Thursday 29 December 2016

The 12 Days of Christmas_Days Three and Four ....

 In my Boxing Day post, I told you that I had joined a FB group called Stitchmaynia and that I had taken up the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge , and showed you my Days One and Two progress.  Well, here are Days Three and Four of the challenge.

[Each of the twelve days from Christmas Day to January 5, you stitch on something related to that day's theme - A partridge in a pear tree, etc.  Being the traditionalist that I am, I am stitching, yes, you guessed it!  The 12 Days of Christmas!]


Day Three:

Day Four:

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's 12 Days of Christmas
Stitched on 28ct Cashel linen, Serenity. 
Mixture of suggested floss and my own choices.

And, as it is so very hot here at the moment (30 degrees celsius/86 degrees fahrenheit overnight!!!!!), I woke up very early this morning, watched a movie  (Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren in Arabesque - what's not to love?) and got a good head start on Day Five - pic to come next post).


One positive of this very hot weather is some spectacular sunsets.....


I actually went to the movies, again, yesterday.  This time with my Dear younger sister.  We went to see La La Land...


Now, I know that this has been getting rave reviews but .... I didn't love it, I really wanted to, but I just didn't.  I thought that Emma Stone was great but Ryan Gosling just didn't really seem to love her enough in the movie, I thought, to make their romance really real for me.  Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have seen it but I would only give it Four Stars, not the Five Stars that every one else seems to be giving it.

Now, a movie that I would give Five Stars to, every single time, is The Princess Bride, which all watched on Netflix last night.  Such a wonderful film!  (Too hot to do much except watch movies or the test cricket on TV).


Just to finish off, here is another video, this is Furio, going ga ga for my chlorine laden shoes after I came back from water aerobics.  Does anyone have any idea as to why he would do that?



That is all from me for today, 

hugs, 







Wednesday 28 December 2016

Terrific Tassie .... Day Two of Five

Day Two of our Tassie trip saw us saying goodbye to Hobart and travelling North towards Launceston.  Along the way we visited Oatlands and the Great Lake.


Lake Dulverton....


Oatlands...

"Oatlands is one of Tasmania's oldest settlements and with more than 150 sandstone buildings it has the largest collection of any Australian town. Its intact Georgian townscape, mostly convict-built in the early 1800s, offers a complete representation of the architecture, urban design and the cultural heritage of early European settlement in Australia."

[Source: http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/about/regions-of-tasmania/hobart-and-south/oatlands]

Oh my goodness, Oatlands was just so pretty!






We had breakfast at The Stables, above, where quite fascinatingly, the owner had hung her Christmas tree upside down - it looked fantastic!



The Stables was full of an interesting collection of antiques.









A shearer's bathroom ....






 My view as I ate my breakfast.



The back garden of The Stables....






After breakfast we went for a wander around this historic town.....





I, quite naturally, found a gorgeous knitwear, quilt and needlepoint shop.....







... and then an antique shop...











.... and this cute chicken quilt was in another coffee shop that I popped into.




Also, naturally, I found a sweet kitty cat (who is glaring at a dog across the road)




More photos from the knitwear/quilt/needlepoint shop....







Sadly, it was time to move on from Oatlands and go see The Great Lake....












Eventually we made our way to our apartment for the next two nights in Launceston.  Luckily for us, it was only a short walk from Cataract Gorge, which is literally only fifteen minutes walk from the CBD of Launceston - amazing!

 It has the longest single chairlift span in the world, apparently. It is a great way to appreciate the beauty of the gorge.







A wallaby in the kiddie playground ....




... and the gardens were full of peacocks, oh be still my beating heart....  I remember studying the Romantic poets in my University days, and one of them had a line about peacocks across the lawn or the terrace ... (If anyone can identify the poem for me, I would be grateful as it is now driving me crazy!!!!).



















Stunning view of Launceston from our apartment, which was to be our "home" for two nights.



Nibbles and a lovely G&T on the verandah....




And, of course, some stitching was accomplished ... A Spot of Winter by The Drawn Thread.




Next Tassie trip post is an exciting one as I get up close and personal with some seahorses!

If you would like to read about my earlier adventures in Tassie, please click on the following link/s:


Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop.....

  Hello my lovelies and Happy Valentine's Day....   ... and this means it is time again for the fabulous Valentine's Day Blog hop o...