Adventuring

I'm dashing off this post because I am getting ready to leave for a holiday to Malaysia and Vietnam...which makes me very excited and a little scared all at the same time!
I am busy, busy, busy getting organised
but I didn't want to go without saying goodbye to all my dear blog buddies and readers
or without sharing a little something of what I've been doing since I posted last.

I've been crocheting a Sweet Lorraine scarf to keep me warm when I get up to the north of Vietnam:


It's working up really, really quickly.
The pattern calls for Foundation Single Crochet at the start, which you can see at the top of the following photograph:



I've never used the Foundation Single Crochet stitch before and it's a little tricky but it creates a very stable foundation so I'm glad I've worked it out. (I found this Ravelry thread really helpful, if you'd like to have a go too.)


I have taken some not~very~good photographs of the glass beads I made at a workshop at Fremantle Arts Centre.
Here are my favourites:


They were surprisingly simple to make. I'd love to do another workshop.


I've been gardening,
watched over by a gentle mother dove who's made a nest just by my back door:




...and I've finally got around to photoshopping the last of my wildflower shots:





Hibbertia and Leschenaultia, Chittering



Blue Tinsel Lily, Chittering



Veined Yellow Pea, Chittering


Silky Yellow Pea, Chittering



I wonder what my next post will contain?
Adventure awaits!


Blessings.
x

Reasons to be Cheerful

I'm still loving being on leave.
Simply being able to get enough sleep is fabulous!
So is having time to cook, time to go to art classes, becoming relaxed enough to really enjoy being with family and friends, having small adventures ~ so many joys.
I'm just back from a holiday,
going out into the Western Australian wheatbelt to see a spectacular show of wildflowers,
and what a lovely time I've had...
but, just before I show you any travel photos, I'd like to share some creativeness.

Here's my almost finished Monroe Lacy Stole:



(I've sewn on one panel of the edging lace and I have only one row of the second edging panel to crochet.)

and here are some Burnt Butter Biscuits which I made from this recipe on Little Red Hen's cooking blog:


(yum)

and, lastly, here's a gorgeous little coin purse that I received from the ever generous 2paw:

Thank you Cindy!

So now on to my little vacation.
I went to find wildflowers with a dear neighbour and fellow flower enthusiast. We stayed at New Norcia, a monastic town (and a little oasis of Spanish culture) that's found in the middle of the wheatbelt. My friend and I also travelled out to a farming community called Dalwallinu. We were rained on a lot (it's been a wonderfully wet Spring) and got very, very muddy but we found wildflowers everywhere ~ blooming along the sides of the road and flowering in carpets out in the bush. Bliss!


Egg and Bacon, blooming just behind New Norcia Hotel.


New Norcia Hotel, where we lunched. Their pizza was delicious!


The view from our room at the Monastery Guesthouse.
Such a tranquil place to stay.
I struck up a conversation, over dinner, with two fellow guests who were translating papers from French and Spanish in the Monastery's archive. They were very European, very devout and fascinating to talk to. I am so grateful that I have the time and the opportunity to meet people who are so different to me and to the people I normally encounter (much as I love the familiar.)


Climbing Fringed Lily, New Norcia



Purple Fan Flower, New Norcia



Milkmaids, New Norcia





White Banjine, Dalwallinu


Acacia, Dalwallinu


Unfurling Everlasting, Dalwallinu


Molly's glad I'm back, although she didn't have to go to the cattery this time ~ Mum and Dad kindly offered to cat sit. She looked very relaxed on my return:



Incidentally,
she's given my Monroe Lacy Stole the seal of kitty approval:





I have so much more to share!
I'm looking forward to showing pictures of the glass beads I've made, the pastel drawings I've worked on, further progress on my stole and yet more pictures of wildflowers...

Have a wonderful week.
x