too hot to do much except sew!

 It was a warm night last night here so I was up early and got stuck into some sewing projects that have been neglected for the last few weeks.  This is a table topper that I have made for one of my mums friends for Christmas.  I popped into spotlight yesterday to get some more iron on pellon as i decided that the batting I have is too thick for this.

I was able to pin it on my tiled floor and did some basic quilting that suited this country style fabric.

 I had some left over squares so I made a mug rug.  Yes its late, but mum hasn't seen her yet so its okay.

 This is the backing for another UFO that I started many years ago, its a millamac pattern I shall post a picture of the front when I have finished it, I have kept it hidden from the froglet for many years and now she is moving out (sob) its a perfect time to give it to her

 Seeing that it was such a hot day the fisherman decided to clean down the veranda ready to re oil it during the week.  It was good that I had put the inflatable pool up to cool down in after we moved all the crap things off.

Milly was on hand to supervise the goings on and had a swim with us in the pool!

gotta love hot cross buns.....

 This is my hoya, its going bananas and I have so many flowers on it for the first time in years.  This plant started as a cutting from my mums plant, which was a cutting from her mum, and from her mum.  So its actually a very old plant.

 The sad part is that you cant pick the flowers but I can enjoy them on my veranda.

 YES!!!  hot cross bun time.  I don't care that they are out 3 days into the new year, I enjoy eating them any time of year..... unfortunately so does the rest of the family so I had to fight them for my one bun today.

We also have a few days of stinking hot weather so out comes the pool ready to cool off tomorrow!

my weekend

 My mum bought me a little tree as I wasn't going to get the big tree out of the ceiling this year.... I found in Typo a box of tiny Little baubles.... perfect size for my little tree.

 I bought 2 boxes... much to my disgust I found I had to put the little hangy threads on myself!!  they do look good though.... should take a photo of them all on the tree i guess.

 Cookie had his annual shower.... should have heard the carry on!  He is really very good with water, he doesn't scratch u to shreds but he lets you know he isn't really enjoying it.

I did a ride with a group called Audax yesterday.... was the bahumbug ride... we rode 103km from Wandong to Seymour and back.  the outward journey wasn't too bad, a couple of hills.... but the trip home... oh boy.  We had headwind and hills that I don't know where they came from!  the last 10km were really challenging, the heat had turned up just to add another element.
But when we got to the finish we were rewarded with a lovely lunch complete with Xmas pudding!

my great victorian bike ride journey

 Day 1  of 9 days of riding and camping.  we claimed our sleep easy tent, hung the bunting and parked our bikes.

 I was gobsmacked to see cattle trucks arriving in the campsite.... the people that came up from Melbourne in buses... this was how their bikes came up!

 Queuing became the norm.  Queue for breakfast, lunch and dinner, showers, toilets, to wash your dishes and to leave the campsite in the morning to ride! The stats showed that 42 volunteers would serve dinner each night and 500 people each 30 mins would be served.

 Each day we rode from a new location, through the gantry to cheers from the smiling volunteers.  The school groups in the first few days learnt how to keep to the left and call out when passing and general road rules.  The rest of the rabble also learnt how to ride in big groups and the art of communication improved as the days went past.

 We rode past Bonnie Doon, over the weir wall.  We rode up mountains and down mountains. Infact I found that there was a lot more hills than I expected and challenged us daily.

 The beast did me proud.  I got my new gatorskin tyres and had no punctures.

 We had views of the mountains that we rode up and down

 I experienced ALL weather conditions.  over 33degrees on a climb with a torrential downpour for the descend complete with marble sized hail stones.  Fog came into camp that night and we had stunning thunder storms with lightening displays that caused the school kids to scream.

 The towns we stayed in pulled out all the stoppers and welcomed us with open arms.  Moyhu was the smallest but the most impressive to me.  They had bikes down the road to welcome us, a street festival with music and food and wines.

 We encountered gravel roads unexpectedly.  Sadly our first gravel road was a detour due to a tragic accident.  Our second gravel road was the rail trail just before Yarck and then all the way to Alexandra... about 30km all up.  My gatorskins did me proud..... the bike store made a killing that day with inner tube and tyre sales.

 On the second night I ate the butter chicken, bad move.  I was up from 11pm-2am experiencing something that no one should before they have the biggest mountain to climb.  No it wasn't gastro but I rode up the Tawonga Pass with no fuel in the body and feeling like hell.  My friend didn't leave my side and I made it up eventually.

 Several days later I did feel a lot better and I was able to enjoy my holiday a lot better!

 This is the SAG wagon.  It wasn't something I was going to catch, and I am proud to say that I didn't take the SAG even when I just wanted to curl up and be somewhere else.

 With the day of modern technology brings forth the issue of keeping in touch with loved ones and charging your garmin to record your riding statistics.  This was the table in the campsite each afternoon.  The volunteers had a system happening and for a few dollars you could leave your devices in safe hands.

 Mansfield was our rest day and I spent the day recharging my own batteries ready for the last few days of my ride.

The worst bit of a trip?  the massive pile of washing!!  I rode 530km in 7 days of riding, I hope to be able to do it all again!

Its time!

 Here is my home for the next week.  I am leaving early in the morning to join my friends and over 3800 other cyclists for my adventure.

 My bike is ready to roll.... my bags... well they are not looking as bad as they did in this photo!

 Cookie gave my cycling basket a 'catscan' The funny thing is that I put this basket out every week and he doesn't give it a second thought.... but today had sat in it for ages and also made himself at home on my unpacked clothing.....  think he is on to me!

May you all have a wonderful week, I shall return next week and hopefully not bore you all too much with my amazing holiday.

Nearly there!

only 3 days to go until I join the Great Victorian Bike ride.  7 days of riding and fun (with a rest day thrown in) 520km

It starts in Albury and winds its way down towards Lilydale.  We ride to Yackandanda, Bright, the tiny town of Moyhu where we will increase the population by 1600% down to Mansfield where we stay for 2 nights (might ride up Mt Buller again!)

 down through Bonnie Doon to stay in Alexandra and then through Marysville where the bush fires all but destroyed the town in Black Saturday.  We get to ride through the black spur to Healesville for our final night under canvas and then a short ride the next day to Lilydale.

I am very excited and have been counting down the days for nearly a year now.  This will be my first holiday by myself without the fisherman or the girls.  It will be all about me for this trip!

I have been sewing today, sorry no photos.

If I don't post again before my trip I shall do a GV posting when I return.

happy sewing and riding!

weekends!

 So last night I go and get my bike ready for the morning ride... I check my tyres after my rides but I hadn't realised that the rear tyre was as bad as this.  you can see the wire thread and the tyre itself is flat instead of being rounded... not a good mix when you like to descend big hills at top speeds!

 So off to the bike shop I go this morning and get some new tyres, I got a sweet deal on a pair of gatorskins,,,, (love the name of these tyres!)  I'm going on the great Victorian bike ride in 2 weeks time, I don't think the old tyres would have done so well after 500km....

 I have been sewing bits and pieces in between working extra shifts and doing all my rides.

 On Thursday night the froglet scored free tickets to go to the Melbourne's food festival at Albert park lake, so we went and tasted our way through various stall holders..... no the above item isn't a spider... its a soft shell crab in a souvlaki... it WAS good.  We had other yummy treats and the macarons below were the best... we had a salted caramel one... mmmmmm

I really enjoyed my night out with my beautiful daughter, she is moving up to Brisbane in January so spending time with her at things like this is great.