Month: June 2023

Hello/Ya (I asked Adele to start teaching me some words in her language!)
I haven’t been into basket weaving much since coming home but last week I went and remembered my tablet and took a few snaps of things that were being created to share with you.
Above is a gathering of things that our teacher Adele has made.

Every week Adele gathers bits and bobs… mostly flax… for us to work with.

Above is Marilyn’s pretty basket! I love the blue raffia she is using!

Working on a flax rose.

Lynette has made some amazing pieces since joining the class. This one is destined to become a laundry hamper!! So she has a bit of a way to go yet.
I like the way she is using a straw to keep the bundles even.

A lot of people come and go to this class… I am not going to be able to remember everyone’s name to put to their creations..

The lady making this is fairly new and I love this rustic texture!! Its coming along beautifully

This sweet little dish is in its early stages and is the makers first attempt at a basket!!! I am so impressed!

Two new ladies joined in and now we know to word people up that at the end of the first session they’ll have a small little start… just so they are not hugely disappointed by not finishing a basket in the first class!!!
The beginning seems to take forever… this is my second week working on mine and I am not much further along than this…

I need to replace the basket that the Australia Post lost that I sent to one of my sisters. I am still salty about that. At this rate she will get it next year!

Amazing the different colours you get in flax!

Adele always makes a rose for the new students… such a nice welcoming gesture.

And because you can do whatever you enjoy with this friendly group, one young girl has taken to folding cranes each Friday morning!

We also get bikkies & cheese, cake and coffee!!

And I was saving Krystals creation to show you last! Another one of her wonderful fairy houses!

So much work in this… she is very patient and has an amazing artistic eye.

When its done I am going to pester her to get a proper photo shoot of it!

Its such a lovely way to spend Friday mornings – a bunch of really friendly people with a lot of inspiration constantly on the go!

Wulikah! (Goodbye)

Wul ( wool) i(e) kah ( car)

But you have to say it sadly though…

xxx

Hi…

I spent last Thursday at Arty Duck doing my volunteer day.

Pretty quiet… people are definitely staying inside for winter. It’s like we’ve been living in permanent twilight lately!

This shop is having a mid year raffle so I spent my day whipping up two face washers to go with the small soap baskets to donate.

First one done.

Decided to time myself…

Of course then a couple of people dropped by for a chat… but I still got it done.

With soap…

And done!

Time?

Not bad I guess!

Fabulous quilt, bags and shawls…

The shop is a bit on the cusp of closing as someone needs to take over as treasurer. Without that job filled, it’s impossible to keep going. It would be a shame as it’s a good outlet for lots of crafty people and the locals use it a lot… As well as travellers.

Being that it’s a bit far from me, I’ve never wanted to do anything admin wise. Just have my spot, do my days work, donate stuff or sell raffle tickets, but not commit to more than that. I’ll just have to see what happens.

Anyway… that’s was my slightly crafty Arty Duck Day

Xx

Hi!
Last week we used the $$ that Jeffs lovely parents sent us for Christmas and went up to Cradle and stayed over night. (Thankyou Judy and George… it was blissful!)
You know… so we could hike then return to a cosy cabin instead of a tent just like civilised people!!

Well… its winter so it was cold and wet… and we loved it!

The grassy areas under clear water!

Nobody gave this wombat the memo that it was in the middle of the day when they should have been sleeping!

They are so adorable! And very focused on lunch.

It was cold along the boardwalk from Ronney Creek!! Icy… as in our cheeks froze!

Because we got up to Cradle later than originally planned, we dodged going up to Crater Lake and wandered up towards Dove Lake via Lake Lillith I think its called

Lots of water rushing everywhere

Jeff rugged up.

We stopped briefly to have a sandwich… although not for long. The key is to keep moving.

Oh… I am using my new little Canon camera. It was a delight weight wise and I am quite happy with the photo quality. Not that I know how to drive it properly and I only have one lens for it. But… its light. This makes me happy.

I was trying out different shots – just to see how it coped.

Pathway, waterway…

Rain pants are awesome even if they are not stylish.

Yay! Mud!

Ahhhh… there’s my handsome husband!

It was insanely windy here… I was bracing myself on the walkway… didnt particularly want to be swept down there.

Such pretty scenery. Its hard to get tired of walking around this area. (Well ok, my legs might get tired but my brain doesn’t)

The clouds have finally lifted enough to get some views of Cradle Mt.

You can see how windy it is… the lake looks choppy even in a still image.

A bit of greenery… testing out the clarity of a closer up image

We got back to Dove Lake.

We bypassed the viewing centre (still not a fan)

We ignored the buses and walked back to Ronney Creek along the road… a bit further than what we thought but oh well…

And from there we walked along the Cradle Valley Boardwalk

I like this walk…

There are no mountains but its very picturesque.

I might be able to convince my parents to do this one with me next time they visit!

There are lots of little river and stream crossings

You can walk all the way back to the Rangers Station or catch the bus again at Snake Hill.

We decided to opt out at Snake Hill so we could get back and check in to our cabin, get showered and head out to dinner.

We stayed at The Highlanders Cabins…
Our cabin was called Quoll

A sweet little walk up through the bush

And here we are!
Someone had even been in to light the fire! What a treat!

So cosy!

Lovely and spacey… with the wood box right on the veranda to make it easy to keep that fire going!

Actually I had firewood envy of their main stash…

Anyways, we had a lovely dinner out but the next days hike I’ll have to save for when I get my butt back to this PC to post process the rest of the photos. (Again… I am way too comfortable sitting in front of the fire in the evenings to come over here to play on photoshop haha)

Hope everyone is doing well!
xxx

Yes… I am still here. I confess to laziness when it comes to the blog lately.

I have become a bit attached to using the tablet sitting in front of the fire instead of getting my butt over to the PC to sort some photos. Did I mention I bought a new camera in Japan for hiking? One a fraction of the weight of my lovely Nikon. I took it up to cradle Monday/Tuesday when we did an overnighter but I don’t have a way of downloading the pics yet. But it was a vast difference to carry compared to the kilo and a half of my original camera.

Anyway… So, I bought this Book Nook craft project for Jeff and myself for Christmas with the idea that we could work on a fun project together.

(Possible future before the judge trying to explain reasons for a mutual filing of divorce 😂😂)

Actually, we did very well for our first afternoon crafting as a couple!! No swear words or fighting and we got a fair way along before dinner had to be started.

It’s a lovely little thing. Seems pretty good quality wise. It’s supposed to turn out like a miniature book shop (lights and all) that sits nestled between your real books on the shelf.

I was a bit nervous about snicking out the (in some cases) very delicate parts, but so far no mishaps.

I had also been to the local craft shop so we had the right glue. So far it all seems to be staying together.

It even came with a mini screwdriver to put the teeny tiny weeny screws into the hinge.

I ended up doing this bit… it was hard to hold them in place with our big fingers!!!

You do need a bit of patience with each glued bit to give it time to set.

Then comes the exciting bit of putting some walls together.

(The outside of the case…)

There are a ton of books to put together. We did the six required for this step, but it might be sensible to cut them all and make them up in one session.

I worry about a bookshop that stocks works by ‘Shakspere’ though.

Super cute… and below, Jeff’s finger for scale.

Then more popping out delicate pieces and gluing.

Waiting for the glue to set.

I think the books look mega cute on their shelf but it felt all wrong gluing them in place. (Years of book respect drilled into us by Mum I reckon!!)

Even at this early stage it’s taking place nicely.

Even some stairs in there!!

And just because we could we popped Totoro in there too….

I’ll update you when we next have a session… we’re looking forward to continuing the project. (And phew… I wasn’t quite sure how this would go down as a present or how it might work out but we really had a nice afternoon with it!)

Xxx