Category Archives: Days Out

Locally Made

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The story of this post began back in October when GMan and I visited several local artisans during the Open Studios weekend in Bendigo.

I bought 2 pieces – a pair of earrings and a watercolour painting. The painting was unframed and after chatting with the artist I have found an excellent local place to have it framed.

This is it unframed. I just love the colours and composition.

I picked up my newly-framed artwork this week and am very pleased with it although the photograph does not really do it justice.

The earrings are from a good friend who makes stunning silver jewellery and participates in the Open Studios weekend. The earrings are silver with Swarovski crystals. The crystals I chose are multi-coloured depending on how they catch the light.

It is lovely to have these one-off pieces and to support local artists.

What A Weekend!!

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I have finally come back to earth after a huge weekend. It was the 50th Maldon Folk Festival which is is held in our small town. The whole event is organised by a small committee and an enthusiastic band of volunteers. It is spread over 4 days in multiple indoor and outdoor venues with dozens of artists from Australia and overseas. For the third year in a row, GMan and I both did some volunteer shifts but that left plenty of time to see some amazing talent.

Here are some photos I took during several performances.

The Royal High Jinx – high energy and lots of fun.

The Bushwackers – an Australian institution since 1971 – with numerous line-up changes but as authentic as ever.

Eric Bogle – a Scotsman who has called Australia home for many years and his iconic song, ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’.

The cleverly named group, The Tequila Mockingbirds, including local legend Mick Coates and their special brand of Cowboy Swing.

The Sweet Sorrows, an Irish/Australian duo with haunting and delicate harmonies.

There was definitely something for everyone and the weather added a touch of drama on the last evening. Just after 7pm a storm rolled in with wind, rain and torrent of tiny hail which blanketed the town in what looked like snow but was in fact, ice made up of millions of tiny hailstones.

This is a view of Main Street.

A Day Out – Part 2

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As promised, here is the second instalment of our day out in Shepparton.

We went to the SPC Factory shop and I had no real idea of what to expect apart from hoping to buy some tinned tomatoes.

Well it was an absolute eye-opener as they had all sorts of packaged food, drinks and some household goods.

I did buy 3 large tins (2.95kg each) of chopped tomatoes. You can see them on the top shelf as I had put some of our haul away before I thought to photograph it.

I also bought the 12 bottles of passata, 2 packs of gluten free gnocchi as well as a couple of other packs of gluten free pasta shown here.

Other items were 6 pairs of socks, 2 rolls of baking paper, a travel coffee plunger/mug, several tubes of toothpaste and facial scrub.

Everything that I bought was needed and well-priced. It would be easy to go overboard and be sucked into buying things that you do not need. You also need to know that you can successfully use and/or store various items as well as being aware of the pricing in regular supermarkets or other sources.

I am confident that the $114 that we spent was good value. I certainly would not need to shop here regularly nor would I make the 2 hour drive just to shop here. However, it is good to know what is available should we happen to be in the area in the future.

A Day Out – Part 1

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Today we ventured to Shepparton, a regional city which is a couple of hours drive north-east of where we live. The reason for our visit was twofold, seeing the Brett Whiteley exhibition at the Shepparton Art Museum and going to the SPC Factory Shop. For those who are not familiar with the acronym, it stands for Shepparton Preserving Company, an Australian food processing company based in Shepparton which is well-known for its various canned fruits and vegetables. I was hoping to stock up on canned tomatoes but more on that in my next post.

I did not think to take any photos of the very recent building which houses the Shepparton Art Museum. The current location opened to the public in November 2021. Here is a photo I found online.

The exhibition we visited was excellent but I chose to simply enjoy the works rather than trying to photograph them.

We then walked up to the rooftop terrace where we caught this view which is almost the reverse of the previous image.

On the way up the central staircase I spotted this artwork. It is actually a timber ladder suspended from the ceiling against a circular mirror which creates the illusion of the ladder extending infinitely upwards. Really intriguing………….

The design of the large glass windows frame the view to the lake and beyond.

The spectacular patterns on the bark of these eucalypts caught my eye from the outdoor area outside the museum cafe where we had a delicious lunch. The food was excellent and the majority of the menu was gluten free.

After we left Shepparton we took a short detour off the main road to see the historic Toolamba Bridge. The single lane, timber planked bridge which spans the Goulburn River was opened in 1900.

We made one more stop on our way home. These photos show some silo art at Colbinabbin. The series was too big to fit into a single photo so the 3 photos show the sequence. The idea of painting a silo began in 2015 in Western Australia and has expanded since then to encompass silos, tanks and water towers in dozens of rural towns across the country. The themes are many and varied but always have a strong local influence. The resultant Art Trails have reinvigorated many of the rural communities.

Next time I will share the details of our shopping exploits from today.

Birthday Outing

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Today is GMan’s birthday and coincidentally we arranged to go to Melbourne with the express purpose of going to the exhibition of French Impressionism at the National Gallery of Victoria. It includes over 100 artworks drawn from the extensive collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

However, the first thing that caught our attention was before we even entered the gallery. The bare plane trees on the footpath outside the gallery were adorned with a series of threads of paper cranes as today is the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. This modest yet powerful memorial was appreciated by many people passing by.

The exhibition is very popular so there were lots of people around but still enough space to view all of the paintings as well as the detailed information adjacent to each.

Here are a few photographs of some that particularly caught my eye.

Entrance to the village of Osny by Paul Gaugin.

Two peasant women in a meadow by Camille Pissarro.

There were 19 Monet works in the exhibition. Some were quite familiar subjects such as waterlilies, the Japanese bridge in the garden at Giverny and haystacks but here are a couple of less well-known pieces.

Road at La Cavée, Pourville

Boulevard Saint Denis Argenteuil in winter

Finally, a view from inside the foyer of the gallery.

After the gallery adventure we headed back the Elio’s Place, a small European bistro in Flinders Lane for a birthday lunch. Then it was a couple of errands before catching the train home. It was a full and fun day out.

Ticket to Ride

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Do you remember when there was no online booking of travel or swiping of cards or devices to pay for tickets on the go?

Well, this is a bit of a blast from the past. Our paper tickets for a return trip to Adelaide.

We are off to Adelaide at the end of the month for a few days and although it is simple enough to drive from here to Adelaide in one day we have decided to take a slightly more circuitous route and turn the journey into a bit of an adventure.

The first leg is to catch the train from Castlemaine to Swan Hill. We will arrive around lunchtime so are staying in a cabin at the caravan park which is conveniently located between the railway station and the river. We will have time to have a look around the town and enjoy the river scenery.

The next day we catch a coach to Adelaide and will arrive by 6pm. Our accommodation is conveniently located in the city centre and only a few blocks from the coach terminal.

Our return journey will be the same in reverse.

It will be something a bit different.

They’re Back

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote this post about the ‘new to me’ boots I had purchased.

Well, I did take the old ones to a cobbler in Melbourne to see if they might be able to be repaired. He assured me that he could and that the cost would be $60. This seemed like a very reasonable price to restore an unwearable pair of boots that had seen 6 years of constant winter wear.

Today we were on another jaunt to Melbourne and I picked them up. They are as good as new so I am looking forward to several more years of wear out of these favourites. While buying secondhand is a sustainable option, it is important not to forget about taking care of what you have to ensure that it lasts as well as considering repairing items where possible.

I was also able to drop off the donation of towels which I mentioned the other day. They were very gratefully received and I am pleased that they will be put to good use. I also gave them the two carry bags which I had made as I am sure that someone will appreciate those, too.

After lunch we headed over the river to The Sumner theatre to see ‘Mother Play’. It was both funny and tragic but most all, very moving and certainly not one for the faint-hearted. I enjoy live theatre and this was no exception and it was particularly exciting to witness Sigrid Thornton’s superb talent on stage.

Stocked Up

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We have arrived home after a couple of night away at Sale which is about 4 hours drive from home. You can read all about it here.

Apart from the obvious holiday we used the travel wisely to source some grocery items with having to deviate too far out of our way.

The route took us through Melbourne so we took advantage of the fact that it was Tuesday and we called in to Graina at Moonee Ponds where we buy most of our bulk dry goods. Each Tuesday they offer a 20% discount if you bring your own containers which I always do anyway. I did not have too much on my list but managed to top up a few things. I also stopped at Ray’s Top Nuts nearby for a couple of other things.

As we continued towards Sale I noticed a roadside stall, The Spud Shed with a board advertising potatoes for $1/kg. I made a note to check this out on our return trip. The advertised potatoes were clearly small/seconds but they suit our needs perfectly and I selected a couple of kilos.

Our next stop was in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne at the warehouse for Australian Organic Products. I had ordered a 20 litre drum of laundry liquid by Kin Kin Naturals. The laundry and dishwashing products are produced by a small family business in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, not far from where we lived in Queensland where I bought them in recycled containers, directly from the maker, Felix. I had to change my purchasing arrangements once we relocated to Victoria and I discovered I could source the products through Australian Organic Products but the delivery costs are pretty steep to our regional location so I used the opportunity to pick up my order directly from the warehouse.

We usually do our regular grocery shopping in Bendigo at a greengrocer and Aldi but since we were traversing the suburbs of Melbourne we took advantage of suitable hops along the route.

This is everything I bought in our travels apart from the 20 litre drum of laundry liquid.

The weather is tipped to be cold and wet tomorrow so I am looking forward to staying indoors and working on some more of the patchwork blocks.

Independence Day – A Reflection

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I know that I am a couple of days late for American Independence Day which is celebrated on 4th July. 6 years ago I had my own version of Independence Day as 4th July 2019 marked my last working day in the office. Interestingly enough, it took me another 3 weeks before I was sufficiently organised to even write a blog post which combines a measure of relief and optimism. You can read it here.

A themed dinner with work colleagues.

Well, here I am 6 years later and still writing this blog – I have actually been writing it since March 2011. Life has had some ups and downs, some expected and others totally unforeseen. We managed a mere 6 months of retirement before our collective worlds were turned upside down with the arrival of Covid-19 in early 2020.

There was plenty of time for gardening.

There have been family events – milestone birthdays and weddings as well as several funerals. The death of my mother in early 2021 left an enormous void in my life and that of many others.

Farewell, Mum.

While Covid-19 did put a dent in our overseas travel plans for a few years we made up for that with road trips within Queensland and interstate once the tightest restrictions had eased. The addition of a new puppy in 2020 gave us plenty of distraction, too. We resumed travelling abroad in 2024 and have plenty of plans for later this year and beyond.

The household seems to revolve around Islay.

Our biggest post-retirement change was a move from Queensland to regional Victoria. Although we bought a home that was only a couple of years old there continue to be some modifications needed to make it completely to our liking.

We have settled into life in our small country town and life hums along in a regular rhythm of activities at home, volunteering, cultural events, visits from family and friends as well as travel near and far.

Enjoying a local Writers’ Festival.

Did I really know what to expect from retirement? Not really, but it is simply a matter of finding your own pace and space.

Family Time

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In my last port I mentioned that we had visitors coming to stay. Our daughter and 2 granddaughters who live in Brisbane have been to visit for a week. They spent the first couple of nights in Melbourne where they went to see Beetlejuice and then took the train to Warrnambool where we met them and spent 3 days exploring the surrounding area, including the Great Ocean Road.

At the whale watching lookout at Logan’s Beach but no whales in sight.

Some stunning scenery along the Great Ocean Road.

Finally, we had 2 nights at home before a drive to Melbourne today to drop them at the airport for their return flight. I managed to take up 4 pairs of jeans for the girls as well as trim the younger one’s hair.

Yesterday we went to Bendigo where we went shopping for a 16th birthday gift for our younger granddaughter, had lunch at at Italian restaurant and then GMan, our daughter and I went to see the Frida Khalo exhibition at the Art Gallery. Although the granddaughters weren’t interested in seeing the exhibition we did manage a photo of them near the entrance. They had gelato and went to the gardens instead.

It has been a full and interesting week and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the family.

Back to reality tomorrow as I finish washing the extra bedlinen and rearranging the guest rooms. I am also hoping to do a bit more fence painting as the forecast is for fine weather and not too cold.