A weekend in the country

I got away from work early on Saturday and made good time to Bendigo where the first thing I saw was one of their historic trams, decorated for the occasion by yarn bombers with particularly nice crocheted bunting.  No pictures unfortunately as I was driving and the traffic needed my full attention. There was just enough time to visit the factory shop at Bendigo Woollen Mills before they closed.  They do a good job with mail order but it’s not like being able to touch the yarns and of course, sometimes there are bargains.

It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining even though it was cold. 

The wattles are just starting to bloom, a sure sign that Spring is just around the corner.

I spent Saturday night with a family friend who despite advancing years is still managing on 4 acres.

Next morning I got to the Sheep Show at the showgrounds just in time for the woolcraft parade, here are just a couple of examples of the very creative garments on display

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After the parade I worked my way around the vendors to see what was on offer.  I had a couple of gift vouchers I’d won as prizes at earlier shows.  I remembered to bring them from home but then left them in the car so I made my choices first and then went back to the car park, fortunately not too far away, to get them and do more shopping to add to the yarn from the mill.  It was a modest pile, some yarn, a couple of rovings and another temple so now I can cover every width from about 400 mm to the full width of the loom.

There were sheep,

shearing

and sheep dog trials

And of course there was the woolcraft display where I found that both of my entries had been placed second in their classes.

By early afternoon, I’d seen everything I needed to see at the sheep show and went downtown to see the newly opened exhibition at the gallery – all sorts of underwear dating from around 1600 to the present and yes Queen Victoria’s knickers were there as well.  After that I went back and collected my jacket and scarf and headed for home, about 2 hours away

Helen