Bundanoon to Kiama

After 4 nights at Bundanoon we headed east,

swapping countryside for coast.

But we didn't get very far before we saw a vintage car club so we stopped to admire the cars.

(were these your friends, Jacqui? Or another group?)

After a little op-shopping at Moss Vale, and lunch at Robertson, we descended to Jamberoo, and discovered that the temperature there was about 5 degrees warmer than what we had been shivering to the previous five days in Bundanoon.

We searched and found for the grave of my great-great-great-grandfather,

who fought at the Battle of Waterloo, and later settled in Australia.

We arrived at Kiama shortly before the afternoon closed in with dark clouds.

This was the view from our holidays house - pretty cool!

Shame about that roof, but do you see the rainbow?

It was so lovely to see grass, cows, trains and sea all from the one spot!

Before dark we headed out to the Blowhole.

Which reminded me of childhood holidays.

... always tricky to take the photo at the right instant though ....

I do love lighthouses.

By now it was blowing a gale and we almost had trouble walking!

We made it back home just before torrential rain hit.

Fortunately we had a little food with us because it was just too heavy to go out,

and it poured all night!

I don't think I've ever known such heavy rain to last so long.

It stayed wet and grey for our weekend at Kiama, but we still enjoyed our stay.

Fairy Bower Walk

One morning on our holiday we walked to the beautiful Fairy Bower Falls,

a lovely walk on a perfect sunny but cool day.

It's been a while since we bushwalked, and we enjoyed the challenge.

The terrain changed from bushland to valleys and cliffs,

grasslands to rainforest, all beautiful.

It was definitely worth it to see the falls,

and after the uphill walk back we were also happy to reach the carpark at long last!

All Creatures Great & Small ...

More photos from our holiday in April ...

... the animals outside our back door.

Laura loved being with the donkeys and ponies ...

The donkeys were more easy-going for patting and feeding.

The alpacas were stand-offish

but we loved the way they looked up and stared at us so intently when we walked by.

What's not to love about a black-faced sheep?

And the chooks you have already met.

We loved the ducks,

(especially the white ones

who only took a step if all their friends were taking one too)

but didn't get any good photos.

Other (unphotographed) animal sightings on the holiday included

a wombat, a lyrebird, cows and geese,

... and glow worms (which were amazing).

Steve has just wandered by and described this post as "very bucolic".

And what's wrong with that, I ask?
Although I prefer the word 'pastoral' to 'bucolic'.

It sounds more like a movement from a Beethoven symphony,

and less like a disease ...

Full of Life

Photo taken on Mothers Day

It's been a full few weeks.

Since the school fete & Mothers Day two weeks ago ...

I've still had craft stall stuff piled up in the living room

I've had an interview to allow me to get back into teaching

I've accompanied a flute exam

The girls have both had sick days

I've been sick with a cold

and

we've signed a contract to add a storey onto our house!

(More on that later!)

A few days ago I felt so sick and miserable and lethargic with my cold that I doubted I would ever do anything again buy sit on the sofa (and knit a nice cardigan, that's another post!)

But a few days later, I'm bursting with energy and things are starting to go more smoothly.

Today we had a great day, we worked together (and separately) and achieved a lot:

Tidied the living room before the architect visited

Baked a chocolate coconut slice

Tidied the front yard

A few loads of washing

Fresh sheets on all the beds (thankyou Steve!)

Instruments practised

Bath cleaned

School assignment begun

Homemade Pizzas and Apple Pie

Went for a walk

Tidied the candle cupboard

(yes, I have a candle cupboard)

Tidied the dresser

I got rid of all the junk and added a little Swedish striped cloth I bought at the craft stall

We had a beautiful sunny 23deg Autumn day, and I think that helped a lot.

We've been trying to teach the girls that work is a good thing, and can be fun, and I think today we all felt some of that, and a few rewards along the way helped reinforce the idea.

I hope we have plenty more Saturdays like today!

Swinging under the Gumtrees

One of the things we loved at Morvern Valley was the tyre swings.

under the most amazing eucalypts

Too much fun

... and a perfect activity

for making the most of the last of a cold autumn afternoon,

before heading in to warm up by a logfire ...

A Touch of Rust

From our holiday in April ...

an old Chevy truck in the middle of the paddock.

... you can see our cabin in the background.

The perfect prop for one of those prairie photo shoots, with girls in flowing cotton dresses and cowboy hats. Alas, I only had a girl in a bright purple "I'm not short, I'm fun-sized" jumper and an obliging husband handy ...

Craft Stall : Knitted Coathangers

The last few weeks I've been busy preparing crafts for our Craft School at our school's Autumn Fair this Saturday.

Someone donated a bag full of wooden hangers so I've been busy knitting covers for them.

My favourites are the purple with crocheted flowers.

I used this pattern at Attic 24 for the flowers.

I quite like the colours in these ones.

but put your sunglasses on for these kid's hangers:

... saved, I'm hoping, by the butterflies?

Nylon is horrible to knit with but does make a practical non-slip, non-fuzz hanger, and it's quick to knit up because it is fatter than yarn. I need to make a few more of these in the next few days, if I can.

In the details

I appreciated the details at Morvern Valley.

This was the little breakfast tray that greeted us when we arrived.

Two cute tea cosies - one with ladybirds and one resembling a Vegemite jar

... and a cute egg dish for keeping the eggs we collected each day from the chicken coop.

These girls and their friends were very productive.

I also liked this idea of framing a set of doilies:

and I might try it sometime with some of my embroidered doilies.

These ones were just my type,

... they made me happy every time I looked at them!