Lemon Butter

Well our lemon tree is dripping lemons so I thought I would make some lemon butter which we like a lot (usually by the spoonful).

Stunning Roses

Every day on my walk I enjoy seeing and smelling beautiful roses, it's going to be another good season for them. My standards have excelled themselves and are huge! Brilliant red ...

New family toy

My husband has been researching kayaks and canoes for some time as we often see lovely rivers and lakes when we travel round in our caravan or to orienteering events. Last weekend we found just the one at a Geelong boat shop. It's a nice stable two person one and the only challenge is to learn to paddle with togetherness ... So now when we see inviting patches of water, in we go! 

While I wasn't keen, the boys didn't let the cold and rain stop them as they test paddled in the Bay off Williamstown and the Maribyrnong River at Flemington. The river water was pretty brown and not so pleasant but the Bay was nice apparently.

Sandy Creek Quilt completed

This week i finished sewing down the binding on the Sandy Creek quilt and am really liking the way it turned out.

Here it is in the garden with the lemon tree, "yellow" hot pokers and a yellow ball!

The quilting design is shown off beautifully on the back, which also has a strip of the prints from the front. It was edge to edge quilted by Lucy Thompson of Lasting Creations.

This quilt is destined for another of the beds at Vickery Quilt and Craft Retreat, to be enjoyed by future guests.

KF Charm Squares Quilt Finished!

On the weekend we went to Vickery Quilt and Craft Retreat to do some gardening (a lot of mulching in preparation for summer). I was able to finish hand sewing down the last 40 cm of binding on the latest quilt which will reside in the house and am really pleased with it.

Here it is under the lovely burgundy Japanese maple in the front garden. I have never seen this colour outside a Japanese garden and we were very excited to see it come into leaf at our place!

And a close up:

Here are a few pics of the mulched gardens and new back native garden (more plants to come). Unfortunately it's hard to see the plants as they all need a guard to protect them from a pesky rabbit.

A birdbath which can be viewed from the verandah or dining room window.

My successful boys!

The Australian Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships were held on 23-24 October at Chewton and Daylesford, VIC. It was the best ever attendance at such a championship apparently. A strong team from NZ also came over. The Middle and Sprint (short) distances were on Saturday and the Long on Sunday. The weather was perfect, though 30 mm rain the night before on already damp ground made for some wet tracks in parts and in one section fallen trees were a hazard to be climbed over.

My son and husband really enjoyed the events and their rides and were also very successful. My son was 2nd in all three M16 distances but a little disappointed not to get a 1st in one as he was only 30 seconds behind. After missing more than 10 weeks of the season with his broken arm I reckon it was still a top effort!

My husband was top 10 in the big field in M40 Middle and Long and, wait for it ... 2nd in the Sprint - his best ever finish. And he would probably like me to point out that 1st was a New Zealander so he was actually first Aussie.

Goldfields Quilters Exhibition

Last Saturday I just happened to be able to fill in some time, while the boys were bike riding, at the Goldfields Quilters' Exhibition in Castlemaine. It was a nice selection of quilts, many of them reproduction style as the local patchwork shop Threadbear specialises in reproductions. What a lot of work involved in these! We got to pick a viewers' favourite and mine was this one:

Unfortunately I didn't get the maker's name but it was hand quilted and hand pieced in many many hexagons.

I also had a walk around the centre of town and snapped some of the handsome gold rush era buildings.

Court House:

 Community Centre:

 Town hall:

Post office:

Imperial Hotel ("renovator's delight"):

I also snapped these wonderful tiles (which would make a great quilt pattern!) on someone's front path: