To the end of March...............

It is Sunday afternoon and the last day of March, so it must be time to do a post. I can't believe that another month has almost gone, and tomorrow it will be April. Apologies for a lack of newsfromjude posts, and looking back there does not seem to be a lot of photos to show either. Apologies also to those who have commented for my lack of a reply.......

My last post finished with the arrival home from our Waikerie trip. You could be forgiven for thinking that there is no quilting happening here at Number 8, but you would be wrong. It seems like there is more travel than quilting lately.

 There was a holiday weekend shortly after the Waikerie trip, but it coincided with very HOT weather, so we decided to stay home by the air con instead of heading off again. 

*************************

Thus it was the next weekend when we packed up again and headed north once again to Barmera where we camped for 3 nights by Lake Bonney. It was very peaceful spot and we enjoyed our days watching the water lap the edge of the lake, watching the ducks and pelicans swim by and enjoyed the sunsets. One night we watched the lightening in the distance and saw planes flying in the night sky. I even read a book.

Chooky had a zoom session on the Saturday while we were away, and I managed to check in with the girls for a little visit. Always good to catch up.........

***********************

We had a recent trip to the city to check out office supplies and visit with a friend who is not well. A quick call into Mum at Murray Bridge on the way home was great. I noticed the moon not long after that, and tried taking a photo as we were driving along.....but it is not as stunning as the real thing was.........

....and before we arrived home it was dark and I tried again........possible a good camera or better phone might help???

Max has been busy with quilts, and I shall do a separate post on these. In between the travel and the quilting, life has been very full...... weekly KYB days, visits to friends places, another friend's birthday lunch, doing the church data each Sunday for March on a PowerPoint presentation, composing a monthly Gum Tree Quilters newsletter as well as the usual daily household activities.

I lined up for my annual Flue vaccination, which was delivered at the local oval, and we just had to drive the car through and was "jabbed" in the arm through the car window. How quick is that!!? While never having had a 'reaction' to a jab before, I do wonder if I had one this time. That evening I felt very ordinary and went to bed thinking my head would explode!! Next morning I felt fine.

********************

On Good Friday we attended a morning service at Buckingham, which is a little church about 15 minutes drive from home. You can see the tiny church in the photo below, and while the service was held outside, the church only holds about 40 people. 

It was a beautiful blue sky day, sitting amongst the gum trees, and watching the cockies fly in and out of the trees. Apologies to any 'greenies' reading, and much as it was lovely to watch them, these birds do an awful lot of damage to the trees by stripping them of the leaves, and can kill the trees over time.

This morning, Sunday, we attended the local sunrise service at the Bordertown Lake. This is always a special time as the sun is rising over the lake, and once again there were many cockies flying around and these were also very vocal.

************************

I will add a few family photos. We had a trip to the city to celebrate the birthday of my grandson who turned 14.......

                                                         

  

....and there were other family members who celebrated birthdays .......

............and this family enjoyed receiving a parcel in the mail from their grandma...........

***********************

This has been a very different Easter at Number 8. The first time for many years that there has not been a house full of ladies for a retreat. I went back into the files for a few photos and memories..........

********************

Looking back has brought many special memories........ and here I need to add that this lovely lady, Jocelyn, who has been regular here at retreats over many years and stayed here even though she lived just a few houses away in the same street!!  Jocelyn passed away on March 16th. She will be missed. I found a few photos in the files which I added to a tribute in the recent group newsletter and will add them here too.....

Jocelyn enjoyed machine piecing and heirloom sewing, and a few notes from her group profile noted that she loved William Morris quilts, although never attempted one of her own. A memorable quilting experience was meeting Michele Hill and doing a workshop with her at The Sanctuary and Number Eight.

Here is Jocelyn with her magnificent Heirloom quilt, proudly standing beside it with her friend Marg, at a Bordertown Quilt show a few years ago.

**********************

That's all the newsfromjude to the end of March 2024. Things have certainly changed, which is all part of the journey of life. 

Blessings, From Jude

Easter, 2024

Blessings, From Jude

 

Part 3..............Heading home

All too soon, Monday arrived and it was time to head home. We decided to go back a different route and continue being tourists. We travelled the same road to Blanchetown and then went South along the river.........

We crossed the river at Walker's Flat on the ferry............ and in the photo below, you can see near the top of the pole the sign that gives you the 1956 flood level!!!

I took this photo from the ferry of the cliffs, which I hope to see from a boat one day!?

                              

We stopped at Mannum  and made lunch in the van, and watched the action of people getting on and off the Murray Princess.............

............and the Proud Mary.

From Mannum, we drove to Murray Bridge and had a catch up with Mum..........

.............before arrived back at Bordertown by 5.30pm. Time to unpack the van, put the washing on and get our head's back to reality.... well, until the next trip that is!!

Blessings, From Jude

Part 2.......A day trip...........

 Blanchetown and Lock 1

The next day (Sunday) was a free day so we decided to be tourists while we were in the area. On the following map you can see how the Murray River changes direction at Morgan. We were staying at Waikerie which is not actually marked on this map, but about mid point between the 2 purple dots t othe left of Barmera. We drove across country to Blanchetown and Lock 1..............

First there is a bit of history about the locks and weirs on the river which I have copied for a website...................and as a bit of trivia, Barry and the Randell family are on the same family tree.

After the establishment of the River Murray Commission in 1917, regulating structures including weirs and locks were constructed along the River Murray.

By 1922, the first Lock and Weir was completed at Blanchetown and was officially known as Lock and Weir 1, but was named the William R Randell Lock, after Captain William Richard Randell, the first river boat captain to navigate the Murray River in 1853. It was also the Murray’s longest weir at 168.5 metres long while the last one to be completed was at Euston in 1937 near Robinvale in New South Wales, while the last weir to be completed without a lock was at Yarrawonga in 1939.

The purpose of the weirs is to:

• Store water for consumptive use and to regulate river flow downstream.
• Provide a raised river level upstream of the weir to improve the navigability of the river (vessels can navigate through the weir via its lock).

The weirs and their weir pools – the water stored behind the weir – provide bodies of water at higher levels than would otherwise be present. This allows water to be diverted for agricultural, domestic and industrial use. The weir pools and locks also enable recreational activities.

There are 14 weirs along the River Murray – all except Yarrawonga Weir include a navigation lock. The weirs at Mildura, Torrumbarry and Yarrawonga were constructed primarily for water supply, rather than navigation. 

****************

This is Lock 1, at Blanchetown.

..and the bridge over the river at Blanchetown...........

We drove along the river at Blanchetown and noted the damage from the floods of 2022/2023 when all this area was under water. It was so sad to see some of the shacks that seem to be abandoned, although we noted a lot of rebuilding and repairs also.............

...........you can see how high the water came by the water marks on this garage...........

.....and this brick house where the walls are crumbling.........

I love the cliffs along the river, and would love to actually see these from on the water.......something on my bucket list!

The next stop was at Morgan, and we crossed the ferry to get to the town.......

The town of Morgan is rich with history...........

Our next port of call was Lock 2.............

This map was interesting to actually see the total area and other river systems that feed into the Murray river...

We were headed next to Lock 3, and along the way is the Overland Corner hotel, and if you zoom in the photo below you can see the 2023 flood level mark on the wall!!!

All this area was underwater also............

Here is Lock 3...........

Just further on from Lock 3 we came across Lake Bonney....... 

........and the camp sites along the water's edge, which we noted for future trips.........

From Lake Bonney we drove into Barmera, and came across the icecream van!! Note, there were many 'big' kids lining up for icecreams, and not the little ones!!

As we drove back into Waikerie we turned into a lookout and saw people camped down below......

This area was called Holder Bend and is a free camp area and a first come, best spot basis....................

Then it was back into Waikerie and we stopped for pics of the painted silos..........

At the quilting day I had met up with Nicky, who used to live in Bordertown. That evening we had a lovely catchup with her and enjoyed another meal at the Waikerie Hotel.

This post covers Lock 1, 2 and 3. We have visited at Lock 4 and 10 last year, so perhaps we might check out the remaining locks in future trips?? I love the river, it seems so peaceful, although those who saw it in flood and the damage it brought, probably wouldn't agree with me.

That's all for this posts, will be back soon with a report of our trip back home.

Blessings, From Jude