Travelling from retreat (Going back in time)

Day 30 of my August blogpost a day challenge (nearly there!)

(Photo heavy)

Five days ago, I did a catch up post from my trip to Australia in April, when I joined buddy kiwikid Sue and we travelled from Melbourne up to Scrub Stitching at Baradine, NSW.

Now I need to catch up on the trip from Scrub Stitching back down to Tullamarine, the Melbourne airport.

We left Baradine and all the lovely ladies at about lunch-time on Sunday. We wanted to get away smartly so that we had finished travelling by dusk which is when the kangaroos come out - and jump across the road - no late in the day travelling for us; crashing into one is a complication non of us need.

We stopped at the Coonabaraban information centre to get a t-shirt for Deana.

I had bought myself a t-shirt there on the way to Baradine, thinking it was a cute Wombat shirt, but later discovered it was a DINOSAUR t-shirt - this fellow was found near Coonabarabran so is world famous in the area...and now I have a dinosaur t-shirt to rival that of the grandies!! (Strictly speaking, it's a marsupial fossil rather than a dinosaur but he's close enough, the locals reckon.) Anyway, Deana decided she needed one too so we got her one :-)

We headed to Cowra, where we were to stay for two nights. 

The area was vey dry and they were all hoping for some rain soon (they got it, thank goodness).

After passing through Dubbo we happened upon a Sculptures on Bikes tour along Banjo Paterson Way which was lots of fun -

The next morning we may have visited the Cowra Patchwork shop (hehe) and then continued on to the Information Centre. As Cowra had a Prisoner of War camp during WW2, there is some interesting history to learn. There was a hologram theatre telling the story of a big prison camp breakout.

We visited other areas of historical interest around the town. 

Beautiful painted water tanks -

A nod to the town 'as it was' on this tank —

Lots of history on this site of the POW camps —

World Peace Bell, back in town —

This photo shows how big it is. It had a beautiful sound but I wondered if the locals get tired of the tourists ringing it!

Sue and I had a lovely lunch at the Japanese Peace Garden cafe —

and then thoroughly enjoyed the walk around the gardens. Very lovely.

There was a bonsai area too —

And a wee museum —

After our two nights at Cowra, we started heading south again.

Because we travel inland/rural Australia we see lots of quirky little things —

Sheep at Boorowa —

Dirt roads! 

A commemoration for a Police Sergeant killed in a 'gun battle' with a gang, 1864, at Jugiong —

Wide open spaces —

We visited the Ettamogah Pub...built/based on a very popular Australian cartoon series.

After our night in Albury we spent a bit of time walking around town...visiting another quiltshop and also Lincraft.

Back on the road again, we went through Glenrowan where there are a lot of Ned Kelly (famous outlaw) attractions. The Discovery Hub was designed to mimic the helmet Kelly wore in his last siege.

Another dirt road. But this one was unplanned and we still have no idea why we ended up on it!

At nearby Benella, more Ned Kelly —

And the most gorgeous mural in a wee church —

One last quilt shop —

Our last dinner together —

The next morning I was on the plane and back to New Zealand. Just reading through our travels, I am exhausted - we covered a lot!

If you've got to the end of this - well done!

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Raewyn

A Rainy Day

Day 29 of my August blogpost a day challenge

It was a wet day today, perfect for stitch-and-chat day at The Country Yard.

I finished all my farm jobs promptly and got to sewing nice and early.

Haha very early; I was Raewyn-no-friends for a while (lucky I have my own key or I would have been sitting in the car park!)

I decided to get back to the LeMoyne stars which I had started in a mini sewalong at the start of the month.

I got one made - I'm not totally happy with the centre of it and will probably end up doing a bit of unpicking to improve it. 

Then I thought I'd better get thinking about the cushion Miss Lily has requested for Christmas. I've selected my main fabrics and hopefully the rest will flow from there - 

And then I got sidetracked with organising and talking about a new project, egged on by the others. A small cross-stitch motif a day.  What could be more straight forward!

Back home, the rain had steadily got heavier and, although still warm, it was definitely full scale wet-weather gear weather; one very soggy raincoat - 

All the outside calves had shelter - some ventured out for a graze- 

- others were not and had to be encouraged outside - 

Then straight back to the shed after their feed!

The cows were happy though, but you can see puddles forming in the paddocks. Fingers crossed they stay as puddles!

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Raewyn

Small Treasures

Day 28 of my August blogpost a day challenge

I thought it was time I had a proper look through this basket of Mum's -

Full of treasures - 

As I've said before, Mum was a keen embroiderer. She was fully involved in her guild, always taking workshops/classes (pupil and teacher). 

She went to every conference that she could and loved attending her guild's annual Winter Warmup retreat at Tui Ridge near Mt Ruapehu - and she seemed to love to collect the badges to proof it!!

She made a few of these cube pin cushions when she first started; I have a very well used  one (initial 'R'), and she had another one she used a lot too.

Other bits and pieces. I can't work out how the balls are made; as well as the embroidery elements, they are wound with fine thread - 

She made a few of these many moons ago too - 

Bargello - 

The workmanship on some of these is amazing - so many tiny stitches!!

This one has a wee lavendar sachet inside and now lives in a drawer -

Just a small amount of what she made over the years.

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Raewyn