Winter has Arrived

 Winter has definitely arrived with the cold hitting us as soon as June came ........ Suddenly we have frosty foggy mornings lol ....... The Murray River runs where those trees are behind the houses across the street ..... There is another road behind those houses and then the River.

Don't you love that beautiful big Gum Tree that stands in the front of our place?  When we came down last July to look for a new home, I had a dream that kept showing me a branch of gum leaves - never a bit of the house or land showing, just the gum leaves - such a distinct dream that stayed with me ......... I kept looking at each block of land and house we looked at for a gum tree with no luck ....... Finally believing I had lost the plot .......

 then a random call to come and look at this place (by which time, I'd forgotten to be bothered looking for any sign of a gum tree) ....... we were sitting out the front in the car waiting for the real estate agent to come when Pete remarked "Check out the big Gum Tree, how nice it is!"  I hadn't even noticed, but as I looked up the branch I saw was exactly what I had seen in my dream ..........  When we went inside we were both blown away with how it ticked almost all of our boxes ........... of course it became our new home where we are now .............. and this our first Winter here in it................   I'm loving seeing the seasonal colour changes again!

The Budgie crochet blanket is finished ……. A nice lap size for popping over me if outside reading with a morning cuppa when we have some sun, but the air is still cold.  I’m happy with how lovely and bright it is cheering up the foggy mornings when I’m not heading off to work.

The Queens Birthday long weekend sees the Annual Winery walkabout for this area with all the vineyards ….it also has the big Rutherglen street market which you might remember from previous posts of mine over the years if you’ve been following me for a long while ( of course I wasn’t able to get to them the past 3 years being interstate and also they were not run during the Covid lockdowns) ….. it was wonderful to go and enjoy  …… although I’m usually there with Daughter or one of my friends, this year it was a solo visit, but I had a great time and came away with a few goodies

Mmmmm ..... A terrible selfie lol and my arm was giving me a bit of grief as I struggled to hold my bag and take the photo ............ thankfully it continues to improve and I have even been able to begin small amounts of knitting the past week if I only do it every second day for a short time.

These Mitts are great with a button that allows you to pull the end over your fingers to get them warm as needed or buttoned back to allow fingers to do what they need to do!  The little "lolly look" coaster made from wool is heading to daughter since she really missed not being able to be down here for the market that we did together so many years.

I'm off to tend to some bits and pieces ........ although I do have heaps that needs doing (a declutter of clothing to work out just what I need to keep and throw is on the list ...... but not today ..... I'll procrastinate about that one for a bit longer I think lol

Budgie Blanket

 

As promised I’ve been working on the Budgie inspired crochet blanket filled with striped rows of granny stitch.  I’m so enjoying being able to work on something with my arm but I’m really chomping at the bit to get back to some knitting projects that are sitting in limbo! 

The dark row is actually the teal colour seen below in the basket

Still, I’m having fun playing with these 9 colours just doing random coloured rows with an emphasis on the blue and yellow.  I'm not sure if the teal is a little too dark but I'll see how it looks by the end and may incorporate it into the border to balance the colours if needed.  

 I usually make at least one blanket of some kind over the winter months - something cosy about working on a blanket that as it grows, it helps to keep you cosy while you work on it!  I’m sure that’s why I tend to  do “ just one more row” lol and before I know  it the time is gone!!

It’s quite a windy, cold day here with clouds looking like rain so I’ll likely be doing more on this in front of the fire today!  Head over to Gone stitchin to see what everyone else was working on. 

 On another note - crayfishing season started 1st June - Hubby has been waiting for this for over 12 months!!  He had hoped to get out crayfishing last year when we came down from Qld  to look for a house to buy - but due to Covid restrictions we had to make our stay 3 wks shorter to get back to Qld before they closed the borders on us ....... so it's something he has been hanging out for.  With both of us having fishing licences we are able to get a few each - these 6 gave us enough for Dinner and lunches the next day!!   The season only goes for a couple of months so we will be out again soon for another feed!

Crochet is back on the Menu!

 First up a round up for OPAM Afro the past April and May …… luckily I got quite a bit of crochet done

prior to my fall …….10 dishcloths  and 2 kitchen hand towels almost completed but thankfully I was able to begin a trial of doing some crochet by just finishing these towels off with their flowers!   The dishcloths we’re on order for daughter when she was down ( as were the hand towels, but she understood they were on hold till I was able to do any handwork again).

I have to say after the first week ( when I was in soo much pain anyway) I really started missing not being able to do any sewing, knitting or crochet …… or baking …… or gardening …..Thankfully I have a couple of snail mail pen pals and have got a few letters out whilst also beginning some snail mail with a couple of friends ……….  After managing the crochet flowers on Monday without Issues …

..I decided to start a little  lap rug …… using colours inspired by the grandbudgies who came down with Stace and John ( they are allowed to have the budgies but no dogs at the place they are renting ).  The colours are lovely and bright and cheerful to work with as the days here get colder …….it’s foggy outside this morning! 

So I’ll be joining in with Cheryll at Gone StitchinGone Stichin this Friday for Friday night with friends!