where did August go?

What strange weather we are having. We have had wind, rain and dust storms, and the month ended with the hottest August day for many years, but it is back to cold and rainy today with gale force winds.
The time seems to have flown since I returned from Tasmania, and I have done quite a bit of stitching. Part of this was at the always friendly and relaxing, annual retreat, for the 'Material Girls' at Mannum on the River Murray. Once again we stayed in the Caravan Park Bunkhouse,

 

and hardly noticed the wild, windy and rainy weather on a couple of days. Otherwise the days were bright and sunny and the river looked splendid.

There is no bridge - traffic crosses the  river by the 2 ferries.

 

The old paddle steamer the 'Marion' is berthed near by. It takes cruises and functions.

 

The water level was quite high - a much better sight than in the following photo, the same view as the last, but taken in drought time in 2008. Then the lagoon was a sea of deeply cracked mud, and mooring points along the river were way out of the water in many places.

The bird chorus each morning (and much of the day) was wonderful. A recording would have been good - I did get this galah

and by the river's edge I watched 8 pelicans do their morning grooming.

 

 Thought the two headed creatures in this one a bit amusing - actually the centre one is 3 birds.

 

I did quite a bit of stitching - 2 table runners for a Threads group project for a local aged care facility,

some piecing and planning for a quilt to use a large bundle of coordinated fabric that I won a while back,

and some more embroidery on my one major unfinished work - a crazy quilt started about 25 years ago! It only has 25 blocks - I'll get there one day. I have about 7 blocks to complete, but each time I look at the 'finished' oness, I think I should have done more work on them... Still much to do on       these.

Between stitching we checked out the craft market and local shops, and enjoyed a great meal (no room after main course for a dessert!) at the Mannum Hotel.

Following are a couple of photos of the very picturesque town of Strathalbyn that passed through on the way to Mannum.This Norfolk Island pine has not recovered after being stripped by cockatoos

 

 

 Since then I have made some journal covers after a session at Threads group

 

and been working on a project with lace and paper. This is a couple of pieces.

 

It will be some time before this work is finished (especially as I havent quite figured out how I put it all together)

Out and about I enjoyed going to Adelaide Oval for a football match (even though my team lost!) and took these photos as I crossed the footbridge to the station with thousands of other folk after the match.

 

 

And a bit of the natural world - part of a splendid bird's egg,fallen from a tree

  flowers on a small conifer, 

 

 a fungus (?) in a lawn,

 and cheeky sparrows inside a restaurant!

They come in and out under the door, through a gap of about 2 inches/5cm at full flight!

That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by.

more from Tarraleah

 I'll digress and begin with a few photos I took walking around Hobart whilst waiting to be picked up.

 

 Not sure of the meaning of this sign!

 The Antarctic vessel in port

 

 Entranceways

 Decoration on the gatepost

 

 Colour in the puddle and a plant (albeit a weed) struggling through the pavement

 

 

Back to Tarraleah - the  cottages

 The Great hall and highlander Pub

 

 Reception

 Hydro display

 ... and cottages

 The lake (dull and rainy that day)

 I  walked to Tarraleah Falls, (about 1 hour there and back)

 If you are lucky, you can see lyrebirds on this walk. I heard them but didn't see tham.

 

The pipes descending to the Tarraleah Power Station, from the Lookout beside the Tarraleah Lodge and Edge Function Centre, and at the start of the walk to the falls

 Around the gardens - evidence of days gone by, and some winter colour

 

 

 

 

 

 A very large and dense pine or fir tree. I've never seen anything like it before.

 

 A native parrot atop a tree fern

 and kookaburra outside my window

And the geese again  - this one hissing and showing me its teeth!

 

 Top view of a duck! I was trying to capture the pattern of the feathers, and the brilliant turquoise/ green in the sunlight

I had a few hours away looking at some of the local forests, lakes, canals and pipelines of the hydro scheme, some of it under snow, and with all the rivers rushing and/or flooding

 This power station overflow is a white water rafting course for national and international events

 The cairn beside the lake marks the geographical 'centre' of Tasmania

 

 A highlight for me was seeing this original wooden pipeline. Made of King Billy pine with metal tension bands it extended for about 6 km. Some has been replaced but there is still a good deal there -

 with occasional leaks spurting out

 and grass, moss and even trees growing here and there.

 Logging of planted eucalypts for paper

And the Tarraleah Power Station - at the bottom of the pipes

That's it. Now I am looking forward to seeing it all in the summer.

I did some stitching while I was there - I made 6 chef's aprons and a table runner for a cupboard in one of the cottages, but I didn't touch the embroidery I took.