The christmas spirit

Just thought I'd share with you some Christmas spirit from a small village just a few kilometres from here.  Each year around the beginning of December the people of Tarrington have a Lanternenfest.

Lots of people decorate hay bales.  It's quite a big thing for the local area.  People come from miles around to check out the hay bales on the sides of the road.  I have also seen bus loads of people.

Some residents go to heaps of trouble when decorating their bales and use lots of imagination.  It's become quite the thing to "check out the bales".
This year I actually remembered to take the camera.

This is one for the kids.  They can stand behind the figures and put their faces at the holes and have their photos taken....you know the sort of thing.  I even saw some Japanese people doing it.  Cameras flashing and lots of giggling.  They were really enjoying themselves.  After all, that's what it's all about.

                                                Just love the camel!!!  

                               And this one I thought was very appropriate!!!

Clever aren't they?  There are also Santa's in all sorts of poses, a huge letter addressed to Santa made out of square bales.  There are some that are made from other materials, as are the wise men with the camel. I also saw a large angel that I would have liked to get a photo of but it was a bit too busy to stop.  This is all on the main highway between Hamilton and Warrnambool, so it can get a bit hazardous at times.

On a Friday evening early in December, (or maybe the last one in November), there is a fete type affair in the local church grounds.  Everything from a sausage sizzle (with Bratwurst sausages) to a competition for the adults which involves holding a beer stein straight out at arms length to the side of the body.  The winner is the person who can keep their arm straight for the longest amount of time.  Sounds easy doesn't it?  Try it.  It's hard going. 

People gather around this event and decide among themselves who's going to win and who's going to be knocked out first.  Good clean fun.  I went to the Friday night fete a couple of years ago.  It finished with the littlies parading with their lanterns.  Then there was a church service where the kids did the nativity scene. It's nice for the kids to get involved.

So much for the Lanternenfest.  I just couldn't resist the "Needle & Thread".   Cheers.

The Older We Get....

Where has 2012 gone?  It seems the older we get, the quicker time flies by.  I feel as though Xmas will be over before I realise it's already arrived.  Instead of the days running into each other, the weeks have now taken over.  Old age is upon me!!!

So much has happened in our lives since my last entry (which doesn't really seem that long ago).  My D.B. has had a stint in hospital in Melbourne, which turned out not to be as bad as we were expecting, thank goodness.

During the last 4 weeks we have had 3 trips to Melbourne and then decided we'd take some time out, and went over to Adelaide and back home through Mildura.  This week we've almost stayed home, just doing 2 short bursts of 100kms each.

During our travels I have met 2 very talented ladies who have both stitched temari balls.  The first lady I met lives in Central Victoria, and she invited me to her home so we could share our temari interests.  Boy, is this lady talented.  Apart from her temari she does so many other beautiful craft works from quilting right through to exquisite painting.

We spent a great day together and I came away with lots of new ideas.  We are to meet again soon in my neck of the woods, so I'm really looking forward to that.

While in Adelaide, I had a contact name of another very talented lady, who also has done temari and yubinuki, which I was really interested in learning more about.
Although she was extremely busy with wedding preparations and renovations, she offered to spend some time with me, which was great.

Temari and yubinuki were "been there, done that" crafts for her.  I found it hard to understand how anyone could not stitch temari after starting such a wonderful craft.
Never the less, this talented lady has moved on and is now doing Japanese Embroidery
and her work is absolutely out of this world.  I was enthralled with all the treasures she has embroidered.  Just amazing.

I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to meet 2 such talented ladies who were so willing to welcome me into their homes (being a complete stranger) and sharing all their work and ideas with me.  My thanks to you both,  D.L. and B.S.  I really appreciated your time and hospitality.

All the time we were away, I was still absorbed in temari stitching.  Surprise, surprise...
I have just finish an "Unfolding Kiku" that is a Barb Suess creation, well, more like a Masterpiece in my opinion.  I just love it.  It's the 1st time I have ever tackled a C10.
I have to say I didn't think I'd ever get past the marking stage,  but I finally did and I'm pretty pleased with my finished effort.  I can almost hear my mother saying "self praise is no recommendation" or "pride goeth before a fall", but I still feel pretty chuffed.

I'll put a pic of it on my next blog, as it's still in my camera and I still don't know how to transfer photos from camera to computor!! I did find a photo of a few of my early temari, so I'll add those this time and by next time I may know how to do the transfering bit.

Best wishes for the festive season to you and yours, and I hope the coming year keeps you safe, happy and healthy as well as giving you spare time to keep stitching.