A Step Back In Time!

Well ... the week has flown, the weekend is more than half over and I'm finally getting back here to share some more pics with you that I took while Mum and Dad were visiting. I told you I took the week off work so I could keep up with my Mum ... she runs rings around me! :0) Well ... one of the things she said she'd like to do was to take a little trip back in time and visit the nearby Jondaryan Woolshed because they were celebrating their "Heritage Week" and had all sorts of things going on. So Mum, Dad and I all jumped in the car and headed off ... my Beloved Geek Boy was being a grown up and at work ... well SOMEONE had to be earning the play money that I like to spend! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Jondaryan is about a 40 minute drive west of Toowoomba ... unless there's lots of roadworks going on ... GRRRR! but it really is like stepping back in time. The original property was once the biggest wool producer in the area and a busy little hub for the community. While the economy over the years has changed all of that, the property has been turned into an island of yesteryear, with lots of gorgeous historical buildings being moved onto it to form a little village. The main entry greets you in grand fashion ...

Oh how I would love to have this building to turn into my dream Bed & Breakfast! :0) Once inside the complex, we found that we had arrived just in time for the Heritage Week Grand Parade. There were ...

Horse-drawn vehicles ... I LOVE Clydesdale horses and when I have that dream Bed & Breakfast, would love to have a couple of these gentle giants, along with an open carriage of some sort. Oh ... these photos were taken on my iPhone cos both Mum and I forgot to take our cameras! DOH! So, the quality isn't great, but at least you get a peek at what we got up to. :0) Moving right along ... which the Grand Parade did ...

... There were steam-driven vehicles ... not only did these ones make a LOT of noise, they looked to give a pretty rough ride, so I don't think I want one of those! :0)

... there was old farm machinery that had been lovingly restored. Hmmm ... this actually looks a lot like the tractor I learned to drive on the farm where my bestest-buddy-since-we-were-nine Lynette grew up ... her Dad was very patient with a townie, teaching me to drive the tractor and a column-shift EH Holden ... thought it DID involve some rather hairy moments for all concerned! Tee! Hee! Hee!

... and there were a few gorgeous vintage cars, too. I liked this one cos ... I'm a GREEN girl, after all! :0) Wouldn't you feel like Bonny and Clyde every time you went tooling down the road in this car?! :0)

After the dust had settled on the Grand Parade (Yep ... it's been pretty dry around here lately!) we toddled off to have a look at the other historic buildings that have been moved to the site and restored. This cottage was my favourite ...

It was such a dinky little house, but done up to suit the era inside and the cottage garden out the front was just too cute. Oh ... and that blackboard that you can't read? It was advertising fresh home-baked pumpkin scones ... YUMMO!!!! Of COURSE we had to sample those! :0)

Here's Mum and Dad in front of one of the other cute heritage cottages. You can see who I take after in shape, there, can't you! Tee! Hee! Hee! I keep telling Dad he could have passed on some GOOD genetic traits, rather than just the short podgy ones! :0)

And what would an Aussie heritage village be without at least one outhouse! :0) Here's Mum peeking out to tell us that there were no redbacks on the toilet seat or snakes behind the door ... she wouldn't have been grinning cheekily at me if there were either of those things within a mile! Tee! Hee! Hee! All in all, we had a lovely, relaxing trip back in time. If you're ever in the area ... or you're a local who hasn't visited for a while ... I'd recommend a visit to Jondaryan Woolshed.

Well ... that's about it from me. I still have some pics of the Carnival of Flowers parade to share with you, but I'd better toodle off and do a bit. I've already been a busy bee in the sewing room yesterday putting the binding on my French quilt that's almost ready to go off to "Homespun" ... just have to finish sewing down the binding. I can't show you the quilt, cos that would spoil the surprise, but I can show you  a sneaky peek of the FABULOUS quilting done for me by the lovely Joy who teaches free motion machine quilting at my Home-Away-From-Home ...

This gorgeous fleur de lise design is in each of the squares and it has come up a treat ... perfect for a French themed quilt. :0) Thanks Joy for doing a SUPERB job of quilting this for me on such a tight deadline!!! And the most outstanding thing about Joy's quilting ... it's all done on a domestic machine!! She just amazes me with what she can get her machine to do ... sometimes I can't even get mine to sew in a straight line!! Or perhaps that has more to do with the operator! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And while I was playing in the sewing room, I also had a little play with this ...

My somewhat boring black apron that I bought myself a year or so ago ... oops! :0) That gorgeous red and black Eiffel Tower fabric that I couldn't resist on ebay and my "French Inspired Home" book ... what do you get when you mix the three??? Stay tuned and I'll show you soon! :0)

And on that note, I'm off to make myself a cup of tea and finish sewing down the binding on my quilt. Then, of course, it's on to the FUN part of the designing process ... NOT!! SIGH!!! Guess who has to write instructions this week?!!! So, if I don't surface for a few days, you'll know why. I hope your weekend is going along at a relaxing pace and that the coming week is full of wonderful new adventures for you all! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS