Today was going to be the day

We have a fancy-nancy new computer, and the plan was to load new pics from my camera and update my blog......

but alas......

......it was not to be.  When Kevin (acting on instructions from our computer guru son) ordered said fancy-nancy from the computer building people, it seems that one seemingly unimportant feature was forgotten.  A photo card reader.  Fingers are not being pointed here.  Now there are pics on my camera and no way to get them to the computer until we buy a card reader, which won't be until tomorrow morning as it's way too hot to go out this afternoon.

Sigh......

So you will have to take my word for it that Stuff has happened in the sewing room, because I can't show you. 

The spotted fabric for the backing of MUSIC was bought yesterday, tiny rainbow coloured spots on white.  Just the very thing.  Two blocks from the Canadian mystery quilt from 2017 have been prepared ready to have the applique stitched down.  Lots more tumblers have been joined.  Believe it.

Regardless of whether the latest pics can be used, we can still have pictures.  These were taken at a lovely old house an hour north of here; because they are a higher altitude than we are they have a very different climate, so they can grow plants that gardeners here can only dream of having.  I think these may be California poppies.

 I don't know what this is - white flowers on a bush, will do.

 This was the first house on the property.  Once the family had grown and had become more prosperous they moved to a larger house.

At first it was a also single story house, but with more money and a bigger family a top floor was added - the architectural details, while balanced, don't match on top and bottom, but on the whole the various styles live happily together.  The house is called "Saumarez" and it has about 30 rooms, many of which still have furniture and articles belonging to the White family. 

There are several lovely vintage sewing machines.  I would happily give each and every one of them a home.

It has been, and is, very hot.  It has also rained, for which we are most thankful - the hill behind us is now green!  Such a change from dry, dead and brown. 

We survived the country music festival, the ukulele group had fun, and we had visitors to town join us - we even had people just coming along to listen.

"A lady need not lay aside her bonnet during a formal call, even though urged to do so.  If the call be a friendly and unceremonious one, she may do so if she thinks proper, but not without an invitation."

The day we visited "Saumarez" was warm and sunny, so I wore a hat which was taken off inside.  Outside in the blazing Australian sun is another story.....we need our hats.

Enjoy your days!

Dotting the i......but not crossing the t

Because there isn't one.  Music has an i, and it is now dotted......or should that be starred?

 The letters look better spaced out than butted against each other, I think.  Nothing like spaced out music, is there?  Now it needs to be layered and quilted, but I want spots for the backing and my stash has very little in the way of spots.  Hi ho, hi ho, it's spot shopping we go.......the fabric chosen for the stash for binding didn't look as good as I thought it would so another was chosen, also spotted, random different size spots on a black background - about the only spotted fabric in my stash.

Yesterday the perfect fabric for an outer border on the tumbler quilt leaped off the shop shelf and into my hands, a gorgeous repro stripe.  The inner border was bought late last year at the 'other shop' when I was showing my visiting Canadian friend around.  It's not normally somewhere I spend money as we have a much nicer shop on our side of the river, but as soon as I saw the broken stripe fabric I realised it was, like Goldilocks, just right......so I swallowed whatever it is one swallows in these situations, and bought it.

This first double row of tumblers is nearly complete, there is a four patch currently being joined to the right hand end, and then the side piece to be added.  That will make one down, 11 more to go.

Here we are, selvedges for your perusal.  The inner border is the broken stripe, "Sycamore" (I think - it's teeny weeny printing) by Jan Patek, while the wider stripe is by Barbara Brackman.

They are by the same manufacturer, they have become friends and hold hands nicely with each other, even though they are from different families.

Once the hand pieced part of this quilt is done - what shall I do?  Another project will have to be chosen, my fingers have become very used to stitching and quite enjoy it.  Perhaps something with stars will call my name, I have always liked star designs.

The uke group played our little hearts out this morning at a gospel concert, and our audience said nice things to and about us.  Our choice of songs is usually bright and upbeat because you can't be gloomy while playing a ukulele, and our audience responds to that.  The next five mornings will be our 'Uke Muster' for anyone who wants to drop in, and we have already had a few calls from interested visitors.......but even if we don't get many takers, we will have fun.

A couple of days ago we enjoyed a concert of Aussie poetry (mostly) and songs (just a few) - it was great fun.  The country music festival here isn't only country music, as we discovered to our great relief on moving here; there is a great variety, most types of music anyone's little heart could desire.  Except classical.  The classical musicians hibernate during the country music festival.

"Reception days.
Some ladies receive only on certain days or evenings, which are once a week, once a fortnight, or once a month as the case may be, and the time is duly announced by cards.  When a lady has made this rule it is considerate, on the part of her friends, to observe it, for it is sometimes regarded as an intrusion to call at any other time.  The reason of her having made this rule may have been to prevent the loss of too much time from her duties in the receiving of calls from her friends."

Well......yes.  Probably.  Casual drop-ins can be welcome, or they can be an intrusion if badly timed.  Perhaps we should go back to those days of visiting cards, and a servant to answer the door?

Enjoy your days!

My brain cells have been slowly frying

It has been so very very hot.  Thankfully today is cooler (although you couldn't describe it as cold) and there is the possibility of a rain drop or two.  We have had two storms this week which did give some much-needed rain, we'll take all we can get.

The big news, of course, is the dreadful fires burning so much of our beautiful country.  So many homes lost, so many businesses.......heaven only knows how many of our native creatures gone.  Lives have been lost.  Even hearing about it has become so stressful that I have stopped clicking on news stories, and have also stopped watching the news on TV - I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for those more closely affected.

On a happier note (because sewing has been keeping me sane) - stitches have been taken!  This is a project bought on our last trip to Canada, a Junior Row by Row bought at The Cottage Quilter in Corbeil outside North Bay, Ontario.  Isn't this fun?  I couldn't resist it.

The original design has the letters butted up against each other, but I have decided to add a half inch strip of white background between them.  This, of course, means some finagling with the already-cut outer borders - some of which will have to be re-cut.  My stash has yielded a print of tiny black stars and spots on a white background which will be used for binding - all the coloured fabrics in the kit are spotted, although it doesn't show up as well in the orange fabric I. 

This, of course, meant that many leaders and enders have also been made, but they are waiting to be pressed before showing their glorious autumn faces to the world.

The last, the very last, set of eight tumblers is on the needle right now, so the spare bed is being used as a design wall to spread out all 888 pieces.  The placement is totally random apart from a light-dark theme; I don't want the same fabric adjacent in the finished quilt, hence the shuffling around of fabrics.....except that the bed is not ~quite~ big enough.

You know how bright ideas pop into your head out of nowhere?  Well, I had one the other day.  My supply of summer sandals includes beige sandals with wide adjustable straps (sadly the feet which now swell in summer mean that adjustable straps are a must) that I have never really loved.  They are comfortable, for sure, but that cream/beige is not pretty.  It makes my feet look enormous - I think it does, anyway - so they are hardly ever worn, which is a bit of a waste.  Back in the days when I was young and slender......sigh......we could buy a product to paint on our shoes to change the colour.  I contacted a local shoe repair place - and it's still available!  A very long time ago I used to have some orange sandals, and green ones too; I can feel green sandals in my life once more. 

Our town is getting quite busy.  Many people are away on holidays, but the visitors have started rolling in for the big country music festival.  We like to play "spot the tourist" because they just don't look like locals, they don't dress like locals, and many seem to have a sense of entitlement that locals lack; you know the "I'm visiting your town so I'm very important, you have to kowtow to me" type.

"Limit of a prolonged visit.
If no exact length of time is specified, it is well for visitors to limit a visit to three days or a week, according to the degree of intimacy they may have with the family, or the distance they have come to pay the visit, announcing this limitation soon after arrival, so that the host and the hostess may invite a prolongation of the stay if they desire it, or so that they can make their arrangements in accordance.  One never likes to ask of a guest, "How long do you intend to remain?" yet it is often most desirable to know."

Some of these visitors stay for three weeks or more.  While we like to have them (because they spend money) we don't always like the way so many seem to push their weight around......and some are a considerable weight.  (I didn't say that)

Enjoy your days!

Well, here we are......

....we made it to another year.  At our age, another year is a bonus for sure!

Did you all go out and party hearty last night?  We didn't; we stayed in and didn't even make it to midnight before we went to bed.  Didn't even open the bubbly.......might do that tonight, to toast a new year.

The family came, The One And Only made it this far north.  They arrived early on Friday afternoon, whirled around like dervishes for a few days, and departed on Monday morning.  The One And Only was intrigued by Bianca The White Cat as they have a dog.  He patted her every chance he could, she hissed at him occasionally and spent quite a bit of time tucked away in our bedroom.  She is obviously not into small boys; having spent far too much of my life having to deal with them, I can sympathise.

The worst part of the new year is the devastating bushfires, fortunately nowhere near us but so many houses and businesses lost......and several lives lost too, the saddest part of all.  We are hoping for weather changes this year; some rain would be good, lots of rain would be even better.  Relief from the current heatwave would also be welcome.

We didn't watch last night's coverage of the fireworks in the Big Smoke.  Considering whole towns are burning up just a few hours south, it seemed insensitive and tasteless to spend millions of dollars sending sparks up into the air.

New year sewing has happened!  Three blocks, BOM obligations for my quilt group, were made today and will be handed in next week, one slightly late and two early.  Pieces for the new autumn leaf quilt made handy "leaders and enders", so a few pieces have already been joined.  First project for 2020 started - yay for me!

Spent a little time pairing up print triangles to background triangles, and wouldn't you know it - there are two background triangles over.  Either I cut two too many, or I cut two too few print triangles.  Either way is easily fixable and the world won't stop spinning on its axis.  It's only fabric.......

Have you all made your new year resolutions?  I decided many years ago to make none, and have kept to that.  Be good to each other, be kind to yourself.  Eat chocolate.

"Parties in the country.
Morning and afternoon parties in the country, or at watering-places, are of a less formal character than in cities.  The hostess introduces such of her guests as she thinks most likely to be mutually agreeable.  Music or some amusement is essential to the success of such parties."

We listened to a classical music radio station last night - that does that count?

Enjoy your days!

It's beginning to look a lot like......something

The Chateau des Wombats has a little festive cheer strewn about......not much yet, but it will look a little more cheery when The One And Only arrives with his parents after Christmas, stays for a couple of days, then departs once more.

I am not, as you may or may not have gathered, someone who loves pink.  However, when we moved to this house in May 2010 it had pink walls in the entrance hall and two pink feature walls in the family room, as well as a floral frieze running around a lot of the walls.  The fabrics in this runner were a gift many many years ago - anyone else remember when the usual vivid red and bright green Christmas colours were swapped out for pink and sage?  They languished in my stash for *ahem* quite a while, but for our first Christmas here I made this to help even out some of that pink.

 An early attempt at free-motion work, in pale green thread to match the fabric.  The pattern was also a gift and if I could be bothered to get up from my chair I could find it for you, but I can tell you it was by "Anka's Treasures".  The fabrics all co-ordinate but are from different ranges and manufacturers.

 Even though those pink walls and frieze have - thank goodness - gone, the runner gets trotted out at Christmas because it's pretty......and because I like it.  Even though it's a bit pink.

We are, as the news people are fond of saying, in the grip of a heatwave and it's still very smoky.  It's not yet as hot as the forecast temperature but it is still quite warm, so this picture is just to make me feel better because it was taken in Parry Sound, Canada on a very cold day with snow flakes drifting around.

Tempting though it was, I did not dibble my toes into that no-doubt-frigid water.

The ukulele group has played its last gig for the year, so now we can relax for a few weeks until the next. 

The light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, for the quilt being cut out!  All background pieces are cut, and there are not too many left of those gorgeous autumn leaf fabrics to go.  It would have been quicker to stack and cut several layers at once but I wanted a big variety, so chose to cut one print at a time.  Once that is done, the cutting table can be cleared off and a few projects tackled; it seems such a long time since I have sat at the machine and my fingers are itching to do so.

The bookshelves are also calling......that big sorting out is getting closer.

"Expensive dinners not the most enjoyable.
It is a mistake to think that in giving a dinner, it is indispensable to have certain dishes and a variety of wines, because others serve them.  Those who entertain frequently often use their own discretion, and never feel obliged to do as others do, if they wish to do differently.  Some of the most enjoyable dinners given are those which are least expensive.  It is this mistaken feeling that people cannot entertain without committing all sorts of extravagances, which causes many persons, in every way well qualified to do incalculable good socially, to exclude themselves from general society."

Wise advice to keep in mind for the coming season.

Enjoy your days!

And again.......

The past few weeks have been very busy!  A few uke gigs with time spent practicing have swallowed quite a chunk of hours, but that's nearly all done now.  Even managed to get some pieces cut for the autumn leaf quilt without too many protests from this aging body.  The only stitches sewn have been by hand, but that's all right......more and more tumblers are being joined into sets of four, and once that's done they will all be spread so I can see the final layout.  So long as the colours and values are mixed I think it will look good.

Next year's challenge from the quilt group has been given out - we are to finish a UFO.  It is to be shown in its unfinished state at the February meeting, then worked on during the year.  That Canadian mystery quilt from a few years ago is calling so that, I have decided, will be my UFO project.  It will be wonderful to have it finally done.  That's the kind of challenge I like.

Several years ago we had a similar challenge - to make a quilt entirely from stash - so I used fabric which had been bought in the Big Smoke before our move north, and pinwheels which had previously been made of leftovers from another quilt, and made the quilt I called "Plastered Pinwheels"......so-called because those pinwheels were sewn while my left arm was in plaster after being fractured.  I couldn't do much, but I could feed them through the machine.  Here's a pic from those days for those who haven't seen it:

That was taken before it was quilted, also by yours truly.

Recently we have had a couple of storms which resulted in a little - very little - rain, so the kangaroos were out in force.  They are a fair way off from our back fence and there would have been about 30 that day, some of which were out of range of the photo.

 It looks green, but you can see the hill in the background is dry and the trees don't look lush and healthy.

Our visiting magpie couple.  They now have a youngster who also visits when I take them a treat of steak; some days I only have to appear at the back door and they come flying down!

Isn't it nice to have friends?  Even if they are the feathered kind.

The air quality hasn't been kind lately, and today was particularly bad.  The wind has blown smoke this way from bushfires south and east of us; this morning the whole valley was full of smoke and it was difficult to talk, let alone sing as we did at a lunchtime gig.  Fortunately it wasn't outside, or I think we would have had to call it off.  According to the agency which monitors air quality ours, while not the worst in the state, wasn't at all good......and the next few days are supposed to be no better, with even hotter temperatures.  However we are Aussies, we are tough enough not to let it get us down.

The blog backgrounds which I have used for many years seem to have disappeared from cyberspace!  Now I shall have to get creative and work out how to do my own.

Yesterday evening we let our hair down and went to the movies!  We saw "Fisherman's Friends", an English movie with a fairly predictable plot but really good singing.  I know several of the shanties sung in the film and was hard pressed not to join in the singing, even though there were very few people in the cinema.  Sigh.......I like a good sing......

"Treatment for moist and damp feet.
Some persons are troubled by moist or damp feet.  This complaint arises more particularly during the hot weather in the summer-time, and the greatest care and cleanliness should be exercised to it.  Persons so afflicted should wash their feet twice a day in soap and warm water, after which they should put on clean socks.  Should this fail to cure, they may, after being washed as above, be rinsed, and then thoroughly rubbed with a mixture consisting of half a pint of warm water and three tablespoons of concentrated solution of chloride of soda."

I suppose that answers my concern at the end of the previous post.

Enjoy your days!

Back again, again

What a busy time it's been.  We had a lovely visit with our Canadian friends (in which a little fabric shopping may or may not have been indulged), and there is a week in which to draw breath before the next uke gig.

We took our friends for a Nice Sunday Drive - on a Sunday, no less! - to Barraba, a small town an hour north of here, to see the silo art.  Painted silos have become quite The Thing in Australia, and they are amazing.  Just imagine a painting on a canvas 40 metres high, spread over three concrete silos, and you have the idea.

 The end of the left hand silo has a bird hovering near the man's right shoulder, but we weren't in a good position to photograph it.

Last year while in Canada I bought a calendar pictures of northern Ontario, and while cutting fabric I noticed how similar it was to October's picture......so the calendar came down to join the fabric on my sewing table.  Isn't it a wonderful match?

 Piles and piles of triangles, each pile has ten pieces......so that is 200 pieces right there.  Needless to say, there are many more than just ten leaf and ten background fabrics!

Last night the choir sang at a fundraising concert, and the ukulele group also played.  It went very well.  This morning the uke group played at a Christmas (yes, the C word) market, an annual fundraiser for medical research, and considering the adverse conditions - it was very smoky, with dust and smoke being blown from fires east of here - we managed to finish.  I now have very little voice left, a combination of a lot of singing and smoky air, so not many words will be spoken for the rest of the day.  Kevin can enjoy some peace and quiet, for a change.

We have a week to recover before playing next Sunday at a regular market, held in a small church just out of town.  Indoors.  Not singing outside in smoke again.

The fires are quite devastating and many properties, homes and businesses, have gone.  Sadly four people have died.  Not wishing to laugh at others' misfortunes, but there has been a slight touch of humour in all this; at Ebor, a small village north-east of here, a fire recently did a lot of damage.  The culprit, it seems, was a local man who deliberately lit it so he could backburn around his cannabis crop to protect it from being burnt by wild fire - but his fire ran away and did untold damage.  He is now before the court.  Ebor is at a high elevation and prides itself on its "high country" lifestyle......"high", that's for sure!

Are you all gearing up for the Big C?  It is looming ever closer, you know.  We will actually have company this year as our Canberra son, his wife and The One And Only Grandkid will be visiting between Christmas and new year, first time since his birth nearly five years ago the One And Only has ventured this far north.  We are the distant grandparents he seldom sees and doesn't know very well, while his other grandparents live just a few streets away.  That's how it goes sometimes.  As a child I spent quite a lot of time with my maternal grandparents (I suspect my mother sent me there to get me away from her, we were never close) but we didn't see as much of my paternal grandparents as they lived several days drive away.  Even with today's improved roads and cars it's a long drive, in those days it could be a nightmare.

Following on from last post's quote on feet:

"The hands receive frequent washings every day.  Once a week is quite as often as many people can bestow the same attention upon their feet.  A tepid bath at about 80 or 90 degrees, should be used.  The feet may remain in the water about five minutes, and the instant they are taken out they should be rapidly and thoroughly dried by being well rubbed with a coarse towel.  Sometimes bran is used in the water.  Few things are more invigorating and refreshing after a long walk, or getting wet in the feet, than a tepid footbath, clean stockings, and a pair of easy shoes.  After the bath is the time for paring the toe-nails, as they are so much softer and more pliant after having been immersed in warm water."

Well......I don't know about you, but I would have thought that washing one's tootsies only once a week wasn't frequent enough?  Especially in summer........

Enjoy your days!