Well, that's April more than half done

This month is going by fairly quickly, considering that not much is happening.  If Kevin's mother was still alive she would be celebrating her 107th birthday today.......that's quite a number, she has been gone for 13 years.

Some quilting was done on the tree hanging, but it's a way from being finished yet.  The leaves haven't stuck very well to the background - perhaps having the fusible ironed on for a couple of years before it was made may have something to do with that?  That'll teach me not to leave it so long again.  The trunk and branches have all been sewn along their edges; after the leaves have been stitched down I'll go back and quilt in some details.  First, however, the leaves need to be fastened firmly so they don't have their own fall and I am left with a bare tree.

Speaking of autumn, it has cooled right down here.  The ceiling vents have now been closed off as we're not going to need the cooling system for several months, windows in seldom used rooms have been closed......we've had the heater on a few times now, and have even started thinking about a fire. 

Some stitches have been knitted on the belle étoile scarf.  The tumblers are tumbling along nicely.  I am trying to keep the number of projects being worked on to a minimum, rather than taking tiny nibbles at a lot of projects and getting nowhere with any of them.

Manitoba is done.

 We haven't been to Manitoba, but we have seen buffalo - bison - we drove past a bison farm in Ontario.  They are quite large beasties.  We've eaten bison sausage too.

Earlier in the week a couple of rainbow lorikeets decided to mooch around in the Eremophila bush for a while.  Trying to photograph mostly-green birds in a green bush against a green background through the back window was a challenge that the camera didn't ~quite~ rise to, but it made a valiant effort.

First time we have seen lorikeets in this bush, although we have sometimes seen Eastern Rosellas.  The flowers have nectar at the base so honeyeaters can stick their pointed beaks in, but rosellas and lorikeets have parrot beaks - which are not pointed.  We have seen rosellas nip off the flowers then chomp on the base for a minute or two before dropping them to the ground......whatever works, I suppose.

We had our usual quiet week, a trip out for our own hunting and gathering, another one to hunt and gather on Bianca's behalf because cats don't drive (she is on an Olde Catte mobility diet which we buy from the vet, it works so well for her that we're tempted to try it ourselves) and a drug run to the pharmacy.  While out on Bianca's trip I called at the quilt store to collect a ruler which I had ordered some time ago, and which will be used when I get to continuing on my autumn leaf quilt.  It's so nice chatting to other people on these outings - at a safe distance, of course - sometimes it feels that we are the only two people left alive.

In recent times an ad has been popping up on TV occasionally for an an insurance company.  We have no idea what is being said (our remote has a 'mute' button for a reason) but the wording on the screen is "we'll keep you covered in hardship".  Now I don't know about you all, but I wouldn't like to be covered in hardship.  I would much rather be covered in flowers, or perhaps antique jewellery......emeralds would be nice......someone was probably paid good money for thinking up that slogan, but I don't think they earned it.

"Satire and ridicule.
Young persons appear ridiculous when satirizing or ridiculing books, people or things.  Opinions to be worth the consideration of others should have the advantage of coming from mature persons.  Cultivated people are not in the habit of resorting to such weapons as satire and ridicule.  They find too much to correct in themselves to indulge in coarse censure of the conduct of others, who may not have had advantages equal to their own."

I will venture to suggest that the person who was paid for that badly-worded slogan was younger than I am.

Enjoy your days!