all that is out as well as the little geranium. I remember taking a cutting of that from the garden at Geelong College when I did a textile seminar there years and years ago. It has always pleased me. The orchids are slowly coming out, love the cymbidium in the bathroom and the native dendrobium has added another spike of flowers. Orchids in the sun room but the cymbidiums there are a little slow.I do think we are in for a damp and blustery week but then it is mid winter. So nice to see the sun though.

Xmas in July at Mambray Creek

The serving up of the pudding, not a brilliant photo, some of the 'stuff' on the table. Only a couple of photos, a glimpse of the Flinders Ranges from the front of the house and a glorious gum with a vague view of the sea in the background. (Actually it is the top of the Gulf). I drove up in one hit about 5 hours with a stop for lunch as I left around 9 am and I came home this morning, about 4 1/2 hours as I left at 7.30 and was home before lunch which was good. I only had a pit stop at Pt Wakefield and my side of the road was pretty clear, but the other side was very congested. I had a lovely couple of days, so nice to sit and chat and here the news. great to catch up with Jaslyn and Joy and her family. Now I am home tired out but have fed the dog and the chooks. John has been on a rabbit killing spree, we seem to have a family or more of babies in the orchard. Several large booms have been ging off, so far the tally is 6. Off to organise dinner and perhaps an early night. double click to enlarge photos.

A walk aon the Inman River walking trail

John has been asking me to do this walk for ages. We didnt do all of it, just a loop and I have to say I was rather disappointed as the billabong was dry and there was a lot of grass and weeds. Still it was a walk and I put together a small collage. The red gums were rather tortured looking, they had been killing introduced trees with a fascinating collection of holes bored at the base. I rather like the bridge over the river but not nearly as nice as my beach walks.

dressed dollies

Here are some not at all good photos of the dolls who are now dressed. All varieties of Raggedy Anne. I like the large one the least. Walking yesterday before I had to see my shoulder specialist, we went over the Inman River trac and I took this photo of the tide coming in at the mouth. It was very cold and is even colder today, a nice day to do the shopping and now do some sewing by the fire. I had a cooking afternoon yesterday, no photos, silly me but I made pea soup, shepherds pie and a boiled fruit cake to take with me up to Mambray Creek on Monday. We had the soup for lunch today and it was pretty good and the remains of the shepherds pie will be for tonights dinner, it tasted pretty good last night. So sad that the coach of the football team I follow was murdered in the early hours of this morning, a terrible loss. I do hope all of those in the northern hemisphere are coping with the heat, or that it has got cooler.

More skies and burning dead pine trees

The sky from a different angle, across from the base of the Bluff to the town. More interesting clouds. No seals and it was very cold and windy. We came home and went up to see what John had been doing abut a line of radiata pine trees that had died a few years ago in the drought, they were unsightly and some were falling over. They are so unpredictable it was decided to try and burn then from the base and see what would happen. It was dry and with the wind in the right direction today. but I think it is going to be a long job. Rather interesting shapes against the sky.