We're nearly being blown away here

Considering it's now spring today is not very spring-like......sunny at times but with threatening clouds, and very strong winds.  We aren't being blown as much as some districts are, but even so it's quite unpleasant.  It's also very very cold.

Ah well.  Not much we can do about that, is there?

Some more pieces were joined on the blue and orange batik quilt, it's going to be somewhat bright......even brighter than I had hoped.

 One print has words, many are abstract, there are leaves, flowers, and one has butterfly wings.  No bodies, just detached wings.  Poor butterflies......does this mean that, if they can't fly, they are just butter?

My favourite of all the black and white fabrics currently being joined is this café print with curly chairs, cakes and candlesticks.  I have no memory of when or where it was bought, there were probably other prints in the same range which might have been just as much fun - but we will never know now, will we?

Hard to believe that just one year ago today we were winging our way, as they say in travel brochures, over shark-infested waters on our way to Vancouver.  That long flight was followed by a (fortunately) shorter flight over bear-infested forests to Toronto, and it was with much relief that we laid our weary heads down that night having flown half-way round the world and been up for nigh on two days.  Next weekend we will be heading off again; we will be driving the long way to the coast and, while we will enjoy a nice break from our humdrum daily routine, an Australian beach in spring won't have the gloriousness of Ontario in Autumn.

Sigh......in several months it will be autumn again here, but first we have to survive summer again.

Over the past week or so we have started seeing local folk in summer clothes, I'm not that brave yet (certainly not today, that's for sure......I'm not hanging my bare arms or legs out in that freezing cold wind) but recently my wardrobe has increased by new black sandals, a black and white top and new capri pants in both royal blue and teal ready for warmer weather.  The sandals are pretty, I couldn't decide between black or brown, perhaps after we come home I shall buy the brown ones too.  One needs to keep up appearances even when one is a retired Olde Pharte, you know; those new clothes may even come to the coast with me, because one likes to make a good impression when travelling.

"Travelling dress.
Comfort and protection from dust and dirt are the requirements of a travelling dress.  When a lady is about making an extensive journey, a travelling suit is a great convenience, but for a short journey, a large linen overdress or duster may be put on over the ordinary dress in summer, and in winter a waterproof cloak may be used in the same way.  For travelling costumes a variety of materials may be used, of soft, neutral tints, and smooth surface which does not retain the dust.  These should be made up plainly and quite short.  The underskirts should be colored, woollen in winter and linen in summer.  The hat or bonnet must be plainly trimmed and completely protected by a large veil.  Velvet is unfit for a travelling hat, as it catches and retains the dust; collars and cuffs of plain linen.  The hair should be put up in the plainest manner.  A waterproof and warm woollen shawl are indispensable, and may be rolled in a shawl-strap when not needed.  A satchel should be carried, in which may be kept a change of collars, cuffs, gloves, handkerchiefs, toilet articles, and towels.  A travelling dress should be well supplied with pockets.  The waterproof should have large pockets, and there should be one in the underskirt in which to carry such money and valuables as are not needed for immediate use."

Well, I'm not sure......I was thinking of travelling in jeans and tee shirt with my hair down, yes it's long, and definitely no neutrals.  I don't do neutral.  Neutral is so.......neutral.

Enjoy your days!

Winding and winging along

Winding Ways blocks are all done and laid out on the design bed ready to be sewn together, what do you reckon?  This will probably be the final layout, I think the balance of light, medium and dark is pretty much right.

 When those blocks are joined the top will finish at 60in square.  Two fabrics have been purchased for the backing which may possibly be made before we go away in a couple of weeks, not sure about that though......if it is, it is.  And if it's not, why then, it won't be.

Last Friday we went for a Nice Sunday Drive to Chaffey Dam, a local man-made water storage facility.  Over the past couple of years the dam wall has been raised so the capacity is much larger than in the past, and of late there has been so much rain that the 'new' dam is now nearly 90% full with the possibility of 100% coming soon, something that could have only been dreamed of earlier this year.

 The plaque above is set on a huge boulder of rhodonite, which is found in abundance in the area.  It's renowned as a good area for fossicking and I'm told it's still possible to find gold!  In the 1850s a gold rush started not far away.  This rhodonite lump is easily waist high on me......admittedly I'm only 5 ft two inches in old money, but that's still a good sized lump.

 It was very peaceful.

Is anyone else sick of hearing about a 'celebrity' couple who are splitting?  I'm not interested enough to read any of the stories in online news sites, but when it made last night's 'serious world news' on TV there was no escape.  I'm sorry for them and their family, but honestly......given some of the horrible things happening in the world today which put a marital break-up in the shade except for those most intimately concerned, do we really care?

No.

The Bronze Wombat has joined the 21st century and bought a smart phone!  Yesterday I received both a text and a letter - a real letter, written on real paper and sent through the postal system - telling me that my phone's network would no longer be supported after December, so this morning we took ourselves off to see the network people.  My heavens, there is such a choice if one wants a smart phone......and almost no choice if one doesn't.  As our household has two computers - a desk top and a lap top - and we each have a tablet, I neither want nor need a phone to keep me in touch with the world every moment of the day; that feature has been disabled, although it can be turned back on if I wish.  I just need a basic phone to make and receive calls and texts as I already have a good stand-alone camera which takes excellent pictures, and the current trend of whipping out one's phone and snapping pictures of all and sundry gives me a severe dose of the irrits.  To say nothing of taking selfies.......never taken one, never will, in fact I turn the other way if ever I see photos being taken.

"Business letters.
These should be brief and to the point, should be of plain chirography, and relate to the business in hand, in as few words and as clearly as possible.  Begin at once without apology or explanation, and finish up the matter pertaining to the business.  If an apology or explanation is due, it may be made briefly at the close of the letter, after the business has been attended to.  A letter on business should be answered at once, or as soon as possible after receiving it."

In these days of instant emails we don't get many business letters, do we?

Enjoy your days!

September in the rain

Wouldn't that make a good song title?  Oh, wait.......okay......

However it is September, and it has been raining, and many roads hereabouts are closed and the river which flows through town is flooded.  There was a flood a couple of months after we moved here, they happen every so many years; I can remember some really bad floods when I was a child.  We're surrounded by hills, so the river gets a lot of water coming down.

Meanwhile, here's some of our soggy garden.  Our lovely little plant had its name changed some years ago; it used to be called eriostemon myoporoides, but no sooner had I learned to pronounce it than some learned botanists put their heads together and decided it wasn't that at all, it was something else altogether.  It's apparently related to citrus, the leaves smell heavenly when rubbed as they have a lot of oil in them.

 Our somewhat pricey standard grevillea, which makes quite a statement in the front garden.

Hardenbergia, fortunately not the variety which takes over the universe......this one is more discreet.

 Another grevillea, 'Robyn Gordon' - birds love these flowers.

 As promised, the green chair.  It's more turquoise than green, and is so much prettier than when it was an old person's chair!

Don't worry about the mess in the background, I'm not the world's best housekeeper.  Just admire the chair.

Had a good time at the craft show last weekend, even though it was small.  I did buy some fabric for the next hand-pieced project which has started percolating in my brain; those Flower Basket blocks which have been 'on the go' for over ten years will soon be too unwieldy for a portable project, but my fingers will still need something to do.  After much deliberation and cogitation I decided to make a tumbler quilt using my stash of repro fabrics, some of which go back nigh on twenty years, but they needed more neutrals.  This morning I ordered a tumbler template online. and have been fondling my repro fabrics a few times to get acquainted with them.  At this stage I have no idea how big to make it, so I think I will just start sewing and take it from there.

The black and white blocks are coming along nicely.  The whole quilt may or may not be done for the Big Reveal at the end of November, but who's worried?  Not me......it will be done when it's done.

At the Annual General Meeting of our small but quite serious quilt group last year I put up my hand to be our Charity Quilt Co-Ordinator and so far my services haven't been needed.  Recently Madame Presidente contacted me about providing a design and block instructions, and much to my surprise she said she really liked my BOM (last month it was my turn to provide a BOM sample and instructions) so much that she would like our quilt for a Good Cause to use the same block design.  I had fun putting together a few layouts in EQ7, and the diagonal setting was a hands-down winner.  Her mantra is "it's gotta be BRIGHT......make it BRIGHT......it's not BRIGHT enough......" and, while I also like bright colours, there is a point when bright crosses over into garish.  Hopefully any somewhat quieter bright blocks will all play nicely with the louder bright blocks to make the cheerful quilt requested by a children's cancer organisation.

What is it with blokes and the TV remote?  Are they congenitally incapable of keeping their hands off the thing?  Even Euan, who won't turn two for another three months, keeps playing with theirs.  Obviously his grandfather's remote fiddling genes have passed to his father, who has passed them in turn to his son......it is so irritating when one is watching something and, as soon as an ad comes on, the household bloke starts scrolling through the alternatives.  Makes one think that the cultures who chop off a hand for certain misdeeds have the right idea, they could add TV remote fiddling to the list of crimes.

I bet the good folk of the 1880s would have had something to say in the etiquette book about fiddling with the TV remote when one's wife is watching a program.

"The true gentleman.
Politeness is benevolence in all things.  A true gentleman must regard the rights and feelings of others, even in matters the most trivial.  He respects the individuality of others, just as he wishes others to respect his own."

Doesn't that sound to you as though it means "keep your hands off the remote when your wife is watching her program"?  I don't change channels when he is watching sport, sport and more sport, much as I feel like doing so.

Enjoy your days!

Moving right along

Of late the black and white Winding Ways blocks for this year's challenge quilt - the theme is "Circles" - have been trotted out and are being worked on.  Lots of different fabrics - some representational, music, cats, sewing machines - some floral, and some abstract.

Isn't the music print fun?  It looks like a song might sound during some of our uke lessons, with notes everywhere.  I was wondering how to piece the back; the finished quilt will be 49 inches square so it will need more than one width of fabric, but two would be way too wide.  Now my brilliant brain has decided on two prints - one black with white, the other white with black - pieced in stripes, narrow stripes in the middle getting wider at the sides.

Our uke gig went off well last week at the annual Learners Concert, we enjoyed meeting our fellow students, even an ex-member of our group was there with her husband who is learning fiddle; she has given her uke to a grandchild and doesn't play any more.  On Saturday morning the choir sang at a local aged care home and our fearless leader Bill had asked the choir uke people to play, as several members belong to both choir and uke group.  Only one uke player was able to make it......yours truly......so I duly played and sang, and the choir joined in.  We were thanked and complimented afterwards when we joined the residents for morning tea.

One has to take fame and glory where one can, you know.

Some of the money that flew out the door in recent weeks went on having my chair re-upholstered.  A few years ago I bought a used wooden-framed chair with a high back, low legs so my feet can sit on the floor, and low arms which don't get in the way of knitting and sewing.  The upholstery was dark toned floral tapestry which looked like something that had escaped from an old peoples' home but it is soooo comfortable that I put up with it.......until earlier this year I noticed the upholstery was fraying whereupon a trip to a local upholsterer, a browse through their sample books, and a colour called Opal was chosen.  One would have to use one's imagination to see opals in it, I have some opal jewellery and this isn't opal, but it is green!  The fabric was ordered and a few weeks ago my old chair made its trip Across The River (some locals don't like crossing the river, goodness knows what they are afraid of, it's just a small river) and spent a few days in the workshop being rejuvenated.  Even the wooden legs and arms are now green.  I love it.

Perhaps I could have done it myself.......it would certainly have been cheaper......but it wouldn't have been done anywhere near as well as it has been.  Greg The Upholsterer said that style of chair (which he called a TV chair) was one of the best ever made, and he also said that if he decided on a change of career he would go into business building chairs just like it and make his fortune.

This weekend we have a craft show circus here in town. My cunning plan is to go along tomorrow with a small amount of money in my purse and, if I see something I love enough to buy, it may come home with me.  If not - I will come home empty handed, it won't be the first time.  The last craft show I attended was in Canada, the Creativ Festival in Toronto, and I must admit to a certain amount of spending at that one.......but that doesn't count as craft spending, that counts as holiday souvenirs.

"Baldness.
Gentlemen are more liable to baldness than ladies, owing, no doubt, to the use of the close hat, which confines and overheats the head.  If the hair is found to be falling out, the first thing to do is to look to the hat and see that it is light and thoroughly ventilated.  There is no greater enemy to the hair than the silk dress-hat.  It is best to lay this hat aside altogether, and adopt a light felt or straw in its place."

I wonder if gentlemen these days wear silk dress-hats?  Somehow I doubt it, although if silk hats were to be made in the style of baseball caps they just might.

Enjoy your days!

540 pieces of fabric later......

All 540 pieces for the UFO weekend quilt were cut out in time, although it took a certain amount of effort on Friday night to get it done.......but, done it was.

Over the weekend My Lovely New Bernina (17 years old this month but until the day I die it will always be My Lovely New Bernina) and I made 30 of these:

 ......and 120 of these......

 ......and then 30 of these.

Would you believe there are 30 blocks in the quilt?

However it has now been put aside until later this month, because I have decided to make it the project I work on at monthly quilt group meetings.  It's an easy chain-pieced project, so I can work on more complicated stuff at home and save up the easy ones for the meetings.

Big night tomorrow night!  Our local music school has a number of adults who have music lessons for various reasons - continuing something they have done for a long time, starting again after playing when younger then giving it up, or in the case of some of the uke group players, doing something they have always wanted to do.  In early September each year Australia celebrates Adult Learners Week during which our music school has a concert featuring its adult students.  It's a fun night, we get to meet other adult musicians, and the night ends with drinkies and nibblies served in the studio where we practise.  We'll be playing "Ain't Misbehavin'", "Dream a Little Dream" and one for the ABBA fans (of whom I am not one) "Mamma Mia".  As Dot, one of the uke group, said last night - "it's quite funny, Jennifer......you don't like that song, but you still play it better than the rest of us do!"

The new light fixtures have been installed and they are so much better than the old ones were.  The chandelier......yes, folks, we now have a gorjuss modern crystal chandelier in our entrance hall......is truly beautiful and we love it, Tash Next Door and her mum also think it's very flash.  The light in my sewing room was changed for a plain LED fitting and the old one was to have been switched to a spare bedroom; waste not, want not and all that stuff.  Sadly, however, someone who shall remain nameless but who shares my bed, is male and whose name does not start with J was going to wash the dead critters out before the electrician changed it over, but he bumped it on the sink and broke it.

So now we still have to buy one more light.

AS we speak there is rain on the way and the weather people tell us that we can expect a significant amount of rain over the next few days.  Remind me to stay out of puddles, because I am a short person.

The John Williams CDs arrived, 58 of them and one DVD, all those hours and hours of wonderful music.....if we play just one CD a day we will have enough to last a couple of months before starting again.

Following on from the last quote about hairy masculine faces:

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."

I wonder how one defines a shabby beard?  One which has been straining soup?  Erk......

Enjoy your days!

A finish, and a start

First, the finish:

The Maple Leaf runner is done!  It's another souvenir of our holiday in Canada.

Then the start:

The next project, what do you reckon?  Batik fabrics, lots of different shades of blue with pops of yellow, gold and orange.  The blue fabrics range from almost green to almost purple, right around the colour wheel.  The small pieces on the left are mostly leftovers from Maritime Beauty a couple of years ago.

Next weekend is my quilt group's annual UFO weekend (mine is still a USO, not a stitch has yet been taken) so I hope to goodness it will all be cut out in time.  It has at least been started, a few pieces have been cut......

Last Sunday's concert went well, the uke group was allowed two songs (we didn't play "Ain't misbehavin'" so it will go in the next concert in a couple more weeks), we didn't disgrace ourselves, and people told us how much they enjoyed us.  The following day Kevin and I were trundling around a local supermarket - the weekly shop is a great social outing here in the Small Smoke, these days we take our thrills where we can get them - when we were approached by a local councilor and his wife who had been at the concert.  We had a nice chat in the frozen food section, they said how much they liked our music......perhaps we should ask the council if we can be official uke players to our fair city?  I can just imagine us strutting along escorting the mayor during a civic procession, plinking as we go......

Lately, money has been flying out the door here at Chez Wombats like you wouldn't believe.  New light fittings have been bought to replace some already here when we moved in; they aren't our taste so out they go, and anyway lights now are much more efficient than they used to be.  The very 1980s lights in the entrance hall, bedroom hallway and Good Room will, thank goodness, be going.  Should you be in the market for some fittings with scrolly brass arms, painted flowers on the middle bits (don't know the technical word, sorry) and tinted glass chimneys, we will shortly have some available.   All offers welcome.  One more fixture to arrive, the shop has it on order, then the electrician can install them for us.  We don't play around with live electricity, we're not that silly, you know.

On Friday my weekly newsletter from The Fabulous CD Shop In The Big Smoke arrived in my inbox, and you probably heard me gasp from your place......there was an entire boxed set of guitarist John Williams on special.  It's now on its way here.  It cost a certain amount of dollars but oh, all that wonderful music......how can you put a price on it......many years ago I saw John Williams play and it was such an experience, I have never forgotten it.

 Continuing on from the last etiquette post, more words of wisdom aimed at the blokes in our lives:

"The beard.
The style of the growth of the beard should be governed by the character of the face.  But whatever the style be, the great point is to keep it well brushed and trimmed, and to avoid any appearance of wildness or inattention.  The full, flowing beard of course requires more looking after in the way of cleanliness than any other.  It should be thoroughly washed and brushed at least twice a day, as dust is sure to accumulate in it, and it is very easy to suffer it to become objectionable to one's self as well as to others.  If it is naturally glossy, it is better to avoid the use of oil or pomatum.  The moustache should be worn neatly and not over-large.  There is nothing that so adds to native manliness as the full beard if carefully and neatly kept."

Beards were certainly popular in the late 1800s, weren't they?  In photographs taken at the time it's rare to see a clean-shaven bloke.  I wonder what women thought of their menfolk when the beards became a bit wild?  Perhaps they were so taken by the native manliness that they didn't mind.  Just imagine how a wild beard would tickle.......

On that note I shall leave you, and head back to the sewing room and the rotary cutter.

Enjoy your days!

279 is not 275

The next row of the beaded scarf didn't go so well, it was supposed to end up with 275 stitches, instead of which there were 279.  Bugger.  So the whole row was un-knitted and will have to be done again.  Bugger again.  That will teach me to watch murder mysteries on TV while knitting something that needs a bit of concentration, won't it?

Many thanks for the comments on last week's waratahs!  Here are some more:

 Waratahs were being featured at the time of our visit.  The white ones are interesting, but I think they lack the oomph (technical word here, folks) of the red ones.

 An interesting post which has information about the waratah, including the Aboriginal legend of how they came to be, can be found here.

I would love to be able to grow them here......but, sadly, cannot.

Not a whole heap to report from the sewing room today.  The quilting on the maple leaf runner had to pause because of a couple of BOM obligations; they have now been handed over, so the machine can be set up for quilting again.  Later this month my quilt group is having its annual UFO weekend, or in some cases USO (for projects not yet started), so between now and then I will be cutting out batik fabrics in all shades of blue with a little yellow/gold for an accent.  The blues range from light turquoise to deep almost-purple, and the pattern is a scrappy one I have been wanting to do for a while.  While it's very dubious indeed that all the blocks will be done on that weekend it will at least have been started, which is a Good Thing.

Currently there is a sports carnival happening on the other side of the world, but as this humble blogger is not much of a sports fan (not any kind of a sports fan at all, really - much or otherwise) this blog is a sport-free zone.......except for one thing I found out the other day, which makes me laugh every time I think of it.

Did you know there used to be a spot in the carnival for solo synchronised swimming?  Can you imagine it?  "Solo synchronised" sounds like an oxymoron to me - how on earth does one swim (or indeed do anything else solo) in synch with one's self?

The problem with blogger seems to have fixed itself, I think the site was being gussied-up because things are different to how they used to be.  All is well now, so no need to panic.  We don't want to waste a good panic, do we?

The uke group will be playing my arrangement at a concert on Sunday afternoon, how about that!  Plus a couple of other songs from our book, "Ain't misbehavin'" and "Sway".  All together now......when marimba rhythms start to play, dance with me, make me sway.......la la la laaahhhh.........

"Long, flowing hair on a man is not in good taste, and will indicate him to the observer as a person of unbalanced mind and unpleasantly erratic character - a man, in brief, who seeks to impress others with the fact that he is eccentric, something which a really eccentric person never attempts."

Remember when blokes wore long hair?  It was fashionable for quite a long time in my giddy youth......but I don't think many of the males of my acquaintance were eccentric, just dedicated followers of fashion.

Enjoy your days!