It's baaaack.......

Just when we thought the heat of summer had gone - it has returned!  We're having what the weather people call a 'mini heatwave' for a few days.   We still have to survive today and tomorrow and it should start to ease on Wednesday, just in time for when we head off in the caravan.....and we will be going south where it's cooler anyway, so that's all right.

Hot weather at this time of year isn't unusual, however.  Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary (42 years with the same bloke, I'm not sure which one of us deserves the bigger medal) and the day we married was very hot.  The heat stayed around for a few more days, but by the next weekend the weather had broken and summer was finally gone.  Fingers crossed that's what happens here, too.

Any sore heads from yesterday, St Patrick's Day?  We were very circumspect here, no leprechauns made their way into the Chateau des Wombats, just a little diddly-i music.

It was also International Quilting Day, did you know that?  I cut out fabric (some of which is green, thereby tying together both celebrations......you get value for money here, folks) and stitched a little, but no actual 'quilting' stitches were made.  If one doesn't actually 'quilt' on International Quilting Day, does this make one a failure as a quilter?

My quilt backing has been made, those two seams were quick to sew and trimming that humungous piece of fabric didn't take long either.  It has gone off to the quilter, and will be collected when we return from our jaunt down south in the middle of next month.  There are quilt shops down south, you know.....there is also a big music shop......

When in Canberra we often take in an exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, or the National Library, or visit a chocolate shop - much as we love living here in the Small Smoke it is sadly lacking in chocolate shops - in short, we try to enjoy experiences we can't have here.  To this end we have booked tickets to an exhibition opening at Easter at the National Gallery of Australia, and you will all wish you were coming with us because it's Cartier trinkets and baubles, bangles and beads. 

I reckon every woman who attends should be given a little souvenir of her visit to take home and enjoy wearing.  I'll have an emerald trinket, thank you.....but not that one with the crocodiddlies.  I don't do reptiles, even if they're emerald reptiles.  The aquamarine tiara is pretty too, I could wear that shopping; after all, what's the point of having baubles like these if you never wear them?  A tiara would be the very thing for sashaying round the supermarket, yes?  Most of all I'm very partial to the necklace with the honking great emerald, it would sit nicely with the green strap on my tenor ukulele.

"To keep the hair from turning grey.
Take the hulls of butternuts, about four ounces, and infuse in a quart of water, and to this add half an ounce of copperas.  Apply with a soft brush every two or three days. This preparation is harmless, and is far better than those dyes made of nitrate of silver."

Copperas is also known as iron sulphate.  I always thought hair turning grey to be a natural process of aging so there isn't much can be done about it; one can refuse to accept it and dye the heck out of their hair, or one can just shrug one's shoulders and accept it.  I have done both, and for several years now have been shrugging for all I'm worth.  Surprisingly, considering my advancing age, my hair still has a lot of its natural colour although there is getting to be more grey with every passing year.  I can accept the grey but will not go for the Old Lady Chop, so it's still long.....an aging born-again hippy, that's me.

We'll be back in the middle of April.

Enjoy your days!

In which we revisit an old friend

A goal this year is to get a couple of my quilt tops finished, so this one has been taken from the Black Hole Where Quilt Tops Reside along with the backing pieces, one pieced strip (already done) (been done for a couple of years, actually) and two plain strips for the sides.  That is only two long seams.  I can do that.  Then there will need to be some trimming along the sides because it will be way heaps too wide.  I can do that, too.  Then......it can go off to be quilted!

If I get myself into gear and if the quilter can fit it in, it may even be able to be dropped off for quilting before we go away in ten day's time.  Binding will be the same brown print as the inner border.  I love this quilt, it really says "autumn " to me, so perhaps its name may be "Falling into/through Autumn" or something equally witty.

Aussies will recognise these handsome birds, our Aussie magpies.  Last breeding season seems to have been a good one so there are a lot of young birds around, and I have started to make friends by giving them an occasional treat of beef mince.

 Now, as soon as I step into our back yard, they come flying down to see me and sing to me.

 Probably saying to each other "here she comes, the sucker's on her way......"

 They are all slightly different but I am still learning to tell them apart, however the bird on the right in this pic and on the fence above is distinctive because it only has one foot.  It has a full left leg and foot, but the right leg ends at what I imagine would be its knee.  It can fly as well as the other birds, but sometimes its landings aren't very graceful.  We have named it 'Hopalong'.

Had this feller all lined up for the prize-winning shot, and blow me down if it didn't turn away just as I pressed the button.  Obviously camera shy, I sympathise.

In Australia we aren't encouraged to feed native birds, it's preferred that they forage for their own food and not become dependent on humans, but a lot of people do.  During the spring breeding season, August to October/November, magpies can be very territorial if anyone walks near their nesting tree and they may fly down and 'swoop' the person.  I've been swooped, it's quite scary - the clacking beak and the flapping wings from out of nowhere, then the peck on the head which drew blood.  However magpies are very intelligent; tests have shown that they can recognise faces (they certainly recognise mine when it's mince time) so humans within their breeding area are often regarded as 'family' and won't be attacked, the reason I am making friends by feeding them occasionally.  But - should you chase or annoy a magpie it will never forget that, and you will be swooped for ever more!  They don't, as a rule, like anyone on bicycles, our younger son was chased and pecked while riding his bike as a teenager in the Big Smoke.

As you can also see from these pics, we have had a little rain - the hill is green!  The grass isn't very long, but at least it's green!  The air has changed, too.....the heat of summer is nearly all gone, and there is a feeling of autumn in the air.  Nights and mornings are cooler, trees are getting ready to change, leaves are losing their bright green, and I have even spied the occasional yellow leaf.  Probably stressed from the hot dry summer, like the rest of us.

Plans are coming along nicely for our trip to Canada in October.  Plans are also proceeding well for the annual trip to Canberra for the National Folk Festival and to see our son and his family; Young Euan turned three just before Christmas, so I imagine he will have grown quite a lot since we saw him last year. 

"Be careful always to dry the hands thoroughly, and rub them briskly for some time afterward.  When this is not sufficiently attended to in cold weather, the hands chap and crack.  When this occurs, rub a few drops of honey over them when dry, or anoint them with cold cream or glycerine before going to bed."

Honey?  Surely that would just make the hands sticky, not soft and youthful?  I'll reserve judgement on that hint, but do let me know if you try it.

Enjoy your days!

In which we are making Plans

The main Plan is - we have booked our plane tickets to Canada in October, woo hoo!  That will give me several months to psych myself up for those loooong flights surrounded by 300 of our new best friends and 97 crying babies......

I am so happy to be going.  We need to see our boy again after his health issues - he's doing very well now, but it has been an anxious time for us all.  Even though he's now 39 years old, he's still our boy.

So.....we will be able to see sights like these again......

 .......because it will be autumn!

 We think we're doing well here to see a dozen trees in autumn foliage, so for us a whole hillside in fall colours is a glorious sight.

I am already drooling at the very thought!

Unfortunately the convenient self-contained unit we have stayed in on our previous visits to Toronto is no longer available, it has been sold.  Bummer......it was in a great spot not far from our son, far enough away that we all had our privacy but close enough that we could spend time together; their sometimes unsociable work hours weren't disturbed by our comings and goings.  However we have found another place just a couple of streets away that may be suitable, so we will enquire about bookings in the next day or so.

On another note, yesterday My Lovely New Bernina was used for the first time since the flood - and it still works, isn't that good?  Not to make anything exciting, though, just fulfilling a BOM obligation for my quilt group.  I really really don't like fiddly-diddly cutesy-woo applique.....little teeny tiny bird beaks and legs......the foot stool and  thick books which helped make the foot pedal and left foot a comfortable height were casualties of the flood, so I shall keep an eye out for replacements.

Some boxes have been unpacked, the house is slowly coming together.  Kevin is going to make replacement book shelves; we can't buy what we want, so that is the best option.  Once the cooler weather arrives we will feel more like the physical work involved in unpacking, sorting and culling - and there will be culling.  Maybe even a few books will be culled - now, that will be difficult.

We have had some rain!  Not a lot, but after such a dry summer we will take whatever we can get.  More is forecast, possibly even later today - we can but live in hope, clouds outside are getting quite dark already.

"Prompt payment of bills.
If an account is presented to you for payment, you should, if it is correct, pay it as promptly as though it were a promissory note at the bank already due.  The party who presents the bill may be in need of money, and should receive what is his due when he demands it, but some houses in a large way of business pay on special days of the week, and this is a good plan."

We have already paid for our plane tickets, does that count as prompt payment?

Enjoy your days!