India and after

 I've been unable to post all year ( not that 2020 has been a year of activity) and because the the action bar at the top of the blog disappeared when I put on a new theme .

After about half an hour googling I eventually found someone who said that some of them don't have it!!  so I just had to go back in and find a set up that actually had a place to add new post !

I headed off to India in early February with some trepidation being allergic to Chilli and wasn't sure I'd be able to eat, but then decided it would be a good way to lose weight, or to live on a bland white diet while I was there . However this did not prove the case and I enjoyed the food, the sights, the colour, the people in the whole experience.

The tour was with Intrepid and I really like their travel philosophy/ A small group 9 people  Aussies, (4 were ex Sth African), and British. We all got on well so made for a friendly tour. 

 

A walk

I cant believe how much less walking I am doing since stopping work at RCH
I used to walk to and from Kensington 30-40mins each way every day

Now it is just one day a fortnight and the regular walks with Spencer gone I am relatively inactive
So need to start up
So I went on a walk to the Cliff walk on eagle Rock Parade and wound my way back
I even got hot!!

Arashi Shibori workshop

I enrolled for a workshop with the Louis Joel Centre's Summer series 

I booked for this one which whenever I referred to it as a dyeing workshop I got a blank look so and to rephrase to Fabric dyeing 

I was expecting it to be indigo blue colours but was actually more like tie dyeing 

Not what I planned but still interesting and educational 

I even got a book from the library 

Botanical Inks Babs Behan 

There were 7 women in the workshop and all the stuff was provided except for plastic bottles to holed the pipes 

So our set up was a bucket each 2 pieces of white fabric and plastic pipes and rubber bands and some gloves

the wrapped fabric

We started by rolling the fabric diagonally (I did the second one horizontally) around the pipe fixing with rubber bands then lightly wetting in and twisting it around down to the end of the pipe

They could stand in the bottles in the bucket (tidier than ziplock bags)

Celia was pleased to hand me a fistful of runner bands from her collection

Then we squirted about 1Tbs of dye (premixed in tomato sauce bottles ) down the sid of the cloth then added water to cover the fabric and left it for an hour

Then we added a fixative Soda Ash solution about 4 Tbs down the pipe and swish it around

Leave for another hour hen rinse off 
Leave to soak overnight in soapy water (wool mix then hang to dry  

The red one is a bit gaudy but the blue an orange is Ok 

I will look at some alternate was to wrap so the effect is different
But enjoy the group very much

New Year's Day

With Wendy and Celia at Aireys Inlet we had a lovely repast for lunch!

Neighbours

Our neighbour Lisa came in yesterday needing help and support as she had locked the keys in her car, with the two Dachshunds winston & Trevor  in it, and her boys were waiting for her to pick them up near Melbourne.
So we got on to RACV (her phone was in car as well) and waited with her

Some in comfort

 others checking on the dogs!
All resolved in 30minutes
Luckily a cooler day

The Market at Aireys

Celia has really settled in to Aireys Inlet
On Sunday we went up to the Market at the recreation area and browsed around
It took us quite a while as we kept meeting people we / Celia knew

We bought some plants then found the guy only took cash
The woman we were speaking to offered yo pay and Calia could refund her at the next craft class!!!

A Day at the Beach

I had bought Dylan a wetsuit for Xmas as he had discovered Body boarding last year, but stay din the water until he was blue with cold
So we went down to Sandy Gully Beach on a lovely day with good waves

 After initial dramas from Dylan, whose first attempt failed, he then was hooked again

The wetsuit fitted well

Max, while he liked the beach, hated the waves (even the water) coming in over his feet
He would run 50 mts away as it came in

safely above the tide mark 

braving the waves

Celia and I worked on him and eventually was happy to sit in the waves as they came in up to his waist
We realised that he found it hard to keep his balance so we held his hands and after a while he let go "for a second!" and as we said "We've created a monster"