Ballarat

Today we took an hour and a half train journey to Ballarat.

We met with the lovely Jodie, who first took us fabric shopping then took us to eat a cupcake for morning tea. (I fully intended to take a photo of my cupcake, but I ate it.)

We visited Sovereign Hill, the historical gold village…

where Pip suddenly realised that he needed a top hat…

and became a wanted man.

Who wouldn’t want a skinny fellow with flowing locks in a top hat?

At the Zoo

We love a zoo visit when we’re on holidays.

The butterfly house (which was tropically warm and felt like home) where…

Pip was found to be particulary attractive to butterflies now that we bought new socks for him. (A week after we had been here he mentioned that he had only brought one pair with him and had been wearing them each day.)

The new baby elephant…

didn’t wander too far from mum and aunty. He constantly ran to lean against them and to rub them with his trunk.

The giraffe decided that the grass was greener on the other side…

and made a huge effort to stretch and eat the garden beds instead of the food provided.

We managed to dodge showers of rain and see a few patches of blue sky. It was a very good day.

Busy, Busy, Busy, Stop

In dot point we have

• walked to the Fitzroy Gardens
• seen the fairy tree
• walked around the MCG
• avoided the museum of sport (what!?)
• walked to Federation Square
• eaten crepes in a tiny restaurant in a laneway
• walked the length of the city
• eaten a meal with the lovely Stomper/ Fixit family
• walked to the music store two more times since the guitar was purchased
• bought tickets to see Hairspray
• walked around the Royal Melbourne Show
• eaten a dimsim and spring roll which were the yummiest ever
• walked to Victoria markets
• cooked and eaten hand-made ravioli
• walked the whole of Lonsdale Street
• done some outlet shopping
• walked to trains/ trams
• caught a train filled with Collingwood supporter with full face-paint and very large flags
• walked back to the Fitzroy gardens around a massive crowd waiting for the Grand Final Parade
• eaten lunch with some lovely bloggers

and after all of that walking???My right hip and I had a disagreement and I spent almost a day and a half in bed/ on the couch taking panadol and reading two trashy novels.

Tomorrow we’ll be off again walking around the city – perhaps just a little slower than before.

One Happy Kid

Pip has been saving his money for almost two years to buy himself a new electric guitar. He has not spent his birthday or Christmas funds and you should never under-estimate the change from a weekly lunch at school as a source of income.

There’s only one shop in Townsville where he might have spent this money, but when he went in there the salesperson was less than helpful and the range so small and the prices so high that he left without spending a cent.

Yesterday we visited a music store here in Melbourne. One with more guitars in more shapes and colours than we could even imagine. Pip knew exactly what he wanted. He asked, test-played and was happy. But… when we asked for a hard case in order to bring it home on the plane there were none. The salesperson didn’t want us to leave and offered us the next level of guitar. It came with a free hard case, but a hefty increase in price. To compensate for the extra cash required he gave us a huge discount.

How could Pip say no to that?

He’s one happy kid.

Dumplings for Dinner

Tram rides,

St Kilda,

Market stalls,

Autumn trees,

Museums,

and dumplings for dinner.

We’ve covered a lot of ground in the past two days.

City Walk

Today on our first day in Melbourne we walked more than just a kilometre or two around the city. It’s a great city for walking, even though the air was chilling our noses with every breath!

The day was quite grey and cloudy, but as we walked along near the College of Surgeons Pip urgently asked to stop. He had noticed that a break in the clouds had caused a shaft of sunlight to shine down upon these buildings…

and he desperately wanted to take a photo.

Later he found it incredible that a shopping centre was built around a building…

and again had to stop for a photo.

Man, I adore this kid and his sensitive soul. The whole world is a source of wonder to him.

Just as life should be…

Flying South

I was going to take a photo of our bags all packed and standing by the door, but I’ve already packed my camera.

In just a few minutes a taxi will arrive to take us to the airport and just before midnight we’ll land in Melbourne for a two week holiday. Pip is excited as this is his first trip away in three years that does not involve sugery.

Earlier this week I had my credit card cancelled due to my details being stolen and used fraudulently. Thankfully my Pete has been able to arrange for a new credit card to wait for us in Melbourne. Imagine holidaying without your money!

Ashy is receiving final instructions about the dishwasher and when to put the bin out, as she won’t be holidaying with us, although she does plan to spend a few days in Melbourne next week. She has other stuff to do while she is there, but we’ll see her on one of the days she’s there.

We’ve charged up our wireless internet and packed the laptop, so I’ll be back in a couple of days from chilly Melbourne. (hopefully with money…)

Spring’s Sweet Sonata

I gave you a sneaky look at the back of this quilt quite some time ago.

Today I can show you the front. AND I can show it to you on the front cover of the Quilters Companion magazine issue no 45.

It’s so lovely I’m going to show you again!

This quilt is called Spring’s Sweet Sonata and made of the most beautiful fabrics. This range is called Verna and was designed by the very clever Kate Spain. The colours are so clean and fresh. I was very pleased when I found out it would be published in the September issue because it gave me the opportunity to give the quilt a name which reflects  the colours of the fabrics and the feeling that this season gives me.

The whole quilt is covered in fantastic feathers. I love these too!

Can you see them all?

Let me give you a better look.

If you want to see more photos then you should pop by the Peppermint Patch Quilts facebook page.

Now… I’m off to lie on the couch and read a magazine.

Exhibition

I was naughty and I did just sneak some very exciting news into the middle of a dot point post.

I am indeed going to have an exhibition of the quilts that I have made in 2010. It will be held at Pompom Rouge in Townsville and it will open on the 19th of November. In the following week I will be teaching some classes there, including a new quilt which we have discussed, planned, but I have not made.

In keeping with a peppermint theme we are going to serve peppermint tea, peppermint slice, choc-mint macaroons and other pepperminty treats. Do you have a favourite peppermint treat? Let me know so we can add it to our smorgasbord. I need more peppermint recipes!

I know I said that I should make at least seven more quilts before that date. My inner superwoman believes I can manage that, in reality it is highly unlikely.

I did just finish this one, though…

but, alas, I can’t show you. It is to be posted to Sydney tomorrow to be published at a later date in Quilters Companion magazine.

A Few Points…

of various importance.

• last night it was still 25 degrees Celcius when we went to bed. Winter is officially OVER!
• the adjudicator at the Eisteddfod rang the bell in middle of Pip’s guitar ensemble performance, claiming that he couldn’t hear and asking them to play a little louder.
• Pip’s ensemble group did not win their section in the Eisteddfod.
• I have begun organising an exhibition of my quilts to be held later this year
• of course I believe that I need to make at least seven more quilts prior to my exhibitition
• I have not been to bed before midnight for two weeks due to self-imposed deadlines
• someone left the fridge door ajar last night
• someone caused the toilet to leak
• Pip is the only one of our children at home so all things are his fault
• we have begun to pack our bags for a two week holiday in Melbourne
• five more sleeps until we catch our flight south
• Pip has decided that he would like to buy a guitar while we are away
• I am making chicken thigh fillets cooked in orange juice and wholeseed mustard for dinner
• one of the oranges that I juiced yielded almost 200ml of juice

That’s a whole lot of juice!