Some bobbin lace PHD's

 First of all, here is the next lace for a porcelain doll...slow progress, but a little every now and then...have to find/design another piece to complete the doll, so still a long way to go before a doll will be seen.  This is Bucks Point in Finca 80...wide design by Heather Billington, narrow one from Pamela Notingham's Intro to Bucks book I think.

 Here is the 2nd piece from the workshop I was participating in when Colin collapsed.  I completed the 1st repeat at the workshop and most of the rest of this one was done at Colin's hospital bedside during his 2nd stay in Hobart.  The thread is Lizbeth 80...have no idea why I would buy this colour in the first place, but love it in this piece.  The designer is Ethel Zuccolotto.

My 3rd piece was started yesterday.  The pattern is from the Ulrike Voelcker Torchon series, done in Thai silk from a supplier here in Tassie.  The scarf will be for Colin's daughter...maybe for Christmas...

 

up close...

 

Finally, after our recent trip to visit Colin's surgeon, we decided to stay over and visit Mona Museum...I found out about this cement truck from a friend in Estonia on Facebook...now I have seen it for real!!

 

The detail is simply amazing, and it smells much better than one of the artist's other instalments at the museum!!

 Hugs to all, may your pins never bend and your threads never break, so that you can make the most of every moment life has to offer!

Welcome to my back door

Please allow me to show you a little of my place. Launceston is situated on the Tamar River basin in Northern Tasmania. The South Esk, North Esk and Tamar Rivers all converge in the basin, before going out to sea through the Tamar River valley. Last weekend we experienced the worst floods in over 30 years. I managed to visit "the Gorge" yesterday (Wednesday)afternoon, and whilst it is not as wild as it was on Sunday, the volume of water is still spectacular! This is the scene from Kings Bridge, 5 minutes walk from the CBD.

90% of the time, this area is a gently rambling brooke!

The Alexandra Suspension bridge and the cable chair lift - was the longest span in the Southern Hemisphere (not sure if that is still the case) - are features of our Gorge. On Sunday the water level was above the cement base you can see on the left here! Teenagers often swim in this area in the summertime, despite the constant warnings of flood waters being released from Trevallyn Dam, further up the river.

For those of us too chicken to swim in the river, there are 2 swimming pools in the foreground - the one you can see is a wading pool for toodlers, and the deeper pool is still obscured by the floodwater. To give you an idea of the magnatude of Sunday, the swingset behind the orange barrier on the left only had 4 inches of poles showing in the weekend newspaper!

On the way out, I stopped and took 2 photos about 400 meters from Kings Bridge. This one is facing East back into the reserve.

And to the west, you can see the CBD. The Myer building is the 'high-rise' just to the left of the tree, and the old Post Office Clock tower can be seen to the right. This is the middle of town and less than 10 minutes walk away!

From the base of the new bridge - built to handle the increased volumes of traffic in the area in the late 60s I think - this pic shows just how close suburbia is to the Gorge! These homes have fabulous views of the Tamar Valley to the north, the industrial area on the eastern bank and the city. Most of these homes are colonial, but behind them are some rather beautiful modern houses too.

Hope you enjoyed my tour :) Please come again, and hopfully I will have some lace to show you! Don't forget to let me know what you think in the comments ... I love letters from friends :)

Happy days