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

More golden goodness

One of this week's trees could be a wattle tree.

There are apparently so many species of wattle that somewhere in Australia, every day of the year, wattle trees are blooming.  Some are dark gold, some are so pale as to be nearly white, and there is every shade of yellow in between.....we have certainly seen wattles this colour.

The second tree reminds me of an underwater scene in a tropical lagoon.  It's quite a bit paler than many of the trees, but then an Arboretum needs trees which are light and trees which are dark.

This week's trees.  

We're now into re-using fabrics but each fabric is only used once for a tree, and once for a contrast.  Once all the blocks are together I am hoping it won't be too obvious, but the alternative would have to be 198 different fabrics - and while I have a good stash of batiks, it's not that extravagant!

These two pics are fabrics chosen to make bags.  In a few weeks the Historical Society museum will have its Spring Fair and Open Day, and will also celebrate the house's 150th birthday.  As I have done in past years I will be taking along one of my 1920s Singer treadle machines and demonstrating how sewing used to be done - and, indeed, still is.  All fabrics will be already cut out and any pressing will be done in advance, as I won't have access to an iron on the day.

This bag may be donated to charity but I quite like the yellow fabrics, so that bag might stay with me.

The garden from the other end.  You can see how green it all is, and this week's rain has certainly helped.  I even managed to avoid the wash line with my undies flapping gently in the breeze, for which you are no doubt thankful

Snowdrops planted by the previous owner, which pop up annually in late winter.

How has everyone been this week?  We have had even more rain, so much in fact that the river flooded again for the second time in a couple of weeks.  Fortunately it was classed as a minor flood - there are, it seems, minor, moderate and major floods - so while two of the three river bridges were closed, the water went down quickly.  The ground is already saturated, so it doesn't take much rain for a flood.

Words have been read.  Stitches have been sewn and knitted, in fact I may have overdone it because last year's broken arm has been rather painful, so it's having several days' rest from knitting.  At my quarterly check-up earlier in the week the doctor suggested going back to the exercises prescribed by the physio while my arm was healing, so I have been doing that.  Songs have been plinked and sung in readiness for performance at the Historical Society's open day, so it will be a busy day.

A shout out to Barbara, wherever you are - thank you for visiting my blog!  I wasn't able to reply to your comment as you came up as 'no-reply-blogger'.

This quote reminds us how things have changed in the past 140 years.

"Parents should exercise authority over daughters.

Parents should always be perfectly familiar with the character of their daughter's associates, and they should exercise their authority so far as not to permit her to form any improper acquaintances.  In regulating the social relations of their daughter, parents should bear in mind the possibility of her falling in love with any one with whom she may come into frequent contact.  Therefore, if any gentleman of her acquaintance is particularly ineligible as a husband, he should be excluded as far as practicable from her society."

I don't think so.  How will she ever learn to pick good from bad if she is not given the chance?

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Twenty-five years of a wonderful relationship

The other day it occurred to me that the anniversary of the day that My Lovely New Bernina came to live with me could be approaching; I remembered that it was bought in August 1999, but not the date.....so I checked on the original receipt, and it was 5th August.  Last Monday was the day, and it has been a beautiful friendship.  Here it is, hard at work on a quilt which, like many others, was pieced and quilted on it.

Back in 19-umpty-um when I was 18 and first starting to sew, I bought a machine from a co-worker.  It didn't have a free arm, but I learned quite a lot on it and even made the dress I wore to my first wedding, allover lace with a long train, made from a Vogue pattern.  (Nothing like being ambitious, is there.)  Five years later it was time for a better machine, so off I trotted to the Singer shop where I bought a Singer 726.  It had more stitches, did better buttonholes - and wonder of wonders, it had a free arm.  I wouldn't like to add up how many seams were sewn on it, but there were a lot.....clothes for me, for our two boys, even for Kevin, and my first foray into patchwork.  Probably enough seams to stretch from here to the moon several times over.  As time went on the old Singer was beginning to chug a bit, and I thought perhaps its time had come....but no, it still sewed happily.  When I started out most home sewing was done on woven fabrics; stretch fabrics came along later, and it didn't like handling some of those fabrics.  That's all right, I thought to myself, I'll buy an overlocker (serger) to do what the Singer can't manage.  However, one day I had a talk with myself and a talk with Kevin and after 29 years with the Singer decided to go for a new - brand new! - machine; after some shopping around I settled on a Bernina Virtuosa 160.  

We still have fun together, and it is still called - and indeed will always be called - My Lovely New Bernina.

Some work was done on a side border for Autumn Rhapsody.  It is chugging along nicely.  My original plan was to make extra HSTs and make it square following the original rectangular design (if you can follow that), those extras would be added to both sides.  After thinking it over and realising it would have made a larger quilt than was wanted or needed that idea was shelved; it will be square, but not enormously so.  That now means there are 78 leftover HSTs.  Seventy-eight!  That's enough to start another quilt!!

On our 2018 autumn trip to Canada our DIL and I attended a quilt show - our third time seeing that show, it was always held when we visited, which was jolly nice of them - and this was one of the raffle quilts hanging in the foyer.

Love the twisted column design!  This pic was taken, and the idea filed away in the back of my brain for some time in the possible future.  It's even easier than I thought, here's a tutorial.  Wouldn't those HSTs make a good start......more would need to be made, but it's not as though I lack fabric to do so......it could be called Autumn Twist, couldn't it....wheels in my brain are turning......

How has everyone's week been?  We had some excitement during the week; last weekend's promised rain came, and came, and came some more....the main highway around town was flooded and closed for a while, thereby causing a certain amount of traffic chaos.  One foolish bloke drove onto a flooded road and had to be rescued by emergency services, getting his few minutes of fame and fortune on the news that night and being the subject of some derision on social media in the process.  That road, which runs beside and over a small creek, is fairly low and it floods whenever the rain gods so much as sneeze.  Locals know to keep off it during times of heavy rain and this bloke found out the hard way that driving onto a flooded road early in the morning, while it's still too dark to see how deep and how fast the water is flowing, is not a good idea. 

Words have been read.  Stitches have been sewn by hand, and by machine.  (On My Lovely New Bernina, of course.)  Songs were sung, and notes were plinked.  Our strumming 'friend' was there but was quiet, for which I was thankful.  On Tuesday Emma physio was pleased with my progress, and best of all - yesterday I used my rotary cutter!  Yay for me!  It was a bit difficult at first then I had a brainwave and put in a new blade, and it was like cutting through butter, even with a hand that isn't yet working to its full strength.

It's possible that my hand and wrist may never be the same as before the break.  I have to accept that.  Given my age - I'm no longer young - and the severity of the injury it may be something I have to face, so long as I can do what I want and/or need to do without too much difficulty or pain. 

"Conduct in an artist's studio.

If you have occasion to visit an artist's studio, by no means meddle with anything in the room.  Reverse no picture which stands or hangs with face to the wall; open no portfolio without permission, and do not alter by a single touch any lay-figure or its drapery, piece of furniture or article of vertu posed as a model.  You do not know with what care the artist may have arranged these things, nor what trouble the disarrangement may cost him."

Indeed.  I would have added, "or her", as not all artists are men, are they?  We are all artists, every time we set foot in our sewing room or studio.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

A little of this, not much of that

Pretty much sums up my week.  How was yours?

The decision was made to use the darker fabric to bind the blue and green quilt, so strips will be cut this week.  The bags shown recently have been handed over to the Worthy Cause, so they have left the sewing room.

Diamonds have been cut, and also sewn.....an easy mindless project in front of TV.  Words have been read.  Notes have been plinked and sung; once again I was the leader for the U3A ukulele group, and once again we managed without descending into total anarchy.  I have to admit to being floored when I mentioned making sure ukes were in tune....one woman said she never tuned hers, didn't own a tuner, in fact didn't think it made any difference!  Ohmygawd......if you have ever heard an out of tune instrument, doesn't matter which instrument it is, it's enough to set your teeth on edge.  (well, mine, anyway)  She has instructions to buy a tuner before next Thursday, and I will show her how to use it.

Many years ago we used to meet up at folk festivals with a lovely man and his wife who had a sticker on their car window which read "Love thy neighbour - tune thy piano".  Never a truer word spoken.  Or written.  He used to have a beautiful green parrot on his shoulder, and a permanent trail of bird poop down his back.....but his piano was always in tune.  Sadly, he is no longer with us.  I don't know about the parrot.

As not a great deal of note has been accomplished this week, we will trawl back through the vaults for some photographic inspiration.

When Kevin was putting the 1926 Singer treadle machine back together he noticed this piece of metal on the floor that he thought must have come from the machine.  I duly photographed it and asked the "what is it?" question on a social media vintage machine page.  It is the central piece of the tension assembly, I was told by Those Who Know.  Kevin checked - but it isn't from that machine!  So - it either came from the 1925 machine, or I have ended up with a spare.....and a mystery.

Pics are appearing on social media of autumn on the other side of the world, beautiful droolworthy pics of glorious fall colour.  These are a little different; they are fungus photographed on an autumn trip to MacMillan Provincial Park on Vancouver Island.

This looks like two birds, or perhaps two fish, doesn't it?  But no - it's fungi.

The park had lots of different fungi.

There are very tall straight trees in that park, too.  Vancouver Island is the Land of Tall Straight Trees.  We have tall trees in Australia too, but they aren't very straight.

The weather has gone from quite hot to rather cool, and hasn't yet swung back.  It's the time of year where the big decision as to what to wear is dependent on conditions, and will we be inside or outside, will it be sunny or windy......however, we know it probably won't be wet, although it rained a few nights ago.  We were woken at stupid dark early o'clock to very loud thunder and the garden enjoyed a drink, although it would like more.

Continuing on with Etiquette if the Street, Some General Suggestions:

"A gentleman will always precede a lady up a flight of stairs, and allow her to precede him in going down."

Of course he should.....and just think, this was written many years before the advent of mini skirts when some men tried to walk up stairs behind a lady!  Shame on them.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Hidden treasure!

When my 1926 treadle machine went for its recent visit to the house museum it was taken apart for transport, as it's far too heavy for two Olde Phartez to lift.  First the staple was unclipped from the leather belt join, and the belt removed.  Next two screws holding the machine were removed, and the machine head lifted from the wooden cabinet.  Finally - this is the tricky bit, although Kevin assured me it wasn't difficult, just fiddly - the four vertical screws holding the wooden cabinet to the metal base were removed, and the wooden cabinet lifted off.  When it returned home, the process was repeated in reverse.

To make re-assembly less fiddly Kevin laid the wooden cabinet on its back, first removing the six drawers so they wouldn't fall out and get damaged. (The floors in that part of the house are tile, anything dropped on it is likely to break.)  Imagine his surprise when he looked inside the cabinet and found some very old things which had obviously fallen out the back of one of the drawers, become wedged in and never found - possibly not since the 1920s!

There is a piece of floral fabric, possibly fine cotton or rayon (viscose); a large piece of pale blue fabric, also fine cotton or rayon; a piece of gold brocade; a length of narrow lace, and a piece of floral beaded trim - it appears to be unused - which could be used for an evening garment or bag, and which has a 1920s look to it.  There was also a bonus certificate from 1927 for the amount of 100 pounds, equal to $200 in today's money, with a 25 pound ($50) bonus.  Converted to today's money value it's worth several thousand dollars - but I can't cash it in; for one thing I am not the person whose name is on the certificate - and for another thing, the company no longer exists.

The machine was a freebie, back in 2001.  My brother rang me to say his neighbour had "an old machine like yours" (our grandmother's 1925 Singer machine, by then in my possession) so if I wanted it, get there quickly or the neighbour was going to take it to the tip.  We hot-footed it over to his place in peak hour traffic (peak hour traffic in the Big Smoke was not for the faint of heart then, it's probably much worse now) to find the neighbour had taken the machine apart but everything was still with it.  Some of the fancy feet - the manual - even the key to the cabinet! - a plastic bag of screws - all was there.  Nothing was missing, so putting it together again was just like doing a not-very-hard jigsaw.  We had, however, never looked behind the drawers before!

I wonder how that long-ago seamstress felt when she couldn't find the certificate, and her leftover pieces of fabric and trim?  "Oh dear, it was here somewhere......"

The neighbourhood is coming along well.

It has become my take-along project for the quilt group first Tuesday of the month meeting, as it's just pinning and straight sewing.  Lots of pinning is required, as those strips are only cut one inch wide and I don't want them to slip while being attached, but that does make for slower results.  Never mind; every painstaking pin will be worth it when it's done. 

The pas couple of days I have been helping Kevin with some of his family history research.  It's been interesting finding out about his paternal grandmother, Emily from the circus; he remembers her as a little old lady - but before she married she was a bareback rider who was regarded with awe because she could swing down and pick up a handkerchief while at full gallop!  She also danced the 'Highland fling' and 'sailor's hornpipe' in the ring, starting out as a child.  She retired from the circus in her mid-20s when she married and never, it seems, performed again.

Diamonds have been joined, and more have been cut.  A wooden hanger has had its old knitted nylon cover removed (remember them?) and replaced with a pretty floral one, following a helpful online tutorial.  Words have been read.  Notes have been sung but none plinked, as my aging fingers have been resting after the previous musically busy week.  Hunting and gathering has been done.  That was the week, that was.

Daylight saving started at stupid dark early o'clock this morning, at 3 a.m.  We set our clocks as we were going to bed so our brains could start to adjust from waking-up time, but just the same I expect to feel a bit lagged for a few days until my brain kicks into gear.  Which it will.  Just not immediately.  Our state has had daylight saving since 1971, but there are those who still whinge and complain about it every year at this time.  Just get over it.  Your moans won't make it change back.  I don't love it, but I certainly don't hate it either.....there's no point in hating something so trivial, is there?

"Keep to the right.

On meeting and passing people in the street, keep to your right hand, except when a gentleman is walking alone; then he must always turn aside to give the preferred side of the walk to a lady, to any one carrying a heavy load, to a clergyman, or to an old gentleman."

Well, yes....I understand sheltering a lady from mud and splashes of the street, and an old gentleman who perhaps couldn't nimbly leap out of the way himself......same with a heavily laden person....but a clergyman?  If a clergyman is walking with a lady he would walk on the outside, surely - clergyman or not?

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Back on line

But - oh dear! how to upload photos is still a mystery.  Perhaps it will become clearer eventually.

Everything else seems to working just fine though, so we are once more connected to the world......even if that pic I took earlier and tried to upload has disappeared somewhere into cyberspace.  We have been connected to the world via our computer since 1997 - and our world has certainly changed since then.

There are a couple of people in our U3A ukulele group who don't have a computer and whose eyes glaze over with fear at the very thought of using one.  One of the women uses her age as an excuse (oh I'm 80, I'm too old) but she hasn't always been 80 in the time that computers have been around, has she?  Some of the most enthusiastic users are seniors who see the possibilities for keeping in touch with distant family and friends, and indeed with the world in general.  Since moving here to the Small Smoke in 2010 we have noticed more and more folk getting online, despite their scepticism at first; Kevin was told "don't send me an email, I never use it" by more than one person who did have an email address - but didn't bother using it.

Ah ha - one more try, and success!  We have a photo!

Next Sunday a Spring Fair is being held at a local house museum, Calala Cottage.  I will be taking one of my 1920s Singer 66 treadle machines along to demonstrate how it works; I have done that a couple of times in the past, and it always generates interest.  Many people can remember such a machine being in their family...."oh, Dad's mother had one but no one ever used it" or "I remember Mum's auntie had one but it was thrown out after she died" etc., but not many people these days have seen one in action.  As before I will be taking along some bags already prepared and pressed, so only straight stitching with no seam finishing (all raw edges will be covered) is required.  

The print fabrics will be the outer layer and handle trim, the solid fabrics will be lining and handles.  Taking three bags is a bit ambitious considering that the ukulele group is also performing so when I'm not treadling I will be plinking, and vice versa.....with, of course, breaks for coffee and lunch, but just the same some stitching will get done.

Recently we have had some proper spring weather and had even let the fire go out, but our old friend winter has returned just to remind us that, after all, it's not the middle of September yet.  Last night's fire was very cheery and warming, and tonight's will be too.  

Words have been read.  No diamonds have been cut or sewn, but once the jumper is completed that will change; it's nearly all sewn up now.  Notes have been plinked and sung.  Bags have been prepped.  The usual hunting and gathering was done, and I even found time for a visit to the hairdresser for a trim.  Since having had eye surgery three years ago a hat is a necessity outdoors, something easier with shorter hair, so my longer locks were sacrificed for hair above my shoulders.....but I still haven't gone for the very short Olde Ladye Choppe.

Our lovely wattle bush is nearly finished flowering for the year, just a few little golden yellow balls of fluff are left, and it is missed already.  It was very beautiful this year.

Concluding our Etiquette for Public Conveyances:

"Gentlemen should not cross their legs, nor stretch their feet out into the passage-way of a public conveyance."

No, gentlemen.  Don't   We don't wish to trip over your feet.  Keep to your own space, and we will keep to ours.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Counting down to the finish

It has turned freezy frosty chilly, something to be expected now that we are racing through June, making it good weather for inside pursuits such as sewing.  We even had some welcome rain, with more forecast.

This week's finished blocks.

Long blocks behind, small in front.  I hesitated about using the frog fabric as it's not an I-spy quilt, but it's such a fun print (and it's green!) that it had to be included.  I wasn't sure, either, about the print second from left on the top, a green design on a blue background with the blue leaning more toward purple.  Various fabrics were tried with it but in the end the decision was made to go with a sharp acid green, and I think they hold hands nicely.

If my counting is correct there are only two large and four small blocks still to be made, then they can all be laid out and Big Decisions made as to placement.

My house quilt has come back out from its box into daylight once more.  Earlier in the week was quilt group meeting day so I took along my 1950 Singer Featherweight, and tried out its new 1/4 in foot.  I am not used to a foot with an edge guide but it went well, and now all the blocks are joined into diagonal strips.  Next is to join the sashings (strips are already cut) and trim them to the lengths required; as it's set on point the two middle rows are really long.  It's going to be quite a large quilt!  For the label I am thinking of making a house block in very pale colours and embroidering the quilt's name 'There Goes The Neighbourhood' on it.  

Stitches have been knitted - the front of my jumper is now up to the decrease for the armhole, yay!  Words have been read, notes have been plinked and sung.  No diamonds have been joined, but some will be during my time at the gallery on Tuesday afternoon.  On Thursday a couple of friends called in on their way further north, we had a cuppa and some fruit slice together, then waved them off on their journey.

Over the past few years I have been noticing that more and more foods have chili in them.  Now, I have nothing against chili so long as I'm not forced to eat it; when I buy smoked salmon dip I expect it to taste of smoked salmon, not of chili.....although chili doesn't really add flavour, does it?  Just heat, which is not always needed.  In fact chili has to be up there on the list of my least favourite foods, close behind tomato - which is right at the top.  One of my earliest memories is of my mother holding me down with one hand and trying to force-feed me tomato with the other.  I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now.  Don't like the taste, definitely don't like the texture.

I much prefer chocolate.....

This week will be marked by a sad farewell to a good friend, one who enjoyed sharing a cuppa and a piece of fruit slice with us.  I hope the fruit slice is waiting for him, wherever he is.

Continuing on with Shopping Etiquette:

"You should never take hold of a piece of goods or an article which another person is examining.  Wait until it is replaced upon the counter, when you are at liberty to examine it."

That is excellent advice.  If the other person buys the article and you miss out, then it wasn't meant to be yours.  If, on the other hand, you succeed in purchasing it - it was definitely for you.

Enjoy your days!

When I'm 64

I was once, you know....

The diamonds have been joined, and joined, and this morning I thought it would be interesting to see how many have been made.  They were duly retrieved from the Box of Finished Blocks, laid out, counted and photographed.....and there are 64, although they didn't all get in the pic.

The Cunning Plan is to make lots and lots then join them into - I don't know, threes perhaps? fours? sixes?  Or perhaps just join them into rows, then join the rows together.  Watch this space.

These are some of the pieces from my tumbler quilt - perhaps they are related?

The same, but different.

Apart from cutting a few more diamonds the sewing room hasn't been on my agenda this week, sadly.  Treadle practice is coming along, we have even progressed to sewing with real thread on real fabric, yay!  Between that and ukulele practice for the sewing/ukulele gig next Sunday, some hunting and gathering and an appointment or two, that's another week gone.

A few days ago I was writing out some information to have with me while treadling next weekend.  Going by the last time I did this people will ask questions, so an online search told me that it's a 66K machine made in Kilbowie, Scotland, hence the K in the model number.  The serial number indicates that it was made after 26th May, 1925; it is nigh on impossible to find out the exact birth date of an old Singer machine, but it is possible to find out when the serial number was released.  A batch of 35,000 numbers was released on that date and the number on mine is only a few hundred from the first number, so perhaps it was soon afterward.

This machine was free - the best price! - I already owned my maternal grandmother's Singer treadle when one day 20 or so years ago my brother rang to say his neighbour had "an old machine like Nanna's" that was being thrown out, so if I wanted it to get there quickly.  We duly did, and while the neighbour had taken it apart the screws were in a plastic bag along with several of the fancy feet, the manual, even a key to the drawers, which is a real treasure indeed.  The cabinet case is in better condition than Nanna's thanks to that one being stored on a verandah by my mother before she gave it to me, so it is the one I use for demonstrations.

The museum will have a blacksmith working in his forge and a shearer showing how sheep are/were shorn and some other older skills being demonstrated, so a treadle sewing machine fits right in.  The museum collection includes a Wilcox & Gibbs treadle machine, and a hand-crank.

It will be fun.

This week has brought rain, and cold winds, and warm sunshine.  The coming week looks to be more of the same, as we tip over from winter to spring.

Continuing on with General Rules for Balls:

"Ladies leaving a ball or party should not allow gentlemen to see them to their carriages, unless overcoats and hats are on for departure."

Perhaps this was to make sure that no hanky-panky took place in a carriage, unless both parties were suitably clad against the cool night air?  I must confess it has me a little puzzled.

Enjoy your days!

Meet the newest member of the Thursday night choir

This is Reggie.

 He's only a little feller, just a few months old, and his hopping skills aren't very well developed yet.

His mum was in a traffic accident and didn't survive, but Reggie was rescued and now lives with a member of the choir and her husband.  When he is bigger - another eight months or so - he will go a local marsupial park to be with other kangaroos.

The countdown is now on - just nine days until we drive to the Big Smoke, and ten days until we fly!  Now that the week is finally over (one of the busiest weeks we have had for a long time) we can concentrate on packing Stuff which has to be taken and Stuff which, if it's forgotten, won't stop the world turning.

My quilt pieces only weigh a smidgeon over 620 grams which is less than 23 ounces in old money, so they will be on the trip with me for sure!  When I quoted 840 pieces that was a miscount because I forgot to allow for the 48 half pieces for the sides.......so, 888 pieces.  Apparently the Chinese regard 8 as a lucky number so three eights must be extra extra extra lucky, yes?

Working on a project in the sewing room was very frustrating today, the top thread broke while free motion quilting; the assumption was that there was a bit of thread somewhere in the bobbin assembly, so it was duly taken apart, cleaned and put back together.  Snap - thread broke again.  Take bobbin apart again, clean again, put back together again.  Naughty words were on the brink of being said by this stage.  The top thread was removed because when all else fails you re-thread the machine - right?  This enabled the sewing genius here (hah) to see that the top thread was catching in the bottom of the spool and also wrapping around the base of the spool pin, thereby causing said thread to snap.  A naughty word was duly said......the thread spool was turned the other way, the machine re-threaded and quilting resumed.  It went like a dream, just the way it should.  Lesson learned.

At sewing guild on Wednesday I took along some yoga pants to shorten, plus my machine and overlocker (serger) to do it with.  Another member measured me for length, one leg was pinned up and they were tried on - perfect length.  The overlocker was used to trim off the excess before folding up a hem for sewing......but sewing genius here overlocked along the fold line, cutting off the entire hem, instead of a couple of cms down to allow for the fold......so now those pants have 1/4in hem which of course flares and frills out like you wouldn't believe.  Just as well they only cost $5 on sale, I would be spitting chips if I had paid real money for them and then buggered them.

I told you it was a busy week, goodness knows where my brain went.

This morning's gig went off well, a fun way to finish up before our holiday!  The uke group has been asked to do two definite and one possible gigs while I am away, shame to miss out but there will be others in future.

"There is nothing that tests the natural politeness of men and women so thoroughly as travelling.  We all desire as much comfort as possible, and as a rule are selfish.  In these days of railroad travel, when every railway is equipped with elegant carriages for the comfort and convenience of its passengers, and provided with conductors and servants, the longest journeys by railroad can be made with perfect safety and but little annoyance." 

Indeed.  These words of wisdom from 1885 could apply equally to flying today, couldn't they?

Enjoy your days!

Our tickets are here!

This morning the paper work for our trip arrived from our travel agent down in the Big Smoke, so now we know for sure that we are going......it has all seemed a bit unreal, to now.  However in less than three weeks we will be walking down the bridge and onto the plane for the long flight over shark infested waters, up there in the tin box with several hundred of our new best friends and 97 crying babies.

It will be worth it when we arrive.

Just a few minutes ago the last of those 840 tumblers was cut - feast your little peepers on this box of repro goodies!

 Forgive the slightly shaky picture, I was probably so overcome with excitement as I pressed the little button that I couldn't control my finger.  There aren't quite 840 in this box, some are in the sewing bag by my TV chair, but take it from me.....all are done.  Some of the reproduction fabrics date from the mid-1990s when repros were first hitting the market in a big way, while some are more modern.  You can see by the tumblers already joined on the right-hand side of the box that there is no careful laying-out of pieces, just a lighter fabric being joined to a darker one; colours are immaterial, but two similar tones and colours aren't being paired.  The plan is (provided, of course, that they don't weigh too much)  that they will be coming to Canada with me ("what, all of them?" asked Kevin, "yes indeedy" said I) to occupy time spent in airports, and perhaps while watching TV in the evenings - we aren't the types to go out hitting the high spots and night clubs after dark, you know.

This gorgeous picture taken at Mount Tomah Botanic Garden some years ago when we visited in spring, and it popped up again on our computer this morning so I thought I would share.  The Waratah is the floral emblem of New South Wales, and is spectacular when in flower; sadly they don't grow here, so I will have to be content with admiring them on the screen.  Some of those flower heads are as big as a closed fist - some, even bigger.

We really like living here and have settled in well - it's been over eight years now since we moved here - and certainly don't miss much about the Big Smoke.  We used to be just an hour's drive from places like Mount Tomah which were lovely to visit, and I do occasionally miss that, but the slower pace of life and lack of busy traffic here more than make up for it.

The Parkinsons support group had fun singing along with us last week, one song they really enjoyed was "Mocking Bird Hill".  One of our members was all for taking it off the list but others prevailed, and we were glad we left it in because our audience enjoyed it so much.  Now we are practising for our bi-monthly gig at a local Sunday market in another week and a half.

Now that the tumblers are all cut it's time to move onto something else.  The next quilt group BOM is.....guess what......more fiddly-diddly cutesy-poo applique, but I shall be a good person and at least complete the lick-and-stick applique of two penguins.  They won't be sewn down as I shall run out of time - gosh darn, how about that eh - but I shall pass it back for stitching, and feel as though I have fulfilled most of my side of the BOM bargain.

My Lovely New Bernina machine (19 years old and still going strong) and my Bernina overlocker (only nine years old) will be going in for a service while we are away.  The dust and dirt from two flood renovations last year probably didn't do them much good, so a deep cleaning and service will make them happy again.

This week we are having a little taste of the coming summer.  It's not unusual to have a spell of quite warm weather as spring makes its presence felt, then temperatures settle down somewhat and we enjoy mild days once more.  For a while......it will be cooler in Canada, but such a shock to arrive back to full-blown summer.

"Morning dress for gentlemen.
The morning dress for gentlemen is a black frock-coat, or a black cut-away, white or black vest, according to the season, gay or colored pants, plaid or stripes, according to the fashion, a black silk hat, and a black scarf or necktie.  A black frock coat with black trousers is not considered essential, nor is a dress coat and colored or light trousers,  The morning dress is suitable for garden parties, Sundays social teas, informal calls, morning calls and receptions."

I can just see Kevin getting out of his beloved trakkie daks and into gay coloured plaid pants with a cut-away coat.......not going to happen......

Enjoy your days!

Spring is now springing

The weather is warming, wisteria is now flowering......it must be spring!  New seasons don't arbitrarily arrive on a particular day, they ease in gradually - and now spring flowers are blooming, trees are wearing their new green leaves, and the air smells like spring.  Perhaps it's only the neighbour's jasmine creeping over the fence......the smell of that stuff drowns out all other scents......

Not so good news for the next few days however with high temperatures, a hot wind and fire danger alerts, a bit early in the season but it does happen.  Hopefully it's just an aberration and things will settle down for a while afterwards.  Some rain would be welcome.

Last Sunday's treadling demonstration went well!  There was a lot of interest from folk of all ages, many people reminiscing - "my grandmother/aunt/neighbour had one of those" and admiration - "my goodness, you are clever" and incredulity - "it's so old, and it still works!"  When children were asked to guess how old the machine was their answers ranged from "about 20 years old" to "about 200 years old".

Over the previous few days the stash was raided and fabrics were cut out to make four bags.  I knew there would be no iron available so hems and facings were pressed at home beforehand, and two of the four were finished.  They still haven't been near an iron.

The ticking was given to me by a colleague several years ago.  She and her husband had a business restoring and selling old furniture; the restoration they did themselves, but the upholstery was always done professionally using beautiful (and probably quite expensive!) fabrics.  One day she gave me a bundle of leftovers including two long already-sewn pillow covers which, when cut across, were just the right size for bags.  Two strips were cut from each piece for handles, and fabric for linings came from my stash of elderly fabrics.

Two down, two to go.

These will also be made on the treadle, because it was such fun!

The lime green purse is creeping slowly towards the finish line, and now that the treadle weekend is done other projects can be worked on.  A Secret Squirrel project is also waiting its turn.

Haven't told you all about an outing we had a month ago.  Each August a big agricultural showcase, Agquip, is held in a town an hour away and, while many locals are blasé about it, we find it very interesting and have been a few times since moving here.  A highlight is lunch; this year we had Hereford steak sangers and very nice they were too; nothing flash and fancy, just a thin piece of tender steak with fried onions and a dash of barbecue sauce inside two pieces of bread.  There was a copy of the Hereford breeders' magazine on the table for lunchtime reading, while nearby in a small enclosure was a live example.  So you can admire the cattle and read about the cattle while you eat the cattle......we could have had Angus, or Murray Grey, or another breed......

We are having this month off choir because our fearless leader, Bill, is travelling overseas.  We miss our Thursday night singing.

"Time to send invitations.
Invitations for parties and entertainments of a formal nature can be sent out for a week or two weeks before the entertainment is to take place.  A notice of not less than one week is expected for such invitations.  They should be printed or engraved on small note paper or large cards, with the envelopes to match, with no colors in the monogram, if one is used."

Do people still send out such printed and engraved invitations, or are they now delivered online or by text?

Enjoy your days!

A tale of two treadles

Which isn't quite like a tale of two cities.

We have a Singer treadle machine up and running!

This was a freebie.  Way back in about 2001 my Big Smoke brother rang me to let me know that his neighbour had "a treadle like your old one that was Mum's" and, if no one collected it from his front verandah that very afternoon, he was going to take it to the tip.  Never one to pass up a free machine we immediately drove over to said neighbour's and found this beauty in its cabinet, above.  It had been taken apart but was not broken, all the screws which had held it together were in a bag, and it even had the original manual, the drawer key - which is as scarce as hen's teeth, let me tell you - and all the fancy feet.  The serial number indicates that it was made in Kilbowie, Scotland, in about 1925.

Recently I bought a couple of new leather belts, and some new bobbins, and felt pads for the spool pins; Kevin has spent some time disassembling, cleaning and re-assembling the tension mechanism and bobbin winder, and now it sews beautifully.

It joined my maternal grandmother Edith's 1924 machine, also made at the Kilbowie factory, which has been in my possession for 20 years.

They are both Singer 66 treadles with "Egyptian Lotus" decals, in identical cabinets.  Sadly the cabinet on Nana's machine isn't in as good condition as the freebie; my mother had kept it on her front verandah for a few years, the verandah was closed in but the machine sat against an outside wall, so because of our dry inland climate the left side of the cabinet is sadly weathered.

Fortunately the cabinet on the freebie is in very good condition, so on Sunday it is going with me to the local historical museum and together we will show how some of our ancestors used to sew.

Kevin's engineering mind seems to have enjoyed getting them up and running again, and he found having two identical machines very useful as he could learn from one while he worked on the other.  He now has a great respect for these old machines - they were made quite simply, but worked (and indeed still work) so well.

Back in the depression of the late 1920s-early 1930s people had their furniture and effects repossessed for non-payment of rent, but I have read that the bailiffs were not allowed to touch a sewing machine - it was regarded as a "tool of trade", i.e. a woman with a machine could use it to earn a living for herself and her family.

I remember my grandmother's machine sat in a corner of their dining room, and while I was allowed to play with her button jar and fabric scraps I wasn't allowed to use the machine.  I don't remember specifically being banned from it but I was never shown how to use it, so probably assumed - rightly or wrongly -  that it wasn't for me to use.

Oh well - it's mine now, and I can use it whenever I wish.

A touch of fame and glory this week too; my Winding Ways quilt, "The long and winding road", is hanging in public!  Volunteers at the local regional gallery were recently asked if we would like our humble efforts to be recognised by being displayed in the council building, so my black and white quilt is on display.  Yesterday morning we popped in to see it, and while there we were talking to a council employee who said she loved it (just as well, the poor woman has to look at it for much of the day) and Peter, one of the choir members who was gobsmacked by it and by the fact that I could do more than sing.  Because it is on a wall in a big space I was able to stand well back to look at it, something which can't be done here at home, and said "oh - wow!"

"Listening.
The habit of listening with interest and attention is one which should be specially cultivated.  Even if the talker is prosy and prolix, the well-bred person will appear interested, and at appropriate intervals make such remarks as shall show that he has heard and understood all that has been said.  Some superficial people are apt to style this hypocrisy; but, if it is, it is certainly a commendable hypocrisy, directly founded on that strict rule of good manners which commands us to show the same courtesy to others that we hope to receive ourselves."

Indeed.......and to save you looking it up, "prolix" means given to speaking or writing at great and tedious length and dates from the middle ages.

Enjoy your days!

The books are not yet in order......

........but sometimes I just look at them, and sigh a sigh of contentment because they are home again.

Aaaahhhhhh.......

Not much of anything has been done at all lately.  For the past couple of weeks I have felt slightly ailing....but not ill.  Possibly coming down with a cold......but no, it seems not.  There has been a lot of lack of energy though; fortunately that seems to be going and some stitches were sewn in the sewing room today on the lime green purse. More will be sewn when I get off the computer.  The knitting has been continuing in the evenings as it's a great in-front-of-TV pastime, the front is nearly up to the armhole decrease.

Consequently no photos have been taken lately, either!  However, I've been trawling through the Great Photo File and found a few.

This callistemon - Aussies call them 'bottle brush' - was in our garden in the Big Smoke.

 These spring daffodils were in the garden of a very old house in a small town, an hour south of where we lived at the time.

The jacaranda tree in our Big Smoke back yard with a neighbour's huge house extension in the background, one of the reasons we moved.  I'm not sure why this photo has attached itself to the previous one; I can't be this beautiful and have a technical brain as well, you know.

Jacaranda trees are beautiful.  They originally come from South America but grow well in many other countries including much of Australia, and the view across our town in spring with those blue trees in bloom against the green hills is a glorious sight.  Ours was a self-sewn seedling a few years after we moved to the house, and twenty years later when we moved out it was a big spreading tree which took up a lot of the small yard but gave wonderful summer shade.

Lovely as that tree was, we don't miss living in the Big Smoke.  We have settled in here now.

The local historical museum is having its biennial (bi-annual? something that happens every two years, at any rate) open day next month and I have offered to demonstrate treadle machine sewing.  First, though, the machine needs to be cleaned and oiled.....and much practice needs to be done, I haven't treadled for a long time......I have two mid-1920s Singer 66 model treadle machines, one bought by my grandmother in about 1926 to make baby clothes for my mother and her little brother, the other given to me by my brother about 16 years ago because his neighbour was going to take it to the rubbish dump although there was nothing wrong with it.  They are wonderful machines.

"In every class of life, in all professions and occupations, good manners are necessary to success.  The business man has no stock-in-trade that pays him better than a good address.  If the retail dealer wears his hat on his head in the presence of ladies who come to buy of him, if he does not see that the heavy door of his shop is opened and closed for them, if he seats himself in their presence, if he smokes a pipe or cigar, or has a chew of tobacco in his mouth, while talking with them, or is guilty of any of the small incivilities of life, they will not be apt to make his shop a rendezvous, no matter how attractive the goods he displays."

Fortunately it has been a long time since a retail dealer was chewing tobacco in my presence.

Enjoy your days!

Not a whole lot going on here.......

....the challenge quilt is temporarily put away, because I have been sitting on a charity quilt which I want to get done. Quilt top and fleece backing (no batting in this one) are laid out on the cutting table awaiting pins, but first it is coffee time. Oh, my.......I am not wonderful at machine quilting so I avoid it, but if I did more I would get better at it.......so here goes.

This week the postie delivered a wonderful surprise, all the way from Ohio! One of Cyndi's lovely Dotti bags, just for me - thank you Cyndi, you are terrific. Plus a lovely card and some fun Moda fabric mini charms. I already have a couple of ideas spinning around in my head for them......

The pretty lining fabric, isn't it something? I love it.
You know, if I were to choose my own fabrics I may not have chosen these - but I just love them. The bag has zipper pockets, and open pockets, and credit card pockets, and a long strap so I can carry it across my body and have my hands free. Since I broke my arm and damaged my shoulder I find carrying a large bag is uncomfortable and sometimes painful, so I have been using smaller bags and carrying less. Just how much do we need to cart around with us? Some of the currently popular bags (the ones with all the buckles and studs) are huge, and weigh a ton even when empty. Even my wallet is heavy, so I am thinking of paring it down too.

It's a dull cloudy day today, not terribly cold but not warm either. A good day to be inside sewing, even if it is machine quilting. Even the cats aren't much company - they are too busy sleeping. There is pasta sauce simmering away in the slow cooker for tonight's dinner.

Recently I started knitting myself a new cardigan, pics will follow in due course. It's a lovely deep teal and will be very useful when done. The pattern doesn't have ribbing along the bottom edge, it has six rows of moss stitch whitch has been curling up badly; hopefully it will fix itself when it's all made and sewn together. Most of my knitting gets done in front of TV, often with a cat on my lap - not always easy, let me say. Especially when it is Bianca The Beautiful (but slightly brainless), because she can't resist stretching out a paw to pat the yarn as it comes onto the needles.....then she has the hide to get indignant when I tip her off.

"If by chance anything unpleasant is found in the food, such as a hair in the bread or a fly in the coffee, remove it without remark. Even though your own appetite be spoiled, it is well not to prejudice others."

In other words, keep it to yourself because there may not be enough to share.

Enjoy your days!

Wearable WOW

It hasn't been warm enough to wear a shirt like this for a while as you can see by the fold marks - it's been sitting in the wardrobe since we unpacked. I bought this shirt at a folk festival a couple of years ago, isn't it fun? Lots of wombats doing what wombats do.....shuffling along, sleeping, scratching. It's made by Stringybark Graphics, their designs are fun. The colour looks a bit icky, in reality it's olive green. Green fabrics don't always photograph well, I wonder why?
I braved the cold winds a little while ago to get this pic of the wattle trees in the bush, you can see them better if you click on the pic to enlarge it. I wasn't going to walk up the hill to get closer, I'm staying here where it's warm. The wattles are a glorious golden yellow, and on a dull grey day like today they really glow. The grass in the reserve is very green at the moment because of all the rain over the past couple of months.

Have been playing around with fabric for my challenge quilt, and have even cut some. Now I have lots of nine patches to make; I was going to cut strips of fabric and assemble them the quick way, but one of the fabrics - a seagull print - is directional, and because of the larger pieces I had to cut out first some of the strips that were left were vertical and some were horizontal. It became all too much for my brain to work out so I cut them into 2-1/2in squares, and the other blue fabrics too. I'll make my nine patches the slow way, but at least it means I can mix up the fabrics more. I had planned to have a big sewing binge this afternoon but the niggly little headache that started just before lunch is stopping my brain from working properly, I can't concentrate on sewing. Never mind, it will happen.

This morning we went to a museum, the Power Station Museum. I bet not many of you knew that Tamworth was the first town in Australia to have its streets lit by electric light in 1888, did you? Even ahead of cities like Sydney and Melbourne. There is a museum in the original building with some of this history, and some fabulous old machinery, and all sorts of gadgets and household appliances that use electricity, including a lovely old Singer sewing machine with two boxes of feet and accessories including a buttonholer.......the man who showed us around said that occasionally things are stolen and it had been suggested that those accessory boxes shouldn't be left out for anyone to take. I said yes, most definitely you should put them away, as I drooled over them. The sewing machine was lovely and had barely been used, judging by the lack of wear on the decals.

Have been some mindless knitting again lately, a scarf in an interesting pattern, just to have something to pick up from time to time. And I've been reading, I have read a couple of books by Louise Penny. I'm really enjoying them, and her mention of licorice pipes has me intrigued.

"At five o'clock tea (or coffee), the equipage is on a side table, together with plates of thin sandwiches, and of cake. The pouring of the tea and passing of refreshments are usually done by some members of the family or friends, without the assistance of servants, where the number assembled is small; for, as a rule, the people who frequent these social gatherings, care more for social intercourse than for eating and drinking."

I trust you will remember that next time your maid asks for time off when you have an afternoon tea planned.

Enjoy your week!

Jennifer