I has a finish!

The woven squares table runner is finished and on the table. I showed a close-up of the fabrics here all except for the red tone-on-tone fabric which I used for the binding. Made of fat quarters from a pattern in the book Fat Quarter Frenzy. The roses, gorgeous though they are, are not real.
Last night a neighbourhood moggie found our new furniture in the beer garden and was curled up for a nice sleep on the sofa when disturbed by Kevin - fortunately no calling cards were left, just a few damp footprints (it had been raining). So we will bring the cushions inside overnight, we don't want them smelling of cat. The doorway behind the sofa will take you into the dining room, where you can then admire the table with its new runner. Or you can sit at the table, look out and admire the beer garden. Spoilt for choice, really.

Yesterday afternoon we went to a concert featuring what seems to be The Only Choir In Town. I spoke to a few members and will go along to the weekly practice tomorrow night, and I can check them out and they can check me out, and if we all like each other I may join. Their repertoire is different to my previous choir, we sang folk songs from many different cultures in the original language (so I can sing in Turkish, Greek, Maori, a couple of African languages, Bolivian, Latin etc but I don't speak any of them), several oldies from the 50s and 60s and even earlier including the middle ages, and of course Christmas songs at Christmas time. We were encouraged to try different harmonies and if it didn't work then we tried something else. The Only Choir In Town seems to be somewhat staider in their repertoire, we were entertained by songs from various musical shows - one was Guys and Dolls which I always enjoy, it's a fun show - and medleys of songs from Australia, and the British Isles, and ending with a collection of gospel spirituals which the audience was invited to join in singing the second time through. (I was already singing by then anyway) I try not to be staid, life's too short.........ah well, we can only give it a go can't we.......

Today we sorted and put away all our CDs so that is the very last of the unpacking and putting away. I still need to have a good go at the bookshelves and shelve all those books of mine to my satisfaction; while I was unpacking sewing room stuff Kevin was unpacking books, and they weren't q-u-i-t-e shelved how I would do them. after more than 30 years working in libraries I know how to shelve books But that's OK, it will get done one day. And we need to decide on the placement of our pictures and hangings, because that will mean putting up hooks.

Before we left Sydney I cut out two runners, one is finished so one more to go......and I am proceeding along nicely with my scarf, this cold weather is good knitting weather. It's 5pm now and the light is going, it's time to shut the weather out and settle down for the night. The fire will be lit very soon and there's some leftover chili in the fridge to be heated for dinner. Might be a book night tonight, there's nothing I could be bothered watching on TV.

"Women should cultivate a spirit of independence.
In a young country like Australia women should, so some extent, cultivate a spirit of independence. They should acquire a knowledge of how business is transacted, of the relation between capital and labor, and of the value of labor, skilled and unskilled."

On Thursday last week Australia's first female Prime Minister was sworn in, I wonder what the writer of those words in 1885 would have thought of that?

Jennifer