Back home again

Last week was fun - visiting with my friend, catching up with other friends at the quilt show, and of course the quilt show itself.  The winners are here, so make yourself a cup of your favourite drink and enjoy.  Di also has some pics on her blog.  I thought the standard was very high, and was surprised by how many reproductions quilts were on show - quilts made with reproduction fabrics, or copies of old designs from Australia and overseas, or new designs which were influenced by quilts of the 19th century.  Perhaps that's all part of yearning for a time when things seemed simpler - I wonder what next year's trend will be?

But enjoyable as my visit was, it's good to be home.  Fortunately this year's train trip was uneventful, and I didn't have a snoring bloke next to me.  It's a very pleasant trip which goes through some lovely countryside.

This is not a prize-winning quilt.

 Each month one of my quilt groups makes blocks, many of which end up in quilts for children staying at the local Ronald Macdonald House while undergoing treatment in hospital.  We take turns at 'winning' the blocks, and these were some I took home and put together.

The sashing fabrics were donated to the group for this purpose, and the border fabric was bought last week in the Big Smoke.  It's backed with light green fleece, and will be warm and cuddly for a little kiddie-widdie.

Now that trip is over we can look forward to the next one in October, which will be to Canada - yay!  It will be so good to see our son and his lovely girlfriend again.  Wonder if we can bundle them up and bring them home with us?  Perhaps not.........but we would love to......we will also be able to catch up with friends made on our last trip, which we are very much looking forward to doing.  Travelling is good, seeing different places is interesting, but it's the people we meet and friendships we make that are the real highlights of a holiday.  

Today is rather cool, although the sun is shining it doesn't have much warmth, so the fire is very welcome.  There is chicken, bacon and vegetable soup simmering in the slow cooker which smells really good, and there are leftovers for dinner.  What more could a person want on a cold day?  My new jacket is toasty warm and may even accompany me to Canada, as it will be much colder when we land in Vancouver and Toronto than it will be when we leave Sydney.  Way way up there in the sky it can also be rather cool, so a cosy jacket could be a Good Thing.  I remember on our last visit that late afternoon in Toronto, in early October, was not hot.

"Dinner a la Russe.

The latest and most satisfactory plan for serving dinners is the dinner a la Russe (the Russian style) -all the food being placed upon a side table, and servants to do the carving and waiting.  The style gives an opportunity for more profuse ornamentation of the table, which, as the meal progresses, does not become encumbered with partially empty dishes and platters."

Somehow I think we will be serving ourselves to our leftovers tonight, I haven't seen a servant for a long time.......and never in this house.

Enjoy your days!