Winter is nearly over

Here we are halfway through August which means that Spring is just around the corner. The freesias and sweet peas are starting to make an appearance and the pink poppies are about to flower.

Time flies

 I can't believe it is over two months since I have written a blog post. I am not always sure I have anything interesting to say and have noticed that a lot of bloggers have stopped blogging perhaps opting for the quicker way of communicating on Instagram. I have noticed many changes in the blogging world since COVID began in 2020. Still, life goes on and here are a few bits and pieces of what life is like here in this neck of the woods where the days are sunny and the nights are getting cool as winter is just around the corner. 

A lovely Saturday

Last Saturday some of the ladies from our now closed down Simple Living Toowoomba group met for a catchup as several of them want to keep in touch and what a lovely morning it was chatting, sharing ideas and recipes as well as enjoying the bounty of the swap table.  

What flutters by?

 'What flutters by?' is the theme this year at the beautiful Laurel Bank Park during our famous Carnival of Flowers.  I love this park as the displays are always quirky and unlike the classical beauty of Queens Park which is one of our other premier parks. 

My friends and I visited the park last week before most of the tour buses arrived and it was already busy. Unfortunately some of the plants weren't flowering then.....

 

...like many of the Foxgloves and all of the Hollyhocks as we have had a cold winter this year but I imagine more flowers are putting on a show this week as we have had several warm days. 

There are always masses of tulips to look at complete with windmills along the way.

There is a viewing platform in the park from which you can get a better view of each of the gardens in the themed gardens and I also found that looking through the lens on my camera helped to make it clearer but, of course, the photo that is usually taken from a cherry picker is the best one of the lot but I think that is only published in the daily newspaper which we don't buy. 

If you live in the region and would like a pleasant day out then there is still plenty of time to see the gardens as the Carnival doesn't finish until the end of September. 

We held our very last Simple Living Toowoomba workshop this month. It was only fitting that our 'founder' Margy was the presenter and so we shared morning tea while we had a chat about what we had learned over the last 10 years since the group began and then some of the ladies made a gratitude book. Margy had been inspired by Ann Voskamp's book 'One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are' which she brought along to show us. 

There was a lot of fabric, etc. to choose from but I am terrible at keeping up with diaries and the like so I didn't make one as I knew I would start off being enthusiastic and then forget to add to the book regularly. 

Margy brought along a couple of books she had made which were already filled up. Some of the ladies still want to meet up to keep in touch so we will get together every six weeks or so at a friend's house. We have learned a lot over the last ten years and have covered so many topics that it was hard to think of something new for each month. So it was time to finish. 

I watched some of the pomp and ceremony of the Queen's funeral and don't the British do that so very well. The bagpipes always make me tear up as my grandfather was a piper in Scotland who used to wake up the Laird of an estate each morning apparently. Must have been the days before alarm clocks I guess. LOL!

Another wet spring and summer forecast has been announced and residents have been asked to prepare once again for flooding which must be devastating for those in flood zones as they have already been flooded at least twice. A couple of years ago we were having bushfires. Stay safe everyone!

 

The last few winter days

 Here in Australia Winter is coming to an end as Spring begins on the 1st September. It has been a cold winter not unlike those we shivered through back in the early 1970s when I first moved here and it was often miserably cold and wet. We have become used to the warmer winters since then but this year I made good use of my coat, jackets and scarves. 

Crafty people

 I find myself surrounded by talented people who are so very generous. Recently I took along my attempts at Japanese Meshwork to our Simple Living Toowoomba group and one of our ladies who presents sewing workshops along with her sister offered to finish the items off as I am quite 'straight line challenged'. 

First soap of the year

 As it had been a couple of months since my last soapmaking session and I had supplies that needed to be used up, I made a quick and easy batch of soap which wouldn't be 'giftworthy' as I knew it would turn darker as time went on. 

It's been a while

 I have been very slack where my blog is concerned. I have no excuse really apart from the fact that I have become addicted to reading and have read a few hundred books in the past couple of years. Oops! I think I know more now about the Civil War in the US, life in the Regency Period etc. than I do about Australian history. I find it all quite fascinating. I have been especially interested in the late 1800s when my grandparents were born in Scotland.

Weeds, Workshops and Rain

 Last Saturday our Simple Living Toowoomba group held a workshop titled 'Identifying Weeds' which was presented by Tim Nash a local soil scientist and secretary of Permaculture Toowoomba.

Learning new skills

 This month our Simple Living Toowoomba group held a Plarn and Yarn Workshop which was really well attended. Firstly Kate showed us how to cut plastic bags into Plarn. Then she taught us how to crochet the Plarn into tote bags. 

A cold snap, surgery and soapmaking

 As we are now in winter I suppose we shouldn't wonder why we are having a cold snap but it does seem to have come quite early in the season this year. Down in Victoria there is flooding which is bad enough when that happens in summer but must be dreadful in winter so I hope any readers from down there are doing okay and are keeping warm although I believe a lot of people lost power for quite a long time. Here in SE Queensland it is starting to warm up a little during the day which I am very thankful for.

A Walk in the Park

 When I was visiting our local Farmers' Market a week or so ago I crossed the road to Queens Park to see what the gardens were looking like. This park is one of Toowoomba's most popular as it is an easy walk from the CBD and attracts visitors year round. 

Turning fabric scraps into a rag rug

 On Saturday our Simple Living Toowoomba group  held another of our popular rag rug workshops. We had our first workshop in 2012. They are always a lot of fun as they are hands-on workshops and it is a good time to have a chat while learning how to make the rugs. 

Fabric covered coathangers

 At our recent Simple Living Toowoomba workshop Neralie showed us how to make padded coathanger covers. I had a few questions afterwards about how she covered the hook so she very kindly made another couple of coathanger covers and took photos along the way so that we could have a tutorial. 

A Zippy Weekend

 Last Saturday our Simple Living Toowoomba group had another fantastic workshop which was presented by the very talented Neralie and Valda. The topic of this workshop was all about learning to love zippers as a lot of people these days seem to have trouble inserting them. Of course, Neralie made it look super easy as she showed us how to insert a pocket with zipper into a bag then finishing with a zipper on top. 

Learn to Love Zippers Workshop ~ Simple Living Toowoomba

Next Saturday on the 13th March our Simple Living Toowoomba group will be holding our second workshop of the year and this one will be so informative as it will be presented by Valda and Neralie who are excellent teachers of all things to do with sewing. You may have seen their handiwork in a blog post I wrote last year after they showed us how to make bunting and bucket hats Bunting and Bucket Hats Workshop. 

First Simple Living Toowoomba Workshop for 2021

Last year we cancelled our Simple Living Toowoomba workshops in March after COVID-19 reached our Aussie shores.  So we were very excited to be able to resume them this year and today we started off 2021 with an excellent one which was presented by Racheal from Birdsong Market Garden who showed us how to make an array of homemade cleaning products as well as personal products. 

Time is moving along

 Well, here we are in the middle of January already. I find it is hard to keep track of the days since I retired as my life used to revolve around the school year. Some days I wake up and have to spend time trying to work out what the date is. LOL! However, regardless of whether we remember the day or date, time moves on and today I thought I would take stock of what I have been up to lately as I am dreadful at keeping a diary but can always look back at my blog and see what has been going on in a certain month. 

Building up your immunity

As  regular readers would know we have cancelled our Simple Living Toowoomba workshops for the time being due to the current crisis caused by the Corona virus. We had planned to have a workshop on herbs in May which Joan from Budgee Garlic and Herbs was going to present but unfortunately it had to be postponed. 

Cancellation of Simple Living Toowoomba Workshops

Unfortunately we have had to cancel our monthly Simple Living Toowoomba workshops due to the current health concerns and recommendations from Queensland Health  about keeping safe at this time. I am sure this will be disappointing for everyone but this crisis will pass and we will get back to normal as soon as possible.