Moving on…

A beautiful wattle near us

So ok it’s been “a while” since I posted anything… My life has been full and I haven’t A: had time and B: felt like I had anything very exciting to contribute to the blogging world. I was reading some other blogs and admiring their art, craft and produce. I thought I might add a few things I’ve been doing and some thoughts I’ve had.

I love this bridge. We walk the dogs to this spot along the river

We have moved from the red dirt, salt lakes, blue,blue skies and salmon gums to a farming area. We moved in August when the fields were green and splashed here and there with that beautiful bright yellow of Canola crops. At first we didn’t have a house to move to, but I put out the “please find us something” vibe to the universe and my good old Aunty Bev found us a place. I know it was her because it’s in Beverley and she was named after the town… The house is a little small and we have had to cram our abundance of stuff into it. Perhaps the universe is telling me to downsize lady! I had been slowly ferreting out the unused, unnecessary and anything unwanted before our move, but it seems I have more work to do.

The baby quilt, unfinished but not far from being ready. The colour is brighter in the flesh.

Before our move we had a week off work and took our “new” van up the coast with some friends of ours. Along the way we stopped overnight to visit a friend who we hadn’t seen in over 16 years. It was a lovely catch up, plenty to tell each other of the interceding years. The van worked fantastically! Our dogs loved it, they have their own lounge in the van. She’s an old girl but well built and has been looked after. It was nice to just pull up and wind the legs down, pull out the awning and sort out a couple of things inside. Only took us 10 minutes, me inside and my husband outside. Our old van was the wind up type with the pull out end. We had it down to a good half hour but now it’s so much quicker and we get to have a coldy sooner. Bonus! After this happy holiday we got the news that we were moving.

Close up of some of the characters

The photos are a bit blurry, still getting use to a new phone camera

I have finally set up my sewing room, just in time to make a baby quilt for my nephew’s first baby, a little girl. So beautiful… I bought some May Gibbs material a while ago, being a big fan of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, and I have used this to make the quilt. I went with a simple 4 patch, 2 squares of the May Gibbs material and 2 plain: yellow and cream. When I started the quilt my little great niece hadn’t been born so these colours suited either sex. I am currently contemplating the quilting pattern for the edge. Once I have that sorted then it just needs binding. I think I will make some leaves for the back of the quilt to write her name etc on…

The “darker pattern”

I love making baby quilts. There is something whimsical and fun about them. They don’t take long either. It’s been about 3 weeks from selecting the materials, choosing a pattern to use, cutting, sewing and quilting. I’ve been going to work on and off as well. It’s nice to see a quilt come together and show it’s character. I found a Gumnut Baby beanie, online, to go with the quilt. I can’t wait see photos of her wrapped in the quilt with her little beanie on.

The quilt squares in sets of 4

I have also been setting up a vege and herb garden. Some of my plants died in the move so I needed to replenish them, and some were in the ground so we left them for the next people to enjoy. I have a deck area in the new house and the plants seem to enjoy the aspect. My clever hubby has set up a watering system for me too, salvaged from our last garden. We put up a blind at one end to minimise some of the wind and create a bit of shade for the hot summer. I bought some self watering pots on a stand and they seem to be working well. Nothing beats cutting your own lettuce and herbs for a salad or to put in your sandwiches. I’m waiting on the strawberries and some tom thumb tomatoes.. yum! My husband had to leave the passionfruit vine behind so I’ve got one of those on the go too. Might be a while before he can pick some fruit, just as well the vine in Perth is producing some fruit for him.

The self watering pots in a stand

One bonus of our move is being closer to our family. We only have a 1 1/2 hour trip now, which is much better than the 8 hours we had before. Our eldest son has had some medical issues this year and being so far away was very stressful. I still lay awake at night worrying about him, but at least now I can jump in the car and see him and return home again if I wish to. We count our blessings when we can.

Tomato and Basil

Lime in the foreground, Rosemary behind

Well that about sums up our last few months.

Snoopy taking time to smell the flowers

Turning 50 sure can be fun!

Learning to throw snowballs. Never too old to learn something fun

I know you have seen the fun photos from Fran’s blog “theroadtoserendipity” but I thought I might add a few thoughts from my perspective as well.

I usually don’t let a number that denotes age worry me, but I must admit I was feeling a little daunted by 50. I rather liked the 40’s, the 20’s were even better lol. I found myself reminiscing over my life. This led me to wonder if I might spend some time with my high school friend, Fran, as I knew we shared the same month and remembered what good fun we had together back then.  I asked Fran many months ago if she would be happy to share a week with me over our birthdays, and was very excited when she said yes!

Mmm birthday cake worthy of a number like 50

I made the necessary bookings and then pondered what to sew for Fran. I knew I wanted to do something for her but wasn’t too sure at the time what thing it might be. I also had a box full of old school photos so I thought, rather than a card, I would make a photo book of our time together at school and a little beyond. As the weeks flew by (don’t they seem to go faster..) I worked on the photobook and kept looking for a project that would be a nice fit for her. At last I found a patchwork kit featuring chickens called “Psycho Chickens” and just knew this was the one for Fran. Now whether it is the chooks, Fran or both on Serendipity which are psycho, is for you to decide :).

One of the psycho chooks

I wanted to share this project with my small little followers, thanks all three of you x, but of course, couldn’t, because Fran would have seen. I have taken lots of pictures of it “in progress”, and will write a post about it too. Nice to have a post in the hand, waiting… I’m sure Fran will have posted a picture of it “in residence” on her blog too.

These pretty blossoms were everywhere

So I packed my bags and winged my way to Tassie. I had hired a car and set off with my printed google maps instructions and the advice from the lovely lady who sat next to me on the plane over to Launceston. I managed to miss the little turn off after the Batman Bridge, where the wonderful Steve was waiting to show me the rest of the way to their house, bugger! I had put my phone on “airplane” mode instead of turning it off like I usually do. Be warned, it keeps roaming and makes your battery almost flat, this piece of advice came from the lovely lady on the plane also. I can highly recommend her as a plane buddy :). Anyway a quick call to Steve, with my fingers crossed, soon had him driving to where I was.  A car came along side me flashing his lights and I followed. I’m glad it was Steve! Bit embarrassing if I followed an unsuspecting person home.

I just love this house! Bruce….

Long story short, I was soon safely ensconsed in their lovely home with the wonderful Brunhilder warming my derrier. I was also greeted by two very excited dogs! I had booked a stay over in Hobart as a birthday treat for Fran and I so after a lovely cuppa and a piece or two of the legendary stromboli, very tasty by the way, we said our goodnights and hit the sack. I slept well after my adventurous day and soon enough it was time to get up, have some breakfast (thanks chooks) and head off to Hobart. We had a lovely chat along the way, lots to catch up on, and quickly found ourselves in Hobart. Nothing like a good chin wag to while the time away.

Earl and …

Bezial (the shy one), are just beautiful and enthusiastic lol

We were staying right near the Salamanca Markets and the view from our little apartment facing over the port, was delightful. The markets were an eclectic mix of craft, clothes, food, music and various other stalls.  I purchased an ABBA cd to play in the car while we travelled here and there. It had us singing some old favourites and all the songs are now completely stuck in my head 🙂 . I was delighted to see, feel, touch and throw snow the next day on Mt Wellington.

Our accommodation was right on this port

Mt Wellington peaking out from her cloud cover

I was surprised by how easily we fell into the old rythm of our friendship from all those years ago. We picked up right where we had left off and I must say I haven’t laughed so much in a long while. It got me thinking about how easy some friendships are. We had plenty to chat about and I don’t think there was much down time over those 7 days. Poor Steve, sorry mate, hope you have recovered 😀  What a lovely man he is too. They make quite a pair.

Snow lined road up to the peak

I loved Tassie! It has the most amazing houses. I love the old houses and they are everywhere, just wonderful eye candy. Next time I will make it back with my husband, Bruce, in tow. I’m sure he will be just as impressed with it as I was. We managed to stay in touch with the magic of skype. It was nice to share some of the frivolity and fun we were having with him. Besides, Steve needs an ally next time lol.

Another lovely house

After a week of laughter, eating way too much lovely food, drinking too much lovely wine and talking our heads off it was time to drive back to the airport and wing my way home.  I had plenty of time to think over the past few days, our adventures and the wonderful chats we had. It made me realise that 50, though a rather daunting number, really is just another number in my timeline of life. No matter what age you are, find time to reconnect to the things in your life that give you joy. It is a worthwhile pursuit.

Pretty view from midway of Mt Wellington