Fairs & Markets

It was a big day of spending and walking and supporting and viewing and meeting and sharing and enjoying.

We arrived at the local hall right on 9am which was opening time for the Craft Fair.

The art and craft on display was fabulous. We loved the art work, the sewing, the woodwork, the denim bags, the weaving, the rope craft, the crocheting, the shell art, the metal work, the wind chimes, the hand made cards and … just everything.

I bought 2 x pot holders, 6 x hand made cards, a woven basket that looks like a nest, a hand towel, 2 x rope baskets and set of 4 rope coasters, a bag, a necklace, a timber scissors stand and I ordered a crocheted Viking craft receptacle (I will photograph it when I receive it).

By the time I’d finished spending my money, it was about 9.45am and it was crazy busy in that hall! It was difficult to manoeuvre our way out the door.

We drove to Howard for the Witch’s Market.

I wish we’d known more about this market before we went there. We would have dressed for the occasion! There were witches and warlocks of all ages and shapes and sizes. Their costumes were amazing! So much attention to detail and we sat for a while just watching the parade of passers by.

If it’s on again next year, we will definitely dress up! My imagination is already going crazy.

There was an abundance of crystals in all their forms, candles, jewellery, essential oils, hand painted feathers, painted wands, hand crafted book covers and boxes, hippy rainbow crochet, massage, card readings, guardian angel sketches, lamps, pottery and so much more.

I purchased a massive amethyst crystal point necklace, an even bigger chunk of obsidian encased in silver and hanging on a chunky chain, some essential oil and a crystal + timber lamp. I also had my cards read by a young lady named Delta.

She told me that I was a healer and should be reading others NOT having my cards read. She told me there had been a sudden unexpected end to important relationships this year and even though it was upsetting it was necessary for moving forward and growth.

She suggested that I lead “Art as Therapy” classes. I should write my life story, (which I’m in the middle of right now!) She said there is great physical distance between me and my family - children, grandchildren and siblings.

The next 9 months will be a bit of a roller coaster but things will settle after that.

There was a lot more and I found her quite good. Not amazing, but pretty accurate about most things.

By 11.45am we were in the car on the way home, both feeling exhausted!

We had met new people, drank coffee (still not a fan), said hello to many puppy dogs, found some great craft ideas, wished the Dutch pancakes were GF and spent too much money.

BGWLBH prepared lunch at home, then I made a chicken soup for my sick neighbour and delivered it, I cleaned the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher, found a recipe for dinner, sat with BGWLBH and planned where to plant what in the garden beds, filled another garden bed until our muscles told us to STOP OR ELSE!

I prepared honey and balsamic chicken thighs with roasted potato, pumpkin, zucchini, cauliflower and onion and steamed box choy for dinner, followed by strawberries, whipped vanilla cream and maple toffee crunch for dessert.

We played trivial pursuit after dinner, which I won and at 8.30pm we were all exhausted and headed to bed.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Sunday. I need a day of rest.

Nite all.

I Wanna Play

I got up at 9am.

BGWLBH decided to iron so Adoring Husband and I gave her some of our stuff to do too. Just so you know … she offered … and we gave her about 6 items each.

I ate my tea and toast under the Bali hut.

One of AH’s shirts was covered in some kind of tissue so I had to search for the lint remover, then we found a stain on AH’s good pants so he needed my help to get the stain out.

I then opened six bags of potting mix and barrowed them to the garden beds filling one garden bed almost to the brim.

AH arrived home from his coffee date with our chicken order from the butcher so I made the marinade for tonight’s chicken wings and put them in the fridge to do their thing.

BGWLBH had a request for lunch, so I made some curried egg and avocado tuna mix for lettuce wraps.

After lunch, AH drove into town to purchase a new staple gun because his died and on his way in, he stopped at a plant nursery and ordered a cubic metre of garden soil.

While he was gone, I cut up all our spare cardboard boxes to lay on the bottom of the garden beds. BGWLBH then barrowed the grass clippings and hedge cuttings for the next layer.

I was dead keen on doing some art today but AH phoned to say that the soil would be delivered at 2pm so once again, my art was shelved.

At 2pm the truck dumped the soil as near the gardens as possible and because AH’s back is cactus, I began shovelling the dirt into the wheel barrow, wheeled it to the garden, then shovelled it into the garden. I topped up the garden that I started in the morning and started on the second bed when BGWLBH joined me.

She filled the barrow with soil, AH wheeled it to me and I shovelled it into the garden. AH then wheeled it back to BGWLBH and she would fill the barrow etc etc etc.

When the second garden was filled, I was done. I had just about busted my fufu valve so we decided to stop and continue tomorrow.

Once the gardens are filled, we have to put the mesh on the garden frame covers. 

I planted my sad and sorry butt on the couch and did not move again until dinner time. The chicken was delicious and I was grateful that AH was in charge of this meal.

We played TV trivia until almost 8pm.

AH and I watched some of the girl’s State of Origin game. I think NSW won. The girls play a good tough game and it’s just as entertaining as the mens game, but I was too tired to give it my full attention so to bed I came.

Here I lie planning my outfit for tomorrow. BGWLBH and I will attend the craft fair at the local hall and then drive to Howard for their Witch Markets.

Perhaps I’ll get to do some art in the afternoon.

Right now, I need to sleep.

Nite all.

Success!

BGWLBH and I finally got to see Tin and Timber Home in Torbanlea.

What a gem!

The lady who owns it is from Texas and she has created a beautiful space full of mostly pre-loved treasures which she ships in by the crate from USA.

There is so much to see and was similar to my shop in that you could walk around three times and still find something that you missed the first two times.

She was very welcoming and friendly and obviously loves a chat.

We both made purchases as a show of support and her prices are very reasonable. I bought this turquoise double bed sized duvet to cover Adoring Husband’s new chair. It’s cotton, the perfect size and cost just $32. I also found a colourful rattan basket with a lid which I’ll use to store some of my many paint pens and markers.

We wanted to try the cafe/bakery but sadly, it has closed down. Instead we drove to Howard and found the “My Magickal Mess” shop which is full of crystals, rocks, gems, essential oils, incense, hand made jewellery, smudge sticks, chalices, reading cards, witches hats, candles and all kinds of goodies.

I had a lovely time in there and found a great smudge stick, a chakra wand with matching hand made runes, a clear quartz and silver ring and a little jar of comfrey.

We decided to check out the hardware store in behind supermarket and what a find that was!

I found a lovely planter pot for one of my new ferns and a packet of bamboo stakes for the garden, then on the way out picked up a big punnet of strawberries fresh from the farm. Delicious!

We decided to drive the long way home going through Torbanlea past the race track. It ended up being a scenic route looking at properties and we drove all the way to Nikenbah, then back to Arkarrah Tea Gardens for lunch.

Unfortunately their GF options were all fried in the same oil as non gluten free, so we made the decision to try Goodies at Toogoom instead. That was another miss because all but one of their GF options were seafood, of which BGWLBH is allergic, so our final call was Salty Squid where we enjoyed the biggest bowl of  Cajun chicken with lightly roasted vegetables, guacamole and rice.

It was so nice I bought some dessert to bring home and left a tip.

It was almost 3pm when we arrived home, which was just in time for the gentleman to come pick up a table which he purchased from me in the local marketplace Facebook page.

I walked around my garden to say hello to all of our new thriving fruit and vegetable plants and after I potted the fern, it was time to lay down for a rest.

It’s been a big day and we girls were still full from lunch so I reheated a frozen beef casserole for AH’s dinner and we played a bit of TV trivia before BGWLBH went off to bed. AH and I watched “The Breakfast Club” and it was bed time for us.

The weather has been glorious all day and we girls had a great day out.

Nite all.

Far Too Productive

After a solid eight hours of wonderful deep sleep last night, I woke at 7.30am, bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to get productive.

BGWLBH and I had our usual meeting at the Lions Park with the art girls. Two hours of laughter, gossip and story telling which is always fun. It was quite chilly and I wore knitted leggings with a poncho and boots so I was pretty cozy.

We all went our separate ways at about 11.30am and BGWLBH and I checked for the mail before walking/pedalling home.

It was after 1pm when we sat down to curried egg or tuna avocado lettuce wraps for lunch.

After lunch we began to fill one raised garden bed with layers of cardboard, grass clippings, hedge trimmings, dried leaves etc. We still need some more organic matter like sticks, twigs and leaf matter before adding the soil and then the plants.

We placed the little compost bucket in the middle of the bed and filled it with scraps from the kitchen, so we are on our way.

Next, I planted ‘Petula’, the passionfruit vine against the fence on the western side of the house. I used one of these to dig a decent hole and loosen the soil.

Of course AH had to give me safety lessons on how to use it and not break my wrist. I almost broke my wrist anyway 😳 but tonight there is no residual pain or injury so I survived!

Next was ‘Pawl Pawl’, the pawpaw tree.

Last of all, I got AH to drill some drainage holes in the bottom of a big white plastic tub bucket, layered some pebbles, added garden soil and then potting mix to plant my blueberry bush which I named ‘Fats’ after Fats Domino who sang “Blueberry Hill”.

On the advice of BGWLBH I welcomed them all with a little loving chat so that they know what I expect from them.

There is still much to do in and with the raised garden beds, but we will get there.

I did not wear gloves and it took a few scrubs to get my hands clean, but I don’t mind, because it’s all part of the ‘grounding’ process and it’s very healthy to get your hands dirty - lots of good bacteria to help strengthen the immune system.

I decided to try some textured art.

It’s a lot harder than you think. This stuff is the same texture as pavlova meringue before you cook it so it’s not easy to manipulate. I think I’ll need a LOT of practise before I get this right.

BGWLBH and I drove to the butcher to get some protein for dinner. $43 for 12 little lamb cutlets! $10 for a small tray of green beans (not enough for 3 people) and a small handful of broccolini. Let’s hope our garden starts producing soon!

Dinner was delicious.

It’s been a big day and I’m feeling weary, especially after a nice cup of sleepy tea.

Another horror story from Australia

Nite all.

Did You Notice?

Did you notice how many chemtrails criss crossed the sky this morning?

We noticed how many were over Torbanlea and Howard yesterday, but there were many more over us today. It began with six but by 11am I couldn’t even count them and the trails spread so that they all joined up and the entire sky was just a soft white haze.

We are not situated under the flight path of a busy airport, besides, plane contrails don’t fill the sky, they trail behind a plane for a certain distance and then disappear.

I’m not even going to start on the subject of geo-engineering weather.

I was up and out of bed before 9am with big intentions of paint pouring this white table …

but the minute I walked into the kitchen, every ounce of energy drained out of me.

I took my tea and toast out to the Bali hut and promptly fell asleep after I’d finished breakfast. The only reason I woke was because Adoring Husband came to say goodbye before he drove into The Bay.

I decided to try my magic drink formula that is supposed to help me FOCUS-CREATE-ACHIEVE.

It worked for about 2 hours.

I moved more art gear from my old art room to the new space and found homes for everything.

I cleaned and reorganised a couple of the cube drawers in the cabinet.

I wanted to do some art so I watched a few YouTube videos hoping to find some inspiration, but my magic drink was wearing off so I went bed instead.

This is how my art space is looking so far. It’s not finished but it IS usable.

Adoring Husband returned home at 1.30pm and surprised me with a bunch of my favourite flowers …

I made rissoles with purple sweet potato mash (mixed with cooked bacon, onion and cheese), snow peas and beans on the side and a mushroom gravy for dinner.

BGWLBH bought some naughty food today which meant we could have Weiss Bars for dessert.

We played a couple of games of Sequence before Big Brother started.

Now it’s almost 11pm so sleep time for me.

Nite all.

Monday is Stoopid

BGWLBH and I started the day with a plan.

There are two shops in Torbanlea that we wanted to visit, followed by lotto tickets in Howard and a drive to the cemetery for photography and rock collecting opportunities.

A few years ago, we drove that way and found fairy wrens which I photographed and BGWLBH received a rock tumbler for her birthday so we’re looking for natural areas close by where we can collect rocks for tumbling.

The day was almost a complete fail.

The two shops in Torbanlea are not open on Mondays.

There were no fairy wrens or rocky sites for rock collecting.

Our only success was buying lotto tickets.

The other failures were Google Maps AND the car GPS both giving us the wrong directions to the cemetery.

The car GPS took us round and round in circles … go left, go left, go left, go left … ugh!

Google maps took us left (instead of straight ahead) and told us to stop in the middle of nowhere to walk through the bush for 400 metres to the cemetery.

Much cursing happened in the car!

We stopped at our local butcher to buy a whole chook for dinner and then I picked up a parcel at the post office.

It was time for lunch so I cooked some Turkish bread to have with our leftover turkey mince while BGWLBH did a fruit platter for us to share.

After lunch, BGWLBH made us a pot of tea and we sat in the art space. I shuffled my way backwards and forwards between my old art room and new one, transferring lots of art paraphernalia to its rightful position while she sorted through our plant seeds tagging them in ziplock bags and putting them in their new timber box home.

We were very productive.

I sat down in the lounge room for an hour before putting the chook in the oven with purple and yellow sweet potato and whole onions. I steamed broccolini, carrots and beans and did a home made gravy. It was a very filling and satisfying dinner.

Afterwards we played YouTube trivia for an hour.

Big Brother has my attention and even though it’s only 8.30pm, I’m feeling very weary.

Nite all.