A shocking thought......

.....has popped into my mind.

We are hoping to be able to go down south in April to catch up with family and to enjoy the autumn colours - and I will have no hand-pieced travel project!  Isn't that too terrible to contemplate?  My flower basket quilt is so big now it's at the stage where it's not portable any more; there is a jumper in progress which has stalled for the moment as not a stitch is knitted in summer's heat; it's a cooler weather project so it could be taken along.  Over the past several years I am quite enjoying the peace of hand-piecing, and miss it when there is none.

So......over the past little while my thoughts, as a song by Tom Paxton (one of my long-time favourite singers) says, are a-tumblin' round and round, and Tumbling Blocks fell out.  Late last year I was given a 60 deg diamond template which can be used for a one-patch project, so pieces have been cut in two different sizes.

The smaller pieces are cut around the template with seam allowances on the inside so it will be smaller again when joined, while the larger pieces have the seam allowances added to the outside.  Neither are yet joined - this is a trial to see which of the two sizes I prefer, but I suspect ease of marking and cutting will mean the larger one gets my vote.  Sides will be two inches when finished.  There is still a heap ton of reproduction fabrics, leftovers from my tumbler quilt, begging to be used; I think they will do nicely, don't you?

Finally Mother Nature has taken pity on us and cooled down our part of the earth, and it is very pleasant.  The past few nights have been downright cool; we are sleeping better, not feeling wrung-out, and are looking forward to autumn.  A couple of nights ago the news showed footage of a small town north-east of us where their trees are already changing; admittedly it has a colder climate, but it does mean that summer is heading in the right direction - away from us.  Days are shorter now too.

Great excitement in our street last weekend.  Over a few days Kevin had been noticing, in his comings and goings, several police vehicles set up outside a house further down our street - then we read in the local paper that a house was raided and a bloke arrested for manufacturing and dealing drugs, not something we want in our normally very quiet street.  Our house is number 68, this took place at number 11 so not very near us.......and now all is quiet again.

Some excitement we didn't want, though: earlier in the week someone ran into our car while it was parked, leaving the front damaged.  They did not hang around to exchange details, no one else saw anything, so we have no idea who did it - but we're the ones who have to negotiate with the insurance company, and we're the ones inconvenienced.  Cowards.  I hope their wheels fall off.

'Duties of Guests' is quite a long paragraph, so it is being broken up into smaller bites:

"It is the duty of every person who has at first accepted an invitation, and subsequently finds that it will be impossible to attend, to send a note of explanation, even at the last moment, and as it is rude to send an acceptance with no intention of going, those who so accept will do well to remember this duty."

It is very frustrating when one organises an event and people neither accept nor decline, something which I believe is becoming more prevalent in today's casual lifestyle - and something which is very discourteous to the hosts.  In fact, I would say it's downright rude.  Perhaps they are hanging out for a better offer?

Enjoy your days!

Done done done!

The last three houses have their surrounds done, just in time for the Big Occasion next weekend.

A musical house......an autumn house.......and a very purple and pink house.  Plus a (quite small) tree with jingly bells, and one of the Christmas wombats.

The black and white fabrics can be packed away until another idea for them takes root in my brain, and the green setting triangles can be made.

The borders for the Canadian quilt have all been cut out, as is the border backing.  Now to see if my quilt-as-you-go idea works.

Just in time for Christmas, summer is here with a vengeance.  We have enjoyed a fairly mild spring because of rain, but Mother Nature is making up for lost time this week.  I am not a great fan of summer....it's something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

The fat bloke in the red suit is out and about - I feel sorry for him in this heat, I'm sure he would love to swap his fur-lined boots for sandals, and his pants and jacket for shorts and tee shirt.  To say nothing of the beard and hat; a wide-brimmed hat is far more practical in summer for keeping the sun off one's face.  If I was a reindeer I would go on strike in this heat.

Early in the week Kevin, Bianca the geriatric white cat, and yours truly were peacefully minding our own business when we heard a loud thud.....what could it be, we wondered?  The neighbouring kids had been in their pool earlier, but were quiet by then; Kevin took a trot outside, walked around, listened - nothing seemed amiss.  While checking a local weather page on social media a short while later I found out that the noise was caused by a gas explosion way over on the other side of town; a large cylinder of liquid nitrogen had exploded and been blown into the air, flying quite high until gravity took over and down it came.  One person had minor injuries, fortunately no one else was hurt.  The shockwave caused by the bang was heard over a wide area on this side of the river and was the cause of the 'thud' we heard.  The bloke who runs the weather page lives not far away from the site, and the soaring cylinder captured by his weather camera was shown on the evening news.

Just around the corner from there is a cemetery in which some of my family rests.....I wonder if any of them rolled over with the shock?

Sometimes the retired life is far too exciting......

Continuing our quote:

"Introductions at a ball.

Introductions take place in a ball-room in order to provide ladies with partners, or between persons residing in different cities.  In all other cases permission is asked before giving introductions.  But where a hostess is sufficiently discriminating in the selection of her guests, those assembled under her roof should remember that they are, in a certain sense, made known to one another, and ought, therefore, to be able to converse freely without introductions."

It's quite a long chapter, so is better broken up for our weekly quote.

Enjoy your days!

Sad sad sad......

The on again, off again choir concert is definitely off.  We are so disappointed.  The charity committee which would have benefited had to comply with so many rules and regulations that it was too difficult to make it happen; the hall is owned by the council which has its hands tied by state government rules, and so it goes on.  Or doesn't, in this case.  We have hopes of a concert happening early next year, but our director is facing some health issues.......so, we can only see what next year brings, can't we.

At least the ukulele group can play next weekend at a charity fundraising fair, which will be fun.  We've even been practising!

A couple more houses.

A cat house and a house surrounded by birds, bugs and blooms, both of whom shop at the same garden store.  

'Weeds of Grace' is nearly finished, yay!  The label is attached, now the last corner needs to be bound - there is not much to do now, and then it can be photographed in all its gorgeous glory.  'Canadiana' is also coming along nicely; Ontario and Alberta have been quilted and joined, Quebec is quilted.

This is a pic from the past.  When we lived in the Big Smoke there was a block of shops not far away; a newsagent, pharmacy/post office agency, small supermarket, etc., and on the top corner a hardware shop with a small but very good plant nursery.  This is one of the plants bought there, a Callistemon called 'Taree Pink' - Taree is a town east of here, near the coast.  It's a pretty plant with pink blooms, and the new leaf growth shown here is pinky-bronze.  

I don't think we have ever had a plant which grew as quickly as this did!  It was a case of "plant it and stand back"; it lived on the front north-east corner of the house so it had direct sun for much of the day, and also reflected warmth from the brick and glass wall behind......and was the complete opposite of 'Wee Johnnie' which took four years to flower.  We planted one here but the drier inland climate didn't suit, because after a time spent doing nothing much at all it turned up its toes, folded its tent and stole away into the night - such a pity, because it was very pretty.

Our drive to town now has a new landmark, and it's not a good one.  On the four corners of a busy intersection are a small but useful shopping centre, the craft shed which has facilities for makers of just about anything you could think of, a sports ground, and until recently a vacant block which was used as overflow parking by both the sports ground and the shopping centre but which now holds a fast food place - I refuse to call it a 'restaurant', because to me that implies something nicer - which has the yellow arches on top; I won't name it because they aren't paying me to advertise, but I'm sure you can guess who I mean.  The corner also has a roundabout which is poorly planned and executed; the first week it was installed there were several accidents, we expect there will be many more now.  There is much gnashing of teeth by people who think it the wrong use of the land, especially as that roundabout is tricky to drive through with the traffic it already has.

Sadly our local council seems to feel that 'development at all costs' trumps traffic safety and the amenity of the aged care facility alongside.  There are supposed to be conditions about business hours etc., but you can bet your boots that it will eventually be allowed to trade for the longer hours it wants, and too bad about the oldies who live on the other side of the fence.  We don't have to use that corner on our trips to and from town, but it's an easier route if we do.

On to happier stuff.

Do you ever wonder what is going through an author's mind when they write their books, apart from telling the story?  I for one do like to see attention paid to spelling and grammar and syntax and Stuff like that, so I was floored a couple of days ago to read 'aquatint' instead of 'acquaint'.  Yes, no doubt it was run through spell check which said "that's fine, it's spelled correctly, you can use it"......but it's not the correct use, is it?  We both had a chuckle over that one; an 'aquatint' is a way of making an etching, to 'acquaint' is to make someone aware of something or someone.

A lot of rain fell this week but the promised flood didn't eventuate.  This is probably a good thing as it was forecast to be of biblical proportions, something not seen here for several years.  Winter popped back for a visit yesterday and hasn't quite left yet, quite a shock to the system - we have become used to spring's warmer temperatures, although there have  been one or two days you would call 'hot'.  It certainly hasn't been weather for barefoot frolicking around the garden in a flouncy summer frock; your frock would have been blown away into the wild blue yonder, leaving you covered in embarassment and very little else.

"Preparations for a ball.

There should be dressing-rooms for ladies and gentlemen, with a servant or servants to each.  There should be cards with the names of the invited guests upon them, or checks with duplicates to be given to the guests ready to pin upon the wraps of each one.  Each dressing room should be supplied with a complete set of toilet articles.  It is customary to decorate the house elaborately with flowers.  Although this is an expensive luxury, it adds much to beautifying the rooms."

                                                                                                      Perhaps we could beautify the rooms with 'Wee Johnnie' and 'Taree Pink"?                              

Enjoy your days!

One day closer to autumn!

The heatwave continues.

We have had friends of a musical friend staying for a few days while the big country music festival took over the town.  They are very nice people and we all enjoyed ourselves, saw some great concerts with them and without them.......and now it's just the two of us again.

The whole town is starting to empty as the music-loving tourists leave.  Yesterday morning Kevin and I were chatting to two interstate visitors at a concert and, when they found out that we were locals, the bloke said "you don't look like locals".  What does a local look like, we wondered?  Did he expect us to have straw between our teeth, wear boots with spurs, and say "yee har" with every sentence?  Perhaps he didn't expect two neatly dressed Olde Phartes; many of the tourists don't know the meaning of the words "neatly dressed".

Enough of that.  It is a very entertaining time, and people watching is a good part of the entertainment.

During our Toronto visit our lovely Canadian DIL and I attended a quilt show in Ajax, east of Toronto, and one of the things purchased was a kit to make a small bag using only one side of a zipper.  A strip of the unused portion becomes a loop at the side of the bag.  The idea has been around for a while but I hadn't tried it before - and it works!

 Interesting fabric, isn't it?  Not what I would normally choose, but it came in a kit with a lime zip and gold-speckled-lime lining and that was enough for me.  Everything was supplied, outer and lining fabrics, zip and fusible lightweight batting.  After ironing it to the outer fabric I quilted it in a wide two inch grid in case the adhesive ever fails.  I didn't get around to boxing the bottom corners but that won't stop the world from turning, will it.

This bag requires you to (gulp) cut off the zipper end pull which is eventually restored to the folded-around zipper tape; instructions say "this may require some swearing and a glass of wine, but it can be done"!  How could you not try it?  Kit was from Sew Have Fun in Oshawa, also east of Toronto.  An odd thing about this fabric:  to look at it you would think the colours are blue, grey, pink and lime on a purplish background, yes?  Wrong.  There is no pink......it's a trick of the light, those flowers have only white and blue petals.

Currently partly made on the sewing table is a large pincushion, a door prize won at a large meeting a couple of years ago.  Next step is to press a whole heap of 2-1/2 in squares into prairie points, but it has been a bit hot for ironing.  So it waits......

There is also a song to arrange.  The uke group will be playing for a 90th birthday early in March (the lovely mum of one of our members is having a Big 0 day) and I have re-written words to a celebratory song to reflect her and her family's names, for a bit of fun.  Because I didn't want to cause hurt or offence it was first run by the uke playing daughter for approval, she said "Mum will love it!" so now it needs chords.  Easy peasy.

Life will gradually get back to its normal busy routine, U3A launch day on Wednesday - that's when we put our names down for courses which appeal, mine of course is ukulele - and the choir is singing at a funeral on Tuesday afternoon for one of our members who recently passed away.  There is a reason the choir was awarded Senior Citizens Group of the year last year.......we're getting old.  We also lost another member while I was away, both of these people were in their 80s.

"The saddest of all ceremonies is that attendant upon the death of relatives and friends and it becomes us to show, in every possible way, the utmost consideration for the feelings of the bereaved, and the deepest respect for the melancholy occasion.  Of late the forms of ostentation at funerals are gradually diminishing, and by some people of intelligence even mourning habiliments are rejected in whole or in part."

When our choir performs in public we wear black bottoms - skirts or pants - and a bright shirt or top in a single colour; with over 30 members of different ages and body types we can each choose something flattering.  This also applies when we sing at funerals, so my outfit on Tuesday will probably be a flared black cotton skirt and turquoise top, and I will sing my heart out for Tony.

Enjoy your days!

Settling back home again

Much as I like being away and coming home, unpacking is not much fun......sorting out stuff, washing clothes, putting things away......but it's nearly all done now.

We had a good time except for the heat.  Fortunately it wasn't ~quite~ as hot as our trip one year ago, but inland Australia is usually hot in summer anyway.  Never mind, in a few months it will be cooler.

We had a fun 2nd birthday celebration with Euan, who says "Hello" beautifully.  He had learned "Hello, Gan-puh" by the time we left.  Me, I don't have a label yet......"Grandma" is still being worked out, it seems.  Perhaps it will be achieved by Easter when we see him again.

 He liked his birthday cake.

We also enjoyed our family Christmas, the first one for a few years!  Usually it's just the two of us.

The night before we left I decided that I needed a 'car knitting' project because we would be spending a long time driving, so yarn bought last April in Bendigo, needles and pattern were taken along.  The first stitches were cast on as we left town here, and when it was all measured yesterday - the day after returning - this much has been done of the back, only a few more centimetres remain to the armholes.  Colour is light blue with a hint of lavender.

 Just think of all the knitting time which would have been wasted if it hadn't been taken along!

A day or two before we left the final stitches were taken on Winding Ways, and it was finally photographed yesterday.  As you can see not all black is dark, and not all white is light.

 The back.......yes, they are cows.  A bloke on the other side of the hill owns them and they often come down our side of the hill.  We don't mind seeing them, but at times it smells somewhat......rural.

The next project will be started soon.  Very soon.

While in Canberra we saw two exhibitions,  One was "Versailles" at the National Gallery of Australia, and while it was interesting I don't think I could have lived in that palace.  By the end of our visit I was just about ready to run through the gallery waving my red cap while shouting "Vive la revolution"!

The second exhibition was, to me, more interesting perhaps because it related more to our lives.  "The Sell" at the National Library of Australia - talk about a trip down memory lane!  The oldest article in this exhibition is a small poster from 1796 advertising a play in Sydney at "the Theatre".  The first European settlement in Sydney was in 1788, so there may not have been many theatres eight years later.

On our way home we spent several days in Gulgong, a small town with an interesting history and many old buildings remaining from the gold rush days, including the Prince of Wales Opera House, a glorified tin shed with wonderful acoustics.  Their annual folk festival was held over the new year weekend, and great fun it was too; we spent time catching up with old friends, and making new ones, and listening to music.  Each night there were sessions to join in - playing and singing in the company of like-minded musical friends is, I think, one of the great joys of life.

"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."

To which I would add, the ability to stay married while sharing a small - very small - caravan for a few weeks.

Enjoy your days!

Swinging from the chandelier

Although it's not quite a chandelier!  A few days ago our new shade was installed.

 It is not easy for a short person to take a picture of a light fitting, you know.

 Looking up from under, the outer row of diamonds is bevelled clear glass, next row in is patterned clear glass, inner row is opalescent glass.  Shades with coloured glass are gorgeous, but we wanted a clear/white one.

We could have bought a ready-made shade in a lighting shop, had we found one that we liked......but no.  The 1970s are back with a vengeance, folks - remember brass, copper and wooden light shades? - which is why we decided to have ours made by Linda and Mark, the lovely folks at Volcania Art Glass.  We've lived through the 70s once already, we don't need to do it again.

The block that I designed last week is done, and since this was taken it has been starched and pressed.

At least I think I designed it......there are probably similar blocks floating round out there in quiltland, because there is nothing new under the sun, is there?  I called it "Spinner" because it reminds me of those child's toys that spin round on a stick.

The green top cut out a few weeks ago is being looked at next.  The fabric has been in my stash for a few years, the pattern was bought a year or two back, but I hesitated about cutting into it because I didn't to wreck it.  Up until several years ago I could buy a pattern, cut out and make up a garment and it fit perfectly but since going through menopause, changing shape and turning into a short barrel on legs, getting clothing to fit is much more difficult.  That's why the fabric has been sitting for so long, but now it's cut out and if it doesn't fit or makes me look like the side of a house and is thrown out......why then, it's only fabric.  Even if it is beautiful green fabric and was bought on sale because it was the last of the roll and there is no more because it was a few years ago and the fabric shop has none left and it's all gone.

Ah well.  It's only fabric.

This morning we had a thick fog, and the whole valley disappeared into cloud.  Planes couldn't take off or land, so pity help those folks who were planning to take an early plane to the Big Smoke to connect with another flight.  There was a good chance they missed it.  Like many country towns in Australia, on the closest hill to this town there is a lookout which affords views over the town, over the valley and for a long long way round - but there was no view this morning.

One of the local Rotary Clubs is having its annual used book sale this week, so yesterday I bagged a few bargains....and a few more today.....the sale is on all week, so I might have to visit again before it closes.  One of the books I bought today is about some of the women - some very young, still teenagers - who sailed from Australia to England after World War II to join the English men they had met and married during the war.  Going so far from their families and friends must have been a huge step for them at a time when many people didn't go far from home.  I remember watching a documentary about Aussie women who sailed to the USA after World War II to join the husbands they had married but barely knew, and that was interesting too.  Not all of these marriages lasted, a small number of women were notified by their husbands en route not to bother continuing because they were no longer wanted and were sent back (just imagine the hurt and humiliation!), and not all the women were welcomed by their husband's family when they arrived.  England has long had a reputation of looking down its nose at 'colonials', and some of the women were made to feel this very keenly.

"If, perchance, after they have entered upon the stern realities of life, they find that they have made a mistake, that they are not well-mated, then they must accept the inevitable and endure to the end, "for better or for worse;" for only in this way can they find consolation for having found out, when too late, that they were unfitted for a life-long companionship.

'Acceptance and endurance' - doesn't sound like a good bargain to me.

Enjoy your days!