Charity Quilt Finished!

 

The quilt I started making a few months ago is finished and ready to be auctioned when my Ag n Chat group stages our Australian Year of the Farmer Ball at the end of October.  It was a very easy quilt to make and I think it's simplicity really shows off the beautiful fabrics I used.  We have quite a few handmade items all made by our members that will be auctioned on the night for charity.  Our plans for the Ball are progressing well, and we're all just a bit excited for the night to finally come.  Lots of new dresses have been bought, and we're watching our diets and exercising so we all look fantastic on the night - we don't get to really dress up very often!!  Normally it's just jeans, shirts and workboots for us farmers wives!!

An Overnight Trip with the Girls

During the week I went on an overnight trip with my Ag n Chat group.  As usual it was another fantastic learning experience for our group.  There will be a more detailed post about the trip over on our blog soon!

Our first stop was to visit Origin's Cullerin Range Wind Farm near Gunning.  After visiting Origin's Gas Fired Power Station at Uranquinty earlier in the year, a seed was planted that we all wanted to know more about wind energy.  The Wind Farm is an amazing sight to see and learn about how they work.  The turbines are 80m tall and the blades are 45m long!  The 15 turbines on the farm will permanently power 15,000 homes.

We had a lovely overnight stop at Schonegg Country Guesthouse in Murrumbateman.  I can highly recommend this accommodation - it has a wonderful quiet, country atmosphere and Evelyn our host was just amazing.  It would be a perfect base for a trip to Canberra because it's only about 30mins drive from the capital and well away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Our next stop was to visit French Black Truffles of Canberra.  No one in our group had ever experienced truffles before - never smelt or eaten them.  Sherry, the owner of the truffle farm was a wealth of knowledge and an extremely passionate woman.  The weather was horrendous so we couldn't go out in the paddock with Sherry and Snuffle her truffle hunting dog and experience a hunt, but we listened to Sherry's experiences with awe for over 3 hours!!  We all had a smell of a fresh truffle (the 3 month truffle harvest had just finished) and came up with some amazing similarities of what they smelt like - molasses, red wine, earth, smoked oysters?!!  They were definitely very different smelling, but quite pleasant, so we all can't wait to actually experience eating some one day.

Ganmain Show

Last Saturday was our annual country show.  It was a cold, wet day but there was still a large crowd there. 

The show has the usual displays of prize-winning sheep and poultry, sheep dog trials, large art and craft pavillion, horse show ring events, Miss Showgirl competition and side-show alley.  However it is a little bit different to other shows in our area. 

Because Ganmain is known as the "haystack" capital of Australia, the show holds a haystack building event.  Ganmain is also renowned for their famous meat pies, so there is a contest to see who can eat 3 pies in the shortest time.  Our friend Farmer Jason has won the event the last 2 years in a row!!

Emma was asked to entertain the crowd for an hour or so before the fireworks display started.  She was perched up on a truck trailer protected from the wind and rain, which was much better than us freezing our bums off!  

Sseko Sandals

When I read this story on The Pioneeer Woman I knew  had to do some research to see if these nifty sandals were available in Australia.

Alas, when searching their website I discovered that they aren't available here but for $16.95US I could have 2 pairs posted here!  Yippee - what a bargain!

They arrived yesterday and I love them.  I bought one pair for me and one for Emma.  We can share the 4 sets of straps - aqua, black, grey and pink/orange/yellow sorbet.

They are Sseko Sandals and apart from being very attractive shoes, they also have an amazing story behind them.

Sseko Designs is a sandal company based in Uganda. They make beautiful leather sandals with interchangeable fabric straps that can be styled in hundreds of ways.

Sseko began as a way to generate income for high potential, talented young women to continue on to university. Sseko has graduated three classes of women. Every woman who has graduated from Sseko is currently pursuing her college degree.

In addition to their university-bound team, Sseko also employs a full-time team of women from all walks of life. By creating an environment of dignity, honor, creativity and dedication, Sseko Designs provides the opportunity for women in East Africa to end the cycle of poverty and create a more equitable society.
We believe that every woman has a dream. When she is given the opportunity to pursue those dreams, we are collectively walking towards a brighter and more just and beautiful world.

We believe that our stuff has a story and that every dollar you spend is a vote for the way you think the world should work.

Every Sseko has a story.
 

The Sapphires

Emma and I watched The Sapphires recently and loved it!  What a great story and music.  Deborah Mailman is fantastic as the fiesty Gail, and Jessica Mauboy can certainly sing! 

The original "Sapphires" now

The movie was inspired by a play called The Sapphires written by the son of one of the original Sapphires - a group of indigenous women who tour Vietnam during the Vietnam War to entertain the troops.

If you get a chance, make sure you see The Sapphires - another great Australian movie!