Sunday, August 21, 2016

Flying away.....

A couple of weeks ago I engineered a little break from work and flew to Victoria to meet up with friends and have a little retail therapy in a couple of quilt shops.......well, someone has to do it!  It was an early start with a 6am flight.....dark on the ground.....



 ...but a flying into a beautiful sunrise once we got into the air......


First stop was Cutting Cloth at Fairfield....I met Alison (aka Cardygirl) and her hubby there and the fun began.....too busy taking in the fabulous array of fabrics to take many photos..it was hard to focus!  The next stop (after lunch!) was Amitie where we whiled away the rest of the afternoon as we were fortunate to catch Jen Kingwell in the house!  A great afternoon!

Cardy doing a spot of shopping......


Stitching friends are amazing and we stayed with Sue and her family....the evening was spent with more friends who came to dinner and stayed for some stitching afterwards..

The next morning we left Melbourne and drove to the Mornington Peninsula...to visit Emma at Treehouse Textiles and stay with Cathy her hubby and Millie the Groodle.....stopping on the way for a very quick photo at Frankston...it was freezing!  


A quick stop at Treehouse before heading to Cathy's further down the Peninsula....to whet our appetite for the next day when we planned to spend most of the day at the shop!




Lunch at The Rocks.....best fish and chips I have ever eaten....and not a bad view either!


The bathing boxes are dotted along the beaches and we stopped off to see a few on the way......one was for sale, but I don't think it would be big enough to have a sewing room!




I thought this was an interesting contrast with the mansion on the road above the beach huts.....

Alison and Chris.....rugged up against the cold.....


We were welcomed with open arms by Cathy.....and Alison was loving the stash in Cathy's studio......

 The wood fire was very much appreciated...and here is Millie with the best seat in the house!...

A little later with some stitching and a glass of bubbly by the fire.....bliss!


I was up early the next morning to catch a beautiful sunrise.......




 we spent a fabulous day at Emma's shop....stitching, chatting and maybe even buying a few bits and pieces.....

On the way home we drove up to Arthur's Seat ......stopping half way up for a photo op....


Photo credit to a passing tourist.....


A new chair lift is under construction at the top...with my fear of heights I probably won't be holding my breath to go on it when it's finished.......


All too soon it was time to say goodbye to the Mornington Peninsula (and Millie!)  with Alison and Chris driving up to stay with their daughter for a couple of nights on their way home, and me catching a plan back to Adelaide for work.....

.
..but before catching that plane I caught up with Gail and together we visited the National Gallery to see Making the Australian Quilt 1800 - 1950.....well worth seeing.....make the effort if you in Melbourne in the next couple of months!


It's a large display and these are just a few of the offerings......Auntie Green's quilt C1860....



A hexagon quilt (unknown maker) c1830's.....utilsing/reusing papers .....interesting reading!




Dressing gowns....with a nursery rhyme quilt as the backdrop,,,,


Next stop was the airport and the flight home......

Back in the Barossa to pick Rose up from the kennels.......


....and to see the garden had sprung to life a little bit more while I was away......

.
...... gorgeous green moss/lichen which will no doubt dry off during summer, but for now it's beautiful......

 the wattle is almost in full bloom.....I do love wattle!!



 

....and a couple of parcels to open which had arrived while I was away......

A Liberty pincushion from Ava & Neve ..... love this!!


...and a lovely gift from Jan who sent a gift for Lenny and a cute magnet pin bowl for me....the gift has gone to Mark and Terri so I still don't know what was in it!  I will post a pic when I have one!  Thanks Jan......a lovely thought!



Most evenings last week I was in bed super early to catch up on lost sleep from the trip, but I did manage a finish from one of the patterns I bought .....a super cute turtle - I can see more of these in my future!....


I think that's about it!  a flying visit where we packed as much fun as we could possibly manage - time spent with good friends is never really long enough, but it's always wonderful to see them!  

'til next time....................Lorraine

10 comments:

QUILTING IS BLISSFUL, DI said...

Oh wow--what a wonderful trip you had--what lovely friends you have made on the internet and all those shops to shop in--I think I would of went crazy!!!
and I love the sunrises==thanks for sharing your trip with me--
love and laughter, di

Kath said...

So many lovely photos Lorraine, thanks for sharing. I particularly enjoyed seeing your clamshells, the dresden plates and the old hexagons.

Susan said...

I know how good your trip was, as mine was very similar. Even the same motorbike was parked outside the gallery! I loved those old hexagon papers too, so much more interesting than plain white papers of today.

Anita said...

What a wonderful way to spend a few days!!

Unknown said...

A lovely few days spent in Melbourne. I saw the Making of the Australian Quilt yesterday, I have to say I was totally in awe of some of them. Actually all of them,how did those women aboard convict ships produce such works of art? My friends and I spent just over three hours in there before we realised the time and left to find somewhere for a late lunch. I will be talking about this exhibit for many weeks to come. Regards Wendy

Lynda said...

Wow! What a fantastic couple of days away.

Anonymous said...

Hi Loz wow what a wonderful trip you had,thankyou for sharing your wonderful pics ,were you tempted with buying while in Victoria xx

Suzanne said...

I so enjoy all your wonderful photos! Thank you for sharing your adventures with all of us.

Summer said...

Meeting up with friends and retail therapy sounds so nice ♥

summerdaisycottage.blogspot.com

Blogger said...

As claimed by Stanford Medical, It's really the SINGLE reason this country's women get to live 10 years more and weigh on average 42 lbs less than we do.

(And actually, it is not related to genetics or some secret diet and absolutely EVERYTHING related to "how" they eat.)

BTW, What I said is "HOW", and not "WHAT"...

TAP on this link to see if this short quiz can help you discover your true weight loss possibilities