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

It's nearly wattle time again

I have just strolled around our large wattle bush looking - sadly, in vain - for some little yellow balls of fluffy goodness, but as yet there are none to report.  It shouldn't be long, though, until it's bright gold again.

There is a little breeze blowing, just enough to wave those branches around and make it tricky to take a clear pic.

Wok continues on Arboretum's label, which is now down to the last few words.  Once that's done the final trimming and binding can be done - and oh! how I am looking forward to seeing it finished.

This is a project from a long time ago, so long ago that it wasn't on the computer.  It wasn't a quilt, it was a banner made for the Scottish country dance group of which I was a member, back in the very early noughties.  Each year a school, 'Winter School', was held with visiting teachers and musicians, culminating in a ball with participants in full Scottish regalia, kilts for the men, tartan sashes and brooches for the ladies, and I'm sure it was a very grand affair; however, tickets were a bit pricey, so I never went.  One year each group was approached about making a banner to decorate the hall for the ball, so I volunteered to do ours.  We were given a large piece of unbleached calico (muslin, for some of you) with the design drawn on with black marker, sample pieces of poly/cotton fabric to use as colour inspiration, and a smaller copy of our design to help with colour placement.  Each design was different, and groups could choose their method, paint, fabric, whatever they wished.

Well, what fun that was, tricky but fun!  The original was used to make tracing drawings for placement, and to work out yardages of the poly/cottons.  I decided on the gold for the background and used the other colours in different parts of the design.  A whole roll - 30 metres - of black 1/2" wide bias was bought for the leading (24 metres were used), and an attempt was made at gluing down the smallest pieces of bias prior to stitching.  That didn't work too well, so pins were used and the bias was machine stitched down along both sides.  The under-over crossing of the design meant that all raw edges were covered.  The background had already been hemmed along one end with a casing for a hanging rod on the opposite end, something I didn't need to worry about doing; the design was about - from memory; it was a long time ago - about 36-38 in wide.

And, the best part - my banner was hung in the position of honour directly opposite the entrance!  It was considered to be the best, although it wasn't a competition with a prize.  I could have had it back afterward, but gave it to my group (after all, they paid for fabric and bias) and it was going to be hung every time there was a dance.  

How has everyone been?  I have been trying to make phone calls on Kevin's behalf, and ended up frustrated with people who don't return calls.  Some stitches were sewn but not knitted, words were read.  No songs were sung or plinked, but U3A ukulele starts again tomorrow afternoon; choir is still on a break.  We hunted and foraged.  We haven't starved.

We managed to keep warm despite yesterday morning being the coldest day of the year, it was very freezy frosty chilly.  It would have been nice to stay inside but no, it was my quilt group's AGM; we meet in one of the coldest buildings in town.  There are heaters but the ceiling is very high, it started life as a large old industrial tin shed and, although the interior walls are lined, I don't think there is any insulation so it's not ~ quite ~ warm inside.  Today is also fairly cool, but not as cold as yesterday's minus 6 C with a 'feels like' of minus 9.5 C.

Oh well, it is still winter, after all......

We haven't finished with our groomsmen yet.

"At the church the groomsmen are the first to arrive.  They stand by the inner entrance and offer their arms to escort the ladies, as they enter, to their proper seats in the church.  If a lady be accompanied by a gentleman, the latter follows the groomsman and the lady to the seat shown her.  The groomsmen, knowing the two families, understand where to place the nearer, and where the remoter relatives and friends of the bridal party, the groom's friends being arranged upon the right of the entrance, and the bride's upon the left.  The distribution of guests places the father (or guardian) of the bride at the proper place during the ceremony."

Do people still sit on the bride's or the groom's side of the room, or has that custom gone with the wind?  Where does one sit if one knows both bride and groom equally well, I wonder?

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

They call me mellow yellow

How many of you remember that song from back in our hippie days?  Yellow is a glorious happy colour, so here are some yellows from our recent trip.

The rose garden café where we breakfasted before leaving Cowra:

I'm always drawn to yellow/gold roses rather than pink or red.

Lovely molten gold roses, like this one.  There may have been a label telling its name but, if so, it was at ground level, and I don't get down that far because getting up again in a dignified manner....well......

I don't know what these pretties are called, I thought perhaps autumn crocus, but the leaves look wrong....I thought autumn crocus leaves were quite skinny, and these aren't.  Taken in Molong at the 'Yarn Cottage', a visitor information centre in a cottage dating from 1860 or so, with a Cobb & Co Coach House at the back; these flowers were growing in its garden.

Some fabrics bought in Canberra for the yellow quilt, the plan is to hopefully start it before the year is out.

Hopefully......not too sure about the fabric on the right, it could be a bit brown, but we'll see.

And these because I couldn't resist them, they were bought in Tumut at The Cotton Merchants:

Because one day there may be another autumn quilt in my future. 

How has everyone been?  Hopefully we have caught up with various appointments - for now, at least - and we won't starve, because some hunting and foraging has been done.  Words have been read, stitches have been knitted and sewn.  My right wrist is a little limited at present; it was broken in the fall two years ago (two years this coming week, actually) and, while it's mostly not giving much trouble, of late it has been sore.  On Friday the chiropractor said it appeared to have a slight sprain and recommended wearing a brace for a while....well, how lucky, there is a right hand brace in the drawer as it was worn after the plaster was removed.  So now my wrist is braced again, but the support helps with the discomfort so it can stay on.  It makes some activities a bit tricky but provided it's worn more than it's not worn, it can be taken off occasionally.

Best of all, summer has drawn its last breath!  Daytime temps have still been fairly warm, but last night a cooler breeze blew through....quite cool, and now it's properly autumn.  Today is cold enough to wear long sleeves, and even proper shoes with socks rather than sandals.  Some rain would be welcome, though, as it's been a couple of months since any rain worthy of the name fell from the skies.

The blocks for Arboretum are in the process of being laid out as we speak, and oh - they look so good!  There is a red house BOM to be made for my quilt group, and as soon as that's out of the way the trees can be sewn together.  More diamonds need to be cut, over 400 three-diamond hexagons have been made (although I don't think of it as a hexagon quilt) and diamonds for only another 10-12 triples need to be cut.  Without the brace.  The cooler weather gives my brain a boost, and it's easier to get motivated to do Stuff when one's brain cells aren't frying.

Continuing on with our wise words on Breaking an Engagement:

"It is generally best to break an engagement by letter.  By this means one can express himself or herself more clearly, and give the true reason for his or her course much better than in a personal interview.  The letter breaking the engagement should be accompanied by everything, by way of portraits, letters or gifts, that has been received during the engagement.  Such letters should be acknowledged in a dignified manner, and no efforts should be made or measure be taken to change the decision of the writer, unless it is manifest that he or she is greatly mistaken in his or her premises,  A similar return of letters, portraits and gifts should be made."

I can remember a song from the radio during my childhood 'A broken engagement is like a divorce'.  These days it would probably be considered a somewhat mournful country song....it was certainly mournful when my mother sang along with it, for sure.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Now for the next 50 years!

Here we are, home again after a fun three weeks.  It is said that travel broadens the mind....it certainly broadens the behind, because we sit a lot when travelling, don't we?

Anyway.....

We had a good time revisiting places from years past, and it's interesting to see changes since then.  The weather was mostly kind (we did have quite a cold change in Canberra but that's nothing new; fortunately we had warm jumpers with us) and there are photos to share.

Seen on the wall of a café in Tumut while sitting under cover out of light rain, a sentiment with which I heartily concur in these days of doom and gloom:

The coffee was good, and the munchies were excellent too; we took a couple of slices back to our accommodation to share later in the day.

The bathroom floor of our apartment in a beautifully renovated old house - the same design as my tumbling blocks currently being sewn, but with only three colours instead of many:

And yes, those are my feet in my gorgeous green sandals - which, believe it or not, started life as boring beige.  Green is much prettier than boring beige....just about anything is better than boring beige, actually.

Not the best pic ever taken, but there we were at the end of summer and there were still flowers on the wisteria shading the verandah - even though they were hiding behind leaves.  I'm not sure if they were late bloomers from last spring, or getting an early start for later in the year.

One day we drove from Tumut to Batlow where this interesting sculpture was on a park at the entrance to the town.  You can't see here - but it moves!  The whole 'leafy' top section swivels back and forth, while the individual 'branches' also twist and turn at the same time.

It's part of a sculpture trail; I was a little annoyed to find no information on the sculpture without having to scan a code and visit a website.  What's wrong with an information board near the sculpture itself?

Perhaps I'm just old......

We celebrated our anniversary with a very nice lunch at a Tumut pub.  When our server found out about our special occasion she insisted on gifting us our drinks, and also brought a special dessert for us to share.  Dark chocolate dipped strawberries, yummo.....cheesecake too.....the strawberries were beautifully ripe and very delicious.  It was a pleasantly warm day, fortunately nowhere near as hot as the day on which we were married 50 years earlier.

There are some more pics to show, which will make their way onto the blog in due course.

How have you all been over the past few weeks?  I hope to catch up with blogs over the next few days; we arrived home three days ago and have been busy unpacking, and sorting, and washing clothes, and putting Stuff away, etc.  You all know what happens at the end of a holiday, don't you.  Well, that's what we've been doing.  However, I think we are just about caught up, so normal life can resume next week.

While we were away stitches were knitted and sewn, and words read.  Some shopping was indulged in, and my supply of home-made jams should last for quite some time.  My wardrobe has been expanded by some op shop purchases including a brand-new-with-tags top from a well-known retailer, which will be quite useful.  A couple of fabrics shops were visited and a small - quite small - amount of shopping done in them.  Best of all, though, was time spent with family and friends.....The One And Only Grandkid is now a foofteenth of a smidgin taller than I am, and he's still only 11.

Today's quote will be continued next week, as it's fairly long.

"Breaking an engagement.

Sometimes it is necessary to break off an engagement.  Many circumstances will justify this.  Indeed, anything which may occur or be discovered which shall promise to render the marriage an unsuitable or unhappy one is, and should be, accepted as justification for such rupture.  Still, breaking an engagement is always a serious and distressing thing, and ought not to be contemplated without absolute and just reasons."

This is true.  I was told about events which, had I been given more notice, would have led to the engagement with the first husband being broken off....but just ten days before a wedding is not much notice, is it?  Especially when one is the only girl in the family, whose parents (particularly whose mother) had been looking to seeing their one and only daughter safely married off.  So the wedding continued, but the marriage did not.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Slightly late slightly stressed trees

Much of yesterday was spent at a museum sewing, and singing and playing ukulele, and talking to people about sewing and about singing and Stuff......and another visit to the emergency department in the evening to have Kevin's hand checked because it was swollen....and that was my yesterday.  Today, however, is another day.

This week's trees, one which reflects the now-darker wattle.....

....and one which looks like interesting petroglyphs.  Some sort of glyphs, anyway.

Both reverse trees.  It's interesting to see how fabrics change according to the other fabrics they are partnered with.  There are now 76 trees, the same as the number of trombones in the well-known song.

Yesterday's time at the historical museum produced one bag; two were cut out and went along with me, one was started and completed.   The other will be made up on a day that I just feel like some mindless sewing

The white lines are straight but to fit it in a photograph it needed to be bent a little, hence the wiggly lines.  I'm not sure that I love it enough to want to keep it but my friend was admiring it yesterday, so it might be gifted to her.

The weekly wattle.  As you can see the bright lemon colour is darkening; we had rain during the week, and those little fluffy yellow balls were heavy with the weight of water.  They have since popped up again.

The colour, however, has changed for the season.

Kevin's hand is, we hope, healing.  The last stitches were removed on Friday but a close eye is still being kept on it by the medical people.  As directed by the hospital people ("see your regular doctor in a week") we duly trotted along last Tuesday, and indeed every day for the following four days.  We will be back again this afternoon at 4p.m. - we should have had a reprieve from medical visits over the weekend, but Kevin's hand had other ideas - and possibly several more times this week.  At last night's visit the hand was unwrapped, checked....not too bad, you can wait to see a doctor if you think you need to, but it will be several hours' wait.....re-wrapped by the nurse who didn't think it needed to be seen by a doctor, thank goodness...so we will see what is said this afternoon.  It doesn't feel too bad he says.  That's good, I says.  Have you ever tried to keep an old bloke from doing things?  It's not easy, let me tell you.  I do let him put the car in and out of the garage, magnanimous person as what I am.

The historical museum yesterday was fun.  The house is called 'Calala Cottage' and this year celebrates 150 years since it was built, so of course the ukulele players sang 'Happy Birthday' with the audience joining in.  The Cunning Plan had been to take one of my 1920s Singer treadle machines along but, as Kevin's hand didn't lend itself to taking apart, carrying and re-assembling a heavy machine twice, I came up with the idea of taking my 1950 Singer Featherweight 221 instead.  It's still an old machine albeit 75 years old rather than 98, but as it's so small and easy to manage it was the right decision - and it still generated a lot of interest.  A couple of women said "oh, a Featherweight!" so of course we chatted about them, and even a few older blokes talked about their memories of learning to sew by hand and by machine as children; one man in particular was very interesting.  I didn't mind the chats; if no one was interested in the machine and what I was doing I could have accomplished more, but it wouldn't have been as much fun.

In fact, it's been such a busy week that I still haven't had that rest......

Words have been read.  Stitches have been sewn and knitted - my knitting now goes with me every time we get in the car, because we never know how long these medical appointments are going to take....one sleeve is nearly completed, and the other has been started.  Many songs have been plinked and sung, and yesterday's audience enjoyed our offerings; a few of the U3A folk had never performed in public before but did very well, and our audience said nice things to us and about us.

"Requirements for a happy marriage.

Respect for each other is as necessary to a happy marriage as that the husband and wife should have an affection for one another.  Social equality, intellectual sympathy, and sufficient means are very important matters to be considered by those who contemplate matrimony."

Well, yes.  To which I would add, to be happy to drive each other to medical appointments.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Taking over the universe

One of these days it might, you know.  One of our darker blue rosemary bushes is growing, and spreading....and growing and spreading some more......

.....and of course, if brushed against, it smells wonderful.  Yes, it does get used in the kitchen.

This week's wattle pic taken a few minutes ago, which is about as up-to-date as you can get - and it, too, smells heavenly.

The forecast for the coming days is for rain so it may get somewhat bedraggled, but will soon bounce back when the rain stops.

This week's trees.  First an interesting brown tree with a rich blue/green contrast, which was one of the Summertime Blues fabrics.

This fishy fabric has been in my stash for many years, so long that I had nearly forgotten about it....it was near the bottom of the Big Basket.  The contrast has affirmatory words such as 'peace' - 'beauty' - 'love' etc.  All a bit hippy dippity, but it makes a fun contrast.

These two make 68 blocks which is very apt, as our house number is 68.

Way back in the mid-1990s when I was branching out from dressmaking into patchwork, I found a quilt in a now-defunct Ozzie quilting magazine which I thought would be within my capabilities.  The pattern is called 'Road to St Louis' and uses lots of two inch squares and two main fabrics; the magazine example used navy and cream as the main fabrics, but that wasn't quite 'me'.  I saw the same quilt at a show, and thought - wow!  The smaller scraps were all autumn prints while the two main fabrics were two shades of olive-khaki, and it was very striking.  That inspired a shopping trip for my two main fabrics, and I decided on a light green mottled tone on tone and this fishy batik.

I was very happy with the result.  It was the first quilt I quilted on My Lovely New Bernina - one of the first quilts I ever quilted at all, actually - so I didn't really know what I was doing, but it worked just fine.

You can see the fishes on the batik print here, as well as my somewhat shaky stitches which were done in variegated Aurifil thread.  

For many years it travelled with me in our caravan, and now it keeps me warm here at home.

How has everyone been this week?  Stitches have been seen and knitted; the first sleeve is progressing well, and will soon be up to the armhole.  Words have been read.  Songs have been plinked and sung.  Choir is much missed.  On Thursday we discussed moving the ukulele group to another day, and every day or time mentioned had someone saying "Oh no, I can't do that time".  So....I have decided that, as leader, I will find another time and another venue, and present it as a fait accompli.  Those who can come can do so, and those who can't, can't   There are only so many mornings or afternoons during the week; weekends most people are doing family Stuff, or social Stuff, or whatever Stuff.  At this stage I am looking at Monday afternoons.

We'll see what happens.  

Thank you to the anonymous person who left a comment a couple of weeks ago, who came up as 'unknown' - yes, we survived the flood which was nowhere near us, fortunately.  Today is sunny but cold, the sun is shining brightly but has very little warmth, so the fire is welcome.

Earlier today I was downloading a book to my tablet which, it turned out, I had previously read, so I deleted it and found another.  Its title has subsequently gone from my mind, but it was something akin to "empty grave", which set me thinking - can a grave be empty?  it would just be a hole in the ground, surely - a grave only becomes a grave when it contains someone buried, you would think?

We are still courting:

"Custom insists that the consent of parents must always be obtained before the daughter is asked to give herself in marriage.  Still in this country, with our social customs, it is deemed best in some cases not to be too strict in this regard.  Each case has its own peculiar circumstances which must govern it, and it seems at least pardonable if the young man should know his fate directly from the lips of the most interested party, before he submits himself to the cooler judgement and the critical observation of the father and mother, who are not by any means in love with him, and who may possibly regard him with a somewhat jealous eye, as having already monopolized their daughter's affections, and now desires to take her away from them altogether."

This is so.  

Along a similar line, to my mind, are public proposals of marriage in which a (usually young-ish) man goes down on one knee before a (we presume) (perhaps) unsuspecting woman, opens a ring box to display a sparkling trinket, and pops the question.  Sometimes it works out with tears of joy all round - and sometimes it backfires.

That is a horrible thing to do.  If it goes well then it is smiles all around, but if not.....she is humiliated, and he is even more so.  Do not do it.  Such occasions should be private.  You can share the joy once she says yes and the ring is safely ensconced on her finger, but if the answer is no then both parties are spared the embarrassment of a public refusal.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Two thirds of an Arboretum

66 blocks are now finished, and there are only 33 to go.

Would you call this colour greyish-green, or greenish-grey?  Not sure about the creatures either, they look like something which lives under the depths of the deep dark ocean.  It's leftover from fabric which came with a bag kit purchased in Canada several years ago, the fabric quantities given were very generous.

Such a dull colour needs a bright contrast, yes?

This blue fabric also made an appearance in Summertime Blues.  It puts me in mind of life under a coral reef, seaweed gently waving with the movement of water.

This week's underwater blocks, or sub aquatic if you like.

The weekly wattle pic, more of those little yellow balls of fluff have opened since this was taken a couple of days ago.

Next year's flowering shoots are already growing!

Wattles are known for not being very long-lived compared to other trees, but this keeps hanging on; I can't remember when we planted it, but it was several years ago now.  We have had native plants which were going along quite happily suddenly turn up their toes and die for no apparent reason - Aussie native plants are notoriously finicky, but that doesn't stop me from loving them - we keep expecting the wattle to succumb to a similar fate, but no.  Not yet.  If we had known when it was planted that it would grow so big, it would have been put in a different spot.....but perhaps then it might not have considered that to be the 'perfect' spot, and might not have grown as well as it has.

Not bad for a plant which nearly died soon after being planted.  Something was eating its tender green leaves and it looked a poor sick little thing; Kevin was going to rip it out....don't you dare I said, it's not dead yet, it has three little green leaves....so he left it......those leaves are slightly larger than a fingernail.  The card which came with it has been lost along the way, but it could be Knife Leaf Wattle.

How has everyone been this week?  We mooched around as usual; words have been read, stitches were sewn and knitted, the back of my jumper is finished and work is coming along nicely on the first sleeve.  (The decision has been made - it will be a jumper rather than a cardy.)  Songs were plinked and sung.  Sadly I am now on a break from choir, at least until such time as the U3A ukulele group moves away from Thursday afternoon.  An email was sent to members this week laying out the options which were - find another time to meet, or find another leader.  To date there have been a couple of replies, so we will talk about it on Thursday. 

We are still properly courting.

"It seems that circumstances must determine whether courtship may lead to engagement.  Thus, a man may begin seriously to court a girl, but may discover before any promise binds them to each other, that they are entirely unsuited to one another, when he may, with perfect propriety and without serious injury to the lady, withdraw his attentions."

These days we have forgotten how much damage could be done to a young woman's reputation by a broken engagement, haven't we?  Once tarnished it was very difficult to polish it up again, and indeed she could be considered 'damaged goods' which could make it hard to find her true love.

Australian writer Andrew 'Banjo' Paterson, as a young man, had a reputation for being of the love-'em-and-leave-'em persuasion.  For several years he was engaged to a woman named Sarah but the engagement was broken off - Sarah never married.  Her friend Christina was also pursued by young Mr Paterson, there were rumours of a dalliance - Christina never married.  It was said that mothers of eligible women did not trust young Mr Paterson.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Nearly half way through April!

How can this be?  I'm sure it was January just the other day.....

Easter is coming up next weekend, and we won't be at the folk festival.  Oh well, we shall just have to play some of our CDs bought at festivals in the past, and pretend that we are.  Perhaps I could plink a note or two, and maybe burst into song very late at night, as one has been known to do at folk festivals.

This week's trees.

The palm tree fabric has been in my stash for quite some time.  Our town has a lot of palm trees.

A bright fabric, a gift from a friend several years ago, some of which has also been used in another quilt.  Not sure what the leaves and fruit are - olives, perhaps?  The contrast fabric looks solid but has different colours, almost too pale to show up in this pic.

A twin portrait.

We get to enjoy this gorgeous hibiscus which is in our neighbour's front garden.  The flowers are quite large and frilly; fortunately this one was low enough that I could photograph it easily, which is not always the case.

I don't know what this blue flower is!  It pops up in the garden every year, although it's not one that we planted; it was already here when we came.  The flowers are quite a bright electric blue (not as light as they appear here), and the leaves take on a beautiful rusty-red colour in autumn and winter, so it's not an Ozzie native.

A sign in the Canadian pub in Canberra, which made me chuckle.

How has everyone been this week?  We have hunted and gathered, and gone out for various purposes, and come home again.  Words have been read, stitches have been sewn.  Notes have been plinked and sung; no choir this week because of Easter, so we have a week off.  U3A ukulele group is now on holidays as we go by NSW school terms; several of the members have grandparent duty in the holidays, or are away, so we don't meet for those weeks.  We will back playing together next month.

A project which will be done during the cooler months will be sorting out music.  Some weeks ago I bought a two-drawer filing cabinet, and during the week bought a box of hanging folders and tags to use with it.  There is so much music spread around our living/dining room that the table is unusable, so that will be taken care of....some will be filed, some will be culled, but a decision will be made on each and every piece of paper as it is picked up.  Once that is done, it will be the turn of quilting, sewing and craft paperwork to be sorted.  A big job - but eventually it needs to be done.

"Assisting a lady to mount.

The lady will place herself on the left side of the horse, standing as close to it as possible, with her skirts gathered in her left hand, her right hand upon the pommel, and her face toward the horse's head.  The gentleman should stand at the horse's shoulder, facing the lady, and stooping, hold his hand so that she may place her foot in it.  This she does, when the foot is lifted as she springs, so as to gently aid her in gaining the saddle.  The gentleman must then put her foot in the stirrup, smooth the skirt of her riding habit, and five her the reins and her riding whip."

I wonder what those women back in 1885, with their riding habits and side saddles, would make of how women dress to ride now?  They might be aghast at the current skin-tight riding clothing....but on the other hand, they may envy the freedom it gives.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Tidgy widgy teeny weeny

Yesterday at quilt group I spoke to Margaret who will be quilting Autumn Rhapsody for me, showed her the project photograph in the magazine that I am using, and asked about the peeper border.....I had a feeling that she would want it sewn, or at least tacked, down......and sure enough, she does.  Tack it down but don't use big stitches, she said, they can still get caught on the machine foot.

Well, no.  I can't be bothered tacking it down then having to remove those tacking stitches, possibly pulling at the quilting stitches in the process, so the Big Decision was made to applique it down with tidgy widgy teeny weeny stitches which will stay in the quilt.  The peeper across the bottom hasn't been done, the right hand side has - you can see it is already laying flatter than the unsewn one.   

Four sides with 48 inches per side.  One quarter of one side has been done.  That will keep me out of mischief for a while, won't it?

The bag which was in progress last week has been finished and handed over.

The fabrics aren't quite "me", but I hope its new owner likes it.

You can see the four tone on tone fabrics used to trim the handle, ruby, emerald, sapphire, rich teal.  The deep emerald was quite luscious.....now those 22 squares have been moved out of my sewing room.  Yay for me.

Seven years ago this callistemon, 'Wee Johnny', was planted.  It took four years before it managed a single red bloom - Aussie native plants can be finicky - but now it's going along really well.  He lives up to his name, he's not up to my knees and probably won't grow much bigger than he is now; 'Wee Johnny' is a hybrid bred from a larger callistemon called 'Little John'.  The short flowers are very soft, and the leaves are quite stiff.

Not sure what this is, our gardeners - yes, we now have gardeners, a hard-working couple who keep things looking good for us - have planted a couple of them in the back garden.  The flowers are small, each flower is both red and white, and it fills the space nicely.

How has everyone been this week?  We've had a fairly routine week; my injured eye is doing well, thank goodness; the drops are being used as directed.  Exercises for my arm and hand have slackened off since hurting my eye as my energies have been concentrated on that, but as it's now able to be used for more things I reckon the daily activities are probably exercise anyway.  My right hand can now make a fist although not as tightly as the left, but that's still something it couldn't do a couple of months long ago.

Stitches have been sewn by hand and by machine.  Some diamonds have been sewn, and a few more have been cut.  Notes have been plinked and sung; rehearsals for our World Premiere are coming along well.  Words have been read.  We hunted and gathered, our Big Event of the week, and that was it.

Off to the hairdresser tomorrow morning for a trim, oh dear I really dislike having to stare at myself in the mirror while she flitters around me......a mirror-less salon would be a wonderful thing, wouldn't it, but I don't suppose they exist.  I manage with only two, or at most three trims a year, and that's plenty, I reckon.  Some women enjoy being pampered at the salon, but not me.  I just don't like having Things done to me.  

We were talking to our neighbour the other day who is, like me, disgusted at the lack of women on the new council and the recycling of the former mayor.  We wondered why it happened, and can only assume that many people were too lazy to do anything other than vote 1, 2, 3 down the page without looking at names or local issues.  We also agreed that one particular man needs a makeover; like it or not, people in public office are judged on their appearance, his face reminds us of one which would have been seen on an old-style "Wanted" poster, and his hair looks as though he cuts it himself - badly.

Continuing with Duties of an Escort:

"Upon arriving at her destination, he should conduct her to the ladies' waiting-room or a carriage, until he has attended to her baggage, which he arranges to have delivered where the lady requests it.  He should then escort her to whatever part of the city she is going, and deliver her into the hands of her friends before relaxing his care.  On the following day he should call upon her to inquire after her health.  It is optional with the lady whether the acquaintance shall be prolonged or not after this call.  If the lady does not wish to prolong the acquaintance, she can have no right, nor can her friends, to request a similar favor of him at another time."

That seems fair enough.  A travel escort seems like a very good idea, doesn't it?

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Leafy inspiration

The centre panel of Autumn Rhapsody is done.

The fabric on the sides is the bed sheet laid over the slightly rough wire fence, to protect the quilt.  Because of plants and rocks it wouldn't ~quite~ hang straight, but you get the idea; just two borders, a narrow inner and a wider outer, and the top will be done.  It's been good therapy while my damaged bits have been healing, so yay for me!

Earlier today I was tootling around in EQ7, when I came across a project I had forgotten about.

Many (many!) years ago I saw a similar quilt at a show.  From memory its blocks were fairly small - possibly three inch finished HSTs - but the thought popped into my head that those 78 leftover HST blocks would also work with this design; the finished block size was enlarged to four inches which, with borders, will make a quilt.58 inches square.  That means only 66 more HSTs are needed so just 33 squares to be cut....that's not much, is it....it isn't as though I lack for fabric, after all!  This colouring uses batik fabrics (that, too, must have been part of my original brainwave) and one background, but my autumn fabrics will have mixed backgrounds.  The twisted pole design which was my original idea for the leftovers can wait its turn, this design will use up those leftover blocks very quickly.

Since we moved here 14 years ago we have had surprises in the garden, one of which is these bluebells which pop up every now and then.  They don't flower every year, but are pretty when they do; they share their spot with the white snowdrops which flowered a few weeks ago.

The binding on my blue and green quilt is almost all sewn to the back; one more evening's TV viewing should do it then it, too, can be photographed in the garden, with a bit of luck before the bluebells finish flowering.....because they, too, are blue and green.

Words have been read.  Stitches have been sewn by hand and by machine.  Exercises have been diligently done each day.  Songs have been sung and notes plinked, a little shopping so we don't starve, and that's been our week.

Speaking of songs....our choir director, Bill, is a very clever musician.  He has written plays and musicals, some of whose songs have been sung by the choir at concerts.  For a while now he has been talking of his latest musical based on a famous Australian book 'We of the Never-Never' by Jeannie Gunn.  (I'm ashamed to say I have never read it, but plan to do so in the near future.)  Since late last year we have been learning songs from the musical, and really enjoying it....and now it is to be performed, with the choir in the cast.  Its first performance will be a concert performance so there will be no scenery, no fancy lighting or costumes; singers playing the leads will wear performance black, with their character being shown by a hat, or a costume prop to set the scene.  We in the chorus - the 'ensemble' - will wear black pants with bright tops or shirts, one single colour each.  So....in mid-November we will take part in a World Premiere Performance, how amazing is that!  It's a great honour to be part of such an occasion.

Nights and mornings are still cool enough to have a fire which we let go out during the day ,before lighting it again in the evening.  Rain is forecast for later in the coming week, we'll see if it falls.  From the various forecasts it's going to be fairly widespread and, in some places, quite heavy.  Some rain would be welcome as things are currently a bit dry, but we don't want a flood.  This evening is the spring equinox, so - like it or not - we can look forward to several months of warm, if not hot, weather.

Concluding Conduct in an artist's studio:

"A visitor should never stand behind an artist and watch him at his work; for if he is a man of nervous temperament it will be likely to disturb him greatly."

To which I might add, don't stand behind me when I am sewing and creating.  Even though I wouldn't describe myself as being of  "nervous temperament" it still puts me off.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Moving back into the neighbourhood

The big box which until recently held all the requirements for my Canadian quilt now has a new project - the house blocks have moved in.

'There goes the neighbourhood' is back!

Earlier in the week I took the blocks, the cut sashing pieces and my 1950 Singer Featherweight machine to quilt group, and sewed sashings to blocks.  Nearly half the blocks have now had sashing sewn on one side.

Some of the result laid out on my work table to be admired.  The sashings will be joined to one block side first, the blocks laid out to mix the house and background colours to my satisfaction then they will be joined into rows....after that the looong narrow sashings will be made and atttached, and the top made.

It will be a fun happy quilt, with a lot of yellow.

Some diamonds have been cut, no stitches knitted.  Words have been read, notes have been plinked, songs have been sung.  Hunting and gathering has taken place.

Because it's getting to 'that' time of year, here is some New South Wales Christmas bush.

We had a couple of plants in our garden in the Big Smoke but sadly they don't grow here, we're too far away from coastal humidity and don't have the right soil.  We could probably spend an exorbitant amount of money and buy some from a florist, but for now I'll live on the memory of it.  The flowers are teeny tiny little white blooms, nothing much to look at; the red - sometimes it is really vibrant bright red, not pink like this - are the sepals behind the flowers.

Last night we atttended a concert featuring instruments not usually seen here.  We had a saz....and an oud.....flamenco guitar, double bass, clarinet, soprano and tenor saxophones, piano, a singer.....it was a fun night and the music was really interesting, a mix from different cultures.  We were told that there will be more similar music next year - looking forward to that!  It makes a change from twanging country music guitars, usually a popular choice hereabouts.

The weather folk have told us to expect some rain tomorrow, and it will be very welcome.  You wouldn't think that after all our rain and floods of recent times that we would need more rain, but we do; the warmer dry weather of late has really dried out our gardens, our skin and our hair, so we are looking forward to some moisture.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Always recognize acquaintances.

One should always recognize lady acquaintances in the street, either by bowing or words of greeting, a gentleman lifting his hat.  If they stop to speak, it is not obligatory to shake hands.  Shaking hands is not forbidden, but in most cases it is to be avoided in public."

I wonder why that should be the case?  A handshake is not an intimate greeting like a hug or a smoochy kiss, something which a bystander might find embarrassing to witness.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer