A couple of houses

Two houses were made yesterday, taking the total to 21.......only 40 more to go, but there is no hurry.

This is a long way from being a stash buster, some of those pieces of fabric are quite small, but it has used up some leftovers.

This is another piece of tatting by Aunty Laura - isn't it beautiful?  The removeable lining is pale green fabric, possibly rayon taffeta, with a plain front and back joined by a panel of ruching.  Inside that is a white padded cosy which would have kept a teapot warm. 

I don't know the date this was made, but am guessing perhaps in the 1930s......there's something about it that reminds me of Thirties clothes when ruching was a popular trim; you could imagine a set of pretty underthings in pale green (which was called 'Eau de Nil') with cream lace.  The green is similar to "30s green" quilt fabric, isn't it?  

The next panel of tumblers is more than half done.  There were nearly 100 pieces too many cut because I didn't check the dimensions of the tumbler in EQ7; the height was correct, but theirs was narrower than mine.  So, those leftovers will go on the back.  I prefer the proportions of mine......the EQ7 ones seem a bit skinny.  As I used to be.....sigh.......

Do advertisers really think that those of us of more mature years are fooled by TV ads for "younger looking skin" using Sweet Young Things who seem to be barely out of their teens?  I know they are selling an illusion more than a product, but really.......we're not stupid, you know.

Meanwhile on the larger screen today the world bids farewell to Sean Connery, the first and in many people's opinion the best James Bond.  Earlier this year (I think - time has a way of stopping and starting, these days) we watched some of the earlier James Bond movies made before they became all about special effects at the expense of the plot, and honestly.....some of the bedroom scenes are almost non-consensual by today's standards, aren't they?  It makes for slightly uncomfortable viewing now, when once we would have shaken it off.  The world has moved on.

"No matter what may go wrong, a hostess should never seem to notice it to the annoyance of her guests.  By passing it over herself, it will very frequently escape the attention of others.  If her guests arrive late, she should welcome them as cordially as if they had come early, but she will commit a rudeness to those who have arrived punctually, if she awaits dinner for tardy guests for more than the fifteen minutes of grace prescribed by custom."

In other words, don't be late without a very very good excuse.

Enjoy your days!

And again.......

The past few weeks have been very busy!  A few uke gigs with time spent practicing have swallowed quite a chunk of hours, but that's nearly all done now.  Even managed to get some pieces cut for the autumn leaf quilt without too many protests from this aging body.  The only stitches sewn have been by hand, but that's all right......more and more tumblers are being joined into sets of four, and once that's done they will all be spread so I can see the final layout.  So long as the colours and values are mixed I think it will look good.

Next year's challenge from the quilt group has been given out - we are to finish a UFO.  It is to be shown in its unfinished state at the February meeting, then worked on during the year.  That Canadian mystery quilt from a few years ago is calling so that, I have decided, will be my UFO project.  It will be wonderful to have it finally done.  That's the kind of challenge I like.

Several years ago we had a similar challenge - to make a quilt entirely from stash - so I used fabric which had been bought in the Big Smoke before our move north, and pinwheels which had previously been made of leftovers from another quilt, and made the quilt I called "Plastered Pinwheels"......so-called because those pinwheels were sewn while my left arm was in plaster after being fractured.  I couldn't do much, but I could feed them through the machine.  Here's a pic from those days for those who haven't seen it:

That was taken before it was quilted, also by yours truly.

Recently we have had a couple of storms which resulted in a little - very little - rain, so the kangaroos were out in force.  They are a fair way off from our back fence and there would have been about 30 that day, some of which were out of range of the photo.

 It looks green, but you can see the hill in the background is dry and the trees don't look lush and healthy.

Our visiting magpie couple.  They now have a youngster who also visits when I take them a treat of steak; some days I only have to appear at the back door and they come flying down!

Isn't it nice to have friends?  Even if they are the feathered kind.

The air quality hasn't been kind lately, and today was particularly bad.  The wind has blown smoke this way from bushfires south and east of us; this morning the whole valley was full of smoke and it was difficult to talk, let alone sing as we did at a lunchtime gig.  Fortunately it wasn't outside, or I think we would have had to call it off.  According to the agency which monitors air quality ours, while not the worst in the state, wasn't at all good......and the next few days are supposed to be no better, with even hotter temperatures.  However we are Aussies, we are tough enough not to let it get us down.

The blog backgrounds which I have used for many years seem to have disappeared from cyberspace!  Now I shall have to get creative and work out how to do my own.

Yesterday evening we let our hair down and went to the movies!  We saw "Fisherman's Friends", an English movie with a fairly predictable plot but really good singing.  I know several of the shanties sung in the film and was hard pressed not to join in the singing, even though there were very few people in the cinema.  Sigh.......I like a good sing......

"Treatment for moist and damp feet.
Some persons are troubled by moist or damp feet.  This complaint arises more particularly during the hot weather in the summer-time, and the greatest care and cleanliness should be exercised to it.  Persons so afflicted should wash their feet twice a day in soap and warm water, after which they should put on clean socks.  Should this fail to cure, they may, after being washed as above, be rinsed, and then thoroughly rubbed with a mixture consisting of half a pint of warm water and three tablespoons of concentrated solution of chloride of soda."

I suppose that answers my concern at the end of the previous post.

Enjoy your days!

A pair of gallivanters are we

We have been out and about this week, it's a change to be home this afternoon.

Last Wednesday night we attended a performance of "Mary Poppins" by our local musical society, and what a wonderful show it was!  Amazing cast, the costumes and scenery were very well done, and the musicians were excellent.  No one connected with the show was paid......it's a completely amateur society......but there was nothing amateurish about it.  The musical society put on its first performance in 1888 and has been going strong ever since, with interruptions for two world wars and the coming of television when people preferred to stay in rather than go out to a show until the novelty of TV wore off, but it has always bounced back better than ever.  Way way back, a very long time ago last century when I was but a mere teenager, I was in the chorus of "Annie Get Your Gun" and it was great fun too.  I was also going to be in the chorus of "Kiss Me, Kate" but sadly couldn't make it, although I did attend rehearsals for a while and can still sing the songs.

Monday afternoon we took ourselves off to the movies to see "Florence Foster Jenkins" - my heavens, talk about going from the sublime to the gor blimey in just a few days.  Mrs Jenkins loved to sing, but unfortunately she was no singer.  She is quoted as saying "People said I couldn't sing......but no one could say I didn't sing"!    Her dream was to sing and perform, and she was wealthy enough to make her dream happen.

Friday saw us taking a trip to a town an hour north to visit their excellent museum, and last night the museum director was guest speaker at our historical society.  He certainly gave our members food for thought.

Of course there was Thursday night choir, and Tuesday night ukulele, and yesterday sewing guild......just as well we're retired so we can fit in all this socialising, isn't it?

On Thursday night after choir I was driving home up our street which winds along the side of a hill, came round a sweeping right-hand bend, and there in the middle of the road was a kangaroo looking at me.  Aussies know that hitting a roo is to be avoided at all costs (your car will come off second best, you may be injured and it doesn't do the roo much good either) so I stopped.  It turned and hopped slowly up the street, I followed very steadily.......it hopped onto the grass verge at the side, I stayed on the road, I'm not silly you know......it turned onto the driveway of the house two doors up from us and watched me drive past.  That's as close as I wish to get to one of our national symbols, folks......even though they make very good eating.

This is the view from my sewing room.  We often see kangaroos grazing and hopping around up there on the hill.  There's also the wash line and garden shed, but hey......they have to go somewhere.

 Little did we realise, when we lived in the Big Smoke, that we would see wildlife outside our windows!

My bag is done.  I love the fabrics, the kit was bought last October at the Creativ Festival in Toronto from Flare Fabrics.

 The front has a zipper pocket, and behind the brown band is another deep pocket.

 The back also has pockets, one big one stitched down the middle to make two smaller ones.  Inside didn't photograph well, but it also has two smaller pockets; the top is closed with a zipper so nothing can fall out.  I wear a lot of blue and green, and blue/green (and green/blue too, would you believe?) so this will be very handy.

Another purchase at the Creativ Festival was yarn by Fleece Artists, deep rich orange for autumn.

It's sock yarn but is much too pretty to hide away inside shoes, so was made up using the Noro Bias Lace Scarf pattern on Ravelry.  I can recommend it as a quick, easy - but very effective - knit.  When winter eventually arrives here (it's being a bit tardy this year, but at least temperatures have finally cooled down from summer) a warm scarf will be handy.

"A hunting sport, which is essentially Australian, is called "Kangarooing", and is often indulged in by both ladies and gentlemen.  In the country districts of the colonies, wherever kangaroo are to be found, they afford most excellent sport to the lovers of the chase."

The good folk of 1885 were a hardy lot, weren't they?  Chasing a roo on horseback couldn't possibly compare to following it in an air-conditioned car with heated seats.

Enjoy your days!

In which we are feeling very stressed

A few days ago our house sitter, who was booked in early May, told us she was unable to sit for us due to a death in her family and associated dramas.  While I am sorry for her, she had already known for six weeks - six weeks! - when she finally deigned to inform us, and then only in reply to an email from us about the garden.  If we hadn't written to her first we are wondering when we would have been told......the day before she was due to arrive, perhaps?  Because of the late notice we hold out no hopes at all of getting a house sitter, so Bianca has been booked into Deb's cat holiday shack (she has holidayed at Deb's before and has coped well) and we are arranging for someone to mow the lawn and tidy up the garden.  Nearly eight weeks is a long time to leave the house unoccupied.

This has taken some of the pleasure out of our holiday, let me tell you.  We aren't fabulously wealthy and our home is our greatest asset, so we would like it to still be here when we return.  Added to that is the expense of Bianca's being boarded and garden maintenance (all of which would have been done by our sitter for free) and our holiday has just become a little more expensive.  Yesterday we were told about a local woman who house sits, we contacted her and she told us that she charges $35 a day - that's nearly three times what it will cost for Bianca's holiday!  Needless to say, we declined.

Is it any wonder I am feeling somewhat stressed?

Perhaps I should just take some of those amazing tablets the doctor prescribed for the flight, and just sleep away the time until we leave......they work really well, as I found out earlier in the week......

On a much happier note, last week my new jumper was finished.

In real life it's a little less blue and a little more purple than this.  Yarn is 100% alpaca from Bendigo Woollen Mills, bought many many years ago on our so far one-and-only trip to Bendigo, and is equivalent to Aussie 8 ply or DK.  Pattern is from an old Patons Classics book, a raglan sleeved jumper with a diagonal rib stitch on the bottom, neckband and cuffs instead of the plain K1 P1 rib as in the pattern.  Alpaca is reputed to be very warm, so that should keep me cosy should it be cold in Canada.

Only 16 days to go........it's been so busy lately that my ukes and guitar have barely been touched.....only one more lesson and the current term will be done, I won't be back until a few weeks before the end of the lesson year.

Recently we went to the movies to see a documentary, "The Women He's Undressed" - sounds quite salacious, doesn't it? - but it wasn't.  It was about a Hollywood costume designer whose career spanned over three decades, Orry-Kelly, and who was born in the small Aussie seaside town of Kiama, something not widely known until recently.  Non-movie buffs would enjoy it, and anyone interested in sewing, costume design, or history of fashion will find it fascinating.  Apparently dressing Bette Davis' bosom was quite difficult.....poor Bette!

This morning our local historical society held its Spring Fair, and a lovely early spring day it was too.  Lady members were dressed in long black skirts and old-fashioned white blouses, topped with white aprons......all quite Edwardian.  I was selling ice creams for a couple of hours, they were very popular!  Came home with a few books, one of which may accompany me on the plane.  I have a tablet with a Kindle app for reading but I'm a quick reader and would read so much that the battery would die long before the flight ended, so I thought a paper book (actually, two books in one) may be a better choice.

"A home.
After marriage one of the first requirements for happiness is a home.  It will best be found in a house or even a cottage apart from the immediate association of relatives or friends, acquaintances or strangers, and here husband and wife may begin in reality that new life of which they have had fond dreams, and upon their own actions must depend their future welfare."

Home is a very important place for any of us, and we hope ours is still standing when we return.

Enjoy your days!

We've had rain!

Only a little rain, it is true, but precipitation falling from the sky nevertheless.  More is forecast for the next day or two, and judging by the weather radar some could even fall later this afternoon.  Fingers crossed.......the long-term average for February is 85.9 mls and so far this month we have had 31 mls.  February is only half over so hopefully we can make the average, if not a little more.  The official weather station here is at the airport which we can see across the valley; sometimes there is a difference between here on the hill and there, but on the whole it averages out pretty much the same.

Here's a rather pretty wombat.

None of my wombats have names because it would be too much for my elderly brain to keep track of, but this one seems to be calling out to be named.....what do you think?  She (it has to be a girl) was bought at a local garden centre late last year.

A little sewing has been done, another two quilt blocks have been made - one is completed, one still has to have its applique machined down - slowly and carefully.  Tomorrow is sewing guild and somehow I don't think my machine will be coming with me because using it is still painful, but I may take the overlocker along and have a go at making a fabric flower using the rolled hem edge.  Instructions were in the latest guild newsletter, and there is fabric left from the wedding skirt that will do nicely.

Speaking of pain, my shoulder is still far from happy although it has improved slightly since the previous post.  I wish I had never had the operation, in fact if the clock could be turned back I wouldn't go under the knife at all.  I would just put up with it. For a brief few days I was able to put my hair up, but now can't do that again either.  It is quite upsetting; when I get upset my blood pressure goes even higher and one day I shall probably explode from it.

Ah well, she says, heaving a sigh.

Yesterday we took ourselves off for our annual outing outing to the movies to see 'Philomena', and I can certainly recommend it.  Just make sure you take plenty of tissues with you, because it has some very sad moments.  Even when I was growing up some years after the events shown in the film there was quite a stigma attached to girls who became pregnant out of wedlock.  Most of them married.....the high-waisted Empire line dresses of the 60s, and a big bouquet, were very popular!  I remember rumours about a girl who 'went to visit her aunt' for a few months in a large city several hours north of here, but can think of only one girl who, very bravely for the time, had her baby girl and neither married nor gave up her baby for adoption, before marrying a few years later.  When I was a teenager my mother told me that if I ever came home and said I was pregnant she would kill me, and I believe she would have.  She would certainly have done bodily harm to my person because she was a violent woman.

Before that movie started we had to sit through trailers for several current and forthcoming movies.  Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I am not at all interested in movies which are full of noise, action and special effects with not much plot, blokes in or out of uniform shooting each other, and young lust and teenage angst.

You can see why we only go to the movies once a year.........

"Childhood is like a mirror, catching and reflecting images all around it.  Remember that an impious, profane or vulgar thought may operate upon the heart of a young child like a careless spray of water upon polished steel, staining it with rust that no efforts can thoroughly efface."

This is right, you know.

Enjoy your days!

So.....tonight's the night!

Yes folks, tonight marks my debut as a radio announcer with my own weekly program and apparently the station is now streaming so you can listen online, should the time suit.  From 7pm to 9pm Eastern Australian Time, which is probably stupid dark o'clock in some parts of the world - if you would like to listen you can find world clocks on the interwebz; we are in the same time zone as Sydney.  Station details are here.

The ukulele and Beethoven are becoming more friendly toward each other, you will be pleased to hear.  Oh my......last week teacher Sam let me use one of his tenor ukes.  Mine is a soprano, the smallest size, then there's concert size, tenor, with baritone being the biggest.  Tenor is so much easier to play because I am used to playing guitar, my fingers are long and often reach too far on the little soprano's neck so I end up playing wrong notes.  Didn't have that problem with Sam's tenor uke!  I can foresee a tenor uke in my future, and some of the time spent at next month's National Folk Festival will be checking out the hand-made instrument makers' display to find just the right tenor uke.

We need a picture, don't we?  Let's see what we can find.

This really made us chuckle, we thought it was fun!  In Sidney, B.C., Canada, this tree beside the water had bottles hanging from its branches.  You may not be able to see the contents of the bottles, but there were objects like a key ring (with keys attached), a little yellow duck and a red poppy - it was a few days after Remembrance Day.

There was even a sign attached to the tree giving an email address, perhaps it's the Keeper Of The Tree?  One would need to be nimble and a little fearless to hang a bottle from some of those branches.

Last night I received an email to tell me I had won some Aurifil thread from a blog giveaway, isn't that great?  It's a thread I really like, and use often; I've been buying thread online from them for several years.

The other day I checked in with Emma the physiotherapist and she has given me the green light to start walking, but not too far, in addition to the usual walking while shopping etc..  The doctor has said 30 minutes a day, but so far 10 minutes is about all my foot and ankle will happily do - according to Emma, we should stop when it starts hurting so as not to damage still-healing tissues.  That's all right by me, I am so unfit and out of condition that it will take a little time to build up my fitness again.  We live near the top of a hill so walking away from our house is fairly a easy downhill stroll.......but coming home is always uphill.  I can't believe how long this is taking to heal, it seemed a fairly ordinary (if somewhat painful) whack when it was first done!  Just goes to show, you can damage yourself more easily than you think.

Last weekend Kevin and I went to see "Quartet"......it's gently humorous and has some wonderful performers who can still sing and play up a storm although in what would be considered their senior years.  While it's not the best movie I've seen about older people we both enjoyed it, and friends who have seen it have also liked it.  It's good to see a movie which doesn't depend on violence, action, special effects and sex, sex and more sex to tell a story.  Is that really what people want to see these days, or is it what movie-makers want to make regardless of the public's taste?

"After you have visited a friend at her country seat, or after receiving an invitation to visit her, a call is due her upon her return to her town residence.  This is one of the occasions when a call should be made promptly and in person, unless you have a reason for wishing to discontinue the acquaintance; even then it would be more civil to take another opportunity for dropping a friend who wished to show civility, unless her character has been irretrievably lost in the meantime."

Oh dear!  I have sometimes lost my way, or lost an object.....but to lose one's character would be disastrous.

Enjoy your days!

Back home, and back to reality!

We have been home for several days now, and still both keep talking about the great time we had in Canada.  Interesting places - some new to us, some we had visited before - and wonderful friends, even strangers we met were friendly and helpful.  Somehow, though, I think we picked the right time to leave Ontario as the weather there has become much colder in the past week or so.  While we don't mind the cold weather we have here in winter, and the cold fall weather we had in Ontario, neither of us have the right clothing for minus 35 deg C.

Meanwhile here at home, the temperature is plus 35 deg C, which is quite warm - summer has hit with a vengeance.  This summer's forecast is for hot, hot, hot, and probably dry.

This is the Sydenham River on a cool showery misty day in Harrison Park, Owen Sound.

Makes you feel cooler just looking at it, doesn't it?

For years now Kevin and I have been joking about taking "the award winning shot" - the picture that would win first prize in a photographic exhibition - this is mine.

Now that we are home we are falling back into the usual routine.  Since coming home on Monday I have been to two Christmas/end of year functions, with more to come.  Yesterday's quilt group Christmas meeting/party was fun as our challenge quilts were revealed to much ooh-ing and aah-ing; even my Plastered Pinwheel quilt was muchly admired, to my surprise.  Some of us tend to be a little diffident about our own efforts, don't we? The worst part was the insistence of the group president that we each be photographed with our own quilts, a real challenge when one hates having one's likeness taken.  When we packed up to move here I managed to lose most of the pictures of me taken over the years I worked in school libraries.  When one doesn't take a good picture one avoids having it done.  I don't want to hear "it's such a good picture of you".....all I can think is "my gawd, do I really look like that?"

Ah well.  Not much can be done about it........

On the flight from Toronto to Vancouver I watched a Canadian movie, "Marion Bridge", which I enjoyed so much I watched it again a week later on the flight from Vancouver to Sydney.  At the end the actors portraying the three sisters sang "Song for the Mira" which I hadn't heard before and absolutely loved.  Found the words and chords on the interwebz, now to find a little guitar time.  Even brought a present home for one of my guitars, a set of strings I can't get here, and of course they travelled in the hold in my checked bag.  Can't you just imagine a set of guitar strings setting up alarms in security?

Speaking of checked and carry-on bags, have you seen the size of many of the bags people take into plane cabins these days?  We each travelled with a backpack (which went under our seats) and a small un-wheeled bag, our big bags were checked.  But some people arrive jauntily down the plane aisle with bags they can barely lift into the overhead lockers, and there is much pushing and shoving as they try to make their bag fit in with everyone else's.  It's that sense of entitlement and importance at work again, isn't it?  On our flight from Vancouver to Sydney our row was shared by a Canadian man who works in the airline industry, and he told us he always checks his bag using the logic that, if people only travel with carry-on bags, eventually airlines will decide that checked bags can not just be charged for but be done away with completely.  Imagine trying to have a six-week holiday with only a small carry-on bag for clothing and souvenirs........

"No lady will retain possession of more than her rightful seat n a crowded tram-car or railway carriage.  When others are looking for accommodations she should at once and with all cheerfulness so dispose of her baggage that the seat beside her may be occupied by anyone who desires it, no matter how agreeable it may be to retain possession of it."

When I become queen I shall spread out over as many seats as I like, to make up for being squashed all these years.

Enjoy your days!

It's good to go away but......

it's even better to come home.

We had a lovely time at the folk festival - catching up with friends some of whom we haven't seen since last year, hearing some great music, and on my part joining in some good singing sessions.  Some of the overseas performers we saw were 'Dry Bones' from Manitoba, Canada, and Riley Baugaus and Kurt Sutphin from North Carolina, as well as local performers.  There were other great performers from overseas and within Australia too.....deciding which ones to see was a difficult decision!  Some pics were taken, but they won't be shown because I don't have the permission of the people in the pics to do so.

We enjoyed spending time with our older son, and with friends who also live in Canberra.  One of my favourite coffee roasters has a shop not far from the festival, so of course a visit there was part of the trip and some beans have come home with us.

A town where we stopped overnight is Cowra - one of its attractions is the Japanese Garden.  It was late afternoon, so shadows were getting longer.

 As you can see, it's on a hill.

 I like the juxtaposition of imported exotic plants in the foreground, and native eucalypt trees beyond.  Most of the plantings were exotics, although some natives were used.

We don't know if the smoke was from burning off surplus growth, or if it was a bushfire.  It was a long way off, but we had extensive views from that hill.

Because it's now autumn I was hoping for some colour in the garden from the many imported trees - Australian trees as a rule aren't deciduous and don't change colour - but most of the plantings are evergreens, with lots of conifers shaped to represent rocks.  However, it was still very pretty.

Having house sitters was a great success.  We came home to a home-cooked lunch, a spotlessly clean house, a tidy garden, and two very relaxed cats.  Because it was our first time using the service we were a bit apprehensive, but such a good experience has given us confidence to do it again.  It was worth it to have Binky happy - last time we went away for two weeks and had the cats in a boarding cattery, it took her a further week to adjust to being back home.  In that week she was very stressed and unhappy.  As were we.

So now we can get on with planning the trip to Canada in October!

Yesterday was raining and rather cool, so we did something we hadn't done for a long time - we went to a movie; we saw "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and really enjoyed it.  It's about a group of people from England who, after retirement, decide to move to India to live.  Because it's about older folks there are a few sad moments, but overall it's a really hopeful movie.......such a change to see a movie that doesn't depend on action and special effects, but one that has a realistic story about believable people.  And with no sex scenes.  Am I alone in thinking that sex scenes, which seem to have become more prevalent in movies, aren't really all that interesting to watch?  All that heavy breathing and slobbering in soft focus........some activities are not spectator sports, are they?

"Public mention of private matters.
Do not parade merely private matters before a public or mixed assembly or to acquaintances.  If strangers really wish to become informed about you or your affairs, they will find the means to gratify their curiosity without your advising them gratuitously.  Besides, personal and family affairs, no matter how interesting they may be to the parties immediately concerned, are generally of little moment to outsiders.  Still less will the well-bred person inquire into or narrate the private affairs of any other family or individual."

Don't you think that should apply to sex scenes in movies too?  We can only hope.......

Enjoy your days!