Winter time

Yes, I know to some of you our winter is very mild compared to yours, but it can still be quite chilly.  Let's just say I'm glad I am not trotting around outside with bare feet and shorty shorts and leave it at that, shall we?  Cauliflower and bacon soup is simmering away in the slow cooker as we speak, and Bianca is sunning herself in front of the fire.

Elderly kitties do like their comfort.

This was taken several years ago, an hour from here.....hooo boy, that was cold.  Snow is forecast up there for the next day or two.

I think I shall take a leaf from Bianca's book and stay inside with the sun pouring through the large back windows, by the fire.

Not much of note has happened this week.  My foot is most unhappy if I ask it to do what it considers to be too much, as happened on Friday, so it is being rested.  And rested.  And rested some more......eventually it will be completely happy again.  At least the painful hip is slowly improving, so one out of two is better than none.

Meanwhile the sewing room is calling, two blocks are waiting to be made.  One is the BOM for the Tuesday group (a foundation pieced cat face), the other will be for when it's my turn for the Tuesday group in September.  I found instructions for a nice easy block with no triangles, which should make the triangle-challenged among us happy; my idea is to use autumn prints and colours.  The foot can have a couple more days of not being asked to do much, then it should be able to stand while a few fabric pieces are cut.  At least the foundation pieced cat face is several steps up from fiddly-diddly cutesy-poo applique, and embroidery for the facial features can be done by machine.

The discussion about names over the past couple of weeks has been interesting.  While volunteering at a local gallery this week I was chatting to a young teacher who works at a small out-of-town rural school, and the conversation turned to names - as it often does among those of us who spent some of our working life in schools.  We both agreed that there are certain children who leave such an impression that it puts one off that name for life.  'Troy', for instance......it was over 30 years ago, but I remember he was quite a piece of work.....for my young friend, it is 'Amelia'.  If she ever has to choose names for a child of her own I suspect 'Amelia' will be way off the bottom of her list.  Funny - this year two friends in different parts of the world have both become first-time grandparents to 'Amelia', so the name will be in classrooms for a while yet!

The last section from "Naming the child".

"The plan of reviving the old Saxon names has been adopted by some, and it has been claimed that the names of Edgar, Edwin, Arthur, Alfred, Ethel, Maud, Edith, Theresa, and many others of the Saxon names are pleasant sounding and strong, and a desirable contrast to the Fannies, Mamies, Minnies, Lizzies, Sadies and other petty diminutives which have taken the place of better sounding and stronger names."

This book was published in 1882, and my maternal grandmother Edith was born in 1887.  She had a sister Ethel and brother Alfred (both of whom died as children), as well as sisters Emily and Laura, and brother Percy......all of which would probably be approved by the writer of this chapter.  I thought the custom of giving a child a shortened form of a name was a modern trend - Kate instead of Catherine/Kathleen, Zac instead of Zachary -  but it seems not to be.

I wonder why so many parents name their child after a state in the U.S.A. when they don't live there. I also wonder why they feel the need to get creative with the spelling of the child's name, thereby condemning said child to a lifetime of having to spell out their name.

Enjoy your days!

Free at last!

The dreaded boot is off......gone......removed, and how good it is.  Even the pain in my hip is settling down now that my world is level again.

On Wednesday afternoon the doctor said my fractured foot is not ~quite~ healed, but is well on the way to being so.  You can leave the boot off, he said, but make sure you wear supportive shoes, it will be healed by summer, he said, and you can wear sandals then.  I could have kissed him, but feared that if I did he might mistake it for affection when it was only relief.

However since then I haven't run any marathons or danced any polkas, taking it easy has been the order of the day despite having a uke gig yesterday morning.  I prefer to play standing up and did so, but sat down each time we took a break.

Now to decide which sewing project to tackle first; it doesn't matter which one is chosen, fabric will still need to be cut.

While that is mulled over, here are some of the pretties that don't grow here - these were taken on one of our trips over to the coast.  I don't know the name of this, but it's pink and fluffy.  That should narrow it down, for the botanists among you.

 This is interesting, I bet the bees love it.

 Gorgeous foliage......the new growth on many Aussie plants is a pinky-bronze colour which is beautiful in spring.

It almost (but not quite!) makes up for our lack of glorious fall colours.

A month ago I wrote about the block which would be handed out at my quilt group meeting for members to make if they wished, and a few have already been handed in to me.  Well......what can I say.  Some are well made, others are not; one is way too small (the 1/4in seam allowances are very creative) and I suspect, in fact I know, that this particular member never bothers to press as she goes along.  A quick touch of the iron when it's together and she calls it finished.  Another one has pieces of sun block curtain fabric in with the quilt cottons.  Somehow I suspect those less-than-wonderful blocks may end up at the bottom of the "completely last resort" pile, that's if they are even used at all.

Ah well.  Onward and upward.  Perhaps I will just make for myself and not worry about anything else.

The other day I pulled a couple of large pieces of fabrics from my stash, and decided that it's time they had their day in the sun.  One is a repro from......oh, it would have to be the mid 1990s; it was bought to make a dress but not used for that, it will be useful for a border.  The other is daffodils, yellow, gold and white, probably from the same era.  It is yellow.  Very very yellow.  Just as well I like yellow, nearly as much as green......it, too, will become a border.  There is a lot of yellow in my stash, a friend recently invited me to join an online stitch along, so ideas are starting to percolate in my brain. 

Continuing on from last week's thoughts on names:

"With some it is customary to name children after some renowned person, either living or dead.  There are objections to this plan, however, for if the person be still living, he may commit some act which will bring opprobrium to his name, and so cause both the parent and child to be ashamed of bearing such a disgraced name.  If the person after whom the child is named be dead, it may be that the child's character may be so entirely different from the person who bore it, that the name shall be made a reproach or satire."

Well, yes.

My paternal grandmother's first names were Florence Gordon (her father was Scottish), but one of her brothers was named "Australia".  That's right.  Australia.  He was born in the 1880s when Australia was heading towards Federation, and patriotism was strong; he wasn't the only child given that name.  A friend from years ago told me she had an Uncle Ozzie, the family assumed it was short for Oswald - but no, his name was also "Australia".

Makes "Jennifer Grace" quite ordinary by comparison, doesn't it.

Enjoy your days!

A maple leaf weekend

Best wishes to my Canadian family and friends for Canada Day!

There are many species of maple trees.  This leaf is one of my favourite pictures ever; it was taken on a dull overcast day with drizzling rain.  It glowed as if there was a light shining through from underneath.

Front and back on a much sunnier day.

 Another drizzly day.

Many lovely Canadians we met apologised for the rain.....sorry it's raining, it will spoil your holiday.....to which we replied, as we had come from a dry climate we were quite enjoying the rain!

There will also be some Canadian cooking happening later, Butter Tart Bars......oh, I do like butter tarts......can't buy them here, so if we want them we have to make them.  Which is probably just as well, because if I could pop out to a cafe or shop and buy a butter tart any time I wished I could become a quite large person.

There is an excellent cafe not far from where we have always stayed in Toronto and over the years we have had many coffees there.  Last year's trip was no exception; one day shortly after arriving we went for a little walk and ended up at the cafe.  While we were ordering our coffees - beans are roasted on the premises - we noticed that the display of baked goods under the dome on the counter included butter tarts, so in the interest of scientific research I tried one.  Well......it was the best, bar none, that I have ever eaten.  It wasn't the last one I ate either......Kevin, being The Date Connoisseur of the Universe, tried the date squares and also agreed that his was the nicest date square he had eaten.  It wasn't his last one, either.

In other news, my foot is still attached.  The boot is still on day and night (yes, even in bed).

Nothing is happening in the sewing room.  Tumblers are still being joined by hand.  Using a sewing machine pedal with one's left foot isn't difficult, but much cutting needs to be done.....which means standing, which means pain with unevenly aligned hips at present......

Never mind.  This, too, shall pass. 

"Naming the child.

It becomes an all-important matter to the parents, what name they shall give to the newly-born child, and as this is a matter which may also concern the latter at some future day, it becomes an object of solicitude, until a suitable name is settled on.  The custom in Scotland is to name the first son after the father's father, and the first daughter after the mother's mother; the second son after the father, the second daughter after the mother, and succeeding children after other near relations.  This perpetuates family names, and if they are persons whose names are regarded as worthy of perpetuation, it may be considered a good custom to follow."

Had I been named after my mother's mother, my name would have been Edith.  No middle name, just Edith.  However, my middle name - Grace - came from a cousin of my mother's who died as a teenager; her name was Dorothy Grace.  At least my parents didn't call me Jennifer Dorothy, which is a bit of a mouthful.

Enjoy your days!

In which small steps have been taken

Steps without the boot!  Not under medical supervision, just because I am getting tired of it, so today I decided to try some gentle steps on a level surface inside at home.  Probably not such a good idea, as the fractured bit still twinges......what can I say......six and a half weeks now, you would think it should be healed wouldn't you......suppose I will find out next week, when the next X-ray is done.

Had my moment of fame and glory at the Eisteddfod on Friday night, and while as I expected I wasn't chosen to be the winner I had fun, as I suspect did everyone who performed.  Yesterday's rock 'n' roll ukulele group gig went well, we had much audience involvement because, being of A Certain Generation, they knew all the words to those songs from the late 1950s-early 1960s.

Apart from more hand stitching of tumblers, a most enjoyable activity, no stitching has happened.  However a project which has been languishing is the Canadian mystery quilt I signed up for in October 2015, a block for each province and territory, all applique.  Two household floods plus the subsequent clean-ups and rebuilds meant that project has been on the back burner for ages, so earlier this week it was taken out of hiding and pieces for another block traced.  On our trip last year I saw a completed quilt and it is lovely, so I am determined to finish mine.

Pictures haven't been taken this week as nothing worthy of being photographed has happened, but here are some from last year's Big Trip.

This plant is called Burning Bush - it is a really bright vivid red, spectacular in autumn.

 Lots of granite in Parry Sound......grey, pink, you name it.  The granite colours along the highway were gorgeous.  Parry Sound also has a wonderful book store.

 I have no idea what this interesting striped plant is called.  It was photographed in Midland but we also saw it growing in Toronto not far from our apartment, in a garden which we passed on our treks to the big amazing supermarket.

 Looks like the good folk in Bayfield trim their trees as badly as we do here, around the wires.......poor trees......this would have been glorious left untrimmed.

Not sure what this week has in store, nothing out of the ordinary I suspect, which means time to sew, and time to play music, and time to read......probably should sweep a floor or two......

The annual quilt show was held in the Big Smoke this week but I haven't been for years.  Winners are here if you would like to feast your eyes.  Early in the year I did think of going, but then that's the weekend of the Eisteddfod and the uke gig, and I was on morning tea/BOM roster for the quilt group, and it all became too bothersome to make arrangements.  Perhaps I will get there again one day, but I don't know when.  It has crossed my mind to head down to Canberra for their quilt show in August instead; we would take the caravan, have time with our family and I could enjoy the quilt exhibition and craft show.  Not this year, though, as I don't know what's happening after next week's hospital visit - arrangements for surgery to my foot may have to be made.  Not being able to plan ahead is a bit of a nuisance.

"Idleness a source of misery.

Perhaps the greatest cause of misery and wretchedness in social life is idleness.  The want of something to do is what makes people wicked and miserable.  It breeds selfishness, mischief-making, envy, jealousy and vice, in all its most dreadful forms."

Envy and jealousy both?  Well, well......and here was I thinking they were both the same side of the one coin.

Enjoy your days!

Another week in which not much happens

It's amazing how restrictive one's life becomes when one can't stand for long, or walk far, without pain.  Too much sitting, we are told, is not good for us either, but sometimes one just doesn't have much choice.

Never mind.  This too shall pass, as I keep reminding myself.

At least my foot hasn't fallen off yet.

As a blog post isn't complete without pictures and nothing worthy of being pictured has occurred this week, let's trawl back through the vaults and see what we can find.

Taken just a couple of months after we moved here from the Big Smoke.  No cats were harmed in the taking of this picture.

Bianca had never seen a fire until living in this house, and immediately after the fire was lit she jumped on top.  She didn't stay long, though - we didn't have to coax or lift her down, she jumped off very smartly!

Bianca is still with us, she is now 16-1/2 years old - don't forget the half - and is doing well for such an elderly puss.  Each year her vet has "Senior Pet Month" in June with a free check-up, so off she went early in the week to be checked.  Apart from a low growl when vet Robyn touched a sore spot on her back hips she behaved quite well, and received a good health report.  She has lost some weight and is looking a little scrawny and unkempt as old cats do, but she runs around like a cat half her age and is quite happy with her life.

This was our view on a couple of mornings his week......not much at all.  Last year was so dry we had no fog as there was no moisture around to create any; it's still very dry but an occasional shower lately has left enough moisture for our world to sometimes disappear in the mornings.

One of the reasons we chose this house (apart from the view across the valley) was the lack of steps to make life difficult as we grew older.  It's single storey with one step at the back and just four at the front but those four are a bit tricky when one is unable to bend one's ankle (I'm not kidding when I say the boot is rigid), so we have ordered a railing for the front steps.  We like the open look of the house with no railings and it's not high enough off the ground to make safety railings mandatory, but out of curiosity we had a low rail included in the first quote......however, the amount was enough to make our eyes water.

As a result the verandah will stay un-railed, but there will be a basic rail to the left of the four steps which will make my life slightly easier.

My visit to the book sale last weekend to top up my Sue Grafton book collection yielded - nothing.  There were several of her books on the shelf, but all were books I already have!  Never mind......I shall visit every few weeks or so and have high hopes of completing my collection.  I did, however, find a couple of music books (one I already have, but the new one is in much better condition than my much-used copy), a couple of CDs and a DVD.

Following on from last week's quote:

"The mother has it in her power to make such books the companions and friends of her children as her good judgement may select, and to impress upon them their truths, by conversing with them about the moral lessons or the intellectual instructions they contain.  A taste may be easily cultivated for books on natural science and for history, as well as for those that teach important and wholesome lessons for the young."

My parents let me read whatever I wanted.  I was a precocious reader, reading whatever I could get my hands on even if I didn't always understand it, and had a reading age older than my actual age.  For them it was just an opportunity to boast about their clever daughter which they felt reflected glory on them......what wonderful parents they must be to produce such an amazing child!......but we had few books at home, and I never saw either of my parents read.  Books were my escape from a not always kind world.

Enough of that.

Enjoy your days!

The improbable has become possible

It is indeed possible to use one's left foot (even if one is a fairly right handed person) on the pedal of one's sewing machine.  To this end a couple of blocks have been made, one of which is my annual contribution to the quilt group's BOM.

One or two members are always looking for ideas to use up their stashes of 2-1/2in squares, and this block uses 32 of the little buggers to make a block about 11-1/4in square.

First, make two of these blocks using 16 squares each.

 Cut each of those blocks once on the diagonal.

Rotate the triangles so that the outer corners go into the centre, and join them into a larger triangle.  Repeat with the other two triangles, then join those two larger triangles into a square.  Easy peasy.  Is done.

I can't claim credit for this idea......I found it here.  Earlier this year I used these instructions to make my challenge quilt, and last week it occurred to me to use smaller squares to make a single block.

That's been the most exciting thing which has happened lately.

Took ourselves off to the fracture clinic on Wednesday afternoon.  Managed to not quite get lost in the hospital corridors.  Off you go for another X-ray, said the first doctor I saw, so off along the corridors I duly trotted.  Actually, limped is a better word......the boot doesn't make walking easy and I'm not allowed to drive with it on either so Kevin has to be my chauffeur, poor bloke......foot was photographed, then back to the clinic.  Saw a different doctor who prescribed another four weeks in the boot followed by another X-ray, make an appointment for that at the desk he said.  Did.  Went home.  Both doctors muttered words like "incomplete healing", "surgery" and "metal pin in foot bone" (gulp); it seems this foot bone fracture is notoriously difficult to heal on its own.

Bugger.

Oh well.  Onward and upward.

Weather has cooled down, we have even had a frost, while not far away from here some wet white stuff covered the ground.  It mightn't seem like much to many of you, but a couple of inches of snow is a big deal here and something not seen every winter.

Hoping to get to the Big Book Sale tomorrow.  We have two used book sales each year; a Rotary club runs the May sale while the Lions do November.  This year the Rotary sale is ongoing as they have access to cheap premises.  I have found amazing music books and a few interesting CDs at these sales and haven't set foot in the current one since before our Easter trip away, so I can feel a visit coming on.......don't you love a book sale......must take along the list of Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries and see if more can be added to my collection.

"The influence of books.

Few mothers can over-estimate the influence upon which the companionship of books exerts in youth upon the habits and tastes of their children, and no mother who has the welfare of her children at heart will neglect the important work of choosing the proper books for them to read, while they are under her care.  She should select for them such as will both interest and instruct, and this should be done during the early years, before their minds shall have imbibed the pernicious teachings of bad books and sensational novels.  The poison imbibed from bad books works so secretly that their influence for evil is even greater than the influence of bad associates."

Goodness......I wonder what the writer of these words in the early 1880s would think of my taste for murder/mystery stories, and for books on social history?  

Enjoy your days!

Same old boring.......nothing

Right now I can barely get out of my own way, let alone accomplish much.  Can't drive while wearing the moon boot.......very awkward to use a sewing machine pedal (believe me, it's been tried)......sore hips because I don't have a shoe for the left foot which matches the height of the boot so my hips are lopsided when I walk.......etc.......

During the week I received notification from the fracture clinic at the hospital to say that I have an appointment in a couple of weeks.  That is four weeks after the original request.  What's the bet they just check the x-rays, tell me to keep wearing the boot, and send me on my merry way?

On the positive side, many stitches are being taken and many penny dreadful books are being read; I am learning all about how to commit the perfect murder.  Nothing like a mystery/murder story to pass the time, is there?

Early in the week Kevin noticed that one of our pillow slips needed a seam repair so I had a go at using the overlocker.  It's not easy to use a foot pedal while feeling like there is a solid block of wood between your foot and said pedal, let me tell you.  However it was done, and my shoulder was tender from patting myself on the back afterward.

On Sunday the uke group has a gig at the church markets just out of town; after that I will see what can be accomplished in the sewing room.  Next step for just about any waiting project is cutting, so we will see how long at a time I can stand to cut.

As a result, there are no pics of anything new so let's trawl back through the past, some of the natives we had growing at our house in the Big Smoke.

Grevillea, "Robyn Gordon" I think.

 Another grevillea, pretty sure this one is "Moonlight".

 Pink callistemon, I have absolutely no memory of its name if indeed I ever knew it.

 I do know this one, Callistemon "Taree Pink".  I planted a small bush along a front corner of the house and before we knew it, it had taken over the universe.  The reflected warmth from the brick wall plus sun all morning and some of the afternoon obviously suited it, and it grew like a weed.

Despite leaving these beauties we aren't sorry to not be living there now.  We much prefer our slower pace of life here in the Small Smoke, it suits us.

We have been having amazing autumn weather, quite warm and dry for this time of year, but that is due to change next week with a taste of winter.  Days have been really nice with cooler - not cold - nights, no frosts here in town although higher up the tablelands they already know what frost is.  No doubt we will have our turn.  We need a lot of rain, but it will come when it comes.  All the wishful thinking and praying in the world won't bring it any sooner.

Then it will be time to get back to cooler weather cooking, soups and stews and things like that......and baking.  Yummo cakes and slices, finally I will have a chance to try out the pumpkin spice mix brought back from Canada!  Yee har!  I foresee a pumpkin spice cake in our near future......

Continuing on from the last post:

 "Still more destructive of the beauty and symmetry of our women's feet have been the high, narrow heels so much worn lately.  They make it difficult to walk, and even in some cases permanently cripple the feet.  A shoe, to be comfortable, should have a broad sole and a heel of moderate height, say one-half an inch, as broad at the bottom as at the top."

Nothing about a heavy rigid moon boot, you notice.

Enjoy your days!