Other Happenings in September

I’ve been rather remiss during September in relation to blog posts, so a big catch up here.  Firstly, I’ll share how I went with my goals.

READ A BOOK

Yes, I read “Cutters End” by Margaret Hickey.  It was one I found at an op shop or book fair or something and I really enjoyed it, as did Mick.  It is the first in a series featuring Detective Sergeant Mark Arita, with another three released since.  I will be on the lookout for them.

TRY A NEW RECIPE

Don’t laugh, but this was to make some chicken and bacon sausage rolls.  A very simple recipe that most people make with their kids, but something I’ve never done.  They received a tick of approval from Mick.  No photo, as they were either eaten straight away or put in the freezer for later.

I also made a small batch of strawberry jam.  

This came about as a result of our second fridge in the garage dying.  There were still some strawberries from last year in the freezer that hadn’t completely thawed so I made jam rather than throwing them out.  Fortunately, there wasn’t all that much in the freezer and the fridge is mainly used for drinks.  Now we have a nice, new, more efficient fridge out there that should last for many years.  The one we had was Mum’s old fridge, so would probably be about twenty years old.

HAVE A FUN DAY OUT

Fancy morning and afternoon teas seem to be the flavour of the month lately.  This time it was a morning tea to raise funds for the Radiation Bus.  Radiation treatment for cancer is not performed in Bathurst, with patients having to travel to Orange, about an hour away.  This bus runs each week day for minimal cost to the patients and creates an informal support group on the way.  It is run by the local Community Transport and receives no government funding.  The morning raised $5,000, which was an impressive effort.  The organiser is one of my neighbours, and many of us were requested to bring along a plate of food.  There was such an incredible spread and at the end of the event there were plates of slices and biscuits for sale, so Mick was able to have a few treats as well.  I even had my photo in the local paper.

Our other fun day out was to attend the NSW Quilters Show at Rosehill in Sydney.  That will have its own separate post.

Mick had a fun day out with my brother, who is a member of the local 4WD club.  The club went on an outing to check out a newly opened suspension bridge over the Cox’s River on the Six Foot Track, which is a walking track through the Blue Mountains.  They were blessed with a beautiful day weather wise.

The photos he shared showed an absolutely beautiful spot. Once he gets Rosie all sorted we may have to go for a drive and picnic so I can see it too.

WRITE UP BLOG POSTS ON OUR ISLE OF MAN TRIP

That still doesn’t seem to be happening.  I will get there.

What else have we been up to?

When we went to the Bathurst Swap Meet in late August Mick bought two signs.

The first one appears to be a very well home made, Suzuki sign.  It was just silver metal.  

He masked it up and painted the background the same colour as Rosie, his Suzuki Sierra.  It now hangs on the shed.

The second was a pair of signs off a vintage Franklin caravan.  They were even a nice chippy orange colour.

With a bit of chopping, masking and painting, he now has a name badge on Frank the Fuso truck.  It doesn’t take much to keep him happy.

Now that it is spring it was time to switch up my little shelf in the kitchen.  Sometimes the items remain pretty much the same each season, but it was fun to “shop” our display cabinets to find some different spring like items.

AND NOW FOR THE WEATHER……..

Early spring is notorious for being changeable and this year has been no different.  Firstly, our spring weather arrived about a month earlier than usual.

Warm mornings usually herald us having breakfast on the back verandah.

Plants budded up early and everything was looking lovely.

THEN…..

We had what they called a “Polar Blast” with the biggest frosts we have had all year.  I really felt for the orchardists, vignerons and wheat and canola farmers. There have been some big losses to some of their crops.

Our biggest casualty was the wisteria.  While other bloggers were sharing their wisteria in full bloom, ours was still budding up.  Then, frost hit and this is how our flowers look.  All over town it is the same. So sad, as it would have put on a good show this year. Compare it to this time last year.  The azalea and hydrangeas were also victims.  

Fortunately, the crab apple seems to have been unaffected.

Our iris and renunculas are adding a pop of colour at the moment.

Thankfully, we hadn’t got too far ahead of ourselves with vegetable planting.  We had some self sown tomatoes coming up in the garden, so covered them when the frost was forecast.  They are now in pots being taken in and out each day.  We have planted some cherry tomatoes in pots and they are in the little potting shed at the moment, also being taken in and out.

We are trying an experiment this year, growing some potatoes in a stack of tyres.  They are just starting to poke their heads out, so we will be gradually adding more soil and tyres as they grow.

Hopefully, the worst of the frosts are over and we will start to plant our veges in the next couple of weeks.

And that about sums up the month of September.

Another Adventure - Canberra - Getting There

Now that we have “Frank” the Fuso truck, it’s time  to get out and about once again.  We have been wanting to play the tourist in Canberra for a little while, so last week was the perfect opportunity, as we had nothing on.

We headed down last Wednesday, leaving perfect autumn weather.  However, most of the leaves have now fallen from the trees around here.  As we travelled further south, it clouded over.  

Our first stop was at Boorowa for an early lunch.  A feature of the streetscape is their Anzac Memorial clock tower.

Check out the unusual markings on clock face.

One shop has a beautiful old facade.

There is a historic advertising sign on the side of that building.  I remember Pelaco shirts, as some of my work shirts from my first job were that brand. Yes, they made lady’s clothes as well.

As we neared Canberra we started to see scattered showers in the surrounding hills.  This was the main weather pattern for most of our stay.

We arrived at our destination in the early afternoon.  The caravan park we stayed at was very easy to find, without having to tow the van through the city.  It is only a few years old and rather stark.  There are next to no trees and it is very flat and featureless. We think it would be rather hot during the summer time.  Having said that, the sites are nice and roomy, easily accessed and flat.  The amenities and camp kitchen are wonderful.  There is also a section geared up for bus loads of school kids coming down for their excursions to the capital.  The weekly farmers markets are located directly over the road.  For our purposes, you couldn’t have got much better. 

Our first task that afternoon was to find a phone shop, as Mick’s phone decided that the battery had had enough on the night before we left.  It is a bit of a challenge to find parking spots in the city for Frank, as he is too high to go into underground car parks.  We did find a suitable spot and found the Telstra Shop easily.  The assistant was very helpful and Mick was all set up, ready to use his new phone, in no time.  An expensive little souvenir of our trip.

That evening we caught up with one of my old school friends for dinner in a nice old pub.  The perfect way to start our little holiday.

Scrub Stitchin’ - Travelling Home

After a simple lunch on Sunday it was time to pack up everything and ship on out.  We didn’t have very far to travel, as we were staying with Miss Jules that evening.  It wasn’t a fast drive, as we had to travel mainly on gravel roads.  It was however rather scenic.

We spent a very pleasant evening around the camp fire.  Chooky and Mr Chooky, as well as Kylie were also there for dinner.

Frank looked quite settled for the night.

After a leisurely breakfast we were back on the road.

More dirt roads to start with.

I seem to have a thing for bladeless windmills this trip.

A quick stop in Gulargambone to check out the sculpture.

A coffee and cake stop in Gilgandra.  This sign out the front of the news agency alerted us to the fact that there was a coffee shop incorporated into it.

Out the back there is a lovely garden area. Behind Mick, that man is chatting to a couple.  We heard the voice and immediately recognised it.  Mick’s aunt and uncle from the north coast were sitting there having coffee.  We had seen them a few weeks ago as they passed through Bathurst, so this was a lovely surprise to catch up with them again on their way home.

By early afternoon we were back home and starting to unpack the van.  It had been a fabulous week away.  Scrub Stitchin’ is definitely a highlight of the year.  We can’t wait to do it all again in 2025.

Scrub Stitchin’ - Meanwhile, Back at the Camp

This year Mick and I were the only ones who brought our caravan to Scrub Stitchin’ and Mick was the only husband to tag along.  Quite a contrast to last year when there were several hubbies and Mick played tour guide.  He enjoys our annual visit to Baradine as much as I do.

He was looking forward to a quiet few days, reading, going for a walk, maybe playing some bowls.  So much for that….. He ended up being a gopher for all of us “Scrubbers”.

He helped set up the room on Tuesday, did a couple of jobs in the garden for Chooky’s mum, and most importantly, collected and delivered our scones for morning tea on Thursday.  He did receive payment for that little job, with his own parcel of scones.

On Friday, he went into Coonabarabran to have lunch with a mate who moved up there a few years ago.  While he was there he was given the job of collecting some items at the patchwork shop…….oh, and while you’re there, can you pop out to the other patchwork shop to pick up some things?

On Saturday, after taking all our photos, he did get to have an informal game of bowls with some locals, something he really enjoyed.  He then had his next job of helping to set up the room for our special Saturday night dinner.  

Add to all that, he had a bit of a play with “Frank”, starting to run some wires to connect the UHF radio and caravan reversing camera.  Both jobs that will be completed back home.

The poor fellow had not rest.

Having said that, he did get to finish the book that he was reading.

He was not starving either.  We had bought some sweet treats on the way up, so he enjoyed nice morning and afternoon teas.

Rather than join the girls for breakfast, Mick and I had brekkie in the van each day.  I love the way the steam shone in the morning sunlight.

Dinners weren’t too bad either.  He had dinner at the pub with Chooky and Jules’ hubbies on Wednesday, while all us girls were out the back.  On Thursday he cooked a BBQ.  Friday was Chinese and raffles at the Bowlo with the locals.  He always enjoys this, as they make him feel so welcome.  On Saturday night he received a serve of the roast dinner that we enjoyed. No slumming it for Mick.

The campground is such a nice peaceful place to spend time.

You can see  what a lovely setting it is from his drone shots.

The weekend was capped off when he received this on Sunday.  He was tickled pink.

Now to wait twelve months until we do it all again.