Hidden treasure!

When my 1926 treadle machine went for its recent visit to the house museum it was taken apart for transport, as it's far too heavy for two Olde Phartez to lift.  First the staple was unclipped from the leather belt join, and the belt removed.  Next two screws holding the machine were removed, and the machine head lifted from the wooden cabinet.  Finally - this is the tricky bit, although Kevin assured me it wasn't difficult, just fiddly - the four vertical screws holding the wooden cabinet to the metal base were removed, and the wooden cabinet lifted off.  When it returned home, the process was repeated in reverse.

To make re-assembly less fiddly Kevin laid the wooden cabinet on its back, first removing the six drawers so they wouldn't fall out and get damaged. (The floors in that part of the house are tile, anything dropped on it is likely to break.)  Imagine his surprise when he looked inside the cabinet and found some very old things which had obviously fallen out the back of one of the drawers, become wedged in and never found - possibly not since the 1920s!

There is a piece of floral fabric, possibly fine cotton or rayon (viscose); a large piece of pale blue fabric, also fine cotton or rayon; a piece of gold brocade; a length of narrow lace, and a piece of floral beaded trim - it appears to be unused - which could be used for an evening garment or bag, and which has a 1920s look to it.  There was also a bonus certificate from 1927 for the amount of 100 pounds, equal to $200 in today's money, with a 25 pound ($50) bonus.  Converted to today's money value it's worth several thousand dollars - but I can't cash it in; for one thing I am not the person whose name is on the certificate - and for another thing, the company no longer exists.

The machine was a freebie, back in 2001.  My brother rang me to say his neighbour had "an old machine like yours" (our grandmother's 1925 Singer machine, by then in my possession) so if I wanted it, get there quickly or the neighbour was going to take it to the tip.  We hot-footed it over to his place in peak hour traffic (peak hour traffic in the Big Smoke was not for the faint of heart then, it's probably much worse now) to find the neighbour had taken the machine apart but everything was still with it.  Some of the fancy feet - the manual - even the key to the cabinet! - a plastic bag of screws - all was there.  Nothing was missing, so putting it together again was just like doing a not-very-hard jigsaw.  We had, however, never looked behind the drawers before!

I wonder how that long-ago seamstress felt when she couldn't find the certificate, and her leftover pieces of fabric and trim?  "Oh dear, it was here somewhere......"

The neighbourhood is coming along well.

It has become my take-along project for the quilt group first Tuesday of the month meeting, as it's just pinning and straight sewing.  Lots of pinning is required, as those strips are only cut one inch wide and I don't want them to slip while being attached, but that does make for slower results.  Never mind; every painstaking pin will be worth it when it's done. 

The pas couple of days I have been helping Kevin with some of his family history research.  It's been interesting finding out about his paternal grandmother, Emily from the circus; he remembers her as a little old lady - but before she married she was a bareback rider who was regarded with awe because she could swing down and pick up a handkerchief while at full gallop!  She also danced the 'Highland fling' and 'sailor's hornpipe' in the ring, starting out as a child.  She retired from the circus in her mid-20s when she married and never, it seems, performed again.

Diamonds have been joined, and more have been cut.  A wooden hanger has had its old knitted nylon cover removed (remember them?) and replaced with a pretty floral one, following a helpful online tutorial.  Words have been read.  Notes have been sung but none plinked, as my aging fingers have been resting after the previous musically busy week.  Hunting and gathering has been done.  That was the week, that was.

Daylight saving started at stupid dark early o'clock this morning, at 3 a.m.  We set our clocks as we were going to bed so our brains could start to adjust from waking-up time, but just the same I expect to feel a bit lagged for a few days until my brain kicks into gear.  Which it will.  Just not immediately.  Our state has had daylight saving since 1971, but there are those who still whinge and complain about it every year at this time.  Just get over it.  Your moans won't make it change back.  I don't love it, but I certainly don't hate it either.....there's no point in hating something so trivial, is there?

"Keep to the right.

On meeting and passing people in the street, keep to your right hand, except when a gentleman is walking alone; then he must always turn aside to give the preferred side of the walk to a lady, to any one carrying a heavy load, to a clergyman, or to an old gentleman."

Well, yes....I understand sheltering a lady from mud and splashes of the street, and an old gentleman who perhaps couldn't nimbly leap out of the way himself......same with a heavily laden person....but a clergyman?  If a clergyman is walking with a lady he would walk on the outside, surely - clergyman or not?

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Sniffle sniff....

Wretched hayfever....it certainly is a bad season this year.  I don't usually succumb to spring sniffles, mine are more common in autumn due to tree pollen, but not this time.  The spring equinox was yesterday afternoon and, according to Those Who Know, it is a bad hayfever season.

Oh well.  This, too, will pass.  In the meantime, it just leaves me feeling miserable.  And sniffly.

Our quilt group's show was yesterday and this morning, packing up was done just after lunch today, and the quilts are now back in their respective homes.  We have learned a lot and the decision has been made to hold a show every two years, it was felt that is often enough; there is a lot of organising to be done, and as it was the first for this group we had a lot of learning to do.  We aren't a large group which is fortunate as the venue isn't large, either.

Because my brain just wasn't functioning (blame the sniffles) I forgot to take pics of the show, but my quilts were well received.  It was decided not to have a "viewer's choice" vote.  How do you single out just one quilt?  The makers all put their heart and soul into their quilts, and if they don't appeal to one person they will appeal to another anyway.  

Let's see what we can find in the picture vaults.  We are heading into our warm time, so some autumn pics from our last holiday in Canada will be just the thing to cool us down.

I have often taken a photo of just one fallen leaf on the ground.  This one appealed because of the contrast between the bright leaf and the granite pebbles - however it's not a big leaf and the pebbles are quite small, so it was a "squat down and hope I can get up again" pic!

Lake Huron on a windy day.  Even though it is landlocked, it can whip up some fearsome stormy weather.

There is a reason for the green.....it was a drizzly day when we visited.

Another "squat down." pic.  

Sometimes interesting Stuff is at ground level, isn't it?  So we just have to grit our teeth, and bend or squat and hope we don't get stuck, because without a fancy-nancy big camera with lots of whoopi-doo lenses it's only possible to zoom in a certain amount without losing clarity.

Unlike many of you, I don't take photos with my phone.  Correction - one photo has been taken of autumn leaves on the ground, which was made into the home screen.  That is it.  Many people have their lives documented on their phone; it is whipped out so the rest of us (whether we want to or not) can duly admire the latest grandchild, or a dish served in a restaurant, or a view from a recent holiday.  All well and good until the phone is lost or stolen, or dropped and run over by a car......it's all gone then.  We download our photos onto our computer and yes, I know computers can fail too.  When we had those two plumbing floods several years ago we lost some older photos, but we seldom looked at them anyway.  Perhaps one day we will go through them and just keep a few.

Words have been read.  Notes have been plinked and sung, we played for a birthday function on Wednesday for one of the local VIEW Clubs which was celebrating its 55th birthday - the ladies had fun singing along with us, some even jumped up and danced!  Diamonds have been joined, but the supply is quite low so more need to be cut.  

The next couple of weeks will not be as busy as usual.  No uke on Monday afternoons as it's school holidays and some members have grandparent duty, the same for our Thursday afternoon U3A uke group.  Choir continues, as it's an evening activity.  There are no pending appointments, although hunting and gathering will continue because we need to eat.

"Avoiding carriages.

For a lady to run across the street to avoid an approaching carriage is inelegant and also dangerous. To attempt to cross the street between the carriages of a funeral procession, is rude and disrespectful.  The foreign custom of removing the hat and standing in a respectful attitude until the melancholy train has passed, is a commendable one to be followed in this country."

This is good advice.  

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Busy busy busy

That's what we were, today.....busy little bees.

This morning we took ourselves off (at a fairly early hour!) to the house museum, laden with fabrics, sewing notions, ukulele, music stand, song book......you name it, we had it with us.  We delivered the machine yesterday afternoon to take the pressure off today's activities, and oh boy - just as well we did.  As on past occasions the treadle machine generated a lot of interest with many folk reminiscing about using one in their younger days, or of their mother, aunt or grandmother using a treadle to make the family's clothes.  A couple of hours' sewing then off to play with the ukulele group (our songs were very well received), back to the machine, back to the ukulele for more applause, back to the machine.....lunch, as we were peckish after our early start....packed up not long after lunch.  It was busy and tiring - but fun.

There was a sheep shearing demonstration....a blacksmith....a vintage car, and old fire engines, so something to entertain the whole family.  A old-style classroom with a suit-clad teacher, very different to today's informality!  And ice cream.  Yummy ice cream.

One bag was completely finished......

......and another started.  It will be finished at home using the treadle machine.

My jumper is finally ready to wear - and as summer has now arrived it will be put aside until next winter.  We're not sure what happened to spring.

I lurve the colour, which is richer than this pic shows; it's a deep rich gold.

Next weekend the quilt group is having a show, something they haven't done before in the 13 years I have been a member.  I have decided to show three quilts - my Canadian quilt, of course!  

It's fairly safe to say there won't be another one like it in this town.

My big hand-pieced tumbler quilt 'Weeds of Grace', one of my favourites.

And this one, 'There ain't no cure for the summertime blues'; although it's a few years old it hasn't previously been shown or exhibited in public.

These two still need to have temporary hanging sleeves pinned to the back.

Words have been read.  Stitches have been treadled.  Notes have been plinked and sung.  Jumper-sewing-up is completed.  The usual hunting and gathering has been indulged in, if indulged is the word for something so mundane.

The new computer is amazingly quick, much quicker than the old one ever was, we're sure.

"Avoid cutting.

No gentleman will refuse to recognise a lady after she has recognized him, under any circumstances.  A young lady should, under no provocation, "cut" a married lady. It is the privilege of age to first recognize those who are younger in years.  No young man will fail to recognize an aged one after he has met with recognition.  "Cutting" is to be avoided if possible.  There are other ways of convincing a man that you do not know him, yet, to young ladies, it is sometimes the only means available to rid them of troublesome acquaintances.  "Cutting" consists in returning a bow of recognition with a stare, and is publicly ignoring the acquaintance of the person so treated.  It is sometimes done by words in saying "Really I have not the pleasure of your acquaintance."

"Cutting" in this context is not a term used very often nowadays, is it?  "Ghosting" has become the term, instead.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Back on line

But - oh dear! how to upload photos is still a mystery.  Perhaps it will become clearer eventually.

Everything else seems to working just fine though, so we are once more connected to the world......even if that pic I took earlier and tried to upload has disappeared somewhere into cyberspace.  We have been connected to the world via our computer since 1997 - and our world has certainly changed since then.

There are a couple of people in our U3A ukulele group who don't have a computer and whose eyes glaze over with fear at the very thought of using one.  One of the women uses her age as an excuse (oh I'm 80, I'm too old) but she hasn't always been 80 in the time that computers have been around, has she?  Some of the most enthusiastic users are seniors who see the possibilities for keeping in touch with distant family and friends, and indeed with the world in general.  Since moving here to the Small Smoke in 2010 we have noticed more and more folk getting online, despite their scepticism at first; Kevin was told "don't send me an email, I never use it" by more than one person who did have an email address - but didn't bother using it.

Ah ha - one more try, and success!  We have a photo!

Next Sunday a Spring Fair is being held at a local house museum, Calala Cottage.  I will be taking one of my 1920s Singer 66 treadle machines along to demonstrate how it works; I have done that a couple of times in the past, and it always generates interest.  Many people can remember such a machine being in their family...."oh, Dad's mother had one but no one ever used it" or "I remember Mum's auntie had one but it was thrown out after she died" etc., but not many people these days have seen one in action.  As before I will be taking along some bags already prepared and pressed, so only straight stitching with no seam finishing (all raw edges will be covered) is required.  

The print fabrics will be the outer layer and handle trim, the solid fabrics will be lining and handles.  Taking three bags is a bit ambitious considering that the ukulele group is also performing so when I'm not treadling I will be plinking, and vice versa.....with, of course, breaks for coffee and lunch, but just the same some stitching will get done.

Recently we have had some proper spring weather and had even let the fire go out, but our old friend winter has returned just to remind us that, after all, it's not the middle of September yet.  Last night's fire was very cheery and warming, and tonight's will be too.  

Words have been read.  No diamonds have been cut or sewn, but once the jumper is completed that will change; it's nearly all sewn up now.  Notes have been plinked and sung.  Bags have been prepped.  The usual hunting and gathering was done, and I even found time for a visit to the hairdresser for a trim.  Since having had eye surgery three years ago a hat is a necessity outdoors, something easier with shorter hair, so my longer locks were sacrificed for hair above my shoulders.....but I still haven't gone for the very short Olde Ladye Choppe.

Our lovely wattle bush is nearly finished flowering for the year, just a few little golden yellow balls of fluff are left, and it is missed already.  It was very beautiful this year.

Concluding our Etiquette for Public Conveyances:

"Gentlemen should not cross their legs, nor stretch their feet out into the passage-way of a public conveyance."

No, gentlemen.  Don't   We don't wish to trip over your feet.  Keep to your own space, and we will keep to ours.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

From the old to the new

The old and new computers are going to computer hospital tomorrow for the new one to be brought to life, and to learn how to speak to the old one.

Hopefully all will be well, and we will soon be back in the world.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Back in the land of the living

The computer living, that is......our computer has been in for repair.  The verdict is - its condition is terminal, something quite annoying considering it's only a few years old.  Forgive the recent lack of blog comments, we've been cut off from the world without it.

Oh well.  We have ordered a new computer, and will continue to nurse this poor old thing along until its replacement arrives and is installed.

The annual record of the blooming back yard wattle bush.

She's getting to be quite a big girl, isn't she?  (Anything this gorgeous has to be a girl, no way could it be a boofy boy!)  Considering she came *this* close to being pulled out when she was a mere stripling, just a few nearly dead sticks with three tiny green leaves, she's doing very well.  Kevin was going to get rid of it, don't you dare, I said, it's not dead yet....it has green leaves.....so, fortunately, he left it.

There have been no pics of diamonds for a long time, have there?  These are on the ironing board waiting to be pressed; it's more a summer project when the weather is a bit too warm for knitting.

Although......it's not the act of knitting, the problem is the weight of a woollen garment on one's lap on a hot day.  The current jumper is all knitted, and the seaming is well underway; there won't be enough winter left this year for its auspicious debut, so it can be flaunted next year.

Many words have been read.  Not one stitch has been sewn either by hand or machine, the motivation hasn't been present, but it will return.  Notes have been plinked and sung.  There are songs waiting to be arranged but that will be left until the new computer is ready; no sense spending that time until I know the result won't disappear into cyberspace never to be seen again.

Yesterday we took ourselves off for a Nice Sunday Drive to Nundle, about an hour away, for a concert featuring harp and classical guitar.  The music was sublime, the instruments amazing - I greatly covet that beautiful guitar, even though we're not supposed to covet other people's gorgeous Stuff.  Nundle is a higher altitude than here in the valley and winters are much colder, but yesterday was pleasant; there was no nasty wind, and the sun was almost nearly not quite warm.  Nearly.

Back when I was a stripling of about 17 or so there was a 'music shop' here which sold, among other things, LP records.  (Remember them?)  I used to check out the sale racks for anything that looked interesting, having begun to develop fairly wide musical tastes, and one day I bought a recording of Spanish guitar music by Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida.  What a revelation that was!  It sparked a love of classical guitar which has never abated, indeed, I had lessons in classical guitar for a couple of years in my 20s before I started having babies.  There never seemed to be time to go back to it but I still use the techniques that I learned to this day, even when playing ukulele.  Several years later I bought another guitar and still have them both, one classical, one more folky/jazzy...and of course, three ukuleles.  Kevin is very supporting of my musical efforts and I appreciate that very much, because I cannot imagine my life without music in it.

As a child and teen I wanted to learn music but it wasn't possible, there was no spare money for frivolities such as a daughter's music lessons.  (It seemed, and still seems to me, that there was really no place in that family for the fish-out-of-water-daughter anyway.)  Both my brothers learned because a state-wide youth organisation had a branch here including a band which was free to join and to learn music, but in those days it was an organisation for boys only.  My mother had played piano in her younger days and picking out tunes on her piano, still in her parents' house (but sold with the house a few years later when they died) gave me endless fun.  My father had played violin as a child.  I was the only one in the family who was left out of playing music, and I have always resented that.  While I know there is no point in dwelling on what's passed and can't be changed it still saddens me that I was never given that chance - even though it probably would have meant learning scales on piano, something that didn't appeal at all.  But....once I heard that guitar recording, I knew it was for me.

Continuing on with Etiquette for Public Conveyances:

"Never talk politics or religion in a public conveyance."

One might add, especially not using a loud voice on a mobile phone.  The rest of us neither want nor need to hear your thoughts on these or indeed any other matters, unless we are engaged in conversation with you.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

You're the top....

....you're the Coliseum, you're the top, you're the Louvre Museum......

With apologies to Cole Porter!

My top is done.

I am very pleased with it....once the sewing table is cleared off it will be layered and quilted.  It measures 48in by 60 in as is, without any borders.  I quite like its borderless look.  Some of the greens are edging a little toward yellow but not ~quite~ getting there, while a few of the blue fabrics are leaning toward lavender - but also not quite getting there, which makes for a good mix of fabrics.

Work has also started on sewing together the top for 'There goes the neighbourhood'.

It's a fun design.....and it will be fairly large!  I must admit I hesitated over those pieced setting triangles, but now I can see they were the right choice.  A decision has not yet been made as to trimming the outer edge, or whether borders will be added; if so, they will be more pieced greens.  These are opposite corners, and they will eventually meet as more rows are added.  The backing fabric is the only thing purchased for this quilt; it's all from my stash, but has left not even the tiniest weeny little dent in it.

Now that winter is beginning to wind down a little, it's wattle blossom time once more.  Our wattle bush is in full bloom once more, looking spectacular and smelling delightful as always, and is much beloved by bees and other insects; when we get close we can hear the bush buzzing and humming with insects.  This was taken late yesterday afternoon - it's a much brighter yellow in full sunlight, but is also a bit tricky to get a good photograph without too much golden glare.

Australia has nearly 1,000 species of wattle - Acacia - so many, in fact, that there is wattle blooming somewhere in Australia every day of the year, although Acacia is by no means exclusive to Australia.  We celebrate Wattle Day on 1st September, but our bush may have finished blooming by then.

Have you all had a good week?  Ours has been, although being retired Olde Phartes it's been fairly quiet.  No diamonds were cut or joined, stitches were knitted - the neckband on my jumper is nearly all cast off.  I am using an elastic cast off so it can be turned under and stitched down, I prefer a double neckband to a single.  Words were read.  Notes were plinked and sung.  Hunting and gathering was done so we can eat again, which is a good thing.

The song arrangement for the ukulele group was finished, has been tried out and approved.  There are two or three more arrangements I want to do, but as they aren't needed for next month's gig they will get done they get done.

Continuing on with Etiquette for Public Conveyances:

"A lady may, with perfect propriety, accept the offer of services from a stranger in alighting from, or entering a tram, omnibus or public conveyance, and should always acknowledge the courtesy with a pleasant "Thank you, sir," or a bow."

She should, indeed.  Acknowledging a courtesy with a "thank you" is the right and proper thing to do.

Enjoy your days!