Ive been busy

I have painted papers, and tried to trap flower petals between tissuetex and vliesofix, not doing terribly well there.
I have finished these three little girls, not a terribly good photo I am afraid. I have made these little pin dolls and two silly little bird pins as well.
It has been fun and I am slowly getting there with a few things to sell at Ballarat this year. Lots more going on but not finished and I am being slow.
This morning we went to visit friends who were down from Adelaide at their farm for morning tea and to collect some plums from their very productive orchard, it is quite new and is full fenced from rabbits and birds so they have fruit, we dont have much normally but this year the birds have left us alone so we may even get a few pears which will be lovely.
A great way to catch up with all the affairs of the world and what is going on in our families, it is so sad that we dont seem to see each other a lot any more but for some reason all our lives have got busier, not slower, as one thinks will happen at our age.
Back to seeing if I can make a better job of trapping flowers, I will try hydrangeas this time, not rose petals, I think my rose petals are rather too meaty for this!

Walking Kings Beach

This morning it was cool and grey and overcast and a good time to see how my knee would cope with our favorite walk to Kings Beach.
I have been walking on the flat pretty well and I have done one walk up the house paddock which is rough and managed that.
Kings Beach how long since I was last there? Months as I hadnt been able to walk it and there were a few improvements, some stone steps in some of the steeper parts so I managed it all very well although a bit more carefully and a bit slower than I would normally.
So a lovely walk, tons of photos which I will put up a few more later, some lovely textured stuff around too.
I dont know why all the seabirds were gathered on the rocks here by the old fish trp but they were and not inclined to move either.
There was a fellow catching mullet as well, I suggested to John that as his fishing trip yesterday only produced fish for the cat that perhaps he could come here tomorrow, I am not sure if he was keen on the idea.
Some of the red/orange lichens on the rocks were really spectacular (well I think they are lichen).
You can see from the last photo how misty and grey it all was, this is the other side of the Bluff and seal rock in the far distance.
click to enlarge.
I am trying to play with stuff but nothing is coming together at the moment so nothing to show, all a bit frustrating.
Oh and I made another one of those impossible pies last night and added smoked salmon, it was super yummy.

I have been remiss

I took part in Kate Norths Little quilt swap 5 and these are the lovely quilts that I received, both different but I really love them both, the first is from Lisa in Victoria here in Australia and the second is from Robyn in the Uk. Wasnt I lucky.
They are giving much enjoyment to guests in my guest bedroom.
I have finally finished my sketchbook for the Australian sketchbook challenge and this is one of the final things I have done, it could also possibly be part of the flower theme we have running in Holey Moley 2 with Dale Rollerson, a flower made from some curtain net I had used as a stencil to spray through and then cut up the petal shapes and put them together.
Last but certainly not least is a wonderful present from Africa, my friend Robin Gordon off Art Propelled blog said she saw this on a trade table and thought of me, ponies of course are very important here. I began the Welsh Stud back in 1971 and it is still going strong and although my daughter would say the conformation isnt quite right for what she wants I love this little wire and beaded fellow.
I am not sure if I should say I was thinking of going to Africa, I thought of Christchurch and look what happened there, and going back to Japan is/was also on the list but after seeing the terrible destruction there last night I am now not so sure. We went to Sendai on our way through to Hokkaido last time we were there, such amazingly horrific scenes. One wonders where next on the Pacific rim there will be another earthquake. Luckily most of our Japanese friends are inland but it is going to affect the whole of the nation I would think.

We were in Adelaide yesterday, it was my older sisters birthday on the 9th but we were still coming home from Melbourne then so I went up to take her out to lunch yesterday, a lovely lunch with my friend P as well, I was glad John had a meeting though as I could get a lift up with him and then borrow his car.
Feel a bit tired today, should clean the house but it can wait.

Home from melbourne

We are back after a very busy few days. The top photo I took from the plane and shows the Lakes and Coorong area, now with plenty of water in them.
Then a photo of the skyline from our walk to the Botanic Gardens, I think but am not sure that one of those is the tallest building but I could be wrong, I just have a thing about city skylines, perhaps because I dont see them often.
This photo is one of the many small lovely old arcades that dot Melbourne and where we had coffee/morning tea( see the sign!) with the two friends from Yorkshire we stayed with a year or so ago. Stephen is here to judge and it was a golden opportunity to catch up as we are not showing at the show he is judging at.
It was very old fashioned and a glorious old shop but no where to take a decent photo as the tables were very crowded and very full. The tea was excellent, the cakes looked outlandishly delicious but I didnt have any, we had scones and the coffee was ok, I think tea is the main idea here.
It was very warm and humid in Melbourne and did finally rain a bit, we had some while we were away but not as much as some areas.
I seem to have done nothing but wash since we got back last night, lots to do but it is Adelaide tomorrow as it is my older sisters birthday and I will take her out for lunch.
After that a mega diet I think!
I have lots more photos which I will put up later, there had been a school group, I think on the beach and there were some wonderful castles and mermaids I took photos of.

Not what I expected to see

Especially not on a busy Melbourne suburban street at midday, but this ring tail possum dived down a street tree and then went back up again. One of our sweetest possums, but not beloved by suburbanites as they tend to nest in roof cavities and sheds.
I was delighted to see this one, normally nocturnal I had a thriving breeding colony for a while as pets.
We were returning from a shopping expedition, new pants and jumper for John, new t -shirt and wool sleeveless cardi for me (hope to camophlage my expanding tum!)
My feet were so sore after yesterdays marathon walk but I managed the walk to the bus stop and through the shopping center and will try for a last walk to the beach a bit later on.

In Melbourne

A few photos of our walks, the first on the beach at Beaumaris, then boats at Mordialloc, these were from yesterday and are near where Simon and his family live, then today looking back towards Melbourne from the bridge over the Yarra River on our walk to the Botanic gardens, and then swans in the garden. We trained and bussed all over the place and now have sore feet and are tired !
The weather has been lovely, not too hot, although there may be rain tomorrow.

A walk and a bit of stitching

I hope the first one comes up, sometimes when I blog through picasa strange things happen, any way it has been cool and a bit windy for the last few days, so this mornings walk towards Wright Island and the Bluff showed the remains of storms with a rough sea.
A glorious morning for a walk.
I spent the early hours of Tuesday morning thowing up, I am not sure why, so missed my painting and my beading class. Thank goodness we had organised Mason with toys down in the stable.
The walk this morning was especially lovely after that, and I do feel better.
While all this was going on I have managed to do a few odds and ends, another heart, four more beetles finally finished and a heap of pin dolls which I made out of left over fabric I had made into something else and didnt like.
I feel a bit funny about showing these as I have, since making them, and thinking they were my idea found some that are almost identical on Gina Ferrari's blog, as a long time doll maker pin dolls are something I have done for years and this was an old pattern in a sketchbook, oh well I suppose nothing is totally new in this world.
We are off to Melbourne for a few days on Saturday to catch up with family and friends, I wish it was longer but John has meetings. (Sometimes I get fed up with all his meetings!)
Off to catch up on some ironing.