Hello Everyone,

I am now in Geelong,Victoria with our dear friends Neil and Phyl Drew.  We have just had the most wonderful lamb dinner with quince and custard dessert....By the way I have Ernest with me now and it is great.

I left Mullumbimby of the beautiful surf and sand and the wonderful hospitality of Robin and Peter Alexander on the 10th. Robin was kind enough to show me how to do machine embroidery and how to make cloth pizza ( I made a little sample for future exploring)  Next she let me watch an old video by Jan Beany and Jean Littlejohn which was all about free form embroidery.  So now I am on a mission to learn more.  This will justify all the wonderful threads and materials I bought from The Thread Studio.  If you do not have this website address please make a note of it.  www.thethreadstudio.com  or you can email them at threads@icenet.com.au
The owners Dale and Ian have the most comprehensive array of threads,yarns and materials I have ever seen!

The bus ride is only two hours into Brisbane and would you believe it started to pour down rain?!  I was so lucky to have such beautiful weather for my time on the beach.

I stayed the night with Ruth Stonely and her partner Anthony Evans-Owens who made a beautiful pavlova  dessert for me.  ( he also cooked a lot of beautiful meals while I was teaching in Brisbane.

The next morning I was off on a 7:oo a.m. flight to Melbourne which got in a half hour before Ernest's plane.  What great timing.  It was wonderful to see him again and he had an easy trip over ( four seats to himself and a smooth flight).  Our friend Annie Riseborough showed up to whisk us to her house.  Ernest brought over an empty suitcase( thank God!) and I was able to transfer some of my threads and ribbons and books to the new bag.

After a wonderful evening with the Riseborough and Lizzie Bonnar ( Annie's sister) it was off  to show Ernest the new Federation Square and the Art Gallery and then off on the train to Geelong...

So tomorrow we are off on our Easter break to Warrnambool.  We have free time until the 23rd. I will try to keep you posted as we go along. I made a terrible mistake in my newsletter and totally left out photos of one of the nicest segments of my trip!  I forgot to tell you about my trip to Ballarat, Victoria where I taught for Shirley and Pam of Sovereign Needleworks.

I have been teaching for Pam and Shirley for several years now and they are a delight.  So here is a class photo. Pam is standing next to me and Shirley is fifth from the left, back row.  One of the special things about The Sovereign Needleworks Store is the huge selection of needlework supplies and the expert help from the girls.  They also limit their classes to twelve which gives the students more select teaching and guidance.

I am including a very special photo for your enjoyment.  While in Ballarat I always stay with Pam's mother Joan who lives out on a wooded property.  Joan is a marvelous water colour artist and has a little studio in her house.  Just outside the studio window is a large shrub with an empty backbird's nest nestled in the top branches.  Two little ring tail possums have made this a favorite daytime sleeping place and they are clearly visible from the window.

This photo was taken in late afternoon and right after the photo session this little fellow curled up on top of his nest mate and went right back to sleep. I will also go to sleep now so goodnight and sweet dreams. Love to everyone ..Love Judith, Jude, Mum

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