English friends, Chris and Agnes visit Parma - two
40 degree days, but a lot of fun with
two wonderful people - please come again soon 

Bonnie View, Bundanoon, Southern Highlands.
A morning bushwalk with Mattias and a very fast-walking bevy of 20-somethings at our Solar Springs holiday.

Kathy Johnson (our Pilates instructor) with
Eddie, bushwalk to Bonnie View, first morning.

View from the deck as Eddie prepares to fire
his first arrow - Solar Springs, Bundanoon 

The archery class gathers under the trees at Bundanoon - from the deck of our room. 

Eddie's first shot, assisted by a very helpful
Rebecca. See next slide. 

Eddie (Robin Hood) Sadler's first archery shot -
the blue-tipped arrow is a bulls-eye. Oh what a feeling! 

Pool at Solar Springs - Spa looking over the
valleys at Bundanoon - very easy on the eye  

Aquarobics in the Pool at Solar Springs - "Shane"
stepping us into instant fitness.

Alison, Kathy, Jean and Eddie in the formal
garden at Solar Springs. 

Eddie, Jean, Kathy and Alison - the North Nowra
Pilates team, glowing after swimming and tennis
at Soalr Springs, Bundanoon. 

Part of the garden at Solar Springs, Bundanoon.
It was much greener than Parma, and a healthy
break for 21/2 days.

Eddie after a tough fight to win 6 love, 6 two
at Solar Springs - against Jean (but we had two
hours of exercise!)  

We don't know if this is Roi 1, 2 or 3 or 4 - so
many king parrots peeping for their dinner every day on the camellia bush at Parma. We bought a giant sack of wild bird food just to keep up with the hungry mouths during the drought.

Mother and three baby Willy Wagtails, spotted
in their nest in a tree above the garage at Parma on Nov. 8. I think we are surrogate anxious parents, as we go out to check on their welfare several times daily. 

Five days later the wagtails are 3 times as big
and venturing from their nest. Now they are
proficient fliers and have the distinctive tail wag.  

Detail from Llewi's quilt. The shark is a winner. 

Llewi's I Spy Quilt, finished for his 3rd birthday
in October! My next project is a much more
restrained quilt for our new bed. This quilt has
357 hexagons, all hand sewn. He also has a pillowcase made from the border material (pussycats reading books) . No picture is repeated. 

November rockpile at Parma, material for a
dry stone wall. We'll be placing one or two
a day for a while as some are rather large - will blog the finished product 

A few months ago I placed this China Ballerina in the crook
of the Salix Tortuosa (Tortured Willow) at
Parma. When I looked at her recently she had
been fixed into the growing tree (exactly like
Merlin), so I truly have a faery in the garden.