Covid vaccinations

 Just back home from having ours. Warren was able to get his and he was going to wait until I was eligible but I got notice from the Hub (where I go to the drs) that I could book in for the vaccination.

After speaking with Warrens brother and his partner, who had theirs last week, we decided to look into it. Booking was all online and the next available was in two days time, this afternoon.

Warren got 5.50pm and mine was at 6.10pm.

Our appointments were confirmed and we had to complete a questionnaire regarding our health. Had to be there fifteen minutes prior and on either side of the reception rooms was I pads to to the same again. The one we did was for their records and the one on the spot was for Government records.

Once that was done we moved into a waiting room outside of doors all numbered, thirteen of them.

The doctor spent a few minutes talking about what to expect and checking some details, then through the back door on to a nurse who actually gave the jab. Very quick and easy, out the door again into another waiting room where we had to sit fir fifteen minutes. 

Vaccine given and received in under an hour, apparently it will still be possible to get Covid but it will not be as severe and we still need to do hand washing and social distancing. Second jab which we already have an appointment is in July.

The Lost Man

 Another novel by Jane Harper, an Australian author. She wrote The Dry which has been made into a movie, excellent read and movie, very true to the writing.

I hope that The Lost Man also makes it into the film industry.

The Lost Man is based further out west, they mention fifteen hundred kms from Brisbane, no place names were used except that.

Three brothers and family are the main ones featured. Lots of descriptions of land, paddocks and dusty conditions. It was set jyst before Christmas so yes, very hot and dry on the land.

Now I am trying to get the next one of hers, its nit free on kindle, may have to go back to the library. She is an excelkent writer in my opinion.

Footy's back!!!!

 Yay!

I may have overdosed on footy last weekend, I think we watched six games all up plus a AFLW match. I got a lot of crocheting done during the breaks.

 

Tonight my team played their arch rivals, Carlton and it was a good win, but nail biting as they got within 7 points of us twice. The boys ran out winners by 21 points and one of our players went off with an ankle injury, he went for a mark and landed on it wrong, I think everyone felt the pain when they did a replaý. 

Mushrooms

 It seems that most lawns have mushrooms growing after the rain.

Warren picked ours today and put them in the bin as he is going to mow tomorrow and didnt want the mower to spread them any further.

Power cuts

 We were advised a couple of weeks ago that today we would lose power from 8am until 3pm.

I washed yesterday rather than today. Warren and I are usually out on Monday mornings so not a problem. We were going to have lunch out and then home for an hour or so before the power came back on. 

Rain, rain and more rain so tennis was washed out. 

I woke up just before 8am and asked Warren to drive the car out, he had already done it. No power means no garage door opener. Could he make my coffee while I had a shower, already done but I needed a flask made for coffee date in the park. Phew, all done with a minute or two to spare.

Phone pings, road closures into the park. We arrange to meet a new coffee place. Power still on.

Rain clears, Warren and Lucy leave for a walk, ten minutes and down comes the rain, they got wet but at least she got a little walk. 

Suggested to Warren that we still go out for lunch, a curry so long since we had had a curry. We usually go to the coffee club. 

Goat curry, rice and nan bread, yum! Coffee club is alongside and as we were leaving noticed acsign in the door stating that they were closed due to road flooding.

Our power didnt go off at all, I guess that will happen in the future. They are replacing power poles, ground too boggy at the moment.

Mosaic

 Not sure if that is the right spelling but that was our stitch for the week. 

We were sent the instructions beforehand to try. I found it easier to follow by watching utube even though I know how to do it, I still get confused trying to nut out the pattern.

The top one in green was my first attempt. We are aiming to have 6 inch square so did another in small hook, that is 51/2 inches, first one was 7, small one still had two rounds to go. I did buy wool in white, cream, light and dark green, not that I needed any wool but needed/wanted the contrasting colours. I also bought blues but haven't used them yet.

Painted silos

 These have been popping up all around the country for a few years. Very impressive. About five years ago we were coming home from Adelaide and Warren read an article about silos in Coonalpyn that had recently been finished. We used to live near there and so we took a detour to go and see them.

Each silo, there were four towers, features young kids in the area, they ranged in ages from nine to twelve. We bought some lunch at a cafe across from them and discovered the the woman serving us was one of the mums of the kids. 

They are so well done and so lifelike.

Imagine my surprise when I drove into our town from the west, its rare for us to go that way and I saw our local water had been painted. Apparently it had been done a couple of years ago. No silos here but most towns have a water tower somewhere so they are getting art worķ. Not as big but still impressive.  

Latest blanket

 I have eight boxes to take/deliver to the charity that I have working towards. This is the latest and have finally used all the orange wool that I bought cheap at an op shop.

Eight big balls for a dollar each, I have added some into several blankets as I thought the colour was too much to be on its own.

I dont like the green so have been trying to use that up too. Changed my stitch to moss or granite that we learnt a couple of weeks ago. I usually do eight inches by eight inch blocks ghen change colour, saves a lit of stitching up after.

Planning on a trip north before Easter for delivery.

Bellthorpe

 A nice country drive on Saturday after parkrun. 

It was a windy road with a few switch backs. We were heading to Bellthorpe, no township just a community hall abs tennis courts. The nets had mould growing on them and weeds growing up and through the courts. One sole picnic table and seats were on the lawned area by the hall as we had taken eats we made use of it.

Travelling back down the mountain road, we stopped in a few places.

A massive stump held a cache which we had to haul up, the stump was about a metre across and it went down nearly three metres.

We saw this touring car puttering around.

A heritage walk

 Today we walked around Sandgate, discovering a church which is no longer operating but is a childcare centre. The town hall, railway station and old post office now a hotel.

Last stop was a lagoon then my favourite, coffee.

Asian supermarket shopping.

 Over the weekend I watched a cooking show in TV. It was called something like Gok does Chinese cooking. I have seen this guy before but to do with fashion and styles, I think he has done some work with David Jones or similar.

Well, he apparently can cook as well. The dishes he was preparing looked good easy and quick, my type of cooking.

He used Shaoxing wine in most dishes, Shaoxing being where we used to live in China.

When out and about today, we visited the Asian supermarket, never been there before. We were like kids in a lolly shop, seeing all the foods that we recognised from China.

Warren bought some sesame and custard buns that he used to buy on the streets and I bought pancake wrappers and dried mushrooms. I should have left the wrappers out of the freezer as they were in one large lump.

I made up the dish with cabbage, diced chicken and mushrooms

, ended up using pastry sheets. Some I steamed, some were fried. Okay, but plenty of room for improvement.

End result

 

Jacobs ladder

 I wasnt at crocheting class on Thursday so our tutor sent me a link of the stitch that they learnt. Luckily for me, it was an easy one although it does look complicated.

I did my swatch of six inches, showed Warren and he thought it would look good in a beanie for him.

Thisis my swatch

 

Beanie finished

Butterflies

 Sitting on our patio, we see many varied butterflies flitting in and out. Most recently there have been large black and white ones.

Because they flit and flutter from one spot to the next, they are hard to photograph but last week while walking with Lucy, I was able to get one. It was a pretty one that we do see in the garden from time to time.

Unfortunately I think the one in the photo had been knocked by a car or something. 

 

Ducks on the pond!

 This was an old saying in shearing shed lingo. The shearing shed was a no go place for females back in the day but of course the shearers needed to be fed.

It was customary in most sheds that morning and afternoon tea was brought to the shed, therefore less down time. It was the women who brought the food and prepared lunches.

Very bloke place a shearing shed so if and when a female was in sight, the call of "ducks on the pond" would let all the workers know to curb their language.

Now many classers and rouseabouts are female. 

Walking around our nearby lake or pond, we saw mum and dad duck with ten ducklings.

 

 

 

Cafe 63

 A few months ago we were out with friends for ice cream and this new restaurant was alongside. Warren and I both said it looked like a couple of the newer  eating places in China and so we were both expecting it to be Chinese.

It wasn't but the variety of food was large. Water was brought to the table with glasses, menus were already there and we made our selections. 

Our iced coffees were out very quick.

The cups look throwaway but they are actually ceramic and kept our drinks cold. 

In a few minutes our meals arrived.

This was mine and called Ozzie open, most dishes had a sports or sports persons name.

Warren went for a burger.

He didn't eat the top of the bun and thought it didn't look very much but said it was filling. We will certainly go back.

 

Moss or seed stitch

 At crochet class we are learning a new stitch each week. Today it was moss stitch and it was a surprise to all of us.

Out tutor says that she researches a stitch, finds a pattern and prints copies then does a swatch the night before class.

Today was the first day that we hadn't known beforehand what we were going to do.

There have been a couple that I struggled to read the pattern. Last week it was a bobble stitch and that was okay but not a stitch I could see myself doing a big item in. Many times it is used to write a name on a blanket or insert a heart.

Anyway I mastered the stitch today. Came home and did two samples, I am working up a book with the patterns and d a sample plus I did two blocks.  As a group we are making these blocks six inches by six inches and they will be put together for a blanket or two to donate.

It was determined today that I am a loose crocheter as I was the only one who had gaps, the others are very close like weaving. Robyn checked what I was doing and said it was right and if I wanted it to be tighter or firmer to use a smaller hook but I like it like that.

I think my next blanket will in moss stitch.

BEERWAH

 A trip to Beerwah for a walk and some caches. We parked at the sports ground and set off, it was a 3km round trip.

One of the murals painted on a storage shed at the sports ground. 

It was a concrete shaded path and we went under the overpass and through to another road.  Coming back we needed to deviate on a bush path for approx 300 metres. Lucy was running free until we saw some people coming towards us. We hitched her up and continued. We could then see that the group looked like school kids in uniforms.

They started yelling and waving their arms and then run back the way they had come. We keep walking only had 170m to go. 

Another 20 or so metres on and the kids started yelling again, there were about eight or nine of them, doing a Maori looking dance, with sticks.

Not sure what they were doing but when Warren asked if I wanted to leave it, I quickly said yes.

Coffee later in a park and Lucy and I found a painted rock. The car park was very hot so I was taking her along the top which was shaded, Warren had the boot up so she only had two or three steps in the sun.