As a result almost nothing of consequence happened in the sewing room, certainly nothing worthy of a photo. The moose table topper is now layered and pinned ready for quilting, which will be done during the coming week once cooler temperatures arrive; my brain turns to mush and I can't concentrate in such extreme heat as we have had.
Trawling through the photo vault has yielded some gems.
During our last visit to Canada we stayed with friends on Vancouver Island, and while there we visited the Northern Island Wildlife Recovery Centre where we made the acquaintance of this interesting bird.
You have to smile at that comical face, don't you! It was a large owl which came to the Centre after being hit by a vehicle; due to its damaged wing it could no longer fly and hunt, so it was living out its best life and educating visitors while doing so.
The year before we shook the dust of the Big Smoke from our heels we took ourselves on an outing to Mount Tomah Botanic Garden, which specialises in cool climate plants. I don't remember the name of this plant but it was spring, so perhaps those autumn-like colours are its new spring growth; many Australian native plants have pale pinkish/bronze colouring for their new shoots.
The visitor centre had a display of waratahs, our state floral emblem.....I love waratahs. There was a children's colouring competition, a display of individual blooms, mostly red but with some white - yes, white waratahs really exist - and floral arrangements featuring waratahs.
On my bookshelf is a slim book about the waratah as a decorative feature, and very interesting it is too. Back in the late 1800s there was a great interest in using Australian flora and fauna as decorative motifs, and the waratah was up there with the best; you could decorate your home with waratahs carved in wood for your fireplace, printed on wallpaper for your wall or fabric for your curtains, painted on plates or cups to decorate your table....just about anything you desired could be decorated with waratahs, and very exuberant they were too.
Words have been read, many words, because staying out of that fierce heat with one's nose buried in a book was one way to spend several hot days. No stitches have been knitted. More diamonds have been cut for hand-piecing, and hand-piecing of diamonds continues. At this rate, I will be able to open my own gem mine in no time at all. We braved the heat to go out for food.
In recent days the socials, as they seem to be called, have been alight with plaintive pleas of "can anyone hem my daughter's school dresses before school goes back next week?". While I realise that not everyone has advanced or even basic sewing skills, if you have a daughter or two who wear dresses which need to have hems taken up and let down, would it not be an idea to learn some sewing skills in order to do so? It's not haute couture, after all, just very basic sewing for which basic supplies are needed, and would save you money in the long run. Basic sewing used to be taught in schools, to my knowledge it no longer is ('Textile and Design' was a subject when I worked in high school before retiring; students could make quite complicated creations, but I could not attest to their hemming skills) but as a 'life skill' it is invaluable.
Off my soap box.....
Our visitors departed on Tuesday morning, our musician friend sporting four new tyres on his blue car ($$$$!), something he wasn't expecting when he arrived here ten days earlier. At least those new tyres made his long trip home a safe one, albeit something of a sticker shock. We have sometimes had to sort out mechanical issues while away too, not a fun activity but a necessary one for a trip to continue.
"Conduct of the fiancée.
The conduct of the fiancée should be tender, assiduous and unobtrusive. He will be kind and polite to the sisters of his betrothed and friendly with her brothers. Yet he must not be in any way unduly familiar or force himself into family confidences on the ground that he is to be regarded as a member of the family. Let the advance come rather from them to him, and let him show a due appreciation of any confidences which they may be pleased to bestow upon him. The family of the young man should make the first advances toward an acquaintance with his future wife. They should call upon her or write to her, and they may with perfect propriety invite her to visit them in order that they may become acquainted."
No doubt the young woman would be apprehensive to meet her future in-laws, as indeed he was to meet his.
Enjoy your days!
Jennifer
I think we all will be glad to see the back of the current heatwave. It is cooler here today and tomorrow is to be cooler again. Bliss! I love seeing Waratahs in Arts and Crafts items from around Federation time. You may not have stitched, but at least you managed some prep.
ReplyDeleteMy kids were in St. John Ambulance when they were older teens. When the crests were changed on their uniforms, I think I must have sewn the crests on the shirts of the entire local brigade.
ReplyDeleteI learned to sew in high school. My sister, 4 years younger, learned the valuable life skill of playing the French Horn.
Oh I am so over this hot weather - everything is so dry and roasted! Haha, I agree about the socials cry for some of the most basic things - however, I have 2 daughters who can't even thread a needle nor are interested in doing so. One year at Embroidery exhibition one woman had a Waratah done in stump work, I really would have liked to sneak it in my bag - it was beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHugz
"home economics" was mandatory for girls (boys HAD to take wood shop) back when rocks were soft and mist was in the air ... knowledge and skills that i still use everydamnday ... since my kids didn't have that opportunity in school, i taught them basic skills and, by the time each of them was 12, they knew how to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner, bake a cake and cookies, clean and scrub and vacuum, do laundry, sew a seam and mend a hole, shovel snow, mow grass and pull weeds, plant and harvest veggies and flowers, press clothes, balance a checkbook, pump gas, change a lightbulb, plan a menu and write a grocery list - yeah, all the Life skills i could think of that they would need ... they thought i was mean old bitch ... i didn't ask them to do any of those things after they KNEW HOW - i figured they would have to take care of themselves the rest of their lives and the knowledge of "how to do" was enough ... i dunno if i did them a solid or not.
ReplyDeleteit is not hot here. and it is very dry.
How wonderful that the beautiful owl was rescued!
ReplyDeleteWaratah, what a gorgeous flower!
I'll ask our gardener if she recognizes it.
I completely agree with you about sewing, but there are also people who can't cook—or don't want to.
You absolutely mustn't let yourself be taken advantage of—I only do what I enjoy now… I've worked hard at that :-)))
p.s. (And nowadays it's so easy to learn something because there's a video tutorial for everything.)