Arboretum is - finally - a finished quilt!

Not the best pic in the world, but good enough to give the general idea.

The holder-upper had gone for a walk, so the fence had to stand in as substitute.

After all, trees grow outside.

Finished is a good feeling!

There still needs to be a cover made from leftover backing fabric tacked over the label for both quilts, and a hanging sleeve improvised with backing fabric and pins for Arboretum, before they are delivered on Wednesday.  The Cunning Plan is to attend the show on Friday and see them hanging, although I don't expect to see blue ribbons pinned on.  

While at the show I am hoping to see - jousting!  Something I have never seen live, but it looks interesting; two people on horseback galloping towards each other, lances at full tilt.  One could pretend that one was back in the middle ages in days of old when knights were bold and all that Stuff, couldn't one.

The weekly wattle.  It is starting to look a little scrappy compared to the past few years, but it still puts on a glorious show.

Of course the little breeze sprang up again.....

We had some good rain early in the week, and the green hill is a sight to see.  That's our (slightly boring) wire fence which visually disappears and doesn't interrupt our view, unlike a solid wood or metal fence.

Well, here we are again at the end (or the beginning, depending on which calendar you follow) of another week.  Kevin hasn't made a final decision as to handing his driving licence in but I think that will come sooner rather than later, so he won't have to do that assessment in a couple of months.  I am getting the feel of driving in a car that I don't like, that is too big for me, that wasn't my choice, but that I am stuck with because at this stage in our lives it doesn't make financial sense to get something different.

Ah, well.  It's quicker than walking, isn't it.

We have a bus stop across the road, and during the week Kevin took the bus into town to collect his watch which was having a new battery put in.  It's very convenient for us; no worries about finding a parking spot, or having to contend with traffic (for a country town we seem to have a lot of traffic, as several highways converge here), we are taken right to the centre of town, and dropped off again just over the road.  We have used it from time to time over the years, and I can see it being very useful in future too.

Stitches have been sewn, as you can see.  None have been knitted as there have been no appointments, for a change.  Words have been read.  Songs have been plinked and sung, and a decision has been made as to next year's Eisteddfod song - 'Ukulele lady', a song which celebrated its 100th anniversary two years ago; not just the chorus which is familiar to many people, but the verses as well.  A choice of poem is still pending.  Yesterday we betook ourselves to the 2nd hand book sale down the road, run by one of the Rotary Clubs, which is open twice a week, and a book of Aussie poems was purchased.  Perhaps there will be a gem inside that I won't be able to resist.....if not, then I will make a return visit.  

Being a service club the book sale is manned (personned?) by volunteers who do a wonderful job of sorting and shelving the thousands of donated books, CDs, DVDs, jigsaw puzzles, you name it.  While looking for the poetry section, I was tickled to see books on war adjacent to books on religion.  There were a lot of quilting books but I kept away from them, likewise music books, as my goal was poetry.....but I have more books to drop off, so there will be another visit in my future.  A CD of music from an Ozzie guitar quartet also came home with me, I am looking forward to hearing it.

Now that we have had our "at home" reception and dropped many of our former friends from our list, no doubt causing offence to many, we come to "Calls".  

"Calls.

All guests and friends who receive "at home" invitations, or who are invited to the church, are required by etiquette to call upon the family of the bride, or to leave their cards, within ten days after the wedding."

That would be if we have any friends left after offending so many, yes?

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

The weekly wattle

Is looking glorious.

It's fairly sunny today - just a few clouds, as you can see at the top - and the wattle is looking good.

There is, however, a sneaky little breeze, so some of those golden fluffballs are more out of focus than others.

It's also snowdrop time; we didn't plant them, they were here before us, and they pop up to brighten our days.

Yesterday we took the trailer to Phil the wood bloke's place out of town to bring back a trailer load of firewood, and with his permission I took a few pics at his yard.  Aren't these granite boulders wonderful?

The large one on the left is bigger than some houses.

 

He lives in the hills which border our valley, among some spectacular country.

Arboretum's binding is coming along slowly, because my aging fingers whinge and complain if I sew for too long.  The fact that I (stupidly) take teeny weeny tidgy-widgy stitches is probably a bit foolish too, but never mind - it will be finished one day soon, I hope.

Tamworth Show is on in two weeks and this needs to be finished to be handed in on Wednesday week.  I found out yesterday that, although a hanging sleeve is needed, it doesn't need to be sewn down; pinned in place is fine.  The label also needs to be covered, so a piece of backing fabric will be tacked over it; the label on Autumn Rhapsody also needs to be covered because it is being entered too.  

Our changing lives continue.  Kevin received notification from the state transport people that he can still drive pending an assessment in a couple of months, but must now have a condition on his licence that he has to be accompanied by a fully licensed driver.  I don't like that as it puts an onus on me; he drove to the wood yard yesterday, but I have to say his driving is not what it once was, or what it should be.  Now there are more phone calls to be made about that assessment, so guess who will probably have to make them?  Perhaps I should go on strike, and refuse.

How has everyone been this week?  Words have been read, stitches have been sewn.  Notes have been plinked and sung, and on Friday I ventured forth to the music shop to buy a tuner for my recently refurbished guitars.  For the time being they can share a tuner, but a second one will soon be purchased.  They can then fight over who gets which one.

Some years ago an excellent music shop here closed when its owner retired, and its new owners ran it into the ground.  Not long after that another music shop opened at the other end of the main drag, and its owners were unhelpful and ~ almost ~ rude, so I only shopped there once - never again.  At the end of last year it, too, was taken over by a new owner - and what a pleasant young bloke he is!  He was very helpful; we debated the merits of different tuners, I bought a well-known brand to try and said I would be back for another, either the same brand or something different.

More on our newly-wed couple.

""At Home" Receptions.

When the newly-married couple commence life in a home of their own, it is customary to issue "at home" cards for a few evenings, at an early date after the wedding, for informal receptions.  Only such persons are invited as the young couple choose to keep as friends, or perhaps only those whom they can afford to retain.  This is a suitable opportunity to carefully rearrange one's social list, and their list of old acquaintances may be sifted at the time of the beginning of housekeeping.  This custom of arranging a fresh list is admitted as a social necessity, and nobody is offended."

Well, I don't know.....I think there will always be those who are offended, for one reason or another.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

The binding choice is turning out well

I was hoping it would, but of course until it's actually sewn on it's not always possible to tell, is it....but it sets off the colours of the various trees beautifully.

It looks good with the backing fabric, too.  They hold hands and play together quite nicely.

The weekly wattle.

Today is overcast and cool, but the wattle's perfume is a foretaste of spring.

Just as I pressed the button a little breeze sprang up, just a gentle zephyr, but still enough to make those golden blossoms dance.  

This species is, I have been told, a sawtooth wattle, so named because of the shape of those small fingernail-sized leaves.  Their edges are a bit prickly, but fortunately not too sharp.

Well, the day I have been dreading has arrived.  At Kevin's medical appointment during the week his doctor said the time has come for him to give up driving, so I am now the (reluctant) chauffeur.  He has alternated between disbelief, resentment, annoyance....all understandable, but no need to take it out on me.  Driving has always been important to him; back when he was young and silly he was into motor sport and used to race on weekends.  He doesn't take well to being a passenger.  Yesterday he said he thought he might go to the bowls club for a while....do you want me to drive you there, I said....no, he said, I'll take the car.....you can't, I said, doctor said you can't drive now.  That was just a few days afterward, and it was already out of his mind that he had been told "no driving".  He hasn't yet handed in his licence, I thought I wouldn't push that too hard, but it looks as though it might have to be sooner rather than later.  

As people say, it is what it is.  Much as I dislike that expression, it's pretty spot on at present.

Next year will be 30 years since Kevin's father died, and he had to give up his licence a few years earlier - much to his resentment, too.  "Nothing wrong with my driving......"  However, I recall one time a few years before he died MIL's mortification one day on answering a knock at the door, to find the police asking to speak to FIL.  He had damaged someone's car while in a car park and had been seen doing so; a bystander had made a note of his car's number, hence the police. He had no memory of hitting another car badly enough to leave damage and had driven merrily on his way.  His licence was taken away but was given back on appeal, however it wasn't long after that (thankfully!) he stopped driving.  

How has everyone been?  Time has been spent accompanying Kevin to his various appointments - that's my life now, whether I like it or not; I can't leave him and go off somewhere, because of his speech problems.  Words have been read.  Stitches have been sewn and also knitted, as the knitting comes with me to fill in the waiting time.  Songs have been sung and plinked.  The weekly hunting and foraging happened.  

On Tuesday evening I filled out our census form, something which is done every five years.  For many years now, even before we moved out of the Big Smoke, we have using the online option rather than paper forms; it's easy, much less tedious and is soon finished.  The year after we moved up here was a census year and talk at a sewing group turned to filling out the forms.  We'll do ours online again, I said, it's easy....oh no, said one woman, I'll use the paper form because I don't want the government knowing all about me.....well, isn't that the idea?  In vain did I say they don't care who you are, only what you are, but to no avail.  Closed minds, and all that.

We're still getting married.

"The evening wedding.

If the wedding occur in the evening, the only difference in the ceremonials from those in the morning is that the ushers or groomsmen wear full evening dress, and the bridal pair retire quietly to dress for their journey before the dancing party disperses, and thus leave unobserved."

An evening wedding seems like quite a civilised idea, to me.  We were married in early evening, but there was no dancing party.  Kevin does not and will not dance.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Binding away

The sewing of Arboretum's binding has begun.

The next side is pinned ready to be machined down.  

The weekly wattle.

I made sure to hold my breath when taking this.  There are, of course, more blooms out in the main part of the bush but they are scattered, whereas this shows them clumped together.  When I was snapping away I was even able to get a waft of its delicate perfume, letting us know that spring is definitely on the way....not that we have had a really cold winter, but we have had some very chilly frosty mornings.  We won't be sorry to say goodbye to them.

My guitars have come home, and they look and sound wonderful!  During the coming week the plan is to pop into the music shop for a couple of tuners, so each guitar will have its own tuner in its case.  An out-of-tune instrument, no matter what it is, is not lovely to listen to.  When I was playing them regularly the nifty clip-on tuners now available were fairly new on the market; I had an older tuner which had to be held close to the instrument to get the note, and before acquiring that I used a tuning fork.  Many years ago there was a lovely man (sadly no longer with us) who used to attend various folk festivals and who had a collection of different instruments - and his car bore a sticker saying "Love thy neighbour.....tune thy piano", which always made me smile.

Now I need to get back into practice, however I won't be volunteering for a duet with our muso friend when he returns in January for the country music festival.....he would leave me for dead, he's a professional after all and I am but a mug amateur.....

How has everyone been this week?  Stitches have been knitted as we both had appointments so there was (of course!) waiting time.  Stitches have been sewn by hand and by machine.  Songs were sung and plinked, as choir has returned from its brief break.  We shopped.  We won't starve.

These days our house is fairly quiet.  One of Kevin's symptoms is a form of aphasia, meaning he finds it difficult to get the word he wants; many a conversation is left unfinished as those words prove to be too elusive, and a lot of the time I have no idea what we are talking about anyway as his speech is often mumbling and indistinct.  If we didn't have the radio playing, our world would be nearly silent.

Continuing on with weddings at home.

"When the marriage ceremony is concluded, the party turn in their places and face their friends, who proceed to congratulate them."

Short and sweet, and probably very decorous.  No doubt the happy couple yipee-ing and turning cartwheels would be somewhat frowned upon; however, a smile of happiness would be considered suitable.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Moving along slowly

Arboretum's label is finished, ready to be stitched on the bottom right hand corner of the back.

Two of the label edges have been finished with a narrow border of the backing fabric, the remaining sides will be tucked under the binding; a hem would be slightly bulky, as interfacing was ironed to the label before the embroidery was started.  The thread is DMC floss, colour 3781, using one strand.  I wasn't sure if quilter Margaret wanted her full name slathered across the internet, so....when in doubt, don't.

This is the controlled chaos of Arboretum, with its binding made, pressed and ready to be sewn on.

The Cunning Plan was to have it done by Tuesday morning so it could be taken along to quilt group for hand-stitching the binding to the back, but that may not get done.  Never mind....

.....because.....

tomorrow morning my guitars are coming home from the guitar spa!  They didn't suffer too badly in our two plumbing floods back in 2017 because they were in their cases, but the cases were on the floor sitting in water.  I have been meaning to get them made playable again, but you know how it - life gets in the way sometimes, doesn't it, and there is always something more pressing that needs to be done.  A couple of weeks ago our musician friend stayed with us for a night on his way to warmth and sunshine up north and I showed him my guitars, which he hadn't seen before.....oh, this is nice, rosewood with a cedar top, he said, and the other one has a Brazilian mahogany back, very very nice, he said.....when I'm back here in January I want to play these, he said, so I decided it was time to stop thinking about it and start doing it.  Off they went to Matt the instrument repairer, and it will be wonderful to have them back again.

Now my aging fingers will have to re-learn to play instruments with wider necks than a ukulele, but that's probably good for my equally aging brain.  The classical guitar has softer nylon strings but a wider neck to stretch my fingers, while the steel string guitar has a narrower neck but harder metal strings for my fingertips, so they require slightly different techniques.

It always saddens me when I see instruments in museums used for display but never played.  Some of them may be past playing, I understand that.....but just the same they need to sing, because they all have a voice which shouldn't be silent.

The wattle is now blooming.

It's difficult to take a decent photo of a plant which shivers in the slightest breeze, even my breathing is enough to move it, but hopefully it's in focus.  One needs to breathe even while taking a photo, doesn't one.

How has everyone been this week?  Stitches have been sewn, binding strips has been cut, joined and pressed.  No stitches were knitted but the coming week brings appointments, so they probably will be.  Songs were plinked and sung.  Words have been read.  Food was foraged, and so passed another week.

Despite some quite chilly frosty mornings, and the promise of more to come this week, days have been fairly pleasant.  A sheltered spot to sit on a sunny winter day can be a treat indeed.

We have finished with the duties of groomsmen, so now we move onto to domestic weddings.

"Weddings at home.

Weddings at home vary but little from those at church.  The music, the assembling of friends, the entree of the bridal party to the position selected, are the same.  An altar of flowers, and a place of kneeling can be easily arranged at home.  The space behind the altar need be no wider than is allowed for the clergyman to stand.  The altar is generally only a table with cloth over it.  Other floral accessories, such as the marriage-bell, horse-shoe or white dove, etc., can be arranged with ease by a skilful florist, if desired."

While I have been to weddings which were not held in a church (including our own wedding) I have never been to a wedding at a private home.    As far as my experience was concerned, home weddings only happened in movies.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer