This and that

It is 10:30pm, and I've been scared out of the kitchen by two LARGE spiders! I don't mind spiders in their place, that is, outside, but inside, THEY'RE DEAD! So I got a spray against creepy crawlies and applied a deadly dose, but do you think they would just curl up and die? They just keep marching on. Meanwhile, the husband is snoring away and Sherman is no use either. I've barricaded myself in the guest room, and might as well post something.
Here's a little lady brush bronzewing; she and her husband have been hanging out at our place 

the last few weeks. Cute birds.
I got the camera out and took a few photos of stuff in the yard. I love patterns and colours, so the aggies and fence remnants gave me inspiration.  My neighbour scratched his head when he saw what I was doing, so I yelled to him "It's arty-farty!" He just rolled his eyes...
I had a finish this week, the crochet baby blanket, a secret project to take to Canada. I so loved crocheting this - NOT the tidying up of the danglies though.
The weather was so nice this week, we thought we'd go for a drive. Daylesford and Hepburn Springs were the destinations, always a fine

 drive. Captured the Lake from another angle, and the italianate villa in Hepburn with its Mediterranean gardens is always worth a photo or two. We stopped for lunch at the Himalayan bakery and I had a yummy curry pastie with a fresh salad. Wayne was impressed with his turkey and cranberry sandwich. Loved visiting the gallery next to the bookshop in Daylesford, they had some fantastic pieces by Mats Jonasson, a glass sculptor. Must visit their larger gallery on the other side of Daylesford next time.

Mixed bag

March is moving right along; I feel like Mr. Rabbit - "I'm late! I'm a late!"
No rain still, but a lovely sunset the other day. The sky was on fire! The kangaroos are also enjoying the late summer days, had around 15 here the other evening, including 3 large males and a couple of joeys in the pouch. They observe us as much as we observe them.
I drink a lot of soda water but was getting sick of all the plastic waste, so I invested in a Sodastream machine. It makes perfectly good bubbly water in seconds and uses tap water. I flavour it with pure lemon juice, which is my drink of

choice, and the CO2 bottle can be re-filled and exchanged. Now, what other plastics can I get rid of?! When you look around, there's WAY too much plastic in the household. I'm also thinking of getting a Bokashi tub, but not sure what to do with the compost; might give it to the neighbour.
On Sunday, I had Marg, Tracee, and Sue here, showing them how to make a Ricky Timms quilt. The one in the photo is mine; if you want to see more, go over to "Kiwikids" blog. Next step is to put the borders on, then to quilt it. Great fun, and I loved how each one was just amazing!

On Tuesday, some of us went to Ballan for sit n sew. We had a lovely day, and the credit card got an airing too! I fell in love with the bear fabric, and plan to make a bag with it and the dotty fabric.
The multi-coloured fabric will go perfectly with an African quilt that's in the planning stage. It's scrumptious! No idea what I'll do with the magenta fabric, I just had to have it!  I have a picture of something with silver grey in my mind...
And of course, a few KF fabrics had to come home with me. Given the entire WALL of Kaffe fabric at Ballan, I was very restrained....

March musings

 I'm quite excited about our new paving/landscaping! It all happened last week, and the guys did a great job. Now we can walk around the house without having to watch our step, and it all looks very neat. I've planted herb seedlings and sown radicchio seeds in the planter box, and DH is in the process of planting a variety of shrubby things in the low garden bed. the centre piece is a 'Pierre de Ronsard' rose given to me by a friend last Christmas. It's a lovely rose, pink, apricot, cream in various stages of flowering, and it smells divine! Looking at the studio wall, I've just had an inspiration - it's a great spot for a barn quilt! Hmm...

 On another floral note, this was block No. 12 of my Kim McLean quilt. I'm finishing about one block a week, so I have about 12 more weeks to go. But I'll have to get a move on some other sewing, to get ready for Canada. Secret projects!

Finally, we had a gorgeous big full moon this week, and I managed to capture it with my little camera. Not bad for a hand held shot I think.