Book week parade

The Mackay Regional Council Libraries organise a wonderful book week parade at Walkerston, the small village where ny granckids attend school.  This year's theme was 'One world, many stories'.  Unfortunately I do not know much about the current crop of stories so I had great trouble identifying what the costumes were - including Hamish and Alexander.  This is Hamish in the above photo - he was the pirate who wouldn't wash!  I didn't realise I had managed to take his photo till jus now - not much good as a cheering on Granny am I!

About 200 children marched down the foorpath of the main street around the corner, then down the centre of another road back to the school for celebrations there.  The children come from the state and the catholic schools, from prep to grade 7, so a large age range.  The teachers are very good at getting involved so lots of them are dressed up as well.

I seem to have lost a couple of photos here but you can get the idea - everyone was having fun.

Then I had to take a photo of the two boys.  Poor Alexander, I didn't realise he was 'in costume'.  I should have made him turn to the back - He was 'Zac power' and had stuff attached to his back pack.  Silly me.

Rain threatened, but held off, then rained overnight and misty rain yesterday morning had us all worried as there was a guided walk and barbecue for the Gardens Friends, with 32 people coming.  We had plan B in place for the Barbecue - under cover, so I stayed there to prepare, while everyone else carried umbrellas and found the walk fascinating.  I was so tired by the time we came home I had no energy left to post.

More misty rain overnight and then an absolute pea souper of a sea fog this morning - lovely dewdrops on the Russelia, but not very good drying weather for my towels on the line.

This is a closeup of the dianella in my garden, a lovely delicate stem of flowers - didn't see the critter till I was editing the photo!  Do click on the photos to see them better.

Hot and humid this afternoon, so we will probably have the sea fog roll back in again soon - to be expected as the mango trees are all in full flower!  When the fogs roll in the moisture encourages anthracnose in the flowers and they don't set fruit so we have a very poor mango crop - and I love mangoes!

I haven't been completely idle

This is a birthday card I made for the Fibre Fever birthday swap.  There are serveral birthdays in September so I need to make some more.  September is obviously a popular birthing month, we have a few family birthdays next month as well.

I have been making a few more souvenirs as my pigeonholes at the shop in the Gardens are nearly empty - still need lots more of these too.

A few more

and again. 

 With summer coming on, these bright sunshades should sell I hope.

I seem to be absent from the computer more than I am liking these days - not that I particularly care for the computer, but I do like to catch up with what everybody is doing.  My knee, in fact both knees and my feet are not behaving at all and I have lots of trouble climibing stairs - and even more trouble going down.  The computer is upstairs - and so is my workroom for that matter - so I am not always a happy vegemite!  I am off to the orthopod again on Wednesday for another cortisone injection and to line up an arthroscopy - fingers crossed that will make a big difference.

Melaleucas and microwaves

A few days ago a friend and I visited one of the local beaches, properly called Illawong Beach, but know by the locals as Far Beach, because when the tide goes out the beach stretches out for nearly a kilometre!  These beautiful melaleucas or paperbarki trees have been growing there for a generation or more. 

We used to take our children down there to play when they were small, there was a lovely playground as well as the beach.

I have tried to show you how the bark strips off like paper, it is used for all sorts of things, bark pictures used to be very popular in the fifties and sixties, and lining baskets for pot plants is another favoured use.  I just love looking at them.

I had a quick go with my macro lens taking the centre of the congea flowers below - not very successful, but the centre is fascinating.

I persuaded Bill to leave the pruning shears in the cupboard and the vine is still holding its flowers, looking magnificent.  They are going quite dark now, so it won't be long before they start dropping, then I will be very glad to have it pruned as they make a huge mess.

Look what my clever husband has done for me.  When we had our kitchen installed about 18 years ago, I lost the argument with the kitchen designer as to where to place the microwave.  I have complained ever since that it was very hard - and getting harder - for me to lift things out of the microwave at the angle I had to with it placed over the kitchen bench in the corner.

Now look what I have got.  Bill has spent the last few days constructing a lazy susan on slides so the whole caboodle pulls out and swivels as far as I want it to go!  It will pull out even further than I have it, but when I pulled it out to take the photo I kept getting me reflected in the door - not what I wanted at all!  I can even clean the inside with ease now - no more excuses are there!

Another page and a correction

This is just a quick blog showing the latest page I have sent away for the Fibre Fever swap - a game of draughts.  I forgot to take a photo before I sent it so this is just a very small one I have lifted from the fibre fever site.  I was cross with myself after I had made the page, when I realised I should have moved some of the draughts before I stitched them on - the page would have been much more interesting.  I had to make a page showing board games or cards or such like.  some of the other pages have been very clever.

In my last post I was bemoaning the fact that the Textile Forum next year has been cancelled, when I really meant the Textile Festival.  I have had an email pointing out the difference and how much more doom and gloom there would be if the TAFTA Forum were cancelled.  That is quite a different organisation, they do wonderful stuff.

Gorgeous weather here at present, I think Spring is really arriving.  There are lots of little honeyeaters singing away in the garden, but they move so fast I have no hope of taking a photo of any of them.

Now I need to go back to finishing sewing a birthday card  to send away tomorrow.