Back again

Have not been blogging for 2 months, time is flying by.

On the 20th of July I went on holidays to Lord Howe Island. My friend Jenny brought me to the airport. We had breakfast there.



At five minutes past 9 boarding started, we went with a small van to the plane. It was a very small on, there was only place for about 30 people. We landed from the seaside on Lord Howe.




The weather was beautiful. Were picked up and went by van to Somerset Resort. I got a nice studio unit. Went out and hired a bike for the week. That went not so good the first couple of days, had not been biking for 38 years, even fell a couple of times.



The weather was very windy and raining the whole week but that did not stop me from going out and exploring the island. Have been climbing some mountains and did a lot of walking.





Had a look at the weather balloon going up. The weather man turned out to be Doug. I had been working with him in Melbourne at Philips. He was in goods inwards and I in stock control. He recognised me.





They had also a museum and looked at it. There was also a café and had most of the time coffee and afterwards some lunch there.

Watched one day the plane going out. It was very, very windy that day. It was scaring to look it at but up it went. The wind was across of the runway.




One morning I went to see the feeding of the fishes.



Have been knitting another Lodewijk on Lord Howe Island, have now three.





On the Sunday I flew out again. Lucky there was not that much wind as during the week. Had a good flight back. Jenny picked me up.

Have been working hard on the bathroom it is nearly finished.

The small quilts which are going over the armrests are going fine. The top is finished and am doing the quilting now. Then the small ones have to be stitched together with the big top. Will have to work that out.

Yesterday there was Holland Festival at the Dutch club in Richlands. Went there and had a good time.
Have been eating coffee and cake, salted herring, oliebollen (they are a bit like donuts but then round with dried fruit in it), poffertjes. Watched Maori people singing and dancing, this was very entertaining. Bought a lot of Dutch foodstuff, which you hardly see in a supermarket.

Have finished my second Lodewijk. Have this time also knitted the arms and legs on 4 needles, which I had not done the first time. It looks better.



Have received siggies from the Netherlands Antilles. Have swapped with 11 ladies and got already 8 back.

















Have been working in the yard a lot, so that I am ready for summer.
Have done pruning, mowing in the front, now the back has to be done. Will need a fire permit there is a lot to be burned. Had a quote for a front fence. Need a new one.
This Sunday I am going on holiday to Lord Howe Island. It is a small island in the Pacific Ocean, only 400 tourists can there be any time. Which is not much but good for the environment.

Have been busy this week. Went to quilting club and started cutting fabric for two small quilts. A friend wants a quilt for her settee and it has also to go over the armrests. The smaller ones I will stitch together with the binding of the quilt. The top of the settee one is finished.



Kit 9 of the gollyville quilt is ready and have started on kit 10. Very slowly this quilt is getting done.



So now and then I do a bit of knitting and this morning I started with a new Lodewijk, I got it from, it is in Dutch and English.



Last week when I went to the Bookfest, my dog thrashed the house again and this week, I put her outside on the chain. This was only temporary. On friday I went to the mechanic with my car. It needed a service. Got a new battery, the other was nearly on the blink. After a check I needed also new disks and pads for the front brakes. Came there at 8 am and was finished at 10.45am, could wait, got even a cup of coffee. Had a book to read from Wilbur Smith, "Warlock". It's a good read.
Went after that to Bunnings and bought a dog kennel and wire for an enclosure for the dog.
Fixed that in the afternoon and the next day in she went.



When I came home she was out, know now how she got out and will close it better next time, which is tomorrow.

It’s been a while that I have been blogging. A lot has happened.
On Thursday 22 of May went to Yati in Morayfield and showed her the design which I had in mind to make for her. The quilt goes over the lounge suit and she wants also quilts going over the armrests. Will stitch those to the side of the quilt. She liked the design and I calculated how much fabric I would need.

In between all this I painted the timber for the pergola for the second time.
On the Monday Graeme called, he was coming on Wednesday to put up the pergola.





He finished on Thursday in the afternoon. Now I have to paint it another time and then I get sheeting fixed on top of the pergola, so I can sit underneath it in summer.



Started cutting the fabric for Yati’s quilt and finished it before Friday, when I was going to a quilting retreat where I could stitch it together.

For the retreat I had still to get a mug so bought one in Browns Plains and went then to Linda. We went from her place in the afternoon when Lennert her husband was home. It took us 2 hours to get to Highfields.
Settled in our bedroom, each person had a bedroom. Beautiful accommodation.







The space in the sewing room was not so good. We had to share one table and with 2 sewing machines on it, you have not much space, but we managed.





It was good I had everything pre-cut. The top is nearly finished the blocks were all stitched together and have now to do the rows.



Last Sunday there was in the city a Book fest from Liveline and bought several books.

These are some of the books I have bought.

Knitting

At the moment quilting is at a standstill. However I have a commission to make a quilt and will very soon start on that one. Coming Thursday I will visit Jati and show her the design and see if she likes it. Can then buy material and start cutting so I can sew it together when I go on the quilting retreat, the end of this month. Am going with Linda.

Had this morning the brickie, who had done the brickwork on the carport poles.
He could not understand how I got the cracks in the bricks. He had not seen this before.



This is the biggest crack.



This pole has 3 sides cracked.

Have been knitting the last couple of days and finished some of the patterns of the Knitalong "Sampler M".



Pattern 16 Cubics



Pattern 17 Wybert



Pattern 18 Twisted Oak.

Have been working hard at the timber for the pergola. It is all painted at least once. Had the acrylic very diluted, so the paint could soak in the timber. Has to do it now for the second time.







Have started to paint the facia, so that it is ready for the pergola. Will have it very soon erected.




On Mother's Day, I went at about 12.45 to Garden City where DD and I where to meet. We bought first tickets for a movie, we saw "Miss Pettygrew". Before the picture started we had something to eat. It was an early dinner for me and a late brunch for DD. At about 5 pm I was home again, we enjoyed it very much.

The shower screen got installed today and it looks very good. Cannot use it today, it needs 24 hours before the glue is hardened.



Had the frame around the mirror also changed from bronze into silver.

Have been to the Stitches and Craft Show today with Linda. We met at the Show and had first a coffee.
The very first thing we saw were the quilts. On this show there are not many quilts. We were not allowed to make pictures.

Bought a couple of things.





The ATC Linda gave me today. I love it very much. It is beautiful. There is now a chance that I might make them too. However have still a lot other things to do.
Have seen the book cover which Linda shows on her blog. It looks even better in reality then on the picture.
Next time I see Linda, we will be going to a quilting retreat in Highfields at the end of this month. It will be there very cold and have already bought a new pj and dressing gown for it.