"Wattle Creek"

Just a few views of my parent's garden.

Sewing

I needed some mindless sewing so have got stuck into a 3" tumbler quilt.

Inspired by Linda (from Quilts in the barn)

I used my Accu-Cut to cut hundreds of little tumblers from my stash of reproduction fabric. (sadly, the stash does not appear to have decreased at all)

Then, joining lights to dark I made strips... and more strips... and have started joining them together.

Looking pretty good - about 1/3 of the way there.

and just because I can't do one thing at a time, I have dragged out a UFO (bought the kit in Houston in 2008). I had the top made, just needed to scatter the leaves across it. Every time I look at it I am reminded of the glorious fall color we saw further north on that trip. I am going to scatter leaves and then leave it on the floor for the day so I can walk past and adjust as I see fit.

I want both of these finished before I go on with anything else.

Mostly white wedding dresses

My city of Bendigo has a wonderful Art Gallery and often hosts amazing exhibitions. Currently we have "The white wedding dress" exhibition curated from the V and A, with some Australian dresses added. I went to a late afternoon session with friends yesterday, my second visit to this exhibition and I saw things that I missed the first time.

41 gowns, with some extras thrown in for good measure, including a beautiful pair of suits that 2 men wore for their ceremony in London. No photos were allowed so I have stolen a few from the "net"



setting up..... - this gown is amazing...



and so was this purple one - Marilyn Manson's bride wore it.... and I think it was my favorite.

Well worth a visit, but you need to book.

Crossing off the bucket list in Vanuatu

We have just arrived back after a lovely holiday in Vanuatu - our second trip there this year. My husband had a few things on his "bucket list", so this post is to acknowledge that he managed to cross a few things off.

He is a keen SCUBA diver and loves to get into the warm tropical waters....
here he is pointing down to the next photo



which is a photo of him eyeballing a small shark.... who was so relaxed that he could scratch its tummy

the next thing on the list was a very personal pilgrimage.... but we chose to do it by seaplane (another thing on the list)

we chartered the plane to take us a long way over the ocean to the tiny island of Makura...which has one village on it....

Makura is the home of our friend Sael, who is an islander and also a chief on this island. He lives in Port Vila and only gets home to the island once a year. We didn't land out of respect to Sael and his family. They didn't know we were going to fly over the island and therefore could not warn the villagers. However we have an open invitation to stay there any time we like....

The next day we had lunch with Sael and his family at their home in Port Vila - they are building a house there for their son, Mark. This land was a gift from a family member and they have to build on it asap... Sael and his wife are also buying land a little further away so once this house is finished they will start again and build another one.

so, not only our bucket list is being crossed off, but theirs is as well....

More photos to follow in a day or two...