Back home again

We had a good holiday, a break from our normal routine, arrived home a couple of days ago.....and now it almost seems that we haven't been away!  Very few photos were taken, mostly because it's difficult to take a picture of a wide river or beach in strong sunlight, but here are some.

Who's a pretty boy then?  A male King Parrot, apparently the only Australian parrot which has an entirely red head.  Females are green with red underneath - a pair together is a gorgeous sight.

 He is rather pretty, there were three males sharing a cage with no girls to keep them company.  The pale patches on the wings glow in bright light.

 A pale pink Callistemon (bottle brush), so pale that the colour almost can't be seen - just the yellow stamens.

 The morning we left home this stunning moth or butterfly was sitting on our front lawn, so using a leaf as a 'finger' I very carefully picked it up and placed it on a rose bush, then took a couple of photos.  The spots on the wings look like drops of water, don't they?  I have no idea what it is, but it was quite large; you can see some of its tail to the right.

The gardenia did, of course, flower while we were away - but hasn't quite finished yet, so I am able to enjoy its prettiness and scent!

The music festival was good, getting together to sing and play music with friends was fun as always, and the uke group in one town where we stayed let me join with them for their monthly night at a local pub last week - so it was quite a musical holiday.

One sees some amazing sights in beach towns, you know.  Sometimes those sights are better off being forgotten, so I will spare your delicate sensibilities the gruesome details.  Just because one can wear a particular outfit doesn't mean that one should.  There is obviously something about the sub-tropical climate that makes people shed their inhibitions as well as their layers.

But not me, you will be pleased to know.  Modest as ever, that's me.  Even in the camp ground shorts.

Even the sub-tropical north hasn't been spared the dry weather of the past months; the usual lush green scenery is pale and dry.  It's raining lightly here at present with more forecast for the next couple of days, but we need several downpours to do much good.

Only nine days until I Go Under The Knife.  Erk.

"Your children will form habits of evil-speaking if they hear you deal lightly with the reputation of another - if they hear you slander or revile your neighbour.  If you wish your children to show charity toward the erring, you must set the example by the habitual exercise of that virtue yourself.  Without this your teaching will be of but little avail.  If you take pleasure in dwelling upon the faults of others, if you refuse to cover over their infirmities with the mantle of charity, your example will nullify your teaching, and your admonitions will be lost."

This is true.  However, we still reserve the right to criticise.  There is eccentricity which can be tolerated and enjoyed, and there is appalling bad taste......which makes us shudder.

Enjoy your days!

Looking forward to going away.......

.........and the gardenia given to me by my friends at the folk club in Sydney just before we moved here to the Small Smoke is getting ready to flower, and I will miss its prettiness.......such a shame.

 Several months ago it was repotted as it was outgrowing its pretty red pot, and now it is growing beautifully.

Lots of buds getting ready to open, which of course will happen when we are not here.  Quelle bummer.  Perhaps I shall ask our house sitter to take a photo for me.

The skirt lining is done, zipper is inserted - it was very quick and easy, I don't know why I was so uncertain about it - hem is sewn; now for the outer layer, but as the past few days have taken on a life of their own there will be no time before we go away on Thursday morning to sew even one stitch on that.  However we will be home for ten days between our holiday break and the trip to the Big Smoke for the shoulder operation, so I'll just have to see how fast I can move in that time. Still need a little bag for the wedding to carry my glasses and hanky (because the MotG is probably allowed a little sniffle); so far I haven't seen one I love enough to buy but will keep looking.  Somewhere out there the right bag will be waiting for me.

The wardrobe has increased by a few more shirts to make life easier after the surgery, most of them are soft light cotton voile which is a good choice for summer.  A pretty green one (have I ever mentioned that I am quite fond of green?), a couple of blue ones, even a deep purple one, now have their places in the wardrobe.  It doesn't matter what one wears at home but for trips to the shops etc., one does need to look respectable.  They will probably be worn with capri pants, or as I call them, Old Ladies' Shorts.......because there comes a time in a woman's life when she shouldn't wear shorts in public any more (although it's allowable in a camp ground) but it's a bit warm for long pants.

A few Flower Basket blocks have been prepared to take on holiday, some knitting will go along too, there's a bag of books and my tablet thingy is also loaded with books to read.  And of course my uke and some music - can't leave that behind!  A new song has been learned ready for the singing session on Friday night.  Here is where we will be, then we will be heading towards the north coast.......and who knows where we will end up?

Oh dear, the bushfires of the past few days have been very nasty.  The weather has been very hot and dry with low humidity and strong winds, for several months now rainfall has been well below average, so conditions are right for fire.  Even though the fires are several hours' south of here we don't escape; last Friday morning when I went for my morning walk (at 6.40am, that's the crack of dawn you know) the valley was clear although the distant hills were a little hazy which is not unusual early in the day.  Barely half an hour after I returned home the view had disappeared, the valley was full of smoke and there was a heavy smoky smell.  A south-easterly wind had blown it this way, and it took a few hours to disperse.  I would have stayed indoors if that smoke had been in the air, it's very unhealthy stuff.

We love Australia, but she can be very cruel sometimes.

"The promenade dress.
The dress for the promenade should be in perfect harmony with itself.  All the colours worn should harmonize if they are not strictly identical.  The bonnet should not be of one colour, and parasol of another, the dress of a third and the gloves of a fourth.  Nor should one article be new and another shabby.  The collars and cuffs should be of lace; the kid gloves should be selected to harmonize with the colour of the dress, a perfect fit.  The jewellery worn should be bracelets, cuff-buttons, plain gold ear-rings, a watch-chain and brooch."

Something to keep in mind when I am slopping round the camp ground in shorts.

Enjoy your days!

Best wishes to my Canadian family and friends for Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a great day, and enjoy the time you spend with your loved ones.

Just looking at the photos taken nearly a year ago in Canada is making me feel cooler......our summer is early this year.  Bayfield is a lovely little town and the fall colours were beautiful.

 Our visit to Inglis Falls was on a showery grey day, much nicer than the heat and wind we have been getting lately.

It's been a quiet week at La Chateau des Wombats.  The skirt is cut out and I am plucking up courage to insert an invisible zip into the lining; the skirt fabric is too fine for the weight so I will just leave an opening to reach the zip.  I started making my own clothes at the age of 18 umpty-um years ago, but would you believe have never put in an invisible zip?  It is said, though, that we are never too old to learn something......let's hope we can do it properly.  In all those years I haven't sewn many fabrics as sheer as this either, so fingers crossed I don't make a mess of it.

It's pathetic, I know, but as we get older we seem to lose a certain amount of confidence.  When I was young and silly I would have just charged ahead, inserted that zip and blundered along with delicate fabric, and not worried if it was a mess.  Now I know I have the skills and experience to do it well, but self-doubt is setting in and it's not good......and this from a woman who was game enough to sing a slightly bawdy song in a crowded pub at a folk festival not so many years ago.

On Friday night the Thursday night choir put on a concert for a local charity and to our surprise and delight we had a packed house - we were sending out for more chairs!  Some members of the uke group played too; four of us belong to both that choir and the ukes, one was away but the other three of us had quite a busy evening.  Nice things were said to and about us by audience members, and we think we raised quite a lot of money.  And no, I didn't sing a solo - but I copped the job of introducing the uke group and of counting them in for each song, 1-2-3-4, because neither of our tutors were there and no one else would do it.

So why am I bothered about that zip?

The date for the operation is looming, but first we are going to a folk festival and having a holiday at the coast.  I am checking out op shops to find tops and shirts which button down the front; my wardrobe has a few but they will be useful after the operation when I can't raise my left arm for a while.  It's not a style I wear often so I am not going to pay huge prices for new clothes, and I don't have the time to make several tops.  So far a few new shirts have entered my wardrobe including a green linen sleeveless top with buttons down the front, which should be cool for the coming summer.  If I don't love the tops enough to keep them after the need is passed, they will be donated back to the worthy cause from which they came but will serve the purpose in the meantime.  My summer wardrobe is mostly tee shirts, casual and dressy, but they may be a little difficult to wear for a while.

"But a love of dress has its peril for weak minds.  Uncontrolled by good sense and stimulated by personal vanity, it becomes a temptation at first, and then a curse.  When it is indulged in to the detriment of better employments, and beyond the compass of means, it cannot be too severely condemned.  It then becomes criminal."

To commit a crime because of one's love of dress would not be good.  However, you and I have seen people who commit crimes by their choice of clothing, haven't we?

Enjoy your days!

Some fabrics

These are the fabrics I will be wearing in my role as Mother of the Groom next February, what do you think?  The rather scrumptious green cotton on the left will be a top, while the multi-coloured fabric will be a flared skirt.  The dull teal behind is the skirt lining, we tried out different colours at the fabric shop and believe it or not this was the choice which brought out the fabric's colours best.....even better than a deep olive/gold lining, which was surprising.  Extra skirt fabric was bought to make a matching scarf/wrap, the plan is to bead the ends to give it weight as it's a very light silky poly fabric, almost as light as chiffon.

Fabric for the next bag, the blue Jinny Beyer paisley is the outer fabric and the smokey green (would you believe it's from a range of Christmas fabrics?) is the trim and lining.  Managed to get most of the large piece quilted last Saturday at quilt group, finished it off earlier in the week and cut it out yesterday.  I wasn't going to cut it, but then decided that the project would be easier to pack in the cupboard if it was cut out first, so cut out it was.  It won't be touched again until the wedding sewing is done.

Had my visit to the specialist on Monday and he confirmed what I have been suspecting for over a year, that my shoulder will not get better unless it is surgically fixed.  The operation date is now set for next month after we come home from our holiday, so on Tuesday 19th November I will be Going Under The Knife.  While that is something that doesn't see me dancing round with glee it will be good to - eventually! - be pain free.

Last week when I posted it was a horribly windy day, and it is again today....and it was on Tuesday, too......no doubt about it, we are certainly being blown into summer.  At least we had some rain a few nights ago so the hill behind us isn't looking too dry now.  Our garden is doing well, our plants except for one which is to be replaced are flourishing, and more pics will be taken soon so you can see how pretty they are.

Oh dear, one sees some unfortunate sights these days.  Who decided that tight leggings, which should never be worn outside a gym in my opinion, are outer wear?  And quite honestly, why do large girls wear stretched-to-the-max black leggings with a top which doesn't cover their bum, in public?  It's not pretty.  I'm not exactly svelte myself these days....once I was, alas.......but some of these young women would make at least two of me.  Occasionally one sees a larger girl dressed in clothes which flatter her and don't draw attention to the bits she would probably rather not feature, and she looks really good.  Really tight pants don't flatter very skinny legs either.

I don't watch TV shows which take women in hand and dress them in clothes they probably wouldn't choose for themselves - I find them too arrogant for my taste -  but I do wish some people would look at the back view in their mirror before they set out.

"Indifference to dress.
Indifference and inattention to dress is a defect of character rather than virtue, and often denotes indolence and slovenliness.  Every woman should aim to make herself look as well as possible with the means at her command."

I do try.

Enjoy your days!

The answer, my friends, is blowin' in the wind........

.....and it is certainly blowing today.  Last week's very welcome rain need not have bothered, as we have had very hot windy weather since then which has undone any good done by the rain.  Ah well, that's life here in the bush, isn't it.  Because of the strong winds there are bushfire warnings for all the state today.

Further to last week's pics of the view from our front verandah, here is the view from the hill behind us.  The tall spire in the middle below is a steeple at an aged care facility run by a religious order, further down the hill.  This is the back of our house, the small window (which isn't so small at all, really) is my sewing room.

The distant view, taken with a zoom lens.  Those buildings are a long way away, and the green grass in the foreground is a grass farm along the river.

Our house is not in the pic below, we are just off to the left of our neighbour's two-storey house.  The hills in the pic above are the ones in the far distance here.

When we moved here in May 2010 Kevin climbed the hill with his camera and had fun taking photos with some of the settings.  For my friends overseas, this is where we live - the "Welcome to our town" sign on the road coming from the north isn't far from us.  If we were much further north we would be right out of town.

You will be pleased to know that the sandals which died last week have been replaced by a similar style!  Slightly chunky black sandals with very comfortable soles are on my feet as we speak.  This is the brand, but mine aren't there as they are a style from last season - which doesn't bother me at all; I've never been one to feel my life is incomplete without the latest and greatest in something.  The same brand also had some shoes on clearance because they were discontinued styles, including a very nice pair of almost-flat sandals in dull metallic colours which are also now residing in my closet......The Very Thing for son's wedding in February.  Much as I love my sons I cannot wear high heels to any great occasions in their lives.

The morning walking is continuing even though it is deadly boring.  Days are getting longer now we are well and truly into spring, and the mornings are starting much too early for my liking.  If the walk is delayed then I am trudging home up the hill with the sun in my eyes, so to avoid that I am having to go out earlier and earlier.  I'm not, and have never been, a morning person.  Daylight saving will start at the end of next week so mornings will be a little darker again, for a while at least.

Everything has now been purchased to make the outfit for the said wedding right down to threads finally purchased yesterday.  The skirt fabric and lining have been pre-washed ready for cutting out.  First, though, I have cut out fabrics to make another purse using McCalls 4118; it's a very useful pattern which I have used four times, twice for View A and twice for View B.  The new one will also be View B.  Because there is very little choice locally in pre-quilted fabrics, quilting the large pieces of lining, thin batting and outer fabric together have to be done before the main bag pieces are cut out.  As it's just diagonal cross-hatching it's a bit tedious, but the quilt group is having an all-day meeting this Saturday so doing that quilting in company will make it less boring.  I will do as much as I can, then next week start working on the clothes for the wedding - the bag can wait, but at least it will be started.

Next Monday morning my shoulder will know its fate as I am taking it to see the specialist.  Fingers crossed for a good report, although I am suspecting he will say an operation will be necessary to fix it.  Ah well.......if that fixes it I should have it done......even though I am a coward.

"Corns.
It is tolerably safe to say that those who wear loose, easy-fitting shoes and boots will never be troubled by corns.  Some people are more liable to corns than others, and some will persist in the use of tightly-fitting shoes in spite of corns."

Not me.  My feet like to be comfortable, and if my feet are happy then all of me is happy.

Enjoy your days!

Blogger issues

For a week now I have been trying to post, and change my header pic and background, to very little avail.  Finally today managed to change the pic, and it seems to post, but as for changing the background, well, that seems to be a lost cause.  The problem seems to be with our computer rather than with blogger, so I shall keep persisting and try to beat it into submission.

It's been a fairly low key week here, some singing, some uke playing, some sewing.....a top that has been on the sewing room table was finally finished this afternoon, so now the outfit for the wedding can be started......a little waffling round the garden which is flowering beautifully, and the best news of all is that we had some rain.

This is the usual view from our front verandah and driveway - we can see a long way, we think those distant hills are over 40kms away which is about 25 miles in old money.

 Rain coming.......

 .....raining.......

 ......and the view has disappeared in the clouds.

These pics were taken at different times since we moved here, our view is dependent on the weather!

This coming Sunday the Monday night choir is putting on its spring concert, the next concert is the traditional Christmas one with carols and seasonal songs.  A few of us are getting more than a little disenchanted with how the choir is run and probably won't renew our membership next year - that could be four of the sopranos gone.  More and more soloists are being brought in, and some us feel that we have very little to do except be a backing group.  It's not sour grapes because I know I have a snowball's chance in hell of ever being chosen as a soloist, so I'm not worried about being done out of my turn in the spotlight.  For Sunday's concert the men are getting to do two songs as an ensemble, while the women have none, not one, nada, zilch.  Our one song is with our musical director - while she warbles a song and shows off her high soprano we will be singing dumpty-dum behind her.  Said director's 14 year old daughter is now a choir member and gets a few solos, who said nepotism is dead?  The director also gets to choose all our songs and as she is quite devout they lean toward the religious;  there is a not-so-subtle push that the choir should be religious too, helped along by the fact that one of the local ministers and his wife also belong.  If I wanted to sing nothing but religious songs I would have joined a church choir.  While the other singers are all nice people and I have learnt quite a bit since joining, I am feeling more and more that my time there is wasted.

The Thursday night choir is much more fun!  So is the uke group, and the radio station, and sewing group, and quilting group.......it's not as though I will lack for something to do by leaving one choir.

A very sad thing happened today, a pair of sandals which I have had for many years finally gave up the ghost and had to be thrown out because the soles were breaking up.  I'd been wondering what those little bits of hard black stuff on the floor were.  They are nigh on ten years old so were getting tired anyway, but I shall still miss them!  Don't know if I can find something similar - they covered a fair bit of my feet with wide straps, and were good to wear when it's a bit too cool for dainty sandals but a bit too warm for shoes and socks.  Their passing will leave quite a gap in my (somewhat meagre) shoe wardrobe.

For some time now the carefully unshaven look seems to have been in fashion for blokes, and I for one don't care for it.  I don't mind a beard, and I don't mind a clean-shaven chin, but I do not like the unshaven look......it makes a face look dirty and unwashed.

"The beard.
Those who shave should be careful to do so every morning.  Nothing looks worse than a shabby beard.  Some persons whose beards are strong should shave twice a day, especially if they are going to a party in the evening."

That probably applies to women, too.......

Enjoy your days!

Summer is icumen in........

......so says the old song, and summer seems to have arrived here at La Chateau des Wombats with a vengeance considering that, as it's another two weeks to the spring equinox, it's still winter by the calendar.  When I was at school a thousand years ago we were taught that spring and autumn began on the equinox, but someone forgot to tell Mother Nature this year - she seems to have lost spring.

To make up for my moans about how hot it is and how much hotter the coming summer may be, here are some pics of our pretty garden flowers.....all Aussie native plants.

 Phebalium squamulosum argenteum.  (don't worry, I can't say it either)  Can grow up to two metres high.

 Philotheca 'Bournda Beauty', its maximum height should be one metre when fully grown......it will be gorgeous, and its lovely smell is related to citrus.

 Eremophila nivea , could grow up to two and a half metres and is well on the way already.  It is really pretty and we love it!  The leaves are very soft.

Eremophila 'Kalbarri Carpet', deep gold flowers with grey leaves.  If planted in the garden rather than a pot it could grow as high as two metres, but as we don't have a vacant spot in the garden it's in a pot for now.  When I saw it recently at the nursery I fell deeply in love with it and it had to come home with us.

Some people in Australia claim to not like our native plants, but how could you not love these?  They are all so different, and all so beautiful.  Just because a plant comes from overseas (every other country in the world is overseas from Australia, being as how we are an island) doesn't make it better or more desirable than something local.

Nothing much to report on the sewing front.  A shopping expedition will take place (probably the day after tomorrow, as tomorrow has taken on a life of its own) to buy the zipper for the wedding skirt, button moulds for covering as the blouse has five buttons up the back, and some el cheapo gingham to try out the sizing of the blouse pattern before cutting into that pretty green fabric.  Last week an invisible zipper foot was purchased for My Lovely New Bernina, and the video of how to use it has been watched, so I reckon I can do it.  I've been sewing in zippers since I was a teenager, even the very long ones that used to go in the fitted dresses we wore as teenagers, but have never inserted an invisible zipper before.......shows that even at my advanced age, learning a new skill is not impossible.

So far no joy on sandals to wear to the wedding either, although a local shoe shop looks promising; they have some lovely summer sandals but not in colours that would go with my fabrics.  Never mind, there are still several months to go.  In the meantime, every shoe shop I pass will have its summer stock checked out......somewhere, the right sandals will be waiting.......shoe shopping is always a fraught exercise for me.  I'm not a shoe girl.  I buy what I have to when I have to, and that's it.

My radio program is being moved again, probably to a weeknight, as programs are being shuffled round to take into account the fact that some of the announcers have resigned.  Some didn't like the changes being brought in so, rather than co-operate with the new management to find a mutually agreeable solution, they walked.  I have been told to continue as I have been so am doing just that, as there is no point in rocking a boat which is steady.

Yesterday a small group of singers including yours truly sang for our supper at an open day at the local Historical Society museum.  We enjoyed it, and our audience seemed to enjoy it too; nice things were said to us, and about us.  The recently-made long black skirt had its first wearing and was a great hit, as was the white linen shirt with smocked yoke and sleeve panels - an op shop purchase last week for the princely sum of $3.  (The label is still in business, and their new white linen shirts are priced at $279, so that makes my shirt A Very Good Bargain, don't you think?)  It was worn with a black bow in my hair and a wide-brimmed straw hat trimmed with black ribbons (which lad lain unworn in the wardrobe for some years), and I was complimented on my authentic late-19th century look......just goes to show how easily a different look can be put together.

"How to have shoes made.
The great fault with modern shoes is that their soles are made too narrow.  If one would secure perfect healthfulness of the feet, he should go to the shoemaker and step with his stockinged feet on a sheet of paper.  Let the shoemaker mark with a pencil upon the paper the exact size of his foot, and then make him a shoe whose sole shall be as broad as this outlined foot."

Would that I could.......

Enjoy your days!