Time for October Pie ....

Hi everyone, 

Here are my stitching/crafting pies for October.....

Okay, what is a Stitching Pie, I hear you ask?

Well, I am "stealing" yet another great idea from my dear Stitchy and Bloggy friend, Jo, from Serendipitous Stitching. Each month she includes a pie graph of which projects she has been stitching on - showing how much time, proportionally, has been spent on each one in that month.

I really like this idea, so I am copying it, thank you Jo, I hope that you don't mind, so here we go for October .....

Here is the breakdown of minutes over the month for each October project:

 This chart shows you the breakdown in %.

Again, there is only one of the projects listed above that is a knitting project this month - the London Blanket for DD, which I am getting close to finishing - nearly finished the third last colourway.  And there are four finishes again this month: Old Glory, Share the Spirit, Summertime Stitching and Xmas Hearth.

For interest's sake, I added up all of my craft minutes for the month of October; and I spent as much time  crafting this month as I did last month. 

I have also plotted the number of projects stitched upon for each month and the number of finishes ....

If you wish to check out my earlier pies, please click on the links below:

September, 2016

August, 2016

Okay, that is all from me for now.  Have a good day, everyone, 

hugs, 

Wending our way home ...

.... from Kangaroo Island.

Well, all good things have to come to an end and so we come to the end of our stay on wonderful Kangaroo Island.

However, we managed to squeeze in some more good food and spectacular views on our last morning on KI.

First we visited the Honey farm.  Where we had a honey tasting and, of course, I did come home with some lovely honey.  I did think that these bee biscuits looked very cute.

DID YOU KNOW?

KANGAROO ISLAND is a Ligurian Bee Sanctuary

Kangaroo Island is the world's oldest bee sanctuary and is home to the only pure strain of Ligurian Bee in the world. Due to their isolation they have remained free of the major bee diseases, which infect mainland bees. Bees cannot fly to Kangaroo Island because it is too far, even with strong winds to propel them. To protect their genetic purity and disease free status all bees, beehives, used beekeeping equipment, honey, pollen, beeswax or other hive products are restricted from entering KI.

Source: http://www.cliffordshoney.com.au/quarantine.php

Apparently, sometime in the late nineteenth century, some Italian immigrants brought some Ligurian bees with them/or imported them to Kangaroo Island. These are now the only pure bred Ligurian bees in the world.  Isn't the world fascinating?

After the Honey Farm, we headed off to try to find a place that had been recommended to us by some fellow travellers, one night at the Penneshaw pub, as having great pizzas, Frogs and Roses.

There were pretty flowers (as the name suggests but no frogs - lol!) and truly delicious pizzas for lunch.

A cute quilt on display....

... and I loved this very sweet Little Boy Blue tea set but I resisted - honestly, my home is full to busting with pretty china already.

We ate outside in the sunshine, surrounded by the pretty garden.

Kim and I loved the contrast of the red stems with the green leaves of the rhubarb.

... and I don't think that I have ever seen such a pretty colour on a banksia before.

On the way back to the ferry terminal at Penneshaw, we made a few stops for me to take my last photos of Kangaroo Island.... 

The turn-off for American River

A distant view of Penneshaw, with Australia way off in the distance....

A couple of last minute pics aroudn Penneshaw ....

... and look, here is our ferry, coming to take us back to mainland Australia.

Thankfully, it was a very smooth ride back.

So, it was back home via Tailem Bend (same old, same old - same motel, same pub for dinner) but the next morning we found a gem on the road home.

We stopped at Coonalpyn for breakfast at this roadside stop along the Duke's Highway, called Waffles & Jaffles, where we had the most delicious waffles.

You can read more about it here.

... And lastly, we passed the Grampians on our way back home.

I can honestly recommend Kangaroo Island as a holiday destination, well worth the effort of getting there.

I hope that you have enjoyed this trip with me and remember, click on any of the following links if you wish to backtrack.

So much to tell you

Still travelling to Kangaroo Island

Cape Willoughby, American River and Kingscote .... Kangaroo Island

Kelly Hill Caves .... Kangaroo Island

The Remarkables .... Kangaroo Island

hugs, 

Weekend Roundup ..... FNSI, IHSW and the HTC....

Now, I sort of extended my weekend to start on Thursday, as we were going to the Heidelberg Theatre Company - HTC - on Friday night.  So, here is what went on each day:

Thursday:

 I stitched for Friday Frolics ..... which counts towards Friday Night Sew In (FNSI).  

I did a stash dive and found this sweet stitch languishing in my pile of UFOs/WIPs.

Now, this is where I was up to, and I cannot find anywhere on this blog, my main blog, any reference to when I stitched this last (most remiss of me!).

Update: With some "forensic" research and the realisation that I had mislabelled my earlier FF post on this design (I put "Singin' in the Rain" instead of "Singin' in the Spring" Duh!), I discovered that the last time I stitched on this piece was 22nd January, 2016 and that I blogged about it on Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics blog, not this one.)

Anyway, this is where I was up to before this week's FF ....

.... and here is what I achieved for FF.....

Isn't that a sweet singin' birdie?

Now, if you want to see what everyone else got up to, please click on the following links...

Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics

Friday Night Sew In

Friday:

Only a little bit of stitching and knitting happened as I had visitors for lunch and then it was out to dinner at Zein's Authentic , where I had the most delicious garfish dish.....

..... before seeing "One man, two guvnors" at the HTC.  Oh, the play was so much fun!

About the play

One easily-confused and ever-ravenous Francis Henshall finds himself a minder of two men, a gangster and a criminal in hiding, both of whom are linked in a web of schemes, extortions and romantic associations. To prevent discovery Francis must keep his two guvnors apart at all costs. But it’s tricky. Mistaken identities, cross dressing and multiple mishaps soon coalesce to engulf him in pandemonium.

This internationally-acclaimed smash hit is a glorious celebration of British comedy. It has a wonderful mix of satire, slapstick and witty one liners.

NOTE: SHOW IS SOLD OUT!

Source: http://htc.org.au/index.html

The whole experience was enhanced by the inclusion of a live skiffle band.

I can tell you, we laughed and laughed throughout the whole play. It was a great finish to the 2016 season.

Saturday:

Another very busy day: in the morning TraderVic and I went to visit my dear Dad in his new nursing home.  He seemed in really good spirits and kept telling me how much he liked the food there and how nice the nurses are.  So, that is a really good sign that he is settling in well.

                                          

He is looking so much better already.

[Update: a few people have made very kind comments about the quilt on Dad's bed.  Well, it is the quilt I made for my mother's 80th birthday in 2002. It had sat on their bed as a decorative quilt ever since; so I thought that we should take it to the nursing home to brighten up Dad's room.]

Then TraderVic and I had to do some stuff at Dad's house and then it was home for a rest because that evening we were going to a friend's home to play ....

None of us could draw very well but that didn't stop us having lots of fun!

Sunday:

Another busy day, first off it was coffee with my sweet friend, Marie (I still can't walk very far on this broken toe) and then it was off to visit an elderly family friend in hospital.  She is a wonder, she gets everywhere by public transport and is an active support of the Arts, but unfortunately, she broke her kneecap in the city the week before last.  

So, I took her some roses from my garden and sat and did a bit of stitching while I had a long chat with her and kept her company.  

Witchy remedy by Silver Creek Samplers from JCS Halloween Ornie Mag 2011

You can read more about my stitching history of this piece on the this blog post from Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics....

An oldie but a goodie

After my hospital visiting, I dropped by my dear friend Lisa's house, to help her set up some christmas decorations for our upcoming Book Club Christmas Dinner which she is hosting (we are having it catered) and then we drank some celebratory bubbly in her spa!  What a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

That evening, it was a light dinner for TraderVic and I (poached eggs on toast) and we had a bit of a The Walking Dead marathon, as we have been binge watching the earlier seasons (which we had already seen when they were first aired) concurrently with watching Season 7.  Now, I was happy about this as it gave me lots of stitching time and I made more great progress on Singin' in the Spring.

Coming along nicely, I think.

Ooops, I nearly forgot, I managed to squeeze in some knitting on DD's London Blanket, too.  

So, overall, a successful Friday Frolics/FNSI/IHSW and ....

.... in all a very busy weekend all around but not for some... Furio loved having a nap on this old quilt.....

Remember, if you wish to check out what everyone else has done for this SALs, click on the following links....

Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics

FNSI

IHSW

hugs, 

The Remarkables .... Kangaroo Island

On our last full day on Kangaroo Island we headed down to Flinders Chase National Park to visit The Remarkables, Cape Borda lighthouse and Admiral's Arch.


Here is a long view of The Remarkables - they don't look like much here, do they?

Looking inland...

There are many beautiful species of orchids growing on KI.

Still not all that Remarkable...

My dear friend, Kim, getting closer....  Thank goodness for me and my poor old toe, that the way to The Remarkables was fully along this boardwalk.

My dear friend, Gino, getting very close now....

Okay, now they are starting to look Remarkable....

TraderVic, looking like he could slip through the rock to another dimension, echoes of "Picnic at Hanging Rock".

We then drove on a little further, to visit Cape Borda lighthouse and Admiral's Arch.

If you look way down you can see the remains of the jetty from the 19th century, when this lighthouse was manned.  Everything had to be winched up from the jetty below, supplies and people!  It must have been very isolating for the lighthouse keepers and their families.

But, oh how the view was worth it (sorry about the thumb on the left side - lol!)

This the ruins of the original lighthouse keeper's homes.  Each doorway led to the single room occupied by each family - they must have been cramped.

Cape Borda Lighthouse....

The view towards "The Two Brothers" (little islets), Admirals Arch is below the cliff.

There is that crow, I told you that I have been seeing crows wherever I go - this is one for sorrow.

Can you spot the seal?

Long view of The Remarkables ...

Admirals Arch ....

It was hard work for me, with my broken toe, to get up and down all those steps but the Arch was worth it and I didn't travel all the way to Kangaroo Island to sit in the carpark!

More seals ....

A rare photo of TraderVic and I, he hardly ever lets me take a photo of him (Shhh!  Don't tell him I posted it on my blog!)

Our friends, Kim and Gino ...

On our way back to The Lookout (via Kingscote for dinner), we stopped at King Island Spirits (KIS) for a Gin tasting.

The tasting included both a variety of gins and liqueurs.  Naturally, we bought some.....

... andthen we finished our tasting with an affogato - yum!

 I saw this cute terrier at the distillery, he had the cutest black and white face but unfortunately turned away before I could get a pic.

Then it was onto dinner at the Auroro Ozone Hotel in Kingscote. Where we had more yummy food - my seafood risotto was just amazing!

... and another glorious view....

Our holiday is just about coming to a close, just one more post should finish off my travels, I think, so please do come back to visit with me again.

If you want to backtrack to my earlier posts about Kangaroo Island, you can find them here....

So much to tell you

Still travelling to Kangaroo Island

Cape Willoughby, American River and Kingscote .... Kangaroo Island

Kelly Hill Caves .... Kangaroo Island

hugs,