Where did winter go?

 Is it just me or did winter just flash past? I can't believe we are at the end of August already. I know they say that the older we get the faster time goes. Good grief. I'm only 46 (and I do so only!) What will it be like when I'm 66?

I think the realization struck me on the weekend. I was back in Melbourne for work last week, and when I got home the spring bulbs had burst into life. Sure they had been growing away quite nicely, but the buds all seemed to burst into colour at once.

 

The winter colour is coming to an end.

Hellebore & Flowering Apricot

But the spring colour is starting to fill the gaps.

Jonquils & Daffodils

I love spring!

 

Don't mow the chillies....


Mr is a big fan of chillies, so I planted a couple of varieties this year. The hottest are the Habanero chillies. I learned a very valuable lesson last week, DON'T MOW THE CHILLIES!!!!

Before I put the lawn mower away for the winter, I thought I'd give the lawn one last trim. I was being a bit slack, and couldn't be bothered lifting the chilli plants that were growing over the edge of the veggie garden, out of the way. So I just gave them a trim with the lawn mower too. Big mistake. It was like I'd been hit with Capsicum Spray (not that I've every been in a riot and had the police use it on me, of course). Mr was a good 6 meters of more away and he could feel it too.

Needless to say that put an end to the mowing, and the catcher stayed firmly attached to the mower.

These chillies are from the garden too. I can only just stand them, so there is no way I'm putting the Habanero any where near my mouth.

Oxley Plains book launch

On the weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a book launch. Not your average bad wine and boring speeches sort of book launch though.  You either had to be a mountain goat or have a four wheel drive vehicle to get there!

"About A Mile Away - The Heritage of the Oxley Plains" has been put together by a group of locals to commemorate the naming of "Oxley Plains & Forest" by explorers Hume & Hovell in 1824. It's full of stories and photos from early settler families, along with families that immigrated to the area  following 2nd world war.

There was heaps of chatter, with the common conversation along the lines of ...Ohhh so we must be related then....

But the real star of the day was the view. What a view! Well worth the climb.

There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around that the colt from old Regret had got away.....

I never tire of  The Man From Snowy River poem. It came to life on the weekend with the Man From Snowy River Bush Festival held at Corryong. The town was alive with over 10,000 people camping out at the local show grounds, and taking part in the weekends events. From whip cracking, dog jumping, camp drafting, live music and the "Challenge", there is something for everyone.

I'm in awe of the skill of the men and women who took part in the events. The way that the horse and rider work as one is actually quite beautiful. The skill that the rider uses to command the horse with just the pressure of their legs, the shifting of their body weight, or the turn of their feet in the stirrups is amazing. One of the events was the "brumby catch", were a brumby colt is brought down from the mountains, and the rider starts to break it in. It was amazing to watch a brumby go from wild when it comes into the arena, and in 3 minutes be walking relatively calmly beside the horse & rider. Of course there is a lot of work to do to have the brumby "broken in", but what a start!

If you are at all interested in horses or Australia's mountain history, make the time to get to next years festival. Well worth the trip!

Everything old is new again...

My niece Mel has recently moved to Melbourne and is short on furniture. So I thought I would surprise her with some revamped bed side tables. I knew her bedroom style is black and white so thought I couldn't  go too far wrong.

So armed with a piece of printed quilting cotton, spray adhesive and black gloss spray paint, I got busy. I've had these Freedom bedside tables since about 1995, and wanted to choose a fabric that reflected the curves of the bars and handles to try and bring them up to date a little.

After a bit of sanding and surface preparation, they went from this....

to this......

Did she like them? Well actually no she didn't. Think they are off to the Op Shop instead. Lesson learned by Aunty Meg!

I love a sun burnt country....

I've been sitting at my desk engrossed in system testing, and looked up to see the fire in the Mt Hotham area had taken off. (Have a look at the "Mountain Cams" in the link). We really are a land of contrasts - floods in Queensland - fires in Victoria. A very trying time for those effected, and it really puts my daily issues into perspective for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer colour in the garden

The garden has been suffering with the heat (and so has the gardener). The water bill was a bit of a shock, but when I've put so much effort into the garden I can't just see it curl up and die as soon as the weather heats up.

Even with the heat, there is still colour to be found.

Guess what I found in the garden......

I was on my way to hang out a load of washing today, and look what I found. He (I'm assuming the Echidna is a he), was looking for ants under every rock around the garden edge. He was quite happy for me to follow him around the garden, before he headed of to the neighbours back yard.

Fire ready......

Is it hot where you are? Do you have a "fire plan"?

 

We are about to have our 3rd day in a row over 42C, and the Victorian  CFA warnings page is constantly open on the computer. We've also down loaded this fantastic app to our phones, called "CFA Fire Ready". Very impressed. It uses GPS to locate you, and links back to the CFA warnings to show any fires in your area. It gives you the distance the fire is from you, so when I read that 22 CFA trucks attending an out of control grass fire 12km away, I couldn't help but feel a bit anxious. Thankfully the CFA had it under control very quickly. Those caught up Tasmania fires haven't been so lucky. 

 

 

In the clouds.....

Can you see "her"? There she is in the upper right.

 

Some times my imagination runs away with me, and I can see all sorts of shapes in the clouds. This time I didn't notice the profile of a woman, until I looked at the image. I can see her upturned nose, her delicate ear, her hair line and big grin as she looks towards the sunset. What do you see when you look at the clouds?

A "design wall" at last....

 

We've recently done a small renovation to have full length mirrored robes added to the spare bedroom. This meant having to have the wall ripped out and rebuilt. Lucky for me, the added bonus was that I now have a large flat wall in my work room just crying out for a "design wall".

 

My approach to patchwork is a bit like my approach to crochet. I don't plan, but rather let the design evolve as I go along. So without a design wall to put the work on and stand back to ponder the next step, I've been a bit restricted with what I can do. Not any more.

 

We had some polystyrene insulation panels left over from Mr's underfloor insulation installation, and they looked like the perfect thing to make the design wall from. So armed with a can of spray adhesive, I joined 4 panels together and lay them on a piece of cotton wadding. I've also attached a layer of cardboard just to give the joins on the panels a little more strength. It was a bit tricky to get just the right amount of spray adhesive to form a bond rather than dissolve the polystyrene, but with a little trial and error I was able to wrap the edges of the wadding over the sides of the panels to give a crisp edge.

 

I've used "Command Strips" to attach it to the wall, and probably over engineered things, but they were really easy to use and haven't failed yet.

 

Without Mr home to lend a hand, it was a bit of a fiddle to get it on the wall. (Could I wait until he got home from work? Yes, but once I was on a roll it just had to be done NOW!)  But with the help of the ironing board as a "level", I'm pretty happy with how it has worked out. The fabric pieces attached to the wadding nicely or I can pin into the polystyrene for a little more permanency.



 

No excuses now not to get back into patchwork!

 

 

 

A new morning for a new year...

I haven't been able to focus on blogging in recent months. There's just been so much else going on, that something had to give. So why come back now? Well, I put together a calender as a gift this Christmas, that was made up of some of my blog photos. It reminded me of how much I enjoyed photography and sharing the images with you. So I'm making a new start with this shot I took this morning, when the house (and tent) full of visitors were still sleeping.

Happy New Year to you, and may the new year bring you love, joy, and peace.

Grown up mud pies

Did you make mud pies as a child? I did. My sisters and I would spend hours getting just the right consistence of mud to make the "recipe" we wanted. Just enough water so we could roll out "biscuits", or add a little more water to make a "chocolate cake". Can you tell we spent a lot of time cooking in the kitchen with Mum? But the best bit was the decorating. Petals, feathers, leaves, pebbles, whatever we could find in the garden to add the finishing touch to our masterpiece. When it was "cooked" rock hard from the sun, we would present it to Mum or Dad. They always seemed to be so appreciative of what we proudly presented.

So today I relived those mud cake days. My garden is on a sloping block, that means giving the garden a good soaking drink is a bit of a problem. The water just runs downhill, before it has a chance to sink in. So what to do to help slow the water run off? I decided to take advantage of the patch of clay in the boggie corner of the garden and make mud dam walls to help hold the water. I have to say it was great fun, and elbow deep in mud I was taken back to the days of making mud pies. So as a small tribute to the mud pie days, I've added leaf decorations to my dam walls. No ware as fancy as the old days, but just as much fun.

Sunnymeade

Yesterday I spent the day with Mum ooing and ahhing over a very special garden called "Sunnymeade". It is so beautiful, and such a surprise to find nestled into the Strathbogie Ranges. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

Heading home

The road trip home from holiday is always a feeling of mixed emotions. But the main one is I DON"T WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK! As my mother says, "you need to earn the money so you can spend the money." Sad but true.

 

Anyway the trip home took us through Bathurst, Orange, Cowra, Young, Junee, Cootamundra, and Wagga Wagga.

 

The country side was just so pretty with the Canola crops and the Paterson's Curse in flower (beautiful for a weed), and the various shades of green from the hundreds and hundreds of acres of crop. It would be amazing to see from the air at the moment.

 

Below - Sorry for the bug splat on the windscreen, but its all part of the road trip experience. Love the contrast of the yellow Canola against the gold of the hillside.

Below - One of the great things about travel is picking up on the regional peculiarities. What is it with NSW country towns and "gangster parking"? Their all set for a quick getaway.

Below - I love the way country towns try to advertise their claim to fame. You know " Home of the .....(insert person / animal / vegetable / event here)". In Young it's "Cherry Capital Of Australia" that welcomes you to town.

How long can the holiday glow last?