The garden is planted!

Although not much has grown yet.

Just one little strip of green garden to go with this week's houses, a party house at night and a brick house surrounded by......barbed wire, perhaps?

That green strip will be joined to three others, and the resulting square will be cut into two triangles for two of the outer corners.  More will be made.  Eventually.  I could have used the same fabrics for all the setting triangles but this is more fun, don't you think?  The inspiration quilt by Freddy Moran was made with red squares, but I like the idea of my houses being set in a green park.

Some stitching has happened on the Canadian blocks, now there are just two to be done.

What an unpleasant day it is today.  The wind is blowing quite hard and it's a very cold wind, a nasty chilly wind, definitely a day for staying inside by the fire.  Which we are.  We keep expecting to see rain spots on the path outside, but so far none have appeared; it's so windy that, if any drops of rain were to fall, they would be blown sideways before they hit the ground.  It's definitely a day for the Big Green Jumper.

It's been another week of staying home.  Two necessary appointments meant having to go out and wear the dreaded mask, but fortunately once in the consulting rooms both practitioners said "you can take it off" much to my relief.  Nothing is on the calendar for the near future, so there will be more staying home.

Recently the front of the house received a little spark-up with new exterior lights being installed.  The previous lights were here when we came so were not our choice; they were 'coach lights', a popular style, it seems, for many years and indeed still sold, albeit with updated styling.  Both lights sported yellow globes, supposedly insect repellant, although we haven't really found them to be so; over the years they had become somewhat dim so needed replacing anyway.  We then thought......"if the globes need to be renewed, why not replace the whole thing?  They weren't our choice and we've never loved them"  So we did.  We looked online, found what we liked and made paper templates to hold up on the wall.  The small size was, like Goldilocks' porridge, just right.  Much was our glee when we found that a local shop stocked what we wanted so a phone call and a short drive later we had our new lights in hand, a visit from our friendly electrician a few days later and they were in place.

I still have plans to paint the front door teal......it's currently white.......but teal would be pretty with the light sandy-pink colour of the bricks.  Not sure what colour, if any, to paint the shutters and the fake colonial verandah columns, all of which are currently white - as was the style when the house was built in the early 1990s.  Perhaps just a fresh coat of white would be all that's needed.

"The host or hostess should not insist upon guests partaking of particular dishes; nor ask persons more than once, not put anything in their plates which they have declined.  It is ill-bred to urge a person to eat of anything after he has declined."

Indeed it is.  He - or she - may have a very good reason to decline a particular food, perhaps an intolerance or allergy, and I am sure a good host or hostess would not wish to make a guest ill.

Enjoy your days!

Green, green, it's green they say, on the far side of the hill.......

You'll be singing that all day now, won't you?

We have lots of rain, and more is forecast.  These pics were taken a few days ago and since then the grass is even greener, if that's possible.  It's also quite a bit longer.

Yes, that's our wash line.  Most Australian houses use an outside line rather than a dryer; in all my (very many) years on this earth I have never owned a dryer.

The rise you can see in the far distance of this photo is now also bright green - a sight for sore eyes, if ever there was one.

There is, however, a slight drawback to so much moisture - the humidity, normally not something we need to worry about, is very unpleasant!

17 more HSTs made, plus their trimmings.  Trimming is quite tedious, but necessary.

Block number three in the Canadian mystery quilt, Alberta, is stuck down.

Last night the final stitch was taken on this panel, four tumblers deep by 35 (plus half-tumblers for the ends) wide.  There are another five of these to go.

It measures 75 inches long - I'm nowhere near that tall! - so had to be photographed in two sections.

My method to keep the rows in the order I want, is to write numbers with a fine marker on small pieces of scrap fabric and safety pin then to the left-hand edge. 

Row 1 is at the bottom; they were spread out on the spare bed and it was easy to start numbering from the bottom first.  Those tags will stay in place until it's all together.  The blocks for one row are held together by a tacking stitch in the top corner, one at a time is slipped off and joined to the right hand side until the row is done.

You have no idea how good cutting the thread on that final stitch felt last night, this is quite a mammoth undertaking!  It has given me the courage to dig out the flower basket blocks and finish them, too; it seemed a bit too big a mouthful at the time.  

We don't celebrate Valentine's Day in this household, when I was a Sweet Young Thing (and still slender......sigh) all the hearts and flowers stuff hadn't yet been invented.  We do, however, celebrate Kevin's birthday which is on the same day, so we took ourselves off to a restaurant for an excellent lunch.  We were so stuffed that we couldn't eat another thing until breakfast on Friday morning.

"Dining should be ranked among the fine arts.  A knowledge of dinner-table etiquette is all important in many respects; but chiefly in this: that it is regarded as one of the strong tests of good breeding.  Dinners are generally looked upon as entertainments for married people and the middle aged, but it is often desirable to have some young unmarried persons among the guests."  

Perhaps lunch would at a restaurant could also be considered among the fine arts?  The youngest unmarried person we could see was a young baby whose mum was lunching with a group of women.

Enjoy your days!

Another week in which not much happens

It's amazing how restrictive one's life becomes when one can't stand for long, or walk far, without pain.  Too much sitting, we are told, is not good for us either, but sometimes one just doesn't have much choice.

Never mind.  This too shall pass, as I keep reminding myself.

At least my foot hasn't fallen off yet.

As a blog post isn't complete without pictures and nothing worthy of being pictured has occurred this week, let's trawl back through the vaults and see what we can find.

Taken just a couple of months after we moved here from the Big Smoke.  No cats were harmed in the taking of this picture.

Bianca had never seen a fire until living in this house, and immediately after the fire was lit she jumped on top.  She didn't stay long, though - we didn't have to coax or lift her down, she jumped off very smartly!

Bianca is still with us, she is now 16-1/2 years old - don't forget the half - and is doing well for such an elderly puss.  Each year her vet has "Senior Pet Month" in June with a free check-up, so off she went early in the week to be checked.  Apart from a low growl when vet Robyn touched a sore spot on her back hips she behaved quite well, and received a good health report.  She has lost some weight and is looking a little scrawny and unkempt as old cats do, but she runs around like a cat half her age and is quite happy with her life.

This was our view on a couple of mornings his week......not much at all.  Last year was so dry we had no fog as there was no moisture around to create any; it's still very dry but an occasional shower lately has left enough moisture for our world to sometimes disappear in the mornings.

One of the reasons we chose this house (apart from the view across the valley) was the lack of steps to make life difficult as we grew older.  It's single storey with one step at the back and just four at the front but those four are a bit tricky when one is unable to bend one's ankle (I'm not kidding when I say the boot is rigid), so we have ordered a railing for the front steps.  We like the open look of the house with no railings and it's not high enough off the ground to make safety railings mandatory, but out of curiosity we had a low rail included in the first quote......however, the amount was enough to make our eyes water.

As a result the verandah will stay un-railed, but there will be a basic rail to the left of the four steps which will make my life slightly easier.

My visit to the book sale last weekend to top up my Sue Grafton book collection yielded - nothing.  There were several of her books on the shelf, but all were books I already have!  Never mind......I shall visit every few weeks or so and have high hopes of completing my collection.  I did, however, find a couple of music books (one I already have, but the new one is in much better condition than my much-used copy), a couple of CDs and a DVD.

Following on from last week's quote:

"The mother has it in her power to make such books the companions and friends of her children as her good judgement may select, and to impress upon them their truths, by conversing with them about the moral lessons or the intellectual instructions they contain.  A taste may be easily cultivated for books on natural science and for history, as well as for those that teach important and wholesome lessons for the young."

My parents let me read whatever I wanted.  I was a precocious reader, reading whatever I could get my hands on even if I didn't always understand it, and had a reading age older than my actual age.  For them it was just an opportunity to boast about their clever daughter which they felt reflected glory on them......what wonderful parents they must be to produce such an amazing child!......but we had few books at home, and I never saw either of my parents read.  Books were my escape from a not always kind world.

Enough of that.

Enjoy your days!

A quarter of the year has gone

Doesn't seem like the year is already one quarter over, does it?  Do you ever feel as though your life is flashing by before your eyes, while you sit back and watch it?  Because I do. 

We had very good rain yesterday, the most rain to fall in one day for over two years.  Not enough to break the drought - the water table is so low it will take more than 50 mls (or two inches in old money) to make much difference, but it has created optimism.  Gloom and doom has been the order of the day for quite a while now, it would be nice to see a smile on people's faces.

The rain also brought some cool weather with it - just like that, today is autumn!  If I could snap my fingers to show you how suddenly the seasons changed I would, but alas......I cannot snap my fingers.  Today is downright chilly, and several hours south of here in the Australian Alps it has been snowing. 

As it's near enough as dammit to the start of a new month, the table centre was changed today.

This was made from a kit purchased on one of our trips to Canada several years ago.  The little tree was a gift from our Canaussian son a while before he took off for Canada early in 2005; the tiny leaves, each one individually wired to the trunk, are green aventurine while the base is a solid chunk of bloodstone which is heavier than it looks.  Trunk and leaves are silver wire.

This table is in our 'good room'.  Aussies of A Certain Age may remember when children were not allowed in the formal living room, if the house had one; their domain was the kitchen where the family ate.  The 'good room' was kept tidy in case of visitors.  Our house has an informal kitchen/family room and a more formal living/dining room, so we refer to that room with a touch of irony as our 'good room'.  In days of yore it was probably called 'the parlour'.

However - it has become my music room, and has several bookcases full of books and CDs and a good sound system, so it does get used. 

Like many of you, I suspect, we like watching renno porn.  You know the home renovation shows, and house hunting shows, and others of that kind?  We have been noticing that the open plan kitchen/living/dining single room is quite the trend now, and I'm not sure that I am a fan.  If one has small children or teenagers it would be very noisy, especially as hardwood floors, hard surfaces and curtainless windows also seem to be popular.  I remember when our boys were teens the older one was very heavy-footed; I was very thankful that we had a single story home as I would not have liked to hear his great clodhoppers clumping over my head on a wood floor, especially when he came home late (or early morning, more like) after a music gig.  These new/renovated homes are not made for hobbies either, there is never a music room or sewing room, and the master suite takes up nearly half the house while everyone else is squashed into what's left.  How much room does one need for a bedroom - apart from bed activities of all kinds why do people think they need so much space? and who needs a TV in their bedroom anyway?

Things will be different when I rule the world, you know.

During the week we attended a performance of "The Three Musketeers" by a local amateur group, with real swords! and much fighting!  It was all jolly fun; the actors were entertaining, while King Louis and Cardinal Richelieu were excellent.  Next local production is "Beauty and the Beast" which we will probably miss although I am sure every eight year old girl in town will be there.

"The dress for the theatre."
The promenade dress with the addition of a handsome cloak or shawl, which may be thrown aside if it is uncomfortable, is suitable for a theatre.  The dress should be quiet and plain, without any attempt at display.  Either a bonnet or hat may be worn.  Gloves should be dark, harmonizing with the dress."

How about black pants with a lemon/lime shirt, all in linen?  I felt quite overdressed as quite a few of the audience were very casual, some even wearing shorts......although I think several may have been friends of the caste members, many of whom were young.  We come from the generation where one dresses up a little to attend the theatre; it pays the actors a compliment.  To me, too casual says "we don't care enough to dress up to see your performance, you're not worth the effort".

Enjoy your days!

There ain't no cure for the summertime blues

There ain't, you know.

 All done!  Pattern was called "Gumballs" by the designer (been looking for the original post to link to, but it doesn't seem to exist any more).  However, due to my lack of love for summer heat I thought this was a more apt name.

 The backing fabric is brighter in real life but I was scrabbling to take these pictures early yesterday morning before it rained, so the light isn't what it would normally be.

 See that bright orange and blue triangle piece in the centre, next to the blue and green fish?  That was my inspiration for the colour scheme; the fabric was in my stash and came from I can't remember where, I don't remember how long ago.  There is still a small piece left. 

 A close-up of the quilting from a local LA quilter.....those long wavy lines are vertical, but I didn't want it dragging on the ground so it was hung sideways.

The obligatory artistique shot in the remains of the we-think-it-was-an-apricot-tree, in our back yard.

Sighing the happy sigh, because my quilt is finished and I love it.  Also because it rained yesterday, the best rain we have had for many months.  Nowhere near enough to break the drought - long-range forecasters are saying there is no hope of any decent rain until next February-March at least - but enough to give thirsty gardens a drink and put a smile on the face of many folk.

We have started unpacking our Stuff!  Right now the dining room table isn't usable because of what's spread out on it, but it will be again in a day or two.  You have no idea how good that feels.  18 months ago I had to buy some serving dishes from an op shop because we had company and ours were all packed......now those pretty dishes and plates can be used again. 

I know Stuff is only Stuff, people are more important than Stuff, but our possessions are part of our lives - the stories they tell, the memories they evoke.  Some of my possessions came to me from my mother, they were wedding presents when my parents married in 1946; the marriage didn't last, but those plates have.  The wedding presents we received when we married are part of that story too.

Best of all, I am looking forward to having my books again soon!

My sumptuous wardrobe has been increased by new jeans.  Or a new jean, if you prefer.  Yesterday I popped into a shop I had never thought to try before (have often bought tees and tops from them, but not bottoms) and, much to my surprise, found jeans which fitted beautifully and were the exact right length for my short self.  Even better - there was a 50% sale, so they were the right price.  Still need new trakkie daks, but I may end up making them.

"A knife should never, on any account, be put into the mouth.  Many people, even well-bred in other respects, seem to regard this as an unnecessary regulation; but when we consider that it is a rule of etiquette, and that its violation causes surprise and disgust to many people, it is wisest to observe it."

We have our decent knives and cutlery to use again, too.......no longer are we limited to just the everyday stuff.

Enjoy your days!

Dry dry dry

Wasn't there a song or a singing group or something a long time called wet wet wet?  That's not us......

 This was the view from our back yard yesterday, nothing but dry dead grass.

 The late afternoon sun makes it look greener than it is.

As a contrast, this was our view a few months after we moved here in 2010:

It looks like a different world, doesn't it.

The forecast for the rest of today and tomorrow is for rain, but we will believe it when it happens.  So far this afternoon we have had a dribble or two, enough to wet the path but not enough to get excited about.  So we won't.

Back in World War II the land where we now live was taken over by the military for an army camp.  Many young blokes trained here before being shipped elsewhere, one of them was my father; my mother was a local girl but he was from The Big Smoke Way Down South, all the way from another state, and must have seemed quite exotic to a sheltered girl in what was then a small country town.  They eventually married and had a family, which is how I came to be - and when we bought this house in 2010 it had completely slipped my mind that it was on the site of the army camp.  Fortunately there don't seem to be any ghosts.  The marriage wasn't happy, he eventually left (after more than 25 years, mind you!) and we never saw him again.

You know how social media puts ads on your page supposedly because of web sites you have browsed?  Ads generate a huge amount of revenue, I get that.....but how on earth did "they' get the idea that I would be interested in marathon ocean swimming?  I'm not, you know.  Far from it.  Every time I think about exercising, I have to lie down until the thought passes.  A female friend has had ads for bloke's see-through sheer undies in bright colours - doesn't the very thought give you the heebie-jeebies?  I will leave the ribald comments to your imagination.

A few stitches have happened in the sewing room, but as some of those stitches are for Surprises nothing will be shown just yet.  Some unpacking has also happened; it has been very easy to just leave things as they are, messy and in boxes, but it needs to be done.  For one thing there are several circular knitting needles which were packed away and haven't yet turned up.....I know they're somewhere, just don't know where.....

"Obedience.
If you would not have all your instructions and counsels ineffectual, teach your children to obey.  Government in a family is the great safeguard of religion and morals, the support of order and the source of prosperity.  Nothing has a greater tendency to bring a curse on a family than the insubordination and disobedience of children, and there is no more painful and disgusting sight than an ungoverned child."

You know, I agree wholeheartedly with those words.

Enjoy your days!

Progress.....

Finally, the binding is being sewn on "Falling Through Autumn"!

More progress has been made since this was taken - the binding is machined down on the front and the label is pinned on ready to be caught in the binding seam.  The edges still need to be trimmed but that won't take long, then the binding can be hand-sewn down on the back.  It can go with me to quilt group on Saturday, both to be worked on and to be waved around for show and tell.

Just in time for autumn, which is finally in progress.  We are very thankful; summer started early, went on for way too long, and was far too hot into the bargain.  Nights have cooled down, sleeping is much easier, and we wake up refreshed instead of still half-asleep and groggy.

This year we will have a longer cool season!  Autumn and winter here, then when spring is beginning to really heat up we will be off to Canada for several weeks to enjoy autumn once more.

The expensive travel paperwork question has been solved.  If one buys one's eTA (electronic Travel Authority) through the Canadian government website one pays $7 for each person.  However if one thinks one knows what one is doing but one's slightly more computer savvy wife is in the shower so is therefore unavailable to cast her sharp eyes over the computer screen and one goes to a commercial site offering the same documentation at a commercial rate without knowing what one is doing, why then......that's what one purchases.  Cost: $127 per person instead of $7.  That's $240 out of someone's budget.  It's darn well not coming out of mine, let me tell you.  It wasn't my mistake.

Not much unpacking of Stuff has been done since last week......all right, none.....but much thinking about it has happened.  Kevin is making shelving for our CDs; the new three-month old shelving had to be chucked after the second flood, and the new book shelves too.  However by making it ourselves we can have what we want instead of having to take what's available, and that is a very attractive idea. 

A few days ago I fronted up at the doctor's for the annual flu shot.  Like most people I'm not a fan of having painful things stuck into me, so imagine my horror when he said "come back a few weeks before you go overseas and I will give you another flu shot"!  When I asked why, he pointed out that we would be heading into the flu season in Canada and possibly sharing a plane with flu germs (as well as with 300 of our new best friends and 97 crying babies) so a further shot would be a good idea.  I can agree with that logic, but the thought of having another painful thing stuck into me doesn't fill me with glee.

Oh well......I have several months to psych myself up for it.

"Keep yourself quiet and composed under all circumstances.  Do not get fidgety.  If you feel that time drags heavily, do not let this be apparent to others by any visible signs of uneasiness."

While waiting for the doctor on Monday I kept myself occupied by some hand-work (as I usually do) and was also (as usual) the only person doing anything other than staring blankly into space or fidgeting with a phone.  I was certainly not visibly uneasy, even with the idea of having something painful stuck into me hanging over my head.

Enjoy your days!

In which we are making Plans

The main Plan is - we have booked our plane tickets to Canada in October, woo hoo!  That will give me several months to psych myself up for those loooong flights surrounded by 300 of our new best friends and 97 crying babies......

I am so happy to be going.  We need to see our boy again after his health issues - he's doing very well now, but it has been an anxious time for us all.  Even though he's now 39 years old, he's still our boy.

So.....we will be able to see sights like these again......

 .......because it will be autumn!

 We think we're doing well here to see a dozen trees in autumn foliage, so for us a whole hillside in fall colours is a glorious sight.

I am already drooling at the very thought!

Unfortunately the convenient self-contained unit we have stayed in on our previous visits to Toronto is no longer available, it has been sold.  Bummer......it was in a great spot not far from our son, far enough away that we all had our privacy but close enough that we could spend time together; their sometimes unsociable work hours weren't disturbed by our comings and goings.  However we have found another place just a couple of streets away that may be suitable, so we will enquire about bookings in the next day or so.

On another note, yesterday My Lovely New Bernina was used for the first time since the flood - and it still works, isn't that good?  Not to make anything exciting, though, just fulfilling a BOM obligation for my quilt group.  I really really don't like fiddly-diddly cutesy-woo applique.....little teeny tiny bird beaks and legs......the foot stool and  thick books which helped make the foot pedal and left foot a comfortable height were casualties of the flood, so I shall keep an eye out for replacements.

Some boxes have been unpacked, the house is slowly coming together.  Kevin is going to make replacement book shelves; we can't buy what we want, so that is the best option.  Once the cooler weather arrives we will feel more like the physical work involved in unpacking, sorting and culling - and there will be culling.  Maybe even a few books will be culled - now, that will be difficult.

We have had some rain!  Not a lot, but after such a dry summer we will take whatever we can get.  More is forecast, possibly even later today - we can but live in hope, clouds outside are getting quite dark already.

"Prompt payment of bills.
If an account is presented to you for payment, you should, if it is correct, pay it as promptly as though it were a promissory note at the bank already due.  The party who presents the bill may be in need of money, and should receive what is his due when he demands it, but some houses in a large way of business pay on special days of the week, and this is a good plan."

We have already paid for our plane tickets, does that count as prompt payment?

Enjoy your days!

Slowly but surely

That's us, putting the house back together.  Slow, but sure.  You know, this is worse than moving house;  at least when you move you have cupboards and furniture and big stuff which is placed where it needs to go in whichever rooms it needs to be in, then you unpack your boxes of small stuff into said cupboards, and everything is just fine and dandy.

We are shuffling furniture around, and moving stuff, and trying to work out how to fit a larger cupboard's worth of stuff into a smaller cupboards because the larger ones aren't made any more.  Moving house six hours away wasn't this difficult, you know.

Ten days ago the furniture and most of the packed boxes were brought from the garage into the house so now the car can be parked out of the hot sun, something for which, considering the heatwave conditions we have been struggling with for weeks, we are very thankful.

In recent times the population of galahs on the hill behind us has boomed, it must have been a good season for babies!   A few youngsters sitting on our fence, the babies are slimmer than the adults and the colours aren't as bright.

A few of the flock foraging, but as you can see the drought is bad and there's not much of anything to be found.

 A visiting teenager, with some of the flock behind.  Young ones don't have the head crests that adult birds have, either.

I like galahs.  They can be very noisy, raucous even, but they can be very funny birds.  My grandparents had a caged galah when I was a child, goodness knows how old it was....they can live to extraordinary ages in captivity.  They possibly could in the wild too, but how would you know?  One galah in a flock looks much the same as its feathered friend flying alongside.

Yesterday a local guitarist checked out my guitars for water damage, and they are all right.  I am so relieved, you can't begin to know how much, a weight has been lifted from my shoulders; new strings (to be purchased early next week, the spare sets in the cases will be thrown out because they have probably rusted) and they should be good to go......or hot to trot, as once would have been said.

We decided, while we're throwing money around like it's going out of style, to get rid of our dining room table and chairs.  The buffet had to be chucked after the flood....sigh......and trying to buy something which looked good with the table and chairs, with the limited choice available in a country town, had us scratching our heads.  I never loved that setting although I didn't hate it; when we bought it Kevin liked it more than I did, but now it's gone gone gone, collected by a local charity shop a couple of days ago.  New table, chairs, buffet and coffee table will be delivered on Monday.

As I said, slowly but surely.

A few tumblers have been joined, but I am trying to hasten slowly with them although they are very quick to join.  We are planning a trip to Canada later in the year, and I will need a take-along project, so that will be It.  Work has started on another project involving hand work, but no pics yet as it's to be a surprise for its recipient.  Hopefully it will be finished when it needs to be......no guarantees here though, folks. 

"Parents who indulge in gossip, scandal, slander and tale-telling, will rear children possessing the same tastes and deteriorating habits.  A parent's example outlines the child's character.  It sinks down deep into his heart, and influences his whole life for good or for evil.  A parent should carefully avoid speaking evil of others, and should never exhibit faults requiring the mantle of charity to cover.  A parent's example should be such as to excite an abhorrence of evil-speaking, of tattling, and of uncharitable construction of the motives of others.  Let the mother begin the proper training of her children in early life, and she will be able to so mould their characters that not only will they acquire the habit of bridling the tongue, but they will learn to avoid the presence of the slanderer as they do a deadly viper."

Yes.  Much gossip and slander is currently being spoken about our local Member of Parliament, and much of it is true......the wife and four daughters are an established fact, as is the mistress and her expected baby.  There is more, much more, the whiff of corruption is strong, and it is all true.  Who knows where it will end?

Enjoy your days!

We have carpet!

Everywhere in the house which should have carpet now does.....bedrooms, family room, hallway, and good room.  (Anyone else have a 'good room' in their house when they were growing up?  We did; back in those days children were told 'stay out of the good room' because it was kept pristine in case of visitors.  The rest of the house could be a total pig sty but our parents - mostly our mothers - made sure that one room was fit for the odd guest.  We were then allowed in under sufferance.)

We like our carpet choice much better than our pick last time, and much more betterer than the carpet which was here when we moved in.  Now we look around and see our choice of carpet, our choice of tiles and our choice of wall colour (although those pink pink walls we inherited still give me goosebumps at the very thought).  The fussy frilly curtains and pink blinds were also replaced a few years ago by our choice of slightly textured cream blinds and no curtains, and now the rooms are a restful unfussy very-slightly-buttery light cream.

Sigh of contentment......

Packing, unpacking and sorting has commenced in the sewing/stash room.  The plan is to be totally ruthless and only keep anything I like and hope - I nearly wrote intend, but I may not live that long - to use.  Under the window is now a set of cubbies with a shelf top, four spaces across by two down, replacing a larger desk which had become "somewhere to dump stuff".  The two new cupboards are smaller than the cupboards they are replacing so that will leave me with more floor space for moving around.

Consequently the camera hasn't seen the light of day this week, so there are no new photos for you!  However do not despair, to counteract the fierce heat which has been making our lives miserable for the past few weeks here is a colourful foretaste of autumn.  Only a couple of months now.....

This was taken with the late afternoon sun shining through the trees.  I can't identify these trees for you, I'm sorry!  Perhaps the Canadians will know; I can recognise most of the garden flowers we have seen on our visits but the trees have me stumped.  Except maple.  I can usually identify maple trees.

 The evergreens with deep gold in front, then bare trees......I love it.

 On a rainy day, our last day in Toronto before we flew to B.C.  The suite where we have always stayed and where this was taken has been sold, quelle horreur!  We will have to look for somewhere else as convenient.  Those blue spruce trees are so pretty.....we don't have them here.

Only a couple of months to go.....fortunately it has cooled down for a week or so, and we are relishing the chance to enjoy temperatures lower than average for a while.   It will, sadly, warm up again by the end of next week.

The home renno TV channel sometimes shows people house hunting and/or renovating in Canada or U.S.A. during autumn, and the colours are soooo glorious.  We like renno porn.

A few more tumblers have been joined, and a few more cut.  Currently the total stands at 366 cut, leaving 474 still to be done.  Better get cracking......

"Unmarried ladies should not accept presents from gentlemen who are neither related nor engaged to them, nor indebted to them for some marked favors.  A married lady may accept presents from a gentleman who is indebted to her for hospitality."

I wonder if this still holds true?  In my giddy youth the implication was, if one accepted a present from a bloke to whom she was neither related or engaged, she was under an obligation to repay "in kind"......and I'm sure I don't need to spell out to you what that means.

Enjoy your days!

In which we are one whole week into a new year

Doesn't time fly?  At this rate it will be Christmas again before we know it.

We are on the third day of a predicted four day extreme heatwave, and it is nasty hot.  Not quite record-breaking hot, but still most unpleasant.  It is certainly hot enough that I feel ill, and am guzzling water like there's no tomorrow.  We have today and tomorrow still to survive, then hopefully a little cooler.....for a while, at least.  Rain would be nice too, but we may have to wait for that.

Happy to report that our son is doing very well, and is hoping to go home in a few days.

This morning I took down the decorations, such as they were.  You know how some people just love Christmas and decorate their whole house from top to bottom?  We don't.

 Family room tree, on my grandmother's 1924 Singer 66 treadle.

This tree is on Kevin's mother's Singer from the late 1960s.  Just as well we have sewing machines to decorate, isn't it?  The pretty mat is from my ukulele-playing friend Claire.

That's it, folks.  The extent of Christmas 2017 in this house.

A week before we came home to a flooded house my jumper was finished, too late for last winter but nice and early for winter this year.

My own design.  For the basic jumper I used a Patons Classics book - one of two books sadly lost in the flood, not yet replaced but will be because it's so useful - and the travelling rib panel on the front is from a Patons leaflet with instructions for four different Aran-style jumpers published in the early 1990s.  Yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 8 ply in Hydrangea, blue with a hint of lavender.

Right now I don't have a sewing room at all.  Machines and furniture were moved out a couple of days ago, so the floor could be washed and so the furniture which is being thrown out could be removed.  The marks left by the flood have now been cleaned and the floor is spotless.  While standing in an empty echoing room I looked at the walls and thought to myself.......I thought......."perhaps this is the time to paint the walls?"  Which will be done later in the week when it's not so hot, then machines and stuff can be moved back in, and replacement furniture purchased, and I will be a happy woman again.

The tumbler project is not packed away so at least boredom can be staved off occasionally, and there is always an instrument to pick up and plink because there is a big gig coming up in a couple of weeks.  Those hexies are now being joined into big flowers for the top and bottom of a pincushion.

Now that the Christmas/New Year break is over we are hoping to hear about our house repairs, what is to be done and when.  We're looking forward to having it all done, finished and put back to rights again, we have had enough of living in limbo.

"The obligation of an introduction.
Two persons who have been properly introduced have in future certain claims upon one another's acquaintance which should be recognized, unless there are sufficient reasons for over-looking them.  Even in that case good manners require the formal bow of recognition upon meeting, which of itself, encourages no familiarity.  Only a very ill-bred person will meet another with a stare."

Do people still bow on meeting?  It seems they did back in the early 1880s, at least.

Enjoy your days!

Back home again......in an empty house

Finally - we moved back home a couple of days ago, seven weeks after moving out.  The house isn't fixed; we have no carpet, very little furniture, and the kitchen has to have major repair work done.....but we are home, and Bianca The White Cat is also home after her extended holiday.

Just as well we weren't expecting guests for Christmas, isn't it?  There are no spare beds, they had to be thrown out because of water/mould, but our bed is safe

Ah well.  No sense crying over that which is gone.  There is still some packing and sorting to be done here, but we are gradually making the place livable.

Big celebration this week, Young Euan turned three a couple of days ago!  He loves his dinosaur shirt and Lego animals from his distant grandparents.

However, our Canaussian son over there on the far side of the known universe isn't doing too well.  For some time now he has been having treatment for a vascular tumour in his hand, and tomorrow goes into hospital for an operation to remove it (the tumour, not the hand).  He's been in pain for quite a while and doctors have tried various treatments, but have now opted for surgery.  The treatments he has been having are experimental as it seems there are only about fifty cases known world-wide.  We always knew our boys were special, but making medical history is not how we wanted them to be unique.....he has a wonderful partner who will keep us updated on his progress, and supportive friends who will be waiting in hospital with her.

Most of my stash didn't suffer in the flood, but my plastic basket of batik fabrics was sitting on the floor.  Note that I said "basket", not "box", which means there were lots of holes for water to enter.  There are a few interesting colour runs, but they will be taken care of in due course - they certainly looked pretty hanging out to dry.

 It was a warm sunny day, so much so that my arms did get a little sunburnt from spending so much time hanging fabrics out, bringing them in, hanging out the next batch......

Those fabrics dried very quickly!

One morning when we were staying in our apartment home-away-from-home we noticed that this gorgeous moth had made itself at home on the wall in the entrance hall.  According to an online friend it's an Emperor Gum Moth - they are quite spectacular, and very big.  This one's wingspan would have been the length of my hand from wrist to fingertip.

There are pictures online of these moths compared to a human hand for size.  I don't think I would hold one just to show you all but take my word for it - they are huge.  We had one in our garden a few years ago too.

Over the past few weeks the uke group has had a few gigs, which has been a good distraction from getting upset over a flood-damaged house.  We're getting quite good at playing Christmas stuff, you know.  We've even been invited to play at a gospel breakfast at a small church a little way out of town next month, isn't that something?  Fame at last......who would have thought that at my advanced age I would be arranging gigs for a musical group......

Are you all organised for Christmas?  We're not, but then we wouldn't be organised for anything else right now either.  We have two small tabletop trees each surrounded by tiny lights, so at least the house does feel a bit festive.

"The hand.
The beautiful hand is long and slender, with tapering fingers and pink, filbert shaped nails.  The hand to be in proper proportion to the rest of the body should be as long as from the point of the chin to the edge of the hair on the forehead."

Somehow I don't think our boy is worrying about his pretty pink nails right now.

Enjoy your days!

Not back to normal yet

Like that shampoo ad said on TV a few years ago, it won't happen overnight......but it will happen.

Well, it seems this flood really caused damage.  The bottoms of several doors soaked up moisture from sitting on wet carpet, so they will also be replaced.  Some skirting (base) boards will need to go, but only a couple - most are made of proper wood, so they have less damage.  We can't help wonder why real wood was used for some, and cheap crappy artificial wood for others?  We have noticed that some odd short cuts were taken when this house was built 25 years ago.  At least one inside wall has to be partially removed to check for moisture between inner and outer walls.

Two of my books were lost.  One was a Mon Tricot knitting and crochet stitch and technique dictionary which I bought new in 1974, and to which I refer often; even though all that stuff can be found online sometimes there is no substitute for a proper book with real pages, is there?  Guess what - I found a copy on Ebay!  A small thing to be sure but something to cheer me a little, it should arrive soon.  The other was a book of basic women's knitting patterns which is still available, so that will also be done soon.  Both those books had their pages stuck together too firmly to be separated, because of the paper used.

However we aren't buying 'stuff' at present, because there is nowhere to put it!  Much of the house has been emptied, and furniture which hasn't been hauled away is stored in the garage.  We are trying to keep floors as clear as possible to make it easier for whoever puts down the new carpet.  One thing is for sure, though......we won't be going back to the store where the last replacement carpet was furnished, the owner bloke wasn't wonderful to deal with.  When we said to the assessor/builder from the insurance company that we would prefer to use another supplier he asked was it because of the boss man......we said yes......funny, he said, several other people have told me the same thing. 

Having said that......this morning a fundraising Christmas Fair was held and I couldn't resist some pretty blue and green earrings, they won't take up much room will they......and a necklace made in Madagascar from cow horn dyed in bright colours, which I am wearing as we speak.  I will call them my Christmas present.

My guitars and tenor ukulele were sitting on the wet floor but because they were in their cases I think they will be all right, and my cheapie soprano uke is probably some sort of plastic which would be impervious to water anyway.  On another cheery note, there have been a couple of ukulele gigs lately, playing music is more fun than moping about our spoiled house! 

Our town has two big used book sales a year, one in May organised by a Rotary Club and one in November organised by a Lions Club.  Since moving here I have found some wonderful treasures at these sales, but didn't go to the current sale in case I was carried away and bought books.......and right now we have nowhere to put them.

Sigh.  I do enjoy those book sales.......

"Never hold your companion in conversation by the buttonhole.  If you are obliged to detain him forcibly in order to say what you wish, you are pressing upon him what is disagreeable or unwelcome, and you commit a gross breach of etiquette in so doing."

Oh my - I would never do that to anyone, and I hope no one would ever do it to me.

Enjoy your days!

Best of all - we have our books back!

Early this week a nice young couple drove four hours to our house (all part of the insurance service, they packed up our books and treasures months ago too), carried a heap of boxes from the garage into the house, and unpacked our books and stuff.  The books used to be in order, they aren't now but will be again.  My music books are back......and my quilting and sewing books.......  I am a happy woman.

That is the end of the insurance claim for flood damage, six months to the day.

Sighing a contented sigh here, folks.

After the slow start my knitting is progressing beautifully.

 As you can see below, I do know how to knit fancy patterns.

The centre panel looks familiar, yes?  Because almost all my knitting pattern books were packed in the garage there was limited design choice available for a feature panel on the new jumper; I looked online but there was so much choice it was confusing.  One booklet hadn't been packed because it was in another room at the time, it was bought......oh, 20 years or so ago, probably more......and has instructions for four jumpers.  I loved them all so decided to eventually make each one, and this was first.  Two others were also made and are worn each winter, the fourth was started but was messed up - it's the most complicated of the four, this is the simplest and I love the colour and the design.  I'll make that really fancy jumper one day, though.

During the week I took myself, a uke and a song book along to the U3A uke group......not too sure about it......there were only three attendees besides me, and they are way behind my level.  Not wishing to boast, just stating a fact.  I didn't even play that slow when I was learning.  Apparently the Token Bloke who seemed to be leading the group (by a whisker, I think) prefers to play slowly and the others tag along behind.  The two women asked me how fast I would play, so I played at what I would consider a normal speed, they bravely joined in - and guess what, their fingers didn't fall off and the earth didn't stop spinning on its axis.  I pointed out that if we singing but not playing ukes we wouldn't sing that slowly, and they agreed.  The group co-ordinator hinted that I may end up leading them.  We'll see.

A couple of days ago we had our coldest morning temperature for four years, minus 5.3 deg C, but there was no frost......strange......we have had frosty mornings with milder temps.  It must have been very dry.  Rain showers are forecast for tomorrow, forecasts have been wrong before but we live in hope that this time it will be right.  It's a very dry season.

"Another condition of domestic happiness is intellectual sympathy,  Man requires a woman who can make his home a place of rest for him, and woman requires a man of domestic tastes.  While a woman who seeks to find happiness in a married life will never consent to be wedded to an idler or a pleasure-seeker, so a man of intelligence will wed none but a woman of intelligence and good sense."

A woman of intelligence and good sense......that sounds like me, don't you think?

Enjoy your days!