Very worthy Stuff

This week has seen very little action on the Getting Stuff Done front, but has seen quite a bit of running around.  The Christmas occasions have started; yesterday morning the Historical Society had theirs under the shady verandah, and today we attended a charity fair.  It was strange to just be at the fair without playing music as we have done in past years but at present the ukulele group's numbers are down, so there is no way we can do an outside performance.  We have two indoors gigs lined up in the next few weeks, we can manage those.

We did make a few purchases....Kevin bought himself a magnifying glass with a bone (deer antler) handle to help him decipher the family history information (the writing on some of those old hand-written certificates looks legible until you try to read it); we bought some meat pies, currently in the fridge, which will be frozen later and which look very yummy;  I bought a new wombat, made of rusty metal, for the garden (we have a large pot with a succulent growing in it, which will make a nice home for Rusty the wombat) and a couple more goodies with an eye to Christmas gifting.  I drooled over Annette the jewellery lady's lovely trinkets.....I already have some of her beautiful pieces.....I could quite happily have bought several pairs.  But I was strong, and I didn't.  The home-made lemonade we had was welcome on a warm sunny day, too.

So....let's see what we can find in the photo treasure vault, to liven up this post.

All 225 (!) of these basket blocks were sewn together some time ago.  It was the first time I had tried hand-piecing, and I found I enjoyed it......so much so that the original plan of 169 blocks, 13 rows by 13, was enlarged to 15 by 15.  They all face the same way.

The blocks were sewn into sets of nine, with alternating print and white corners.  The design looks better with matching corners, hence the number of blocks.

However, it is huge.....about 90 inches square unquilted......and I find myself wondering if those extra blocks were really necessary?  Why didn't I stop with the smaller size of 78 inches square when I had the chance?  Now a little voice in my brain is telling me to unpick two rows each way, and be happy with the smaller size.  Which I just may do.  It will still be a reasonable sized quilt, after all.

Some sewing of diamonds has happened, and more have been cut.  Words have been read.  Notes have been plinked and sung, some of the Christmas variety and some not.  The hunting, gathering and foraging essential for survival took place, and also a little op shopping; I am now the owner of a red bag, something needed to match the red straps on my red, black and cream sandals.  They entered my (not quite) sumptuous wardrobe a few years ago, a new purchase on an annual trip to Canberra, and have been asking for a co-ordinating bag ever since.

A link to this quote was posted earlier today on a vintage sewing machine social media page.  It certainly made me chuckle, and I'm sure you will laugh with me:

Advice to the ladies from Mr Rowley of the Sydney Sewing Machine Co:

"An hour's sewing with a good machine soothes a woman's nerves, and exerts the same calming influence that tobacco does with a man. She sews all her little irritations into the seams, imprisons her fancied wrongs into the double gussets, or stays them into the gores; every sensible woman will confess this."

The quote is, unfortunately, not dated. I don't know about the rest of you.....but I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing a garment with so many irritations and fancied wrongs in its seams, gussets and gores!

Continuing on with Etiquette of Public Places, following on last week's quote:

"They seem to know, as if by instinct, how to conduct themselves, wherever they may go, or in whatever society they may be thrown. They consider at all times the fitness of things, and their actions and speech are governed by feelings of gentleness and kindness towards everybody with whom they come into social relations, having a due consideration for the opinions and prejudices of others, and doing nothing to wound their feelings. Many people, however, either from ignorance, thoughtlessness or carelessness, are constantly violating some of the observances of etiquette pertaining to places of public assemblages. It is for this reason that rule are here given by which may be regulated the conduct of people in various public gatherings, where awkwardness and ostentatious display often call forth unfavorable criticism."

Perhaps some nations could also take note of this advice, then the world would not be in such a mess.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Sixteen years ago......

Way back in early 2006 we were planning a trip overseas - a cruise, no less!  Our older son was working on board a cruise ship playing in the orchestra so we booked ourselves a flight to Vancouver, did some tootling around Vancouver then Victoria on Vancouver Island, cruised for seven days to Alaska on our son's ship, then spent a few more days in Alaska going as far north as Fairbanks before eventually flying home.  It was a very busy three weeks.

Because all those flights entailed much sitting and waiting I decided to do something I hadn't done before - piece quilt blocks by hand.  A six inch flower basket block was decided on and a few blocks cut from floral and white-on-white fabrics; these were first taken to Canberra for our annual Easter trip, and some stitches were actually sewn.  The original plan was to make 169 blocks to be set 13 rows across by 13 rows down....good heavens, I said to myself, that's a lot of sewing.  However I kept plodding away and after a few years was enjoying the process so much that I thought to make the quilt bigger, so ended up making 225 blocks.  There are fabrics from several trips to Canada, as well as that Alaskan trip, in it.

Once all the blocks were made several years ago they were joined nine at a time, three rows by three.  The original Cunning Plan was to do them quilt-as-you-go then join those blocks to make a quilt but I couldn't decide which quilting design to use, so they sat....and they sat.....and they sat some more until last year when the hand-piecing on my tumbler quilt was finished, and I thought "blow it - I'll finish the flower basket top and have it quilted".

On Friday night the last stitch was taken on the top - and it's done, sixteen years after it was first a bright idea in my brain!  I'll try to get a photo but it is so big that may be hard to do, so here are some progress pics.

The last block was made and photographed on 20th August, 2014.

One of the 25 blocks of nine; white and floral backgrounds were alternated.

This was taken just six months after the first stitches were taken, when enough blocks had been made to cover the top of our dining table.

There won't be a border, it's already large enough....90 inches square, 4,500 individual pieces.  It will, of course, shrink when quilted.

You probably heard my sigh of relief and achievement on Friday night from your house, wherever you are.

We will be going away on Tuesday so my knitting will come along, as will the diamonds which were recently cut for hand-piecing.  And some books to read, and a book of crossword puzzles - Kevin likes Sudoku, I prefer crosswords - our little caravan doesn't have TV.  When we come home, quilting on the border of my Canadian quilt will be done....it's time it was finished, and there are other machine projects to fill in the rest of this year and probably the next year as well.  And to start off the following year after that.....

Last night's concert went very well, it was so good to sing to an audience again!  The choir songs were well received as were the ukulele group songs, and my solo was much applauded; while I was packing up my uke a man from the audience came to compliment me and to say how much he enjoyed my song, which I thought was really nice of him.  I sang a parody - in French, no less! - of words which have crept into English, to the tune of 'La vie en rose'.  Other audience members also complimented me as we were leaving, saying how much they enjoyed my funny song.

Of course my uke will go away in the caravan too.  As will warm clothes, because Canberra's forecast is for some fairly cool weather.  My birthday will be a few days after we arrive and I had decided that Kevin could take me out for chocolate lunch.  At a chocolate shop/café.  Which we have now found out is closed, yet another victim of business downturn due to the covid plague.

Sigh.....

"General rules for balls.

A young man who can dance, and will not dance, should stay away from a ball."

Indeed.  The whole point of going to a ball is to socialise and to dance, so if you will not dance there is no point in going, is there?

We'll be back at the end of May.  Until then.....

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Waiting for the heavens to open

Judging by the weather radar, that might happen fairly soon....

Daylight saving ended sometime this morning at stupid dark o'clock, a time when no one in their right mind is out and about.  We reset a few clocks before heading off to bed (although Kevin forgot to set our bedside clock, resulting in a little confusion on getting up) and found out that things like phones and computers had reset themselves as if by magic.  The stove clock, however, doesn't have magic and takes a bit of working out....and the less said about the car clock, the better.

Nothing photo-worthy has happened this week.  Strips have been cut for sashings for the house quilt - about two-thirds are done.  Stitches have been taken on the flower basket quilt, joining of the final two sections are progressing along nicely.  A few stitches were knitted.  No diamonds were cut out.  

Every time we go anywhere we notice more and more signs of autumn, and it seems early this year because of our relatively mild summer.  (Not that I am complaining, summer's heat and I not being good friends)  So how about some autumn glory?

These were taken on our last trip to Canada late in 2018, but the beauty of the colours never fades.  The pic above, taken in Midland, Ontario, is a tree we saw each time we drove into a car park behind main street shops.

Bayfield, Ontario, is a small town with beautiful trees.

Heading across country to British Columbia, we visited MacMillan Provincial Park with friends.  This was moss on a fallen tree.

Sad to think that it was probably our last trip.  By the time travel becomes relatively easy again we will be too old (and probably too poor!) to head off on such a journey; those long plane flights are no fun at all.  But - those trips have given us friends and memories that will always be with us.

Thanks to the covid plague, U3A has once again been cancelled.  Oh well; we had two ukulele get-togethers before the plug was pulled.  The Monday group is practising for our moment of fame and glory in a concert at the end of the month, although public holidays and school holidays (which mean grandparent duty for some) mean that we won't see other much in April at all.

During the week while out and about I even bought some new clothes, how about that?  Now that we can go out and about again those new jeans (sadly needed, I fear) and a new top will be Just The Thing.  

I smell rain.....won't be long now.....

More Suggestions for Gentlemen:

"If a lady asks any favor of a gentleman, such as to send a servant to her with a glass of water, to take her into the ball-room when she is without an escort, to inquire whether her carriage is in waiting, or any of the numerous services which ladies often require, no gentleman will, under any circumstances, refuse her request."

How many of us, I wonder, have ever had a glass of water delivered by a servant? or had someone check if our carriage is waiting?  Sadly, probably not many of us.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Every phone needs a case

My Lovely New (Green!) Phone now has a case.

Some quilted fabric left over from making a bag was used for a nifty phone case.  The hook fastening was self-stick but the edges started to kick up a little, so they were stitched down.

You can see the green phone and the green case don't ~quite~ match. but what the heck.....green is green, right?  This was the bag from which the leftover piece came.

Those fabrics were brought some years ago from a store in Canberra which has now closed down.....as soon as I saw it on the shelf I knew some had to come home with me.  The not-quite-solid shot green is a great match too, yes?  Pattern is McCalls 4118, but I'm not sure if it's still current or if it's been discontinued.

That's pretty much been the sum total of my achievements this week, although a few rows were knitted on my jumper and stitches were taken on the flower basket quilt.  Early in the week I was asked to swap morning tea/BOM duties with another member of my quilt group who is unwell; not a problem said I, and I even found a block which was first decided on two years ago before the world fell apart, so now it has left my sewing room.  

The Cunning Plan for the coming week is to cut more diamonds, and to make a start cutting sashing for house blocks.  That is the Plan.  Whether it will actually happen.....ah, that we don't know.

On Wednesday night we took ourselves to the theatre to see an amateur production of 'The Full Monty'...oh my goodness.  It was very cheeky....very cheeky indeed; six blokes' worth of cheek!  The film was a hit several years ago, the stage show came later but kept very close to the film plot.  I shall never look at that young bloke who does the sports report on the nightly news the same way.

It has rained, welcome rain, as the garden had started to dry out.  At least we have been spared the floods which so many other places have had to cope with.  One of these days we may even pull up a few weeds, once the ground has had a chance to soften and make that task easier.  Every time we venture out we notice more signs that summer is ending and the rich colours of autumn are on the way.

Now that mask wearing is only compulsory in a few circumstances - mostly medical - it is so good to be able to interact once more with people we meet and indeed to be able to recognise people without most of their face covered, although staff in various businesses still wear them. I have ventured out more in the past couple of weeks than for several months; it's been easy to become a hermit and stay home rather than cope with the stress and panic of having to wear a mask.  

Now we have worked our way to the end of 'Duties of Guests', we have specific advice for gentlemen:

"Some suggestions for gentlemen.

A gentleman should never attempt to step across a lady's train.  He should walk around it.  If by any action he should tread upon any portion of her dress, he must instantly beg her pardon, and if by greater carelessness he should tear it, he must pause in his course and offer to escort her to the dressing-room so that she may have it repaired."

Wise words to keep in mind, gentlemen, although in this day and age not many women wear a long dress with a train apart from their wedding day - and sometimes not even then.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Keeping out of mischief

That's about all has happened this week, actually.

Books have been read.....most not memorable, but enjoyable at the time. 

Stitches have been taken on the flower basket quilt and a name is percolating around in my brain - 'Flower baskets'  - but in French, 'Paniers de fleurs', which sounds more posh and less boring than English, n'est ce pas?  Many years ago a suitable label was bought for that quilt, and last year backing was bought. 

The soft lime green will compliment the flower prints on the front as many of them have green somewhere in the design, and the label will have the details hand-embroidered.  The label is not *quite* square, and not *quite* printed on the straight grain, but I'll make it work.

The diamond templates I ordered have arrived but nothing has been cut yet, as my back decided to be annoying every time I stood up.  Never mind.....it will get done.

Some house blocks have been trimmed, once again the rebellious back made that difficult.  Trim two blocks, sit down for an hour......trim another block.....give up.  Make coffee.  Sit down and read.  Fortunately it is slowly improving.

The big news in this part of the world of late has been floods.  Fortunately we don't live in a flooded area but having undergone two floods in 2017 I can feel for those who have been washed out of their homes - and our water was clean, straight from the town system, not muddy water carrying along trees, dead animals, parts of buildings and sewage in its wake.  Lives have been lost, homes have been irreparably damaged; farmers have lost stock, crops and buildings.  Our hearts go out to them.  I remember bad floods when I was growing up and a family we knew was regularly flooded out of their timber cottage; I remember Mrs Wilson saying to my mother "you can sweep out the mud when it dries but you never get rid of the smell, because it has seeped into the wood".

One of the saddest stories though - to me, anyway - is the damage done to a beautiful piece of furniture, the Hannah Cabinet.  On a visit to the Bungendore Woodworks Gallery several years ago we saw the Hannah Cabinet on display.....and I don't think I have ever seen such an exquisite man-made object; we walked around and ogled it, and watched the video, and walked around some more.....admired the marquetry made from many different woods and stones featuring Aussie birds and flora.  Those of us who make Stuff can appreciate things made by other makers, the hours of work it takes, the skills needed (even if we don't use the same skills), and to have it damaged so badly must be heartbreaking to its maker.  I hope it is able to be saved.

We have been lucky enough to see other pieces of Geoff Hannah's work, one being the cabinet held at 'Yarralumla', the official residence of the Australian Governor General.  Once a year (this was pre-covid, of course) the ground floor public rooms are opened to the public for charity, and we saw the Yarralumla Cabinet there.  I coveted it mightily then, and I still do today......and I love the "secret drawers", so watch it to the end.

We enjoyed a concert from a visiting choir last night, our first outing for a long time.  We even enjoyed a choc top ice cream at interval - our first for two years, how good is that!

More 'Duties of Guests':

"Another duty of guests is that each one should do all in his or her power to contribute to the enjoyment of the evening, and neither hesitate nor decline to be introduced to such guests as the hostess requests."

Sage advice.  The hostess, after all, is trying to keep her guests mingling, and a shy wallflower contributes very little to the occasion.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

A shocking thought......

.....has popped into my mind.

We are hoping to be able to go down south in April to catch up with family and to enjoy the autumn colours - and I will have no hand-pieced travel project!  Isn't that too terrible to contemplate?  My flower basket quilt is so big now it's at the stage where it's not portable any more; there is a jumper in progress which has stalled for the moment as not a stitch is knitted in summer's heat; it's a cooler weather project so it could be taken along.  Over the past several years I am quite enjoying the peace of hand-piecing, and miss it when there is none.

So......over the past little while my thoughts, as a song by Tom Paxton (one of my long-time favourite singers) says, are a-tumblin' round and round, and Tumbling Blocks fell out.  Late last year I was given a 60 deg diamond template which can be used for a one-patch project, so pieces have been cut in two different sizes.

The smaller pieces are cut around the template with seam allowances on the inside so it will be smaller again when joined, while the larger pieces have the seam allowances added to the outside.  Neither are yet joined - this is a trial to see which of the two sizes I prefer, but I suspect ease of marking and cutting will mean the larger one gets my vote.  Sides will be two inches when finished.  There is still a heap ton of reproduction fabrics, leftovers from my tumbler quilt, begging to be used; I think they will do nicely, don't you?

Finally Mother Nature has taken pity on us and cooled down our part of the earth, and it is very pleasant.  The past few nights have been downright cool; we are sleeping better, not feeling wrung-out, and are looking forward to autumn.  A couple of nights ago the news showed footage of a small town north-east of us where their trees are already changing; admittedly it has a colder climate, but it does mean that summer is heading in the right direction - away from us.  Days are shorter now too.

Great excitement in our street last weekend.  Over a few days Kevin had been noticing, in his comings and goings, several police vehicles set up outside a house further down our street - then we read in the local paper that a house was raided and a bloke arrested for manufacturing and dealing drugs, not something we want in our normally very quiet street.  Our house is number 68, this took place at number 11 so not very near us.......and now all is quiet again.

Some excitement we didn't want, though: earlier in the week someone ran into our car while it was parked, leaving the front damaged.  They did not hang around to exchange details, no one else saw anything, so we have no idea who did it - but we're the ones who have to negotiate with the insurance company, and we're the ones inconvenienced.  Cowards.  I hope their wheels fall off.

'Duties of Guests' is quite a long paragraph, so it is being broken up into smaller bites:

"It is the duty of every person who has at first accepted an invitation, and subsequently finds that it will be impossible to attend, to send a note of explanation, even at the last moment, and as it is rude to send an acceptance with no intention of going, those who so accept will do well to remember this duty."

It is very frustrating when one organises an event and people neither accept nor decline, something which I believe is becoming more prevalent in today's casual lifestyle - and something which is very discourteous to the hosts.  In fact, I would say it's downright rude.  Perhaps they are hanging out for a better offer?

Enjoy your days!

My brain cells are melting

While the past week hasn't been horribly hot it has been more humid than usual, which makes us feel more uncomfortable than the temperature would indicate.  In summer's heat I do a passable imitation of a limp lettuce leaf so the only achievement this week has been quite a bit of hand-stitching in my flower basket quilt, although two log cabin blocks were made for the quilt group block of the month.  Fabric and pattern were supplied, so it was easy-peasy.

However - no pics were taken and it's not a proper post without pics, is it?  So here are a couple from our garden in the Big Smoke.

I love frangipanis but they don't grow here, they do better along the coast.  Like many white flowers they have a strong scent, but unlike many other white flowers it's not overpoweringly sweet and cloying.

Back in the day our house and garden survived The Great Sefton Hailstorm of 1990, although not without some damage.  Several windows and two skylights in the house were shattered (nothing like rain pouring in through large holes in the roof, is there?) but all was eventually put right.

The garden fared much worse - nearly every plant was shredded.  In time we managed to remove the damaged plants, but anything which had survived was left to fend for itself.  A few years later the secateurs were taken to the remaining plants and they were given haircuts.....including this one, Tibouchina, which had struggled since the storm.  Not being the world's best gardener I was astonished to notice that its drastic pruning - and, believe me, it was drastic - had done it the world of good, because it never looked back.  These pics were taken not long before we moved out, nearly 30 years after the storm.

It likes full sun, but full sun doesn't always make it easy to get a good pic without the bright colour being washed out.  The single flower here is closer to the true colour.

If you like purple then perhaps this is the plant for you.....it is very purple.

We have been entertained this week by some of the stories Kevin has been unearthing while researching his maternal grandmother Laura.  Because he was fairly young when she died he doesn't remember much about her, although he has said she always seemed to have a crochet hook and thread in hand....."she was always crocheting", he said.  Some of her beautiful work has come down to us.

Laura's mother Eliza Jane, though - now, there's a girl.  Born in a mining town during the gold rush (one which we have often driven through on our way to Canberra without knowing of the family connection) in 1863, married in 1878 - yes, that's right, she was 15 - had her first child, Laura, at 17.  Several more children followed, and she was widowed in her mid-30s.  Fast forward to 1910: Laura aged 30 trots down the aisle to marry a man of 60, and two days later Eliza Jane also trots down the aisle with Hubby No. 2, a toy boy, a mere stripling of 33......and Eliza's age on the marriage certificate is given as 35, although she was 47.  Later that year No. 2 Toy Boy is declared bankrupt, but the marriage lasted until she died in 1947.  

Eliza and her family lived at a house called 'Iolanthe', a Greek word meaning "violet flower", at a time when many houses had names instead of, or in addition to, a house number.  I wonder if she would have liked a Tibouchina?

"Duties of guests.

Some persons may be astonished to learn that any duties devolve upon the guests.  In fact there are circles where all such duties are ignored."

That seems rude, doesn't it?  I'm sure none of us would do that.

Enjoy your days!

As we wind down to the end of another year......

What a year it has been; some of it good, some not so good.  None of us have a crystal ball to know what's coming next year, do we?  Which, the way the world is now, is probably a Good Thing.

I hope all had a peaceful Christmas with some yummy munchies - we did, for sure.  There are munchies still to be eaten, a much better situation than running out!  My collection of Christmas wombats now has a few new additions too, thanks to our family down south.

Our hot summer weather has eased, for now at least.  A light shower of welcome rain is falling and the air smells clean and fresh.

I am happy with what I managed this year.  Probably more could have been done, but I suspect most of us can say that - yes?  My quilt 'Weeds of Grace' was finished which was quite an achievement, and significent progress made on my Canadian quilt which is ready for borders to be added and quilted.  

Today's messy sewing table.  The green fabrics will be the outer setting triangles for my house quilt; the box on the left holds the completed blocks and the yet-to-be-cut sashing fabric.  The red fabric will be the backing for the borders of my Canadian quilt, the pile of batting in the corner is also for the borders, and the light blue is a tee shirt which needs a sleeve hem restitched because the stitching came undone......don't you hate that?

Progress was also made on a quilt which has been in progress for quite a long time, a quilt of 225 six inch flower basket blocks.  It was started many years ago as a portable project; all 225 blocks were made, then joined into nines.

It has since hung around for a few years because.....just because.  My first thought was to quilt it in blocks then join them (each of those nine basket blocks measures 18 inches square) but I couldn't decide on a design, so it was shelved.  After finishing the hand work on my tumbler quilt I thought....."why not just go for it?"  So the top is being finished by hand, and it will be farmed out to be quilted.  The green backing fabric was bought early in the year; all the print fabrics are florals, many of them containing green, so the green back will tie them all together.  All those 25 blocks of nine have been joined into five rows; joining rows one and two is now my TV project because it's too big to be carted around and it will get even bigger before it's done.

Which is a roundabout way of saying, perhaps a new portable project is needed......a few thoughts are percolating around in my brain......

Music was played, the ukulele group even had two gigs!  We have learned several new songs and had high hopes of two gigs during next month's country music festival, but the mask rule is back in place as are other covid rules - and how can we sing in masks?  At this stage we don't know if our gigs can go ahead at all.

Sigh.......

"Receiving guests.

The custom of the host and hostess receiving together, is not now prevalent.  The receiving devolves upon the hostess, but it is the duty of the host to remain within sight until after the arrivals are principally over, that he may be easily found by any one seeking him.  The same duty devolves upon the sons, who that evening must share their attentions with all.  The daughters, as well as the sons, will look after partners for the young ladies who desire to dance, and they will try to see that no one is neglected before they join the dancers themselves."

Someone interested in social history (a passion of mine too) once remarked to me that back in the 1800s, in Australia at least, if you couldn't or didn't dance there was a very good chance you would not marry.  So much meeting and mingling took place at dances, there were opportunities for flirting and the chance to hold the hand of someone you might fancy without being frowned on, the possibility of fluttering your eyelashes at that nice young feller you fancied (and who you were pretty sure fancied you back) as he steered you around in a ladies' chain.....and if you didn't attend those dances, you would miss out on the chance to find your soul mate.

Enjoy your days!

Greening the corner gardens

All the triangles for the outer corners are done.

Now they will be set aside with the completed houses, and eventually they will all make their way into the quilt.  Eventually.  Joining squares has now started for the side triangles; each block will need 49 squares set in seven rows of seven, then will be cut into four quarter-square triangles.  When the decision was made to do this it seemed quite tedious, but actually it's not.......and every stitch will be worth it, when finished.

This week's houses, a black house surrounded by white and a white house surounded by black.

By the time the setting decision was taken several houses had already been made using black and white fabrics so they will be set with the opposite; dark houses will be surrounded by white, and white houses will have black.  

This is the back of the quilt shown last week.  The orange fabric wasn't ~quite~ wide enough so a strip using leftover fabrics from the front was made, a technique used in other quilts too.

All the Canadian quilt blocks have had their stabiliser removed so now they are set aside for a while, because I want to make the back for the (as yet un-named) tumbler quilt.  When we were down south a few months ago I bought some extra wide fabric for the back, and now the plan is to insert a strip to make it longer.  There were tumblers left from the front because too many were cut, so they have been pieced into a strip which, however, needs more width......and my brain is thinking about how to do it, so watch this space.  When that's done it will be booked in for long arm quilting, because it's too big for me to handle.

The flower basket quilt is also being worked on, it's currently a TV project (either that or knitting) - my goodness, it's going to be huge.  It will also be quilted by a long armer.

That's my colourful week, how has yours been?

Playing with bright fabrics was certainly more fun than having my second covid plague shot, which I did a few days ago.  Now I suppose I'm as vaccinated as I can currently be, and Kevin will also be on Tuesday.  I am, however, still staying home because of the compulsory mask rule; he is quite happy to do shopping and household running around, and I am happy to let him.

There is a sporting event being held in another country and it doesn't interest us one bit; there is already far too much sport on T.V.  Members of our family have lost work because of lockdowns and shutdowns, but these people can quite happily swan off overseas, kick a ball and grin for the camera.  They waffle on about "winning a medal for my country" and "doing the country proud" but at the end of the day where does that medal end up?  Probably on a shelf in their own bedroom, unseen and uncared about by the rest of us.  Our orchestras, our actors and dancers, are up there with the best but don't get the rah rahs that sport people do.  I eagerly await the day that our national ballet company or one of our orchestras gets a 'welcome home parade' on completion of an overseas tour as is often done for sport people but I suspect hell will be long frozen over by the time that happens - which, sadly, doesn't say much about us as a nation, does it?

I've been reading mystery books downloaded for free on my tablet, and these books vary from quite good to not good at all.  If they don't grab my interest they are deleted unfinished, in some cases barely started, and another is opened.  At my age I don't know how many years are left to me, but I'm darn sure I'm not going to waste any of them reading a badly-written book.  Having said that there have been some I have enjoyed so much that I have sought out others by the same author......but only if they're free, of course.  

"Receptions, parties and balls.

Morning receptions, as they are called, but more correctly speaking, afternoon parties, are generally held from four to seven o'clock in the afternoon.  Sometimes a sufficient number for a quadrille arrange to remain after the assemblage has for the most part dispersed."

Can you dance a quadrille?  I can, and indeed have often done so; I used to enjoy dancing and only stopped not that many years ago.  In my next life, however, I am going to marry a bloke who dances......because Kevin does not and will not dance, so I relied on friends to partner me.  A 'sufficient number' for a quadrille is eight people, four couples.

Enjoy your days!

A momentous week

It has been, indeed!

First up: on Friday 19th March Kevin and I celebrated the 45th anniversary of the evening we stood up in front of family and friends, and plighted our troth.  Forty five years.....and neither of us has yet committed murder!

The forty five year anniversary gem is, it seems, sapphire.  Are these not gorgeous?

My jewellery collection, though no doubt modest by many standards, has some very pretty things including some earrings from Annette Piper; I like her designs and how she puts colours together.

Nothing was posted last weekend because - I went to a quilt show, the first for a couple of years!  A town an hour north of here has their show each March, but of course last year's had to be cancelled with not much notice.  This year's was a little smaller than usual, no doubt due to the restrictions on how many people can be in one place at a time, but the quilts were wonderful and it was good to be 'somewhere'.

Two houses have been made, a red swirly house, and an Aussie kangaroo house with grass for them to enjoy and cockatoos flying through the sky.  Only four more to be done; they will be a "when we are home again" project.

Work is happening on the flower basket quilt.  The date on this pic is 26th November, 2014 - these blocks have been sitting for a while, haven't they?  Never mind; they are now progressing.

All the triangles for the autumn quilt have been trimmed and they are now in their box ready for the next step which will involve lots of lovely mindless sewing.  No doubt you can see the gleam of my shiny halo from your place.

We had more rain during the week, and we even had a flood.  When I say "we had a flood" I don't mean Kevin and I, but the town!  Yes indeed, the river rose above the banks and flooded farmland and sports fields, two out of the three bridges were closed because they were under water, but as far as I know no buildings were damaged here......which is more than can be said for many other parts of the state.  There has been a lot of damage to a large area - why, oh why do councils permit building on areas known to be flood plains?  The more that natural drainage such as grass, undeveloped fields and creeks is covered by buildings and roads, the more damage there is.

When I rule the world, things will be different.

The day after tomorrow we are heading south for our holiday, to catch up with family and friends and to enjoy some autumn colour.  I probably won't have a chance to keep up with reading blogs on my aging tablet, but will resume when we are home again late next month.

"Refrain from making a noise when eating, or supping from a spoon, and from smacking the lips or breathing heavily while masticating food, as they are marks of ill-breeding.  The lips should be kept closed in eating as much as possible."

As children we were told "keep your mouth closed while you are eating", but judging from the behavious of people I have seen eating in public - not everyone was.  I wish they had been.

Enjoy your days!

In which not much happens......again

It has been a fairly quiet week, our life seems to be quiet these days.  The usual hunting and gathering, sewing group, ukulele, choir......also quite a bit of wasted time with not much to show for it, but two houses were made.

The darker house has teeny cat footprints, letters on its roof, and flowers in its garden, while the other is a yellow and blue print with a nice green lawn in front.  The cat print is a Debbie Mumm fabric from a v-e-r-y long time ago; there was a small piece in my stash, and now there is a smaller piece.

That bring the grand total to 49 houses made - only another 12 needed,so at two a week that means six more weeks.  Then there will be black and white fabrics and lots and lots of green squares to be cut.......but that's allright.  When the first house was made early last year there was no intention of making a quilt, it was just a bit of fun.

The sewing group had fun making folded fabric coasters.  I suggested making one of each style to learn how it's done, and they all seemed to enjoy their lesson.  I predict that there will be coasters made for home use and for gifts, especially for one member who has family overseas and is always looking for lightweight gifts that don't cost the earth to buy or send.

Recently, after seeing one being used by a member of my quilt group, I bought myself a 'lap app' table.  You can pay a large sum of money for the real deal, or you can buy a less expensive option - guess what I did?  Mine came without a cover, so a padded liner then a pretty outer cover need to be made.  My stash yielded a cute print from long ago, a small-scale print of sewing machines and thread spools in blue on a cream background, which will be used for the outer cover.  One can buy a pattern for the cover, or one can wing it......which one is going to have a go at doing.  How hard can it be?

The leftover tumblers from the front of 'Why Not' are still being joined into a strip for the back, great portable handwork for in front of TV and for taking anywhere.  Once that's done, work on the flower basket quilt will resume.

A couple of days ago when we were out and about we noticed that some of the trees are less green than they were a month ago.  It's not yet time for colours to start changing but it is, it seems, time for them to fade a little and for some to have seed pods growing.  Days are shorter now, mornings are nice and dim, evenings are a little shorter, and it won't be long until there is a feel of autumn in the air - and won't that be nice?  

Not long now until we head south, about five weeks I think.  We are so looking forward to it; apart from a couple of day trips we haven't been outside our town for 16 months now, and April is a nice time to be headed south where it's a little cooler than here.  By the time we return, autumn will be in full swing.

Knowledge is quite a thing, isn't it?  Most of us know all sorts of Stuff, then there is Stuff we don't know, and Stuff that we know we don't know, and Stuff that we don't know that we don't know.......this morning a photo from one of our trips to Canada popped up on the screen, a small town on Georgian Bay with boats drawn out of the water for winter.  It reminded me that we also saw, in our travels, boats and an occasional RV shrink wrapped in plastic to protect them from the elements, and I wondered how it was done.  So I looked it up, it's quite an amazing process!  I doubt that it's done at all in Australia because our milder climate allows RVs to be used all year round, and in many parts of the country boats can be too.

Now we know how boats and RVs are shrink wrapped - a piece of knowledge that we may never need to use, but it's in our brains.

We move on to luncheon.

"Luncheon.

In many of our large cities, where business prevents the head of the family from returning to dinner until a late hour, luncheon is served about midday, and serves as an early dinner for children and servants.  There is much less formality in the serving of lunch than of dinner,  It is all placed upon the table at once, whether it consists of one or more courses.  Where only one or two are at luncheon, the repast is ordinarily served on a tray."

When I was a child our midday meal was called "dinner", and our evening meal was "tea", terms, I believe, imported from England.  Now we are more sophisticated so we have "lunch" and "dinner".  "Supper" is a snack served, if desired, between dinner and bedtime......although "supper" in Canada and U.S.A. seems to be the name of the evening meal.  "Luncheon" is also used here for a formal dinner during the day.

So long as you have enough to eat, and can eat what you have.

Enjoy your days!

Stitching on.....and on......

The border fabrics for my tumbler quilt have been stroked, fondled and pressed ready for cutting.  The inner borders are cut but not yet joined, while the outer border fabric has been drooled on a few times because it it so gorgeous.....and so right.  Cutting will have to be done one piece at a time; no layering and cutting all four together, because the stripe pattern needs to be correct.

The inner border is called 'Broken Stripe', from the 'Sycamore' range by Jan Patek, in a golden brown colour.  The outer border is a leafy stripe from 'Old Cambridge Pike' by Barbara Brackman, and although they are from different ranges by different designers I think they hold hands quite nicely.

The inner border will be 1-1/2 in wide, the outer border will be......I'm not quite sure, it will depend where the stripes are cut but probably a bit over six inches.  Each leaf repeat is a smidgeon over two inches wide.

Those borders will, of course, be mitred.  I firmly believe that every quilter has so many mitred borders in them and when you use them up they are gone forever, so best to use them wisely.  Happily I still have a few left.

This week's houses, a purple house and an aquatic house with fish.

A name for the house quilt has popped into my head - "There Goes The Neighbourhood", what do you reckon?  It's probably not very original but I like it, and it's name of a CD in our collection.  (Remember CDs?  Yes, we still use them, we haven't gotten into the downloading thing at all)  

The tumbler quilt still needs a name, but no doubt a dazzling thought will occur to me one day like a brilliant flash of lightning, and that will that.

Flower basket blocks are being joined into larger pieces......perhaps one day it, too, will be a finished top.

Speaking of lightning - we have had a lot this week!  A few nights ago we were trying to drop off to sleep (the neighbour's younger dog has been very barky because his people are away, we're the dog feeders until they return) when a storm which had been lighting up the valley for an hour arrived with a vengeance.  Much lighting, rumbling thunder rolling around the hills, strong wind and - for a very brief while - heavy rain.  It was quite dramatic, but didn't last long.  The following evening just after 6pm following a few quiet rumbles there was a very loud clap of thunder, one of the loudest I have ever heard in my life.  It sounded as though it was right overhead.  Bianca was quite perturbed (as was I; actually, it scared the living daylights out of me), the kangaroos on the hill were also agitated and were hopping hither and yon.  A few drops of rain, a bit of wind, and it was gone - we checked for damage, fortunately there was none.  

We are going ahead with planning a trip to Canberra at Easter, although there won't be a folk festival.  However we will still be able to spend time with family, and hopefully with friends, and enjoy some autumn weather.  We will take a different route home to meet a distant cousin with whom I have been in touch; we have only met once before, so we plan to catch up again.  Our mothers were first cousins so - I think - that makes us second cousins, and we share the same middle name.

Continuing on from the last posting on table manners and etiquette:

"To be thoroughly at ease at such times is only acquired by the habitual practice of good manners at the table, and is the result of proper home training.  It is the duty of parents to accustom their children, by example as well as by precept, to be attentive and polite to each other at every meal, as well as to observe proper rules of etiquette, and if they do so, they need never fear that they will be rude or awkward when they go abroad."

Yes indeed.  Practice makes perfect, whether it is good table manners or anything else.

Enjoy your days!

Ta da, whoopy do, yippee!

And all that stuff!

The final stitch was taken a few nights ago.  To save you the trouble of counting, I can tell you there are 792 pieces.  Sideways:

It still needs borders, but as I am not a complete and total masochist they will be done by machine.

The feeling is tremendous; when the thread was cut after the final stitch I sat back and patted myself on the back.  My shoulder is still feeling the pain.  The cutting was started when we were in our 'home away from home' following the Second Great Flood of 2017 but lapsed after we moved home; later the following year the pace was cranked up again so there would be a hand project to take on our 2018 trip to Canada, to help while away time spent waiting in airports etc.  And now it's done.

Heaving a sigh of satisfaction......

No houses were made this week.  This will be remedied.

The flower basket quilt which hasn't been looked at for *ahem* quite some time has been brought out to take its place by my chair, for sewing in the evenings.  I had thought of quilting it in sections then joining them, but have now decided to finish the top and have it quilted in one piece.

There were 225 of these six inch blocks made, half (plus one) on a white background, the other half with a floral background.  They were joined into 25 blocks, each with nine baskets......and there they lapsed, until this week.  So, those 25 blocks are now in the process of being joined into quite a large top.  (I refuse to call my quilt tops a 'flimsy'.  'Flimsy' is defined as something weak and insubstantial; to me there is nothing insubstantial about a quilt top that may have taken years of my life.) 

Kevin has still been entertaining himself with his circus family history.  To this end, on Friday we went for a Nice Sunday Drive to a town north of here as he found out that one of the family, William George, died and is buried there.  There is no other connection to the town so we assume that he died while the circus was on its travels in March 1918, and there he still lies.  His grave memorial reads "erected by his loving daughter E (for Elizabeth) Last Name", which means that he was the father of Elizabeth and her brother Charles......and Charles is one of the men, Elizabeth's husband being the other, who died in the explosion in 1923.  Some of the names are now being tied together.  William George's brother Charles - the same names keep coming up - was the father of Kevin's grandmother, so William George is Kevin's distant uncle.  

We also visited the music store, having heard good things about it......and I must say, it leaves our local store for dead; not a difficult thing, seeing as how the local store just isn't very good.  I like to support local as much as possible but at the end of the day I decided how I spend my money, and if that means bypassing a local store for one with better service and products - so be it.

Everywhere is green and lush following quite a lot of rain,  truly a sight for sore eyes after the years of drought.  We know that eventually there will be another drought - which will, in its turn, eventually end - but we'll enjoy the green while we can.  

"Table manners and etiquette.

It is of the highest importance that all persons should conduct themselves with the strictest regard to good breeding, even in the privacy of their own homes, when at table; a neglect of such observances will render one stiff and awkward in society.  There are so many little points to be observed, that unless a person is habitually accustomed to observe them, he unconsciously commits some error, or will appear awkward and constrained upon occasions when it it important to be fully at ease."

Just remember that when you next sit down to dine with The Great And The Good, or even just with your nearest and dearest.

Enjoy your days!

Happy New Year!

Best wishes for wonderful things in 2018.  We would just settle for no more floods in our house......hopefully it will be a better year for us than 2017 was.

How many of you made it to midnight last night?  We didn't, we were in bed by then, but we did hear some loud bangs at what was probably midnight.  Perhaps someone had managed to get their hands on a couple of fireworks.

Something to report:  I have been sewing hexies!  Me!!  Who normally finds sewing hexies unutterably tedious!  Early last year the New South Wales state guild visited our town (they have an annual 'away' meeting, when they venture out of the Big Smoke and dip their toes into the country) and at the fun part of the meeting I was lucky enough to win one of the lucky door prizes, a kit for a large pin cushion complete with precut 2-1/2in squares, hexagon papers, and pattern.  First one makes two hexagon flowers each using 19 hexies, these become the top and bottom of the cushion; the rest is assembled by machine, so this part makes an easy project for stitching in front of TV.

 Hexies for the centre of one flower laid out but not joined, the outer ring fabrics will have a brown background.

While we were staying at our home-away-from-home I started cutting 3-1/2 in tumblers from 19th century reproduction fabrics for the next hand-pieced project.  Each fabric had a 3-1/2 in strip cut, then that was cut into tumblers; the number from each strip varied according to whether it was a fat eighth, fat quarter, skinny quarter, or larger piece.  There are 20 tumblers in a clip, so that makes 240 tumblers in this pic. 

There are also some warm gold fabrics to be cut, although they are not repros I think they will stop the quilt looking too dark and gloomy - some of those repros are dark, because fabrics way back then often were.  Once the hexies are done, the first stitches will be taken on this project. 

It will need a name......'Tumbling Tumbleweeds', perhaps?  Nearly all my quilts have musical names.  Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds......

Forgot to say, the last block in my Flower Basket quilt is finished too!  It took months to do the last one; I was in no hurry, because once it was finished there would be no take-along portable project until another was prepared.  The first 24 blocks are packed in a box somewhere in the garage.  Still haven't decided if I will join them and have it quilted by a long armer, or quilt it as I go (can't say 'quilt as you go', because you're not doing it - I am) one block at a time myself.  It's quite large, it would cost a fair bit to have quilted, so perhaps I will Do It Myself.  Eventually.

We have had a fairly warm start to the new year, while over there in Canada if our son wasn't in hospital he would be freezing.  His poor partner certainly is; at least he has now been moved to a facility very close to where they live so she doesn't have to travel too far.  His operation went well, tumours were removed, bone was grafted from his hip to his hand.  I believe hip bone grafts are incredibly painful and he will require a lot of physiotherapy and rehabilitation.  Walking, even standing, was out of the question for several days.  He has lost his index finger; the alternative was to have it fused at a 90 degree angle to his hand which would make using the hand very difficult, so he and the doctors decided on amputation.  Fortunately it's his left hand, which isn't his dominant hand.

Canada is so very far away.......

"Be careful always to dry the hands thoroughly, and rub them briskly for some time afterward.  When this is not sufficiently attended to in cold weather, the hands chap and crack.  When this occurs, rub a few drops of honey over them when dry, or anoint them with cold cream or glycerine before going to bed."

Extreme cold is not good for one's skin whether on the hands or elsewhere, and right now Canada is extremely cold.  Record-breakingly cold.  Coldest temperatures for over 100 years cold.

Enjoy your days!

We'll be back in late November!

Our house sitter problem has been solved but something else has reared its head......airport security workers have been striking at international airports.  Not all day, just at busy times like 7 am to 9 am......guess when we will be going through the airport.......the day we fly, Wednesday, is supposed to be the last day of the strike.

When I am finally sitting up there in the flying tin box I am going to have a glass of wine, because my nerves will be so shot from dealing with problems and dramas and getting through the airport and onto the plane that I will probably need it, even though all sage advice says not to drink wine in a plane because it's dehydrating.  By then I will be so relieved to finally be airborne that I won't care.

Recently we had a visitor who sat on our back yard washing line and posed for us.

Kookaburras are quite handsome birds, aren't they?  This was taken from inside our house; he/she would probably have flown off had we gone outside with camera in hand.  We've been hearing them quite a lot lately - many local birds have been active, they are probably nesting.

Earlier today my two guitars and three ukes were packed in their cases and are now safely stowed until we come home.  The room looks very bare without them......my music books are packed away too, and my fingers are already itching to plink a note or two.

Sadly, I have come to realise that my Flower Basket blocks won't be making the trip with me!  When those six inch blocks were being assembled they were small enough to take anywhere, but now they are being joined into nine-patch blocks they are not so portable.  If I were to take just six of those with me that would be 54 small blocks so, reluctantly, they will have to stay home.  A mystery book will go in their place, but I shall keep an eye out in my travels for a small hand-work project.  Those blocks have kept me company through many long dreary hours of waiting in airports; when that project was started early in 2006 its purpose was to keep me company while we travelled, and it has been overseas four times.

Ah well.  Those blocks will still be waiting for me when we return.

"Never allow the servant, or the one who pours, to fill your glass with wine that you do not wish to drink.  You can check him by touching the rim of your glass."

I won't be checking anyone who is prepared to pour me my glass of wine on the flight, I will smile sweetly and say "thank you".

Enjoy your days!

Poor neglected blog

Finally - a chance to sit down and compose some thoughts, without having to race out the door for practice, or to a gig, or to chauffeur Kevin who had an eye operation last week and is doing very well thank you but couldn't drive for a couple of days, or.......or......

A couple of nights ago the last stitches were taken on the fourth large flower basket block, here are all four laid out.  Each block is 18in square finished, and each will be quilted before being joined into a quilt.

 When one is short, as one is, and one has to stand on a chair (which one never quite feels secure about doing) to be able to get far enough away to get all blocks in one photo, one just snaps a quick pic and gets down.  Which one did.  Which is why this is far from being a prize-winning shot.

Last year we fell in love with this pretty Aussie native plant and ordered two from a local nursery.  The young bloke who works there kept shaking his head and saying "you shouldn't be able to grow correas where you are......I love correas but I can't get them to grow for me, they don't grow well in this town" however they are thriving in our garden so well that they are now flowering!  When it stops raining I will sit on the ground to photograph them (because the plants aren't yet very tall, although they are growing beautifully) and you can seen their pretty pink bells.  To give an idea of scale, each flower bell is about three quarters to one inch long.

The music festival is over and the uke group has no more gigs for a while, so Euan's quilt can be layered, pinned and quilted.  The orange sashing will have a vine design, the blocks will have a variation on a continuous curve design, and the borders will have cats on two borders with dogs on the other two.  Euan's parents have a dog and his Other Grandparents have a dog, but we have a cat so he might as well learn early that dogs aren't the only animals in the whole universe.

Uke class starts again next week, and the other day I pushed the boat out and changed the strings on my uke because they were sounding muddy and didn't have the clear ring that new strings do.  It should have been done before our festival gigs but it's a bit late to think of that now, isn't it?  Now one item on tomorrow's 'to do' list is 'call in at music shop and buy new set of strings' because it's a good idea to keep a spare set.

By golly, those new strings do sound nice......

Not only has it been raining again, it has turned quite cool for this time of year.  Not that we are complaining - it makes a change from being too hot.  Our plants are very happy with the rain, because restrictions mean that we can only water them sparingly.

"Signature of ladies.
A married lady should not sign herself with the "Mrs." before her baptismal name, or a single lady with the "Miss."  In writing to strangers who do not know whether to address you as Mrs. or Miss, the address should be given in full, after signing your letter, as "Mrs John Smith," followed by the direction; or if unmarried, the "Miss" should be placed in brackets a short distance preceding the signature.
Only the letters of unmarried ladies and widows are addressed with their baptismal names.  The letters of married ladies are addressed with their husbands' names, as "Mrs John Smith."

In other words, when a woman married in the 1800s she ceased to exist as herself and became "Mrs husband's-first-and-last-name".  I wonder what the good folk of that time would have thought of the idea, now widely used, of married women retaining their maiden name - whether for business (as our daughter-in-law does) or personal purposes?

Enjoy your days!

I won I won I won!

Recently there has been a Canadian Blog Hop, and because we have family and many friends in Canada I was reading the blogs......and there were giveaways, and the fabrics were very luscious, so I entered my name on one......

.......and I won!

Thank you to Linda at Stitch Lines, and to Sew Sisters Quilt Shop in Toronto, for my prize.

It's a very small world these days because Linda knows Karen, and I know Karen too......and now I have 'met' Linda, although we are on the far side of the known universe from each other.

Several years ago I worked for a boss who was very suspicious of the internet and anything to do with it   He couldn't believe that I would meet up (and even stay!) with people sight unseen, because we had made contact online.  That was 15 years ago, wonder if he has changed his mind since then?  Kevin and I have met some wonderful people over the years that we would never have met otherwise thanks to the interwebz, and it enables us to keep in touch with our sons who both live far away from us.

Linda even said she would send me some cold air from Canada, isn't she a wonderful person?  It has been needed here because last Saturday was 41.7 deg C (which is 107 deg if you are thinking in old money) with a hot dry wind, and it wasn't at all nice.  Fortunately the uke gig was in an air-conditioned room, we were very thankful - and so were our ukes.  Stringed instruments don't like extreme heat, they get unhappy and go out of tune.

A couple of days ago the second large block for the flower basket quilt was finished.  First large block.......

 .......second large block, 23 to go.  Blocks are 18in finished and will be set alternately.

The blocks will be quilted as I go (can't say quilt as you go, because you aren't doing it - I am) before being joined but I haven't yet decided if it will be by hand or machine.  Probably machine.  I would like to see it finished while I am still on this earth.  Next Easter will be nine years since it was started; it was never intended to be a quick finish, just a project to pick up from time to time and take away on holidays.

Last week was one year since my shoulder operation and I am pleased to report that it is still attached to the rest of me.  It doesn't even hurt now, thank goodness, just the occasional twinge of discomfort on certain activities such as hair washing.

Because of the heat, work on Cricket/ette's quilt had slowed but as today is milder the outer borders have now been cut, and the inner borders are pinned to be joined in one long strip prior to being cut to length.  Our son rang earlier today, they had just been to the baby doctor for a check-up (I can't spell obstetrician) and all is proceeding well.  He asked me what his birth weight was, he was 6lbs 12 ozs - his wife said she was over 7lbs at birth; they have been told the baby isn't too huge but has a big head.  I sent her my sympathy.

"Where gentlemen may keep their hats on.
At garden parties and at all assemblies held in the open air, gentlemen keep their hats on their heads.  If draughts of cold air, or other causes, make it necessary for them to retain their hats on their heads, when in the presence of ladies within doors, they explain the necessity and ask permission of the ladies whom they accompany."

Any sensible person, male or female, wears a hat in summer here.  I have five summer hats so can make a choice based on what else I am wearing before setting foot outside........and believe me, I do.

Enjoy your days!