My version of our trip to the lake!!

Yesterday morning mum and I walked around Lake Tuggeranong. Let me clarify a couple of things. The pictures she posted, though very beautiful, were not all that was there. The following are the pictures I took. I am especially proud of the last one. Mum eventually did stop commenting on how disgraceful it was that not only would idiots throw shopping trollies in the lake, but that no-one would bother to get them out again (I guess after the 20th trolly, she must have been tired of repeating herself...). But on the plus side, they are a good indicator of the water level (unless there are about 20 metres of trollies stacked on top of each other, of course). And the flies!! Gotta love the Aussie summer. But it really was an enjoyable walk, and maybe next time I'm in Canberra I'll do it again. Maybe....


 

 

 

 

Following on from the Sydney post....

I also saw this at the Botanic Gardens. Yes, I was a little shocked as well. And yes, you're right, it does say, "SEX + DEATH". It was a feature on orchids and other strange tropical plants as well as carnivorous plants.

From the south....

You know, it's really hard to be expected to remember the blogging password (and even the username) when you usually just log on to your computer at home and the blog site just opens up for you, ready for you to write. I've been in Canberra for a few days now and tried to write something before, but had no clue as to how to get to my blog. So, I have now used Blogger Support (or whatever) and have changed my password and such, and here I am. So...

Sydney was pretty good. Learnt about all things groundwater in a week long course for work. Also learned about the good and not so good pubs in Bondi, Coogee, Randwick and The Rocks with my fellow groundwater disciples. Then went on a day long field trip to learn about Sydney's groundwater marvels (and disasters). However, by this time (Day 6), I was sick of groundwater (what a surprise - you can rarely even see the stuff!!) and just wanted to go further south. But before I left I wandered through the Botanic gardens and got the obligatory snap of the harbour.

 

Nothing interesting to post today. Christmas parties and the like are finished and I'm headed for Sydney today for a week. It won't be all fun though, I'm there to do a course for work. It will be a bit of fun - if only because I am getting out of the office for awhile..... Then I'm off to Canberra for Chrissy. Where I can finally give the quilt (once it's bound). Yes, I'VE FINISHED THE QUILTING!! I'll post a photo of it after Christmas. If I don't post before, have a great Christmas everyone!! 

Congratulations to me...

A Banyan fig in town. I've no good reason for posting it - I just like it!! Do I need a reason?

Well. After almost two months, I have been notified that I (unofficially) got the job. And my supervisor has known almost since the interview, but couldn't say anything. Actually, I don't know if I can say anything. But I no longer have to worry about it - though I had pretty much forgotten about it! But - and here's the real joy - it's a permanent job. So come January, I will eagerly join the hordes of men and women contributing to global warming by buying (or letting the bank buy) a car!! No more bicycle for me!!! Well, no more bicycle when I want to go to the rainforests or take a trip to the outback or down to the Whitsundays. And I can go grocery shopping and not limit myself to what I can carry on my handlebars (which means shopping twice each week). And I can go to a garage sale on the other side of town without worrying about dying of heatstroke on the way back. And no more will I have to tie a bookcase onto the back of my bike with occy straps and cycle home (yes, have done that too). But I will continue to cycle to work each day, promise. I now get to go through the pain of finding a car I want. Joy.

 

 

 

 

 

Learning....

I was going to put in a little photo essay about the joy of the lychee. And title it something lame like "how to eat a lychee". And I was going to use Hello. I did use Hello. And now I'm just confused. And it's all out of order. I'm sure you can work out the order. Mum, you're right. This way is so much faster. If confusing.

Here they are...

A yellow flower. It grows everywhere. It may be a weed. This is by a main road.

This looks like some kind of seed. That grows in some kind of tree that looks like a eucalypt. I could be mistaken, though. That's always possible.

A legume-ey type thing. This one is a weed. Growing on a fence by the train tracks. I am so proud of my knowledge of plants...

Something that I've seen before somewhere. Maybe it's native to here. Maybe it isn't. My knowledge just gets better and better.

Don't ask - I don't know what this is either!!! Considering that my mother is Alice, I should really hang my head in shame.

Photo-less ramble

I thank everyone for their (very well directed) sympathy. However, after 12 hours of no quilting (and a bottle of wine), I am now ready to have another go at the quilt. Ah, it's a labour of love, and I really don't mind doing it at all. Besides, the callouses have hardened up even more, so it's now easy - it's my backside that hurts after sitting on the living room floor for four straight hours.... But I wasn't going to complain about anything in this entry.

I have just come back from a candle party. Uh-ha, a candle party. Similar to the tupperware/nutrimetics/lingerie party thing. It wasn't too bad - though everything was typically overpriced. Still, to ensure the host (a work mate) got a decent gift for selling lots of stuff, I bought a few votive candles. And I never burn candles. So, hey - that was $18 wasted. But I did get a great idea for christmas decorations. The party planning lady (also a work colleague) had coffee beans (you know, for neutralising your sense of smell between smelling sickly sweet candles all night) stuck onto a polystyrene ball with a glue gun (I think), then wrapped in a raffia string with a bow at the top and a tie to hang it on a tree branch. Okay, I can't explain it properly, but it looked really good, I thought. Though when I mentioned it to everyone else, they all looked at me like I was nuts. So then I kept quiet.

I also learned how to make houmous. Which is very exciting because I love the stuff, but never considered making my own. But to find out that all it is is chick peas, garlic, olive oil and tahini, all blended up, was joyful. I just now have to go and buy tahini. And chick peas. I think I'm running low on olive oil as well. What was I saying....?

I walked to work today, which was great. It was drizzling so it wasn't too hot on the way in. I took my camera with me and took a few snaps of flowery stuff on my way (a 20 minute walk turned into 40 minutes, but it was worth it). I'm trying to upload the stuff, and if I ever get the hang of flickr, I'll be happy, because the blogger thing is insanely slow. Anyway, some of the photos are of weeds. But they're pretty weeds.

Weekend tomorrow and guess what I have in store for myself. Yes, sewing. But I will take some time to take a stroll or a bike ride to somewhere interesting. I rented 10 movies on Wednesday to accompany me while quilting. I think I rented the 10 worst movies in the store. I have a feeling that my video store just bins all movies as soon as they come off new release. Because I wanted the films for a week, I was limited to bad stuff. A word to the uninformed (formerly me): Do not under any circumstances rent "Maid in Manhatten" - though it may be alright - I couldn't stand to watch the end of it, it was that pathetic; "Wimbledon" - shite from start to finish; "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" - or some title like that... well, it is funny, just don't rent the DVD expecting it to go for two hours, because it lasts for half an hour; "Calendar Girls" - I'm sorry, it had so much potential but bored me amazingly. I tried to watch a Robert de Niro film made in 1970 - "The Wedding Party," but couldn't last the distance (I couldn't last 10 minutes!). I will give it a second shot, though. Good thing "Teachers" was on tv last night. That made up for all the disasterous films I rented. "Teachers" is great!!!

I really shouldn't blog when I've had a couple of drinks. Speaking of beverages, I dropped by the budget bottle shop where there was a free wine tasting going on (always a bad move) - a friend and I ended up buying a case of wine. But it was good. And buying a case made it fairly cheap. It was some winery outside of Brisbane, growing grapes on some hill overlooking Moreton Bay and Stradbroke Island. I could be more specific, but the bottles are in the next room.... SIRROMET - that's the brand/winery. Try it.

Okay, sorry, my glorious photos are not loading. I am too fed up to try a third time. So just imagine that I live in paradise (or the tropics) where all the weeds are pretty flowers.

Michelle, again, this entry is not for you.

Let me just say (probably again) that this has been hand quilted. Yes, quilted by hand. Meaning no machinery that requires plugging into a wall was utilised. Just needle, thread, hoop and my two hands. And my "really cool design" hasn't been fully incorporated. So, Michelle, if you do dare look, it's still not complete. Can I just say again, in case anyone forgot, that those itty bitty stitches were done the old fashioned way. And oh, my fingers. They do hurt.

And the stats-

Blocks: 121

Completed: 55

Remaining: 66

Sigh....

A heap of completely unrelated and not very interesting stuff

Chili fabric (what to make out of it?) that I bought from the craft show that made it's way around the country earlier in the year.

Hibiscus somewhere near my house.

My stash box. I bought this for $5 from a garage sale. It was someone's old homemade toolbox. I sanded it back (for about 10 minutes, and then I got bored) and put about three coats of paint on it. Then stencilled it to make it look that little bit more girly and purple-er and generally more suitable for the pile of fabric I was planning (and did) cram into it.

Well, I've just waited SO LONG for pictures to upload that I can't be bothered writing anything. I have no time for anything right now, mainly due to the fact that Christmas is now 25 days away and in 11 days I'm heading for Sydney, then Canberra for the family Christmas and I still am nowhere near finished the big sister's Christmas present. I've even cancelled myself out of the Country B dinner tonight so that I can sew. Not that that's a big deal, since nobody decided on a B country - I think we were all going to go Brazilian, but there are no Brazilian restaurants in Townsville, so we were going to bbq B food on The Strand. Any kind of B food. Next week - we'll either try B again, or launch straight into C: Cambodia, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Chile, Congo, Columbia... the list is endless (though again, we've no C restaurants in this town!). Anyway, back to Michelle's gift. It's a quilt. It contains 121 squares. I have quilted 44. I have 77 to go. Some of the squares I have to go back and do some more to because I came up with a "really cool design" - that takes up more time!! I AM NEVER GOING TO GET IT FINISHED!

Yesterday I got to go to Home Hill. I write "got to" but really, I "had to" - for work. And I had to leave at 7am. Yes, 7am. This is early for me. Home Hill is a tiny sugarcane farming town - lots of cane paddocks and about 10 houses. Okay, maybe there are 20. Home Hill has a great patchwork shop, I hear. I didn't ask my two bosses if they wanted to detour by it on the way home because that would have been odd. Home Hill has a big Canegrowers Hall that was built when the cane farmers in the area made lots of money. The hall hasn't been painted since 1970 (the cane farmers stopped making lots of money). Home Hill has no decent place to buy a cup of coffee. You have to go to Ayr. At 8am, Ayr has no decent place to buy a cup of coffee. We went to McDonalds for coffee. I decided to go without. I then had a crappy cup of tea in a polystyrene cup while sitting in the 3 hour-long meeting in the Canegrowers Hall. I should have got coffee at McDonalds.

I am now going to do more of the quilt. I may drink a decent cup of coffee at the same time.