Well, golly gosh!

As a character in a long-ago TV show used to say.....I can't remember the name of the show or the character, but I remember "Oh......g-g-g-golly gosh!"

Two more trees done this week.

Both of these fabrics were used in 'Summertime Blues'.....I like the contrast between the light orange and the blue/green.

This yellow and blue fabric was pulled out to use in that quilt too, but the yellow was too.....yellow.  It wasn't gold/orange, the colour I was going for, so it wasn't used.  The purple is a remnant from a long-ago project.

They hold hands nicely together, don't they?

Here's the g-g-g-golly gosh - two dozen trees have been made, so it's time they lined up for a photo.  Don't they look good together!

A design wall would be a Very Useful Thing; these were spread out on the spare bed, and you can see how the random layout works..  This won't be the final layout, by any means, because many more trees still need to be made.  Perhaps it will be a colourwash layout, or perhaps I will just stick to random.  I quite like random.

How has everyone been?  We have had a busy week; on Wednesday we took our little caravan to a flat car park to get some pics, and it has now been listed for sale on a social media page dedicated to that model.  There have already been a few nibbles, so perhaps we will be saying goodbye to it sooner rather than later.

It's not very big, but it has taken us to some amazing places.....and it's better than sleeping on the ground in a tent.  After so many years, we will miss it.

Words have been read.  Stitches have been sewn, and several diamonds have been cut to add to the travelling stash.  Songs were sung and plinked, and a certain amount of fun was had by the ukulele group - I hope!  Choir is taking a break until the end of next month as our leader is directing a play which is taking quite a lot of his time and energy, and I will miss my Wednesday night singing.

It's been a fairly hot week, the "h" word - heatwave - was even used, but hopefully today will be the last hot day for a while.  Temperatures in the coming week look like being a lot milder and we may even get some rain, something we certainly hope to get.  It's been a hot dry summer, and we're more than ready for cooler damper weather.....fingers crossed.  We've been noticing signs of autumn colour on many trees; perhaps they are just stressed by the heat, as most of us are.

Some plans are being made for activities during our trip to Canberra next month.  For me, op shops are a great drawcard; those Canberra folk donate quite nice clothing, and in the past some has come home with me.  Even Kevin finds the occasional bargain, too.  No doubt there will be an exhibition or two, and there are family and friends to catch up with, so we won't be lacking for things to do.

Continuing on from last week's etiquette post:

"On the other hand, no man who pretends to be a gentleman will attempt any familiarity.  The practice of some young girls just entering into womanhood, of flirting with any young man they may chance to meet, either in a railway carriage or on a steamboat, indicates low-breeding in the extreme.  If, however, the journey is long, and especially if it be on a steamboat, a certain sociability may be allowed, and a married lady or a lady of middle age may use her privileges to make the journey an enjoyable one, for fellow passengers should always be sociable to each other."

A steamboat ride sounds quite jolly, doesn't it?  It might be more fun than a long plane trip stuck in a tin box with several hundred of one's new best friends and 97 crying babies.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Very worthy Stuff

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

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

A day for the wombats of the world

Because today is International Wombat Day!  It does seem a bit silly to have an 'international day' for an animal which lives in only one continent - Australia - unless we count the small number in zoos around the world, but wombats are wonderful and deserve a day of celebration.

The first wombat in my collection was bought in my home town (where we moved in 2010, and where we still live) while on a visit to my mother, back in the late 1990s.  There used to be an interesting shop which was part plant nursery/part café/part gift shop - gone for many years now - and we took ourselves there for a ladylike morning tea.  On a potted plant there was a cute little wombat which appealed to me, I bought it for not many dollars......and the rest, as they say, is history.

Here it is, posing on a daffodil fabric from my stash.  It is slightly creased, but wombats don't use irons.

It has since been joined by many many more.

My blue and green quilt has been booked in with a long arm quilter, and will be delivered a week from tomorrow.  It occurred to me the other day that no decision had been made on binding - woops!  These are a couple of options:

The green swirl used as backing, and a dark blue/green/edging toward purple Fossil Fern which has been in my stash for some time, and which is richer in real life.  The swirl would be interesting in a narrow strip but I am leaning to the dark fabric, which I think it would make a better 'frame' around the quilt.  Thoughts will be thought on the matter over the next few days, and the cutter will be taken to the chosen fabric.

Words have been read, diamonds have been cut and sewn.  Notes have been plinked and sung; our U3A ukulele group leader is away for a couple of weeks so I led the group on Thursday and will do so again next Thursday.  We blundered through without descending into total anarchy; I am not a trained teacher and many people (including, I suspect, the (now ex) DIL) (who is a proper musician herself) would consider that I'm not a proper musician either, but we managed.  I had the heeby jeebies on arrival and breathed a sigh of relief at the end, let me tell you.

The heat of summer is upon us, and it's not pleasant.  If we were to set foot outside this afternoon we would probably be blown to kingdom come, so apart from hanging out washing this morning and bringing it in at lunchtime, we are staying inside.  We are promised a few more hot days with cooler relief by the end of the week, which will be welcome......and rain would be even more welcome, as we are tumbling headlong into another drought.  However - that's Australia for you; if it's not flooding it's on fire, or it's in drought, or it's flooding again.

Despite all the weather throws at us, though, I can't imagine living anywhere else.  Except perhaps Canada, in autumn......but definitely not in winter.

On Friday I had a foray into a new-to-me op shop (although it's been open for some time, I just hadn't been before) and came away with two tops, one dark blue with orange/red flowers, brand new with tags, and another bright yellow with tropical flowers and an interesting double flouncy sleeve.  I have also removed a few shirts/tops from my sumptuous wardrobe; unfortunately I have inherited the thick neck that comes from my mother's family, and now prefer shirts without collars.  Both my brothers have/had it, until a few years ago I hoped I had escaped......but alas, no.  If I have another chance at a life after this one I will pick parents who have slender swan-like necks.

The term 'op shop' - short for 'opportunity shop' - is, it seems, unique to Australia.  It was coined in Melbourne by Lady Someone-or-Other to reduce the stigma that was around at the time for those who bought second-hand goods, but an opportunity shop....who can resist an opportunity?  My Posh Melbourne Grandmother used the term 'opportunity shop', but somehow I don't think she ever shopped in one.  These days, of course, we're all about recycling and being environmentally aware, so opping - or thrifting, or whatever you call it - has become quite popular.  So...someone else will like my collared shirts, and my neck will be more comfortable.

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

"A young lady should, if possible, avoid walking alone in the street after dark.  If she passes the evening with a friend, provision should be made beforehand for an escort.  If this is not practicable, the person at whose house she is visiting should send a servant with her, or some proper person - a gentleman acquaintance present, or her own husband - to perform the duty.  A married lady may, however, disregard this rule, if circumstances prevent her being able to conveniently find an escort.

Funny how that little gold ring suddenly renders one safe on the street alone at night, isn't it?

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Those elusive black pants....

....are still nowhere to be found.  A few days ago I called in at the store where I hoped a pair in my size would have miraculously appeared on the rack, but no.  Doomed to disappointment once again.  However I have High Hopes of perhaps just possibly finding them, or something like them, when we go south in April.

I suspect it will be the last time I pop my head inside that store, too.  When one is greeted as one walks in by "hey darl, how are ya" one thinks to one's self......hmmmm, do I really belong here?  One is far from being a snob, one does not expect to be greeted by 'Madame' these days (in truth, I don't think one ever was) but 'darl'?  To say nothing of the music of a type I never listen to voluntarily (I'm not a musical snob either, my musical choices might surprise you) played at a volume guaranteed to wake the dead, and the rough cement floor which at one stage in its life may have been carpeted but now lies waiting to trip an unwary foot, it's not a pleasant place to shop.

Ah well.  I have enough clothes that I'm not walking around naked or cold, so that's something....but those pants, when and if I eventually get them, will fill a gap in my sumptuous wardrobe.

Something pretty....more of Auntie Laura's beautiful tatting.  It has been previously shown, but it's so lovely we can look again.

The linen centre is surrounded by a very wide lace border.

I'm fairly sure my mother never used it - perhaps for very special occasions, which were very few and very far between when I was young - but I have displayed it with a vase or pretty bowl in the centre.  A darker wood table such as ours shows the lace to perfection.  Despite its gossamer appearance it's surprisingly heavy....there's a lot of thread used to make all that lace!

Diamonds have been sewn, and more have been cut.  The plan is to cut a lot to take away in April; our little caravan doesn't have TV (it's not missed either) but stitching makes the time pass nicely.  Words have been read.  Notes have been plinked and sung.  

Stitches have been knitted, the first time for some months, and now the second sleeve on my jumper should be up to the armhole; it will be measured later this afternoon to check.  A decision also needs to be made about the cable pattern on the front.  I have found a cable design I like but am wondering - should it run up the centre front to the round neck, or be placed to one side or the other?  Or should there be two cables, and if so, how should they be spaced so as not to make me look as though I am wearing braces to hold up my pants?  Perhaps three, one in the centre and two spaced evenly at the sides, would be good....or would it be a bit much, bearing in mind that I am no longer as svelte as I once was?

Decisions, decisions......

While on some of our peregrinations during the week I noticed that leaves are now not as green as they were, indeed a few trees look as though their leaves are starting their autumn change.....or perhaps they are just stressed by our lack of rain and warm-ish temperatures, much as we ourselves are.  However in a few days it will be March, and while that doesn't mean the end of summer heat - it is the start of the winding-down of summer.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Answering questions.

A gentleman will answer courteously any questions which a lady may address to him upon the street, at the same time lifting his hat, or at least touching it respectfully."

I suspect that these days a gentleman, on being asked a question, will look up the answer on his phone.  He may or may not - probably not - be wearing a hat which he can either lift or touch respectfully.

Enjoy your days!

Back to normal programming

Or what passes for normal here.

The music festival has happened, our musical guest has been and gone - and what fun that was, we shared many laughs over many a cuppa while he was here - and our quiet life has resumed once more.

We went to a few concerts which we really enjoyed, and kept out of the way of noisy places.  It has been said "if it's too loud you're too old".....but I beg to differ; back in my younger days when I used to go to concerts and dances amplification equipment was nowhere near as loud as it is nowadays, and my hearing wasn't damaged as a result.  Earphones were a thing of the future too, we didn't spend our time with sound cranked up to an unbearable volume ringing in our ears.  

Some stitching has happened, diamonds have been cut and joined.  No stitches were knitted, although they will be when summer isn't so fiercely warm.  Words have been read.  Notes have been plinked and sung.

The house blocks were laid out and pinned into rows, the sewing of which will commence before too long.  There are eleven diagonal rows labelled by small pieces of leftover fabrics with numbers written on using fabric pen.  They were made when my tumbler quilt was being laid out and were going to be tossed once it was joined, but a little voice in the back of my brain said "hang on......don't do that, those labels can be used again....and again" and sure enough, they are.  Being fabric they will not tear like paper labels would.

On the last post I mentioned Mary Card and her beautiful crochet designs.  This mat, made by Kevin's maternal grandmother, is possibly another of her designs.  It sits on top of my bedside chest, and is made from very very fine thread.

Such exquisite work should be celebrated and enjoyed.  Many years ago when my brothers and I were clearing out my mother's house after her death I took the beautiful lace - tatted and crocheted - and embroidery work, mostly made by my mother's aunts.  My sister-in-law (who has an opinion on everything) said "I don't want any of that old stuff"....which was good, because I was prepared to take it by force if necessary.  But....when I am gone who will get it?  I have no daughters or granddaughters to inherit any of my Stuff.  If it ends up an an op shop it may be bought by someone who loves it, and that's fine by me.  Better that than having an unwanted bequest dumped on you, yes?

It's not very often I have a win, but I had one recently.  Just after Christmas I ordered black cropped pants online because the local store had none.  The money was quickly taken from our account but no pants arrived, and no notification of a post tracking number to let me know my order was on its way.  So....a few weeks later I rang their 'contact us' number and was told, we don't have your goods.  We are looking in our distribution centres.  Ring us again in about seven days.  That was when a little something went 'ping' in my brain and I interrupted her....."no....no.....no" I said....."I will not ring you.  You will contact me.  You have taken my money and have not supplied the goods I ordered.  If you cannot do so, then I want my money back."  I was not rude, but by heck I was firm.

And a couple of days later that money was back in our account!  But I still have no black pants.....

Contrast that with an order placed on Monday evening for a few sets of ukulele strings from an interstate dealer, which were in my hands by lunchtime on Friday.  I love the email I received from them - "Congratulations on your order Jennifer, you Ukulele Rockstar you!"  How could you not shop from someone with such a fun attitude and such excellent service?  There is a music store here but they have proven to be unhelpful and unreliable (and they don't call me a ukulele rockstar), so I shop elsewhere.  

Summer's heat has arrived, and with it some quite fearsome storms with lights and music echoing from the clouds and rolling around the hills.  There have been some spectacular pics on social media of the lightning a couple of nights ago.....a shame that thunder can't be photographed too!

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Lady and gentleman walking together.

A gentleman walking with a lady should treat her with the most scrupulous politeness, and may take either side of the walk.  It is customary for the gentleman to have the lady on his right hand side, and he offers her his right arm, when walking arm in arm.  If, however, the street is crowded, the gentleman must keep the lady on that side of him where she will be the least exposed to crowding."

Yes indeed.  A lady does not like to be crowded.

Enjoy your days!

Best wishes for 2023!

Well, we made it......another year done and dusted!  It will be interesting to see how it develops, won't it?

Did you all have a good Christmas?  Ours was very quiet, just the two of us this time.  Who knows what a year may bring?

As usual there will be no resolutions made in this house, but there will be hopes; hopes that a few projects will be closer to being finished by the end of the year than they currently are.  That will do me.

A new project has been started, a gift from a friend in Canada.

This was a block from a 'shop hop' back in 2018.  My music notes didn't fit on the lines without being too crowded, so one fell off.  Which sometimes happens, as many musicians will tell you.

Rather than using a dark brown or black for binding, this deep yellow from my stash will do nicely.  There may be just enough.

The applique is fused to the background; stitching it down will be done as it is quilted.  It will make a fun table topper.

Several diamonds have been cut, and quite a few joined.  It's about time that the finished blocks were counted, although there are nowhere near enough made for a quilt top.....even a small one.

Words have been read.  No stitches have been knitted as it's getting a bit warm to have wool on one's lap.  No notes have been plinked, although that will change tomorrow as the uke group has a rehearsal for a gig in a couple of weeks.

Recently a women's clothing shop, one of an Aussie chain, closed its doors here as a stand-alone shop and moved into a 'mega outlet' shared with other brands.  It's a brand I have been wearing for a long time as their clothes are suitable for those of us of the more mature years.  However, I don't think I will bother with them again; before Christmas I was able to find crop denim pants (the style worn by the older woman when she doesn't feel comfortable wearing shorts in public any more) in deep blue.  The same style in black - actually, a deep charcoal - would also be useful, I thought to myself, as my black pants are getting to the not-fit-to-wear-out-any-more stage....but alas, the black in my size was not to be had.  Any more out the back, I asked the assistant.....oh, I don't know, she said with a shrug.  A few days ago I called in again just on the off chance that luck might be on my side,  but once again drew a blank.  Blow it, I thought, so when we arrived home I ordered the very same black pants from their website.  Yes, I will have to pay postage, but that will be offset by the much-reduced sale price.  

I have never been much of an online shopper, but after being so disappointed by the alternative I can see the attraction.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Do not lack politeness.

Never hesitate in acts of politeness for fear they will not be recognized or returned.  One cannot be too polite so long as he conforms to rules, while it is easy to lack politeness by neglect, to them.  Besides, if courtesy is met by neglect or rebuff, it is not for the courteous person to feel mortification, but the boorish one; and so all lookers-on will regard the matter."

Politeness must be the oil with which the wheels of interraction with others are greased - yes?

Enjoy your days!

Rolling along nicely

Block number seven of my Canadian quilt, Prince Edward Island, is stuck down.

The Cunning Plan is to prepare all the blocks first then stitch the applique - hopefully (fingers crossed) the same fabric in all blocks can be done one block at a time before the thread colour is changed.  The next block is Ontario; some of the pieces have been traced, I'm not sure if they all have.  Will need to check.

'Hanging on' is still hanging in there.  It has been layered, now needs to be pinned.  I don't envy me trying to pin through - in some places - two layers of applique plus the background, so will just try for the empty background for pinning.

Meanwhile, the tumblers keep tumbling along.  Another row strip was finished a few nights ago which makes two done, four to do.  Each row strip is four tumblers high by 31 across.

Are you all staying safe, and staying sane?  We popped out yesterday for a spot of hunting and gathering and were surprised to find out that there are actually people in the world besides the two of us!  We will need to venture forth briefly tomorrow as the last of our nice dark chocolate will be eaten tonight, and a chocolate-less world doesn't bear contemplating.  Supermarkets hereabouts are opening at sparrowfart o'clock for oldies like us, so we will go then.

There is a small up side to the current shut-in situation.  Because we are wearing 'home' clothes nearly all the time, as opposed to 'out' clothes and 'home' clothes, there is far less washing than usual!  On the down side, looking like a dag each and every day is a tad boring.  Perhaps I should wear my tiara around the house, just because I can.  I do have a tiara, you know; a gen-u-ine rhinestone tiara from the 1960s, very pretty and very sparkly.

The kitchen smells nice thanks to 'Matrimonial Cake' not long out of the oven.  The recipe came from a friend on Vancouver Island and was her mum's recipe.  I added a little pumpkin pie spice mix to the flour/brown suger/rolled oats (oatmeal) base and topping; my friend hasn't tried that, but I thought I would give it a go.

The golf club where Monday's ukelele group met closed last weekend.  A few members came here instead, we were able to sit apart outside.  However, cases of the plague has now been diagnosed here so we have called a halt for the foreseeable future.  Yes, I can play here by myself, but......sigh.  Some things are more fun in company, and making music is one.

"A letter of introduction should not be given, unless the person writing it is very well acquainted with the one whom he introduces, and the one to whom he writes.  If the person who receives such a letter is really well-bred, you will hear from him or her within twenty-four hours, for a letter of introduction is said to be like a draft, it must be cashed at sight.  The one receiving it either invites you to dine, or to meet others, or to a drive, or to visit some place of amusement.  Too great caution cannot be exercised in giving a letter which makes such demands upon an acquaintance."

No letters of introduction in our changing world now, sadly......an email instead, perhaps? or a text?

Enjoy your days!

Been and gone and come home again

My life has taken on a life of its own lately.

Had a fun weekend at the folk festival in Dorrigo catching up with old friends, making new ones, playing music, singing, even joining in a big scratch band on stage to open the Sunday morning concert.  Now back to reality......

Dorrigo has a very nice quilt shop.  A little retail therapy may have been indulged in.    Not all for me, you understand.  It doesn't count when it's a gift for someone else.

On the way there and back we stopped at a village pub, as it was lunch o'clock.  Ebor is a small blink-and-you-miss-it place, but the lunches were quite yummy.  Here are a few Ebor trees for you.

 You can see the road which goes through town.

 I like these trees.

 A tall sentinel - these pics were all taken from the pub car park.

It is much greener in Ebor and Dorrigo than it is here.  Dust, dust and more dust is currently the order of our day, and added to that is smoke from fires not too far away.  Air quality is quite bad; we are being warned to limit our time outside, and people who have breathing difficulties are being told not to go outside at all if possible.  Waking up in the morning with a raw throat is not much fun, and singing becomes next to impossible.

Never mind.  This, too, shall pass.

Speaking of retail, have you noticed that many stores don't give bags for our purchases these days?  When one needs to buy undies (as one did yesterday) one must make sure to take a bag (one did), or one may be faced with the prospect of twirling one's new undies around one's index finger while sashaying along the main drag, no doubt to the scandalised gaze of locals.  It's a good thing to use less plastic, but that doesn't really address the problem of the over-packaged items placed in one's take-along bag, does it?

Recently new shoes were added to my less than extensive shoe collection.  I really really don't like shopping for shoes, but these were a necessity; leather lace-up shoes in a light nothing colour called "stone", support for the occasionally broken foot.  I have black shoes but wanted light ones for summer, and I dislike white athletic shoes even more than I dislike shoe shopping, so "stone" it had to be.

Some stitches have been taken.  No fabric has been cut out.  Friends from Canada are arriving on Saturday for a visit, so cutting out is on the back burner for a while while we enjoy their company.

"The feet.
A well-formed foot is broad at the sole, the toes well spread, each separate toe perfect and rounded in form.  The nails are regular and perfect in shape as those of the fingers.  The second toe projects a little beyond the others, and the first, or big toe, stands slightly apart from the rest and is slightly lifted.  The feet, from the circumstance of their being so much confined by boots and shoes, require more care in washing than the rest of the body.  Yet they do not always get this care."

Not a word about a twice-broken foot, you notice.

Enjoy your days!

We're pretty much over summer

We had a late start to summer this year because we weren't here, but it is making up for our lost time now.  According to the weather people we are having a "low intensity heatwave" and have been since Christmas Eve......well, fancy that.  I would much prefer no heatwave at all.

Unfortunately I don't have the power to do anything about it, so we just have to suffer.

It was cooler in Canada.  This is the view looking west from our apartment window - see the bus stop around the corner?  We used it several times, but not on the day this was taken.

 Looking straight across the road.

I know that's not much snow compared to what some of you see every winter, but it's a big deal for us!

The day we drove from Midland to Goderich was quite snowy and very beautiful, if a little exciting for people not used to snow driving.  Maxwell is quite a small town with a diner where one can get excellent coffee; an agricultural machinery place - not quite what we needed - an Amish furniture store, and a really good quilt store, Threads That Bind.  On the premise of  'pics or it didn't happen' here is some of the snow that day......but this is nothing like we had driven through already, almost a whiteout in places.

Some fabric came home with me from Maxwell.  When the owner realised that I had come from a long way away she reached onto a shelf and gave me a fat quarter of fabric, saying she likes to give a gift to customers who have come a long way - how nice is that?  It's a fun piece with moose in checked jackets, and will become the feature fabric on a table centre because it's too good to cut into teeny pieces.

Stitches have been happening, an entire whole quilt top has been completed!  Not yet photographed, but that will be rectified in the next day or two or three.  The challenge quilt top is done.  I wouldn't like to have to count the number of orange spots in that fabric......it will be pinned to its fleecy backing next week and will have straight line quilting, then bound by machine, and it will be called "Quits".

The town is starting to fill with visitors who come for the annual country music festival.  It doesn't officially start until late next week but people arrive early to get a good camping spot, some even camping illegally until the camp grounds are officially open.  These are possibly the same folk who expect locals to step aside for them; while most visitors are reasonable we do get some 'special' people who think the world revolves around them and their demands.

Locals like to play "spot the visitor", and while it's as easy as shooting fish in a barrel it can be fun.  When we were doing some shopping in the main drag yesterday we saw some wondrous sights; I felt like tapping a couple of women on the shoulder and whispering to them that the bra was invented for a reason.  But being the nice person as what I am, I didn't.

Never mind, the money they leave behind them is as good as anyone else's, and the town does quite well out of it.

"Limit of a prolonged visit.
If no exact length of time is specified, it is well for visitors to limit a visit to three days or a week, according to the degree of intimacy they may have with the family, or the distance they have come to pay the visit, announcing this limitation soon after arrival, so that the host and the hostess may invite a prolongation of the stay if they desire it, or so that they can make their arrangements in accordance.  One never likes to ask of a guest, "How long do you intend to remain?" yet it is often most desirable to know."

We know that nearly all of these visitors will be gone by the end of the month as the festival finishes on 27th January, so that spares both parties the embarrassment of needing to ask.

Enjoy your days!

Au Revoir, Canada!

Our last day in Canada and we are sorry to be leaving.  We've had a great time, met wonderful people and enjoyed many "firsts", but we are ready to head home.

Sunset in North Bay, Ontario

There's nothing quite like sleeping in one's own bed with one's own pillow, is there?

We are hoping that we don't have to pay a hefty excess baggage fee, we seem to be taking home more than we came with - even allowing for the fact that some of what we brought was handed over to family and friends.  The gaps that were then made in our bags seem to have been more than filled up........ah well, if we do, then we do.  It has been worth every penny.

Tonight at stupid o'clock we will be heading up into the sky while sane people are sleeping, and next time we meet this blog will be back on its home computer.

Enjoy your days!

Haven't been doing much lately

However I did make two shoe bags for a gift, isn't the fabric cute? Kiera-Oona sent it all the way from Canada. It's very fun girly fabric.

One bag was lined with aqua solid and has purple ribbon for the drawstring - the other bag was lined with purple solid, and has turquoise ribbon for its casing. They are now on the way to their new owner.
The current project in the sewing room is an applique block for a friendship quilt, mine has yellow and orange flowers in a dark blue checked jug on a deep green checked background. We were asked to use checks and stripes. My stash doesn't contain many of those, I wonder why? Could it be that they have often been associated with the 'country' style of quilting and decorating, and that's not......quite........me?

During the past week I plucked up my courage, loaded it into my purse and went shopping for undies. On our recent trip to Canberra I took advantage of being in a large city and bought a couple of new bras, because there isn't much choice here in the Small Smoke if one wants to be properly fitted rather than buying cheap stuff from a chain store and taking a guess at sizes. My heavens - it can be a very demoralising experience, can it not? If one is looking for a bra without underwire (because they can be uncomfortable to the point of pain) and without padding (because age, genetics and hormones have combined to make it unnecessary) there is very little choice. There is even less choice if one would like pretty fabric or lace that doesn't look like something my grandmother would have worn in 1956. And why, for goodness' sake, are they nearly all beige? I don't care how it's described, you can call it blush, or peach, or nude, or skintone........it's still beige.

I am not a beige person.

I am a lime green person. Or a turquoise person. Or an orange person, or a yellow person. Not beige.

I was overjoyed to find one style in a pretty embroidered white fabric, so I bought one and have ordered a couple more. While I don't go round flashing my undies to the world (the world is probably thankful for that) I like to know I am wearing pretty things underneath.

And it is now official: I have received word from the government to say I am an Olde Pharte. I have a card which says so. It arrived in today's mail.

Last weekend our town held its first ever inaugural premiere Choral Festival, and one of my choirs sang - a good time was had by all, and we were complimented on our singing. That choir is now preparing for the local eisteddfod later this month. At Monday night's choir practice a smaller choir was created to sing in one of the eisteddfod sections and I was honoured to be chosen for it. I'm not into competitive singing (or competitive anything......competition was beaten out of me as a child) but will go along with it, as it seems to be the norm here. The other choir is practising for its annual concert too, so things are quite musical here. It's all good fun.

We are now getting frost most mornings but the days have been lovely. However some rain would not go amiss, we are now watering plants we want to keep alive as nature has fallen down on the job. The other day we cut down a nandina bush and when the remaining bits of it have been chopped out of the ground that will be one less nandina.......yay! We have more unwanted plants to go, but go they will. The front garden needs to be opened up.

"Perfumes.

Perfumes, if used at all, should be used in the strictest moderation, and be of the most recherchè kind. Musk and patchouli should always be avoided, as, to many people of sensitive temperament, their odor is exceedingly disagreeable. Cologne water of the best quality is never offensive."

Just remember that, when you are squirting yourself tomorrow morning. We wouldn't want to offend, would we?

Enjoy your days!