what a difference...

a weekend makes.

our little weekend away was book-ended by two interesting pieces of news, and i will deliver them here chronologically.

so we're headed north along the piece of tar that passes for the new england highway and we get to blandford, just south of murrurundi where all the big horsey stables are (eg, emirates park) and we get a phone call. its a woman from the university of western sydney telling me that my application for a lecturers job in sociology there is being considered and they would like to interview me. i knew it was being considered because last week they asked me to send some sample work, but then i heard nothing, and then i heard that someone else who applied got an interview, and i thought, oh well, they dont want me. wrong. so thats this coming friday at 915am. terrified but excited.

then we get to nundle where we are being hosted at the pony club bunkhouse:

its very comfortable, esp for those of us who are used to camping. some of trents scenery shots:


we crash out and then get a phone call from amanda and scott who have decided that following their satnav thing is a good idea, except it thinks that telling them to LEAVE the highway and go via some obscure goat track is the quickest way. of course its not. they arrive some time later, a little shaken. note to self: never get a satnav. we crash out again.

the following morning the girls head off to the wool mill.

here is where we see what a difference 10 months make. see, i was informed the night before that the wool mill had new owners. its original owners were judy and peter howarth, who moved up there about 10 years ago and really got things moving along. i have always been a fan of nundle wool, its locally supplied and processed right there in that mill employing local people and using the original machinery:


judy also worked with amanda ducker, a local woman whos company minx handknits made pattern kits esp for nundle wool and she sold some of her hand knits there and they were gorgeous. i have one of her scarves and i love it. you could buy the full range of nundle wool there in 8, 12 and 20 ply, lovely colours, a full range of rowan patterns and ivore needles, and even some special stuff that judy had had hand spun and dyed in india.

gone.

not all of it.

the basic 8 ply is still there but not the same range of colours:

there is no minx hand knits. the needles and patterns are not up to date or fully stocked. the main part of the beautiful shop is now taken over with imported clothes. wool ones, and nice, but made with australian wool somewhere other than australia. i dont mind about that so much, but why there? isnt the point of a wool mill in nundle to showcase local product, local talent? im sure thats what judy was doing, but the new owners arent. it was terrible to see. of course, its worse for me because i remember how it was and im a knitter, not a tourist or a clothes shopper. last time there were people there who knew things about knitting and would have been able to help me with my yarn substitution question. not this time.

i know things change and its probably for good reasons, but the fantastic little 4 star resteraunt was gone as well (cha cha cha it was called) and the pub was still great and the people fantastic. but i miss my wool mill.

dont fret, i did buy some - they do a lovely soft 4 ply:

and i got some 8ply to make another shetland triangle with:

but i gve up on buying something to make a lace cardi with. i still havent settled on a pattern and it was just all too much!

anyway, the rest of the weekend was great, we did our flyball demo at the great nundle dog race and entered a few of the other races. jem won the steeple chase, sidney and bella got second in the fancy dress (yes they dressed up a dog), kenz and poppi got second in the little dog race:

colin and his angus won the high jump (7.3metres. the dog, not colin). and then colin and angus won the big event! and dave and annie came second. its great to watch, someone holds the dog while the owners walk backwards over 100 metres trying to keep the dogs attention, then you let the dog go and its the first to cross the line at the other end.

im not sure how the locals feel about the city blow ins coming along and taking all their prizes. oops.

in the car i finished the first of trents lichen rib socks:

then we finally got home and my other piece of good news is that my thesis reports have been returned and while i know nothing official and no one has told me anything, apparently they are quite good reports. like 'no revisions required' type reports. not officially. but maybe....

now i have to get to work.

k xx