Sniffle sniff....

Wretched hayfever....it certainly is a bad season this year.  I don't usually succumb to spring sniffles, mine are more common in autumn due to tree pollen, but not this time.  The spring equinox was yesterday afternoon and, according to Those Who Know, it is a bad hayfever season.

Oh well.  This, too, will pass.  In the meantime, it just leaves me feeling miserable.  And sniffly.

Our quilt group's show was yesterday and this morning, packing up was done just after lunch today, and the quilts are now back in their respective homes.  We have learned a lot and the decision has been made to hold a show every two years, it was felt that is often enough; there is a lot of organising to be done, and as it was the first for this group we had a lot of learning to do.  We aren't a large group which is fortunate as the venue isn't large, either.

Because my brain just wasn't functioning (blame the sniffles) I forgot to take pics of the show, but my quilts were well received.  It was decided not to have a "viewer's choice" vote.  How do you single out just one quilt?  The makers all put their heart and soul into their quilts, and if they don't appeal to one person they will appeal to another anyway.  

Let's see what we can find in the picture vaults.  We are heading into our warm time, so some autumn pics from our last holiday in Canada will be just the thing to cool us down.

I have often taken a photo of just one fallen leaf on the ground.  This one appealed because of the contrast between the bright leaf and the granite pebbles - however it's not a big leaf and the pebbles are quite small, so it was a "squat down and hope I can get up again" pic!

Lake Huron on a windy day.  Even though it is landlocked, it can whip up some fearsome stormy weather.

There is a reason for the green.....it was a drizzly day when we visited.

Another "squat down." pic.  

Sometimes interesting Stuff is at ground level, isn't it?  So we just have to grit our teeth, and bend or squat and hope we don't get stuck, because without a fancy-nancy big camera with lots of whoopi-doo lenses it's only possible to zoom in a certain amount without losing clarity.

Unlike many of you, I don't take photos with my phone.  Correction - one photo has been taken of autumn leaves on the ground, which was made into the home screen.  That is it.  Many people have their lives documented on their phone; it is whipped out so the rest of us (whether we want to or not) can duly admire the latest grandchild, or a dish served in a restaurant, or a view from a recent holiday.  All well and good until the phone is lost or stolen, or dropped and run over by a car......it's all gone then.  We download our photos onto our computer and yes, I know computers can fail too.  When we had those two plumbing floods several years ago we lost some older photos, but we seldom looked at them anyway.  Perhaps one day we will go through them and just keep a few.

Words have been read.  Notes have been plinked and sung, we played for a birthday function on Wednesday for one of the local VIEW Clubs which was celebrating its 55th birthday - the ladies had fun singing along with us, some even jumped up and danced!  Diamonds have been joined, but the supply is quite low so more need to be cut.  

The next couple of weeks will not be as busy as usual.  No uke on Monday afternoons as it's school holidays and some members have grandparent duty, the same for our Thursday afternoon U3A uke group.  Choir continues, as it's an evening activity.  There are no pending appointments, although hunting and gathering will continue because we need to eat.

"Avoiding carriages.

For a lady to run across the street to avoid an approaching carriage is inelegant and also dangerous. To attempt to cross the street between the carriages of a funeral procession, is rude and disrespectful.  The foreign custom of removing the hat and standing in a respectful attitude until the melancholy train has passed, is a commendable one to be followed in this country."

This is good advice.  

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Busy busy busy

That's what we were, today.....busy little bees.

This morning we took ourselves off (at a fairly early hour!) to the house museum, laden with fabrics, sewing notions, ukulele, music stand, song book......you name it, we had it with us.  We delivered the machine yesterday afternoon to take the pressure off today's activities, and oh boy - just as well we did.  As on past occasions the treadle machine generated a lot of interest with many folk reminiscing about using one in their younger days, or of their mother, aunt or grandmother using a treadle to make the family's clothes.  A couple of hours' sewing then off to play with the ukulele group (our songs were very well received), back to the machine, back to the ukulele for more applause, back to the machine.....lunch, as we were peckish after our early start....packed up not long after lunch.  It was busy and tiring - but fun.

There was a sheep shearing demonstration....a blacksmith....a vintage car, and old fire engines, so something to entertain the whole family.  A old-style classroom with a suit-clad teacher, very different to today's informality!  And ice cream.  Yummy ice cream.

One bag was completely finished......

......and another started.  It will be finished at home using the treadle machine.

My jumper is finally ready to wear - and as summer has now arrived it will be put aside until next winter.  We're not sure what happened to spring.

I lurve the colour, which is richer than this pic shows; it's a deep rich gold.

Next weekend the quilt group is having a show, something they haven't done before in the 13 years I have been a member.  I have decided to show three quilts - my Canadian quilt, of course!  

It's fairly safe to say there won't be another one like it in this town.

My big hand-pieced tumbler quilt 'Weeds of Grace', one of my favourites.

And this one, 'There ain't no cure for the summertime blues'; although it's a few years old it hasn't previously been shown or exhibited in public.

These two still need to have temporary hanging sleeves pinned to the back.

Words have been read.  Stitches have been treadled.  Notes have been plinked and sung.  Jumper-sewing-up is completed.  The usual hunting and gathering has been indulged in, if indulged is the word for something so mundane.

The new computer is amazingly quick, much quicker than the old one ever was, we're sure.

"Avoid cutting.

No gentleman will refuse to recognise a lady after she has recognized him, under any circumstances.  A young lady should, under no provocation, "cut" a married lady. It is the privilege of age to first recognize those who are younger in years.  No young man will fail to recognize an aged one after he has met with recognition.  "Cutting" is to be avoided if possible.  There are other ways of convincing a man that you do not know him, yet, to young ladies, it is sometimes the only means available to rid them of troublesome acquaintances.  "Cutting" consists in returning a bow of recognition with a stare, and is publicly ignoring the acquaintance of the person so treated.  It is sometimes done by words in saying "Really I have not the pleasure of your acquaintance."

"Cutting" in this context is not a term used very often nowadays, is it?  "Ghosting" has become the term, instead.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Back on line

But - oh dear! how to upload photos is still a mystery.  Perhaps it will become clearer eventually.

Everything else seems to working just fine though, so we are once more connected to the world......even if that pic I took earlier and tried to upload has disappeared somewhere into cyberspace.  We have been connected to the world via our computer since 1997 - and our world has certainly changed since then.

There are a couple of people in our U3A ukulele group who don't have a computer and whose eyes glaze over with fear at the very thought of using one.  One of the women uses her age as an excuse (oh I'm 80, I'm too old) but she hasn't always been 80 in the time that computers have been around, has she?  Some of the most enthusiastic users are seniors who see the possibilities for keeping in touch with distant family and friends, and indeed with the world in general.  Since moving here to the Small Smoke in 2010 we have noticed more and more folk getting online, despite their scepticism at first; Kevin was told "don't send me an email, I never use it" by more than one person who did have an email address - but didn't bother using it.

Ah ha - one more try, and success!  We have a photo!

Next Sunday a Spring Fair is being held at a local house museum, Calala Cottage.  I will be taking one of my 1920s Singer 66 treadle machines along to demonstrate how it works; I have done that a couple of times in the past, and it always generates interest.  Many people can remember such a machine being in their family...."oh, Dad's mother had one but no one ever used it" or "I remember Mum's auntie had one but it was thrown out after she died" etc., but not many people these days have seen one in action.  As before I will be taking along some bags already prepared and pressed, so only straight stitching with no seam finishing (all raw edges will be covered) is required.  

The print fabrics will be the outer layer and handle trim, the solid fabrics will be lining and handles.  Taking three bags is a bit ambitious considering that the ukulele group is also performing so when I'm not treadling I will be plinking, and vice versa.....with, of course, breaks for coffee and lunch, but just the same some stitching will get done.

Recently we have had some proper spring weather and had even let the fire go out, but our old friend winter has returned just to remind us that, after all, it's not the middle of September yet.  Last night's fire was very cheery and warming, and tonight's will be too.  

Words have been read.  No diamonds have been cut or sewn, but once the jumper is completed that will change; it's nearly all sewn up now.  Notes have been plinked and sung.  Bags have been prepped.  The usual hunting and gathering was done, and I even found time for a visit to the hairdresser for a trim.  Since having had eye surgery three years ago a hat is a necessity outdoors, something easier with shorter hair, so my longer locks were sacrificed for hair above my shoulders.....but I still haven't gone for the very short Olde Ladye Choppe.

Our lovely wattle bush is nearly finished flowering for the year, just a few little golden yellow balls of fluff are left, and it is missed already.  It was very beautiful this year.

Concluding our Etiquette for Public Conveyances:

"Gentlemen should not cross their legs, nor stretch their feet out into the passage-way of a public conveyance."

No, gentlemen.  Don't   We don't wish to trip over your feet.  Keep to your own space, and we will keep to ours.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer