Back from Short Getaway

I've been on holidays this week and my husband and I took the opportunity to grab a couple of nights away in the Adelaide Hills at a place called Hahndorf. For those that don't know it, it is a town with a strong German history having originally been settled by a number of German families not long after Adelaide came into being. It has retained its original style as many of the original buildings are still standing and is a popular tourist destination. Here is a shot of the main street which has all sorts of interesting shops and restaurants.

We took our time getting up there and wandered along through Woodside, stopping at Melba's Chocolate Factory (to get something for the boys at home), Tilbrook Wines and Bird in the Hand Winery and then back into Woodside to get some yummy goodies from the bakery to soak up the wine samples! Once we got to Hahndorf of course we had to buy some bits and pieces: some beautiful smoked salmon from the lovely shop which smokes all its own products on site, some beautiful rhubarb jam from the local craft outlet, way too much cheese from Udder Delights, another bottle of wine, some cashew mustard and sun dried tomato relish, and the list goes on! Then on top of that the most amazing afternoon tea at a gorgeous flower filled shop with lovely large old wooden chairs to relax in and strawberries of course!

We stayed in a motel called The Stables which was right behind the restaurant of the same name so up a couple of steps and we were in the main street. Then we could head back to the room for a break when we needed it!

On the way home we stopped at a roadside shop in Balhannah and bought beautiful fresh apples, pears and rhubarb and a lovely rhubarb and apple pie to take home. You can see a theme developing here - wider waistlines for sure!

A short distance away was The Cedars, home of Hans Heysen, famous Australian artist and worth a tour through if you are ever in the area. Some of his most amazing paintings are still there on the walls of his home and the gardens are lovely too.

The autumn colours were lovely in the hills, although a little later this year I think.

Oddly enough I thought being on holidays this week I might get quite a bit of sewing done - wrong! I did get some of my hand sewing done while we were away but I had planned on a couple of days after we got back. It didn't quite work out that way as we are currently in the process of replacing our aging electric hot water service with a gas one and as we don't currently have gas connected it has been quite a long, drawn out process! Naturally they waited until we were away to finally get the gas mains in so then we had the plumber here all day Thursday doing his bit. 

Right I thought, onto the sewing machine after I've caught up with the washing after being away! A phone call later and I was sorting out my Trees for Life seedlings instead as my landholder happened to be in town from Gladstone and was calling to pick up her 3 boxes of trees I had grown:

After a coffee and look around at our bird aviaries, a chat to catch up on how the farm and other trees are going (I've been growing for Andrea for quite a few years now!) she was headed back up to the farm with her trees happily snuggled in the boot. For more information about the Trees for Life scheme which operates here in Adelaide have a look here. I'm sure they would welcome any donations or more growers if you are interested!

Anyway by now of course it was well past lunchtime, so a quick bite to eat and then onto the sewing machine. Well I managed to finish off the bags I was making for the cardiac unit at St Andrews and then it was time to hit the road and pick up my son from school and head to the library. Back home and then as the plumber had finished while I was gone, it was off to the shops with my other half to get the grocery shopping done, so no more sewing!

I did manage to get some done on Friday though, until my husband got back from an appointment and decided to start on making some special feed mix for his birds, which of course he couldn't possibly manage without interrupting me every 5 minutes! Every time I got into the flow of my free motion quilting, I had to stop - aaargh! Still I did manage to get quite a bit done despite his best efforts by which time it was time to go and pick up my son again. Still I persevered and did a bit more last night and hoped to get some done today but it was not to be! Maybe tomorrow..... hopefully?! 

Today wasn't a complete loss as I had to go to Spotlight and get some tear away stabliser, and while I was there they were having a 20% off special on batting, then I remembered I hadn't spent my $40 voucher so I bought a bit extra (as you do) and got the total over $100 and then I got $40 off as well as the 20% so I'm good for batting for a while!

Back to work on Monday. I think I'm ready for another week off (but this time without my husband!).

Thanks for stopping by,

Sue xxx

Couldn't resist sharing this sign on the leathergoods shop!