Wool on Sundays...

I'm writing this post one day late, while I'm sitting at Melbourne Airport waiting for our flight home. A visit to Bendigo always means a visit to the Bendigo Woollen Mill, so that's what this post is about. 😉

Since our last visit in 2012, there is now a gateway from the mill to the vintage tram depot next door...

So DH headed over there for a while, while I checked out the mill shop.

Lovely crocheted bunting in the large room at the back of the shop...

A little play area for tots...

An area for coloring in or drawing for the older children...and somewhere that husbands can sit too after they have checked out the tram depot. 

There are 3 large areas in the mill shop and the place is packed with beautiful yarns, patterns, divine samples and other 'bibs and bobs' associated with knitting, crocheting and spinning. I didn't find much that I wanted in the remnant bins this time, unlike my last visit. But I still found lots to buy...some for me and some for others. There's a big bag of yarns in my suitcase which is now on its way to the luggage hold of the plane...so I'll share those another time. 

Joining in with Rainbow Hare's Wool on Sunday. 

Bendigo...

My birthday was last month and my gift from DH was a trip to Bendigo to visit the Art Gallery there which has been showing a Marilyn Monroe Exhibition. It closes in July, so with no time to waste, we headed off from Brisbane on Thursday morning...

In Melbourne, we picked up our hire car and headed for Bendigo...the car had NSW plates this time! 😉

And today was the day for seeing the exhibition but I had to wait patiently till 11.30 am as that's when our tickets were for. So plenty of time to take photos of the giant statue of Marilyn in a lovely park just down the road from the gallery. 

There is a statue of Queen Victoria is in that park; some how I don't think she would 'be amused' by this more recent (but temporary) statue...

Here's a closer look at Marilyn...quite a big statue isn't it??

While we were waiting for our 11.30 session at the gallery, DH took the opportunity to take some photos of the historic trams doing tours of the city...

But soon it was time...

And the last opportunity to take pictures before we went in...

To be honest I never really was a great fan of Marilyn Monroe as she had died long before I became a movie goer, but I did see some of her movies in my teens when they were shown on TV's midday movies during school holidays. But I love costumes so that's enough for me to want to see the exhibition. 

Well I wasn't disappointed! The costumes were magnificent! Many of her costumes are in private collections now and have been loaned by these owners for this Exhibition. 

But there were also clothes and accessories on show from her private life and they were beautifully made and were very classical in style; not showy or revealing in any way. On show was a loose 

shirtmaker frock that she wore during her pregnancy in 1958; she later miscarried. We saw makeup that she used in her off screen life, her books, records and some jewellery. I learned that she was quite an astute businesswoman, who renegotiated contracts with the studios who had been 'ripping her off' financially. She set up her own production company; the first woman to do this in Hollywood. There were lots of snippets of her movies showing in various places in the exhibition...a huge variety of roles...not just blonde bombshell type roles. I was quite impressed in fact.

What a great birthday gift! 

Wool on Sundays...

Once again I'm linking up with the Rainbow Hare's, Wool on Sunday. And I'm going to share photos of some items made for K4BN by some lovely people whom I affectionately refer to, as my 'outworkers'. These generous people usually ring/email me on a regular basis asking me to collect items they have made for the group.

I've collected these over the past fortnight...

From Rob; crocheted knee rugs, beanies, booties and a sweater...

A closer look at the adult sized sweater that Rob knitted...

Knitted beanies made by by schoolmate, Irene...

And some calming mitts (aka twiddle muffs), toiletries, toys, knitted squares from Cheryl...

I've written about the Twiddle Muffs before...they are used in nursing homes for calming dementia patients. The interesting textures, buttons, beads, ribbons of the muffs get the attention of the patients when a hand is placed in the muff, and it calms them as they begin to 'fiddle'. And now Education Units with students who have Autism are requesting the muffs for their students, as the muffs have been found to calm the students too. 

And now an update on my current main project...

It has grown a bit since last week and with this sudden cold snap here in SE Queensland, the rug is keeping me warm as I knit. 😊

The Chookshed Birthday Bash at Chookyblue's!

To celebrate the 4th birthday of her blog, Chookyblue has once again organised a 'virtual sew in' weekend to celebrate.

So...last night...

Taking seriously the Weather Bureau's warning that a 'severe rain event' would occur in my part of Queensland, last night I gathered in all the cushions, throws etc from the side veranda and piled them up in the dining room.

I'm glad I did as when we woke up this morning, the rain had blown in under the veranda roof right to the sliding doors. ( the chair pads/cushions that came with the chairs are waterproof, so they stayed out) 

Back to last night...I put the fringing on this knitted throw and sewed on my label...

Now with this throw, made using oddments of pinks and light blues left over from other projects, I've struck a deal...a bit of bartering no less! A friend rather liked this rug and I offered to give it to her for a price...a bag of toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste...several of each please 😉. And of course these will go to Knitting for Brisbane's Needy for the toiletry bags the group distributes to the needy of Queensland. Win win again!
Once again I've been a bit of a maverick...knitting not sewing, but you never know what I might turn my hand to later in the weekend!

Wingham Museum...what a find that was!

One of the towns in the Manning River district is Wingham. 

It was to be our lunch stop but before lunch, it was decided to have a 'quick look' in the museum which was in an old shop. Well, it was like a Tardis! It may have looked like a small shop from the outside, but the rooms just kept leading off one another! 

There was 'an old school classroom' exhibit...

Uniforms and other war memorabilia...

Lovely old sewing machines and beautiful lace garments...and a magnificent sewing box.

Toys, movie projector, old medical and dental equipment and lovely old musical instruments.

I loved the old family portraits all along one wall. The evening cape was like one my mother wore when she and dad went to Symphony Concerts.

The display of natural science items plus a cabinet of aboriginal artifacts...

The old offices' section...

There were displays of the important early transport in the area...shipping and the railways. ( I love the 'hand' peeping out of the trunk! Lol

Old radios and gramophones...

Even the DJ's turntable and mike from the local radio station...circa 1950s-60s

Then there were 'the rooms'... the laundry...or wash house as my mum always called it.

The bedroom...I was particularly taken with the 'gentleman's travelling trunk!

The kitchen...

The dining room...

The sitting room...

Old push mowers and early motor mowers!

There were stacks of other things too, including displays of early agriculture in the district.

And even a display of Masons' regalia...

So you have probably guessed that the 'quick look' actually took a while? Best thing though was that our US cousin was able make contact via this museum, with a representative of the historical society of the area. This person was happy to do family research on  Adrienne's 'grandfather' and his wider family, on Adrienne's behalf. Win win!! 😄

What a busy month that was!

Yes May 2016 was definitely a busy month! It started with the tidying and sprucing up that goes with having a guest to stay.

And then we did lots of things with our guest. She arrived on a very busy weekend with Mothers Day and a family get together in honour of our son in law's mother who was visiting from NZ to see/meet/ and adore baby Anthea...( like we all do!) 

Mothers Day lunch at DsD2s place...

And we also celebrated with a Mothers Day Dinner at DD2s....

We celebrated a life at a family gathering to scatter a much loved relative's ashes...

Then a day later it was my birthday celebration with a dinner at a favourite local Swiss restaurant.

 And I've already written about those 'cemetery safaris' tracking down family graves.

We took our visitor to museums too...

We got to travel a bit too...

Close to home was Stradbroke Island with its picturesque scenery and wonderful wildlife...

A bit farther away was a trip to Taree in New South Wales...the Manning River district was beautiful. 

We enjoyed a few meals out during our Taree sojourn...

My ankle continued to improve and only had light strapping on and even though closed in shoes still didn't fit, I could wear my Ziera sandals again...( the bruising on the toes in this photo has now faded somewhat) 

We waved goodbye to our visitor on the 23rd...

 

Near the end of the month, the family gathered to celebrate DH's birthday...

Because we had so many family 'dos' in May, we saw more of DD2's dogs Jimmy and Missy, and that's always a bonus!

And right at the very end of the month, I managed to get to a Knit and Natter with K4BN. I have missed a few of these, so it was lovely to catch up with some knitting friends again.

So I wonder what June will have in store??🤔