Sniffly WOW

Several years ago we visited an animal park on the south Coast of NSW where I met some real live wombats and was even able to cuddle some....yes, I have the photographs of that occasion and no, they will not be put up here for the world to see the two black eyes I had at the time......I bought this hanky as a souvenir of our visit. I can't bring myself to blow my nose on this little feller so it is still a pristine hanky.

The woeful story of the black eyes is this: some years ago I used to do a lot of dancing, some folk dancing and also the social dances that have been done in Australia over the past 220 years. I used to get dressed up in my ballgown and go dancing, a roomful of folk in outfits from 1800 to 1900 is a glorious sight to see. At one ball during an energetic 'Postie's Jig', a Scottish country dance, I was hit between the eyes by another woman as she flung up her arm for the final swing with her partner. I didn't fall down but by crikey I saw stars, and the bruising to my face caused two black eyes which took a few weeks to settle down. It was during those weeks that we had our holiday and met the wombats.

My new bag is finished and yes, all that beautiful even quilting was done by me! The fabrics were bought at Cock-A-Doodle Quilts in Toronto, Canada - the green fabric is Catch a Star by Whimsicals for Red Rooster, the tan fabric is Bound to the Prairie by Kansas Troubles for Moda and the lighter lining fabric is also by Kansas Troubles, but from a different range. You know how it is when you keep something in your brain that turns out to be wrong.......when I bought this fabric I had it in my head that I needed 80cm of the lining fabric and 1.3M of the main fabric, so that is what I bought......not so. I needed 80cm of the main fabric, and 1.3M of the lining fabric because it is also used for the trim, and I hadn't thought of that. I didn't realise until after we returned home from our trip, so I contacted the shop in Toronto but they had sold out. I really wanted the green fabric to be the main fabric and the other to be the trim, I didn't want to change them around. After lying awake in bed at night pondering on it deeply and being unable to buy more of the fabric I needed, I decided to buy something different but similar for the lining. So to make a short story long, the bag is made of three fabrics instead of two but I am still pleased with it.

My shoulder has decided that I prefer to use smaller bags, because they can't be filled too much and become too heavy. It doesn't like carrying anything heavy.

When I was choosing the fabrics I found the green one first then went looking for another fabric to put with it. I decided not to use two fabrics from the same range because they can be so beautifully co-ordinated it can look a wee bit boring; I like the element of surprise that arises from two different fabrics together.

This morning we saw a wallaby in the reserve on the hill, we haven't seen a wallaby or kangaroo for some time! Today is quite warm for a winter day but the wind is strong, and cold too if you are in the shade. Since it became wintry the roos haven't been around, perhaps they prefer the warmer weather? The next few days are supposed to be colder and rainy again, our nice days have come to an end for a while.

The etiquette book has a wonderful repellent recipe for mosquitoes, as they can be a summer problem in parts of the USA and Canada - here it is.

"Another prescription, used by hunters to keep away the black flies and mosquitoes, is said to leave the skin very clear and fair, and is as follows: Mix one spoonful of the best tar in a pint of pure olive oil or almond oil, by heating the two together in a tin cup set in boiling water. Stir till completely mixed and smooth, putting in more oil if the compound is too thick to run easily. Rub this on the face when going to bed, and lay patches of soft cloth on the cheeks and forehead to keep the tar from rubbing off. The bed linen must be protected by cloth folded and thrown over the pillows."

That sounds as though it would keep just about anything away, including one's bed partner.

Have a lovely week!

Jennifer