Friday, March 29, 2013

Back to it

Our holiday to the Great Ocean Road is beginning to be a bit of a haze now, but it was so much fun.
GOR Bay of Islands  (Bay of Islands)
 Since we have got home and got back into it we have had nothing but misfortune with technology  grrr1!!@##@  Firstly our main computer bit the dust (had to buy a new one), then Telstra decided to cut the phone service in our area for 22 hours with no warning (no internet).  After this it just kept happening.  We thought our router was broken  when we lost the internet the very next day.  No… our server was off the air for 24 hours.  Then…..there is more…. our electricity supply was cut for a whole day.  Still we have not been able to get hold of a technician to retrieve our files and set us up properly on the new computer.  Will try again after Easter.  Just gonna chill out now.
What can a girl do when the electricity gets cut.  Answer – not much.  She did manage to paint and play around with some up coming journal pages. 
On a brighter note, here are some pictures of the magnificent coast line of the Great Ocean Road.  Our trip was magical and my 5 star sister announced after about 10 days that she ‘loved camping’!!  Very funny, but good in that we can now organize another trip with my sister and b-i-l for the future.
GOR London BridgeGOR The Arch 1
London Bridge                                               The Arch
GOR Views over Mbird IsGOR 12 Apostle coastline
Mutton Bird Island                                          The 12 Apostles
GOR The Grotto
The Grotto
As soon as the power came back on Wednesday afternoon,  I got to and sewed up this little Easter bag I had cut out.  It is for Lilian and we will give it to her Sunday morning with some little goodies inside.  This will be a one off as it was very fiddly diddly.  A very cute pattern by ‘Melly and me” designs and the pattern is just the size of a postcard which has all the details and pattern pieces inside.
Easter Bag for LiliEaster bag pattern
Does anyone else suffer with ‘stumbling at the finishing line’ syndrome?  It seems that when I am on the last leg of a project and just want to get it done before any more distractions come my way, all manner of things go wrong!!!  Finally I got the fiddly part of the top of this bag done, but don’t look close – Don’t, I said!!

Our garden has managed to survive in our absence due to the massive amount of rain Toowoomba had.
One of the loveliest flowers we have in the garden at this time of year is this deep red dahlia.  It never disappoints.
29.03.13 red dahlia
Down in the back yard (where I rarely go these days) my husband discovered this tree flowering.  We don’t know what it is but it is so pretty and unusual.
Leaf orange flowerOrange flower close upOrange flower unusual
I am not a zoo person, so when I see our native animals in the wild I get very excited.  We were lucky enough to see heaps of koalas in the Otway NP (Victoria).  One might say they are far from extinct in this particular area.
We didn’t see them til early in the morning and they were all asleep.  Even so, doesn’t this sleeping koala look the cutest??  He has his little arms crossed  awwww.
Otway Sleeping Koala
Port Fairy Black Kangaroo
Black Kangaroo, Griffiths Island near Port Fairy  Vic. She may have a joey in the pouch, but the trees got in the way when I photographed her.  Hard to photograph wild animals!!! 
Lastly a couple of camping scenes for your entertainment.
Lyn blowing up bedLyn in fly hat
Sister blowing up bed and in her fashionable fly hat (the flies were extremely bad in the dry heat!!)
Mt Gamb Mick Raincoat
Brother in Law trying to stay dry in Mt Gambier SA
P3101337
Too short for this camp. 
P3111338
Bad smell at this camp.
Gotta love the great outdoors.
Til next time, happy stitching – I hope to be doing much of it in the coming weeks. (if I can get away from my latest distraction ‘you tube’.)

8 comments:

margaret said...

great to see the pictures of the ocean road, I kick myself for not doing the trip when i was last in Aus.
You certainly had your problems when you got home with all those things going wrong, hope you have retrived all your computer stuff.
Beautiful flowers, my garden is still covered in snow, never known an Easter like this.

Suztats said...

byluGlad you're back home , looks like a great trip! Isn't it frustrating when the computer and hydro don't work as they should? Hope it's all fixed now. Great flowers and we hope our snow soon melts.

CJ STITCHING AND BLOOMS said...

Hello DI,

WOW what a absolutely wonderful posting. The Great Ocean Road is absolutely Magnificent indeed. I think My favorite rock formation is The London Bridge.
The Easter Bag you created for Lilian is truly stunning. I see NO mistakes. I know Lilian will absolutely LOVE it and I am sure the goodies she will love too..
I can tell your SISTER is a teacher. I see her keeping a Journal of your lovely trip.

I think My Friend is just toooooo cute but very genus to make up for her shortness. LOL Love this photo.. You are such a dedicated camper..... LOL

The Koala in the Tree sleeping is a treasured photo.. You would think he would fall the way he is sleeping.

Of course I am most impressed with your LOVELY Red Dahlia. So bold and beautiful...

Thanks for sharing all your lovely adventure photos with us all..

I wish you and your family a Very Very Happy Easter Holdiay.

Your friend. Hugs Judy

Marilyn said...

Beautiful photos of your camping adventures and the landscapes along the way. I hope your technology woes are sorted out quickly for you. I love Lillian's Easter Bag - so cute.

Stitching Lady said...

Hi Dianne, Wonderful photos - but I am glald you are again in bloggerland. I missed you.
What a misery to have such trouble with computers and telephone. I could tell you a story of us - it lasted one year.
first we lost nerves then we calmed down and went to McDonald's - And about the bunny - nothing can be seen on my iPad - but you encourage me to post something which I made and had to repair at once and decided not to give it away but keep it in a back corner of my kitchen.

Sue said...

The Great Ocean Road is great - we camped it a few years ago (when the kids still came with us) and we saw heaps of wildlife! Love your little bunny bag.

Tatkis said...

Wonderful photos - thank you for sharing! We've been to Great Ocean Road twice and each time enjoyed it very much!
Adorable bunny bag :)
Good luck with your Internet connection.

Best wishes,
Tatyana

Marilyn said...

Looks like you had a great time on your trip. The flowers on the tree are interesting but I cannot help you with the identity of it. The dahlia is a beautiful colour.