Sunsets

The weather here has been hot and steamy with huge storms that roll down in the after noon.  This makes for some spectacular sun sets.  We had been to the mainland for dinner and the skys were amazing coming home.   I say skys because one can see in 360 degrees and the vista changes as one spins around.  The island looked wonderful against the clouds that were gathering and seemed to glow.

In other places there were double rainbows but over the islands they looked like portals to other worlds.

As the sun began to set the sky was on fire and as the ferry arrived at the jetty everyone had their camera out to catch a memory.

As we pulled out into the bay a slither of bright sky broke through.

We arrived home to just catch the end of natures wonderful display.

I am so lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

Rocks

Strange subject but there are some people here on the island who paint rocks and them hide them for others to find.  Children can keep the rock if they want to but adults are asked to re-hide them for some one else to find.  And guess what?  We found a rock.

We wanted to keep it but decided to re-hide it for someone else to have the pleasure of finding as was asked in the message on the back.

So looking up the group I find there are over 35,000 members.  All spreading sunshine around the place.

As school has just re-started I bought Monique a new school bag to carry her books here.  Something other than the traditional back-pack.

And as I didn't want to leave out Jasmine I got her a rock painting kit.

Maybe she could hide some on the island?

Lots of action

The current situation with Covid 19 virus has seen lots of people moving out to the islands.  What with the home buyers grants and the cheap land on some of islands to the south of us this area has seen more activity than anywhere else in the state.  Land and houses on our island are not cheap.  You could buy something cheaper on the mainland and the logistics of building out here add to the costs.  Still, everyday the barges bring tradesmen and people over to the island.

I have seen old houses relocated here.  Not that many but some and today a brand new house came over.  I was going to catch the barge but decided on the ferry when I saw them loading this on.

Not long after it arrived on the island.

Two halves of the new house were delivered.  The truck turned around and was gone.  I will be interested to see where it is located and what it looks like when they join the two halves together.

Something else to keep me on my toes.

BEFORE I took on the role of home teacher I had taken on the role of the Secretary of the Coochiemudlo Artisan's Collective.  By the time all the home schooling stuff had started it was too late to back out of the position.  So, this is another hat I have to juggle for a while.  (I promised them 2 years.)  I always knew there were lots of creative people on the island I just didn't realise HOW creative or HOW many people there were.

Their show case opened in the space beside the Kerlew Cafe and was named Artisan Alley.  It opens on weekends and does a brisk trade.  Then the cafe owner offered the area upstairs as a gallery which is now fully functional. 

This place has some really talented artists and Bryan Kearns is one of them.  Brian's area of practise is as an Abstract painter.  Originally from England where he studied at Leeds College of Art and then at the University of East Anglia.  After migrating to Australia he worked at the Queensland College of Art.  His work kind of draws you into the painting.

If I didn't have the bottom of the cupboard full of paintings I have nowhere to hang I would be tempted to add this to my collection.  The other piece I would like to buy is this chicken.  So much personality!  ( by Artist Yvonne O'Shea)

Life is certainly going to be interesting.  I hope I can cope.

Where I live

I was so excited when I saw this.  It was only in the distance and the photo isn't too good but I saw a whale breaching in the channel between our island and Stradbroke.

Monique and I were walking on the beach and in the distance this magnificent creature broke the surface of the water.  How cool is that?  The whales are on their way back to the Antarctic and this one had wandered into the bay.

Spring is starting to make itself felt. Lots of new flowers in my garden.

And notices like the one below.  Those birds have been busy.

A bit of home organisation

All this thinking and pondering over my stitch club activities has made me not see what is under my nose.  I have missed some of the basics like making sure all the linen in the kitchen is up to scratch.   I have stepped back, tidied all the draws in the kitchen, discarded old tea towels and replace them and had a look at the hand towels.  My home is on three levels.  From the living level, where the kitchen is, I go up to the bedrooms and bathroom and down to the guest rooms, bathroom and laundry.  ( My husbands workshop and office is down here as well but that is not my concern.)

What it does mean is that there are stairs to ascend or descend if you need to wash your hands.  Who is going to do that?  This results in the tea towels being used to dry hands.  There is nowhere to hang a hand towel so I have resorted to the type you buy in markets with the crocheted tops.  The draw back with these is that they have to be changed every day.  My solution is to make a version that suits me, and, as I need at least 7, are a lot cheaper.

I start with a packet of tea towels from the supermarket.  Five for $10, that makes me 10 hand towels.

I cut these in half, overlock the cut edge and run two lines of machine gathering to pull the top in.

I then do a line of double crochet with a cotton thread over the gathering.  I use a No 2 steel crochet hook, this goes through the fabric easily, and a soft cotton thread, about a 4ply.  I keep these supplies in a see through bag so they are just there if I need them.

I don't count how many double crochet I do across the top.  This very much depends on how tight the gathering is.  But after the first row I work 2 more across the top.  It gets smaller with each pass.

I then switch to treble crochet and  evenly decrease in the following rows until the work is the about the width I want the hanger to be.  When decreasing I do make sure I end up with an even number of stitches.  When I think it is long enough I make a button hole by working to the centre and then back to the edge.  I then return to the centre and slip stitch back down to where I began and work the other side.  This takes me back to the outer edge and I crochet all the way across again.  I then work 2 rows of treble crochet followed by 4 or 5 rows of double crochet descending at the beginning and end of each double crochet row to round the end off.

I find my biggest problem is finding the buttons, which need to be a good size, to finish off.  After this lot I am down to just one large button in my stash.  I usually source these from the Guild sale table or St. Vinnies but non of these are open at the moment.

I find I can complete 2 towels in an hour or so.  I have tried a more sturdy hanger and although this looks nice it takes more materials and time, so this easy version is the one for me.

in these times when hygiene is so important I feel a lot more comfortable with this.

 

 

The wild ducks

I am so luckly to be semi-isolated in such a beautiful place.  At this time of year the days are cool but sunny and there are not a lot of visitors to the island.

But I see that the wild ducks are pairing up.  Must be time for some new ducklings.

There is a small creek that runs behind the beach and it is here that they are building nests.

There are lots of frogs by the noise I can hear.  I just hope those snakes stay away.

Winter Wattle

I do love this time of year.  Cold nights and crisp cool but sunny days.  It is time for the winter wattle to bloom and there are trees flowering all over the island. 

I took a couple of sprigs to put on the kitchen table. 

This makes a nice watercolour print.

Bringing the sunshine inside.

Where I live

 

Bossy Birds

It is beautiful Autumn weather at the moment and lots of trees and plants are in flower.  This has brought the birds out in force.  But those lorikeets, although beautiful colours, make lots of noise and are very bossy of the other birds.  I have an Agave in bloom out in the front garden and the super sweet nectar has attracted lots of birds, especially the lorikeets.

But they refuse to share.  Oh boy, you should hear the squabbles.

Those blue eyed honey eaters are not small birds but he has their measure.