We add to our Lue Pottery collection of utility stoneware pieces.

We visited Lue pottery again on New Years Eve and I just knew we would not be able to resist some more pieces! Normally I wouldn't have chosen pink, but it grew on me!

We add to our stoneware rice bowl collection from Lue Pottery!

Mudgee for New Years 2010

Mudgee for New Year's eve 2010. We again stayed at Birch Lodge a short walking distance from the township of Mudgee. This cottage is 1920's period and a home away from home making it a great weekender. The linen and towels is always fresh and new and the king size bed in a light spacious airy bedroom ensures a good night's sleep. There are actually three full size bedrooms with a fourth, a single bed. The lodge would be a great group getaway for family get togethers.

View from the front of the house looking towards the back garden.

A cosy spot to knit or read or just ponder the cottage garden.

Three nights in Mudgee was a nice wind down from a busy year.

We visited Blacklea winery on Sunday and had the cooks tour of the vintner, Bernard's range of semillions, semillion sauvignon, verdelho, low alcohol red, shiraz and cabernet. Bernard said it was a great compliment to the vintner that we bought one of each style. Truth was, they were all unique in their fruity Mudgee style flavours. We stayed after the tastings for a delightful lunch - Nigel had a beef and burgundy pie and I had an antipasto platter (my favourite lunch) of Blackley's savoury jams, an exquisite cold pumpkin savoury bite, dried and salted olives which I had never tasted before, and their oils and vinegars.

The landscape was vastly different from 2009 NYE when we last visited. This year the vineyards are green and the grape canopies prolific on the vines, the landscape is green and vegetation prolific everywhere. Recent rains had severely eroded the roads and there were some very deep potholes with cautionary road signs scattered along the Bylong Valley Way from Muswellbrook to Mudgee. The roadside vergetation of tall, colourful yellow fennel and purple St. Johns Wart formed a hedge like feeling as we cut through the very windy roads. Sadly there was also a proliferation of weeds, weeds, weeds in the paddocks, the roadside, upsetting the countryside everywhere. Poor farmers!

Gorgeous Taiyo yarn knitted into a Quant

Noro's Taiyo yarn is a rainbow in a ball of yarn as you can see here. I found a pattern for a basketweave quant, loved it so much I knitted two for friends. They make a nice alternative to a beanie.

Blu and White china ATC swap

The theme for this swap was 'composed completely from a magazine using cut outs. It was an excuse to buy some gorgeous lifestyle magazines and dream for a while! I have collected blue and white delft since I was a young girl. Like all my fine bone china and other trinkets, they are all packed away now. I wonder if I will ever put them all out on display again?

Some of my recent swaps with Flickr ATC friends in USA, Denmark, Holland, UK, Australia - kind and talented friends across the globe.

I started making Christmas cards last night. Couldn't resist another cup of green tea in our new Moroccan tea glasses this morning as I contemplated my creativity thus far.

I got a bit carried away at the end of last year when a local scrap book store was selling off her stock and also bought up big at a craft fair with their tempting sales. I justified my purchases by saying they would do me for the whole year!

I am not sure if I was kidding myself or was just carried away in the moment (probably both!), but I have been slowly working my way through the 'stash', not as quickly as I would have thought. We shall see how many cards I get made now that I have started the project! I made a lot of cards when I had my enforced post-op recouperation time earlier this year and had a lot of fun making cards for all occasions. It has been so nice to have a handmade card for every occasion during the year from my 'stash'.