It's beginning to look a lot like......something

The Chateau des Wombats has a little festive cheer strewn about......not much yet, but it will look a little more cheery when The One And Only arrives with his parents after Christmas, stays for a couple of days, then departs once more.

I am not, as you may or may not have gathered, someone who loves pink.  However, when we moved to this house in May 2010 it had pink walls in the entrance hall and two pink feature walls in the family room, as well as a floral frieze running around a lot of the walls.  The fabrics in this runner were a gift many many years ago - anyone else remember when the usual vivid red and bright green Christmas colours were swapped out for pink and sage?  They languished in my stash for *ahem* quite a while, but for our first Christmas here I made this to help even out some of that pink.

 An early attempt at free-motion work, in pale green thread to match the fabric.  The pattern was also a gift and if I could be bothered to get up from my chair I could find it for you, but I can tell you it was by "Anka's Treasures".  The fabrics all co-ordinate but are from different ranges and manufacturers.

 Even though those pink walls and frieze have - thank goodness - gone, the runner gets trotted out at Christmas because it's pretty......and because I like it.  Even though it's a bit pink.

We are, as the news people are fond of saying, in the grip of a heatwave and it's still very smoky.  It's not yet as hot as the forecast temperature but it is still quite warm, so this picture is just to make me feel better because it was taken in Parry Sound, Canada on a very cold day with snow flakes drifting around.

Tempting though it was, I did not dibble my toes into that no-doubt-frigid water.

The ukulele group has played its last gig for the year, so now we can relax for a few weeks until the next. 

The light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, for the quilt being cut out!  All background pieces are cut, and there are not too many left of those gorgeous autumn leaf fabrics to go.  It would have been quicker to stack and cut several layers at once but I wanted a big variety, so chose to cut one print at a time.  Once that is done, the cutting table can be cleared off and a few projects tackled; it seems such a long time since I have sat at the machine and my fingers are itching to do so.

The bookshelves are also calling......that big sorting out is getting closer.

"Expensive dinners not the most enjoyable.
It is a mistake to think that in giving a dinner, it is indispensable to have certain dishes and a variety of wines, because others serve them.  Those who entertain frequently often use their own discretion, and never feel obliged to do as others do, if they wish to do differently.  Some of the most enjoyable dinners given are those which are least expensive.  It is this mistaken feeling that people cannot entertain without committing all sorts of extravagances, which causes many persons, in every way well qualified to do incalculable good socially, to exclude themselves from general society."

Wise advice to keep in mind for the coming season.

Enjoy your days!

And again.......

The past few weeks have been very busy!  A few uke gigs with time spent practicing have swallowed quite a chunk of hours, but that's nearly all done now.  Even managed to get some pieces cut for the autumn leaf quilt without too many protests from this aging body.  The only stitches sewn have been by hand, but that's all right......more and more tumblers are being joined into sets of four, and once that's done they will all be spread so I can see the final layout.  So long as the colours and values are mixed I think it will look good.

Next year's challenge from the quilt group has been given out - we are to finish a UFO.  It is to be shown in its unfinished state at the February meeting, then worked on during the year.  That Canadian mystery quilt from a few years ago is calling so that, I have decided, will be my UFO project.  It will be wonderful to have it finally done.  That's the kind of challenge I like.

Several years ago we had a similar challenge - to make a quilt entirely from stash - so I used fabric which had been bought in the Big Smoke before our move north, and pinwheels which had previously been made of leftovers from another quilt, and made the quilt I called "Plastered Pinwheels"......so-called because those pinwheels were sewn while my left arm was in plaster after being fractured.  I couldn't do much, but I could feed them through the machine.  Here's a pic from those days for those who haven't seen it:

That was taken before it was quilted, also by yours truly.

Recently we have had a couple of storms which resulted in a little - very little - rain, so the kangaroos were out in force.  They are a fair way off from our back fence and there would have been about 30 that day, some of which were out of range of the photo.

 It looks green, but you can see the hill in the background is dry and the trees don't look lush and healthy.

Our visiting magpie couple.  They now have a youngster who also visits when I take them a treat of steak; some days I only have to appear at the back door and they come flying down!

Isn't it nice to have friends?  Even if they are the feathered kind.

The air quality hasn't been kind lately, and today was particularly bad.  The wind has blown smoke this way from bushfires south and east of us; this morning the whole valley was full of smoke and it was difficult to talk, let alone sing as we did at a lunchtime gig.  Fortunately it wasn't outside, or I think we would have had to call it off.  According to the agency which monitors air quality ours, while not the worst in the state, wasn't at all good......and the next few days are supposed to be no better, with even hotter temperatures.  However we are Aussies, we are tough enough not to let it get us down.

The blog backgrounds which I have used for many years seem to have disappeared from cyberspace!  Now I shall have to get creative and work out how to do my own.

Yesterday evening we let our hair down and went to the movies!  We saw "Fisherman's Friends", an English movie with a fairly predictable plot but really good singing.  I know several of the shanties sung in the film and was hard pressed not to join in the singing, even though there were very few people in the cinema.  Sigh.......I like a good sing......

"Treatment for moist and damp feet.
Some persons are troubled by moist or damp feet.  This complaint arises more particularly during the hot weather in the summer-time, and the greatest care and cleanliness should be exercised to it.  Persons so afflicted should wash their feet twice a day in soap and warm water, after which they should put on clean socks.  Should this fail to cure, they may, after being washed as above, be rinsed, and then thoroughly rubbed with a mixture consisting of half a pint of warm water and three tablespoons of concentrated solution of chloride of soda."

I suppose that answers my concern at the end of the previous post.

Enjoy your days!