frayed at the edge

Day 9 ...... and something I nearly forgot!

Stuart and Alison gave us a joint birthday present, which we opened before the holiday, as we didn't want to take it with us in case it got lost.  I finally remembered today to take photos to show you.  We removed the outer wrapping to discover this - I would box Stuart's ears for being cheeky, but I would have to stand on a stool to reach!

 

inside was an intriguing folder

 

and inside the folder ...... gift certificates for us to attend a food and wine evening.  They are valid for a year, so we have plenty of  time to decide which evening to attend

 

you know how much we enjoy our food (and wine) so they couldn't have found a better present for us!

 

I had to pop into Hawick this morning, and as usual walked round to see if the heron was sitting on the rocks in the Slitrig.   He wasn't there ...... but there is a new "water feature" - and old tyre which has got jammed in the rocks

 

I walked on round to see if the heron was further along the river.  No heron, but a pair of ducks

 

I walked through the old churchyard

 

I have wondered in the past about the meaning of a skull and crossbones on headstones, so today I made the effort to google it ....... if you click here you will find a very comprehensive list of gravestone symbolism.

A quick visit to my favourite charity shop produced these four wine glasses

 

taking that photo reminded me that I hadn't yet shown you the miniature glass bottles that I bought from a quirky shop at the South Melbourne Market (I put the espresso cup beside them to give you an idea of how small they are)

 

they are a little reminder of the very elegantly served cuppa that I had at the Armchair Collective, which we visited with Lee

 

when I went out this morning, I had to break the ice in the birdbath .....

 

...... the water must still have been cold this afternoon, as this (rather plump) female blackbird was somewhat hesitant about having a dip!

 

........ and the robin looked most annoyed at having to queue!!

 

I'm off to Kelso later for the monthly meeting at Abbey Quilters.  Come back tomorrow to see what tonight's project is.

Day 6 ...... and the first fire of the season

I finally escaped from housework and laundry duty, and headed out to the studio for some fun.  I had tidied up before the holiday, but I suspect by the end of the weekend the tables will be covered in  stuff!!

 

although it wasn't really cold, I said yes please when Malcolm offered to light the stove for me (typical male, he thinks I can't manage anything fire-related ........ or maybe he still remembers when I set the chimney on fire in 1989!!)

 

I thought I ought to make the effort to get on with some UFOs, before I get more work from Anne.  I think I have been calling this wallhanging Love Notes ...... but when I got the pattern out, I realised that it is called Notes of Love!  I still have two of the stitcheries to finish, but I trimmed the others to size ......

 

and arranged them on the design wall with the pieced blocks .......

 

...... and added the first border

 

by the end of the afternoon, I had stitched the rows together

 

do you remember when we drove from Sydney to Melbourne, it took us three days?  I found this postcard which I had bought years ago when we had a holiday in Western Australia, and Malcolm kindly marked the approximate locations of Sydney and Melbourne for me (geography is not my strong point!)

 

but if you thought that during that 3-day journey we saw a lot of Australia, think again!!

 

the forecast is good for tomorrow, so we are looking forward to going for our usual Sunday walk ..... and no doubt we will go for a cuppa (and possibly a scone!)

Day 3 of Blogtoberfest

I am feeling decidedly discombubulated!!  We had a 13-hour flight from Singapore to London, leaving Singapore about 11pm ....... but because of the time difference, we got to London at 5am.  We then had an onward flight to Newcastle, and finally a drive home.  The bags are all unpacked, the utility room has a great pile of laundry on the floor, and there are piles of this and that throughout the house, waiting to be sorted out/put away.

It will take some time to go through all my photos (the joys of digital photography, I took several thousand!) and over the next few weeks I will do an occasional post to share the highlights of our wonderful holiday with you. 

I have already shared with you the fabrics and patterns that I bought, but I realised that I had yet to show you the yarns .....

delicious merino

 

gorgeous kid mohair and merino

 

fabulous alpaca and merino

 

and finally ....... cheap and cheerful acrylic!  I bought this as a kit when we were on our way to Melbourne - I wouldn't normally buy such bright colours, but it just seemed the right thing for holiday knitting.  The pattern is simple, and I will just keep knitting until I run out of yarn.  Although it's acrylic, it is actually soft and cuddly - lovely to snuggle under on a cold winter's night!

Farewell Australia!

We are relaxing in the lounge at Sydney Airport, waiting for our flight to Singapore.  We have had the most wonderful holiday, made even more special by the warm friendship of Lee and her family, and Meredithe and the girls.

 

So, it's farewell to Australia, and then a week of fun in Singapore, before we wend a very weary way home!

 

CHEERS!!

As Ricky Tims might say ........

...... WOO HOO!!  The motel we are staying in tonight (Sunday) has free unlimited internet access ....... so let's get going with another catchup!

First, all things patchwork

a fabulous present from Meredithe, gorgeous patterns, quirky fabric, and a set of templates designed by her (more of that once I'm back home!)

 

of course I couldn't resist sheepy fabric, and the pattern for the owl needle and pin keepers, along with the woollen fabrics to make them

 

I think these two fabrics will become a wallhanging

 

cute patterns, and a length of fabric from the bargain basket

 

some delightful reproduction fabrics and more templates ....... very special templates

 

 

when I got back from my day out with Meredithe and the girls, Malcolm had another birthday present for me!

 

yesterday morninng, we took the tram to St Kilda beach, to have breakfast

 

I didn't feel at all guilty tucking in while this woman paddled back and forth in front of us!

 

after breakfast, we had a last walk along Ackland Street, and a last lingering look in the cake shop windows .......

 

....... and a last laugh at these strange rooftop decorations

 

then it was back on the tram to the Royal Botanic Gardens, where there was a riot of colour

 

why didn't we walk across this inviting green space?

 

because we read this sign!!

 

so early this morning we left Melbourne, and set off on the first part of our journey back to Sydney

 

Lee recommended that we stopped in Beechworth ...... and we are so glad that she told us about this historic town,  It will need a post all to itself when we get home,  but here is just a quick flavour of the town

 

to finish ........ just because we are on holiday, doesn't mean that I have stopped taking silly photos - like this electrical gubbins!

Another busy three days!

Wednesday saw us heading up to the Yarra Valley ........

our first stop was here for a cuppa

 

then here, just for a browse

 

I sneakily took this photo - I think Malcolm may try to make one when we get home

 

the next stop was here for lunch - we had lunch here seven years ago on our last visit to Melbourne!

 

my chicken pasta with pesto was fabulous

 

and Malcolm's burgundy beef pie was delicious

 

we had a glass with lunch, and took the rest home for later

 

we stopped here for a cuppa on the way back ......

 

..... and made friends with this handsome chap, who was quite tame

 

this is where we visited yesterday

 

it is the most fabulous house .......

 

just one of three pianos in the house

 

could this floor inspire a quilt?

 

I want a pond and a bridge in the garden!

 

why is Malcolm beckoning me to come quietly up the steps?

 

because he had spotted these ducks sleeping on a branch over the water

 

Then today .......... SHOPPING!!!  Meredithe and Helen picked me up this morning, and we headed off to our first stop, where we met up with Mrs Mac

 

we then went on to this very stylish shop

 

all that shopping gave us an appetite, so the next stop was for lunch.  Mrs Mac accosted a man at the next table, and asked him to take a photo of the four of us

Meredithe, Mrs Mac, Helen and me

 

Helen spotted these cuties!

 

our third stop .....

 

our final stop ...... Meredithe teaches here once a week

 

Much shopping was done, but as I am rapidly running out of time on my internet connection, you wil have to wait for another day to see what I bought!  Tomorrow is our last day in Melbourne ..... we leave early on Sunday morning to drive back to Sydney, with two overnight stops on the way.  Hopefully I will be able to do a post somewhere along the way, but if not, the next one will be from Singapore!!  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

 

ps Malcolm took this photo when he was out and about today ........ could he be dropping hints about an extra birthday present!!??

 

 

Food lovers' paradise!!

Three days fun to catch up on - here goes

 

Sunday

we are staying in St Kilda .......

 

...... where there is a fantastic Sunday craft market (this is just a fraction of it!)

 

Malcolm admiring the restored building at the end of the pier

 

not my idea of a fun Sunday morning!

 

these star fish have to be removed from the water as they are non-native and eat voraciously, with no predator to keep their numbers in check

 

this was an amazing place .....

 

all sorts of good things .....

 

..... and the freshest of vegetables

 

Monday

I wanted to buy everything in this shop in Sorrento, on  the Mornington Peninsula .....

 

..... and Malcolm wanted to buy everything in this one!

 

the most wonderful fish and chips for lunch!

 

I want this beach hut at Portsea!!

 

we could hear the pounding of the waves before we saw them

 

tempting as the wine was, we only had a cuppa!

 

Tuesday

I wish my bank at home looked like this .........

 

the Scottish Lion Rampant on the ceiling

 

yet another birthday treat (which we shared!) ....

 

we did get a bit messy with chocolate all over our fingers!

 

we only admired these cakes in ........

 

 

ps - despite all the wonderful food we have been eating, my clothes still fit!!  We have been walking so much, we have obviously burned off all the extra calories!

A very special day

Saturday morning saw Malcolm and I standing on the pavement outside our apartment, waiting for Meredithe to pick me up, to spend the day with her and several of her quilting friends.  There was just one problem ....... I didn't know what she looked like, as she hasn't included a photo of herself on her blog.  But then a car swerved in to the kerb, and a woman got out, jumping up and down and squealing with delight ....... yes, it was Meredithe!

No sooner had we arrived at her house, than the kettle was on, and this was just the first of many yummy treats - Meredithe's hedgehog

 

oh dear, somehow one of Mrs Mac's famous date scones jumped into my hand ......

 

I was allowed to (briefly) sit in Meredithe's special chair ...... the others aren't allowed to sit in it (what she doesn't know is that when she goes out of the room, they promptly take turns to sit in it!!)

 

we had  a wonderful lunch ...... I took this photo in the pause between the chicken salad and the dessert

going round the table from the right .... Meredithe, Jan, Mrs Mac, Vikki, Helen and Kay

 

Dessert was Mrs Mac's scrumptious banana and passion fruit pavlova

 

........ and then ....... a birthday cake!!  The girls sang happy birthday, and toasted me with champagne - it was wonderful to be so spoiled!

 

after lunch we were joined by Marie and Glenda.  Some sewing was done - I did so little that I am too embarrassed to show you mine,  but Kay was making good progress with her clamshells (there are more photos over on Meredithe's blog)

 

the girls had the most wonderful show and tell for me, and I took lots of photos ..... far too many to include now, but once I'm back home I'll share them with you.  But I have to show you Meredithe's "Mrs Billings" quilt, which is exquisite .....

 

and a very worthy winner of a first at a recent quilt show

 

Helen, who doesn't like fabrics with birds made this lovely top, not realising until she finished it that the outer border fabric has lots of birds.  She then decided that she didn't want the quilt ....... and she gave it to me!  Thank you very much Helen!!

 

Malcolm had been very mysterious about what we were going to do on Saturday night ....... I had assumed that he was takingmm e out for dinner.  But I got back to find that he was making a wonderful dinner, and had set the table and lit candles

 

did you notice that there was more champagne ...... and a pile of early presents!  From bottom to top - a book of knitted bags, a patchwork diary for next year, a tin with an old Singer sewing machine on it ........ and a bar of chocolate!!

 

After all the fun and laughter with Meredithe and her friends ....... I get to have more fun with them on Friday when we are going on a road trip, visiting lots of patchwork shops!!

Out and about

Melbourne is famous for its trams, and if you think that this one looks old .....

 

...... this one, which provides a free trip round the city, dates from the 1930s

 

there are elephants all over the city, to celebrate 150 years of the zoo.  Of course I had to take a photo of the knitted one, and Malcolm as always provides the scale!

 

it's a family joke that whenever we see something weird/ugly/whatever, that one of us will say "I see you have been modelling again!"  (but does this resemble Malcolm or me??!)

 

now, we have all seen car washes ........ but this is the first dog wash I have ever seen (and I had to take the photo when we passed it for a second time, as someone was washing their dog the first time!!)  (Lee, perhaps Taylor and Lilly could add this to the dog snack business!!!)

 

today, we drove out of the city, heading up to Mt Dandenong.  It got steadily colder, so when we stopped in Sassafras for a cuppa, we were very glad to sit beside the stove!

 

did I go in here ....... of course I did!

 

lots and lots of lovely yarn ..... but a lot of it was imported ........ I actually bought a hank of beautiful New Zealand yarn (sorry, forgot to take a photo)

 

our next stop was in Olinda, and as it was even colder, we had soup for lunch (when we were last in Olinda, seven years ago, we had soup for lunch in the same coffee shop!)

 

our last stop was here ......

 

it was just a pity that it was a grey, hazy day, as the views over the city were fantastic

 

we did as we were told .......

 

...... and didn't disturb Mr Possum!

I am looking forward to a very special day tomorrow.  I'll tell you all about it on Monday.  I hope you all have a good weekend, love Anne

 

ps - thank you for all your comments, I'm sorry that I can't always reply to them.

A little problem!!

Oh dear - it's never straightforward, is it?!  I've just endured a whole day with no internet access, after the whole system at the apartment complex crashed ........ I deny that I had severe withdrawal symptoms and had to lie down in a darkened room!

Anyway, my time online is severely restricted, so a very quick catchup on the weekend, then in the next post I'll show you some of Melbourne

seen from the Manly ferry on Saturday .... yachts heading out to sea through the Heads

 

Lee putting the top down

 

the fabulous place she took us for lunch

 

were Malcolm and Lee planning to fly off and leave me behind!!??

 

On Sunday we arrived in Eden in time for sunset

 

how cute is this dog?!

 

I can't really think of anything to add to this!

 

beautiful black swans in Lakes Entrance on Monday

 

a wonderful bird is the pelican

its beak can hold more than its belly can