Hobart....

Just spent a lovely week in Tasmania with my beautiful girl.  This week was our special celebration for finishing school.

We did a wonderful day trip to Bruny Island and sampled some beautiful food the island has to offer. The Day Tour group we used was great with a really good guide, Tim, who provided us with a lovely day out.

We enjoyed a really lovely day driving up through the middle of Tasmania and down along the east coast. So nice to wander in towns without any time constraints. Beautiful little antique shops and lots of bits and pieces to see, ducks to feed and coffee to drink.  

The boats on the harbour are just beautiful. There were two different cruise ships in during our time there as well.  Fish and chips by the sea. Lovely. 

A day at the Salamanca Markets was most enjoyable. We also found a really lovely farmers market as well. Truly delightful. 

The historic buildings and bridges in Tasmania are just wonderful. I love wandering the streets just looking at the buildings. We stayed in a delightful cottage built in 1890. A lovely little kitchen and lounge, a claw foot bath and a steep staircase to the delightful bedrooms in the attic. 

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Hobart are just beautiful. Filled with beautiful plants. I particularly enjoyed the roses and the beautiful border plantings. The vegetable patch was gorgeous. 

I think one of the loveliest places we visited though was Providore in Hobart. What an amazing store concept. Beautiful coffee, food and gifts all in an amazing setting.  

Absolutely love Tasmania and hope to visit again soon. 

Oh My......

Can life get any busier or more crazy.  I'm not sure, but I am sure trying hard to keep up here.

 

It's been so long since I posted that I doubt anyone is still in my little corner of the blogging world.

 

 

 

January my baby girl begin her final year at high school. And what a year it is so far.  So proud of her and her wonderful achievements so far.

 

February saw a beautiful wedding in our family.  Mitchell and Amie had a beautiful day which I'm sure we will all hold dearly in our hearts forever.  Everything was just stunning.

 

Cameron and Alexandra were also in the wedding party.  So proud of all of them. 

February also saw Cameron move from Darwin to Melbourne - what an achievement by 23 years old - he has a lovely little apartment on the main tram line into the city - he loves it and so do I!!!!

I've been fortunate to have two trips down already - what a lovely city.  So grateful for a bed to sleep in when I visit - we also visited for the Easter weekend.  It was just wonderful.

 

So much to see and do. 

 

 

A beautiful drive into the Macedon Ranges was also a lovely Easter Monday outing.  I can't wait to see more of the beautiful towns there.

So, this year is not only flying by but is extremely busy as well. 

A constant flow of activities, all of which are not really mine, but others.  A busy shop continues to fill the days as well.  I just look forward to moments in the garden and moments where I can just enjoy a little time enjoying a cup of tea and a little magazine reading.  I am truly easily pleased!

Easter Cupcakes............

Easter is finally here.

Cupcakes for my work tomorrow, to celebrate Easter, but also as a little farewell as I leave to start a new position next week.



I am looking forward to a lovely 5 day break - I really must make a list of what I hope to achieve. 

Gardening, stitching, some sanding and painting..........what a lovely time I am going to have being home.



A very Happy and Blessed Easter to all my friends who stop by here.

Our Roadtrip.........

Over the school holidays we have had a lovely roadtrip.  4000 kilometres in total.  It was a full trip with lots of lovely places and things to do.  We headed south into New South Wales.  Our first two nights were at the very lovely Mantra at Salt Beach.  This was our wonderful prize from our Carnival Garden last year.  We would have never afforded to stay there, so it was certainly extra special.  We were right on the beach front and watched the whales migrating from the window.  Such special creatures.

We ventured off the highway near Tamworth. When we saw the sign to Nundle I announced to all that there was a quilt shop there!!! Such a lovely spot to have such a lovely shop! Nundle is certainly very lovely and I would like to go there again and spend more time. Also in town is a sweet shop called Odgers & McClelland which sells the most delightful homewares. It had a wood stove burning in the middle of the store - so cosy on a very cold day.

Further south still and Bathurst was a morning tea stop over.  It was freezing - 3 degrees at morning tea and I'd hate to think what the wind chill was.  We were not brave enough to picnic in the park and use the public amenities so we headed to a shopping centre.  Of course, Bathurst is home to the wonderful Hatched and Patched.  What a treat that was.  Alexandra and I had the most lovely time there while the boys went out to Mount Panorama and pretended to be race car drivers.  I think everyone's idea of Bathurst was definately satisfied.

This was a holiday on a budget and my birthday money that I had saved all year was all but gone in Bathurst!

Further south still and into the State of Victoria is Beechworth, a wonderful historic town full of beautiful shops and cafes.  We spent the whole weekend here and had a most lovely time.

We had Sunday lunch on the verandah of the Beechworth Bakery and enjoyed the live jazz band.  Great fun!

From here we headed over the mountains and into the snow.  The kids (big and little) had a wonderful time playing in the snow.  We didn't have proper clothing, so when everyone's gloves were wet and they had snow in their ears and down the back of their clothes, they had, had enough!!  It was fun though. 

At that point we headed east to the coast and then turned for home.

Being the scheming traveller that I am, Foxglove Spires was also on the list of places to visit (I was driving at that point, so they had no option but to stop because I had the keys!!).  I really don't know where to start.  It was the most enjoyable and beautiful place to visit.  I so want to go back in the Spring.  Even though it was in the height of winter, with all the trees bare, it was still stunning.  I am so glad Brendon agreed to go through the garden, because he enjoyed it too.  Such an inspiration.

The cafe looked beautiful and the little shops were just stunning.  I so wish I had a full wallet and an empty car at Foxglove Spires.  This is one place that I hope to to back to one day.  I have a feeling there will have to be another post about this beautiful garden.

So homeward bound and further north we headed into the Southern Highlands,  Berry with its beautiful shops, especially "Sew and Tell" - stunning (no website) and then onto Bowral - once again, no money and a full car (although I did manage a couple of little bits).  I will definately venture there again sometime as there is so much to see and do. 

A lovely trip all in all............

On a Roadtrip.......

I have been on a roadtrip with my family for the past week.  We have had a great time so far.  Down through NSW, the snow yesterday and the highlight for me so far today, Foxglove Spires.

Just touching base for a moment - no pics - a detailed report later!!

A Lovely Holiday

What a lovely holiday I have had. I've been home a week already!

Lovely lazy days for two weeks. I had such a wonderful time.

Our unit was really great. Just across the road to the beach and the shops about a ten minute walk. The local library was just up the road too, with free membership to holiday makers. It was nice to have a look at some gardening and cooking books.

We mostly cooked easy meals while we were away. The fish and chips seemed a little ordinary this year. Apparently the local fishing hadn't been very good and a lot of the seafood had been frozen.

A little treat one afternoon though, beautiful coffee and churros!! It was delicious.

We have both been so tired with all the end of year and Christmas busyness, so the first week or so of our holiday was I think recovery mode!!

We didn't venture too far from the beach and pool - but then again there wasn't any real need to anyway.

We did go on a couple of drives though. We visited the most beautiful seaside town of Noosa. It is just a lovely place to be. It is very expensive though, so a lovely walk in the main shopping area and an icecream on the beach.

I was very spoiled that day and bought another bead for my Pandora - the little shell with a gold starfish on it. A lovely momento of our day out.

That same day we visited the very large and quite enjoyable Eumundi Markets. This sleepy little town comes alive two days per week. We hadn't been for a few years so it was lovely to see such different stalls. A lot of it is very commercial, but in a holiday setting it was nice to look at things I wouldn't normally see at the shops.





On another day we drove up into the hinterland behind the Sunshine Coast. We took a picnic and enjoyed our time exploring Montville. I was a little disappointed with a lot of the shops, but found a really beautiful shop Ruby & Rose Interiors. Her stock was just delightful, including some beautiful Greengate. I spoiled myself this time!! I just couldn't help it. I still have my parcel all wrapped up - I am saving it for a quiet moment with the children are back at school!!

I spent a lot of time just sitting and reading my backlog of magazines and also some stitching. I found it hard to concentrate early in the holiday, so didn't achieve as much as I had hoped. I am really determined to finish the stitcheries for "A Gardeners Journal" as I have been working on it for so long. Not far to go now though.

The last week has been a busy time with getting the children ready to go back to school. At least it was only shoes and books, thankfully their clothing all still fits - at the moment!! Tuesday cannot come quickly enough - it's a very long time since the last week of November!!

Mitchell also had to have a tooth extracted this week which turned into quite an ordeal. He has been feeling really unwell, so hopefully he will pick up over the weekend ready for school.

This weekend sees us celebrate Australia Day here - sometimes I don't know if I particularly like the fact that James Cook discovered this land way down here at the bottom of the earth!! LOL!!! What could those free settlers possibly have been thinking coming all the way down here!!!

I am looking forward to the year ahead and hopefully many changes and happenings which will free my time up quite a bit. The garden and lots of cupboards need an overhaul and hopefully also some wonderful time will be available for sewing.

A holiday is lovely, but it is also so nice to come home refreshed and ready to start a new year.

A New Year Holiday....

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends and of course those whom I know in "real life"!!!

Christmas was a lovely time with family and seems quite awhile ago now. The tree and decorations are all away for another year.

I received some lovely gifts with the highlight being a beautiful Pandora bracelet from BJ. I am so excited about it and I am really looking forward to adding more beautiful beads to it. Is anyone else out there collecting the beautiful Pandora?

Before you get too excited for me, mine is mostly silver with a little touch of gold!! I will hopefully add a little more gold to it though!

My sweet boys also gave me an iPod. What a trendy old girl I feel!!

Of course we are in the middle of our very hot summer here, so we are off on a very long awaited holiday. We are off to Maroochydore (as pictured below). We cannot wait for two weeks of sitting, reading, stitching and of course eating!!

So the iPod is loaded with music ready to go, so I will enjoy some long walks along the beach to hopefully walk off that little excess from the Christmas break!! The stitching is packed and the backlog of beautiful magazines are coming along too.




I will be back in a couple of weeks when I will hopefully have much more time to keep house and enjoy the company of my friends much more. (And of course enjoy my blogging!)

Some Favourite Things.....

What a lovely weekend at the beach. The weather was perfect. We walked and walked and sat and read - just delightful. Alexandra even swam in the rockpools. I just sat on the beach and enjoyed doing absolutely nothing.

There was an Antiques and Collectibles Fair on in Caloundra over the weekend. I picked up these lovely little embroidered doileys and this cute little book on making flowers from crepe paper. It was published in 1922. My favourite little piece was this little pocket for keeping your hankerchiefs in. Very sweet.

I even read a whole book - I read many, many magazines ( shhhh, our secret - I think I am addicted) but haven't read a book as such for so long - too long in fact. It's the autobiography of Mary Moody, a lady who the year she is turning 50 decides to run away to France for six months. Maybe it has just filled my head with wild ideas! Enjoyable none the less.

On my way through Brisbane on Thursday evening, I stopped off at a lovely shopping centre that I enjoy visiting when I can, even though it is usually with the whole family in tow!! There are two of my favourite shops there - Wheel and Barrow and also a Borders bookstore. I came across Mary Moody's newest book - The Long Table. It is a lovely combination of more of her life story combined with beautiful recipes. I haven't read too much of it yet, but I am really looking forward to reading it from front to back!!

With the dollar so high at the moment, I am afraid I wasn't able to resist the temptation of an Amazon order. Last week some lovelies arrived including a copy of Vintage Vavoom - a quick look through promises to be another lovely read indeed.

Just so grateful for a lovely little break away and some favourite things to enjoy along with it.

P.S. Just discovered www.marymoody.com.au . Her holidays in France look wonderful!! I must have been living under a rock as I haven't heard of this lady before, either that or I haven't watched the ABC television very much!!!

The Promise of Spring.....

Look what arrived this week. My bulbs. I will so look forward to planting them in the coming week or so.

Off for a little time at the beach this weekend. I am so looking forward to a change in pace and scenery.

See you all on the other side of the weekend.

Moo... & A Little Project

I know I am a little behind the times here at Eleanor and Ruby, but I have just received my Moo cards in the mailbox today. It seems like ages since they were being talked about around the place in all those beautiful blogs!

They are really just very cute. I have my address and blog details on the back and I have a plan ticking away with what I will do with them!

But first this business deal has to be sealed and then I hope a little more freedom will be mine. I just need to be able to express myself in more of a creative way than what has been possible during the last eight years, so hoping that 2008 will be so different for me.

I have been meaning to share this "Stitching Pail" with you now for what seems ages. I just keep forgetting to take the pics.

It is a Crabapple Hill pattern and was fun to make. I think I bought the metal bucket at a hardware store and it was a perfect measurement for the pattern. It's always a worry whether you can find the right sized containers for these type of liner patterns without making too many alterations.

It has two layers of pockets inside and I have made these to fit my sewing items like the ruler, rotary cutter, tin of pins, pencils, measuring tape, pattern etc. and of course a nice big area in the centre for the project to be carried in.

Sadly, with my lack of social interaction during the last year particularly, my little sewing pail has only been out once. I hope this all changes dramatically soon!

Well off to the sewing room - yea! I am about to start getting some stitching together to take with me to the beach - along of course with the dreaded business details too!! But hopefully the stitching and reading time will prevail!!

Happy New Year

Well, 2008 is here! Hard to believe really. It's always interesting to think about the year ahead and what it has in store. This time last year I wouldn't have believed all that would happen if someway I would have known ahead. So, here's to a year full of many changes and happenings.

New Year was a quiet affair for us. No parties, no going out, just the usual - closing up shops, kids at work. It was lovely to be at home though and knowing we didn't have to be anywhere the next day.

I have really enjoyed being in my sewing room and getting some projects finished. We are off to the beach this weekend and so after a couple of years of thinking I should make a beach bag - I finally did.

I used basically the measurements from Leanne's book Living the Dream. I also made a little bag for inside to hold glasses, sunblock etc.

All set - I just wonder if there is any beach left at the Sunshine Coast after all this wild weather they've been having?

Next I finished the two pillowcases that go with my Carnival Star quilt. All that gathering! But so lovely in the end. Another project down - now I can start another quilt. I have my lovely Barefoot Roses fabric stashed away just ready to go!!

Then last night while BJ my baker husband had gone to bed before the sun went down and while I waited to pick up No. 1 son from work and an after work visit to a mates place - I finally made my kitchen curtains. I am quite pleased how they turned out, I think the kitchen looks quite cosy now.

I had better get on with the day now, washing etc. and do some more towards getting on this holiday.

Thank you for visiting my blog in 2007, I am looking forward to 2008 and hopefully much more stitching, blogging and coffee with friends this year.

The Christmas Cake......

Well, I feel as though I am at least another step closer to Christmas Day. This morning I have baked our Christmas Cake and boy does it smell good.
The process always starts the night before when I soak the fruit and nuts. I don't use alcohol, only orange juice. I really hate the bitter taste alcohol seems to give rich fruit cakes. I also prepared the tin with all the layers of brown paper, foil and greaseproof paper.
This morning I gathered the rest of the ingredients together, beat the cake mixture together and then added the yummy fruit. Into the oven and three hours later - delicious.

While the cake was baking BJ and I had time to clean the deck and all the outdoor furniture ready for my family Christmas together this coming Friday night.

Now I just have to be patient and wait. I think I had better get another made too. It's always nice to take a cake to the beach after Christmas. I am starting to dream about sitting on the balcony and enjoying the view, and of course some more cake!!!

I'm Back.......

Well, where to begin. A whirlwind time with sadness intertwined certainly makes for a hectic time leaving me once again exhausted and needing to return to routine and organisation.

Our trip to Hervey Bay went well and was a lovely rest. We ventured out to see the whales in the most awful weather. The wind was blowing from the North and therefore what would be normally a dead flat sea had waves from 1.5m - 2 metres!! We are certainly not seafaring people, so it made for an interesting day. The boat had over 100 people on board and many were quite ill all day. We all felt ill but only the two youngest were actually sick -YUK. I think the most amusing thing was the foil lined "hot chicken" type bags were what was provided for being sick!!!

But did we see Whales? Yes we did and it absolutely made up for the trip and the sickness. It was about an 1 3/4 hour trip out in the ocean to where the whales play, the boat went to a few different spots and not much was happening. Then, right towards the end of the morning we approached some whales, the motor was cut and then the most spectacular thing happened. Two adult whales and a baby, only very young approached the boat and swam around and around it for almost 3/4 of an hour. The captain of the boat was wonderful and stayed out there almost 20 minutes longer than we should have so we could enjoy the spectacle.

I was really moved by the wonder of God's creation of these beautiful creatures.

The pier at Hervey Bay is a lovely landmark and worth a late afternoon walk to the end.

Our time away was also filled with sadness as BJ's dear old Nana passed away at the wonderful age of Ninety-Five. She was alert until the end but her health had very quickly deteriorated, so was a blessing for her not to suffer. We loved her dearly and will miss her greatly. We have been so blessed to have our dear Nanas for so long it will take a very long time to get used to not having them around us.

Just a little of my garden to finish today, I hope you have stuck with me through my ramblings today. It was lovely to come home to some new things happening in the garden. My delphiniums have started to flower and my lovely Pierre de Ronsard climbing roses have started to bloom. Not much climbing happening yet, but lovely just the same. My clematis also has a lovely bloom too!

It's good to be home and enjoying my garden and home. This last term of school will surely fly by and another year will be gone. What a year it has been!