Sproing

Some people say that spring starts in Australia on the first of September.  When I was at school (a thousand years ago at least) we were taught that seasons start at the spring and autumn equinox and the winter and summer solstice, which is more like it......but then, who said that we only have to have four seasons?  Some countries have only two, wet and dry.  For many years Australian aborigines have held the belief that there are at least six seasons, based on animal movements and plant growth.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that, although this is the first week of September, it's not yet spring because just 40 minutes from here the best snow fall of the year happened only two days ago.

Here are some spring pictures from a few years ago, taken at a local park.

 A pretty Eremophilia or Emu Bush, an Aussie plant - native birds love them.

 Golden wattle.

 A quiet corner.

 A Grevillea, one with spiky leaves - and a spiky leafed Grevillea is a spiky thing indeed..

Should you wish to get married in this park, you can.

Have you all had a good week?  I have, albeit a rather busy one.  Last night three of us from the uke group performed at a concert at the music school where we have our weekly meetings, that was two other brave souls and me.  For various reasons we were the only ones from our group who had the evening free which was a shame, because the concert was performances by adult learners only - no children on stage or in the audience.  It's a lovely idea, and is apparently an annual event.  Adults start music lessons for various reasons, in my case I always wanted to learn as a child but the money wasn't there.  If I had been the boy I suspect my parents wanted I could have had free lessons with a local boys' club brass band as my brothers did, but alas.......no.  There was nothing similar for girls in those days, if you wanted to learn music you had to pay.

Tomorrow the uke group is playing at a wedding!  We have A Big Gig!!  We will be background music while the guests are enjoying canapés, and I hope to goodness there are more than three of us.  One of our tutors will be playing with us, and if we are lucky the bride will join us for a song - she is a great singer and a lovely young woman who loves the retro look of the 50s, and she will be a gorgeous bride.

The quilting on Maritime Beauty is all done and now it needs its edges trimmed and binding to be made and sewn on, but it has been put aside temporarily because more time is being spent on the uke this week.  There is also a block obligation to be met by Monday, so with a bit of luck it will be cut and sewn on Sunday......and if it isn't, why then, it won't get done, will it?  My quilt group meets twice a month, on a Saturday and on a Monday, and the Monday group is all fired up and gung-ho about making charity quilts.  I have missed so much sewing time this year due to my shoulder that I am not fired up at all, I would rather spend time on my own projects right now.  We take it in turns to 'win' the blocks of the month which are then made up into charity quilts, although it has been said that we don't have to do that if we don't want to - but I feel the pressure is on to do so.  This does not make me a happy little Vegemite, so I will think seriously about whether I will continue with the Monday group next year.  Perhaps I will bring it up on Monday, and see what happens.

Or perhaps I will be a coward, and not say anything.

"Unwise expression of opinion.
Another class of people, actuated by the best of intentions, seem to consider it a duty to parade their opinions upon all occasions and in all places, without reflecting that the highest truth will suffer from an unwise and over-zealous advocacy.  Civility requires that we give to the opinions of others the same toleration that we exact for our own, and good sense should cause us to remember that we are never likely to convert a person to our views when we begin by violating his notions of propriety and exciting his prejudices.  A silent advocate of a cause is always better than an indiscreet one."

Which is a nice way of saying, if someone else expresses an opinion, don't ride roughshod over it.

Enjoy your days!