My brain cells are melting

While the past week hasn't been horribly hot it has been more humid than usual, which makes us feel more uncomfortable than the temperature would indicate.  In summer's heat I do a passable imitation of a limp lettuce leaf so the only achievement this week has been quite a bit of hand-stitching in my flower basket quilt, although two log cabin blocks were made for the quilt group block of the month.  Fabric and pattern were supplied, so it was easy-peasy.

However - no pics were taken and it's not a proper post without pics, is it?  So here are a couple from our garden in the Big Smoke.

I love frangipanis but they don't grow here, they do better along the coast.  Like many white flowers they have a strong scent, but unlike many other white flowers it's not overpoweringly sweet and cloying.

Back in the day our house and garden survived The Great Sefton Hailstorm of 1990, although not without some damage.  Several windows and two skylights in the house were shattered (nothing like rain pouring in through large holes in the roof, is there?) but all was eventually put right.

The garden fared much worse - nearly every plant was shredded.  In time we managed to remove the damaged plants, but anything which had survived was left to fend for itself.  A few years later the secateurs were taken to the remaining plants and they were given haircuts.....including this one, Tibouchina, which had struggled since the storm.  Not being the world's best gardener I was astonished to notice that its drastic pruning - and, believe me, it was drastic - had done it the world of good, because it never looked back.  These pics were taken not long before we moved out, nearly 30 years after the storm.

It likes full sun, but full sun doesn't always make it easy to get a good pic without the bright colour being washed out.  The single flower here is closer to the true colour.

If you like purple then perhaps this is the plant for you.....it is very purple.

We have been entertained this week by some of the stories Kevin has been unearthing while researching his maternal grandmother Laura.  Because he was fairly young when she died he doesn't remember much about her, although he has said she always seemed to have a crochet hook and thread in hand....."she was always crocheting", he said.  Some of her beautiful work has come down to us.

Laura's mother Eliza Jane, though - now, there's a girl.  Born in a mining town during the gold rush (one which we have often driven through on our way to Canberra without knowing of the family connection) in 1863, married in 1878 - yes, that's right, she was 15 - had her first child, Laura, at 17.  Several more children followed, and she was widowed in her mid-30s.  Fast forward to 1910: Laura aged 30 trots down the aisle to marry a man of 60, and two days later Eliza Jane also trots down the aisle with Hubby No. 2, a toy boy, a mere stripling of 33......and Eliza's age on the marriage certificate is given as 35, although she was 47.  Later that year No. 2 Toy Boy is declared bankrupt, but the marriage lasted until she died in 1947.  

Eliza and her family lived at a house called 'Iolanthe', a Greek word meaning "violet flower", at a time when many houses had names instead of, or in addition to, a house number.  I wonder if she would have liked a Tibouchina?

"Duties of guests.

Some persons may be astonished to learn that any duties devolve upon the guests.  In fact there are circles where all such duties are ignored."

That seems rude, doesn't it?  I'm sure none of us would do that.

Enjoy your days!

In which we were battered by storms and Stuff

Storms are far more excitement than we like, but a few nights ago we were assailed - that's the only word I can think of - by a storm which started with strong winds and rain, then hail and heavy rain, more wind, even heavier rain......we kept expecting a blackout but were, fortunately, lucky not to have one although we did lose internet connection for a while.  When we checked outside next morning there didn't seem to be any damage - we haven't climbed up on the roof to check though, our roof-climbing days are long done!

We don't like storms.  We still have memories of the time our house was badly damaged in The Great Sefton Hailstorm of 1990, one of the few times that Sefton (normally a very quiet suburb 30-40 minutes from the centre of the Big Smoke) was in the news apart from the odd murder at a local pub.  There were very few houses in the area left unscathed, we had several windows and skylights broken and our fence knocked down by water because of drains blocked by hail; schools were closed until damage could be repaired, and there were tarps on roofs for weeks afterwards.  That was quite a scary experience, and one I don't wish to live through again.....although roof repairers and window replacers did very well out of it.

This week's houses.

Some paisley, and a cat house - the design on the black and white fabric is the word "meow" repeated; it seemed appropriate to put around a house of cats.  Only three houses are left to have their black and white surrounds done, yay!  Next step will be to complete the setting triangles; these are pieced green 2-1/2 in squares, lots and lots of squares, which have been joined into strips of seven.  Seven of these strips will be joined to make larger squares - five of them - they will each be cut into four, and that will make the side triangles.  

The plan to cut the borders for the Canadian quilt went astray......but as Scarlett once said, tomorrow is another day.

The blue and green blocks were received with favour by those present at quilt group and no moans were heard, probably because there wasn't a triangle in sight.

It started a conversation about colour pairings.  I remarked that I can cope with most colour pairs although orange and purple together have always set my teeth on edge.....as do pink and yellow, pink and orange, red and pink......although perhaps if the purple was on the blue side of the colour spectrum rather than the red and the orange tending towards gold it could work.  I remember reading once that you can put two colours together, any colours you like, and they will always look good so long as white is added to the mix.  Perhaps so......but I think it would take more than white to reconcile me to red and pink together.

This was back in the days of hearing that "blue and green should never be seen, without another colour in between" - I think we have moved on from that thinking; what about blue sky and green plants?

Back then we were also told not to mix stripes, florals, checks, whatever, in our clothing, but what can be a bit too much on the human form can work out wonderfully well in a quilt, yes?

We are hoping that the rules about wearing a face mask in many situations will be relaxed this week, as the state government has promised they would be.  At present masks don't have to be worn outdoors so we can stroll along the main drag without one, but must pull it up if going into a shop or café.  This means that, as happened earlier in the week, we can walk down the street sans mask, pull it up to walk into our favourite café, take it off to have our coffee, put it on again to walk a few steps out the door, take it off again.......I can cope with most of the restrictions but the face mask is too distressing, for me.  So except for a few mask-less situations I stay home rather than go out, and am in danger of turning into a hermit as a result.

Continuing on from last week's quote :

"Introductions at a ball.

It is for this reason that here, as in England, ladies are expected to bow first, while on the Continent it is the gentlemen who give the first marks of recognition, or better still, simultaneously, when the recognition is simultaneous.  The one who recognizes first should be the first to show that recognition."

Nothing is said about not recognising someone wearing a face mask, even though that person is normally well known to you.

Enjoy your days!