Some small steps

Holey Moley, an online class with Dale Rollerson of  The thread Studio has just finished, and as a finale i did get a few small things done, the first is felt with newspaper on top with painted vliesofix and a bit of foil and stamping and a paper flower and stitching.
Next was to play with shrink it plastic, I made these earrings and stamped them and embossed them. Fun to wear.
Next some tags to embellish, I used my cuttlebug and had a bit of fun with them.
Finally using some paper clay, these had been made ages and ages ago and not painted so I painted them metallic acrylic paint.
Now I have some things to use when I need them and some more ideas.
We went to see Salmon fishing in the Yemen last night. I think they could have cut about 1/2 an hour but I enjoyed it. J went to sleep! He did say he was relaxed afterwards.
Nice to get out and we had Asian take away for dinner ( we went to the 4.15 session)!
A lovely walk on the cliffs this morning, huge waves coming in, surfers having a lovely time and there was a pod of dolphins out chasing a school of small fish and the terns were diving on them as well.
All in all a good start to the day.
Now to think (and the operative word is think) about vacuuming.

This mornings walk with Max

 Clouds, sun, flowers, calves, a red factor one amongst the black and whites, the last of the hibiscus, the first of the tiny cyclamen, a new look by the back door as the gutter has overflowed and I needed the big drawers up in my work room, red cedar seeds, the butterflies did such a good job early on and we have lots of these fascinating seeds. Peacocks by the front of the house, a callistemon flower and some red passionfruit flowers.
Now it is overcast and cold and drizzly.
I am going back to sit by the fire and do some stitching, or something that doesnt need much thought.
I should be cleaning the house, but I dont feel up to it.
I will be glad when this feeling of loss slowly goes and I feel more up to creating.
I have been creating, little things but feel guilty that I have no desire to clean the house.

supreme welsh foal and in my garden

 On Sunday I went over to the Riding Pony foal show where they also had Welsh pony classes and my lovely cream Section B colt was Supreme Welsh, my daughter took these photos and photoshopped them, she is far cleverer than I am in that regard.
this morning before it rains again I had a short wander in the garden and took photos, the crucifix orchid is flowering as is the blue boy (I cant remember its name,) and this is the first time this bromeliad has flowered. A bit late for Easter this year but the zygocactus is begining to flower and the leaves on the ornamental grape are glowing.
Showers are forcast for the next few days, so I dont know when or if the washing will get dry, I have just put a load in the machine and suddenly it is raining quite heavily and the little brown tree frogs are singing.
I can see a nice day doing some playing in my work room or sitting and knitting by the fire, but there are a few jobs to be done in the house first.

A couple of things to make a bad day better

I havent felt much like blogging.
It was our grandsons funeral on Friday, So many people, so many young ones, his coffin had photos of him all around it. I think one of the most touching moments for me was one of the boys who had to leave early lightly ran his fingers over the coffin as he left.
He was sent off well and the burial site on the property couldnt be better, overlooking the valley and their farm,  but I was at the end of it all exhausted, I have had the family from Melbourne here since Wednesday night, they left on Saturday morning so a rushed trip to see as many people as possible. A dinner for 9 here on Friday night, so yesterday I put my feet up.
Today I drove a bit over an hour to a foal show to see our lovely cream colt take out the Supreme Welsh foal of show which is lovely but now I am tired again.
This book of Maggie Greys arrived on Friday and is a delight and the fingerless gloves I finished one day last week, they are a lovely silk and wool mix but as you can see I need to make two more to match the tops.
I think I have enough to make the next pair.
It has been drizzly and damp interspersed with a bit of sun, the sun has been lovely, as has the drizzle but it is not helping me to get my washing dry.
Off to read my book and perhaps do a bit of knitting while I wait for J to come home from fishing.
Hope this doesnt sound too incoherent.

Wet, cold and damp

 Seeding is in progress, I walked out early this morning, it is ANZAC Day, a day to remember all those who fell in wars and in particular for us to remember when our country became a nation.
so I walked and thought and the sun came through the clouds. I hope this is a portent but I am sure there will be more wars.
We never seem to learn.
Seeding has begun, we seed into untilled soil, although the cows do a pretty good job of churning things up a bit.
You can see the drizzle across the valley, and here another sign of autumn, the many dairy heifers we are raising, we seem to have had a good early crop of heifers, the early ones do better than the later ones.
It seems so odd that in the Northern hemishpere they are seeding too, but here where our winters are relatively mild and it is when we get the rain, we seed now in autumn, and usually around about Anzac day.
I see I am repeating myself, well I am getting older but really there is no excuse, but I am cooking, making beds, preparing for the Melbourne family to arrive sometime today, in preparation for the funeral on Friday. Perhaps I am a little stressed.
I am off to do a bit of knitting and to try not to overcook the cake that is in the oven!

Sunday and Monday

 This is the glory vine on the pergola by the house, it has tourned such a glorious colour and suddenly the days are cold and damp and windy.
The palm trees were really blowing in the wind.
We went to lunch yesterday, friends who own a property at Parawa and this is R's magnificent tagine before we ate it, full of home grown figs and quinces from their covered orchard, I wish we had one of these, the birds ate everything so early this year, but due to their generosity we came home with enough figs to turn into dried figs and this is the first stage in the drying process.
Then! disaster as I left the rock buns to hang out the washing, and was caught up in just a few other things and there they were, incinerated.
I have made some more!
Looks as if the funeral will be on Friday, so the Melbourne family will be coming over on Wednesday I think, got to get my skates on and tidy the house and make beds.

Presents and this mornings walk

While I was at Ballarat Julia and I swapped, me a doll and her this wonderful needle case, all hand dyed and felted.
Yesterday a lovely surprise arrived, some African fabrics from Robyn in South Africa, again we did a swap, a mad owl and a few other bits from me and these from herf.
I love it when the mail brings parcels.
This morning we were up early for the market and then for awalk along the cliffs at Petrels Cove, a few drops of rain and dquite odd looking sky, threatening, yet the sea was flat with the odd big roller.
I loved the new arrangement of piled rocks, there has been an on going collection of these at the beach they call Deplidges.
As we walked there were sheep on the hill by the path, and this really odd look to the sea and sky.
John and I did manage to get the work bench together, fishing was off because of the forcast winds and rain (no rain doesnt stop them but wind does.)
We got hot and bothered and of course the final screw wouldnt go in, so we re drilled the hole.
It now looks much like most of my other work rooms, full!!
I am slowly working out what else I need and what I can get in there. The thing by the back door )wooden dressing table I rescued from the side of the road) may have to go up there, it has drawers that work and I need drawers.
But what will I do with the stuff on it?  Obviously a re think. 
Off to dinner with Millie and Mason, should be fun.