Back home in the Small Smoke

Oh my, we had forgotten how bad traffic in Sydney can be.....not forgotten exactly, just pushed it to the back of our minds. Never mind, we survived. We stayed a couple of nights in a peaceful place on a creek, just near where it flows into a larger river; lots of bird life (we were woken by cockatoos and kookaburras), and great coffee! It was much nicer than a large impersonal hotel would have been.

On our trip we noticed that leaves are starting to change, yay! That means summer is on its last gasp although it is still fairly warm and a bit humid. However this and the new header pictures were not taken last week, they were taken at Bluffer's Park in Scarborough, Ontario in October 2009 - I don't yet have any pictures of local autumn colour.

We managed to spend a short (very short - just long enough for a coffee) time with our older son before he headed off to his new job three hours further away from us. Never mind, we will see him next month when we make our annual trip to Canberra for the big folk festival.

Am still a bit short on energy since the recent lurgy, but slowly getting on top of things. It is my turn to have friendship blocks made in one of my quilt groups so yesterday I cut and overlocked fabric squares, today I prepared instructions. My block is an appliqued tea cup with just three pieces, cup, handle and saucer, and it needs to be ready for tomorrow. While in Sydney I managed a visit to a quilt shop where I found a lovely background fabric, a very pale soft creamy floral; one needs to be fairly close to see there is a design at all as it is quite subtle (only three colour registration dots on the selvedge), but it is much nicer than a plain fabric would be.

On the trip I started to knit a new scarf from yarn I bought in Canada, and all was well. On the way home again I spent more time un-knitting than I did knitting, so I gave up in the end. But I will persist, as it's an easy pattern and the colours are lovely, green and bronze. Very autumn-y. Have I ever told you that autumn is my favourite season? and that I am quite fond of green?

We took the long but scenic way home and drove through a lovely little village called Wollombi. The first time I ever went there I felt a connection but didn't know why.....then several years ago I found out that my family lived there from the early 1820s until fairly recent times, and for all I know I may still have rellies in the area. In 1870 my maternal great-grandparents were married there in a lovely old stone church, St John's Anglican Church, which dates from 1849; in fact my maternal grandfather's four grandparents all lie in the local cemetery. A few years ago I found out from old maps held at the local museum where the family farm used to be - I wish we still had it, as now the area is prime grape-growing country and the former Davis farm is probably now worth lots of money. But is considered vulgar to speak of money, is it not?

"A gentleman should avoid talking about his business or profession, unless such matters are drawn from him by the person with whom he is conversing. It is in bad taste, particularly, to employ technical or professional terms in general conversation."

Keep your own business to yourself, in other words.

Enjoy your days!