Mon 7th Oct
We ladies "did the shops", as well as enjoying morning coffee, a light lunch & afternoon tea. The men played golf & were lucky to have good weather - cold-ish, but bright & sunny.
With the help of Lyn H's light box, I managed to trace most of the design, needed for Wednesday's course, on to my fabric, ready for painting. It will be a fairly large picture when completed.
In the evening, we all went to a club close by for dinner - the food was reasonably priced & good.
Tues. 8th
This was a day spent "being tourists". The 8 of us went for a drive, in 2 cars, stopping first at a
nearby woollen mill where the goods were of very high quality - those made of cashmere & alpaca wools were particularly soft (what a shame that my bags have to stay within a limited weight allowance when I fly back to the UK!)
From the mill we continued on to Creswick, where there were two patchwork shops, the second being particularly quaint & interesting due to the lady in charge being very creative & artistic. She had
some great ideas & I bought a pattern from her which was very appealing.
After lunch, we drove to Clunes, where the first gold was found & we were able to see evidence of
earlier mining. The miners' cottages fascinated me.
On our return to Ballarat, we drove around Lake Wendouree - it has some magnificent houses all
around it, indicating that it was the chosen spot of those who benefited from the gold.
I finished tracing my Civil War Poppies design before we all went out for our evening meal, this time at a steak house.
Wed 9th Oct
What a great day we ladies had! Lyn H drove us to Ballan, where we arrived at 10am. Coffee was provided, which started the day off well, then Kerry Gillespie (the teacher) gave a little talk on how to use the materials before we started to paint our prepared pictures. Kath & I worked together, as we were working on the same design & were able to share paint. It was a most enjoyable exercise, even though it required a lot of careful concentration - I think we were all pleased with our results. It was lovely to see Lyn C, who joined us for the day, with another lady.
At midday, we were ushered into the restaurant next door, where we were able to choose lunch from a comprehensive menu. I had a "Miller's Plate", which consisted of pumpkin soup, a ham & cheese Ploughman's & some salad - it was excellent.
Later in the afternoon, we had tea, coffee or chocolate & a delicious piece of custard slice - such good value.
The patchwork shop, where we did the course, was delightful, with a good range of fabrics & other items. Kerry's designs were on display & all looked very attractive.
The men had had an exhausting day on the golf course, battling against a strong wind. Although Bob was the winner, he said it was actually more a case of the others having lost!
At 7pm., we went out for a Chinese meal, which was a great success & enjoyed by all.
Thurs 10th Oct
Bob & I awoke late but soon found the others at the Lane Cafe, opposite the Art Gallery, where we all had coffee before visiting the Gallery. There were some beautiful exhibits, particularly of the area around Creswick & Clunes. The artist had done intricate pencil sketches prior to doing his paintings, in order to establish where the light & dark areas would be - fantastic!
The weather wasn't very good, so we moved on to Lake Wendouree & had lunch in a restaurant overlooking the water.
Finally, the men went to Master's (the Woolworth's equivalent of Bunning's), while we ladies paid a visit to Lyncraft. Lyn H & I bought some fusible pellon to back our pictures & one or two DMC cottons for the embroidery - however, Lyn insisted on sharing some of her cottons with the rest of us because she claimed to have more than enough.
After drinks & nibbles, we returned to the club that we had visited on Monday & had some excellent evening meals - Bob & I had seafood platters, which were delicious.
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