Wonga

Hi everyone

Sorry, its been so very long between posts, but grandchildren are time consuming and so entertaining.

And I have three now :-)

Just popped in to share a new pattern from me

With my eldest granddaughter modelled and selfie :-)

This pattern reminded me of a vine growing with little flowers.

So I named it after an Australian plant - Wonga Wonga Vine

It is available in my Ravelry Store (see sidebar link) and my Etsy Store too (also on sidebar)

Hope you are all enjoying your children and grandchildren as much as I am :-)

Almost Wordless Weekend

 

Hunter Valley Chocolates

which is right in front of Petersens Wines (Champagne of course)

Accommodation - The Carriages

Wildlife

Choir Boys

Thirsty Merc

Meatloaf

(from the big screens)

By the time Meatloaf came on stage it was dark and very, very wet - as in the rain had set in

So my poor little camera had a very hard time taking this shot (the best of about 20!)

Hobart, Tasmania

Hi everyone

Well I did say that I would share some thoughts and photos of my trip,
and so I start ......

This post may seem disjointed as I will be writing this in bits and pieces

Now, you should all know that this has completed a long held Bucket List wish

I have now visited every state and territory in Australia

Some only very briefly and one teeny bit of the state/territory

Others are repeated visits and much more extensive

Now while Tasmania has patiently waited for a visit from me, I have found that I have a very large and strong connection with this beautiful little state.

My family history research has turned up quite a lot of my ancestors from here.

So on my trip to Hobart, we spent a lot of time just looking and feeling the atmosphere

I know there are many things now that my ancestors would never have seen

But as Hobart has kept a large amount of their old buildings and historical attractions, I got a glimpse of what it may have looked and felt like

View from Derwent River and hidden in the clouds is Mt Wellington

 

Just to document my direct ancestors who started their families in Tasmania.

1.  Thomas DRISCOLL - Convict, arrived in Tasmania in 1852 from Cork, Ireland ; almost immediately became a Policeman in the Colony ; had two wives and a total of 22 children!!!! (g-g-g-grandfather)
2. Mary LEARY/O'LEARY - Came free to Tasmania from Ireland ; wife of above ; had 13 children (g-g-g-grandmother)
3. John CHEW - Convict, arrived in Tasmania in 1848 from Somerset, England (g-g-g-grandfather)
4. Ellen QUILL - Convict, arrived in Tasmania in 1851 from Limerick, Ireland ; wife of John CHEW (g-g-g-grandmother)
5. Mary QUILL - Convict, arrived in Tasmania in 1851 from Limerick, Ireland ; sister of Ellen QUILL (g-g-g-grandaunt)
6. David RADLEY - Convict, arrived in Tasmania in 1845 from Essex, England (g-g-g-grandfather)
7. Emma Jane ROBINS - Born in Tasmania in 1837. Wife of David RADLEY.  Details are sketchy on exactly when her parents, William & Jane ROBINS (g-g-g-g-grandparents), arrived in Tasmania (c1833), but they were in Victoria c1840 (g-g-g-grandmother)
8. John VICTORSEN - Came free to Tasmania from Germany via England (g-g-g-granduncle)

View from Mt Wellington of Hobart & north on a beautifully clear day

Cotton......... Dreams........

Hi everyone

While there has been lots of knitting going on lately, mainly for charities, my fingers have been crying out to do some crochet.

I have the yarn - Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply Cotton,  purchased gradually over 6 months

I had an idea of what I wanted it to turn into.

But I am a pattern follower, a bit of one I liked, a bit of another, and another.

Then I was not too sure about the colours I chose, it was limited, and not quite what I had in mind.

Then I kept thinking of what else I could make with this beautifully soft cotton

Round, and round, and round, I have been going for this 6 months

Until the urge became so strong, I just had to crochet

Stick with the original idea of bits of this and that

This is only the first part of the process and I don't like working it this way - Normally

But its great this time

This is turning out to be a 'different' project for me

Just in the way the process is working

You can also see in glimpse in the photo of a small knitting project, a pair of Pocketbook Slippers for a charity.

And another Kate Morton book (do you remember this one, The Forgotten Garden), only started it yesterday and I'm almost half way.  I love her style.  I love it so much, I went and got the hardcover of her latest "The Distant Hours".  I was hanging out till next month to get it in paperback, but when it was so cheap, as much as normal paperbacks, how could I resist

Back when I was younger, I always bought hardcovers of my favourite books. They keep much better than paperbacks, and I am always careful with books.

Now to the dreams

I have been sleeping very, very, very badly lately and last night, after hours of tossing and turning, I had a mixed up dream of a PS3 Assasins Creed Brotherhood style game

BUT

it involved crochet and knitting, projects and puzzles

I woke up with a grin on my face

Wish I could remember it, maybe I could have patented it and made a fortune

By the time you are reading this, a very long held dream of mine will be coming true.

I will have visited every state and territory, even if only briefly, on mainland Australia!!!!

Much like some of my ancestors

But that's another entirely different post

I will be in the wonderful state of Tasmania - Hobart mainly!!!!

BTW - Happy Easter and a thoughtful Anzac Day

Crochet, Knitting and ...

Hi everyone

I have been very busy over the last week or so researching a surprise genalogy project for a friend.  I finally got it into a book format and printed and gifted to him last weekend.  He was very surprised and very appreciative too - surprised me with a some bottles of wine to say thank you ☺

So what did I do last weekend, other than surprise a friend?

Well hubby's cricket team made it to the semi-finals, so that means two days of cricket, not one

So on the first day, this was made

details here from a blog I have been reading Le Monde de Sucrette  - check out her rainbow poncho's - beautiful

and on the second day, this

details here

Both items are going to an up-coming charity for this month, NSW Women's Refuges

And then I got a surprise

Something on my Bucket List, not high priority, 'just a would like one day' kinda of one

But, oh what a very nice kinda of one

I got to ride in this

A Ford Mustang!!!

A favourite car of mine from w-w-a-a-y-y back ☺☺

And yes, it is left-hand drive

And so what is planned for this weekend?

Well, hubby's team won the Semi-Finals, so that means another weekend (two days) of cricket.

Better go looking for a few patterns and yarns to while away the hours ☺

Dogs

Hi everyone

A spur of the moment decision by hubby found us travelling to Sydney late Saturday afternoon.

We met up with a his work colleague and wife for dinner at Diethnes.

This restaurant is his work colleagues favourite restaurant and we found out why.

Great old fashion atmosphere, fantastic meals and excellent service.

We will definitely be returning for more wonderful meals.

And then on we went to .........

Sorry no photos, it was that spur of the moment.

What an amazing show!!!!

6 Fantastic Fit Male Dancers!!!!!!!

2 Amazing Female Drummer's!!!

A totally sexy, funny, energetic, fantastic entertainment experience

Now I really want to know - why do not the male counterparts that I know do more with basic tools???

Ladder, Grinder and Metal Apparatus

Life would be filled with laughter and awe if more could be seen

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend

P.S. Finally had a very tiny break in the heat and humidity - well ok it was only temporary, its scaling straight back up

Scarf in Late Spring!!!!

What am I doing???????

Just a little something I whipped up.

It's been on my "one-day" list for a while

I wanted to see how this yarn knit up - not much better to knit up than to crochet cause of its splittiness.  But it is lovely soft and silky - darn

And this is a very quick project - only took me an afternoon

Pattern link here for the Bow Knot Scarf

Made with Patons Smoothie DK and 4.5mm needles

Centre bit is 46cm/18in

Used 46g/92m

So wonderful one ball project

As I wanted something loose around the neck - I really HATE anything firm around my neck.

So I am able to just lightly stretch this over my head and it sits a bit below the neck, just a little

I have a lot of trouble wearing scarves

Love the way people are able to wear them as accessories etc - just not me

But this is something I could wear

No fiddling or adjusting

But as I really don't like the colour, its not for me

But this will be great for my charity knitting

P.S. - there is a big project I am working on at the moment, but I want to see it completed before I share with you all.

And I'm off to Brisbane next week

Hubby's adding another notch to his Bucket List - Watching Cricket Test Match in every capital city in Australia

Last Friday night ....

Hi everyone

Well I thought you might like to see where I went and what I saw last Friday night.

Travelled to Homebush Bay (Sydney Olympic Park) with D3 to see this

D3's hubby was a cast member,

so we were lucky enough to get free seats.

Warning - this is a stadium, I don't have a super-dooper zoomy camera, a lot of things moved very quickly and it frequently was dark

So here is a glimpse of what went on

The Royal Imperial Guards

A galleon was created out of 4 separate parts complete with slaves and guards

And, of course, chariot races.

Now this was a very hard photo to take

They were moving FAST!!!!

This is an open-air sporting stadium, so lucky for us the storm that was brewing held off till the next day. 

And what am I doing this Friday????

Well, hubby and I are flying to Melbourne for the weekend.

This weekend also happens to be Derby Day at Flemington!!!

So just may have to visit

To attend The Melbourne Cup is on our "Bucket List", but I'm sure we can make-do with The Derby!!

So I'll catch up next week

Aussie Maria's Australia

Hi everyone

This one is a time warpy thing and we are heading way down south to the "The Great Ocean Road"

It was another one on our Bucket List that we were able to strike off.

I am taking you back to the year 2002

Which is when we made a round trip from the Central Coast of NSW, through Western NSW, North-East SA, down to the South and across to Victoria, then back through the Snowys and home - in 2 weeks.  Go, go, go.  Don't remember exact details now

The Great Ocean Road is a 243-kilometre (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I. It is an important tourist attraction in the region, which winds through varying terrain alongside the coast, and provides access to several prominent landmarks; including the nationally significant Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations - courtesy of Wikipedia link

Now unfortunately we did this road in reverse - transversing from South Australia through Victoria to Melbourne, which meant that all the fantastic views through your windscreen were unluckily in our rear-vision mirror!!!  But we did make a few stops

For everyone else this is the start of the road

For us it was the finish

The Twelve Apostles

which by the time we visited were down to about eight or nine

But the title stays ☺

As more are getting created by the ocean and wind

View is from a helicopter flight

And those clouds you see cut short the trip as it closed in very quickly

And you do know the nursery rhyme - London Bridge???

Well down here, part of it did fall down

and now it is called London Arch ☺

You can see a photo of "London Bridge before 1990" here.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_arch 

The arch closest to the shoreline collapsed unexpectedly on 15 January 1990, leaving two tourists stranded on the outer part: they were rescued by a helicopter. Fortunately nobody was injured in the event. Prior to the collapse, the arch was known as London Bridge because of its similarity to its namesake

These photos were taken by an SLR Camera

Which is still in my possesssion

Though unused

Digitals are so much cheaper than printing ALL the photos I now take ☺

Does anyone else have a "Bucket List" or a "One-Day List".

If so I would love to hear about some of them

Aussie Maria's Australian Islands

Around Heron Island, originally uploaded by Aussie Maria.

Hi everyone
If you have been on Flickr you will have seen my recent uploads of a holiday I had in July 2003.

Really wish I could go back now, I really need some of that warmth and relaxation

To get to this beautiful place, for me, it was a flight from Sydney to Brisbane, Brisbane to Gladstone and then we opted for the helicopter ride there, which is about 15-20 minutes, instead of the 2 hour ferry ride.
BTW - Helicopter rider was on my Bucket List

Heron Island is a coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef.
So you are totally surrounded by coral and marine animals which like coral - including reef sharks!!!

The time we were there is the humpback whale migratory season, a few were spotted in the distance, well there spouts were ☺

Heron Island is renown for the turtle's that hatch there, but that was another time of the year.

I will let the photos do the talking ☺

Starfish spotted while reef walking at low tide - no sharks, just booties to protect the feet from the sharp coral

Clams

And just to prove it was me walking out there, not being worried about sharks ☺

Always with a hat & sunnies on ☺

This is our view for the afternoon - cocktails in hand

Watching the sharks and other marine life wander in on the high tide

And after the cocktails ☺

Sunset off the gantry

Boat access blasted through the coral

It wasn't all relaxing, serious work was done on the chess board - and the kids won!!

Bye

Aussie Maria's Australia

First off -

Go RABBITOHS we beat them PANTHERS - YEAH!!!!!

This is a long running friendly feud between my almost-SIL and his favourite NRL team, the Penrith Panthers and my favourite team - South Sydney Rabbitohs.  And we beat them BIG time!!!!

Ok, now down to business

One of the most annoying things I find about the amazing digitial cameras - the fact that you usually don't print them to look at them!!!!.

For a couple of months now I have wanted to share some photos with you, but 3 home moves, 6 computers and 3 digital cameras later, I could not find where they were.  I was sure I saved them.  I know I never printed them.  But where were they?????

Finally found a disc over the weekend that I never look at - it is labelled photos, but nothing else, and yes there they were

So what am I going to show you????

Well it happened in the end of July 2004.  A surprise for a wedding anniversary.

A weekend away in one of our favourite areas of NSW - The Hunter Valley.  I did a post of one trip here

Yes we checked out our favourite wineries and yes the favourite food shops.  But this time hubby had organised something special.

Unfortunately it involved a extremely early start, can't remember exactly what time now, but I can tell you it was pitch black and would be for another 2 hours after we arrived at the destination.  Please remember that this is our winter time and while the Hunter Valley has beautiful spring, summers and autumns, the temperature can drop quite low (well for us anyway :-P) here.

So please don't be surprised at some of the photos and our faces - early hour remember.

We saw this .......

and we got views like this

yes that is sunrise

and a little of The Great Dividing Range

and just to prove it was us ☺

this was just prior to becoming airborne

A Bucket List moment

They like everyone to take part, so you are requested to help with the inflation of the ballon and the packing up at the end of the trip.  Lucky for me I was responsible for the camera, as the balloon looks very heavy.

Inflating the balloon

and packing it up

We then went back to their office/base and had a wonderful breakfast and a glass of champagne to celebrate.

Bye for now

Aussie Maria's Australia

Hi everyone

First off - on the right hand side of my blog you will see a wonderful project link that Mrs Twins has started.  I showed you my squares here.  If your on Flickr, look up Mrs Twins and you can see the blankets she has already put together.  Four of my squares are in the third blanket which has been christened "Alice in Sunshineland", so named for Mrs Twins mother whose favourite colours were purple and green.  One of the participants created the link - Molly is wonderful!  And Karin aan de haak had an idea, which has started a challenge.    The group is very friendly and it is not even a week old, but is snowballing very, very fast.

BTW - SIBOL is an acronymn for "Sunshine International Blankets of Love" cause they are full of sunshiney colour, the squares have come from around the world, and the blankets are made with love for the elderly.

So if anyone is interested in crocheting 6" sqares for the elderly, please click and join in.

Now back to Australia 

I noticed a advertisement in the Adsense on the right hand side of my blog and I thought that is what I should show you.

Now I have shown you this photo before, not a good one, as its just on nightfall and it was very humid and overcast

I went digging in my photo archives.  You know the old-fashioned ones where you can hold it in your hand, on photo paper and .......

Way, way back in Ancient History ...............

alright then not that far back, only 9 years ago actually my photo of the Bridge (otherwise known as Sydney Harbour Bridge).

It was about this time of year that

I had views of this .....

Yep, thats me n hubby way back when.

We are on the western side of the bridge and behind us is the southern part of the city.

Things you might like to know -

• 
  
  Very fasionable suits - one size fits most
• 
  
  We are all hooked together
• 
  
  You need to have a chainy thing around glasses.
• 
  
  And on that day we all needed sunglasses!!!!
• 
  
  You are given a brief history of Sydney and the Bridge
• 
  
  Can't take camera's in case they are dropped.  They do take photos as souvenirs for yourself and your group.
• 
  
  You get a certificate at the end to commemorate your achievement
• 
  
  Traffic below - cars, buses, trains and boats
• 
  
  You start the on the eastern side, cross to the western side in the middle, then back down the western side.
• 
  
  IT IS STEEP, fitness is an issue (which I had, but I scrambled up)
• 
  
  And the walk is timed, not leisurely.  You do get to stop at certain points for explainations - I used that time too get my breath back.  VERY HARD WORK for me!!!!!
• 
  
  You are 134 metres (146 1/2 yards) above Sydney Harbour
• 
  
  We had views from the Pacific Ocean to the Blue Mountains.
• 
  
  The tour we went on lasted 3 1/2 hours
• 
  
  It was a BLAST !!!

If you get to come to Sydney, you really should put it on your "must-do" or Bucket List.

We did the climb with D2 & D3 and their respective boyfriends.  D1 and her now hubby had already done the climb a little earlier in the year.

And as a footnote, we are finally back to slightly cooler weather.  Luckily we did not cop the rain or storms that QLD & VIC have.  Hope your all 'high n dry' there.

Have a great weekend

Bye for now

Aussie Maria's Australia

Hi everyone
Something I was thinking and churning through my brain over the Christmas break was about having a regular post when I could not think of anything to say or nothing was going on.  I knew it had to be about Australia, especially with my blog name.  Even though the blog name came about for an entirely other reason - with a name like Maria and being dark-haired and skinned, I have repeatedly been asked if I was Italian or Maltese etc - so hence the blog name.

Well I love travelling and my country is fantastic!!!!  I thought that would give me something to write about.  Only do a little travelling now, but over time I have visited every state and territory in Australia -
except, Tasmania - and I so very much want to visit there.  Another one for my Bucket List.  Don't think it will be this year with DD3's wedding under 4 months away.

So I will show you the places I visit now and the places I have visited in the past, so some of the photos may have a distinct retro look   :-)

I have shown you some photos of last years visit to Western Australia, including Perth and Broome.  Now for todays photo ..........

Right in between Xmas and New Year I have a birthday and this is how the morning looked

not typical Australian summer weather

  Hubby organised for us to have a lovely meal and show on Darling Harbour Showboat Cruise

Harbour Bridge with the fireworks mesh setup for New Years

bottom of Harbour Bridge to Opera House

Opera House

and this is how the daylight hours ended on the showboat

My photos of the area at night did not turn out too well - Sorry  :-)

Bye for now