30/6/24 the end of the financial year!

 We have been inundated with EOFY sales lately - some are being extended into the new financial year - lucky us.

As I wrote the date this morning, in my morning journal, I noticed that 30 - 6 = 24. I think it is the first subtraction I have done with dates - how exciting!!

Anyway, since it is such an interesting day, I thought I had better post. 

I have a photo from a week or so ago. It was a cold and foggy morning and I saw a lovely spider web. 

Winter is upon us - I did read that it is the driest start to winter we have had here for a few years (they quoted as far back as 2017! (I think I must be getting old - that doesn't actually seem that far back!)

But we had snowfall in the mountains, so people will be happy if they have gone to ski in the school holidays. 

I went away for a few days last week and walked my favourite trail - the Aqueduct trail above Warburton. I saw this amazing fungus growing on a fallen tree. 

I have managed to do a little bit more on my Making Waves piece - all hand embroidery, so I am being rather slow. It doesn't look all that different but I'll post anyway. 

Coping with the heat

Well. summer should be winding down but it isn't.  It is actually worse than our usual summer where we get hot days (with some cool nights) for about 4 days and then a storm rolls in and the temperature drops 10-15 degrees.  Then it starts up again.
Not this time - we are having hot days (but not ridiculously hot - only about in the low to mid 30s (C), mid 90s (F)) but the nights are staying warm, and the days are gradually warming up more and more.  It is forecast to be 37C in a couple of days and the nights are progressively warmer - they do cool down a bit, of course. It is all very enervating though.

As I have already said, I am doing an online workshop for the Traveller's Blanket.  I have decided to use pieces of fabric that I have left over from my years of playing around with textiles.  Some pieces go back to the 80s, when I did a bit of silk painting.  Some are from quilts I have made, screen printing, needle felting with the embellisher, silk dyeing, silk paper, fabric painting, sewing classes, etc.  I was going to put in some knitting but it was too bulky.  Most of the fabric selection is sorted, I have left some empty spots either for new stuff I do in the meantime (it is going to take a while to finish) or just to leave empty, to show that my journey is not finished.

I am now up to the hand embroidery. I have started because I  visited a friend who has very efficient air conditioning but it has just been too hot at home lately to have a blanket on my lap and be doing hand embroidery.  So I will try again in a week or so, or when I visit my friend.

I have decided to try sewing patterns that I have not used before, or it was so long ago that I have forgotten them. And I don't seem to be able to be tidy with it, my embroidery wants to wander.  But it is a journey, so it doesn't matter. I did do hand embroidery a bit in the 60s and 70s, maybe even the early 80s but that is (gasp) about 30 years ago.  So I have forgotten how to do a lot of the stitches.