Quilters Guild meeting today..........

........and what a meeting. People elected to committee positions, people not elected to committee positions, motions passed, motions rescinded. Everyone was thankful when it ended and we could chat over afternoon tea. I managed to get a lot of sewing done on my 80th Flower Basket block during the meeting so the afternoon wasn't all wasted.

A couple more pictures of my Aussie flower garden - the top picture is a red grevillea called 'Robyn Gordon' which grows like a weed and is very pretty, the bottom flower is also a grevillea but I don't know the name. The flowers are bright neon pink. I'm not a pink girl, but I like pink flowers.

Thursday today.......

..........and I haven't added to my little blog for a few days. My holiday has ended, I am now back at work until mid-December, so I don't have as much time for blogging/sewing/quilting/reading/playing music/whatever until then. Never mind, this too shall pass.

This is a hanging I made several years ago, it hangs in my hall. I called it "Scots Wha' Hae" because the little dogs are Scotty dogs. All the pastel doggies are running one way, and the red rebel is running in the opposite direction. I was able to find ceramic dog-bone buttons for the corners.

I have a new CD to play, "Matters of the Heart" by Bruce Murdoch, I am looking forward to it very much. And I have finished my op shop (thrift shop, for those not in Australia) book "Mother Tongue" by Bill Bryson - a fun, lighthearted look at the English language. There are many bargains to be found on the op shop shelves, I even found a fairly rare song book last week.

Now there is a yummy coffee, with my name on it, brewing in the kitchen.

Thanksgiving Day

One lone red tree peeping around the corner......and a white swan who dove into the Rouge River at the wrong time!

Early autumn colour taken just a year ago in Ontario. A year has passed since our trip to Toronto, it's hard to believe time has flown so quickly. We had a lovely time last Thanksgiving, best wishes to our Canadian friends and family today.

What a great weekend - how good it was to catch up with friends in Canberra. Gorgeous weather, good company, yummy food and fun music, what more could a person want.

Black and white and white and black

Last year I took a class to learn how to make the Winding Ways quilt block. I made nine. They are not yet sewn together.
Several more blocks have been cut out, waiting to be assembled.
And of course there is more fabric still to be cut......!

What a day. I noticed this morning that the not-quite-healed wound on my chest was red around the surgical tape. Now I always thought that red colour around a break in the skin = infection but not always, it seems. After a hasty trip back to the doctor to have it checked, apparently all is OK.

Off to Canberra tomorrow for a 60th birthday party, two friends (a married couple) are celebrating. It will be good to catch up with Canberra friends as we haven't seen them since Easter, over six months ago. Have just tried on the skirt I intended to wear, it's tight in the waist but wearable. So long as I don't pop a button on the waistband all will be well. Might take along a couple of safety pins to be sure!

Which makes the need for losing weight more pressing. I never thought I would be this huge and this unhealthy. I know I'm not "fat" - even the doctor says I'm not - but the blood pressure problems make losing some weight imperative. So........walking in the evenings after the sting has gone out of the sun (it won't be possible tonight). What a waste of 30 minutes. If only there was a way to lose weight by swallowing a magic pill. Let's see if there are any changes by Christmas, I'm told it takes three months to notice any difference but with a bit of luck it might be a little less.

Now I am going to have a coffee and practice my songs to sing at the music club tonight.

Bianca's rain forecast hasn't happened yet. We are still waiting..........and waiting.........

Stitches of a different type

So that Binky doesn't feel left out, here she is helping with the laundry. It's very difficult to photograph her with her eyes open. She is The World's Friendliest Cat and loves us heaps.

More of my Aussie flower garden, this pretty pink callistemon is called Alma. The flowers are very delicate and the new foliage is a wonderful light bronze.

This morning I had stitches removed, from having a skin cancer cut out of my chest last week. Unfortunately the wound hasn't yet closed so the edges have been pulled together and taped - have to leave the tape on for a few more days. Ah well. Never mind.

Skin stitches are not my favourite type of stitches, I prefer sewing stitches in fabric!

I found out that, in North America, there are 176 different terms for dust balls under the bed. In this house they are called dust balls.

Adieu for now.

Bianca The Beautiful has predicted rain

Some of my Aussie flower garden, the creamy flower is Grevillea 'Moonlight', and I'm not sure of the pink callistemon poking its head to the left.

This lovely girl is Bianca The Beautiful. This morning she washed behind her ears, a sure sign of rain, and clouds are starting to build up already. The garden will be happy.

This morning I am thinking: if olive oil is made from olives, what is baby oil made from?

Some quilting words

A couple of years ago an idea popped into my head.....to make a quilt in the style of many wonderful 19th century quilts. Blocks right to the edge of the quilt, no borders, just binding to frame the edges. Since then I have been making six inch Flower Basket blocks, alternating white backgrounds and floral baskets with floral backgrounds and white baskets. So far 78 blocks have been made....that's not a lot, but it's a portable project rather than a "must finish urgently" project. I am enjoying the process so am in no hurry to have it finished.

It's also a well-travelled project as I have made blocks while on overseas holidays.

Here's my deep thought for the day:

While browsing in a shop window this morning I saw a book titled "The Complete Poodle". It set me thinking. Is there such a thing as an incomplete poodle?