lots of limes to come

No stitching to report at the moment. I can put up pictures of the last couple of projects when our exhibition starts in a few days. I haven't added anything to my reading list for a while - and I have still been managing to read a bit. Belonging to a book group means at least one a month, but it is often more like one a week. So while I add a couple of books to the list, I couldn't resist a couple of photos...

In the garden

 The current crop of limes was good, but if they don't all fall off, the next crop will be huge!

Probably too small to see, but the tiny spider sailed pat me on his web on the wind and landed on this Japanese bamboo leaf

So delicate blossom on the boysenberry. There aren't many yet - it is not looking as fruitful as the lime

A fun 'visitor' I received for my birthday a while back.

 A vibrant and beautifully formed calendula

We went to the Aviation Museum at Port Adelaide some days back. That was very interesting. It is well worth a visit. I didn't take photos there, but I did as we passed the SA Maritime Museum

 This fine mosaic bench has a map of the early Port Adelaide settlement

and while we were watching some very busy and determined bees enter a hole in the kerb I turned and saw this on a nearby post. By the weathering it has been up a while. Coincidence, or had someone else seen bees there?

 

And some street gums - beautiful patterns and textures on the trunk,  

 and interesting patterns of light and shade on the wall.

So to the books.

update time

I managed to finish the last postcard on time last week, but realised I hadn't put up pictures of the last three. So here they are...
"The visitor" is stencilled (then over stitched).

 "The marigolds" are burnt - a Qantas tablemat. The 'well' burnt and hence fragile ones are under a layer of organza.

"The pathways" are images from magazines rubbed onto packing tape - a simple but quite amazing process

They have been fun to do. Like I find most quilting/textile projects, the hardest bit is the working out what to do. Some of the techniques require the work to be done in stages, but the overall time for a completed project is quite short. I am collecting them up from the other 4 ladies who shared the exercise, ready to display them in the SA Festival of Quilts in a couple of weeks. It is giving me a good chance to really study them all, and to see just how clever we all are!

Here are a couple of time out pictures - beautiful red bottlebrush flowers (callistemon) I spotted at McLaren Vale with a very busy bee in the centre.

 and our fish pond.

 A recent walk on the beach saw this unusual cloud formation

 and a fisherman's catch.

Not quite time out, but while gardening I took this not quite so pretty picture when we emptied the compost bin - a whole lot of obviously healthy and contented slugs! uugggh

I hope the compost gives us a fine crop of vegies too. The apple trees have blossomed, and we're getting a few seedlings in. I picked the first snow pea today from some we planted a couple of weeks ago.

...and in between I am busily finishing my 2 pieces for the exhibition. The schedule is on time, and helped by having a few days off.