A Picture tells one thousand words.. aka what's been happening

So over the past while we've been busy!!

Much of it has involved our bikes. I have been riding more as has hubby.

Here is my bike at the farm in Wonthaggi :)

Here is my race plate for my very.first.ever mtb race!

Hubby raced a wet and muddy Kona 24 Hour race @ Forrest in November, we all went for a great weekend away.

In January I spent an amazing weekend at Mt Buller riding with 19 other women and a World Champion!

Here we are at the summit.

The first skills session..

Lunch!

At the base of Mt Buller - we rode down, down, down to Mirimbah.

Lunch on day 2 :)

Shuttle, fortunately we didn't have to ride back up ;)

Home with my boy who instantly put the posters on his wall :)

We've spent some time in the kitchen; here is my boy making raspberry mousse..

My first ever pavlova.

And my first ever bread rolls!

This shot made me laugh.. my two favourite gadgets, I like music in the kitchen :)

Wish we'd done this last time we put soil in a vege garden!
We've planted a small garden closer to the house and closer to the water tank.
Hubby built a snazzy frost cover with shadecloth and washing 'line'.

I've been doing some crafty - making a knights helmet for the boy and a warm cabled hood for myself.

A few weeks back we headed across to Buxton to check out some new mtb trails; we met some friends there, rode bikes, played in the creek and had a great day :)

Bargains for the garden

I was doing some grocery shopping this afternoon (boring & mundane) and found seeds for 99c a packet.. So tomorrow the boy and I are going to play in the wood/garden shed and set up the seed trays :)

Then we need to get motivated to re-do the vege garden. So far all we've planted since the fires/summer heat is potatoes and that was only a few weeks back. We've plans to move the vege patch to a spot nearer the water tank to save lugging water up the hill but the plans have yet to eventuate.

On the bike..

So, I've discovered that a fun way to get used to my bike is to chase the boy around our place. Hubby came out and take some pics this afternoon.. I was practising lifting the front tyre off the ground but the camera missed it every time!

We also set up a down a bank into a short/sharp turn and around a tree 'obstacle course' but the camera went flat before we'd done it.. Fun for the whole family anyway :)

Where have I been hiding?

I've been preoccupied with my new bike :)

Last weekend I went to Lysterfield Lake to ride with some other MTB girls. And it was awesome!

I rode things I never thought I would have attempted - down hills, tight(ish) switchbacks and even over logs and off (small) drops. There was plenty of nice single trail :)

I am very appreciative to the girls who were totally supportive and helpful and encouraging and were patient with me as a beginner and didn't seem to mind that I was slow.

We rode 15km all up and I was totally wrecked by the end of it.. but elated at the same time.

Since then I found the below pics (taken by Steveob on the MTBR forums) of singletrack in St Andrews and my first thought was,"That looks like great fun." I think I'm bcoming a real fan :) Hubby is pleased!

Funhouse Tour - Pink

So we had a girls night out a few weeks back and went to see Pink. Wow! She is an amazing performer; super fit, super flexible, super woman! I can understand how people go more than once to see her concert.

Spinning of the usual type, a bit differently..

One of my purchases at Bendigo was a lovely "Spinning Woodie" spindle (made from a banksia cone!) and I've been having some fun with it :) And how could anything be more fun to spin that this bright, funky, vibrant fibre from Ewe Give Me the Knits?

Mountain Biking - facing my fears.

Long time no see, sorry... I came back from Bendi and was struck down with Gastro and spent almost the whole week in bed. After I recovered it took a few days/week to get back on track and then life got hectic, again.

My hubby is a total Mountain Bike junkie, he rides and races and it seems that the boy has the bug as well.. Anywhere Dad can go he wants to go, too. And if I am to join in on family rides I need to get over my hesitance and nervousness on the bike. So, I have recently registered to do a Women's MTB Skills course which is being held at Lysterfield here in Vic in October.. One of the instructors is the current Australian Women's Solo 24 hour champion, has just returned from competing in the World Championships where she came 4th; I said, "Oh, I rode 6km today!" hehehe..

I decided to take advantage of a brother who managed a bike store ('til last Saturday) and get some shoes with cleats so that I could try out 'clipless' pedals. So I went to see him last weekend and bought shoes, and accidentally came home with a new bike as well. It was too good a deal to pass up.

This is it; with my old bike in the background. It is an Avanti Montari with lots of good 'bits' on it; all goes over my head, but hubby approves!

The pedals which I've borrowed from hubby.

Sexy new shoes, they are very comfy and as an added bonus part of the money goes to Breast Cancer research. Down side being I'm a total novice to clip in and crashed twice yesterday when I couldn't get my feet out.. :S

ASBA Sheepshow - resuts!!

I've just returned from an awesome weekend in Bendigo. Am very pleased to report that I won ribbons!

First place in Novice Spinning.

And a Highly Commended for the hat.

I also did a little bit of shopping...

Something warm to wear to Bendigo #3

An oversized/slouchy beanie to keep my head and ears warm :) Loosely based on this pattern.

Something warm to wear to Bendigo #2

Here are the mitts I made :) The pattern is Raspberry Mitts from Ravelry.

I have a bit of this wool left so have cast on a beanie and hope I have enough left!

And in a cool fluke I remembered I have a (warm) sleeveless jacket/vest that matches the colour of the green/petrol hat I made so I won't look completely mismatched ;)