WOW Family

These three wombats are obviously made from the same design, although the light one has its head at a different angle from the grey one. They are sold as garden statues so I put them in the garden......well.....near the garden, I picked up a couple of the fallen camellias from the bush nearby. I have no idea of its name, it's very pretty, has pink and white petals with ruffly centres and is one of the few survivors of The Great Hailstorm of 1990. There won't be a WOW post for a few weeks as we will be away, hence the trio.

Yesterday Kevin and I went on a walking tour of the Female Orphanage at Rydalmere, about twenty minutes' drive from here. It was built from 1814 to 1819 and, as well as taking in orphan girls from the age of two to twelve, also took in the daughters of the well-to-do folk to educate them. The girls were taught to read and write at a time when many girls were not even taught those essential skills at home and Aboriginal girls were also cared for under the same conditions as white girls, being educated side-by-side. Like many public buildings of the time it is an imposing brick building and was reached by river, as roads through the bush were practically non-existent in those days. Can you just imagine the impression it would have made on a little girl when, upon stepping out of a boat and walking across a bush path, she was faced by these stone steps she had to climb to get to her new home?
The centre, which had other buildings as well as the main one, functioned as an orphanage until the 1880s, becoming co-ed when boys moved in during the 1850s; their orphanage until then was further away. During the 1880s the foster care system started so the orphanage ceased to be used as such. It then became a psychiatric institution (it was known as 'Rydalmere Asylum for the Insane') for nearly 100 years, many buildings date from 1890-1910. The buildings are interesting and the grounds very peaceful - it is all now part of a university. Unfortunately we were not able to go inside the historic buildings but could look through some of the windows.

Social history is a topic which fascinates me, as you can see! I love finding out how people used to live.

One of the quilts I am making for bushfire victims has the top, backing and binding finished and I have started on the next. They probably won't all get done before we go away next week but it won't be for want of trying....it's a busy week. And the Bernina is behaving itself beautifully since its hissy fit the other day. It was the chocolate that did it.

Have a lovely week, may your seams all be straight.

Jennifer