Off travelling......again

On Thursday morning we will hitch up our caravan, get in the car, and go - first to a folk festival where we will catch up with friends not seen since the last festival at Easter, then to the coast to, as the song says, view the still waters and taste the salt air.

We will see mountains........

 ......beaches.......

 .......and perhaps some greenery, or even orchidery.

Both tops which were being made are finished, the knitting is going great guns - front, back and one sleeve are done, the second sleeve has been started and will be continued whilst we are en route.  My hand-piecing will go along too, as will a book of crossword puzzles and pencil, and my tablet which is loaded with books (our caravan doesn't have television, by choice) and, of course, my ukulele and songbooks.  Many camping parks seem to go in for late afternoon 'happy hour' which is not really our thing, but you never know......there may be a first time.

On Sunday the uke group played at the local monthly market on the main drag, and people even gave us money!  We had decided that, should anyone be so generous, we would donate to a local Worthy Cause (of which there seem to be many) so this will go to an organisation which helps local people with expenses for travel and accommodation should they need to go out of town for cancer treatment.  The market organisers have invited us to be regulars so next month our takings will be donated to a local group who raise funds for nurses to help breast cancer patients, as one of our members had treatment last year.

Speaking of which, pink October is well under way with fund-raising morning and afternoon teas and lunches, and merchandise being sold......and it's all very pink.  I don't like pink.  I'm happy to donate my money and my time, but I don't want pink stuff.  One is encouraged - even compelled - to dress head to toe in pink for these events so, as there is nothing pink in my wardrobe at all, I don't go.  If you saw me in pink you would understand why I never wear it; it's not a pretty sight.  While I know breast cancer research is an important cause, I still won't wear pink.

When one has auburn hair, freckles, pale skin and dark brown eyes, one does not wear pink.  Even though my hair is greying, the rest of my colouring hasn't changed - and pink does not suit my skin.  Now lime green, on the other hand.......indeed any shade of green, or peacock, or teal, or turquoise.......is a totally different thing.

"Discretion in forming acquaintances.
While an acquaintance formed in a railway carriage or on a steamboat continues only during the trip, discretion should be used in making acquaintances.  Ladies may, as has been stated, accept small courtesies and favors from strangers, but must check at once any attempt at familiarity.  On the other hand, no man who pretends to be a gentleman will attempt any familiarity.  The practice of some young girls just entering into womanhood, of flirting with any young man they may chance to meet, either in a railway carriage or on a steamboat, indicates low breeding in the extreme.  If, however, the journey is long, and especially if it be on a steamboat, a certain sociability may be allowed, and a married lady or a lady of middle age may use her privileges to make the journey an enjoyable one, for fellow-passengers should always be sociable to one another."

This sage advice probably doesn't apply to me, as my husband and I will be travelling together......and none of our journey will involve a railway carriage or steamboat, but we will still be sociable to each other.

Enjoy your days!

The answer, my friends.......

.........is probably blowing in the wind today, because it is very windy and the wind is not warm at all.  Not sure of the question, though......

Meet some of the new members of our garden family:  first, "Big Red".

 Still only a teenager, and already nearly up to my chest!  (not difficult considering I'm only 5ft 2in tall anyway)

"Kay Williams" - pretty apricot flowers, she will be gorgeous when bigger, and already birds have discovered it.

 One day there were four or five honey eaters hanging off these two flowers getting as much nectar as they could, many Aussie birds are nectar eaters.

 Need to be careful working nearby though - leaves on some grevilleas, this one included, can cause contact dermatitis if touched with bare skin.

The view from our front verandah, with a native frangipani tree shading the mail box and our red callistemon "King's Park Special" peeking round the corner of the garage.

 We may have made a mistake planting this one so close to the house as it still has a lot of growing to do but we can always prune it if it starts getting ideas above its station......right now, though, it is spectacular.

Native plants are a better choice in this dry climate than exotics.  Yesterday we were very excited to have some rain, the official weather station at the airport measured 19 mls of welcome rain, but considering that a local agronomist said on the news last night that at least 150mls are needed to break the current drought we aren't too excited.  At present we are only allowed to use a hose to water our gardens for two hours a day, between 6pm and 8pm, but if the drought continues hoses will be banned completely and we will have to care for our gardens using buckets and watering cans.......so our fingers are crossed for some rain, although forecasts for the coming summer aren't too optimistic at this stage.

One of the tops cut out recently is nearly finished, only needs hemming, and could have been finished yesterday except for the storm which hit us in the late afternoon.  I always turn off My Lovely New Bernina during storms as it's computerised and I have heard horror tales of computer machines frying in electrical storms, a fate I don't want for mine.  It would be covered by our house insurance and I might get a new machine.......but I don't want a new machine, I love that one.  Today is not looking good for sewing because of forecast storms either, but never mind, that top will be done soon.

Our computer is always turned off and unplugged during electrical storms too, we learnt that the hard way five years ago when our modem was fried by a lightning strike, so now we err on the side of caution.

Still undecided on the sashing and cornerstone colours for Cricket/ette's quilt.........it will be left until we return from our holiday and the Big Decision will be made then.

Are TV weather persons as inane in other countries as some of ours, I wonder?  Every evening our weather chicky or bloke is on the screen to finish off the local news, and nearly evening said weather person says with a big smile "hello, good to see you again".  No, you can't see us.  Don't pretend you can.  We can see you, but you can't see us.

Oh dear......I have become one of those Grumpy Old People who talk back to the television.......no, you can't see us at all, don't be silly.......is it any wonder that, given my way, the TV would seldom be turned on in this house?  However as I'm not the only person who lives here, it's not always my choice.

"Flippancy.
In conversation, all provincialism, affectations of foreign accents, mannerisms, exaggerations and slang are detestable.  Equally to be avoided are inaccuracies of expression, hesitation, an undue use of foreign words, and anything approaching to flippancy, coarseness, triviality or provocation.  Gentlemen sometimes address ladies in a very flippant manner, which the latter are obliged to pass over without notice, for various reasons, while inwardly they rebel.  Many a worthy man has done himself an irreparable injury by thus creating a lasting prejudice in the minds of those whom he might have made his friends, had he addressed them as though he considered them as rational beings, capable of sustaining their part in a conversation upon sensible subjects.  Flippancy is as much an evidence of ill-breeding as is the perpetual smile, the wandering eye, the vacant stare, and the half-opened mouth of the man who is preparing to break in upon the conversation."

Does this mean that TV weather persons who say "good to see you", although they can't see us, are being flippant?  I rather suspect it does.

Enjoy your days!

Springing further

Proof that the we-think-it's-an-apricot-tree in the backyard is really flowering and leafing:

 Yesterday we went for a Nice Sunday Drive an hour north of here to visit Saumarez, a lovely old house with a pretty garden.  Because it is higher in altitude the gardens are different to here, and we saw plants which we can't grow down in the valley.  A pretty pink peony........

 .......with more on a bush.

 A deep red peony in the spotlight.......

 ......with the chorus dancing behind.

Magnolias do grow here, they have finished flowering locally but not so in the cooler climate.

In the Victorian language of flowers magnolias meant 'peerless and proud', while a peony stood for 'anger'.......an interesting mix in a bouquet!

The interior of the house was really interesting too, but as National Trust policy doesn't allow interior photography you will have to take my word for that.  The house was built and lived in by one family, Mr and Mrs White and their seven children, with the last unmarried daughter, Elsie, dying in 1981 at the grand old age of 97.  For many years she lived alone in the house until old age and family pressure necessitated a move to aged care in the nearby town; for most of her life she slept on an outside exposed upstairs verandah, rain, hail, wind, snow or shine.......and the winds can really blow across the plains around that house.  During her lifetime she kept everything in the house as it was when her parents were alive and after her death the family donated the house and contents to the National Trust, so it now gives us a wonderful glimpse into the life of a well-to-do farming family in days past.  Members of the family enjoyed horse riding, the gentlemen played polo, and the ladies had their hand-work and gardening.

Fabric has been purchased for the sashing, cornerstones and binding of Cricket/ette's quilt, not the pale gold and turquoise I had in mind as my favourite local shop didn't have the right colours so I ended up buying spring green and bright orange.  I'm not sure that I really love them, though......the blocks are being squared up now so the decision as to whether to use those fabrics or shop further afield had better be made soon.

These days every second TV program seems to be a so-called 'talent' quest, doesn't it?  We don't watch them, the trailers are enough to put us off.  Why, in this day and age of advanced electronics and headset microphones, do some singers persist in using a hand-held microphone which obscures much of their face?  and why do they sing with their heads thrown back, eyes closed, mouth wide open and face contorted as if in agony?  If singing you causes that much pain, become a plumber or a brain surgeon instead......something you can really enjoy.

"The gentleman's duty as an escort.
When a gentleman contemplates riding with a lady, his first duty is to see that her horse is a proper one for her use, and one that she can readily manage.  He must see that her saddle and bridle are perfectly secure, and trust nothing of this kind to the stable men, without personal examination.  He must be punctual at the appointed hour, and not keep the lady waiting for him clad in her riding costume.  He should see the lady comfortably seated in her saddle before he mounts himself; take his position on the lady's right in riding, open all gates and pay all tolls on the road."

Perhaps that point of etiquette could be better worded?  A gentleman would mount his horse, not himself, and I sincerely hope he doesn't don a lady's riding costume.

Enjoy your days!

Squares in squares in squares

Over the weekend 25 blocks were made for Cricket/ette's quilt - that's how our son and DIL are referring to their baby.  Some referenced his/her parents' jobs and interests......like this one, because son is a drummer and his kit is about the same colour as this little feller's drum.

 Mum plays French horn in a symphony orchestra and in a military band.

 Some of those blocks are real eye-poppers......poor little tyke will need to wear sunnies when it arrives in the world if that quilt is anywhere nearby.  The border fabric, a diagonal rainbow stripe, has been in the stash for a while and was also used as a border on a quilt a few years ago.  Still need to buy fabric for sashing - I'm leaning towards light gold, not yellow, not orange, something in between - with cornerstones and binding in turquoise, and also need backing fabric.

Also over the weekend Maritime Beauty had its moment in the sun at a quilt show, and was displayed with a lovely vintage machine......not mine, alas........on the stage.

Also waiting to be sewn is fabric to make two tops but first it will be washed, after learning the hard way when I was a Sweet Young Thing that fabric which has not been washed can, and does, shrink when made into a pretty yellow dress.

Leaves on the we-think-it's-an-apricot-tree in the back yard duly turned golden and fell during autumn and winter, and it has been bare ever since with no blossom, no green shoots, no sign of life at all even though blossom trees hereabouts are covered in flowers, and other deciduous trees are already wearing their bright spring green leaves.  We were concerned that like Monty Python's parrot it had turned up its toes, joined the choir invisible and was demised, which would be very upsetting because it provides welcome summer shade.  It was bad enough losing our big tree in the front yard earlier this year in a storm.  However - a couple of days ago I noticed one, just one, flower and today there are more, lots more, flowers and buds.....and on a couple of sprigs there are signs of new little green shoots emerging, so there is much rejoicing here at the Chateau des Wombats!

Now that it is getting warmer the sights we see on our strolls down the main drag will get even better - or worse, depending on one's point of view.  Mirrors were invented for a reason.  Why is it that those who shouldn't wear revealing clinging clothes are the very ones who do?  Leggings under a skirt are fine, on their own are not.......they are not pants, you know.....whoever invented them should be lined up against the wall to face a firing squad at dawn.

This morning I finished reading a book about William Shakespeare written by Bill Bryson and very interesting it was too.  We didn't learn a lot about Shakespeare, because very little is known to begin with.  It has been said that he didn't own any books, but we don't know that for sure.......just as we don't know if he owned any shoes or what he wore or indeed much of anything, because very few records have come down to us about such things.  Most of the 'facts' about Shakespeare are conjecture and wild imaginings; some people like to think that just because they wish a certain fact to be true, it indeed is.

"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 almost 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."

I wonder if many people nowadays know what evening dress looks like?  When I was young and slender we used to dress up to attend balls, it was great fun and taught us how to wear formal clothes.

Enjoy your days!

Done!

Maritime Beauty is finished - berthed - safe in the harbour.  Colours of the sand, sea, rocks and sky......I haven't been to the maritime provinces of Canada, but this is how I imagine their shore looks.

 Shells to collect, and ripples in the sand.

Thank you very much, Karen!  Karen very generously gave me this pattern, one of her own designs.  It's very well written, easy to understand and to follow, and I can highly recommend it.  Should you wish to see Karen's designs (and perhaps make your own Maritime Beauty) you can do so on her website.

Wiggly quilting on this block is easy, and fun.  Just imagine that the spikes are hills and the backgrounds are valleys.  Starting at the top of a hill wiggle your way down to the bottom of the valley, then wiggle up to the top of the next hill......across the top........wiggle down the next valley, up the hill on the other side, across the top.......all the way round the block, or in this case round the whole quilt.  The spikes are left unquilted, but of course that is optional.

Later this month Maritime Beauty will be in an exhibition, an annual quilt show which is held to raise money for a local charity; it was dropped off this morning, so sadly I can't have the pleasure of looking at it here until it comes home again.

The current project under the needle is a cardigan in a very lightweight knit fabric, and for a bit of light relief I may start cutting pieces for the grandkid's quilt because the last weekend of this month is my quilt group's UFO weekend.  The chosen block is Economy Patch or square in square, easy to piece and effective in bright fabrics, so that will be a good project to take along - although it will be a USO because it is not yet started, so it can't be a UFO.  There is always a lot of talking on these weekends, but we manage to get quite a lot of sewing done too!

Life is going to be quiet here for a couple of weeks, uke group is on holidays and so is Thursday night choir as the musical director is overseas.  I shall really miss the music, but the uke can be (and is) picked up and strummed at every opportunity.  Playing guitar is getting easier too, my left arm is able to manage the stretch along the neck a little easier and the strength to press and hold down strings at the end of the stretch is slowly.......very slowly, mind you.......coming back.

"A call should not be less than fifteen minutes in duration, nor should it be so long as to become tedious.  A bore is a person who does not know when you have had enough of his or her company, and gives more of it than is desirable.  Choose a time to leave when there is a lull in the conversation, and the hostess is not occupied with fresh arrivals.  Then take leave of your hostess, bowing to those you know as you leave the room, not to each in turn, but let one bow include all."

Indeed.

Enjoy your days!

Stitching away

The binding on Maritime Beauty is being hand-sewn to the back, yay!

In my stash are three different blue batik fabrics but none of them were quite the right binding fabric, I was prepared to make a choice from them although one was too bright, one was too dark, one was too green - but in a local shop recently this blue fabric jumped off the shelf and into my hands, and like Goldilocks, it was Just Right.

Do you like the wiggly quilting?  Several years ago I attended a New York Beauty workshop with a tutor from New Zealand, Donna Ward, and she showed us this quilting design that she uses for the outer block points.  I liked it so much that I used it on the quilt from that workshop, and on this too.  The best thing about a wiggly line is that it never looks badly done, and because it is done in one continuous line along all the points in the block it is very easy.  I'm all for easy, you know.

The back of the dark teal jumper (sweater) is finished, the front has been cast on.  I am determined to wear it next winter.  That yarn has has three false starts already, so this will be it.

In a few weeks daylight saving will start again here and the mornings will, once again, be slightly dimmer for a short while.  The sun is coming up at stupid early o'clock now, so unless I get up before the crack of dawn for the morning walk I am looking directly into the sun while walking home up the hill.  Once I tried walking in the opposite direction to avoid the sun in my eyes but my brain didn't take to it; for one thing the uphill trudge is much steeper, for another the walk along the main road is on the wrong side of the road, and at that time of the morning people are driving into town for work so there is a steady stream of bike, cars and trucks.  Sometimes the trucks are carrying cattle or sheep for livestock sales on the other side of town, and the odour as they pass me is very........rural.

In my opinion, the term "fun run" is an oxymoron.

Spring now seems to be starting because the air is smelling different, the neighbour's jasmine is blooming over our side fence, and once it has finished flowering I will see how much I can cut back before it starts to take over the whole universe - because it will if allowed, you know.  When we first moved here it was climbing on the back fence too, but not now.  Plants which are quite benign in other parts of the world become weeds in Australia because of our climate; except for a few areas our winters are not severe enough to knock them back, so they grow all year ground.  And grow.  And grow.  And keep on growing........

Our wedding gig went off well, the bride was gorgeous in her vintage frock and she joined us for a song or two, which was delightful.  Because the music school follows academic school terms we have one more Tuesday this term then we are off for a couple of weeks.  By the time we come back we may be starting to think about end of year/Christmas concerts.  I don't know about you, but it sometimes feels that my life is flashing past before my very eyes while I sit back and watch it go by.

"It shows a want of courtesy to consult your watch, either at home or abroad.  If at home, it appears as though you were tired of your company, and wished them to be gone.  If abroad, it appears as though the hours dragged heavily, and you were calculating how soon you would be released."

It does seem to be that watches, rather being an item of jewellery, are falling out of favour because so many folk these days have smart phones which they use instead of a watch.  My phone is not smart, it's quite dumb really.......but time still passes by, just the same.

Enjoy your days!

Sproing

Some people say that spring starts in Australia on the first of September.  When I was at school (a thousand years ago at least) we were taught that seasons start at the spring and autumn equinox and the winter and summer solstice, which is more like it......but then, who said that we only have to have four seasons?  Some countries have only two, wet and dry.  For many years Australian aborigines have held the belief that there are at least six seasons, based on animal movements and plant growth.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that, although this is the first week of September, it's not yet spring because just 40 minutes from here the best snow fall of the year happened only two days ago.

Here are some spring pictures from a few years ago, taken at a local park.

 A pretty Eremophilia or Emu Bush, an Aussie plant - native birds love them.

 Golden wattle.

 A quiet corner.

 A Grevillea, one with spiky leaves - and a spiky leafed Grevillea is a spiky thing indeed..

Should you wish to get married in this park, you can.

Have you all had a good week?  I have, albeit a rather busy one.  Last night three of us from the uke group performed at a concert at the music school where we have our weekly meetings, that was two other brave souls and me.  For various reasons we were the only ones from our group who had the evening free which was a shame, because the concert was performances by adult learners only - no children on stage or in the audience.  It's a lovely idea, and is apparently an annual event.  Adults start music lessons for various reasons, in my case I always wanted to learn as a child but the money wasn't there.  If I had been the boy I suspect my parents wanted I could have had free lessons with a local boys' club brass band as my brothers did, but alas.......no.  There was nothing similar for girls in those days, if you wanted to learn music you had to pay.

Tomorrow the uke group is playing at a wedding!  We have A Big Gig!!  We will be background music while the guests are enjoying canapés, and I hope to goodness there are more than three of us.  One of our tutors will be playing with us, and if we are lucky the bride will join us for a song - she is a great singer and a lovely young woman who loves the retro look of the 50s, and she will be a gorgeous bride.

The quilting on Maritime Beauty is all done and now it needs its edges trimmed and binding to be made and sewn on, but it has been put aside temporarily because more time is being spent on the uke this week.  There is also a block obligation to be met by Monday, so with a bit of luck it will be cut and sewn on Sunday......and if it isn't, why then, it won't get done, will it?  My quilt group meets twice a month, on a Saturday and on a Monday, and the Monday group is all fired up and gung-ho about making charity quilts.  I have missed so much sewing time this year due to my shoulder that I am not fired up at all, I would rather spend time on my own projects right now.  We take it in turns to 'win' the blocks of the month which are then made up into charity quilts, although it has been said that we don't have to do that if we don't want to - but I feel the pressure is on to do so.  This does not make me a happy little Vegemite, so I will think seriously about whether I will continue with the Monday group next year.  Perhaps I will bring it up on Monday, and see what happens.

Or perhaps I will be a coward, and not say anything.

"Unwise expression of opinion.
Another class of people, actuated by the best of intentions, seem to consider it a duty to parade their opinions upon all occasions and in all places, without reflecting that the highest truth will suffer from an unwise and over-zealous advocacy.  Civility requires that we give to the opinions of others the same toleration that we exact for our own, and good sense should cause us to remember that we are never likely to convert a person to our views when we begin by violating his notions of propriety and exciting his prejudices.  A silent advocate of a cause is always better than an indiscreet one."

Which is a nice way of saying, if someone else expresses an opinion, don't ride roughshod over it.

Enjoy your days!