Happy Dunsborough Holiday Giveaway

If there is one thing I enjoy when travelling, it is going to different news agencies & book shops just in case they have any craft magazines & books I may desperately need to buy as a momento of my holiday. Country newsagencies are normally the best & the one in the middle of Dunborough shopping Centre didn't let me down. Before I show you what I brought to giveaway to one of you my friends, you have to endure a few of the happy snaps of the week 'down South'.

The resort was beautiful. That was our apartment upstairs.

The restaurant & fire-side bar had delicious food & watching the last quarter of Friday night footy by the fire with a glass of Bridgetown cider was not hard to take at all!

We spent time in Dunsborough, Margaret River, Augusta, Prevelly, Canal Rocks, Busselton...... and did you know that some of the cows in Cowarramup wear spectacles?

There was wisdom to be found in Margaret River - A meal without wine is called breakfast!

A Devonshire Tea at the Cape Leuwin Lighthouse is a very good thing even during a power outage. Water boiled the old way, on the wood stove.

The beaches and rocks made for invigorating walks and fun whether on the wild West coast or the more sheltered bays.

A trek through Mammoth Cave provided a workout, shelter from the rain outside, geological splendor and a history lesson. I didn't realise Western Australia used to have Tassie Tigers, Tassie Devils, Marsupial Lions and many other long lost animal species... but surprisingly no mammoths??

Maybe more pics another day. It was a great holiday. There was rain and temperatures dropped about 5 degrees to highs of 16 by about Thursday but it was also not overly crowded, everyone we met was happy, friendly & helpful and there was always the very comfy apartment to relax in.

Young Hun-bun lived to tell the tale (tail?) of his holiday at the cattery. Mary said he was timid, had to be moved once so he couldn't see other cats, never missed a meal (like his mum) and once he was familiar with you was up for a cuddle. Now he is home, he is President of the Muma Appreciation Society - long may it last!

Now on to important matters. The book I found to giveaway is Feathered Friends by Mollie Makes.

 

Feathered Friends $14.64 at the UK Book Depository

It contains knitting, crochet, sewing, felting, papercraft & more. Following is some of my favourite projects.

Oh that peg bag is so cute! So leave me a comment letting me know you want to be in to win and Hun-bun will be prompted to draw a winner next Wednesday evening. If he fails me like he & little Brunnie did on my last giveaway then the Random Number Generator will be put to work.

Good luck!

Tracee xxx Hun-bun xx

A Bit of This.....

And a bit of that..... in my post today.

Let's start with a little stitchery that I actually did the machine sewing on (about 3 minutes worth) & finished the item for Friday Night Sew In. What's more, it's a gift for me - the words definitely were written about me!

Wishes won't do dishes, so true in my house. I used two of my favourite supplies, variegated thread & some of my treasured Marmalade fabric - currently my favourite print in the range. The pattern was a freebie from Bird Brain Designs. They have pages of lovely little stitcheries that they generously give away.

 

I have been busy knitting a  baby jacket that I am hoping I will finish this week, it seems to be taking me forever!

 

 

Next I want to show you a beautiful vintage kitty. It was made by my friend Frank's mother, out of pom-poms, many, many years ago. It's a very cute little piece made from three elongated pom-poms for the body, one for the tail and the round one for the head.

 

 

Isn't that just what we want for our crafts - for it to be on display & cherished many years later by our family for generations to come.

I had a lovely big first chat this morning with Anthea from Hibiscus Stitches. Next Saturday we have our bloggers meet up at the Perth Quilt Fair. I can't wait to meet our local bloggers that are coming along & a big thanks to Anthea & Maria from Life On The Block for organising it for us.

 

The next day we head off for a week down the South-west of WA in Dunsborough, right on the ocean. So far it looks like we can expect more of the same weather in the early 20s with nice, cool mornings & evenings. I am very much looking forward to the week away, so better start packing my sewing, magazines, books, not to mention anything I buy at the craft fair that I can't bear to leave at home for the week.

 

The bad news is that Master Hun-bun is having his first ever holiday at a cattery! He knows he is going, we speak often of Hun-bun's winter holiday, but I don't think he realises he is going there on his own & not with his muma. I couldn't tell him that. He is all prepared - had his vaccination, been micro-chipped in case the worst ever thing happens & he gets out, has a new necklace to hang his microchip pendant on & I washed his blanket today for him to pack. By Sunday morning, he will have slept on it enough for it to remind him of home but not enough that you can't see his favourite farmyard animals for the creamy furs clinging to it. It will be me in tears as I drop him off on Sunday. I bet they will have to kick me out to make me leave him. Oh dear - I will have to try to be brave! They will do phone or video visits, can't you just see me Skyping my cat! It's only a week, I'm going to try to limit myself to only 2 phone calls to check on him.

 

 

 

Finally, it was a beautiful day in Perth today & we made the most of it by going for a walk this afternoon around the lake at Yancep National Park, about 60kms North of Perth. The lake is called Loch McNess, named after a Perth philanthropist not its Scottish namesake, and I didn't see any monsters either.

 

The Yancep Inn looked like a great place to sit this afternoon, with warm sun on your face & a cool beverage in your hand. Maybe next time, today we had walks to do & pics to take.

 

 

It was just the weather for a snooze in the sun, hiding ones face behind the trunk of the Euculyptus tree.

 

 

Many people were taking advantage of the great weather & beautiful surroundings. The views were very pretty.

 

 

The locals were getting lots of attention from the younger generation.

 

 

And the imfamous West Australian Tap tree was in full bloom.

 

 

We spent ages on a jetty in the sun trying to capture photos of dragon flies. The dragon flies had great fun doing very dramatic, acrobatic moves to make sure most pics captured only a wing or just blurry blue sky.

 

 

The birds were far better behaved.

 

 

And the native plants in flower were very colourful and pretty.

 

 

 

Have a great week everyone!

Tracee xx  Hun-bun xx