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!

As we wind down to the end of another year......

What a year it has been; some of it good, some not so good.  None of us have a crystal ball to know what's coming next year, do we?  Which, the way the world is now, is probably a Good Thing.

I hope all had a peaceful Christmas with some yummy munchies - we did, for sure.  There are munchies still to be eaten, a much better situation than running out!  My collection of Christmas wombats now has a few new additions too, thanks to our family down south.

Our hot summer weather has eased, for now at least.  A light shower of welcome rain is falling and the air smells clean and fresh.

I am happy with what I managed this year.  Probably more could have been done, but I suspect most of us can say that - yes?  My quilt 'Weeds of Grace' was finished which was quite an achievement, and significent progress made on my Canadian quilt which is ready for borders to be added and quilted.  

Today's messy sewing table.  The green fabrics will be the outer setting triangles for my house quilt; the box on the left holds the completed blocks and the yet-to-be-cut sashing fabric.  The red fabric will be the backing for the borders of my Canadian quilt, the pile of batting in the corner is also for the borders, and the light blue is a tee shirt which needs a sleeve hem restitched because the stitching came undone......don't you hate that?

Progress was also made on a quilt which has been in progress for quite a long time, a quilt of 225 six inch flower basket blocks.  It was started many years ago as a portable project; all 225 blocks were made, then joined into nines.

It has since hung around for a few years because.....just because.  My first thought was to quilt it in blocks then join them (each of those nine basket blocks measures 18 inches square) but I couldn't decide on a design, so it was shelved.  After finishing the hand work on my tumbler quilt I thought....."why not just go for it?"  So the top is being finished by hand, and it will be farmed out to be quilted.  The green backing fabric was bought early in the year; all the print fabrics are florals, many of them containing green, so the green back will tie them all together.  All those 25 blocks of nine have been joined into five rows; joining rows one and two is now my TV project because it's too big to be carted around and it will get even bigger before it's done.

Which is a roundabout way of saying, perhaps a new portable project is needed......a few thoughts are percolating around in my brain......

Music was played, the ukulele group even had two gigs!  We have learned several new songs and had high hopes of two gigs during next month's country music festival, but the mask rule is back in place as are other covid rules - and how can we sing in masks?  At this stage we don't know if our gigs can go ahead at all.

Sigh.......

"Receiving guests.

The custom of the host and hostess receiving together, is not now prevalent.  The receiving devolves upon the hostess, but it is the duty of the host to remain within sight until after the arrivals are principally over, that he may be easily found by any one seeking him.  The same duty devolves upon the sons, who that evening must share their attentions with all.  The daughters, as well as the sons, will look after partners for the young ladies who desire to dance, and they will try to see that no one is neglected before they join the dancers themselves."

Someone interested in social history (a passion of mine too) once remarked to me that back in the 1800s, in Australia at least, if you couldn't or didn't dance there was a very good chance you would not marry.  So much meeting and mingling took place at dances, there were opportunities for flirting and the chance to hold the hand of someone you might fancy without being frowned on, the possibility of fluttering your eyelashes at that nice young feller you fancied (and who you were pretty sure fancied you back) as he steered you around in a ladies' chain.....and if you didn't attend those dances, you would miss out on the chance to find your soul mate.

Enjoy your days!

'Weeds of Grace' is finished!

My magnum opus is done, and what an opus it is.  Had the weather been kinder some very artistic pics could have been taken outside, perhaps even in a park - but it has been, still is, and will continue to rain so inside it had to be.

To give an idea of size, this is on a queen sized bed.  The back is not boring either.

You can see the backing, a wide fabric bought in Canberra on our trip south earlier in the year......when I saw it I knew it would be The Very Thing.  It's the first time I have used a wide backing fabric, and it won't be the last.

The label is hand embroidered on a fabric used for some of the tumblers, and edged with a piece of leftover binding.

The week has been productive, more of the Canadian quilt is done, and there is only one block to go - yee har!  I want to have the centre panel done before next Saturday for the big reveal; our challenge this year was to finish a UFO, and this was mine.  Borders won't be done by then, but it is much further along than it was in February when we started.

'Weeds of Grace' will also go along to be flashed around for show and tell, another finished UFO.

This week's houses, butterflies around a striped house and bicycles around a fishy house.  There is a saying "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" which was coined by the women's movement in 1970, so I couldn't resist putting the fish and bikes together.

There are not many houses left to be bordered now.

This morning the ukulele group played our first gig since February, and great fun it was too!  We played at a charity fair and were allocated a spot under cover (fortunately, because......rain) so we had an audience the whole time.  We tried some songs which were new to us and some old favourites; we had people singing along, and were given many compliments.  Considering how out-of-practice we are at playing for an audience, we did very well indeed - let's hope that next year brings more opportunities to play.

According to a web page which has information about what is being celebrated on a particular day, week or month, today is World Television Day.  It will probably be marked in this household by leaving the television off, because there is a lot which just doesn't appeal to us.  Perhaps we're just weird......Kevin is currently watching a car race.  With the sound off.  Because sports commentary is mind-numbingly unutterably boring and far too loud, to me.  We came to an agreement many years ago whereby he watches sport, and I listen to something else.

"The music.

Four musicians are enough for a "dance".  When the dancing room is small, the flageolet is preferable to the horn, as it is less noisy and marks the time as well.  The piano and violin form the mainstay of the band; but when the rooms are large enough a larger band may be employed."

Some of our songs this morning could have been danced to, but no one did.  In the past I have played in bands for dances and loved it.  A flageolet is a wind instrument similar to a recorder; I wonder if it would have been heard when being played for dancers?  Perhaps if the dancing room was small enough, it would have been all right.

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!

Moving right along, footloose and fancy free......

The words of that song sum up the week nicely.

Progress has been made on sewing down the quilt binding.  A second corner has been turned although not without some angst, as I realised it had been flipped the wrong way......so some un-sewing happened, and some fancy poking and prodding of the corner mitre happened, and eventually it saw what I wanted and turned itself to face the correct way.  It could have been left but I would have noticed one wrong-facing corner every time I looked at the quilt - because we do, right? - so it was worth taking time to fix it.  We have had a couple of cooler evenings, so having the weight of a large quilt bundled up on my lap hasn't been too bad.

The top panel of the Canadian quilt is done, there are two rows of quilting in each black sashing.

The row under this has three blocks; two have been quilted and joined with sashing, while quilting on the third is in progress.  

This week's houses, both yellow but both different; a party house on the left (wouldn't want to live next door to them, would you?) and a house proudly flying its Aussie flag on the door, surrounded by tiny stars.

And because he's so cute, here's Wee Johnnie again.  This is the whole plant in all its glory.

You can see by the ruler that he is a Wee Johnnie, indeed!

It has taken him four years to get this far, but he is making up for lost time now.

Welcome to a new visitor to my blog, Viola from Sweden - what a beautiful country you live in!  Thank you for stopping by; I can't reply direct to you as you come up as a no-reply blogger.  

A hair trim finally happened during the week, the dreaded mask was donned (the stress gave me a headache which took some hours to dissipate, it really is a problem for me) and my hair is a few inches shorter than it was.  It could probably have done with leaving an extra half-inch or so on the length but not to worry; it will grow back.  Since having eye surgery last year and finding out how big and bright the world is I need to wear a hat when outside, and that's easier with shorter hair.

Choir resumed a few weeks ago and we are still hoping to have our concert at the end of November, but we fear it is unlikely.  Because of restrictions in numbers we wouldn't be able to have a very large audience; the whole point of the concert is to be a charity fundraiser, and we won't be able to raise much money from a small audience.  So......it looks as though it may be postponed until early next year, instead.  It's the only concert we do all year so we want to make it as good as possible - and with a few more months rehearsal we should be even more fabulous than we are now!

A few nights ago we were rudely awoken at stupid dark early o'clock by the noisiest storm we have heard for some time; it was full-on lights and music, crashing thunder and flashing lightning with some rain and wind.  The clock read 3.33 a.m., which is far too early for any civilised person to be stirring.  Not much rain (a bit more would have been good, actually) and fortunately for us no damage, although people in other parts of the country haven't been so lucky with trees falling on houses and vehicles.  We had first-hand experience of a destructive hail storm many years ago while living in the Big Smoke, and it's something we never want to experience again.

"More formal entertainments.

Evening parties and balls are of a much more formal character than the entertainments that have been mentioned.  They require evening dress.  Of late years, however, evening dress is as much worn at grand dinners as at balls and evening parties, only the material is not of so diaphanous a character.  Lace and muslin are out of place.  Invitations to evening parties should be sent from a week to two weeks in advance, and in all cases they should be answered immediately."

Just remember to leave your lace gown at home before sallying forth to a grand dinner, and you should be fine.  We aren't as formal now as folk were in 1885 when these words were written, which is probably a good thing......but on the other hand, it's nice to get really dressed up occasionally although I can't remember the last time we did.

Enjoy your days!

A corner has been turned......and a new member of the family!

The first corner has been turned on the quilt binding.

It's a very very long way round.......but I am so thrilled with it.  The weather is getting a bit warm to have a heavy quilt on one's lap, the neck and shoulder are still bothersome so long sewing sessions aren't happening, but it is slowly getting done.

Meet our new "baby":

Back in late 2017 when we were living in temporary accommodation while flooded out of our home one of the plants in our back yard turned up its toes, so we bought something to replace it - an Aussie native, a Callistemon (bottlebrush) called 'Wee Johnnie'.  It was duly planted and looked after as best we could considering we weren't living at home at the time, and the drought was really getting underway.  Wee Johnnie didn't do much for a long time, he didn't die but didn't seem to be thriving......although every now and then he would grow another green leaf; Aussie native plants can be slow-growing and finicky and don't like being moved, so being transplanted from his little pot into the ground must have been quite a shock for him.  The weather has since improved, we have had good rain, and Wee Johnnie obviously gave himself a good talking-to because recently we noticed flower buds.  Yesterday I spied a little burst of red peeking out from under those green leaves......

......and here is Wee Johnnie today, nigh on four years later!

So - Chateau des Wombats has a new member of the garden family!  He (I can't bring myself to say 'it' because he's so cute) is barely 25 cm high or 12 inches if you prefer old money, and is now quite lush and green and red with shy flowers hiding under the leaves.....these are almost lying on the ground  He is so low that he is tricky to photograph.  Wee Johnnie has a bigger brother called - would you believe it - 'Little John'.

This week's houses, a yellow house covered in cat footprints and a parrot house.  The parrot fabric is left from the backing of a quilt made for a friend's child a very very long time ago.

More progress on the Canadian quilt, another block has been joined and its sashing is being sewn down on the back.  There are five more weeks until we are supposed to reveal our finished UFOs for the quilt group annual challenge so there is a very good chance that it won't be completed, but hey.....it's much further advanced than it was at the start of the year when the challenge started so that's a good thing, right?  And anyway there's always next year.....

Summer hit us yesterday with a bang but fortunately today is milder; perhaps it's time to take stock of the summer clothing supply.  Yesterday at quilt group someone said that there are good bargains to be had because so many stores have been losing sales with lockdowns etc. that they are doing their darndest to attract customers.  However as we have had almost no social life for months there has been no need for decent clothes, has there?  

Deb QuiltGal - lovely to see you visiting my blog recently but your settings don't allow me to reply, you come up as a 'no-reply-blogger'.

In recent times ads are starting to appear on TV for the Big Occasion which comes at the end of the year.....noooooo!  It's way too soon!  As in the past couple of years we will probably have a very quiet day here but hopefully we can go somewhere for lunch so it feels a bit festive, although I draw the line at a paper hat.

"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 quite like a slice of cake with my coffee and chat.  Yesterday it was my turn to take morning tea to quilt group so I fell back on a recipe made once before, Pam Scott's Apple Pecan Cake, and very delicious it is too.  Especially served with cream.

Enjoy your days!

Progressing along

Is that a real expression?  Or should it be 'making progress'?

Either way, some progress has been made sewing the binding down on 'Weeds of Grace'.  It's a very warm quilt to have on one's lap, let me tell you.  That plus a shoulder and neck which have been somewhat bothersome of late means it's not a quick job, but there are no prizes for getting to the end first, are there?  Except for the satisfaction of finally finishing.

The binding and inside border are from the same fabric, a different range and designer from the leafy stripe, but both by Moda.  They hold hands and play nicely together, don't they?

When I am hand-sewing binding to the back of a quilt I start a little way up from a corner, keep sewing......turn the first corner, keep sewing.....repeat.....which means that, by the time the last corner is turned, there isn't much binding left to be sewn.  Works for me.

There has also been progress on the Canadian quilt.  Four blocks have now been quilted then joined in pairs, now those pairs have been joined into a panel; the sashing on the back is next to be sewn down - more hand sewing - a couple of parallel lines of quilting through the sashing to hold everything together, then another block can be quilted and joined.  The bothersome neck and shoulder have a lot to answer for lately; it would be much further along if not for them.

This week's houses.  I can hear you all singing "Autumn leaves" from here: "the falling leaves drift by my window....."  A light purple house, or should that be lavender or lilac or some such colour?  It has teeny yellow stars on it, and a garden, and apples on the roof.  The doors for both houses were cut from the same fabric which shaded from lime to sort-of-aqua/turquoise.  There is none left now.

How have you all been this week?  We have had some stormy weather, but we fared better than a town just an hour away which had a tornado go through which left, as news reporters love to say, a trail of destruction in its wake.  (reporters do love a good cliché, don't they?)  The following night we had quite a wind storm here with rain and in some places hail, but fortunately it blew itself out fairly soon.  I read somewhere that when summer coming in meets winter going out, the results can be volatile......which they certainly have been, this year.

The nightly news has mask-wearing people being interviewed, and we can neither hear nor understand what most of them are saying.  I don't know who decided that interviewing someone who was unintelligible makes for good television, but let me tell you - it doesn't.  One woman interviewed was wearing a black mask covering much of her face, reflective sunglasses, and a floppy hat covering the rest of her face.  She looked like a scary faceless alien, and for all we know....because we couldn't understand a word she said.....she may have been one.

We are now being told that, because our state has reached a high enough number of double vaccinated people, that more freedoms will be allowed rfom tomorrow.  Whoopy doo.  I am waiting until the powers-that-be say we can leave off the masks, then I will be a happy woman again.

We are also required, as well as doing the sign-in thingy with our phones everywhere we go (which my phone doesn't do anyway) to show phone or paper proof that we have been injected twice.  I am waiting for "them" to require us to sign away our first-born child as well......

At least the ukulele group has been meeting again!  We gather here each Monday afternoon and have, hopefully, two upcoming gigs, so that's an incentive to pick up the uke at other times too.  I have also discovered a fun song called "Let the mermaids flirt with me" which we will probably put into our repertoire next year.

"There is less formality at a kettle-drum than at a larger day reception.  The time is spent in desultory conversation with friends, in listening to music, or such entertainment as has been provided.

Gentlemen wear the usual morning dress.  Ladies wear the demi-toilet, with or without bonnets."

I don't know about you all, but it has been some time since I wore a bonnet.

Enjoy your days!

All is well......

Turns out Kevin has an issue which is being treated by antibiotics, and nothing has fallen off.....everything is where it should be, which is a relief.

Getting older is not really wonderful at times, is it.

'Weeds of Grace' has come home after its trip out into the world to be quilted; it is now bundled up on the table in my sewing room waiting for more of the binding to be attached.  It's quite a large quilt and manhandling - er, womanhandling it through the machine is not quite easy.

It is truly gorgeous, and I love it!

This week's houses......every neighbourhood needs at least one spotted blue door, don't you think?  And butterflies, our world needs more butterflies for sure.

We have some pieces of coloured glass in our house including the light fiting in our bedroom, made by a local glass artist.  Last week we bumped into each other - not literally, fortunately - when I arrived for choir and Linda and her husband were waiting to go inside for their play rehearsal.  During our usual chitty-chatty I asked Linda if she could make me a leaf from one of my Canadian photos, she said yes......and a week later, here it is!

I sent my photo and Linda used it for a pattern.  It reminds me of our trips in fall; my original photo had different colours but I really like this.  Linda hadn't made a maple leaf before but she enjoyed doing it so much she asked if she could use the pattern to make more.  It was pinned to the sheer curtain in the dining room for this pic, we have yet to decide where to hang it so we can enjoy it.

There's something about light coming through coloured glass that I really like, I have several pieces hanging around the house, stars, diamonds.....you name it, even a wombat.  Some people might find it a bit hippy-dippy - that's their problem.  The world needs more fun, and coloured glass is fun.

We are a week into daylight saving and I am enjoying darker mornings again.  Before we went to bed last Saturday night Kevin trotted around the house changing the clocks, and when I woke on Sunday morning and looked at our bedroom clock I thought to myself, I thought......"my goodness, that's a long sleep-in!" I thought.  The clock read 9.30 a.m.  Computer said 8.30 a.m., I thought it hadn't updated itself as it usually does......but no.  Kevin had moved the bedroom clock forward two hours instead of just one.  It was a bit of a shock to the system first thing in the morning, let me tell you.

Some folk have very strong opinions one way or the other about daylight saving.  City folk generally like it - but not everyone does, while many people living in the country don't - but once again, many country folk do.  Being retired we can pretty much set our own timetables, which we do.  There is a woman living in a smaller town an hour away who used to write to the local rag every year bitterly complaining about daylight saving - I don't know what she expects to happen, have it changed just for her, perhaps?

Today is quite warm and windy, with lots of rain forecast to fall over the next few days.  The washing has been hung out, dried and brought back in already......I had visions of my undies being blown all around town which would never do, would it.  We haven't had a frog croaking in the drainpipe for some time, but last night there was one - a big green tree frog, quite a large one - just outside the back door.  I suppose that means we don't have a snake outside the back door; our poisonous snakes are much worse than frogs.  Perhaps we will serenaded by Drainpipe Froggy once more when the rain starts.

"Five O'Clock Tea, Coffee and Kettle-Drums.

Five o'clock tea, coffee and kettle-drums have recently been introduced into this country from England.  For these invitations are usually issued on the lady's visiting card, with the words written in the left-hand corner.

No answers are expected to these invitations, unless there is an R.S.V.P. on the card.  It is optional with those who attend, to leave cards.  Those who do not attend, call afterwards.  The hostess receives her guests standing, aided by other members of the family or intimate friends.  For a kettle-drum there is usually a crowd, and yet but few remain over half an hour - the conventional time allotted - unless they are detained by music or some entertaining conversation.  A table set in the dining-room is supplied with tea, coffee, chocolate, sandwiches, buns and cakes, which constitute all that is offered to the guests."

In my world a "kettle-drum" is a large musical instrument used in an orchestra, but in the 1800s a "kettle-drum" was an afternoon party invented by the British in India.  A large drum was sometimes used as a table for a large informal party, hence the name; a search for "kettle-drum party" will prove most edifying.  Perhaps we need to bring it back.

Enjoy your days!

Learning what not to do

Sometimes lessons learned from doing the wrong thing are as valuable, or more so, than learning how to do something correctly the first time you try.  

During the week five of the blocks for the Canadian quilt were joined with their black sashing strips......then taken apart again.  The plan for this is to quilt it myself, quilt-as-you-go style, something I have never attempted before.  Yes, folks - without a safety net!  It occurred to me that quilting one block at a time then joining it to its neighbour would be easier than quilting a larger panel of several blocks, so that is what will be done.  

Here are four of the blocks joined, before being taken apart again.

They looked so good together......sigh......never mind.  It is hoped that quilting will start this week.  Still have to work out how to do the borders, but no doubt inspiration will strike with the help of You Tube.

This week's houses, similar in colour but quite different when finished.  I like them both.

I'm fairly sure that's about half of the houses with the black and white borders completed, and about half to be done.  A couple more green strips were also made.

'Weeds of Grace' with its backing is being delivered to the quilter tomorrow.  We had a phone call a few days ago; she would like to get it done while things are quiet for her, while I am looking forward to having it finished.  We enjoyed our conversation and are looking forward to catching up tomorrow, it will be so nice to chat with another woman again!

So......things are moving along in the sewing room.

After a taste of spring we are now back to winter, and even have a fire going today.  Bianca is pleased about that, she enjoys lying in front of the fire.

Today's 'Shutdown Sunday' earrings are blue stones in a gold setting.  I don't know if it's real gold (although I think it is) and I don't know what the stones are, but I think they may be Amazonite.  They are pretty, anyway.

Today is Father's Day.  Kevin had a phone call earlier and we will also have our Sunday night online quiz with the family in Canberra, so there will be good wishes passed around and all will be jolly.

My father was a distant man, not always a kind man when I was a child, who walked out on my mother after 25 years of marriage and three children; he never made contact with any of us again before he died nearly 20 years later.  His death certificate says no previous marriages (he had re-married a few years earlier) and no children, despite by then having three adult children and an ex-wife, so the new wife was probably never told about his earlier family.  He never met Kevin and never met his four grandchildren - my sons and my brother's daughters, although he was at my brother's wedding.

It was quite a strange thing for my brothers and I to read the information on his death certificate (we obtained a copy in case there were medical issues we should know about, for our own health information) and to read the word "None" where it should read "Three", under "Children of Deceased".  Perhaps we never really existed at all......

An old saying in Australia, if someone is being gloomy and downcast, is to describe them as being "as happy as a bastard on Father's Day".......a saying which never fails to make me chuckle.

"Musical Matinees.

A matinee musicale partakes of the nature of a reception, and is one of the most difficult entertainments attempted.  For this it is necessary to secure those persons possessing sufficient vocal and instrumental talent to insure the success of the entertainment, and to arrange with them a programme, assigning to each, in order, his or her part.  It is customary to commence with a piece of instrumental music, followed by solos, duets, quartettes, etc., with instrumental music interspersed, in not too great proportions.  Some competent person is needed as accompanist."

Many people in those days had a 'party piece' which they used to perform at gatherings.  No doubt there were some very talented people on the programme.....and perhaps some less so, but at least they had a go.  Sadly, I think, the advent of recorded music on radio and records, and later TV, has deprived many people of the pleasure of making their own music because they don't consider they are up to the standard of professionals heard on those media.  It takes confidence to perform in public......it's not an easy thing to do.

Enjoy your days!

The name of my quilt is.......

......"Weeds of Grace".  Something weedy but not 'tumbleweeds', and Grace is my middle name.

You can find so much on the internet, among which are quotations on any subject you wish - even weeds, believe it or not!  That prolific writer William Shakespeare has some, one of which is from Richard III, Act II, scene 4:  "Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace".  Another by Shakespeare (the play was not named) is "Sweet flowers are slow, and weeds make haste" which, to me, is another way of saying the same thing.  So......change the words slightly, and you have 'Weeds of Grace'.  I like it.

This week's houses.

That black and white swirl on the yellow house is almost the stuff of nightmares; you wouldn't want to wake up in sheets with that pattern after a hard night, although it's not quite as bad in real life as it looks here.  

Kevin will be pleased when the current lockdown is over, he is hanging out for a haircut.....and I will be pleased when I can go shopping for undies as the undie situation is getting a bit parlous, although there is fabric in my stash which, if things get desperate, would be suitable.  I have made many garments over the umpteen years I have been sewing but have never made knickers, although I know women who have.  There's always online shopping, but I prefer to feel the fabric before I wear it against my skin.

Speaking of sewing (notice how one subject segués into another so seamlessly?  she's not bad, is she?) earlier today we watched a program devoted to rural Australian topics, 'Landline', which had a segment on Madame Weigel.  Johanna Weigel arrived in Australia with her new husband in 1877 and soon after that started a business making clothing patterns.  The business lasted until 1968 - I remember Madame Weigel patterns, although I have never made one up.  She grew her business by having agents in country towns who stocked her patterns so women in rural areas could be as smartly dressed as their city sisters.  Just imagine the excitement in a farming household or in a small town far from a big city when a bundle of new patterns for the whole family arrived, everything from a wedding gown to a layette for an expected baby!  In just 1915 alone over one million patterns were sold - it was big business, but we never hear about Madame Weigel today.

I bet if the business had been started and run by men we would know all about it, wouldn't we.

My Sunday earrings this week are silver, bought many many years ago at a folk festival.  They were bought from Celtic Dreaming jewellery; I have many of their pieces and love their designs.  These are today's........Short Knot Earrings; there are also other earrings, a pendant, and a couple of brooches made by Desmond in my jewellery box.  If one is going to have trinkets (and one does like a nice trinket) they should be good ones, and these are good indeed.  We looked forward to seeing what new pieces Desmond and his wife had, and watched his gorgeous daughters grow from small children to beautiful women, for 25 years - although that hasn't happened since 2019.  The festival is supposed to happen again next Easter, but who knows if it will?  

We aren't holding our collective breath.  So many events have been postponed, and postponed again, then eventually cancelled......we had hoped to see a production by the local musical society in late October but now it, too, has been postponed until May next year.  We keep trying to be cheerful and looking on the bright side, but lately the bright side is becoming a bit tarnished. 

I'm sorry to say you all missed out on last week's Pumpkin Raisin Bars, but they were very nice.

"Invitations.

Invitations to a reception are simple, and are usually very informal.  Frequently the lady's card is sent with the simple inscription "At Home Thursday, from four to seven."  No answers are expected to these invitations, unless "R. S. V. P." is on one corner.  One visiting card is left by each person who is present, to serve for the after call.  No calls are expected from those who attend.  Those who are not able to be present, call soon after."

When I was a child it was not uncommon for family and friends to call unexpectedly.  There would be a knock on the door and we would hear "yoo hoo - anyone home?"  Doors were seldom locked, so whoever it was could just walk in.  While we don't necessarily wish to go back to the formality of the 1880s as in my book, I don't like the idea of anyone walking in on me either.  I like my privacy.

Enjoy your days!

Backing up

The back of the tumbler quilt is done!

The leafy stripe bought recently has been well and truly cut into; the main backing fabric was bought in Canberra in April.  It is fairly dark but suits the quilt well, I think.  Now to have speech with a long-arm quilter.  If we are allowed to talk to each other......sigh.......

It also needs a name.  When it was in progress many people asked why I was making it by hand, to which my answer was "why not?"  So "Why not" was going to be its name, but I am having second and third thoughts.  "One man's weeds are another man's flowers" is a saying I like; the tumbler shape puts me mind of the old song "Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds", so perhaps it will be named something weedy.

You'll be singing that all day now, won't you.......

This week's houses.

Bird tracks around a bright house that came all the way to the neighbourhood from Missouri - thank you, Sally, I hope you like what has been done to it!  The other bright house in a night sky is pretty much the last of that shaded lime fabric.  Another strip of green has been made; the seams are being pressed open to make for easier slicing and dicing when it happens.

Work has resumed on finishing off blocks for the Canadian quilt, little touches such as embroidering animals' eyes and noses, etc., because a polar bear without its black nose and eye is just a white blob.  It would probably still eat you though.

The wattle at twilight, still looking good but lacking the golden glow of daytime.

Earlier this month it was 12 months since my eye surgery, a whole year of seeing better with amazingly wider vision!  The deterioration in my range of vision had happened gradually over several years as the skin around the eyes became droopier, but until it was corrected I hadn't realised just how bad it had become.  There is a banana-shaped scar over each eye which, fortunately, isn't as noticeable as it first was, but it is worth it.  One woman in my sewing group made a crack about "cosmetic surgery" prior to having it done but believe me - it wasn't.  

My comment last week about always wearing earrings, even with trakky saks, has made people smile.  After so long with pierced ears I feel undressed without earrings; it took until I was 30 and had already given birth to pluck up courage to have it done (because what's a couple of little ear holes compared to popping out a baby, right?) and now have quite a collection.  Today's are dark blue, a little (fake) sapphire bead with a  teardrop (fake) sapphire set in (fake) gold hanging from it, matching my dark blue shirt.  

Even in lockdown we have our standards, you know.

It has been the usual quiet week.  A medical appointment on Friday meant donning the dreaded mask and waiting my turn, so by the time I was seen my blood pressure had shot up so high due to stress that the staff were quite alarmed.  They told me to take off the mask, much to my relief, even though it had to be re-donned to walk out through the waiting room and back down to the car.

"The Refreshments.

The refreshments for "morning receptions" are generally light, consisting of tea, coffee, frozen punch, claret punch, ices, fruit and cakes.  Often a cold collation is spread after the lighter refreshments have been served, and sometimes the table is set with all the varieties, and renewed from time to time."

Earlier this week I made pumpkin raisin bars with maple frosting, and very nice they are too.  If you visit for a morning reception before they are all gone you will be offered some - but we like them and they are disappearing fast, so there won't be any unless you hurry.  I'm sorry to say, though, that you are out of luck with the claret punch.

Enjoy your days!

Glorious golden gorgeousness

Don't you love the alliteration?  This is our little wattle bush, which is now doing amazingly well.

It was planted several years ago and for quite a while really struggled, not helped by the fact that its leaves were eaten off - all but three.  It was a collection of sticks with those few little green leaves; Kevin was all for pulling it out but I said "it's not dead, you know, it has three green leaves" so he left it.  I can't remember what it's called, there is probably a card somewhere in a Very Safe Place, but suffice it to say it's an Aussie native.  It didn't flower at all last year, not one little golden ball despite flowering for two years before that, perhaps the drought was still in its veins - but it is now making up for lost time.

This week's houses, don't you love that eye-popping fabric on the left?     

My black and white stash includes other eye poppers, too.  I also like the white gingko leaves on black and wish my stash also had it in the reverse colourway.  Some green squares were also joined, making two strips of seven squares.

Baking for the tumbler quilt is being pieced as we speak.  The extra wide fabric for the backing was bought on our trip down south a few months ago and is large enough for the purpose but there are also quite a few tumblers left from the front which had been made into a wide strip, because I'm not wasting all that hand piecing.  The backing and quilt top were spread out on the design bed then the pieced panel laid on top, leftover border fabrics were brought out, and much thinking was done.  The thinking resulted in the decision that, no matter how deeply I thought, there was not going to be enough of the outer border stripe for my purpose.  Bugger, said I.  So the local store it was brought from was rung, the details on the selvage quoted......"yes, we still have some, how much would you like?"  "I'll take the lot" said I, bearing in mind that this is the shop which is closing down forever and ever next month, so what's not bought from them now may have to remain unbought for all time.  Kevin collected it for me (50% off, woo hoo!) and it is exactly perfectly the right amount.  Measuring was done, more thinking was done, figures were written down, more thinking, coffee was drunk, more thinking.....oh no, that's not right, it needs to be cut double the height not double the width, erase some figures, write in new (hopefully correct) ones.  The panel is now made, it is waiting to be pressed, then the backing will be cut into two pieces and the pieced panel joined in.......and I will be happy.  

It will be booked in with a local quilter when we are allowed to talk to people - which we aren't much at present, because we are locked down.  Again.  Despite having no active cases of plague our town was locked down for a week from 5 p.m. last Monday, as a woman who later tested positive had visited family here the previous week.  We still have no cases but the lockdown has extended to the whole state, so until at least the end of next weekend and goodness knows how much longer we are only allowed out for hunting and gathering, and essential shopping such as medicinal stuff and things like that.  Again.  Sigh....

So we sit around and sew, and knit, and plink the occasional note on a uke, and read, and do crosswords (me) or soduku (Kevin), and grin at each other.  At least we're still allowed to do that.

"The dress.

The dress for receptions is, for men, morning dress; for ladies, demi-toilet, with or without bonnet.  No low-necked dress nor short sleeves should be seen at day receptions, nor white neckties and dress coats.

The material of a lady's costume may be of velvet, silk, muslin, gauze or grenadine, according to the season of the year, and taste of the wearer, but her more elegant jewellery and laces should be reserved for evening parties."

Right now, I'm ashamed to say, our day and evening attire consists of trakky daks.......but I always wear earrings.

Enjoy your days!

Greening the corner gardens

All the triangles for the outer corners are done.

Now they will be set aside with the completed houses, and eventually they will all make their way into the quilt.  Eventually.  Joining squares has now started for the side triangles; each block will need 49 squares set in seven rows of seven, then will be cut into four quarter-square triangles.  When the decision was made to do this it seemed quite tedious, but actually it's not.......and every stitch will be worth it, when finished.

This week's houses, a black house surrounded by white and a white house surounded by black.

By the time the setting decision was taken several houses had already been made using black and white fabrics so they will be set with the opposite; dark houses will be surrounded by white, and white houses will have black.  

This is the back of the quilt shown last week.  The orange fabric wasn't ~quite~ wide enough so a strip using leftover fabrics from the front was made, a technique used in other quilts too.

All the Canadian quilt blocks have had their stabiliser removed so now they are set aside for a while, because I want to make the back for the (as yet un-named) tumbler quilt.  When we were down south a few months ago I bought some extra wide fabric for the back, and now the plan is to insert a strip to make it longer.  There were tumblers left from the front because too many were cut, so they have been pieced into a strip which, however, needs more width......and my brain is thinking about how to do it, so watch this space.  When that's done it will be booked in for long arm quilting, because it's too big for me to handle.

The flower basket quilt is also being worked on, it's currently a TV project (either that or knitting) - my goodness, it's going to be huge.  It will also be quilted by a long armer.

That's my colourful week, how has yours been?

Playing with bright fabrics was certainly more fun than having my second covid plague shot, which I did a few days ago.  Now I suppose I'm as vaccinated as I can currently be, and Kevin will also be on Tuesday.  I am, however, still staying home because of the compulsory mask rule; he is quite happy to do shopping and household running around, and I am happy to let him.

There is a sporting event being held in another country and it doesn't interest us one bit; there is already far too much sport on T.V.  Members of our family have lost work because of lockdowns and shutdowns, but these people can quite happily swan off overseas, kick a ball and grin for the camera.  They waffle on about "winning a medal for my country" and "doing the country proud" but at the end of the day where does that medal end up?  Probably on a shelf in their own bedroom, unseen and uncared about by the rest of us.  Our orchestras, our actors and dancers, are up there with the best but don't get the rah rahs that sport people do.  I eagerly await the day that our national ballet company or one of our orchestras gets a 'welcome home parade' on completion of an overseas tour as is often done for sport people but I suspect hell will be long frozen over by the time that happens - which, sadly, doesn't say much about us as a nation, does it?

I've been reading mystery books downloaded for free on my tablet, and these books vary from quite good to not good at all.  If they don't grab my interest they are deleted unfinished, in some cases barely started, and another is opened.  At my age I don't know how many years are left to me, but I'm darn sure I'm not going to waste any of them reading a badly-written book.  Having said that there have been some I have enjoyed so much that I have sought out others by the same author......but only if they're free, of course.  

"Receptions, parties and balls.

Morning receptions, as they are called, but more correctly speaking, afternoon parties, are generally held from four to seven o'clock in the afternoon.  Sometimes a sufficient number for a quadrille arrange to remain after the assemblage has for the most part dispersed."

Can you dance a quadrille?  I can, and indeed have often done so; I used to enjoy dancing and only stopped not that many years ago.  In my next life, however, I am going to marry a bloke who dances......because Kevin does not and will not dance, so I relied on friends to partner me.  A 'sufficient number' for a quadrille is eight people, four couples.

Enjoy your days!

It has rained, it has poured......

......and it will rain again soon, judging by the weather radar.  It's been a long time since I have driven in such heavy rain as I did on Thursday night coming home from choir, the closer I came to home the heavier was the rain and wind; Kevin was drenched running from the house to the garage, and we were both drenched getting inside.  Our garage is under the house roof but doesn't have an entrance inside the house which is normally not a problem, but it was that night.

The drought has broken in our backyard, for sure, and it's now raining steadily again.

Don''t you love our wet world?  Taken just a few minutes ago.

Two more houses made this week, bring the total to 55.  Six to go.

Another cat house and a butterfly house, both with flowery gardens.  Today's dull conditions make for dull photos.

Trimming of the autumn blocks has not yet happened.  It will.  Hand piecing a panel for the back of the tumbler quilt is done, now some machine work remains.  I have no idea about backing fabric; there is one possibility (which may be too busy) in my stash, and my favourite shop doesn't have anything which floats my boat either.  There is another quilt shop here but I seldom go in as the owner is a bit of an odd duck, although the fabric for the inner border was found there.  However - there are quilt shops in Canberra, so perhaps the perfect fabric awaits down south.

A year ago we were also planning a trip to Canberra for the folk festival, but it wasn't to be.  This time the trip will happen but the festival will not.  Last year our musician son had a gig lined up which we would have been able to attend, but it, too, had to be cancelled almost at the last minute - we were really looking forward to that, as we have so few chances to hear him play these days.  He is hoping to have one for us this time, so fingers crossed.  At least we will be able to be in the same room as family instead of having to grin at each other on a computer screen.

Bianca and I are keeping each other company for a few days as Kevin has gone Down To The Coast to play in a lawn bowls competition.  Last year his team made it through all their games to get to the state final, but then the world shut down and the final was postponed......and postponed again......now it is to happen over the next few days rain (probably), hail or shine.  He will be back sometime on Wednesday, so it will be a quiet house until then; not that he is a raucously loud person at any time, but having one person away when there are only two of you anyway always makes for a quieter house.  Bianca isn't much of a conversationalist unless it is getting near what she considers to be her dinner time.

Lately we have been noticing that trees are definitely getting ready for autumn.  Those bright greens are fading, and trees which produce seeds are doing so.  It will be cooler down south, autumn arrives earlier there - something to look forward to.  

"Greediness.

To put large pieces of food into your mouth appears greedy, and if you are addressed when your mouth is so filled, you are obliged to pause, before answering, until the vast mouthful is masticated, or run the risk of choking, by swallowing it too hastily.  To eat very fast is also a mark of greediness, and should be avoided.  The same may be said of soaking up gravy with bread, scraping up sauce with a spoon, scraping your plate, and gormandizing upon one or two articles of food only."

That last bit of gravy soaked up with bread is always delicious, don't you think?  Even if it gets us kicked out of a polite dinner party......

Enjoy your days!