Winter quilt

June, and it's really winter now.

 After walking through the park on a dark and frosty morning, I'm thinking of sewing a dark winter quilt with icy glints.
(click on these photos - they will look better)

This image I took of the park made me think of a woven textile, a tapestry.  I got excited and found some fabrics to make a quilt of the same  mood.

with some frosty glitter.

Maybe oak leaf quilting

A quilt with lots of reds and browns and greys and shadowy blues.

I have five quilts just about finished, three more cut and partly pieced, two that are tempting piles of material - what is one more in the queue?

Winter energy

I hibernate through the hot months and start wanting to make things as the weather gets cooler.

 I found some interesting materials over summer, washed and sorted them and now, of course, I have to include them in various quilts.

Last night I got out the unfinished quilts (all of them) and began to get organised.

Greenhouse dog

It's getting cold here, winter is just around the corner and the dog needs a daytime shelter.

I set up my old, placcy greenhouse,strengthened with duct tape, wedged in between the fence and the wheelie bin.
It's windproof and rainproof with visibility all round.

I had to sit in it awhile with Mr Pip before he decided it was acceptable.

(Yes, it was a tight squeeze)

Don't be fooled by that look, Mr Pip loves his greenhouse.

the lake at autumn's end

Lake Wendouree was a pearly shell of bright water and reflected clouds, when we walked around it this evening.

Click on the photos for a full view

Then, just as the sun went down, everything glowed orange and gold.

The dog almost caught a rabbit and he almost caught a duck (he was on a leash), and swaggered home content.

Carousel

I worked  over Heritage Weekend, talking to people about finding things in archives and  having quite a good time. I heard lots of stories.
Going out for a beath of chilly air, I saw this magical carousel, too small for me, sadly.

I found groceries I haven't seen since I was a kid on the shelves of the Sebastopol Historical Society's stall.

I got some free fantails (middle jar, front row) from the kindly stall holders.
I have to say, as a snowball fan, those snowballs front right are the coarser, hard-shelled kind. I like these best.

The Ballarat library collected lolly stories and childhood memories from everyone. 

Catch them on the library's website, and other cyber places.

(With thanks and apologies to Joni Mitchell) 

...and the seasons, they go round and round, 

and the painted ponies go up and down,

we're captives on the carousel of time....

Long walk

All right, we'll go for a LONG walk.

Around the glittery lake first

past the old paddleboat - which I've never ridden on.

That's 3 kilometres.

Then 1 km to the park. Shall we take the long way home?

Parts of the park are still glowing.

parts are in shadow.

Slashes of sunlight through the last avenue along Sturt Street.

Almost home.

Generic dog

After a very short while the hole that Paddy & Kitty left in our lives grew too big to live with.

 I went down to the RSPCA a few times and found Mr Pip aka Pippy. He'd spent a couple of months in the adoption pens there as he's six, and while a lovely bloke, is not a spectacular dog. 

In fact, if these signs posted around our local lake are any guide, he is the generic dog.

 This is our Mr Pip.

He has obviously come from a loving home as he is a smart, gentle and trusting dog, used to rides in the car and living with people.

 

  He's still settling in and we are just getting used to each other, so I walk him on a'gentle leader' and am working on a suitable walking style with him. 

It's so lovely to have an energetic  dog to walk with. We've been on 3, 4 5 km walks most days.

He likes to have a rug outside. He carts it off with him to each new spot in the yard, drops it and sits on it.