Progress......and number 200

The project started at the weekend UFO workshop is coming along nicely, as you can see.

 The pieced arcs are all made and trimmed, the inner sections are pinned in place.  The rest of the cutting will be done soon, then it can all be assembled.  I am really pleased with my fabric choices!

Last week this block was finished......that makes 200.  This is my portable hand-pieced project which has been on the go for seven years now........

 ........and these are some of the finished blocks, you can see the layout I have in mind.  All floral prints; the effect I am after is of a garden, and like many gardens there are pastels and brights, quiet prints and loud ones too.

Only 25 blocks to go, then the joining can begin!

The road works between here and town are proceeding.  Most people are being sensible and staying on the lower speed limit, but why do people think the lower limit doesn't apply at night or on weekends when the workmen aren't there?  I am getting tired of being tailgated at night because I am driving at the correct speed and the idiot behind me (almost invariably in an SUV) thinks I should be going faster.  If the police were to sit there with a speed trap they would rake in a tidy fortune.

Now, you and I know that the English language is continually changing and evolving - that means changes that we may or may not like but can accept, because we are not old fuddy-duddies, are we?  We can accept that sporting 'matches' no longer take place because every game these days is considered a 'clash' by the media, but I will be darned if I will accept 'grab'.  "I'll just grab your details" says the chickybabe at the medical centre......what's wrong with "May I have your details?"  "Can I grab a coffee?" says a young bloke in a café.  "Grab", to me, is snatching at something rudely and abruptly.  If I choose to ignore such a request, does that make me rude in return?  We won't even go into the absence of "please".......

School holidays are now over, so both choirs and the uke group will be resuming this week.  While it's been nice to relax in the evenings and not have to rush dinner to go out afterward it will be good to be making music again, I do miss it.

Kevin's shoulder is proceeding nicely.  The only drawback is his lack of domestic assistance, because there are some things he cannot do; hanging out washing, for instance.  He can't yet drive either, so I am also the chauffeur.  This means I am busier than usual, which is one of the reasons this poor blog has been neglected recently.  But that, too, will pass.

"Flippancy.
In conversation, all provincialism, affectations of foreign accents, mannerisms, exaggerations and slang are detestable.  Equally to be avoided are inaccuracies of expression, hesitation, an undue use of foreign words, and anything approaching to flippancy, coarseness, triviality or provocation."

Does that also include "grab"?  We can only hope.......

Enjoy your days!

Winter has arrived!

Oh my.....we have had such lovely autumn weather lately, sunny clear days, cool (not cold) nights.....then late yesterday afternoon a cold change blew through.....and today, it's winter.  While the temperature is not specially low it feels much colder than the number would have you think, and last night's temperature was only 1 degree.  No wonder I couldn't quite get comfortable in bed......that's 1 deg C not F, by the way.  Even now at mid-afternoon which should be the warmest part of the day I'm wearing jeans, a long sleeved tee and a heavy hand-knitted sweater, and my hands are still cold.

Kevin had his shoulder operation and is recovering well, his biggest problem is boredom.  It's his right shoulder and he is right-handed, but he is managing to do soduku, and can look after himself as far as getting dressed and showered.  Before he went under the knife I suggested that pants with elastic in the waist would make getting dressed easier, and also shirts with buttons down the front rather than tee shirts.  He thought I was being over-cautious, but acquiesced........and sure enough, he is finding those clothes easier to manage.

Lately I seem to have been so busy that I don't seem to have time to turn around and scratch myself, and even allowing for the fact that I have to be chauffeur for a while there seem to be so many things to be done that there is no time to do things I enjoy, like playing music and sewing.  Even like updating this poor neglected blog......so I am trying to be more organised.  After lunch today the fabrics for next weekend's UFO weekend project were gathered, except that mine isn't a UFO, it's a USO - UnStarted Object.

Last year Karen very generously sent a package to my son's address and it it was waiting for me when we arrived in Canada.  This is one of the two patterns included, and during our Canadian visit some of the batik fabrics shown were purchased with it in mind - the two charm packs in blues, golds and browns, and the pack of brown and gold fabrics top left.  The two bright blue fabrics are from my stash and whichever one suits the finished project best will be used for the binding, a few more gold squares from the stash were added, and the mottled blue and cream fabric in the centre ( a lucky find at a local quilt shop) will be the background.  The name "Maritime Beauty" is lovely, so it will have a theme of sand, water, rocks and sky!  One place I would love to visit is the maritime provinces of Canada.  Thank you, Karen, for your generous gift and I hope you like what I make using this pattern - I am really looking forward to making it!  Have a look at Karen's blog to see her gorgeous Maritime Beauty made from rich metallic fabrics.

Next week my ankle is booked in for an ultrasound to find out why it still troubles me; the broken foot bones seem to have healed, but nice Emma the physiotherapist said that the ankle ligament was damaged, either stretched or torn, because of my limping for so long when my foot was sore.  In hindsight it should have been checked by a doctor when it was first damaged, on Halloween.......but how many of you have kicked a toe or foot and, apart from bruising and soreness, done no lasting damage?  I have, in the past....will probably do so again before I die.......just the same, that was one almighty whack.  I kept thinking it was only bruised, it would get better.....walked everywhere on it for a couple more weeks in Canada.....walked a lot since coming home.......and it was still sore and swollen.  Never mind, I kept telling myself (and anyone who asked), it's only bruised, it will get better soon.  And it will.  It will either get better, or fall off.  Meanwhile, I have been wearing an oh-so-lovely ankle brace for several weeks.

A couple of other health issues are being checked too.  I definitely picked the wrong parents.  Genes have a lot to answer for.

On a somewhat lighter note the rough road up and over a small hill between here and town is finally being repaired.  While one side is being worked on, the other side has two narrow lanes made so traffic can continue in both directions, albeit at a lower speed than usual.  This morning on our way into town traffic in the opposite lane was being led up the hill by a bloke on a bicycle.....he was followed by a huge truck and trailer, then a few cars, then another huge truck and trailer, then several more cars, all unable to pass because of the narrowness of the lane.....and, with the exception of the first truck, none of the line of traffic would have been able to see the bloke at the head of the line pedalling furiously.  No doubt they were all wondering why they were crawling up the hill at such a snail's pace.  He may not have been the most popular bloke in town today.

"Shouting.
Never speak to your acquaintance from one side of the street to the other.  Shouting is a certain sign of vulgarity.  First approach, and then make your communication to your acquaintance or friend in a moderately loud tone of voice."

Perhaps some of the drivers in that long line of traffic may have felt like shouting at the hapless cyclist, when they were finally able to pass him.....even, perhaps, to use a vulgar tone to him.  While we wouldn't condone that, we could certainly understand it.

Enjoy your days!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch........

What a great time we had at the festival this year!  For some years now the festival has been getting bigger and bigger - this year it was pulled back in size, and was so much friendlier and easier to get round.  It was more like the festival it used to be in years gone by, and much better for that.  Let's hope it continues that way.

I was so busy having a good time that no pics were taken, would you believe!  But this afternoon I did take a few of my beautiful new ukulele, which I present for your edification.

 Isn't this a pretty little thing?

 The back and sides are of Queensland Maple, the neck is ash, and the dark fret board is lacewood.

It was expensive but worth every penny, a dream to play and it sounds wonderful.  One of the features at the festival is a display of instruments, which I have always found fascinating......so this year I went shopping, and bought my ukulele from Doug Eaton.  It was admired all weekend by many people, and last night at uke group it was a hit too.  While I'm far from being the world's best player, it makes even me sound good.

On our trip home the autumn colours were coming along nicely; next year Easter will be three weeks later than this year - so that will mean more colour, yay!

It's been a quiet few days at the Chateau des Wombats, on Monday morning Kevin went to the Big Smoke for an operation on his shoulder and will return tomorrow.  I stayed here keeping the home fires burning (not literally, it isn't that cold yet) and looking after the cats - who, by the way, were thoroughly spoiled by our house sitters.  All has gone well with the operation but somehow I don't think he has realised what life will be like being able to use only his left arm for a while......and he is very right-handed.

A feature of the festival is the number of workshops, the one on bluegrass gospel harmony singing was fun......a hundred people in a small room, by gosh we sounded great.......and a forum for broadcasters, which I attended.  Several performers popped in to the forum and distributed copies of their latest CDs which were gratefully received, so this Sunday's radio program will feature music from this year's festival and from past festivals too.  We brought eight CDs home with us but only paid for two, thanks to the generosity of said performers.

On the way home we had an interesting experience:  we stopped at a camp ground in Cowra, and late in the afternoon the manager rounded up all the guests for a 'happy hour' chat in the barbecue shed.  One woman arrived late, looked at me.....recognised me, and when she introduced herself I recognised her too......we used to play music together years ago, so later that evening she, her husband and I had a great little musical session much to the entertainment (we hope!) of the other guests.  We certainly enjoyed ourselves!

"Do not lack politeness.
Never hesitate in acts of politeness for fear they will not be recognized or returned.  One cannot be too polite so long as he conforms to rules, while it is easy to lack politeness by neglect to them.  Besides, if courtesy is met by neglect or rebuff, it is not for the courteous person to feel mortification, but the boorish one; and so all lookers-on will regard the matter."

The guests at the camp ground were very polite about our music, even singing along with us when they knew the songs we played, and were very courteous - which we appreciated.

Enjoy your days!