Free at last!

The dreaded boot is off......gone......removed, and how good it is.  Even the pain in my hip is settling down now that my world is level again.

On Wednesday afternoon the doctor said my fractured foot is not ~quite~ healed, but is well on the way to being so.  You can leave the boot off, he said, but make sure you wear supportive shoes, it will be healed by summer, he said, and you can wear sandals then.  I could have kissed him, but feared that if I did he might mistake it for affection when it was only relief.

However since then I haven't run any marathons or danced any polkas, taking it easy has been the order of the day despite having a uke gig yesterday morning.  I prefer to play standing up and did so, but sat down each time we took a break.

Now to decide which sewing project to tackle first; it doesn't matter which one is chosen, fabric will still need to be cut.

While that is mulled over, here are some of the pretties that don't grow here - these were taken on one of our trips over to the coast.  I don't know the name of this, but it's pink and fluffy.  That should narrow it down, for the botanists among you.

 This is interesting, I bet the bees love it.

 Gorgeous foliage......the new growth on many Aussie plants is a pinky-bronze colour which is beautiful in spring.

It almost (but not quite!) makes up for our lack of glorious fall colours.

A month ago I wrote about the block which would be handed out at my quilt group meeting for members to make if they wished, and a few have already been handed in to me.  Well......what can I say.  Some are well made, others are not; one is way too small (the 1/4in seam allowances are very creative) and I suspect, in fact I know, that this particular member never bothers to press as she goes along.  A quick touch of the iron when it's together and she calls it finished.  Another one has pieces of sun block curtain fabric in with the quilt cottons.  Somehow I suspect those less-than-wonderful blocks may end up at the bottom of the "completely last resort" pile, that's if they are even used at all.

Ah well.  Onward and upward.  Perhaps I will just make for myself and not worry about anything else.

The other day I pulled a couple of large pieces of fabrics from my stash, and decided that it's time they had their day in the sun.  One is a repro from......oh, it would have to be the mid 1990s; it was bought to make a dress but not used for that, it will be useful for a border.  The other is daffodils, yellow, gold and white, probably from the same era.  It is yellow.  Very very yellow.  Just as well I like yellow, nearly as much as green......it, too, will become a border.  There is a lot of yellow in my stash, a friend recently invited me to join an online stitch along, so ideas are starting to percolate in my brain. 

Continuing on from last week's thoughts on names:

"With some it is customary to name children after some renowned person, either living or dead.  There are objections to this plan, however, for if the person be still living, he may commit some act which will bring opprobrium to his name, and so cause both the parent and child to be ashamed of bearing such a disgraced name.  If the person after whom the child is named be dead, it may be that the child's character may be so entirely different from the person who bore it, that the name shall be made a reproach or satire."

Well, yes.

My paternal grandmother's first names were Florence Gordon (her father was Scottish), but one of her brothers was named "Australia".  That's right.  Australia.  He was born in the 1880s when Australia was heading towards Federation, and patriotism was strong; he wasn't the only child given that name.  A friend from years ago told me she had an Uncle Ozzie, the family assumed it was short for Oswald - but no, his name was also "Australia".

Makes "Jennifer Grace" quite ordinary by comparison, doesn't it.

Enjoy your days!