Katy My new Friend

ITs HERE!!!!

Mandie sent this over this week and Im thrilled to bits and cant wait to use it!! And that lovely thread in the bag tooo!! Thankyou ,youre a lovely person,made my day!!! I still owe you that sample of Icelandic baa baa and Ill also put in a bit of that lovely black fleece Im working on too!

I first thought to ply it(the yellow thread) with that lovely bobbin that I finished off but I will pursue socks I think,anyway I have plenty of fluff still and have am nearly finished another lot of Mandies roving so methinks perhap it will marry very well with it!!!!Hmm Ill wait and see,maybe theres a spot for me in the ringside this Sundie?

I present Katy such a precise lady.... with two worn out bobbins!

And look what I found hiding in my messy garden this morning!!!Been waiting twelve months for these to show and theres more colours to come!!!!

Roll on Weekend

What an exhausting week,we had to make sure all the gardens were pristine as far as the roos would let us,for the Art Exhibition and then set up and mark the field for the Annual Athletics as well.All was going well more than usual as we had some lovely people volunteered to mark up the track while we did the field!

The S#%t hit the fan when we found out that the V....... surveyers had flown out that morning, but the boss and his main man were going to do it after school the night before the event,panic stations as it actually takes quite a few hours to do this job.Come 3pm I went down with our trusty line marker with a lent battery from a local buiness and we are on the way,thankfully even with the blockages and breakdown all was completed by 7pm under lights and the sports went ahead like a dream,phew!!!!!

I am so stuffed,I had 2 late days and some how sleep is evading me too and havent been able to spin,though I started another pair of Opal Snake socks for a Xmas gift but havent been near my spinning Wheel/s,maybe thats whats wrong..withdrawal?

I did however recieve a box of goodies from lovely Mandie! Ill post a picture later but it had the Precision Lazy Kate and a few parts and dye of course. Ill put it together tommorrow in between packing Hew up for Country week in Perth. Mandie put an extra goodie in too so Im hoping to spin a bit more to try this out....wonder what she has in store for us this Sundie!!!!

Oh before I forget,the Art Exhibiton was also a success and this year I put in my Quilts that Id made over time and a lot of people made some lovely comments!!! I must take some photos hopefully tommorrow,before they re all taken down!!!

Ps Sharon!! that flower in a pot under the spun bobbin is indeed my own plant and Im very pleased its flowered so well as it was an expensive plant to buy!!!!

Ill leave you with another lovely flower piccie!

Argh 'tis a Lovely Day

Edited to add at bottom of post
A gorgous day,I finished a bobbin of Mandies Lotus Blossum,very happy I am.Ill be spinning a bit of white up and dying that to match so I can knit a pair of socks with this,it reminds me of Opal Petticoat!

I havent really got much knitting done this week but plugged along on the patonyle wool socks and finished them.

Im also at the heel of 2nd Baudelaire sock,love that pattern but a my Nightime project it only gets a little while as my eyes go crosseyed with tiredness!

On the work front I was awarded my position as Senior Gardener, hip hip horray!!!!! No doubt a couple may be miffed for reasons of their own,but Im very pleased as were quite few staff(must be the cakes I bring in on Smoko days) and they gave me this!!!I love getting flowers(or any gift as we all do) but this was totally unexpected which made it so nice! Im lucky to work with a lovely bunch of persons!!!

Ill finish with a nice veiw from my pride and glory at work,an Ornamental Cherry!!!!!The best its ever been!

Cravings.....

I was just surfing,just some innocent surfing to unwind from work before H gets home from his jaunt and demands attention(Husbands can be worse than babies....) and I came across THIS..I want to knit it ,real bad and you know!!! I would wear it to bits (next winter of course) ,honest!!! The Grandad Top.
But I cant justify the price tag for a book that I d only use for one pattern....humph.....

A much a frogging we will go!

Sharon this is for you!!!! Would love to see a few more of Mandies tops spun and finished from everyone who has been in that weekly Sunday night crush!

This poor scarf has been to that pond 3 times so far but I reckon its safe this time round!!!

Shangri La in the personalised Old Shale Pattern,I did this in 50sts if I remember rightly to get the right width and hopefully have enough to finish it a decent length, as its probably destined to be a Xmas gift. I love the way the colours are comimg through in variations just like waves, as the pattern suggested.....

Something interesting

While looking for customer support for the Victoria I came acros this on Youtube Ive had a go at spindling but Im afraid Ill stick with the wheels,I get more done.LOL maybe Im not as dextous as I should ? but this lady had me interested as Ive never seen a supported Spindle such as hers!

Hmm

I thought I better post as I probably wont have time this weekend with the others arriving home tonight sometime,I would like to get the house into some sort of order after another long week.

The greatest news ever is that I have been awarded the position as Senior Gardener,note I changed it from head gardener after the partner of a senior staffy made a somewhat suggestive comment to my husband who was furious and declared #&@ must be a fruit loop,LOL. Anyway I pleased as its permanent and providing I dont stuff up in th next 3 months everything will be hunky dory!!! Now I will have to coach my assistant in applying for that position now....

The not so great "news" is that ive picked up the virus that has floored quite a few in town but with me its all head aches(sinus,not hardly a sniffle thank heavens) and fatigue,didnt take time off but did go home an hour early for a couple of days...

Ive finished spinning one lot of Mandies Tops that I bought, Shangri-la which I ve started to knit into a wide scarf using the Old Shale Pattern, Im gambling on having enough yarn to get a decent length but as Im using singles and fairly fine I may get away with it. Hope I dont have to Frog it mainly because I dont trust singles to be very strong though Ive already undone a bit of it with little damage!!

Also in the bad news bit spinning wise, the Victoria wheel lost a bit off the base of the conrod so its now bandaged up with a bit of electrical tape to support it, I have my suspicions on how it happened and believe its a design fault. I emailed Louet North America but havent had a reponse yet. It needs a new conrod which I wanted to have as a spare anyway because of the way its connected to the wheel. Im also going to contact the lovely lady I bought it from to see if she may have a quicker response from the company,surely theres some support since it cost a mint to start with.I may have to start looking at Lendrum as a portable wheel(hope Hubby doesnt read this!)

The line points to the bit that broke off,the top half of the conrod the the flexible bit is screwd into.I hope I dont get into trouble for showing this picture of the Vicky ......

And now for some extra info on that lovely shrub that I posted about recently!

Chorizema cordata, Australian Flame pea, Im going to put a few more of these into the gardens and one day when mine is more mature Ill add some there too.... the link is of Images on Google as I found it hard to find any information on how to grow these plants that was condensed enough for linking but at least these show the variation of these gorgeous plants. I usually give them a trim back about a third after flowering to maintain a shape.The best part about these plants ,The roos havent eaten them,yet.....

Nice and Quiet

Its amazing how quiet it can be when a couple of people are out of the house! With B and P up at Kalbarri I'm only cooking for five! And theres room to move as well,less washing,I can come home from work to little mess! I miss them of course ,the quietness is a little unnerving! Wonder how Ill cope when they fly the coop! Talked to them yesderday and all P could talk about was a big blown up dead cow on th edge of the river where they boated. I asked him if he'd seen any crocs yet....silence followed by"I dont think so" and heard B say "they saw us though!".....LOL

I came home an hour and a bit early today,the virus is fast catching up and I'm a little tight feeling in the chest... hot and cold too and sluggish but at least I stayed and got a few bits done at school.Didn't infect anyone as Im out in the grounds (offsider reckons shes coming down with it too...)

The big Resume went over the counter yesterday but I'm a bit iffy about the main essential one though people who Ive asked opinions of think its great,(thanks Mandie!! Boosted confidence !) The Head Cleaner reckons Ill get the job,ha ha ha,she said shell eat her words if I didnt,LOL. I'm hoping for a phone call in the next few days,at the worst Ill be offered another 6 months to polish up the paper work,Don't want to write another one for a while.....

On the fun side!!!! A bag of Silky Green Lambswool Sock yarn arrived!!! I'm thinking Embossed Leaves socks!

Nearly finished second pair of the lovely Baudelaire sockies,love that pattern but its taken a while to get the first one done as I was waylaid with other urgent projects. This pattern is addictive and being my night time project as its so easy to memorise!!If I remember correctly this wool is a Regia Stripes? feels soft to touch on the ball and feet but I thought it was a bit harsh to knit ,though Id knit with this wool again if the colour was right,LOL, LOOOVE the colours! Keeps me motivated to get to the next change!!

Checked out Mandies dyed efforts at last,my computer refused to up load piccies but they were all gone anyway..just as well, I want to get some chocy coloured yarn on Friday, (DAY OFF,YIPPEE), at the LWS , 'need' to make a vest..was trying to save my wool allowance to get some Silkgarden from a great ebay "wish " store to make a knitty pattern that I could have used a lot during Hockey season! I have to stop ogling Mandies gorgeous stuff and stay off other sites.

On the wish list also, are the jumpers for my parents .Dads easy with classic V jumper in Spinifix? but Mum,I cant pick a colour in the yarn I want( she has a bad habit of dying her hair in horrendous reds,she wont read this so I can be honest,LOL) or the pattern that will call out to me and wont get boring..... wool from Bendy of course

OK! off to hang the washing again,still feel yuck but teas easy tonight...

Fathers Day

Fathers Day and I forgot to send over a gift and card for my Dad and DH is off to Kalbarri with Son no 3 for a school camp,Hubby opened his mouth a couple of months a go and the teacher nabbed him,LOL

Should have taken a photo of them getting on bus but 5.15 in the morning when it was very cose to frost? I was busy snuggling into my possum jumper and wrapped up with angora fluffiness around the neck to think of that!!!

Anyway After I finish my resume today I going to cook some lovely bickies like those cooked yesterday for the School Camp, spin a bit(my reward for getting that paper stuff done) and hopefully have a spiining Pal come over,this arvo for chat! This week with two of the bigger peoples out of the house Ill make some headway into finishing some projects including Gift socks, the beanie in The West Coast Eagles colours for a staffy who cut everthing off for Bluey Day on Friday night, he was very shy about it but the beanie made out of gorgeous blue heirloom wool and a little yellow Country for the stripe will make his day tommorrow And finish another bobbin of that black fleece!!!

See how I go....

English leicester,and bits

Heres an up to date of that EL,that Ive plied with blue embroidery thread,and some merino that I think came from the Parks Mills in central NSW,love to get some more of this!!!

Very happy with this ,my first forway into "exotic" spinning,Im normally very plain and classic minded!

This is destined for a crocheted rug though Ill have to do a bit more combing and spinning to have enough to do the project,it was fun enough not to stay abandoned in the cupboard,LOL

I have enough dyed in the same colour way so will probably continue this on and only add another colour in the mix if I run out...though now thanks to Mandie I have more gorgeous ones to try out!!!!!

Busy Busy Busy

Ok! its been along week of long days and long nights,Hubbys been and still is sick with a nasty virus,but not flu thanks heavens otherwise I would have moved out for a while,LOL

Anyway hes been busy setting up the cement works for this weekend as he teed up friends to come around to help! Might I add at this time that a lot of the junk that invariably made into that area needing to be cleaned out were not fibre goodies though a few dye pots were lucky to run for their lives!!!!

I recieved a couple of very important parcels this week! Mandie from Heaven sent over the lastest batch of dyed goodies from her workshop and also the lastest WildFibre Mags in stock,Ive just managed to get through them (those Muskox are gorgeous little fellas) and have fluffed Lotus Blossom ready for the wheel,though I ve run out of space there as Ive also started the glorious fleece that AJ sent! Looking a Finn fleece now......Hopefully Vicky will be cleared tommorrow as Im hoping two friends are coming up to play!!!

My friend Pam has a Ashford Traditional that broke its conrod joint but i managed to find a temporary "part" to get her wheel going and have since ordered more bits including(smack on hand) a precision Lazy kate which I hope will improve my plying skills!I am going to look out for a good second hand Traditional shortly as mine is coming apart and if I have to strip it to repair and tighten Id like to have another to continue but Ill have a serious look at this one first to see how much work is neede first!

I gave Pam her surprise of the Heartspoken Roving from Mandie and she was delighted!

Having fun spinning that black fleece but havent had the right time of day to sit in the sun with it as its much easier to comb when warm and soft!Speaking of which i will go and see if I can comb a bit more before H calls for more "muscle"!!!

Blasted Thing

I came back to edit the last post and it ate the edits and then split up the photos so much you have to roll down heaps to find the rest!!!!, does anyone else have this problem? or is it just me,maybe I should follow the trend and head over to Typepad,grrrrr

Anyway besides finishing the bobbins on the wheels,I aim to do a photo shoot of town and maybe a few tommorrow of Kal as a new PE from Scotland contacted me in regards to what Kambalda's like so Im doing a Kambalda Info post just for A and his family so they have an idea of what its like here, hope I dont scare them,LOL....which reminds me havent done the Dunlop one yet......

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looky what arrived in the mail,the Postie lady actually dragged it out from the room out the back!!!
Lovely Aunty J sent over the gorgeous black fleece I drooled over while visiting!! I cant thank her enough for giving me the opportunity to play with a fleece the type which I took for granted when I learnt to spin years ago as a teenager (pure merino in the 21 micron range but clean and soft like this back fleece) Please be patient with the photos!!!!
Its merino X corredale! its like butter,the staples just need a frick on the tips Ill be able to spin to my hearts content!!
Its black and just undescribable, soft, clean as it was coated and the right length!

Ill be certainly be asking her to hold a fleece next year too!!! Wnder what Aj is going to do with that BFL,should talk her and Cousin K into starting a blog!!!!













3.8 kgs,itll keep me occupied for ages,already Ive got patterns forming in my mind! I should even be able to dye it a bit! I still havent been able to find a "just right" pattern for the lovely grey wool AJ insisted I bring home but Im so looking forward to knitting it because of the soft yummyness!
I ve already buried my nose in this fleece,Tilly was so very rapt with the smelly baa baa,she tried to eat it!!! My friend and work partner Kym thought it stunk!!!!!
At the bottom is a close up of staple combed and ready to spin! Its actually darker than camera showed!




















































Also a sneak preveiw of new tiles(ungrouted)

























Ok Im off, starving I am!!!











hhhmmmm what to have......





















Edited: I hope to free awheel up this weekend to start on this one,how exciting,at least it keeps my mind on that dratted job application,though instead of writing eloquent Saos,Ill be dreaming sheep,LOL....

Very Pretty English Leicester

I finally got to lay out these lovely locks to finish drying when I could

1 keep an eye on the JR in case she decides to play with Mums wool(she been known to make off with a bit)

2 its such a gorgeous warm winter day and the sun will dry them to the fluffy state I need to tease them out!!!

This blue I thought would be more purple but its verrry nice anyway!!

And to cap off my day Hubby is taking the two boys into hockey late this arvo so Im staying here with the other juniors(No5 is big and ugly enough to look after himself but Mums presence wont harm him)

I dont like missing the game but the younger ones hate it and Hubby has missed a couple himself just to stay home so it was fair this time...besides Dr Whos on!And I feel like spinning a bit!

Well its been a while but I just cant get over this fatigue bit...

Ive done abit of dying with the English Leicester but not all of it,I have a delicious box of colours waiting at Mandies so wanted to keep a bit to play with,LOL

In the meantime Im nearly finished the Studio Mohair so I can start this!!!! Hmmm,Buffalo fluff from Mandies wonderful EGMTKS....

Not sure yet what to make,despite all the patterns perused And I still have to determine exactly the meterage....etc.....but it looks like Choccy that much I know....

The Geraldton wax is now starting to show colour so thought I would put up a piccy just for the sake of it(and one of Son No 1 heading off to try out his new bars, hes in training to take part in the Perth Royal Show BMX Demo with his trick pals,which reminds me, book accomodation,wonder if they'll have a pavillion for all the things like knitting goodies....)

ON that resume , Ive had a look, and I need only to update details and add a couple of SAOs which I ve sort worked out but need to make more professional sounding of course!

A lovely Sunday

Tis a lovely Sunday in the 20' mark with little wind and the promise of frost tonight as the clouds are gone after a nice drop on Friday night.It was nice to lay in Bed and listen to the rain on the roof and know I didnt have to get up at 430 am!
Ive done some dyeing,no pictures yet,they are still drying and Im sort of pleased but have to get those other colours in the hand to open up the possibilities.Ive actually mixed one lot to get a lovely teal green!
On the knitting front Ive finished the first of some slipper socks using a pattern kindly given to me by my Aunty,Ive gone on to dye some heavy homespun merino to make a second pair as I feel I need to fudge the pattern abit!I bought a sheep skin to use on the soles if I hadnt mentioned before!
The Mohair cardie is coming along well,a sleeve to go and Im biting at the bit to start another CPH,and more socks as I need to have a pair done for a gift in September and I know if I start now theres a chance they ll be done by then(being sidetracked and all)
The Spinning is stalling but I may hit it later this evening though I been feeling plum tired and drained!
The resume hasnt even been opened,it could show My confidence that it (also) just needs fudging but after a yarn(hee hee hee ) with a staff member Im given an opinion that I should be able to apply now as its been put out in the Dep first before its advertised locally when Im apparently allowed to apply ! It has also been suggested that I seek further advice as well! Anyone else been in this position? Wondering if Im being discriminated against!
Ill be back with some pictures!!

A Busy Week

The end of the holidays here in WA! I ve had a relatively quiet week at work with few tradesmen and a couple of teachers coming in to start on the coming terms work. My assistant had to go to Perth so I had a nice few days to potter around the grounds and catch up on the little jobs I couldnt do with other people around!

The first Monday was abit rough with the Invasion of the poor old Mouse Spider stired up by the demolition of the West Hall nearby.One was found inside the main office complex starting off a panic of "these spider being not native and highly dangerous" ,blah,blah,blah!As a result I spent the first day back at work dealing with a Pesticide man who was more interested in talking about his family and what car he drove! He didnt wear any protective gear save a pair of old gloves and proceeded to spray the eaves ect with poision wearing, only, The Gloves and shorts ,t shirt attire!!!!And he was prattling about he and his wife hoping to have two more bubs!Being his main occupation I would have thought at least overalls be included!

The first sign of a rough day came when he set off the security via the fire alarms, needing myself to call and settle any feathers in that department before we had the local Fire Brigade land on us!

The fire alarms screeched for at least Hour and a half by which time Security did come out from Kal to make sure we were not indeed in dire troubles,bless their souls. As it turned out this was a common problem for the pesticide people as the bombs they use set off alarms!

It was with interest that Talking with the local builder that the nature of the pesticides used to kill spiders became clear. Im a big beleiver of less chemical the better and this builder recommended highly to all who asked him to deal with these insects in their homes not to spray, the impact of the chemicals in the future was much higher than a few cobwebs,I couldnt agree more!

The poor old Mouse spider in the centre of this wasnt what a majority thought anyway, but it did make for some sensational headlines locally and an altered photo of a giant spider crawling over the Plazza Sign here at the Supermarket gave us some laughs! Heres another photo! Aren't they pretty boys, the girls look a bit mean though!

Tell you what though,wouldnt there be stir in one these beauties appeared! If your game click on the photo at the bottom,its supposed to be life sized! They are around here as a specimum was handed in to the library for ID but the librarian was so spooked she wouldnt give us a look,should have seen the masking tape wrapped around the parcel!!!!

Hope I havent scared anyone with these bits! .......

On the spinning front I have around 600 metres spun of that Machine washable laps,had a couple of days off so I should have spun what I had in the bag by now....

On the knitting front I have about 3 inches to go on Hubbys socks, and two sleeves and half a front to finish on that Studio Mohair cardigan jacket!

And Ive started this! I love the pattern now that I have ,dont why it spooked me before,especilly as Ive nearly got it memorized already.Late nights dont make for clear brains....

On another front I acquired a bit of Finn/crossbred and abit of English Leicester.Both were the greasiest fleeces Ive seen and have the 'experience to touch',LOL

The F/CB is quite long as is the EL but I only wanted these to be a texture additive, not sure what Ill spin as the intitial ply but Im texturally influenced by Taueret in her July 5th entry of citris merino plied with marigold English Leicester, not sure what colours Ill choose as it changes with the day and mood!

Poor Mandie must think Im loopy as I suggested that I would be after some pastel dyes and what did I put in my list?,heaps of colours that are Not pastel!!

Anyhow...

The first picture,Before bath, this sent the kids out of the kitchen

The second is the Bath.....

And the End result,lovely clean nice smelling locks that curl and gilt with their lusterous wealth! Now bear in mind I rarely wash my wool before spinning as is normally fresh of the Baas Baas back and only extremely good wool that the staples fall apart like little creamy(depending on colour of course) islands that I would flick with the old trusty wide tooth dog comb and spin straight up!

This is a learning curve for me,washing the wool that is,Im petrified of matting the fibre but oh my! Id forgotten the joy of fluffing the staple! I wanted to dye some today but its windy and half raining( just heard a rumble but it was the Wattle Dam mine exploding more 'dirt') so the wool wouldnt dry quick enough,rats... Oh well theres always tommorrow! Now Im off to make a Pav Roll for desert!

My Big Day

Well it is to me!

I ve a reasonable day,got to go to town and spend an ammount on flowers for the school as we gardeners have heard that our school has been attracting attention for its presentation etc and we're going to keep it up and get a spring petunia display going!!!

Secondly I made into the LWS to get some more supplies including some white and some gold embroidery thread to ply with the wool I have sitting there in the hidden recesses of the huge kitchen Ive found myself in!!!Hidden so Hubby wont see them too often....

Lastly i think the new knitting book I also picked may be the one for that lovely grey natural wool that Aunty J gave me!! A mans pattern, but Ill change a few things to 'feminate' it!!! This picure has a round neck but imagine a v neck thats rolled not ribbed and that may be used on the wrist and hem as well.....

My big day,

Have some of my fav flowers up there !!!(want to grow some.....)

Its my annual big day for which I was treated to morning tea and cake by the staff working during the holiday break, a worthy voucher to the best jewellers in Kal and my friend sneaked a lovely set of gold earrings in as well, And to cap it off Hubby and I may go out to dinner, all dressed up swishy at the best Italian Restraurant!!!! Love the food there.....tommorrow night as Im bushed......

On the knitting front Ive finished the back and made a good start on the left front of Studio Mohair jacket!

Nearly to the heel of H 2nd sock in handspun BFL,

and Spinning, could finish the 3rd bobbin after plying the first spinning and gaining about 200 metres in that I calculate i have to do at least 8 bobbins all up for around 800m to dye and knit that vest Im hoping to do.Hopefully thers enough of the laps to do this but Mandie has abit to save the day !!! Thanks Mandie!!!!

Saturday!

Two days left of my leave,Waaaaaaa...................

Anyhow I decided to get cracking on some spinning,this a lot of machine washable laps that Yarnivorous had in her de stashing list,its gorgeously silky, soft though in pieces is fairly easy to spin. I aim to finish this lot and hopefully have enough to knit a vest though i may have to look for some more to finish off,a normal vest will need around 800m to 850, and Im trying to get the first bobbins done to measure what Im spinning so to order any extra,I think Mandie may have some?

On the knitting front,the success of the jumpers made or should I say finished in time for the Big trip,Ive started another that would have been just as nice, done in Studio Mohair and the same colour as in the Book and best of all scored as a sale from Kmart... worst part is the unending K1P1 rib.....maybe finished next winter?

And at last the photos of the lovely home grown merino given by Aunty J,it so soft and Ican feel some lanolin in it so it should be fun to knit.Just as well it was squishy Hew had to help get the bag closed,ha ha ha ...A huge thankyou AJ!!!!

Some of this lot has been solar dyed and it cam up a treat! Im thinking of a jacket/ cardie style knit in cables if only a few to make it interesting(still liking cables...) and maybe spinning some extra up for an additional colour or if enough of theis grey I can overdye it! Half is balled up so before doing 2nd I will calculate the length and work on that. The skein holder is not quite big enough to easily roll with the ball winder so tis makes a time consuming job but fun all the same! Still thinking of that black fleece...maybe I should wait and combine it with this... I saw some fleece on the net I wouldnt mind trying either,Finn X Border Leciester,long staple and lovely crimp! Anyone tried this cross?

Im dreaming again of Mandies very pretty Merino on Acid......

Home again!

I still have the rest of this week before going back to work and althogh I havent done much in the way of fibre fun, its been nice to have some time to do things a bit slower!

We flew into Sydney just after lunch and spent 3 1/2 hrs waiting for the connecting flight to Dubbo and finally arrived there at 8.30pm after a 50min flight.I was auto pilot and simply marched up to Budget Cars and gained the keys while Hew waited on baggage to come out.I got the opinion that the man behind the counter looked a bit scared,LOL but the little Nissan Xtrail wa ours quickly and we were on our way to Nannas.

Dubbo has changed abit since our last visit 4 years ago with more trees and islands and definitely more houses!!!!

We travelled out to Cobar and onto Louth to Dunlop after battling roos,wild goats and Angus cattle on the very rough dirt road sometimes only going at 35km with the potholes and bad lights on the Xtrail.It was dark and hard to see but made it there by 7pm. It was great to see Mum and Dad and we sat up quite late to talk and catch up!!!

Some Baas Baas wandering past the house,super fines that I hope to try at having processed later.... at least it looks green for the time being and the sheep were in good order

The next day we walked(Mum Hew and I) to the weir to check out the water levels... note this is the remains of water released up near St George to flush the Darling and it has blarely made it to this weir below louthe and is only trickling over.The people at Wilcannia are now complaining that they havent seen this water yet and I seriously doubt they will....The photos are of the weir itself and below!

This is me on the first bike Dad bought me over 20 years ago and its back in working order, with I might add, a new front tire as Dad is trying to get Mum to ride it so she can give him a hand chasing goats.......

We walked a fair bit over Dunlop and boy was it cold!!!! The possum jumper got a real work out as did the scarf that I took as a second thought!!!!!

With heart break we left on Saturday morn to arrive back in Dubbo at 2pm (we spent a short hour with SIL at Cobar) where we had lunch and returned to Nannas house to finally get a long hot,hot shower(Mum 'n Dad have generator power with a old hot water system so baths were cool.......)

The little Xtrail was superb and I hated giving it back as my own Tarago is in need of hubbys TLC...

On Sunday we went to my Auntys for a chat and boy that was fun,she and my Cousin are right into fibre in a big way and I came away with a Kilo of lovely soft yarn from there own sheep that had been put through a Mill in Kyneton Victoria I think,anyone know of amill there who will do small lots? Photos later....

On top of this they tried unsuccessfully to offer a gorgeous Black Fleece and really I didnt know which one was the nicest as K also had one there,they were seriously scumpious and it was hard to say no. My eyes must have lit up at the sight of them... hope I didnt embarress myself but I havent seen a fresh fleece for years and these were just gorgeous...anyhow Ive since been onto my Aunty J and shes going to send it over and Im sending in return a bundle of BFL for her to try as neither knew much about it!!! Im so excited!!!

On top of this Mandie at EGMTKs has that Buffalo in and waiting.... I can see this month being a beaut one.....

We flew home on Monday which is a shame as we could have gone Tuesday and managed a trip out to Cousin B to have a gander at his farm that he has made a success of... hes in this weeks Land paper too, holding a bucket which I took as being protection from the red bulls wrath for removing him from his girlfriends....... visit next time for sure!

The kitchen is nearly finished but I havent managed to get everything in the right place but the space is just lovely!!!!

On the trip I managed to finish apair of Patonyle socks that went to a surprised Mum and scarf that I made up in Sensation, merino angora wool from naturally, I wore it home...

In Dubbo I made it to the only Wool shop I know of and bought 4 balls of the new Tapestry in blues for thick socks and 2 balls of white Patonlye as my own LWS hasnt been able to get yet,not sure whether to dye them or just knit some nice whiet ones, Embossed Leaves pattern,perhaps?

There were not one but 2 shops that apparently stock sewing and wool items in Cobar but I didnt have time to assess them,I had intended to visit just to say I bought these balls from XYZ,part of my holiday foolishness,HeHeHe

Now its back to work on Monday and the additional chore of getting my resume ready to apply for my current position next month..........

I shall make an additional entry for "Dunlop" for I took heaps of photos and for history need a special space and also the scarf I knitted while there......on top of these i will have a bit more in photo content later,Auntys wool etc......

The trip was fun including the scary landing in Perth due to high winds tossing the Jumbo 747 around,we had to hang on for a moment but Hew was delighted and I think our enthusiasm helped a couple of other kids coming back to Kal on the same flight with us as well, cant wait to go home again.....