One thousand and eleven

That's how many pieces need to be cut for the elephant......er, the quilt......that is currently on the chopping board.  Out of curiosity I counted up the various labelled baggies; 120 of this, 90 of that, 333 of something else, etc.  I am really enjoying going through my Big Bin of autumn print fabrics, it brings back many memories; a lot have been bought on our trips to Canada while others have been in the stash for longer.

Never mind.  The cutting out will eventually get done, then I can have the fun of mindlessly feeding fabrics through the machine - definitely a favourite pastime.

Last Friday afternoon the uke group played for the 30th birthday of a support group for people who have suffered a stroke, and many nice things were said to us and about us.  One compliment we are often paid is "you look as though you are having fun" which we do - we are having a lot of fun!  Next Sunday we are back at a market day at a small church just out of town, then we can sit back and heave a sign of relief......but not for long.  We have several gigs coming up to Christmas, which will be upon us before we know it.

Proof that it has indeed rained since we came here - this was a few months after we moved in, a view of the hill behind us.  Those plants must have been knee to hip height, maybe even taller.

 Wet stuff!  Actual wet rain on the garden!

 Although this wasn't taken recently, the view hasn't changed.......it's still dry and brown now.

Sigh......it will eventually rain again.  We just don't know when.

Yesterday afternoon the boat was well and truly pushed out here - I baked a cake!  I used this recipe, but used an eight inch tin and gave it 45 minutes in the oven.  It also has a streusel topping of flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts and melted butter, but for some reason the topping soaked into the cake as it baked.  I may have overdone the amount of butter......but all is well, as usually that topping falls off instead of sitting nicely on top.  Instead of using the spices in the recipe I dipped into my little container of ready-made pumpkin pie spice mix bought last year in Canada.  There are many recipes online to make your own spice mix, but I thought I would try the real thing.  As we can't buy tine of pumpkin pie filling here I made my own by chopping a pumpkin (Japanese, from memory) into chunks and roasting it in the oven for half an hour or so with the skin still on.  No oil, no seasoning, nothing like that.  When it was done and had cooled the skin was peeled off and it was puréed in the food processor, then stored in self-seal bags - one cup per bag, most recipes seem to use one cup - in the freezer until the mood took me to use them.

Should you feel like joining me in the boat for a bite of something delicious I can recommend it.  Sometimes I make cupcakes with this recipe, but usually it's a bigger cake as it goes further......12 cupcakes is 12 cupcakes, but an eight inch cake can be cut into more than 12 slices.

"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."

A gentleman probably shouldn't eat cake while wearing a beard, as it would be a shame to waste even the tiniest crumb......which, of course, leaves more for the rest of us.

Enjoy your days!

Wattle they think of next......

As well as being Father's Day (1st Sunday in September for Aussie dads) last Sunday, 1st September, was Wattle Day.  Our little wattle bush is still flowering well considering its bad start in life, and other species are in flower around town.

A bit of a difference since the photo on the last blog post!  It's a difficult plant to photograph in even the slightest breeze, those little golden fluffy balls do not stay still.

 Gorgeous wattle in the local botanic garden.

 A close up of some yellow fluffiness......I don't know how many species of wattle there are, but apparently there is wattle flowering somewhere in Australia every day of the year.

 Silly kitty Bianca......she loves to dash into that kitchen cupboard if she thinks we aren't paying attention when the door is open.  So far - so far! - nothing has been broken, despite the fact that it has glassware.

We have learned that the best defence is to ignore her, and she soon comes out with no fuss when she realises that no bribery is involved.

Nibbles have been made on the elephant, that is to say some fabrics have been cut.  As there are still many hundreds of pieces still to go it's not worth getting too excited yet, so we won't.  We'll save it for something amazing.......just what I do not yet know, but no doubt there will something.

A foretaste of summer this week - it is quite hot, and the wind is nasty.    A good day to stay inside and not breathe in the dust which is blowing around.  It's been years since I actually looked forward to summer's heat, and this year is no exception; looks like we will have another hot dry summer, just what we need in the continuing drought.

Oh my......if another chirpy young person bangs on our front door scaring the bejabbers out of Bianca and telling me I need to switch my energy plan I may just forget that I am a nice person, and whack said young twerp severely around the back of his head as I chase him down the front steps.  Judging from his English accent it seems to be a popular occupation for young folk travelling from other parts of the world.

"The love letter.
Of this it may only be said, that while it may be expressive of sincere esteem and affection, it should be of a dignified tone, and written in such a style, that if it should ever come under the eyes of others than the party to whom it was written, there may be found in it nothing of which the writer may be ashamed, either of silliness or of extravagant expression."

Indeed.

How long has it been since you received a love letter?  I don't know that I ever have ever in my life ever.

Enjoy your days!

How do you eat an elephant?

Just take it one bite at a time, and it will be done.

Yesterday the first pieces were cut for a new quilt.  Several hundred still need to be cut......but they will be, even if only a few at a time, just like eating an elephant!  Digging into my stash of autumn leaf prints, many of which were bought on trips to Canada, always makes me happy.  The pattern is from an Aussie quilt magazine from several years ago, although it won't ~quite~ be made according to the pattern; more rows will be added to the sides to make it square and balance the pattern (the magazine quilt is rectangular, I don't care for that) and the construction method for the 15 Maple Leaf blocks will be changed.

It is my turn next month to provide a block for the Tuesday group's BOM.  We have a Tuesday group and a Saturday group; some people go to both and some to only one of these.  My blocks are always pieced.....no applique for me......and have often had intricate designs, but this one is simpler.  Even the most triangularly challenged should have no trouble with it.

 Just three different fabrics, two tone on tones and a print.  Block is called "Amish Diamond" from Quilter's Cache website but I decided to call it "Autumn Diamond".  It will get acquainted with the iron before it is shown to the group as an example.

Our little wattle bush is starting to flower, another week and it should be glorious!  When it was first planted something (possibly ants) took a liking to it and chewed the tender leaves, leaving just one stalk with a few leaves at the top.  Kevin was all for pulling it out because it didn't look too flash at all, but I convinced him to let it stay because at least those remaining leaves were green and healthy.

It then shook itself, pulled up its little green socks, and decided to concentrate on recovering.  Took a couple of years but it did so, and last year flowered for the first time.  

Many Aussie native plants are slow to get established, and only live for a few years compared to hundreds of years for trees in colder climates.  We know this and accept it, and enjoy them while we can......then when it dies off we plant something else to enjoy.  Pretty sure we have a self-seeded wattle tree in our front garden thanks to a bird or the wind, when and if it flowers we will know what it is for sure.

Winter is still proceeding, nights and mornings are cold and sometimes frosty while days are mild and mostly sunny with not a cloud in the sky.  If only the drought wasn't so dire it would be lovely winter weather, but we would like clouds and rain!  For some time now we have been on Level Four restrictions which means no, absolutely no, use of water outside at all.  Dishes are rinsed in a bucket in the sink before going in the dishwasher then that water is used on plants, which is allowed.  We do, however, put clean water in our bird baths - that comes under animal welfare, which is also permitted.

Bianca is still around.  A few weeks ago she became very frail, was barely eating, and was quite listless - we expected to find her gone one morning on her bed in front of the fire.  However she rallied, is eating again, and sometimes runs around the house like a six month old kitten.  We know, though, that she probably won't be around for much longer.....but she is happy and doesn't seem in pain, so we won't make that final trip to the vet just yet.

Kevin and I have been together for 45 years; I brought my cat Smokey into our relationship (got custody of Smokey when my first marriage ended), and we have always had at least one kitty.  The house won't seem right with none.

"Dinner A La Russe.

The latest and most satisfactory plan for serving dinners is the dinner a la Russe (the Russian style) - all the food being placed upon a side table, and servants do the carving and waiting.  The style gives an opportunity for more profuse ornamentation of the table, which, as the meal progresses, does not become encumbered with partially empty dishes and platters."

I wonder how many servants one would need to serve a cut-up elephant?  Or how many would be needed for the cutting up thereof?

Enjoy your days!

My nose is staying inside today

So is the rest of me.  It is so cold that not so much as the tip of my nose has been poked outside, and yesterday was nearly as bad.  The wind is quite nasty and chilly.  Snow has fallen about 40 minutes away - we're in a valley, but the towns on higher ground not far from here see snow nearly every winter.  Our "feels like" hasn't gone over 3.1 C today, and as it's already 4 p.m. it won't get any higher.

Never mind.  It's good to finally have winter weather.

Stitches have been taken by machine in the sewing room, as well on the repro tumblers......they have become my TV project, as well as going many places with me.  Waiting for appointments can be very boring, and every stitch taken keeps me from snapping at whoever is playing loud music to turn it off.  If you come to our house you will get our taste in music, but that's our prerogative - I don't like being in places where the latest 'hits' are blasted at me so it's classical, folk, jazz here.

Several years ago when Kevin travelled around as a sales rep the car radio kept him entertained, and one day an interview on marketing was broadcast.  One statement made was, if you don't like the music being played in a store you are not their target customer.  Well, gee.......no store wants me!  A couple of years ago an excellent women's clothing store here closed, its owner played background jazz (she was a singer) which made it a fun place to shop.  The clothes were really nice, too.  It's difficult to even shop for knickers now without being assailed by noise, isn't it?

Some pics taken on holidays a few years ago, first a yellow-tailed black cockatoo, a very handsome bird.

 Isn't it gorgeous?  It lived in an aviary with several other parrots and other birds, and one young magpie quite fancied those beautiful yellow tail feathers......so much so that it chased poor Cocky around until it managed to pull one out!  Maggie walked away with a "how smart am I" look on its little feathery face and a yellow feather hanging from its beak, while Cocky shook itself and muttered something about "young people these days having no respect".  It was very funny. 

A sleepy Major Mitchell cockatoo, I would love to see these in the wild.

 A pheasant of some sort, not an Aussie native as the cockies are.  You can see why ladies of old liked to trim their hats with a pheasant feather or two, can't you?

Our local birds have been lying low somewhere in yesterday and today's cold wind, we haven't seem many at all.

Last weekend the choir had its time in the spotlight, fame and glory beckoned us.  Our choir director Bill celebrated 60 years since his first teenage role in a production by our local Musical Society (founded in 1888 and still going strong, the oldest in Australia) so the Society staged a celebratory concert and we were in the finale.  It was amazing to be part of such a wonderful tribute; when Bill was approached early last year he said he would like the choir to be in it, because we are his musical life now that he doesn't take roles on stage any more.  Looking out at a full theatre from on stage was awesome, people even came from interstate and from the Big Smoke.  Bill is held in very high esteem, and we are lucky to have him.

"The letter of friendship.

This should be of a more dignified tone, contain less trivialities than the family letter, and should embrace matters that will be of interest to both.  A letter of friendship should be answered in due time, according to the intimacy of the parties, but should not be delayed long enough to allow the friendship to cool, if there is a desire to keep it warm."

These days it is probably "the email of friendship"......not many of us write letters any more.

Enjoy your days!

A little work has taken place in the sewing room

The other day some tracing preparation for the Canadian mystery quilt from a couple of years ago was done.  No stitches yet, but that's getting closer......I can feel it......just trying to work up oomph for that foundation pieced cat face and embroidered features.......I only make these blocks for charity quilts because I am a nice person, you know, even though there is sometimes a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

Sigh.

Some good news on the pedal extremity front: my foot seems to be improving slowly although it still doesn't like too-long walks.  Our downtown area isn't huge but yesterday's walk from a favourite café to a jeweller then back to the car via the pharmacy was deemed a bit too much by The Foot, so I let it rest for the afternoon and evening.  Best of all, though, is the hip which has been plaguing me for so long has finally stopped hurting!  Yesss!!

It's so wonderful not to have that continuous throbbing ache.  I have become a much happier woman as a result.

Goodness, I don't want to become like my mother with an obsession about my body.  You never said "how are you" to her, because she would tell you in full detail.....she never quite grasped the concept that a greeting is not necessarily a question.  Aussies have ambiguous greetings, there's "how are you" and "how are you going" which mean the same thing - "Hello".  It doesn't mean I want full disclosure about your innards, and it doesn't mean I am inquiring about your chosen mode of transport.

Just realised that we have no photo!  Let's see what can be found.

Early fall in Toronto.  There was a bench in front of these flowers, a welcome place to sit on a hot day.

 This was a gorgeous tree - the photo doesn't do it justice.  We spent a few days in Midland, and each time we used the parking lot behind the shops I drooled over this tree across the road.

 Love the golds......have no idea what the trees are.

 Not what you are thinking!  Cones - pine cones? cedar cones? - which have fallen from trees.  Vancouver Island is the land of Tall Straight Trees.

If not for the cold winters I could live in Canada......and the hot humid summers.....spring is probably nice, and autumn is glorious.  Let's not forget butter tarts.....

Nowhere in the world seems to have an ideal climate, does it?

"Less formal invitations.
Invitations of a less formal character are sent for charades, private theatricals, and for archery, croquet, sailing and garden parties; but, however informal the invitation (except only when a visiting card is used), on no account neglect to give immediate attention to it, by sending a reply, for any want of courtesy in this respect is unpardonable."

How long has it been since you were invited to archery or croquet?  Or to a garden party?  My social life is sadly lacking, it seems.

Enjoy your days!

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!