Astratex sale

Astatex is having its half price sale from today to 15th February. Lots of European fabrics half the usual price. Well I did my bit to spend Ruddy's bonuses with the following:

Cottons for $10 a metre - were originally $32 per metre. I so need some summer clothes to beat this heat. But unfortunately it is too hot to sew!!

And I bought this (supposedly) silk fabric. Black and white checks with Burgundy/wine flowers. It is a taffeta with a bit of sheen - perfect for that Burda WOF trench. Sorry no numbers for now and anyway it won't be started for a while. I am thinking a perfect garment for my birthday in April. Here is a close up of the flowers:

Now, I am not convinced it is a silk as the burn test tells me it has a bit (or a lot) of plastic in it. There was no label on the bolt so I asked the sales assistant who assured me it was silk. It certainly was a silk price. So what to do? Complain as I was misled and ask for my money back or keep it anyway because it is gorgeous? I will see how I feel once I cool down (literally).

Today was the highest Melbourne temperature on record - 46.4C. And there are bushfires burning over a lot of the state - most very close to Melbourne. The weather has changed, and the temp has dropped to 26, but it is still windy. Keep us in your prayers.

Warrandyte and Brunswick Street

Yesterday it rained just about all day! We visited Warrandyte, an outer bush suburb of Melbourne, for a walk along the Yarra and to buy some bread from the Warrandyte bakery. This bakery cooks all it's bread, cakes and pies in a wood fired oven. Mmmmm, very nice with some homemade soup after a very wet and cold walk along the river. We also had coffee at one of the quaint cafes in the area.

The Yarra River flows from the mountains, through the Yarra Valley, though the suburbs of Melbourne, through the city and out into the Bay. The above photo is a typical photo of the "bush" of this part of Australia. Notice that it is the middle of winter and all the trees retain their leaves. In about a month the view will be quite different when all the wattles are in flower. This group of trees and bushes have vivid yellow flowers. I will try and remember to take a photo of the same view then to send to Marine and to show you.

In the afternoon we visited Brunswick Street. Here is a blurb from Brunswickstreet.com.au

"In all, Brunswick Street has become synonymous (along with Lygon St. in nearby Carlton, Chapel St. in more upmarket South Yarra, and more latterly Fitzroy St. in St. Kilda) in Melbourne with the relaxed café style vibe that the city is globally famous for." Not sure if we are globally famous for anything, but it is a great street to visit. Lots of quirky artworks, cafes, shops etc. And of course it has the Alannah Hill outlet. This is of interest to sewers as she has excess fabrics and trims for sale there. I don't have any photos of Brunswick Street as the rain was pretty steady all afternoon. But if you are interested, here is a link to a website on the street. Brunswick Street

Today the girls are off back to the city to shop and go to the movies. Apparently there is a bean bag theatre in Melbourne Central! So maybe I can get some sewing done!?

Yarra Valley

Today we went to the Yarra Valley to see and taste some good old Aussie sparkling. The Yarra Valley is 50 klms from Melbourne and even less for us - about half an hour. First stop was Domaine Chandon - some lunch, a tour of the wine making facilities and some tasting....The next photo is a view over the valley. It was raining and quite cold. We also stopped into Yering Station - another winery in the region. The Yarra Valley is a very young grape growing region and the wineries are all very modern with large glass walls with a great view! And I have never seen it so green - surely the drought is over????

The final stop was into Yarra Glen for some warm refreshments...

Great Ocean Road

Today we went for a trip down the Great Ocean Road. 3000 returned sailors and soldiers built the Great Ocean Road, the world’s biggest war memorial, as a monument to their fellow Australians killed at Gallipoli, at the Somme and the many other places where Australians served in the first world war. It winds around the bottom of Victoria at the southern end of mainland Australia. Some photos......

Much of the road is very close to the water and winds around mountains and cliffs.

Here the girls are on Bells Beach - a very famous surf beach. Not much surf today, but there were some poor surfers out there trying to catch a wave.....brrrr..

We went only as far as Lorne where we had lunch and a bit of fun on the beach. Here the girls were running across and jumping...had to work off lunch somehow.We stopped at Airey's Inlet to visit the lighthouse....

Tomorrow we are off to the Yarra Valley to visit some vineyards....hic....

More on Melbourne

Today the girls are at Luna Park (a fun park) and I have the day to myself. I am thinking about sewing, but I had to finish the novel I was reading and then the latest Threads was in the mailbox, and the washing needed to be done......... after much procrastination, I came to the conclusion that I could use another coat. I was tempted to go and visit Brunswick Fabrics to get some teal (is there any other colour?) wool/cashmere to keep up with Belinda! But I do already have some plum wool/cashmere I purchased last year at Clear It - the Alannah Hill outlet. I have moved it from the cupboard onto my sewing table...well that is a start..sorry no photo, the camera went to Luna Park too! Now which pattern?



Well while I contemplate that one, here are some photos taken from the Rialto yesterday....

This photo is facing east towards the MCG. Southbank is on the right of the river.

This photo is south, with Crown Casino along the river. Notice the road that goes right through the building.

This photo is west towards Docklands.

This is south west - nice rainbow...

Update

Hi everyone, I have been extremely busy...but not with sewing alas. As you may remember we were getting new carpet. So that meant all cupboards etc had to be emptied, which started me on a very early spring clean that lasted for a few weeks. But now, it is all done and I am so amazed at how good the house looks all clean, neat and just more open. We have given away to charity a lot of items we not longer use but had horded in cupboards. A lot of rubbish was thrown out too!!

So here are a couple of pictures of my sewing room after a new paint and the stain free (and pin and thread free) carpet.

I inherited the bookshelves from the girls old playroom - useful for all my mags and sewing books. I also inherited a larger TV and a DVD player - yay! Now I just want to sew but I am a tourist in my own city this week as we have Marine our French exchange student staying with us and it is school holidays. Here is a picture of Sofie, Marine and Ellen in Melbourne yesterday.See the tall building just to the left of Sofie - that is the Rialto and it has an observation deck. We went up there too and got some great photos. Will post some of them tomorrow... Today we are off to Eastland to buy Marine some school shoes.