Our girls

This is Bianca The Beautiful helping to sort out the contents of a chest of drawers. You can see her blue eye, the other one is green - but unlike many odd-eyed cats she is not deaf, in fact she has very acute hearing. She can hear a can of cat food being opened from three blocks away. She's now seven years old. She and her two white brothers were dumped as tiny kitties but fortunately they were rescued, and Bianca came to live with us.
And this is Binky The World's Friendliest Cat, doing what she does very well - resting. She is nigh on 13 years old now, but does very well for a Senior Cat. She has really taken our old computer chair as her own, we're on the point of throwing it out....but how can we do that to Binky? So we have let it stay in the corner, just for her. Binky is also a rescue cat, she came from the RSPCA.

The other day I won a giveaway, aren't I lucky? Tammy had a giveaway to celebrate her 100th post and I was fortunate enough to win. Poor Tammy has been having a rough time lately, an operation on her hand didn't go according to plan, but all seems to be well now which is good, I hope you continue to improve, Tammy!

Last weekend I cut out fabric to make a late Christmas gift, a set of placemats. My goodness.....cutting six layers at a time was a bit of strain on the hand, but we managed all right in the end. You can see what I am making here. The backs are made of two fabrics and I have sewn one upside down....does it matter? Probably. If I don't fix it now while it's easy to do so, it will bug me forever. Can't have nikau palms growing upside down. I decided against the applique although I like it, because I think the recipient will prefer them a little plainer.

The weather has been conspiring against me lately in my quest to be a little healthier and fitter. It's either been too hot to walk - when the humidity is so high that it feels like pushing through a swimming pool, then it's too unpleasant to be out in it - or else we have been having afternoon and evening storms. I may be silly sometimes, but I'm not silly enough to be out in an electrical storm. I don't sew during electrical storms as My Lovely New Bernina is a computer machine, so I turn it off and pull out the plug........don't want my machine to get fried. Or me either.

The other night we went with friends to see Sharon Shannon in concert, Sharon is an Irish musician and is an absolute whizz on the accordian. She had very good musicians with her - a guitarist (I'd give my right arm to be able to play that well but then I wouldn't be able to play at all with only one arm would I), a banjo player and a fiddle player. The sound man joined them on stage at the end, he played mandolin very well and sang well too. I only wish the sound man we had for our gig on Australia Day had been that good..........we were there 45 minutes before we were due to perform, all on stage waiting for our sound check......he still hadn't got it right by the time we finished performing. Perhaps by the end of the day he might have picked up a clue as to what he should have been doing. We don't know how much he was paid but he didn't give us the impression that he had earned his wage that day.

"A Good Listener.
To be a good listener is almost as great an art as to be a good talker; but it is not enough only to listen, you must endeavor to seem interested in the conversation of those who are talking. Only the low-bred allow their impatience to be manifest."

Now I am off to the sewing room to unpick that seam so I can turn the fabric round and sew it the right way. Don't want to be bugged forever.

Jennifer

Happy Birthday to Robert Burns

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) - a poet who put words together in a wonderful way. How could anyone read this - or sing it - and remain unmoved?

Ae Fond Kiss

E fond kiss, and then we sever;

Ae farewell, alas, for ever!

Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,

Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee!

Who shall say that Fortune grieves him

While the star of hope she leaves him?

Me, nae cheerfu' twinkle lights me,

Dark despair around benights me.

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy;

Naething could resist my Nancy;

But to see her was to love her,

Love but her, and love for ever.

Had we never loved sae kindly,

Had we never loved sae blindly,

Never met--or never parted,

We had ne'er been broken-hearted.

Fare thee weel, thou first and fairest!

Fare thee weel, thou best and dearest!

Thine be ilka joy and treasure,

Peace, enjoyment, love, and pleasure!

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!

Ae farewell, alas, for ever!

Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,

Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee!

As well as beautiful poems like this one, and "A Red Red Rose", and "A Man's A Man For A' That"........Robbie Burns had a bawdy side, a poem which probably scandalised folk at the time was "Nine Inch Will Please A Lady".

But I won't sing that one for you.

Jennifer

Crafty WOW

Wombat stencils, and wombat stamps.....I like the tubby one on the right....and a wombat paper punch, all posing nicely on some Aussie fabric because tomorrow is Australia Day.

Each year there is discussion, sometimes amiable and sometimes heated, about changing Australia Day because of what it represents - a group of convicts arriving in Sydney, accompanied by some military men - but like it or not that happened, and the continent of Australia was changed forever. For better or worse, who knows? Although none of my convict ancestors arrived on the First Fleet, some arrived just a few years later.....so my roots here go back to at least 1794.

Our local council puts on a big hooley in a riverside park with a couple of Australian rock bands, and with local teenagers doing their best to sound as though they should be competing on Australian Idol. What happens if you don't willingly listen to rock music and never watch Idol-style programs? Does that mean you have no place at the celebrations? That's how it seems to me, or perhaps I am getting touchy in my old age. I can remember when local bands played the music for Australia Day, and local organisations manned food stalls, and we all enjoyed ourselves. I will be playing music in a park a little further away with members of my folk club in the morning, then having our son and his girlfriend over to dinner later in the day. But I won't be playing guitar, because when I try it is still a lot of pain for very little result. But that will come.

My goodness it was hectic at the supermarket this morning! People shopping for Australia Day parties tomorrow, and mummies trailing along their reluctant children shopping for school supplies, the summer school holiday is nearly over as the little darlings go back to school from Wednesday and they suddenly realise what they need.

My hand has been very good at doing its exercises and has progressed from the 400g tin of tomatoes to a 1kg weight, held very carefully. The nice young physio bloke has said we can now space out the appointments, so we are having a two week break between treatments. He is pleased with my progress although my fingers are still stiff, that's a combination of arthritis and stiffness from disuse while spending six weeks in plaster. First thing out of bed in the morning I can barely use my hand because of stiffness, but it improves after a warm shower. And it's still too stiff to clench my fist, but that's getting nearer.....when I can do that I will try driving the car again, if I can remember how; it's been a few months.

"Women Should Cultivate a Spirit of Independence.
In a young country like Australia women should, to some extent, cultivate a spirit of independence. They should acquire a knowledge of how business is transacted, of the relation between capital and labor, and of the value of labor, skilled and unskilled. As housekeeper, they would then be saved from many annoyances and mistakes. If they chance to be left alone, widows, or orphans possessing means, they would be saved from many losses and vexatious experiences by knowing how to transact their own business. And those women who are obliged to take care of themselves, who have no means, how necessary it is that they should have a thorough knowledge of some occupation or business by which they can maintain themselves and others dependent on them."

As true today as when it was written in 1885.

Now I shall have a coffee, then start sewing on a belated Christmas gift which I have been unable to start - cutting through six layers with my rotary cutter, even though it sharp, was quite difficult last night as my left hand applied enough pressure to hold the ruler steady. But it's now all cut and ready to be assembled, pics will follow in due course.

Have a lovely week, may your cutter always be sharp and your seams neat.

Jennifer

Baby wombat

Some years ago I purchased "Baby Wombat" at a market in Canberra, it's signed by the maker Aileen Moloney - it's either a woodcut or linocut, I forget which, but it's an original just waiting for a frame. One of these days....... The design is 6in (15cm) square. Baby wombats have large ears compared to adult wombats.

My new skirt is nearly finished, I am sewing the hem by hand and it's nearly done. Sometimes I sew hems using the machine but this one needed to be hand-finished because of the fabric. The next project will be to finish a Pay It Forward gift.

I can nearly clench my fist again as the swelling in my hand has gone down enough. Unfortunately that also means that my left hand is getting more like my right hand....a wrinkled old lady's hand. It was so swollen that it had no wrinkles whatsoever and now they are coming back. It's a good thing I suppose......don't know why wrinkles can't just be confined to the soles of our feet. I am doing 'curls', exercises set by the physio; to you and me, it means holding a weight in my hand (so far I am up to a 400g tin of tomatoes) while I lift my hand up and down keeping the wrist steady, then turn my hand over and do the same, it's a lot more difficult palm downwards. I can't manage the tin of tomatoes for that yet so I use a 150g jar of pesto sauce. Squeezing a soft ball completes the exercises. 20 times each, three times a day. At least I can read while I do them.

You know, I have been pondering on all sorts of things lately. Like.....while charm packs and jelly rolls, etc. are a lovely way to buy a little of a whole fabric range - it's an expensive way to buy fabric.

And now that we have celebrated New Year we can find hot cross buns and Easter eggs in the supermarket....for goodness' sake, Easter isn't until April......I'm very fond of chocolate and I like fruit buns at any time of year but it's a bit early to be pushing Easter on us.....

My last posting mentioned a colour called "solferino" which I first assumed was something to do with sulphur yellow - but no, it's a purplish red colour. I found this useful site which mentions all colours of the rainbow and many others besides, and they have wonderful names.

"In meeting a lady or gentleman whose name you cannot recall, frankly say so, if you find it necessary. Sensible persons will prefer to recall themselves to your memory rather than to feel that you are talking to them without fully recognizing them. To affect not to remember a person is despicable, and reflects only on the pretender."

Now I am off to sew some more on my skirt hem. Have a lovely week!

Jennifer

Summer Serenade

That's the name of this quilt, what do you reckon? It says summer to me, and some of the fabrics have a musical theme. A few years ago Donna Ward from New Zealand taught classes for members of the NSW Quilters Guild, and one of them was this foundation pieced New York Beauty. Donna's method was quilt-as-you-go, and after making one block I decided that wasn't for me. (different strokes for different folks, right?) I had the idea to use black and white fabrics with lime green, the idea for which came from - believe it or not - the ladies' toilets at the club where the Guild has its meetings, the internal walls are some sort of reconstituted stuff made of black and white marble chips with tiny pieces of bright green glass. The sashing has weeny yellow stars on the orange background, the backing will be a glorious orange tone-on-tone which wasn't q-u-i-t-e wide enough for this quilt so a pieced strip of the border leftovers is set in, and the binding will be the same black and white print as the centre of the pieced fans. And the blocks are tilted on purpose.

Now the big question is, how to quilt it? I will be doing it myself on My Lovely New Bernina, and sitting in the thread box is a black and white variegated 40wt cotton thread from Aurifil as well as orange and lime green threads. One thing I most definitely do not want at all in any circumstances whatsoever is just all-over stippling. All suggestions that do not involve stippling will be considered. It has been a top for a while and I would like to have it finished. I'm good at making tops.......not so good at finishing the quilt, because of my lack of confidence in my ability to quilt by machine.

Out there in Blogland I see there are many ideas for helping folks with their UFOs - pledges to finish one project per month, or so many projects this year - after pondering deeply on this for about a second and a half I have decided not to join in any of them. Last year's broken arm taught me the futility of making plans too far in advance! So rather than join up and then beat myself about the head if I failed, I have decided not to join. Simple. Like not making any resolutions at New Year, for the same reason. We are planning to move house six hours away sometime this year, and as anyone who has ever moved can tell you - don't make plans for anything else.

The current project is coming along nicely, that's the skirt I cut out last week. All that remains is to measure and pin the hem, then stitch it by machine. It's quite a bright skirt but that is all to the good, life is too short to live it in beige.

Report on the arm: I can play guitar again! yay! After getting encouragement to try from both the orthopedic specialist and the nice young physio bloke (we are now at the stage of having deep and meaningful discussions about life and classical music while he pummels the bejaysus out of my arm) yesterday I took my beloved Rokomann out of its coffin - sorry, case - and tried some chords. G, D, and C weren't too difficult but F isn't quite there yet as it's a barre chord. That's when you have to hold down more than one string with your finger, and it needs a bit more strength than the finger currently has. But that will come. I have another guitar which might be better to use while I ease back into playing. Still to be tried: cutting with ruler and rotary cutter, and driving the car.

"Harmony of Colors in Dress.
One color should predominate in the dress; and if another is adopted, it should be in a limited quantity and only be way of contrast or harmony. Some colours may never, under any circumstances, be worn together, because they produce positive discord to the eye. If the dress be blue, red should never be introduced by way of trimming, or vice versa. Red and blue, red and yellow, blue and yellow, and scarlet and crimson may never be united in the same costume. If the dress be red, green may be introduced in a minute quantity; if blue, orange; if green, crimson. Scarlet and solferino are deadly enemies, each killing the other when they meet".

There's your homework - find out what colour "solferino" is. It's not a colour I have ever worn....or ever plan to, now I know what it is. One clue, it's nothing to do with sulphur yellow.

Have a good weekend.

Jennifer

First WOW for the new year

This is a really tiny wombat, as you can see! A couple of years ago I was walking by a jewellery shop window, I happened to glance in....as you do......and what did I see calling my name but a little gold wombat on a neck chain. So the shop and I did a deal involving an exchange of money and a small package, and the little wombat came home with me. Would you believe I have never seen another one of these, ever, anywhere else? It's probably not the only teeny gold wombat in existence but goodness knows where the others are hiding.
Isn't this impressive? Today I looked in the manual for My New Overlocker, and had a go at threading it, and even used it, and it works. Yesterday I cut out fabric to make a skirt, and having an overlocker gives such a professional finish to the seams. I owned an Elna overlocker for over 17 years and it did sterling duty in that time, but its tension was never wonderful. When My Lovely New Bernina (on the left) went to the sewing machine spa just before our Canadian holiday last October I looked at new overlockers, and this one was on special - "yes please" said I. So it was duly ordered, and collected when the other machine was ready. Because I haven't been able to sew for so long I looked at it occasionally, and sighed, and bided my time until my hand was usable again. Now the desk looks like a proper sewing centre.

Speaking of the hand, two days ago a real milestone was passed.....chuckle if you will, but it's a milestone just the same.....I can now do up my bra by myself! Before Saturday morning the last time I managed that small task was 15th October last year, the day of The Great TO Tumble. The pressure for using a ruler and rotary cutter is not quite there yet, but it's getting closer. Still to come - driving the car (the swelling in my hand and fingers means I don't have much strength in my grip yet) and playing guitar. The hand has its next appointment with the nice young physio bloke tomorrow morning so hopefully he will give it a good report. While there are a couple of promised items in my UFO list I decided that the next thing to tackle would be a skirt which was cut out with scissors. The promised items need the use of a rotary cutter so they will be done as soon as I can manage it. A few days ago I finished the Flower Basket block that I started in Canada, and knitting is relatively easy again, so my crafting life is slowly returning to what passes for normal.

Today I received a package from Carol, we're having a swap between ourselves - Carol has sent me some lovely patterns in exchange for some Aussie magazines. Getting parcels from overseas is exciting! Thank you Carol, and I hope your parcel doesn't take too long to arrive. Speaking of which, early in December I won a giveaway on a blog - an Aussie blog, in Queensland, not a blog on the far side of the known universe - and my giveaway hasn't yet arrived, which is sad. It was one of several prizes posted the same day, one apparently arrived fairly quickly but the others didn't. I feel sorry for the ladies who organised the giveaway as it's not their fault, but I suppose these things happen from time to time.

Carol and her husband have a little teardrop trailer, we have our 12ft Nipper caravan - we don't need a huge RV to have fun. Kevin sometimes makes noises about getting a bigger caravan, more space could be useful.......but I must admit I have a soft spot for our little Nipper. The more space we have the more things we will take away with us, whether or not we need them.

"Accepting Hospitality A Sign Of Good-Will.
As eating with another under his roof is in all conditions of society regarded as a sign of good-will, those who partake of proffered hospitalities, only to gossip about and abuse their host and hostess, should remember, that in the opinion of all honorable persons, they injure themselves by so doing."

Now I am going to tinker around in my sewing room for a while, then get ready for the first choir practice of the new year. Have a lovely week!

Jennifer

Here we are in January

We had a good break and here we are back home again. The central west of New South Wales is a lovely place. We had a fun time at the festival and heard some great music, some from folks we have heard before and some from folks who were new to us. We managed to stay up long enough to see the new year in, but didn't last long after that. In all the years we have attended this festival we have had the occasional sprinkle of rain, but last weekend certainly made up for that. We had rather a lot of rain, in fact the grass must have grown by at least three inches in the nearly five days we spent on the hill overlooking a beautiful view of the valley.

And the wombat collection has grown by two.......there is a shop selling various trinkets and things and they had two wombats for sale...... Gulgong had a street carnival and dance for New Year's Eve, and in the car park outside one of the pubs was a strange looking contraption that, if one was so minded, one could pay good money to ride on and be thrown off. It wasn't a mechanical bull, it was a mechanical wombat - has to be the strangest thing I have ever seen - I took a photo but it hasn't yet been uploaded to the computer. Unfortunately on the way home we saw a wombat, a real one this time, by the side of the road; he/she hadn't made the crossing safely. But we could see (by the way it was lying on its back with its feet in the air) that it had been checked to see if it was a female with a baby in the pouch, and if there was a baby it would be taken out and hand-reared until it would be old enough to be released back into the bush. Baby wombats are really cute. Ugly, but cute.

Although I couldn't play guitar I attended a workshop run by a guitar maker, he makes gorgeous instruments....one of my guitars was fixed at his workshop a few years ago. And I sang a lot. So it was a good festival.

The locals in Gulgong are really nice people, they look at you when they pass you in the street and say g'day, unlike people in Sydney. We're looking forward to moving. One shop assistant even rang another shop to ask them to tell us (because we had gone looking) she had found the torch we wanted to buy, after she hadn't been able to find it. Can't see a shop here doing that......I know small towns can have problems too, but they still have a sense of community spirit which has disappeared in large places like Sydney.

My hand is slowly getting more use back although it is still swollen, I can't get my wedding ring back on yet. The nice young physio bloke told me that bone injuries can stay swollen for quite a long time. I don't yet have a grip so am still not driving the car, as I would probably a menace on the road if I can't quite hold the steering wheel. But never mind, this too shall pass.

"The Wedding Ring.
All churches at present use the ring, and vary the sentiment of its adoption to suit the customs and ideas of their own rites. A jewelled ring has been for many years the sign and symbol of betrothal, but at present a plain gold circlet, with the date of the engagement inscribed within, is generally preferred. The wedding ring, a plain hoop of gold, is used at the church. A jewelled ring is placed upon her hand by the groom on the way home from the church, or as soon after the service as is convenient. It stands guard over its precious fellow, and is a confirmation of the first promise."

Have a lovely week, may your stitches be even and your points not be too far out of whack.

Jennifer