Tuesday 29 October 2019

Day Trip

Don't get me wrong, I love setting off and exploring other places, even for a day, however I do like to catch my breath at home too.

Last Saturday Peter had a conference he was to attend (full day) up at the University of Sunshine Coast, and bless their hearts, the association concerned put on a day out for the spouses.

Got to the pick-up point for me (outside the Mantra Mooloolaba Beach) early as Peter needed to find his way back to the University, which left me time for a cuppa and raisin toast - yumm!


Now from where I was sitting in the alfresco dining area, you had a wonderful view of the beach and the shopping precinct.



Time to head back to the front of the Mantra in time to be picked up and whisked away to spend some time at the Eumundi Markets not that far from Noosa, Ginger Factory at Yandina, a little way down the road, before being returned to the Mantra.


The markets were quite busy with lots of people strolling around, enjoying what was on offer to buy, along with musicians and food stalls so you could try whatever took your fancy.




Around 12 we got back on the bus and headed to Yandina and the Ginger Factory. This Ginger Factory used to be at Buderim on the Sunshine Coast many years ago, outgrew it's premises and hence made the Move to Yandina where they have really made it into a tourist attraction. It was here we enjoyed a lovely lunch before having a look around the place.

This is the small lake beside the outdoor dining area where we had lunch.


Time for a little bit of walking to explore the various shops there, just the other side of the lake.


It was in this particular shop that I picked up some very yummy fudge and some apple tree tea bags - they have a delicate flavour and are particularly nice and refreshing in the summer when you let them cool off.

On the way out, we had a look at the variety of products available to buy that had ginger as their main ingredient.



Before we got the bus back to the Mantra we had time to go across the road and pay a visit to the Nut Works, where they process mainly macadamia nuts.



Back at Mooloolaba, our group of adventurers broke up and I went for a walk the whole length of the main road along the waterfront, as I had q while to wait for Peter to finish and come and pick me up. Didn't get too far before I stopped and purchased a very delectable tiramisu ice cream cup - just a small one mind you.



Continuing on my walk, the next stop was at a souvenir place where I purchased a really nice sun hat that fits! My head is not all that big and I find the adult hats come down all but over my eyes, so I have to try and find reasonable kids ones, that don't look like kids ones if you know what I mean.



Got to the end of the street, crossed over and walked back along the beachfront. So different from looking at the ocean in the morning, the wind had really got up, and parts of the beach were closed.

However, I just had to take a couple of photos to show you, the only one of it's kind - a loo with a view. Yes, you read that right.



After nearly being blown over, I decided to head back towards the Mantra and wait in the foyer (a little calmer than outside) for Peter to arrive.

A very long day, tiring, but most enjoyable. Found out next year's conference will be down at the Gold Coast.

As we have been in and out this month, I have not had a real lot of time for stitching, so I shall close off and go see about the projects I plan to do next month.

For now though ...........


                                                                                  and thank you for visiting my blog.









Friday 25 October 2019

Countdown to Christmas - October

You know, I am just going to have to stay home more - this month has been extremely busy for us with all our comings and goings, but I managed to get my Christmas project made.

It starts off with Christmas hexagons printed on the fabric, however I decided (in my wisdom) to make the background for my project the hexagons, and circles of the print. Have I got you confused yet?


My project for this October Countdown to Christmas was to make some Christmas coasters, and I chose to use some of my bucket-load of calico to create the actual coasters and hand stitch the circles I created from the printed fabric on top. The calico hexagons were 5 1/2" and the circles of print fabric were 3 1/4" diameter.



These were really simple to make, to start with, you cut out your hexagons from your main fabric (2 for each coaster (front and back), add some iron-on wadding to one piece, then you stitch completely around - do not leave an opening for turning - trust me, this works. You then make a slit in the piece that doesn't have the wadding on it, and carefully turn the hexagon right side out through the slit and pin ready to press with the iron as in the photo below.


Now comes the fun bit, with the cut out printed hexagons, I made a template of a circle and cut each one into a circle, having put some vilisafix onto the back of each. These were then placed on the calico coaster and ironed into place.


I then blanket stitched the circles to the calico hexagons, and there you have a lovely set of Christmas coasters.

Thank goodness it was such an easy project - home for a while now, so should get back into my 'normal' (whatever that is) routine.

For now though it is time to go get my washing in, I did an extra load today as I needed a pair of cream slacks for tomorrow - oops, off again, but just a day trip this time. The best part abobut these slacks is that over the last few years I have not been able to fit into them, I can now wear them again - yay!!!

Remember my friends, take care and look after yourselves, and as usual ........


                                                                                         and thank you for visiting my blog.

Monday 21 October 2019

What a Weekend

Well, we are back home and I have even done the washing a well.

As I mentioned in my last post, we flew to Sydney last Friday to meet up with family, and go see the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on their visit to Sydney.

Our flight down was great and we arrived meeting up with our son, daughter-in-law and youngest grand-daughter. A quick chat to catch up over lunch before booking into our accommodation for the weekend. It was then time to get ready to head our to dinner at the Sydney Tower restaurant for Mat & Trina's 11th wedding anniversary.



Wow, what fantastic views of Sydney with the revolving restaurant taking just over an hour to make the complete 360 deg. turn.

Looking east up Sydney Harbour out towards the Heads.


Looking south down into Hyde Park and the War Memorial.


This one is looking west and down onto Darling Harbour.

And of course, looking north and the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.


Dinner was a buffet of lots of choices available, but of course, I 'paced' myself after I perused the selection of deserts available. It was an extremely clear view and we saw yachts out for the late afternoon along with a naval ship coming back into Garden Island, the naval base in Sydney.

Our other meals for the weekend were at the café below where we were staying in the Opal Tower not far from the ANZ Stadium where the Tattoo was being held.


You can see how high up our seats were and the views were great as we looked straight down onto the performance. You can see that up the other end to us, they had erected a full size replica of the castle, which is where all the performers came onto the
 grounds.


I took quite a lot of photos, and so as not to bore you with them I shall only put up a few. There were not only pipes and drums from Scotland, there was also a drum unit from Switzerland that were excellent. To complement these, there were bands from Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga, New Guinea, New Zealand as well as the combined Australian Military Bands (Navy, Army & Air Force) along with the Federation Guard. There were in excess of 1,600 performers - the largest Tattoo ever put on, and that includes the ones that are put on in Edinburgh Scotland.





The finale was of course the epitome of it all - absolutely well worth the trip to Sydney.

Now I am back to the drawing board as regards what I plan to do next in my craft room, so with that in mind, I shall close off, and catch up with you soon.

'Til then .........

                                                                                                      thanks for dropping by.

Thursday 17 October 2019

Packed and Ready to Head Off

Our bags are all but packed ready to head off tomorrow morning to head to Sydney and a visit to the Royal Military Tattoo on Saturday night. Tomorrow our son and daughter-in-law will pick us up at the airport and we get to spend their wedding anniversary with them with dinner at the Sydney Tower revolving restaurant. Then time to catch up with them before we all head to the Tattoo on Saturday evening - so looking forward to it. We believe that it will be the largest number of peformers ever assembled - even in Edinburgh. Look for photos next week.

However, whilst sitting around doing very little (ha, ha!) I managed to make a cute little bag for my coffee cup to compliment my mug rug which I made several years ago, and it is thanks to Kris from Tag-a-Long Teddies for the design of the bag. Let's face it, we never throw out those left overs - they may come in handy one day! And they did!!

I did not begin with a real lot of fabric - just left overs, but I set myself the challenge and yes! I managed it.



Now for my finished articles:


As you can see below, I actually went a step further and put a small pocket on the back for a tea bag and if required a sachet of sugar.


As you can imagine, now there is very little fabric left, but still I can't bring myself to throw what's left out - might just need these little scraps one day.


For now though, it's off to finish packing, a good night's sleep before heading for the airport in the morning.

'Til next time ......

                                                                                        thanks for dropping by.

Tuesday 15 October 2019

A Busy Week

We have now been back home for a week and I have been quite busy catching up with washing, cleaning etc of both our house and caravan. The final loads of washing were done yesterday and, today I caught up with the ironing - all good!

Yesterday afternoon we did manage to take some time out to go and visit some friends who 6 weeks moved into their new home for afternoon tea. A lovely home and her craft room is to die for, so help me. Her husband jokingly (?) suggested that the rest of the house was designed around the craft room.

On returning home, I looked around my craft room/office and decided that although it was reasonably tidy - as much as a craft room can be - there was still room for improvement. To start with, I am starting to go through lots of papers etc from years gone by, so today, after the ironing, out came the first of numerous containers loaded with papers, and along with a bin for recyclable stuff, a bin for rubbish and the shredder, I made a start. Gosh my room looks a mess, but as they same, no gain with out the pain. It will take me time, but I am determined to clean the rubbish out once and for all.

I have also made a move to give myself plenty of time to do some stitching as well, it would really be withdrawal symptoms if I didn't.

To this I would like to add my thanks to Kris from Tag-a-Long Teddies for the lovely pattern I received as the winner of the September OPAM - thank you again Kris.

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, we have only just come home from our fishing trip, however, we are off again this coming weekend - without the caravan - heading for Sydney for the weekend where we will meet up with son and daughter-in-law and go see the spectacular of The Royal Military Tattoo that is out here again from Scotland. I understand that it actually will be the biggest one ever held with over 1600 performers. Will post some photos next week.

For now though,


That does not include mending jobs either - that to me is not stitching!

                                                                                          Thanks for dropping in to read my blog.



Monday 7 October 2019

The End Has Come

Well, today is the last day of our sojourn to Bjelke-Petersen Dam near Murgon and it is time to start the packing up process.

However before that happens, I must fill you in on the local Inland Fishing Competition that was held here over the weekend. Peter and his brother-in-law, Colin decided to enter and I got two days of peaceful stitching.

I made a start on the next set of mini quilts - my 'Travel' set. (Not the best photo taken, but at least it shows what I have been doing)



The guys managed to catch quite a number of fish, mainly Australian Bass and Yellow Belly.


Saturday was quite a tiring day for them, with the day being very hot and two sessions of fishing, followed by a night of dinner (from food trucks that came to join in the fun) prizes and competition winners for the day.
 
Yesterday (Sunday) was a very early start with the weigh in around 10am.


As you can see, there were quite a lot of anglers out on a very depleted dam which has only 5.17% capacity in it. Yep, the drought has hit really hard up this way.

Sadly neither Pete or Col got anything of a reasonable size, but joined us up at the marquee results and overall prize giving for the weekend.
Col got a lovely prize for the heaviest (overall) Australian Bass.


Both Pete & Col then got a prize each in the random draws. Col's in in his new esky, which is the same as Pete's.


After all the excitement, we spent yesterday afternoon packing up our little boat ready for Pete to take home in the morning (today - Monday), whilst I go about packing up things in the van.


It will soon be time to bid Bjelke-Petersen Dam a fond farewell for another year, and head off home.


For now though,
                              
                                                                                                and thank you for stopping by.