We're having a heatwave.......

.......a tropical heatwave......

Today is the fourth day of a very hot five day heatwave, and I for one am over it.  It can go away now.  According to the weather people it is being caused by a large slow-moving mass of hot air moving south from central Queensland.  As far as I am concerned they can have it back - we wouldn't want to deprive them.

On to happier topics.

The quilting is all done on my Winding Ways quilt, the last stitches were taken yesterday.  Now to sew a line of stitching around the edges and trim off the excess backing and wadding, and make the binding from a printed black and white uneven plaid cut on the bias.

This fabric - what do you reckon?  I laid it out to get an idea of how it would look, I think it will work well.

Well, the new green glasses are a thing of beauty, to be sure!  As I need to wear them when taking pictures I'm not sure if I can get a photo to show you, but you can see them here, the green/lime colourway.  They are comfortable to wear and seem to do what I need them to do, which is to help my somewhat aging vision......what more could a person need?  They have a slight cat's eye shape, something I haven't worn before.  According to their brand website they are "Urban Kool".  Doesn't that sound like me, Kool to the bootstraps?  (don't forget the capital K, so much kooler than just cool.)

A little sadness here at Chez Wombats, our nice neighbours at Number 66 have sold up and are moving early next month.  We will be sorry to see them go but understand why they are going - their neighbour on the other side, Ms 64, is making their lives very difficult.  Ever since she moved in a few years ago with several unrestrained cats there has been friction and bad feeling (we are all fed up with her free-ranging moggies, even those of us who like cats) which culminated in her bloke and Mr 66 exchanging punches last year when we were in Canada.  It ended up in court and has caused a lot of acrimony, so for the sake of their health they have decided to go.  On the other side two doors away Number 72 is also on the market but not because of nasty neighbours, this is due to a marriage break-up.

A couple of weeks ago while out shopping we bumped into Mrs 66 who told us she had been responsible for capturing a teenage burglar in our street that very morning.  She had been out walking their little pug and was coming back up the street when she saw a young bloke riding slowly, checking out houses and gardens as he went.  She became suspicious then remembered she had left her back door unlocked, so picked up Pud (probably short for Pudding, he's a roly-poly little dog) the pug under her arm and sprinted for home.  Once at her house she saw the bike beside the house across the road and a side gate open so went inside her house and rang the police, who came very promptly - and caught the young bloke in the act with some jewellery in one hand and car keys in another.  He couldn't say "oh no, it wasn't me" could he?  He must have laid hands on a police person too, because one of the charges he faces is assaulting police.  15 years old......why wasn't he at school?  Now he faces a criminal record and time in criminal detention where he will probably learn even more bad habits, and come out with something to prove to himself and society.

Like many communities we here in the Small Smoke have our share of opportunistic crime, some committed by young people who regularly truant from school and think the world owes them a living......a 'skill' probably learned from their parents and grandparents, and so it goes on down through the generations.  However far and away the majority of people here are decent people and a few bad apples don't taint a whole case.

"The pernicious influence of indolence.
If you would preserve your children from the pernicious influence of indolence and all its corrupting tendencies, you must be earnest in purpose, active, energetic and fervent in spirit.  Earnestness sharpens the faculties; indolence corrodes and dulls them.  By the former we rise higher and higher, by the latter we sink lower and lower.  Indolence begets discontent, envy and jealousy, while labor elevates the mind and character.  Cultivate in your children habits of thought which will keep their minds occupied upon something that will be of use or advantage, and prevent them from acquiring habits of idleness, if you would secure their future well-being."

Indeed.  Somehow, though, I doubt that the parents of these young miscreants would understand these words, let alone act on them.

Enjoy your days!