Clare Valley

 Good food, good wine, a summery day and good company. What  more could you want? Apparently you can ask your sisters friend to book you a table at Skillogellees Winery, Clare Valley for a table on the verandah when the wisteria is in bloom (This grand show is only available to a lucky few for 2 weeks of the year) Apparently we booked the last table on the verandah for that day. Not only does it look stunning it smells superb. I felt very decadent sitting and relaxing with these two and enjoying the gentle pulse of the day. After lunch we did a spot of wine tasting in the tasting area and then I snuck across the road to photograph the lovely wild flowers on the hillside.

A few more wineries and then lastly to Sevenhills winery and Jesuit monastery, a very picturesque spot complete with ruins

A very formidable church, I probably should have wandered inside to have a look at the architecture and stain glass windows but I was chomping at the bit to walk to the ruins.

 Someone has left a old bicycle strategically placed against the wall of this little cottage

Directly opposite  the main ruins of Weikert Cottage -apparently under restoration 

I love how nature manages to take hold in the oddest places and gradually loosens the permanency of man - eventually everything returns to rubble given enough time.
No matter the grandeur of a structure , our presence here is only fleeting. I wonder what will you leave behind. I promise to leave a stack of quilts and crafted projects, and a pile of unfinished works! My crafty lady friends will have a field day riffling through the entrails of my accumulated crafted wealth.

 A picture in a picture. I had to force these two to join me (by Phone) telling them it was too good a photo opportunity to refuse.

An usual sight for South Australia wild lavender growing on mass across many a sloping hillsides , it is short and widespread.

Well that is my very pleasant weekend away, I have a few bottles of wine to help me remember it.