Trip to Tenterield, NSW

Well our trip to Tenterfield, NSW was certainly an interesting one!

We dropped Nic off at Warwick, QLD on the way down to Tenterfield. He spent the weekend with his friend Steve & they had fun at the Dat Nats [Datsun National Car Competition].


Consequently, we had to pick him up on the way home & because it was after lunch on Easter Monday when we arrived at Warwick the trip home was in the rain & much slower than the drive down. We got caught in a long line of traffic going back over the mountains to the eastern side & you know how some people drive when it's raining, I thought a few times that we might have an accident - thankfully we arrived home safe & in one piece :)

Living on the Gold Coast the main thing I miss is Autumn - we have such a tropical climate here that the leaves on the trees do not change colours. The photo below is of the grove of trees running down either side of the main road to Linda's home, it was the first thing I saw Saturday morning - how pretty :)

Michael & I stayed with Linda; while she was at work we visited with Abi & Wally - it was the first time that all the partners in the land were together, so we got the opportunity to talk about lots of things.

On Easter Sunday we decided it was the perfect time to take a drive out to the land & get the chance to walk over it. The land is 82km [as the crow flies] west of Tenterfield & is behind Haystack Mountain [below].

On the main road there are letterboxes for several properties which are in front of our land & there is a long gravel private access road that runs down the side of all the farms. As you can see from the photo below the first farm is quite large & all the other properties are of a similar size.

Then, you get to the front fence of the adjoining property 'Ohm Shalom' which is a commune, but there is a rather large large ridge [below] between that you must get over to arrive at the western boundary of our land. Consequently, we did not get over the ridge & did not get to walk over any part of the land.





I found this very annoying myself, as we were lead to believe that we would walk over the land on the day, but I was more disappointed for Michael; as he had trusted his friends & partners in the land [he was unable to see the land in person when purchasing]. He came away feeling very sad about the whole situation.


It now means that we need to totally change our minds about what we are going to do when Nic leaves school for University at the end of 2010/2011.



We did have a nice diversion on the way home, at The Summit, which is just north of Stanthorpe, Qld - we found Castle Glen. A vineyard where the wine tasting cellar is a Castle. They sell wine & liquers, fudge, jams & chutneys - all made on the premises. We came home with 2 bottles of liquer, some Shiraz Jam for ourselves & a few late Easter presents for my parents.

So, our weekend away was a mixed bag of experiences & emotions & we have come away with the need to talk & think more about our future. I am hopeful that together we will be able to make the right decision.

I hope that everyone else had a wonderful & happy Easter break.

Until next time, take care.

Ciao

Mish :)

Assessments Finished!

I've just finished emailing off my Maths & Computing assessments! My Language & Learning assessment gets put in the mail in the morning.

NOW I can rest & enjoy my university holidays.

YAHOO!!!

Ciao
Mish :)

Uni Work & Craft

This week is full of assessments for university, finishing off some final crafty projects & getting organised for our trip to Tenterfield for Easter!

Below is a photo of the vest that I made for hubby; granted it is a little large but he's not exactly small & I looked everywhere for a pattern but could not find one, so I made it up as I knitted. Hubby says the vest is lovely & warm & it is the first thing he will pack for our trip to Tenterfield.

Later tonight or tomorrow I will finish making him a pair of bed socks - basically they are just too long tubes of wool. I am going to have to get some ribbon to use as ties for the top; but at least they will keep his feet warm [photo later].

For those of you that don't know my hubby, he's 6'6" & a human imitation of a bear, only with less hair!



The vest took 6 balls of wool for the front two panels & about 9 balls for the back & finishing. The wool is mohair, cotton & acrylic blend & was given to me by a friend ages ago. Problem is I don't remember who, but I must say a HUGE THANK YOU to them anyway.


University work this week has been full on as this is our last week before the Easter break & of course there are assessments to hand in for nearly every subject. I have yet to finish the Maths assessment [which I can send in via email], but that one always seems to be last; probably because Maths is my worst subject.


Thankfully the assessment for Language & Learning [English plus extras] is done & I will post it off to my lecturer today [cannot be sent via email]. I emailed my two Computing assessments to the lecturer this morning & there are no assessments due for TPS [tertiary preparation skills], but I have made sure that I am up to date with everything.


I am planning on using my holiday break to re-read some of the resource material sent to me to see if anything new can be found or if there was something that I missed; I'm also going to ask my son if he would be willing to help me review Maths - that way I have an actual person to ask questions.


This seems to be the most difficult aspect of being an external student; because you do not get face-to-face time with your lecturers, if you get stuck on a tricky problem then you have to try & explain it via email & I'm not very good at this or very quick at picking up Maths. I am still waiting on the results of my last maths assessment from two weeks ago, but I think the reason is that the lecturer is busy - hopefully I will have the result before my holidays.


We normally stay home at Easter but this year decided to take a trip out into the country to Tenterfield. Hubby & I are partners in 1,500 hectares of Aussie bush 82km [51 miles] west of the town & our plan is to eventually move out there to live. We will be staying with Linda [partner in land] for four days & will be dropping Nic off at a friend's in Warwick on the way.


The plan is to visit the land & do some walking over it, explore the surrounding area & see how feasible it will be for us to start building out there later this year. Our first project will be a large machinery shed with a small cottage annexed on the side. The cottage will be one large room that will contain a bed, kitchen, bathroom & living area & will become our 'base camp' for when we commence building the main house.


We think that we want to build the house on top of the plateau but the base camp has main road access & the plateau doesn't, so we will need to use it as the location to drop off supplies, etc. I will be taking lots of photos of the land & the surrounding area, so that we will have something to use when we start planning the actual house.

It's certainly going to be one big adventure - one that we are both looking forward to!

Finally, this is a photo of my son, Nic, wearing his new sunglasses; only problem is that because the photo was taken at night you cannot see that the lenses are mirrored!

He thinks he looks pretty cool & I have to agree with him!

Until next time, take care.

Ciao
Mish :)

Gold Coast Craft Show

I promised in an earlier post to tell you what happened at the recent Gold Coast Craft Show; which was held at the Convention Centre at Broadbeach.

I spent the three days of the show helping out Helen at Stitchabout - she sells great cross stitch kits, charts & some fabric; it was great to spend the time with her & I found out that she was a Millinery major at TAFE but didn't go into the profession as she fell pregnant with her daughter.


At the end of the show I picked up a few pieces from Helen:

* By The Fire - cross stitch kit from Anchor

* Jardin d' Rouge - chart from Needlemania

* Tres Mariposas [3 butterflies] - chart from Calico Crossroads

* Lucky Owls - chart & fabric for handmade stuffed Owls from Be Be Bold Japanese Textiles

Be Be Bold Japanese Textiles had some of the most beautiful japanese fabric I have seen in quite a while - only problem for me was that I have put a moratorium on myself from purchasing anymore fabric, until I finish my current sewing projects.

I also want Windswept which is the companion piece to By The Fire, hopefully Helen will remember to bring it with her to the Brisbane show in May. From what I know these two are reproductions of designs released by Anchor in the 1930's.



I also picked up a few pieces of fabric from the boys at Sew It All.


* Three pieces of linen with opalescent thread through them & one piece of red linen.


I am not sure what projects the opalescent fabric is for but the red linen is for a freebie pattern from Stickideen von der Wiehenburg .

I am part of the Yahoo Group of Martina Dey, the designer & she has graciously given members of the group a free pattern to stitch. Quite a few ladies in the group are stitching this pattern in various colourways & on different fabrics & I thought that a white heart on red would look nice [I will post progress photos later].

* A piece of natural 32 count linen for the band sampler 'A Grateful Heart'. I'm not sure how this project is going to be as I have never worked on such small a count fabric before - wish me luck :)

The pattern comes from the Just Cross Stitch magazine & is in three parts, so it will be almost September before I have the complete pattern & I am able to start working on this piece.

I suspect that I will possibly change the colours in the chart, as the example uses The Gentle Art Sampler Threads & I will use DMC Cottons, as I prefer the robustness & colourfastness of the DMC - so there might have to be some colour changes to make the finished project look right.

So, I came home with a rather nice stash. Mind you it was not as large as some of the ladies that I saw at the show!

I had a great couple of days & now just have to find the time to fit these projects in around my uni studies & hopefully some part-time work!

Until next time, take care & stay safe.

Ciao

Mish :)

Uni Lunch

Just had to share with you a picture of what lunch looks like when you are an external Uni student.

YUM!!!

Ciao

Mish :)

Food & Uni Work

I’m at home today trying to catch up on uni work for Language & Learning & one other subject. It’s raining here on the Gold Coast & the temperature has dropped somewhat, so I decided it would be the perfect day to cook roast vegetables.


You see, the oven in our rented townhouse doesn’t work all that well & most items take a considerable amount of time longer to cook than they should normally. Yes we’ve asked about getting it replaced but when you consider that it took the owners two years to put security screens on our three back doors & one window [this was after everyone else except us had been broken into & hubby was working nights]; I doubt very much that they will replace the oven anytime soon.


So, here I am at home, doing uni work & cooking roasted vegetables. Do you know how HARD it is to study when all you can smell is vegetables roasting!?!


Granted, I’ve had to check on them & swap the two trays between shelves while the cooking happens, but every time I open the oven I get overwhelmed by the smell & my stomach starts to make the loudest noises – lol!


So you know that as soon as they are cooked that is exactly what I’ll be eating – even a piece of chocolate wasn’t sufficient to change my stomach’s desires.

[the vegetables all cooked & ready for me to eat!]

Anyway, that’s enough from me – better get back to the uni work or it won’t be finished in time & I have an assessment that I must put in the post by next Thursday at the latest.



Until next time, stay safe



Ciao


Mish :)

Sleep - The Elusive State

Can't sleep again - argh!!!

Suspect that I only have myself to blame - eating too many sweet chilli & sour cream chippies late at night - reading too many blog posts - playing one too many games of mah jong on the computer & I should have gone for that walk at 5pm today.

Had another job interview today & got another no ... sigh.

The longer this process takes the more I doubt myself & my ability to do anything; like uni work, be a good mum/wife/housewife [never!].

Thanks to being sick last week for three days [all better now & thanks to everyone who sent me good wishes] I'm behind in uni work & feeling rather flat about having to catch up. Hopefully I will feel more like hitting the books in the morning.

On a happier note I've finished knitting a vest for hubby, which he loves - just need to take the photos & I picked up a few goodies at the Gold Coast Craft Show on the weekend [more later].

Off to bed to try & get some sleep.

Ciao
Mish :)