A whole lot of nothing and everything all at once

Have you noticed?  No crafting going on in this space right now.  I've hardly had the urge to touch the sewing machine this year and the task of making a simple drawstring bag for my son starting kindergarten next week is the only reason I made myself sit at the machine last night (I even started by sewing a right side to a wrong side - sigh).  I haven't even been reading blogs for a few days, I just had a peek and I have a lot in my reader to catch up on!

The reasons: lots on my mind, lots on my plate, and lots of damn water.

Thanks to those lovely people who have checked in on us to see if we are OK.  Thankfully we live in an unaffected area, up high and dry in a nice old Queenslander too.  Thats not to say everything hasn't been very wet, soggy and increasingly mouldy (and the cabin fever - aaaaargh!).  We haven't had to pack up and leave but this week we have been doing a lot of packing for an entirely different reason altogether - we are in the throws of moving house.  Moving in the middle of Queensland's worst flood disaster over 100 years is no piece of cake.  For the first part of the week there was so much rain that we had to run boxes out to the car only when there were short breaks in the severity of the rain.  Now the rain has stopped entirely and we are hoping that the furniture removal truck on Saturday (a) was not flooded at the depot or something in Toowong (b) has enough petrol (c) is not diverted elsewhere.  Not that I would complain loudly if any of these things happened, I have to keep myself grounded as plenty of people don't even have furniture anymore and will be spending this weekend sorting through the ruins of their homes.  There is a certain amount of survivor guilt that we are spending this weekend moving to a beautiful new home of our own.  I am hoping that we can donate the things we don't want to take with us in the move to where its needed locally.


Thank you to those participating in the Qld flood appeal auction. You're simply ace.

She knits

In the B&B, a basket of wool and needles and an invitation to knit.

I can knit, a bit.

A few rows of grey, and then a change to red to amuse the small one.

He "helped".

Maybe you can too?

I didn't get to do a whole square, but I did my bit of knit.

Christmas, Evandale Tasmania

We went travelling on Christmas Day this year.  A lot of water and a bit of a cyclone in Queensland sent the Brisbane airport into chaos on what we expected to be a very cruisy travelling day of the year.  We made it to Tasmania just fine though.  Before going campervanning we had booked in to stay our first night at Blenheim historical house in Evandale, close to the Launceston airport.  We discovered a very beautiful and stunningly photogenic place with gorgeous hosts who also run a glass gallery and antiques store on their property.  I just wanted to share a few of the photos I took while visiting this magical place. 

Flowers in the garden were in full bloom and buzzing with acutal bumble bees.

The real thing for Christmas time! A holly tree (green berries still though).

A beautifully presented and scrumptious breakfast, just how I would love to wake up to breakfast everyday.

Poking around in the early morning sunshine I discovered many hidden and delicious corners in this courtyard.

The entrance to a walled garden.

The outdoor table that had hosted a family Christmas feast the day before.

A storeroom.

 And a laundry! Where else do you keep your plates and pitchers?

Thanks to our hosts Victoria and Robert for a wonderful stay.

Just been up to...

...a bit of campervanning around Tasmania.  Believe me the romance of what it sounds does not match the gritty reality.  Adventure none the less!

The good:

• having your own lounge room and kitchen in tow where ever you go
• sitting in your "lounge room" in Salamanca in Hobart eating cream cheese and Tasmanian smoked salmon on fresh bread rolls (erstwhile people watching)
• grilled cheese on toast when ever you want it
• gorgeous sun filled evening in a beautiful heritage town for the last day of 2010
• not being able to play kids music on the stereo as the speakers are only in the front
• the kid is a long way behind you
• when the kid finally drops off to sleep in the top of the van you can do nothing but read a good novel until you too pass out

The bad:

• the roaring 40s nearly blows the van off the road
• the road is always sickeningly windey when its my turn to drive
• repeated head injuries from low clearance in the van for adults
• making the kid wee into a baked beans tin in the middle of a freezing night
• needing to get out of the van to toilet yourself about 20mins after the hearing the sound of weeing in a baked beans can

The ugly:

• cold showers at the camping ground amenity block
• slipping over in the shower cubicle, crashing into your child who is bravely enduring the freezing reality of camping ground showers and then discovering that the door does not hold your weight (I'll leave that scene to your imagination)
• falling over in the dark camping ground and removing skin from hands and elbows and getting a large bruise to the knee (and buggering my watch)
• nary a vegetable has been eaten (do baked beans count?)