Monday 24 March 2014

A big catch up

I've been home from Western Australia just over a week and have spent a huge amount of that time out in the garden pruning, digging and planning.  Before I get into regular blogging again, here is a little of what I did while I was away in both Adelaide visiting my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and visiting Mum and my brother at the farm in Western Australia.

To say I had a wonderful time in Adelaide would be a understatement.  Here are a few snippets of my time there.

Visiting Christies Beach.



One day we took a drive out to the McLaren Vale winery region.  The scenery was beautiful and we enjoyed a lunch platter of delicious produce local to the area.



Some of the gardens at the winery.

Out walking one day we were fortunate to see these two dolphins frolicking.


Lunching with this view of the ocean was a wonderful treat.


 The three days spent in Adelaide went by very quickly and then it was off to Western Australia to visit my Mum.  One of the first things I did was help out my brother with some sheep work.  Here is Jessie rounding up a mob of 8 month old lambs that needed to be drenched and vaccinated.



Farm work is not a glamorous business so its old trousers and one of Dad's old shirts to keep me covered from the sun.  Eric's doing the drenching and I'm vaccinating.
After the sheep work was done, I went to see my nephews little kitten he rescued when it was only just over a week old.  Here is "Scramble" still with blue eyes.  Isn't he sweet?!


 Driving back to Mum's house we came across this Sand Monitor in the middle of the road.  Eric was quite close to it and was able to very gently touch its tail but after the second touch, he/she took off rather speedily over to a tree.




Beautiful Bonnie, Eric's other sheepdog of sorts.

A farmer's got to have his hobbies, right?!  This is one of Eric's, flying model aeroplanes.

My lovely Mummy and me having a girls day out in one of the local towns.
 The farmer was having a birthday within days of me leaving to come back to Victoria so he got his present in early.  Brown paper from packaging, string and rusty bolts and a washer found around the farm shed made for excellent masculine gift wrapping.  Everything recycled or to be recycled.  Love it.



 The farmer doesn't only grow grain and raise sheep, he grows grapes as well.  These Crimson grapes are the best I've every tasted.  They're organic, they were sweet and crunchy just how grapes should be.



Galahs on a silo, silly things kept sliding off.

Galahs and a lonesome crow.  They were very noisy.
 
One of the things I enjoy doing for Mum is gardening and she asked me to prop up this old bike and pop a few plants into the basket which incidentally is an old freezer basket I found lying around.  It's always a challenge gardening on the farm with extreme heat in summer and frosts in winter.  There is always an abundance of dry grass in summer and hoses nearby for the never ending watering.


So it's back into gardening at home in Victoria, trying to make the most of the cooler weather and more stable temperatures.  Time for pruning, digging out and dividing or discarding plants.  Also time for trying out some new recipes and maybe I'll find some time to get up into the studio.


10 comments:

  1. You've been busy. What delightful pictures. I bet you are glad to be back home now and able to play in your studio.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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  2. Sounds like you had a very wonderful trip visiting family. The girls loved seeing all those sheep and the sand monitor. Very cool! Have fun enjoying your cooler weather. :)

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  3. It looks and sounds like you had a fabulous time away. All that blue sky and sea ... breathtaking! I don't envy you the Australian heat but I wouldn't mind visiting some of your country's glorious coastline :)

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  4. Great catch-up Anne. Good to see you have been having such a nice time with your family. What a lovely beach that is in SA.
    Good too, to see your Mum looking so well.
    Now get into that studio and get to work girl, I can't wait to see what you come up with.

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  5. A beautiful collection of photos. Christies Beach looks lovely and I enjoyed the farm photos too. Some great wildlife moments - I'm glad you've had a good few weeks.

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  6. Look like you have a had a lovely time.

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  7. Looks like a good time was enjoyed by all Anne. Your mum looks well, I'm sure she was very happy to have you stay a while. Lovely photos again, the coast looks great too. Good idea for the bike, I think we have one lying around somewhere too. cheers Wendy

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  8. Sounds like you had a fantastic time.. Love all the photos.. Your nephews kitten is just adorable.
    And how lovely to see the dolphins out on your walk :o) x

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  9. Hello Anne, I found you via Connie, at Crafty Home Cottage! What a fascinating trip you have had, and so beautifully photographed. Bye for now, Jane.

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