Slaving over a hot sewing machine

The Big Reveal for my quilt group's 2011 challenge quilts is on Saturday afternoon so I have been dancing up a storm at the sewing machine. My quilt is now quilted and the last of the loose threads are being woven in, then tomorrow the edges will be trimmed and the binding sewn on.

Serves me right for leaving it so late. It has been a finished top for months but making decisions about quilting gets to me every time. It could do with some more quilting in the centre and who knows, that just may get done. Or then again, it may not........after all, finished is better than perfect.

Here are a few of the lovely birds we saw on our holiday.

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, so pretty with its pink and yellow colours.
Eastern Rosella - we have these here at home too, and they are beautiful. They are smaller than the other cockatoos. This one took a fancy to us and every time we stepped left, it shuffled left along the aviary wire.......if we stepped right, it shuffled right......our new best friend.
Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo. These are big birdies.
See the chewed tree branches? All done by this bird; their beaks are like bolt cutters. There are signs warning not to poke your fingers into the cages and you can see why.

The large aviary where these birds lived was also home to a young magpie, a terrible tease. It was annoying the black cocky, who was jumping up and down and madly sqwarking.....the more it sqwarked, the more the magpie teased......then the magpie hopped away with a "ha ha, gotcha!" look in its beady little eye and a yellow-speckled black tail feather in its beak. We thought it was very funny, although the black cocky was somewhat affronted.

I have a couple of questions about blog stuff: how do I make a header with more than one picture on it? and how do I replace the orange and white B with something different, so in a list of blogs mine has its own little unique symbol? I have seen that on a few blogs and it looks very swish.

We have been having storms lately and even the odd blackout, so the computer is spending some of its time turned off and unplugged as we don't want a repeat of the lightning strike which did so much damage to our last computer and caused it to be replaced. So if I am a bit tardy in replying to comments, or commenting on blogs, please forgive me. It's because I don't want to end up a bright spark.

"Showy dress.

The glaring colors and "loud" costumes, once so common, have given place to sober grays, and browns and olives; black predominating over all. The light, showily-trimmed dresses, which were once displayed in the streets and fashionable promenades, are now only worn in carriages. This display of showy dress and glaring colors is generally confined to those who love ostentation more than comfort."

Perhaps the brightly-coloured birds should be riding in carriages, rather than promenading around their aviary? The yellow and black cockatoo looked very smart and not at all sober.

Enjoy your days!

Some more holiday sights

First, a little background.

In my book collection is a book called "Annabella Boswell's Journal". Annabella Innes was born in New South Wales in 1826 and lived in different places with her parents and younger sister during which time she kept a diary, as did many well-brought up young ladies of the time. When she was still young her father died, and couple of years afterward she, her mother and sister boarded a ship to sail from Sydney north along the New South Wales coast to Port Macquarie. In those days - early 1840s - Port Macquarie was a convict settlement, a far cry from the coastal resort it is now which we visited a couple of weeks ago. Annabella's uncle, Major Archibald Innes, would not hear of his relatives settling in the port so offered them a home on his extensive property a few miles south of the town. Annabella lived there for several years and wrote about life in her uncle's house in her diary, which was published for her family many years later after she married and moved to Scotland.

Today the land that Annabella knew looks like this - that is Lake Innes in the background.

Turn around, and one could be a very long way from anywhere. It is very peaceful.
Turn a little further and see........this.
This sad sight is all that now remains of the large country estate once owned by Major Innes, and of the rooms where Annabella worked on her patchwork, and of the verandah where she and her sister and cousins danced the polka to the latest tunes of the day.
Walkways have been built to make for safe walking, as there is so much rubble and fallen brick.
Even the garden, once so lovely, has encroached on the house walls.

It was a grand estate employing 58 convicts as well as other workers; because it was owned by a Scot one of those workers was Bruce the piper, whose duties included piping the family awake each morning as well as waiting on the table with other servants in livery. Just imagine being rudely woken early in the morning to bagpipes! There were stables for the horses, and some carriages, a farm to keep everyone supplied with food, house servants - a very grand establishment.

However it all came to an end late in the 1840s when convict transportation to New South Wales ceased and convicts in Port Macquarie were relocated. Add to that a rural depression, and Major Innes could no longer keep his grand estate. It was sold, and the years took its toll on the buildings. A bushfire did more damage, and vandalism and theft of building materials finished off the once-proud buildings. If you are interested, there is more information here.

Social history can be fascinating.....how ordinary people lived their lives. In some ways not so different to us today, in other ways a world we can never know because that time has passed forever.

"Certain local rules have been recognized in society at Sydney from the fact that a gentleman's social position is acquired by virtue of certain offices which he holds, and the social status of woman is also in a less degree determined by the official rank of her husband."

How terrible to have one's status in life determined by one's husband, not by one's own achievements.

Enjoy your days!

We've been and gone and come home again

We started in the mountains, this pic was taken just outside Dorrigo. The folk festival we attended was held in the town.

Then we went to the coast, here is Pilot Beach. As you can see, not every day was sunny.
In Port Macquarie we shared our camp site with the local wildlife.
Because it is spring the flowers were blooming everywhere we went, there were native plants like these pretty grevilleas........
..........and introduced species, like these gorgeous jacarandas in Grafton a week before their annual Jacaranda Festival.
We had a lovely time, saw many interesting things, and visited lots of places we had never been to before (and some we had, although it was a long long time ago), so you can expect to see more pics yet. While the beaches are lovely the coastal towns are rapidly spreading as more and more development takes place, so for me the truly luscious part of the country is a little way inland with its green rolling hills and smaller villages and towns.

The local wildlife was entertaining. The caravan park where we stayed in Port Macquarie had a family of Tawny Frogmouths nesting in a tree, and there were many other birds and some large lizards scurrying around. It is also home to a population of koalas, a favourite tree for the koalas' evening meal of eucalyptus leaves was near our caravan. Neither of us had heard koalas before; the noise they make sounds like a grumbly old man trying to start a reluctant lawnmower. The sound of it carries quite a long way.

Did you know that koalas and wombats are related? They share a common ancestor (although it was something like 32 million years ago), but koalas took to climbing trees and wombats started digging holes in the ground.

"Accepting hospitality a sign of good-will.

As eating with another under his own 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."

I won't abuse our koala friends as we did eat under their roof - at least, in the shade of their favourite tree. But just the same, sometimes they were very noisy.

Enjoy your days!

See you again in a few weeks

Tomorrow morning we leave on our driving holiday....first we are going to a folk festival, then on Monday we will be heading for the coast.

Not that coast, we will be a couple of hours further north.
Our bags are packed.....mine is, anyway. A smaller bag than these.

We are looking forward to our holiday.....even though we have been retired for a couple of years, a holiday away is good. The break from daily routine is a change, and we are planning to visit places where we haven't been before. My knitting and hand-piecing are ready to go, we have several books to read, and we will take the large crossword (not yet started) from yesterday's local paper.

When we return I will tell of the highlights - no doubt there will be many!

"Trusting the driver.

While driving with another who holds the reins, you must not interfere with the driver, as anything of this kind implies a reproof, which is very offensive. If you think his conduct wrong, or are in fear of danger resulting, you may delicately suggest a change, apologizing therefore. You should resign yourself to the driver's control, and be perfectly calm and self-possessed during the course of a drive."

Calm and self-possessed, that's me.

Enjoy your days!

Kiss me, honey, honey, kiss me........

.....thrill me, honey, honey, thrill me.......

Remember that song? We have been visited by a swarm of bees, but they didn't leave any honey. This small Native Frangipani tree in our front yard yesterday had a swarm in it, I have never seen so many bees in one place. This morning we contacted a local beekeeper who arrived with a box, and a smoker, and he coaxed the queen into the box. Many of the bees followed, as bees do, and a couple of hours later he collected the box. We didn't see him take it, and I wish we had, because there is still a large clump of bees left. That dark mass hanging down on the left side of the tree is bees, and you may also be able to see some of the unhappy bees buzzing around. They are unhappy because they have been left behind.

Last night I rang another beekeeper and left a message about the swarm. When the lady rang back today she said those bees will now die because they aren't part of a hive anymore, and the beekeeper who took them should have left the box all day instead of just a couple of hours to make sure all the bees went together. Meanwhile, we have some very agitated bees in our front yard and I am not game to go outside for long.

It seems that if you are visited by a swarm you can either have it collected, or if it's convenient to leave them they will move of their own accord within a couple of days. Unfortunately they are not in a good place because the tree is near our garage door, and they are making life difficult as a result. Last night one hitched a ride inside with Kevin and stung me on the thumb......it's still tender, red and swollen and hot.

I am sorry the bees will die, though. I don't wish them any harm.

This is the top I finished yesterday and I am fairly pleased with it. It clings to all the bulges, but the patterned fabric does help to disguise that somewhat. The neck is low - it's gathered in the centre - it looks quite good on. I would like to make it again in a better fabric, but that will wait until we come home from holidays. The placement of the fabric motifs isn't too bad, they miss the bosom, but the black flower in the centre of the bottom row sits right on top of my belly button. Well done.
Recently we planted a Calistemon Taree Pink in our back yard and it is starting to flower - it's so pretty. This pic was taken in our Sydney garden before we moved as we had one growing there; we always liked it, and while we don't wish to recreate the garden we left behind there are some plants I miss. Hopefully the birds will like this too. Going on previous experience I know bees will.

"Dress For Receiving Calls.

If a lady has a special day for the reception of calls, her dress must be of silk or other goods suitable to the season, or to her position, but must be of quiet colors and plainly worn. Lace collars and cuffs should be worn with this dress, and a certain amount of jewellery is also admissible. A lady whose mornings are devoted to the superintendence of her domestic affairs may receive a casual caller in her ordinary morning dress, which must be neat, yet plain, with white plain linen collars and cuffs. For New Year's Day, or other calls of special significance, the dress should be rich, and may be elaborately trimmed. If the parlors are closed and the gas lighted, full evening dress is required."

I don't know about you, but I haven't seen white lace or linen collars and cuffs being worn for a very long time. I do, however, feel undressed without earrings - today's are amethyst and peridot chips, purple and green. So, because I am dressed, you are welcome to call.

Enjoy your days!

Best wishes to my Canadian family and friends for Thanksgiving!

A gorgeous Canadian maple tree taken on our visit to Toronto in October 2009, at Bluffers Park in Scarborough. It's a maple leaf-shaped maple tree, how cool is that? Hope you all have a great weekend!

I am really thrilled, I just read on Sara's blog that the name she picked for her sheep money bank is the name I thought of, Daisy....Daisy the sheep looks like a little flower, doesn't she? She is very cute!

Am just having a break from wrestling with some very slippery slidey slithery fabric. The top being made from Jalie 2794 is coming together very well, but oh my......that fabric....not sure it was a good choice, but the price was right to check the pattern fit and style and now it's not far from being finished anyway. I bought the fabric from the Big Fabric Chain Store but will check out the proper fabric shop to see if they have anything I like better; it will cost more but will be worth it. The pattern calls for four-way stretch fabric which rules out quite a few fabrics, as they are two-way stretch only. And during the sewing my overlocker had a hissy fit, I didn't notice that the thread going through the right-hand needle guides had jumped out of one of the guides.......wondered why there were so many loops where there shouldn't be loops on the wrong side of the seams and the tension was up the creek.......took a few seams to notice. Bummer. Le heavy sigh.

Ah well, so long as the top is wearable......the fabric is a black and white print about which I have misgivings, I don't usually wear printed tops.....usually stick to plain tops and bottoms, although I do lash out in summer and wear patterned skirts with my plain tops. There's something about patterned tops and the middle-aged bosom that can set one's teeth on edge. Ships in full sail come to mind.

A few months ago I started making a cardigan from some lovely woollen yarn bought last year from Bendigo Woollen Mills. It had one false start when I decided I didn't like the pattern I was using, so it was started again. Now the back is finished, both sleeves are finished, one front is finished, and I am having misgivings about the size......so have decided to undo it all and make the next size up. Being a cardigan it is worn over other garments, therefore it needs some ease, and I don't think it will have enough. The second front is now being made in the next size up as a comparison and looks like being a better size, even though there's only a few stitches difference. Le heavy sigh again. Fortunately it's plain knitting, slightly boring but quick.

In a couple of weeks we will be going on holidays, I can knit in the car......might get a fair bit done then. We're going to a folk festival then heading for the coast, destination yet to be decided. Pics will be taken and shown in due course.

"Dress for morning calls.

Morning calls may be made either in walking or carriage dress, provided the latter is justified by the presence of the carriage. The dress should be silk; collar and cuffs of the finest lace; light gloves; a full dress bonnet and jewellery of gold, either dead, burnished or enamelled, or of cameo or coral. Diamonds are not usually worn in daylight. A dress of black or neutral tint, in which light colors are introduced only in small quantities, is the most appropriate for a morning call."

Just remember that, next time you make a morning call.

Enjoy your days!

It wouldn't be a post without a picture........

.......so here are some.

In October last year we visited a couple of local gardens which were open......one was on a hill out in the country, with a creek at the foot of the hill. It was very peaceful.
Some of the iris in flower, in that garden. Yellow is such a happy colour. That particular garden was having its last open day as it was changing hands within the family, so we are glad we went to it.
The second garden was in a warmer drier spot, even though it wasn't very far from the first. It was a very new garden and the owners had used plants which did well in that climate - this one is a leucadendron, a native of South Africa which grows so well here that many people think they are Aussie native plants.

You would be proud of me, this week I made a skirt.....that is to say, I re-made a skirt which was recently bought new in an op shop; it was a wrap-around skirt, a style which is not flattering to the middle-aged barrel shape because it never sits just where it should, and the view when the wind blows it open is not always what we want to show the world. So its waistband was removed, the one and only seam was sewn with a zipper inserted, and a new waistband made from the old one and sewn back on. Because it was a wee bit loose (read: almost falling down) I inserted some elastic in the waistband before sewing the final side. Result: a new cool cotton skirt, just the thing for the coming summer.

So while fired up with the clothes sewing bug I have decided to have a go at making this top, not long ago I bought some black and white printed knit fabric for that purpose. I have used another Jalie pattern and been quite pleased with it; once I knew what size I needed to trace it went together very well, and the two tops I made from that pattern are very useful. The sizing on this one is slightly different and it will also need to be shortened as it's several centimetres longer than the first pattern. I'm not very tall, you know.

Last weekend winter came back to annoy us and it was very very cold - so much so that we brought in some wood and lit the fire, despite having emptied the fire box and cleaned the glass a week earlier. We had an early taste of spring some weeks ago and it has been shy ever since, hiding from us and peeping out occasionally to tease us. And we had lots of rain, lovely rain, the gardens are smiling. When they get tomorrow's forecast rain, they will no doubt be ecstatic.

This week we have been feeling a little jet-lagged as daylight saving started in the wee small hours of last Sunday morning. While I don't mind it during mid-summer (because the alternative would be sunrise well before 5am and that's far too early for any sane person) six months is way too long. The sun actually rises later during the first and last weeks of daylight saving, than it does in mid-winter.....isn't that ridiculous? If one needs to use lights and power in the morning as well as the evening, where is the saving? I thought the main reason for daylight saving was to save energy, not use more of it.

"Punctuality.

The hour generally selected in cities is after business hours, or from five to eight o'clock. In the country or villages it may be an hour or two earlier. To be punctual at the hour mentioned is obligatory. If you are too early you are in the way; if too late you annoy the hostess, cause impatience among the assembled guests, and perhaps spoil the dinner. Fifteen minutes is the longest time required for a tardy guest."

Remember that next time you receive an invitation, and don't forget to adjust your watch for daylight saving lest you be too late or too early.

Enjoy your days!