Settlement and a Request for Help

First off for those who have been wondering, stress in getting things done in time for a quick 37 day settlement for the house in Townsville that has been on the market for 3 1/2 yrs has kept me busy and stressed!!  However it is done and dusted and although we took a huge loss, we are thankful to be back to one mortgage!!!   I love our little cottage here in Bundalong in NE Vic!!

Now while all that's been going on, I've been busy with a,lovely group of other ladies who have all been on a weight loss and increase to health venture.  We are now starting a new phase and doing a virtual trek around Australia, but we are looking for some country townships between Geraldton, WA..... Through NT, and over to Innisfail in QLD. That have some smaller primary schools  or Homeschooling families,  who might be interested in receiving postcards from around Australia.  I need to get this sorted out quickly so if you know of any please let me know either by commenting here or by emailing. Me.       sharmshere@yahoo.com
Hugs sharm

Springtime at the Cottage

My nose definitely knows its springtime here at the cottage..... hayfever and sinus have me in a constant state of sneezing and snuffling.  Of course it does not help that there are spare blocks of land directly across the road with grass a metre high, all seeding and blowing like mad in the winds we have here at present!  Still, that's the down side of spring for me, but there are lots of ups as well........  like our very first hatching of chickens here at this cottage! 
 Even though I have bred chooks before, at this home we are unable to have roosters, and earlier on I had decided against letting the broodies have chickens, but this year I relented and got hold of some fertile eggs..... 7 out of 8 have hatched out and doesn't Mama Scarlett look so proud of her little brood! 











We even had a cute little visitor stop by to have a look..... We don't often see these types of parrots here, so it was great to be able to catch a photo of him

Not much sewing or crochet has been going on around here for the past few weeks, its been busy with other things like more birthday celebrations (daughter turning 24), Spring gardening, all the extra bits and details that have come with finally having a contract placed on the house back up in Townsville that was meant to sell 3 1/2 yrs ago when we were buying this home (bridging finance that lasted a much longer time than we ever could have imagined and has brought all sorts of complications with the crashing market up in Queensland!).  Here's hoping things settle down over the next couple of weeks before Pete and I head off on a little road trip of our own for a couple of weeks!

 

 

Family Time

Our son , DIL, and 3 grandchildren are down visiting with us for 4 days! They live in Townsville, the other end of Australia, and it's been a year since we've been able to see them, so we are really enjoying this time with them!

We have also done an ealy Christmas with them so we have the chance to give them gifts that cost to much to post!

Later today we will be celebrating my DH's 65 th birthday, and then having a couple more days before they live to start the drive back up.  They are enjoying stops along the way, and our dear DIL is finally getting to experience what Victoria is like.....she is loving the difference in the gardens, trees and landscape!

My late flower

Here is my one flower Wednesday....a little late getting posted as this week has been non stop!  This one has to do with the seasons of autumn and spring......

A Spinning Thursday!

After an early start with a trip into Wangaratta for a work breakfast meeting, I managed to get a

few errands done and a little shopping as I need to get a couple of gifts for when the son, DIL & grandies arrive down in a couple of weeks......... well, while looking I naturally found a lovely looking book that I just couldn't go past.... for me of course LOL

After that it was off to Corowa, another township not too far away that is also on the Murray River.  It is here that I have been lucky enough to be able to join in with a very talented bunch of ladies. 

They are the Corowa Spinners and Weavers Group, and they are patiently teaching me the fine art of spinning!   After waiting 25 Yrs to be able to learn this art, I have been blessed with purchasing my own spinning wheel not so very long ago at the market for a song, and getting the guidance from these lovely ladies to work out my wheel, and use one of their wheels while mine awaits a little knob to keep the tension in check.  Thankyou girls!!

 And here is Mary, who has been spinning for 40yrs,  working right beside me where she can offer assistance each time I get tangled LOL.   On the way home I stopped in on a close friend to let her know how I went..... she just happens to live on sheep farm, so checked out the type of fleece Mary was getting me to use so that she can keep me some when they do the next lot of shearing!  I am so blessed to have such lovely people living around!
Hugs To all,   Sharm
 

Wednesday Flowers

Good Morning to you all!  As you might recall, I decided last week that it was indeed time to get back to working on my hexie flowers.... in particular those that I want to put together with the fabrics from my pen pal group which will end up as a table runner.  I managed to get 3 little flowers made up:

I'm not certain that this is such a great photo of them, but I have to use the ipad to take all my photos for now, until I can get myself a little camera again.  My old one died quite a number of months back.   Well I best get moving this morning as I have quite a bit on today.  Have a blessed day whatever you are doing.  Hugs  Sharm

Spring is Here

How lovely it is to be able to welcome Spring back!  The warmer days and being able to sit outside on the veranda to enjoy a cuppa, the sun and the garden............ I found this in a garden shop the other day..... it was just crying out to me to come and sit at my front door to welcome visitors! Yes, I'm afraid I need to take those pumpkins into the kitchen LOL

Unfortunately, with spring, the weeds also like to come, and so I've been spending a good deal of time out weeding...... which sometimes means that gardens get moved around....... I'm afraid I get easily distracted once I'm out in the garden, going from one area to another.  As you can see, I still have plenty of weeding to do and lots of fixing up...... like the wire over the pond so the kookaburras that come each evening to be fed by us..... stop fishing the goldfish out of my pond!!!! 

 The fruit trees are out in bloom - they always look so pretty.  Once the flowers die we will be waiting with baited breath to see if we get a good crop of fruit on each of them.  We have white nectarines, peach, apricot, blood plum and apple trees,  but some of these are only young and keep in mind we have only been here at the cottage for 3 1/2yrs, so the garden is still a work in progress............ particularly when one has to attend work for part of the week! 
 
 

The Mr has been busy getting his shed extended out to give him more room and to be able to pop in an old wood heater so that during next winter he will be able to use his shed without turning into an iceblock!  And how wonderful it is when the Mr ends up with more concrete than he needs......... every good wife knows that she should have an idea of just where that extra bit of concrete can go  (smile)........ right in front of the gate to my hen house !  Love it !

And now its time to go and get working on some hand sewing before the weekend disappears..... it seems to have a habit of doing that, have you noticed??
Hugs Sharm