Let's Get Stitched...

On Thursday March 6 I'm heading off to Melbourne for the Bloggers' Meet known as Let's Get Stitched'. A number of things have been planned for this weekend, starting with a bus tour of a number of craft/quilt shops in and around Melbourne on the Friday. There is the very popular Pizza and Games Night on the Friday evening and Saturday night is the Let's Get Stitched Dinner. Sunday is the stitching day and there are a number of designers who will be unveiling new projects to us that day. This will be the  first time that I have attended this event and it's quite exciting! I have noticed on some of the designers' blogs photos appearing of piles of fabrics and packets containing patterns...just to tease us I think! 

There are 2 items that all attendees have to make; one is a mug rug, the back of which will be signed by everyone  and will be a great souvenir of the weekend. Last FNSI, I started work on my mug rug but didn't get very far that night...

 For the very first time I had printed some images on fabric that I planned to use in my mug rug...

I stitched the sewing machine in a red/orange as I once saw a photo of one of Bonnie Hunter's vintage machines and it was red! It looked so cute. Also on the last FNSI, I got out my bag of sewing notions fabrics. So all the 'raw materials' were there, I just had to work out how I was going to put all this together...so it looked ok! lol

And this is the finished mug rug..ta dah!

The other item that we each have to make is a name tag for the name tag swap. We have all been given the name of the person for whom we have to make a name tag. We were invited to give details of favourite colours etc on the group's Facebook wall, to help match the tag to the intended recipients. My swap partner said she didn't like pastels etc but liked black and white and also jade green. This nametag will be worn on the bustrip on Friday.
And this is what I've come up with...
Not more hexies you say? But of course! lol. The name tag is just over 3 1/2 inches at its widest point...so hopefully not too big! The name is hidden with a strip of wadding as we have to keep the name secret until we hand them over on Thursday night. 

I also have a list of items that are required for the stitching projects, to gather together to take with me...from the listed items it sounds like some lovely projects that we will get to do.
 Yesterday I went shopping to buy some threads which are on our 'to bring' list and took the opportunity to buy some new pins. In that 'black hole' where pens and socks disappear to, I think many of my sewing pins are there too. :-)

Of course I've also been gathering items that I already have.

So next Thursday I will be meeting up at the airport with some fellow bloggers from around SE Queensland. We've managed to get tickets on the same flight. Should we warn Melbourne that Let's Get Stitched is on next weekend?? Needless to say, I will take lots of photos. 

Small world isn't it?

I've noticed from the stats that I still have visitors dropping in for the Grow Your Own Blog Party. If you are looking for that post it is here and it's great to have you visit. With so many participants in GYOBP this year, I'm still visiting blogs on the list too!
I have written some posts recently about our trip on the Winelander Excursion train and there is still one more post to write about that weekend. I thought though that today  I would write about someone from my past working life whom I met up with again on the train after 42 years...I can't believe it is that long ago...but it is I'm afraid! lol
Part of our trip included wine tasting in the Lounge Car...and magnificent platters of cheese, crackers and fruit to accompany the wine!

There were a number of the train's catering staff who were involved in this aspect of the excursion...this wine waiter sure looked familiar...

I took a few photos of him...

He used to look like this...

Yes he is a former student of mine...he was in the Grade 5 class I taught in 1972...yeah a long time ago isn't it??? lol
I had known that he had joined Queensland Railways after he left school but found out on Saturday that he had worked his way up to be a train driver but these days he works at Mayne Control which means that he is 'quite very important'. I was very impressed with what he had achieved. Ian obviously loves trains as much as I do as he had given up his weekend to be a volunteer staff person on the Winelander.
And this is what I looked like when I was his teacher in 1972...the cropped pic is long and skinny because I wanted my shoes to be in the photo...you see I LOVED those shoes (well one shoe is visible, but I did have a pair!) and seeing them again brings back so many lovely memories.

My goodness, did I really wear such short skirts once???

Readers who read my last night's blog straight after I posted would have seen that I had a number of issues with 'smart shopper ads' pop ups and interference with links that I had added. Ads were also bobbing around over the Blogger toolbar; it was disconcerting to say the least. Scans by 2 different virus protection programmes found nothing amiss. I'm overjoyed to report that all that 'rubbish' has just disappeared; hopefully never to return! 

Some more about our train trip..

Lunch was served on the train between Nobby and Warwick...

 The land flattened out a bit but that's another range in the distance...

At times the train ran along high ridges with the land beside the lines dropping away to deep valleys

 Look at this magnificent hotel across the road from the Warwick Station...

More buildings near Warwick station

The very impressive front entrance to the station...

A little bit of history here...in 1917, Prime Minister, Billy Hughes was 'egged' by a protester here. The local police would not arrest the thrower, enraging the PM. From that incident he paved the way for the establishment of a Federal Police Force, the AFP .

Old points at Warwick Station. No trains come this way...only excursions...very sad!

More scenes at historic Warwick Station... 

 Views from the railway bridge...

Soon it was time for the train to continue on its journey...

Next stop was our final destination, Stanthorpe.

My dad used to tell me the story of when he was farming at Ballandean outside of Stanthorpe; on Saturday nights the boys would go into to Stanthorpe for a night out...I think he meant a night at the pub somehow! lol The railway line was a busy one with lots of goods trains making their way south. Late at night the boys would hop on a goods train as it trundled through Stanthorpe and hitch a ride for the 30 miles back to Ballandean. He said that sometimes they would fall asleep and the train would carry them on past their station. Because Queensland has a different rail gauge to New South Wales, the 'sleeping beauties' would only get taken on to Wallangarra which is on the border of the 2 states. But dad embellished the story a bit and reckoned they woke up in Sydney! When I was little I believed him too! lol  

My dad walked along this platform once and so did my mum and I...it's rundown and not generally used but the memories are there!

 The front entrance of the station...not quite as impressive as Toowoomba and Warwick and many of the station buildings have been demolished...

This is the bus that we were transferred to for our trip to the wineries...

 First winery was the Harrington Estate Winery...lovely views...

 The beautiful bunches of grapes ready for picking...

 On the hill overlooking this winery we saw this house...as we looked more closely we noticed that the house was built around a Vic Rail railway carriage...

 The next winery we visited was the lovely Rumbalara Winery. The wines here are all African themed names after the owners' heritage. Their Impi is like Baileys Irish Cream, only better. DH and I didn't buy any Impi...but it was tempting! lol

Our day finished with a magnificent dinner at the Queensland Wine Tourism College. More in a later post...

An ARHS excursion; Memories of train travels long ago...and what it's like today...

Last weekend DH and I enjoyed our Christmas gifts to each other...a trip on the 'Winelander' train which is one of the excursions run by the Australian Railway Historical Society, Queensland Division. Sadly this is the last Winelander to run due to problems with rolling stock and small tunnels. The trip goes from Brisbane, to Ipswich, then on to Toowoomba, then Warwick and finally arriving in Stanthorpe which is known for it's 50+ wineries in the region. The journey passes through lots of small communities; some with stations others just with a name board.
I wanted to do this trip for sentimental reasons. My mother and I made this same journey in the 1950s when we would at various times, go to visit my godparents on their farm outside Stanthorpe. I still have some memories of those trips such as the train stopping beside another train with sheep in the wagons (very exciting for a city kid!) and arriving at Stanthorpe station and being met by my godfather.

There may not be any livestock trains on this line any more but we did see some of the old wagons that used to carry animals, in a paddock. There were about 3 or 4 wagons with grass growing up through them. The photo was taken from the moving train and then cropped but it may be necessary to double click on the photo to enlarge it.

As we journeyed on Saturday I was saddened by the realisation that the era of the railway on this line is virtually over...passenger services no longer go out past Toowoomba...many stations have been pulled down. My godparents used to use the railways to send their fruit to the markets in both Brisbane and Sydney as did the other farmers but that stopped a long time ago. Buildings around the bigger stations that held freight etc sit empty, neglected and dejected looking.

But enough of the 'sad, reflective stuff', it was a wonderful trip in comfortable ex Sunlander carriages.

Saturday, 6.20 am and already we are at Roma St Station...

 A couple of views from Platform 10...

Our train has arrived from Mayne yard...

 Old Sunlander carriages...

The people in the white shirts in front of DH are some of the wonderful staff who looked after us over the 2 days; they were all volunteers!

As we head towards Ipswich, we pass stately old homes in Graceville...

 A view of the Brisbane River...

Then before long we are crossing another river, this time the Bremer River...

We've passed through Ipswich now and are heading towards Toowoomba...

I'm a big kid really...love it when the train goes around a curve and you can see the loco :-)

To get to Toowoomba, the railway line climbs up the range quite steeply from Murphy's Creek to Spring Bluff. If you have a bit of time, you may like to read the post I wrote about Spring Bluff here; it's one of the prettiest stations I've seen and it suffered greatly in the floods of 2011.

 When the train arrived in Toowoomba, because of the big 'step down' between the train and the platform, we had to use these steps...

Some of the old restored railway equipment at Toowoomba station...

Part of the front of the station...it is all beautifully restored even though its heyday is long gone.

On the train that Saturday morning, as well as looking out the window and taking in the views of the beautiful countryside, we were also able to go to the Lounge Car and try some wines...3 whites on Saturday. (the reds were on Sunday on the way home)

Next time I will write about the rest of our trip...