After an unplanned blog holiday I am back again.We have been busy with work around the house, finishing some projects, a little trip away up North and spending time with family. It's easy to spend a morning wasting time with a four month old!

Mike and Myles

Oli in his school uniform.

I have finally finished two of my patchwork projects. My very large 'Big Fat Flower Garden' is all done and now keeping us warm on these very cold Mt Vic nights.

The pattern is in a magazine/book called 'Old Quilts Made New' and is called Pansy Patch by Carolyn Davis. It's hand paper pieced and hand quilted in large stitches with Pearl 8 cotton thread. You can see the quilting better in the pics below.

It took me ages to make but I am very happy with the result. It's the first quilt I have hand pieced and quilted.

At the other end of the size scale I also finished this little number. It's only 13" by 13" but has over 320 pieces.

It's a Kerulea design from a pattern I bought about 15 years ago. It's foundation pieced onto thin fabric so that you don't have to remove the paper once it's been sewn. I now have it on my sewing room wall.

I also finished a lead light skylight diffuser with a gum leaf design. I found the design on the net then expanded it and adjusted it a bit freehand to make it fit the required measurements.  It's not installed yet but I think it will look much better than the fake lead light that is there at the moment.

Mike has been busy moving soil from our driveway to the back of the house as during the last lot of rain we had the driveway turned into a quagmire. Mud was everywhere. The driveway is now much flatter and has a rocky base so we will see what happens the next time it rains and decide whether further gravel is required.

The driveway in front of the house.

The back of the house showing all the soil Mike has moved from the driveway.

He has also exposed the back of the brake van by removing a huge amount of tangled vines. Underneath was a lovely stone wall that my brother must have built many years ago.

We now have some new garden beds to plant out and the hot house to restore and make productive. Mike was originally just intending to cut away the vines on the side of the hothouse and then fix it up but one thing leads to another .........Finishing the hot house is still some way off yet but there's no rush. We have found that if you identify one job to be done here, you have to do three other jobs in order to be able to do the job you originally identified!

Life at Mt Vic is very easy. Mike has settled into retirement without any regrets and is not missing getting up at 4.30 every day and travelling in to the Opera House. Now that it is getting cold we have the Rayburn going in the kitchen and I am getting used to its ways. It warms the house really well and has a great stove top, oven and warming oven. It's a shame the water heating part is not working but hopefully it can be fixed one day. Right now though the gas hot water is fine and on demand. No fire lighting required to have a shower!!

We have also started doing some bush walks as we are surrounded by many tracks and stunning views nearby. We have walked down Lockyers Track and back up the Cox's Road at the end of Mt York Road. That was about 10km and quite steep at the end. Then we did another one going down Lawson's Long Alley to Hartley Vale and back up Lockyers Track. That was 11.3km and we were quite exhausted when we got back to the car. On Monday we walked from Govetts Leap to Evans Lookout in Blackheath and back again. The views of the Grose Valley were spectacular. It took about 2.5 hours return and we both had jelly legs by the end due to the steps but it was well worth it.

We also went to Perry's Lookdown (by car!) and the views were equally spectacular and of course it was a beautiful day too.

We are so lucky to have all this natural beauty at our doorstep!

A big month

Its been quite a while since my last post due to us moving house. Its been a hectic few weeks but we are just about there. Just one room left with some boxes to sort out and a few things to tidy up at our old house and we are done. The storage unit is full, the house is full and we have made quite a few trips to the op shop. I have sworn off op shops and garage sales and any kind of unnecessary shopping since moving. I cannot believe how much stuff we have and I have to admit that most of it is down to me!

We have finally had a new door installed with my first leadlight window in situ and I am delighted with the result.

It even looks quite good with the screen door closed behind it as the pattern shows through and looks quite effective.

I have sorted out my new sewing room which is a tad smaller than the old one but still big enough. Its nice a light and everything fits in. It was a very dull day when I took this photo.

It's nice to have my machine right under a window, even if all I can see is a sandstone wall. I think I might plant some colourful flowers out there to improve the view.

We have replaced the guttering along the front of the house so now the covered area between the house and the retaining wall doesn't flood every time it rains. This is a major breakthrough! 

As we were moving our neighbour offered us this beautiful dresser for free. His mum did all the leadlighting in it and there was no way I was going to pass it up, even though we are overloaded with furniture. I decided it would be a perfect storage space for my stash.

The leadlighting is so very well done and the cupboard has a light in the top of it so that the windows can be illuminated. Just waiting for the resident electrician to install a new power point behind it for me so I can show it off.

The cupboard needs a bit of work, but for now its just fine. The beautiful windows hide my stash really well!

It is already two weeks since the Oberon steam fair and as promised here are some photos of our engine on the day. We lead the traction engines in the parade and towed a wagon with large logs on it. Our grandson was up there with us too. Mike was the official photographer. It was a really fun day. I have to say though that traction engines are not built for passengers and I thought my teeth were going to fall out from the vibrations! It was also really noisy. Small children covered their ears as we went past!!!

There were some beautiful vintage cars at the festival as well as many other historical vehicles. This one took our eye. We have the same vehicle in our shed, a 1938 Dodge, in need of restoration. My brother restored it when he was about 25 but unfortunately it has deteriorated again due to many years out in the weather. Maybe one day we might restore it to its former glory, as has been done with this beauty.

I am really enjoying living so close to our daughter and grandsons. Walking Oli to school in the mornings is a delight. He is so excited to have started kindergarten and really looks forward to going each morning. I dont go every day but its a good hike for me down to Erin's place so I will try to keep it up a few days a week. We have settled in pretty well really considering we spent 29 years in our last house. It sure has been a big month.

An unusual birthday treat.

This is our 1908 Marshall traction engine which ventured out of the shed last Saturday. It belonged to my brother, Warren, who bought it in 1973 in a very delapidated state. He spent many hundreds of hours restoring it up until he died in 2005. After that, three of his friends, Barry, Bob and Ray, also spent many years of Saturdays completing the restoration and getting it going. It was a big day the first time it came out of the shed, literally under its own steam, a few years ago.

Anyway, last Saturday, which happened to be my birthday, we had a fun time taking the engine for a run down Mt York Road to Bardens Lookout. It hasn't been steamed up for about 2 years so it needed a test run to make sure all was working well. It will be on display at the annual Highlands Steam and Vintage Fair in Oberon this Saturday and will be in the grand parade with all the other historic vehicles. The parade goes up and down the main street of Oberon and includes all sorts of vintage vehicles including traction engines, tractors, trucks, cars and motor bikes.  It is registered with RMS and the boiler has been recently inspected to ensure that it is safe.

Our 'son in law' Seb will be driving her in the parade. He has grown up with traction engines and handles it as if it were a car. Last Monday he expertly drove her up onto the back of a huge truck sent by Oberon Council to collect her for the festival.

This gives you an idea of how big she is.

We had to get the caravan out of the shed first, then the tractor then the traction engine! The tractor hasn't been started for a long time either. It blows perfect smoke rings once it gets going.

This is me on the tractor. It was bouncing me around with each chug!

Seb and friend, Kurt, on the tractor.

The engine near the top of the driveway.

 

So it was a memorable birthday. Sometimes the unplanned things are the best!

I hope to have some pics of the engine in the big parade in Oberon for my next post.

On the move

Our plum and peach trees at Mt Victoria are fruiting at the moment and it was fantastic to find that the plums were soft and sweet and very edible. I think this is the first year this has happened. Usually the birds get them then they fall on the ground while still hard.

 The peaches are still hard but I am hopeful that they will soften up too so we can try them.

Maybe next year I will have enough to fill up a few of my many Vacola bottles!

We've had lots of visitors lately.  We see them all the time on the road when we go into the village. Driving along our road you need to be very careful as you never know what is going to hop, slither or fly out of the undergrowth.

Our big move is about to happen so my next post will be from our new permanent abode at Mt Vic. The next chapter is about to begin. Heading off into the unknown is always a bit scary but it will be an adventure. I'm looking forward to setting up my new sewing room and getting everything sorted out and organised. Then we can start on the yard and gardens and that will keep us busy for ages, and ages, and ages...........

Decisions, decisions.....

I have finally finished the little red and white blocks I have been working on. All 16 are now finished and I just need to decide how to arrange them.

Originally I was thinking that they would look nice in a row and would make a bright, albeit small, table runner.

But then I thought it would make a nice little wall hanging or a square table centre.

My computer has again decided to change the orientation on my photo! Oh well..... There are lots of ways to arrange the square. The one above, which I think looks like it's all spinning, or maybe this one

or this one.

It's a bit hard to choose although I think the last one is my favourite. The white squares suggest to me a spot for some nice quilting. I think this might be the one. It will only be 12 inches square so maybe a little border will look good around it.

These are some of the beautiful gladies that are out in the garden at Mt Vic. Since I picked these ones, a yellow with red centres and a pink and mauve have come out too. So pretty and cheerful!

A new addition

Introducing Myles Marshall Gray born at 8.30 this morning, weighing 3900g (or 8lb 6oz).

 
Mum, Dad and baby all doing well. What a joy!

Happy Days

What funny weather we have had over Christmas! This photo was taken at Medlow Bath on Christmas Eve.

And this one at Blackheath.

Not the sunny Aussie Christmas we are used to and expect!

Our family went to the Hydro Majestic on Christmas Eve to celebrate our daughter's partner securing a new job in Hartley. It was a wonderful night. The misty weather did away with the view, however, this didn't really matter as we have seen it many times. The Hydro has been restored in grand style and no expense has been spared. The art deco interior is beautiful.

Seb, Erin and Rhys

It was a great backdrop to some impromptu family photos.

Christmas day was hectic but very nice. Way too much food was prepared. I think we could have fed twice as many people. Dessert was so impressive I had to take a picture!

Pavlova, Toblerone cheesecake, banana Christmas pudding and fresh fruit. With custard and cream of course!

This gorgeous and very tame Kookaburra came to visit our house this afternoon. We first saw him at a neighbour's place on Sunday where he patiently waited for some pieces of chicken.

I have never seen a Kookaburra this tame! I gave him two pieces of meat and I suspect he will be back tomorrow. Last seen heading off to another house in the neighbourhood.

Happy New Year everyone!