Katherine Day 2

Had a nice day pottering around catching up with emails and blogs. Then wandered into town to have a look around. We were surprised how cheap the petrol was at $1.86/L for diesel. With fuel discounts getting it for $1.76/L, making it cheaper fuel than when we left home!

Also surprised to find a Saddlery shop right in the main drag of Kathering. I mentioned this later to Jayne who assured me this was the Cowboy Capital of Australia! Kerry J, you better get your skates on and get over here!

Returned home to the biggest spare ribs I’ve ever seen! If they keep treading us like this, they’ll never get rid of us! But we earned our keep later that night, with Steve drilling holes in nuts for Irene and Wendy’s necklaces, so they could paint them and feed them on a lovely steel strand with nice metal clasp for their lovely handmade necklaces they’re making. Jayne also taught them how to make lino prints. They decided to make some quilting squares, as they appear to be a popular souvenir purchase by holiday makers. Jayne has shown them how to tie dye nice colours into fabric and then lino print lovely designs that the ladies came up with of stingrays, bush bananas, and many others. They came out fabulous. My job was to wrap them in cellophane and attach the labels ready for selling. I must say they’ve done such a great job. Jayne is working with them to help them design, construct and price goods to sell. So they can be self sufficient as a business enterprise. They obviously enjoy the work, as the two ladies are both diabetics and not well, but they still sat cross legged on the timber balcony on the hard wood floors from 10am through to 11pm with minimal breaks (and a short shopping trip into Katherine). I was so tired that I turned in before them!

If you know anyone who is interested in a hand painted nut and bead necklace they range in price of $49 - $74 depending on length, and the quilting squares are $33 a pair. Let me know and I can put you in touch with Jayne and she can email you some pictures.

Midget is also dog tired. She has been rounded up by Jayne’s dog, Tango, a Kelpie who doesn’t work. So she made it her job to keep Midget suitably round up during her visit. In fact, when we went to go into Katherine, Midget was so happy to stay with the other dogs, Tango and Sam (both Kelpies) but Sam is almost blind but still such a great dog, that she had to be called about 10 times to get into the van to go! I think she see’s herself as a farm dog now. Each time finding it harder and harder to leave!