The Laundry King and I are having a lovely time exploring the Clare Valley and Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia before I teach at Quilt Encounter later this week. I have limited access to the internet but did manage to update the Twelve by Twelve website with our Purple Yellow works. And here is my Colourplay Gallery so far.
I will try and post some photos tomorrow. Meanwhile, wine and food and scenery is calling.
I made the train journey between the Gosford and Sydney countless times. Today, for the first time, I head north on the train. My destination is Be Creative by the Sea quilting retreat at Coffs Harbour which is 480km away. The train is not of the speedy variety, so the journey will take 8 hours or so. I have munchies packed for me by the Laundry King, the Saturday papers, some handwork AND my netbook which has a longlasting battery (albeit there is no wifi available). I will also make a point of looking out the window.
I will be offline for a few days so have enabled comment moderation. I look forward to sharing some photos from my adventure when I return.
Australia is a BIG place. When I look at a map and consider the places I have visited, it is only a narrow strip on the east coast from Townsville to Merimbula, a spot around Melbourne and another small strip from Perth down to the Margaret River area. I’ve never been to South Australia but the Laundry King and I have an opportunity to go exploring in July when I will be teaching at Quilt Encounter. We have the choice of some Mon-Friday dates or Friday-Tuesday dates. Normally we would avoid the hustle and bustle of wineries on the weekend but we’ve also been caught out before with visiting areas on weekdays to find many places closed. So here is the question. We have five or so days - where should we go and should we aim for the Mon-Fri or Fri-Tuesday? We like wine, local cuisine and new scenery. We’re thinking of Kangaroo Island + a more developed winery area but we’re open to suggestions!
My suitcase has arrived and here are some of the goodies inside. Clamps and perpex resist shapes from r0ssie; cones of Aurifil thread for piecing from Pumpkinvine Corner; a copy of Quilting Arts magazine that includes an article on extreme shibori; an acrylic brayer for when I am next foam stamping; some glass head pins; and some intriguing cotton silk fabric that Diane kindly gave to me that apparently takes up dye in surprising and unexpected ways. I’d love to play but first I have to finish unpacking.
Our day exploring Lancaster was clear but bitterly cold and windy. By far the safest thing was to stay indoors. A spot of shopping in Intercourse was successful. I didn’t find the quilting books I was looking for but I did purchase a couple of 5×24in Olipfa lip-edged rulers to replace the one that has been held together with masking tape since I stood on it a year ago. I also spotted Down Under Quilts magazine at Zook’s including the issue with Erica’s sunny quilt on the cover:
For lunch we adjourned to the Iron Hill Brewery in Lancaster where we were joined by fiber artist Sue Reno. After admiring Sue’s work and following her blog and Facebook, it was a pleasure to reach beyond the internet and meet Sue in person. 
While we were too late to view Sue’s recent exhibition of botanical quilts, and too early for her forthcoming exhibition of works from her Watt and Shand series, we did get to see some of the countryside and cityscapes that have inspired Sue’s work, albeit it in winter. As the weather closed in, we were relieved to know that all of the staff were on deck back at the inn and that we would be able to dine in the restaurant (although we thought the bartender on Monday evening was better!).
Christmas carols were banned from the car CD player on the 4+ hour trip back to Pittsburgh. Instead we passed the journey in the time-honoured way: counting the tunnels (five) and the Mail Pouch Tobacco Barns (four):
Yesterday, the Laundry King, my sister-in-law, her husband and I ventured out onto the Pennsylvanian Turnpike in the 1997 Buick, aka the land yacht or moving sofa. Destination Lancaster County.
First stop was Hershey, home of chocolate kisses and other sweet things. Even the street lamps are shaped like chocolate kisses:
The free tour was a hoot - just the right amount of factual information about how chocolate is produced combined with singing cows with fluttering eyelashes.
I was on the lookout for things blue and white with a dash of black for the next Twelve by Twelve colourplay challenge and found a matching cadillac in the Antique Automobile Museum:
We didn’t stop for lunch so were looking forward to some refreshments and dinner when we checked into our hotel, a fairly substantial establishment ten miles out of Lancaster. Imagine our surprise when we entered the foyer at 5pm to find an envelope with our keys and a message to let ourselves in. Aside from a handful of guests, who we did not sight until much later in the evening, we had the entire place to ourselves. We decided to make ourselves at home. Our driver, in particular, needed rehydrating and declared the bar open. I’d show pictures but they might be incriminating…
Jet puffed - this could describe what happens to us after several weeks in America enjoying festive fare and warm hospitality. Check out the ingredients in Fantasy Fudge that I made with Jen this afternoon - jet puffed marshmallow creme? Only in America!
Dialup is excruciating.
Tomorrow - hotel - broadband.
Until then…
This message comes to you from a cafe right here at Copacabana. In a fit of super-punctuality (or misrembrance) I managed to rally the Laundry King and our luggage to the bus stop a full hour earlier than required. There’s no point taking our luggage back up the hill to the house and so our holiday has begun…
I will endeavour to blog while we are away but with dial up I’m making no promises. In the meantime, comment moderation is enabled until further notice.
As has become our custom, and this being an odd-numbered year, the Laundry King and I will be celebrating Christmas in Pittsburgh with his family. We also propose to take a small side trip between Christmas and New Year. In the past, we have made an excursion to Pennsylvanian Dutch (Amish) Country which is picturesque, even in winter, and has a generous quilt shop to boutique brewery ratio. We’ve also taken sidetrips on our sidetrip such as the detour through Gettysburg National Military Park. We’ll probably head to Amish country again this year. However, we’re open to other suggestions. Our criteria include:
I’ll do some online research before I go but let me know if you have any ideas!
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