Wool on Sundays...

Just a short post this week to show my progress on the baby blanket.

It's about half way, and despite making a mistake by leaving out a yellow stripe, I've carried on rather than unravel. I tell myself that it's a slight alteration to the pattern which is meant to be there! Lol. I will probably repeat that mistake so there is 'continuity'. 

Joining in with Janine over at the Rainbow Hare blog for Wool on Sunday. This week Janine's post features a lovely hare which can be used either as a project bag or a pajama case; it's gorgeous! https://rainbowhare.com/2016/10/30/wool-on-sundays-129-ears/

That Visit to The National ANZAC Centre, Albany, continued...

As I commented in the recent post about this place, DH and I went back the next day to go through the building.

( Source for the photos above ; National ANZAC Centre website)

After paying our entry fees we were each given a card. These cards represented a person who served in some way in WW1. ( as well as soldiers and nurses there was a war correspondent/journalist included as well). The personnel selected by the museum represented a cross section of Australians at that time.
 We were also given the little gadget for the audio tour.

In the photo I'm holding up both these items for the camera. Behind me is one of the large screens throughout the complex on which images from the war are projected. 

At 4 points in the museum were machines where you could place your card and the screen would give you details about 'your' defence personnel. I was able to find out when 'my soldier' Private Gordon Naley, joined up, where from, where he was sent and what ship he went on. And best of all, at the 4th point, I found that he survived the war, came home in 1919. Sadly he did die in 1929; so he was still young.

On the website the biographical and service information on Gordon from the museum exhibits, is available. http://www.nationalanzaccentre.com.au/story/gordon-charles-naley

The next photo was taken near the entry to all the exhibition rooms. The video is footage of WW1 soldiers marching...the sound of the marching going non stop is quite a sombre experience...people ( the visitors) whisper in hushed tones. 

We walked around the displays reading boards and listening to the relevant audio tour items. The rooms are quite dark, so I didn't take many photos.

Uniforms...

Nurses' uniforms...this outfit was not the work uniform, but the 'going out' uniform. I read the info board which stated that the nurses complained that this uniform was out of date and, as well as being old fashioned, the nurses said it was impractical...especially the bonnet! 🙁

The back of the bonnet! 

A pith helmet...

A collapsible canvas bucket for the horses' water. 

A room with places to sit and listen to the audio being played through speakers...and what a view while visitors sat and contemplated. 

And in another room there was a marvelous sculpture of a soldier with his horse...

What a wonderful experience we had walking through this  tribute to those who took part in WW1.
DH's card was Lieutenant Colonel Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott and if you would like to check out more about him and the others, the link is here. Just click on the photos, and each will flip over. And then click again and screens will come up with more information about that person.

At last I can tell you!!!

Ages ago I wrote a post about a secret project I was invited to take part in. The post included a photo that showed nothing really...

But I did include a photo of the thread I was using...lovely Cottage Garden Pansy...

I can now reveal that myself and a heap of other bloggers from both Australia and overseas were making blocks for a quilt to celebrate Sheryl Scholte's ( Shez) 60th birthday. Fiona from Bubz Rugz was the organiser and Fee chose the Polaroid Block for the design. ( Shez loves taking photos so this choice was very apt. ) 

Here's my block...the border around the 5 inch square is white...the greenish tinge is from the ruler the block is sitting on. 

All the blocks were posted to Fiona, who took on the huge task of joining all the blocks and then quilting it. Backing, sashing and wadding were donated by some lovely ladies in this group. Communication during the project was via a closed Facebook group...we were so sneaky! 

From Fiona, the quilt was passed on to Michelle Ridgeway who did the binding and then delivered the completed quilt to Shez in person. And that handover was today. We were able to watch via a live stream set up by Karen Saw...clever girl!!!

I've brazenly stolen photos from the Facebook site so you can see the quilt at the various stages...

Flimsy...

Pinned ready for quilting.

A closeup of the quilting...

Closeup of the binding...

The label made by Michelle...

Wrapped up...

Parcel disguised as some 'Show and Tell'...

Shez on the left, admiring her new quilt. Holding the quilt on the right is Michelle and Karen is just behind the quilt. 

It is an amazing quilt; each block is so unique and all were stitched with love for our special friend Shez! 

Wool on Sunday...

The last week has just flown and it's again time to write a post about ýarny things' and link it to the Rainbow Hare blog. And Janine describes in her post about running out of yarn before a project was finished...don't we all hate that!
This last Sunday was the monthly meet up of Sunday Stitchers.

Some Show and Tell yesterday at Sunday Stitchers

I usually take some sewing/stitchery projects to work on, but yesterday I took a bag of donated crocheted squares with me and the plan was to make up 2 blankets. Well I was a bit ambitious, because despite working steadily throughout the day, I only had time to join 30 squares...which means just one blanket.

The friend who had made the squares used a beige coloured yarn as the final round on each square and she gave me the leftover yarn from this round so I could use it to join the squares.

It was enough to join the squares but sadly it ran out before I could do some rows around the blanket. What could I use that would tie in with the colours already used? 

Then I remembered the bundle of craft items that DH brought home from his older brother's place on Saturday. My sister in law had passed away in late August and her family thought that I would be the right person to find new homes for Bette's craft supplies.
 

So I had a rummage in that striped bag and found some yarn...
 

It is creamy with pink flecks and was perfect for the narrow border...which I'm now working on. 

And then I'll make some time to join those other squares that I mentioned. Those squares are mainly pink too. K4BN give a lot of muted/dark coloured blankets to the homeless but the lighter coloured/pretty colours are just perfect for women's refuges. 

A Wander Around Heritage Park Albany...

I should actually have headed this post a little walk around a very, very small part of Heritage Park!  This post will mainly be photos of the lovely old Pre-Federation Military buildings, rather than lots of text. 😊

Note the Union Jack! Yep! These old buildings date back to before Federation (which was 1901) when the present day states were actually British colonies.

Back and side views of the building in the first photo...on the left of the side view of the building, the Aboriginal flag is flying.

The same flag from another vantage point...

Another old military building...with an gun carriage? or wagon? on the veranda...

All the buildings are beautiful restored and maintained...

An old water tower...and an 'army hut' type building in the photo below that. 

Just 2 of the many 'igloo huts' scattered throughout this section of the park.

The First Aid Post...

Up the hill a bit and on a flat area of land, were lots of old guns and missiles. The guns were huge! 

There are some lovely gardens in this area too...and that view too, of course!

There are some modern buildings too...sorry it's a bit dark...

Here's another photo of that building. It's the quite new National ANZAC Centre.

On our first day in Albany, we had checked out the displays etc in the grounds and by then it was 4.45 pm. And the Centre closed at 5pm...so we had to go back next day. But that's another post still to come. 

ANZAC Memorial Heritage Park, Albany...

On our recent Western Australian holiday, we stayed in Albany for 2 nights and crammed in as much exploring of this city as we could in that time. The ANZAC Centre in the large Heritage Park was one attraction that really impressed us.

We had arrived in Albany mid afternoon and after checking into our motel, we made our first visit to Heritage Park. (Finding it impossible to see all that was on display meant that we would return the next morning.) 

This memorial is all about the First World War...it was from the port of Albany in November 1914 that the first Australian defence personnel set sail for the war zone in the northern hemisphere; a long way from home! http://anzacalbany.com.au/

The walkway up the hill has boards listing  the ships in those first 2 convoys...

A lot of reading to do...😉

And the view looking downhill...

 

The walkway went up to a lookout over the port area, but there were a couple of interesting places we stopped at on the way up the hill.

Growing up in Brisbane I had always been fascinated by the 'igloo' buildings scattered throughout the city, including the buildings at our old airport.  These buildings had been built by the US forces who were in Brisbane during WW2. Well this Heritage Park in Albany was an ' igloo lover's paradise'! Lol. Americans call them Nissen huts but Aussies had nicknamed them igloos. ( and there aren't many left in Brisbane any more)

So when I saw this igloo, I just had to stop and explore. The anchor out the front certainly indicated the naval connection. 

And behind the Nissen Hut, the remains of an old building...

The next little detour we took on the way up to the lookout was a gun emplacement. 

We walked through where the missiles (fakes of course!) were stored and then walked down a passageway which led out to where the gun was...

 

After these 2 little detours, we walked up the path to the lookout...

 

The view of the Harbour was wonderful...and VERY windy. 

This board pictured below, showed the line up of ships of the First Convoy all ready to sail off to the battlefields. The ships were quite an eclectic lot; many were non naval vessels which had been pressed into service because of the war. 

From there, we walked downhill (and out of the wind) and wandered around this historical site. 

There was a garden area that honoured women...but Spring hadn't really come to this area when we were there but I can imagine what this garden would look like when the warmer weather arrived.

In the next post I'll continue sharing our experience at this wonderful and historical site.