It's never too late!

This week two new skills have entered my life, thereby proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks......how about that?

Last weekend I arranged two songs into a medley for the uke group - a couple of oldies, "Ain't she sweet" and "Five foot two, eyes of blue".  Ukuleles were very popular in the 1920s and 30s and those songs date from that era; they are both fun to play and sing, and I felt they needed to go together.  I also found out that there are many other arrangements of those two songs on the internet so my idea isn't completely original, but most of those arrangements have one song followed by the other while mine takes elements of both songs and weaves them together.  Our teacher Young Michael thinks it's a very good arrangement (he actually said "great") and the other members liked it, so it will go into our repertoire.

Our musical son would no doubt turn up his nose at my modest achievement because he has done a lot of arranging, but then he had something I didn't - a proper musical education.  Because I'm mostly self-taught I am just so pleased to have attempted it and succeeded.

The second new skill, knitting with beads, is finally mastered.  I am making a Dragonfly Wings scarf (look it up if you are on Ravelry) and bought the beads ages ago.  There are over 270 stitches to the row now - there will be over 300 by the time it's complete - so a beaded row isn't quite speedy yet, but hopefully that will come.

We have a couple of uke gigs coming up and Young Michael wants us to play my arrangement - in public! in front of an audience! - but I won't be knitting with beads on stage, no matter how proficient I become.

Some Aussie native flowers to brighten up your day.

 I love waratahs - they are our state flower.  Sadly they won't grow here, the soil is wrong.

Waratahs growing wild in the bush are a lovely sight, I managed to get some in this photo.  Just.

I don't miss living in the Big Smoke, but I do miss being just an hour or so away from places like Mount Tomah botanic gardens where these pics were taken.

The painting is continuing, machine quilting on the maple leaf runner likewise - I had no idea what to quilt, but have decided on some maple leaves.  Once they are done they will be linked by swirls and squiggles and loops, hopefully the quilting doesn't look too disjointed.  Ah well......it won't ever be entered in a competition, so that's all right.

I have been trying to change my blog background for some time, but Blogger seems to have other ideas.  Anyone else having similar problems?

"Value of pleasing manners.
The man who succeeds in any calling in life is almost invariably he who has shown a willingness to please and be pleased, who has responded heartily to the advances of others, through nature and habit, while his rival has sniffed and frowned and snubbed away every helping hand."

As I read through my 1886 book of manners and etiquette I wish that many modern people would take note of its suggestions.  When did courtesy go out of style, I wonder?

Enjoy your days!