Pop on over to Yellow Bird Art......

....they have a lovely blog and they are having a giveaway with some lovely goodies!

Jennifer

Last WOW for May

Another pewter wombat, this little one was beautifully cast in Tasmania, the base shows leaves and twigs scattered on the ground just as it would be in the bush where real wombats live. One of these days we would like to visit Tasmania, judging by photos it's a beautiful place.

Last week Meg tagged me for a list of questions, I'm not sure about tagging lots of other folk but here are my answers.

1. What are your current obsessions?

As always - music, reading, sewing, knitting, and of course my collection of wombats

2.Who would you most like to have dinner with?

Someone who will order the best food and wine on the menu...then pay the bill

3. Last dream you had?

I can't remember!

4. Last thing you bought?

A new jacket

5. What are you listening to?

Drottningholm music for a royal wedding 1744 by J. Roman, on the radio

6. If you were a god/goddess who would you be?

The most gorgeous one in the firmament

7. Favourite holiday spots?
Anywhere with mountains

8. Reading right now?
"Chain of evidence" by Gary Disher

9. How do other people see you *this is the question I changed*

Creative, procrastinating, sensitive

10 Guilty Pleasure?

Chocolate

11. Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak?

Old cartoons

12. Favourite odd thing to do?

Eat raw potato

13. Planning to travel to next?

Northern New South Wales in our caravan

14. Best thing you ate or drank lately?

Moscato....yum, yum......

15. When did you last get tipsy?

Good heavens, it's been so long I can't remember!

16. Favourite ever film?

Anything with Sean Connery in it

17. Care to share some wisdom?

Always measure twice and cut once, and always pre-wash cotton dressmaking fabric...ask me how I know

18. What item could you not live without?

Chocolate

19. Thing you are looking forward to?

A holiday in Canada later this year

20. What’s your favourite smell?

Floral scents - lavender, violet

21. What food makes you heave?

tomato and cucumber

22. How many REAL regrets have you got in your life?

I have learnt that there is no point regretting that which has already passed, much as we wish we could change things
23. If you could change places with one person, who would it be?
My great-grandmother

So that’s it. Now, the rules. Respond and rework. Answer questions on your own blog. Replace one question.

Add one question.

Then tag 8 people.

I don't know that I can tag 8 people, a lot of people hate tags, so if anyone reading this would like to pick up the ball and run with it - good on you.

Yesterday's choir concert went well, even my tiny solo was heard. Four words at the end of "Dream Lover", I'm the echo singing the words "dream lover" twice. Geez. Fame, at my age. Who would have thought. Next thing the talent scouts will be beating a path to my door.

We are both still adjusting to retired life but it is getting easier. When one has worked since the age of 15 (as I did), not having to be answerable to anyone is such a wonderful feeling. And we have started, in a small way, clearing out the house ready for The Big Move out of Sydney - after we come home from Canada in October we will list the house for sale. We have lived here since June 1987 so there is a lot of clearing out to be done, but we've started baby steps.

Have a lovely week. May your seams line up and your stitches be neat.

Jennifer

Night and day.......

..........you are the one....only you beneath the moon and under the sun......

I love old songs. Our theme last night at the music club was "Night and Day" - songs or poems about night, evening, twilight, noon, morning, whatever. It's surprising how many times these words come up in songs! "In the early morning rain" was one song I sang, "Walking after midnight" another. And tomorrow evening my choir has a gig, so lots of singing this weekend.

Before Easter I wrote about this rather gorgeous fabric. This week I ordered some Synthrapol and Retayne to treat the fabrics before I use them - it would be heartbreaking to make up a pretty Maple Leaf runner and have the colours run! That will be the next project I start, and of course there are some UFOs waiting in the cupboard, they will all have their turn in the sun eventually. Everything comes to those who wait.

On Wednesday I had my spa treatment and it was very luxurious. It's probably too little, too late (she says with tongue firmly planted in cheek) but it was nice to be pampered. A bit confronting though, as I had to strip and put on a thick towelling robe for the treatment....as the song says, I just don't look good naked anymore.......one of these days I will learn all the words to that song and perform it in public.......fully clothed.

Unfortunately too, I am becoming resigned to the fact that I am transmogrifying into my mother, a scary thought. My mother was one who "enjoyed ill health" as the saying goes, and I always vowed I would not be like her. Following a recent visit to the doctor, apparently I am at risk of developing some of the same physical symptoms. Age and genetics are taking their toll. Bummer. Double bummer.

But my mother could not sew or play guitar.

Enjoy your weekend.

Jennifer

Brass WOW

Very cold weather is said to be brass monkey weather, I don't have brass monkeys but I do have a brass wombat. It is designed to fit over a garden tap handle as a decorative feature. Kevin found it for me a few years ago, his job at the time entailed going into hardware shops which often have good garden departments with all sorts of interesting things for sale. Including brass wombats.

Have just finished reading "Entombed" by Linda Fairstein, a writer who has written other books I have enjoyed reading. I like police/detective novels, the unravelling of a mystery can be fascinating. One of the cases in this book had connections to the life and work of Edgar Poe, did you know the name Allan in the middle wasn't part of his actual name? Looking at her website, her new book is "Lethal Legacy" set in the New York Public Library...sounds like an interesting read! Must keep an eye out for it at my local library.

The pecan brownies were/are very yummy. I cut them into small pieces rather than large slices so we can have a piece with a coffee or tea and not feel too guilty. In case you should feel inspired to don an apron and pick up a wooden spoon, here is the recipe:

Pecan Brownies

155g butter, melted
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt - optional
1 1/2 cups chopped pecan nuts

It is important to melt the butter. If not, the mixture requires too much beating which over-aerates it. The mixture needs to be dense to hold nuts evenly throughout. Also, mixture will sink slightly after taking from oven.

Mix together melted butter and sugar with a wooden spoon. Add eggs one at a time, beat lightly. Stir in vanilla essence and beat until creamy. Fold in sifted cocoa powder, flour (and salt if used) and mix until combined. Stir in pecan nuts. Pour into a greased and base lined 20cm square cake pan, bake in moderate oven for 55 minutes or until cooked when tested. Cool completely in pan. Turn out, cut into squares. Top has crusty sheen and deliciously moist centre. Serve with your choice of tea or coffee and enjoy! I'm sure it could also be yummy in large squares with cream or ice cream. Or even both, if you wish - why not?

I have read some very nice recipes in blogs recently, so thought I would contribute one too. It's an Aussie recipe so the quantities are metric, however there are conversion sites online if you wish to use other measurements. Plain flour is flour that has no leavening agent - baking powder, bi-carb, whatever - added, it may go by a different name in other countries. And the cocoa powder has to be pure cocoa, not drinking chocolate which has had sugar added. There's enough sugar in the recipe for a sugar hit, without needing any extra! If anyone makes it I would be interested to know.

Have a lovely week.

Jennifer

Daybreak is done!

No, that's not an error of grammar! I have finished, sewn the binding and hanging sleeve on, and labelled my "Daybreak" hanging. I took a couple of pics today but when I uploaded them on the computer they looked a bit fuzzy, so I will try for sharper ones.

There's a lovely smell wafting through the house as we speak....pecan brownies are cooking in the oven......we are invited to older son's place for dinner tonight so I am making some nice munchies. His girl is a wonderful cook and always makes nice yummies, so it's my turn tonight.

Today I am feeling more cheerful, I have been feeling down for the past week because I am a year older. Every birthday now makes me wonder how much longer I will be alive. I am not being morbid, just curious; my mother died at 75, my father at 70. I am on the shady side of 60 and rapidly stepping further into the shade. However all my grandparents were in their 80s when they passed away, in fact I think my father's mother may have been over 90 when she went. So there is hope for me yet. So much to do, so little time.......I was put on this earth to accomplish a certain amount and right now I am so far behind, I can never die!

And of course if I didn't spend time on the computer I could do wonderful things.

Jennifer

I am becoming a hermit

Today is my quilt guild meeting. Instead of going I am having a lovely peaceful time here at home, making a label for my hanging. Kevin is bowling in a competition, we discussed juggling the car so we could both go to our chosen venues.....and it all became too hard for me, so I opted to stay home.

Does this mean I am becoming a hermit?

Even as a child I have always treasured my 'alone' time and it is much less now, so it has become more precious to me.

Next Wednesday I am heading off to the spa to spend my birthday gift voucher. But it doesn't matter how long I spend in there, I will still come out the same person. I won't be any younger or more glamorous. And I have warned son's girl that no one, but no one, is going near my fingernails. Very short nails on my left hand, longer and shaped on my right.....that's for a purpose......I play guitar. Lovely girl that she is, she agreed. I was given a gift manicure a few years ago and the young chickybabe doing my nails was mollified when I let her paint them with clear polish, although she was obviously aching to cut them all the same length. But they're my nails, and I wear them how I like.

Today is blowing a howling gale, the wind is making us feel several degrees colder than the temperature says it is. Although my sewing room has lost a lot of light since the edifice was built next door it's still bright, and being out of the wind is very nice. The cats have curled up in their favourite spots and are very content out of the weather.

Now my coffee cup is empty, so I shall continue making my label. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Jennifer

Rainy day WOW

These are very little pewter wombats, the one on the left is a bit over an inch long. I like the one on the right rolling on his back - that's what young wombats do.
Another pic of the pretty purple bush I posted the other day. When these are in flower the neighbourhood is very cheerful as they are a popular plant hereabouts, although someone (who didn't live near here) once told me she didn't like them, as she considered them too gaudy. Our neighbourhood needs all the colour it can get, it's a bit dull and boring otherwise.

Had a very nice dinner out on my birthday, but it was nearly spoilt for us, and for others too, by a large group of uncontrolled small children. There seemed to be two young families with about seven children in total; it was a bit hard to count them as they seemed to be everywhere all the time. They were rowdy, and stood on their chairs (we should be thankful, I suppose, they didn't stand on the tables too) and continually bumped and banged the chairs of other diners as they kept pushing past yelling and screaming. Perhaps their parents were not given a copy of the puppy training manual when they first gave birth......the one that teaches how to make a puppy sit, stay and heel. We asked to be moved, and we weren't the only ones who did so. There was another family group with three young children who were beautifully behaved, which made the large group look worse by comparison. The food was very good but we will think twice about returning.

At my birthday dinner Kevin gave me a voucher for a spa treatment of my choice, older son's girl manages a spa and has assured me I will get the royal treatment when I go there. Does this mean he thinks I need improving? That's a bit of a backhander on one's birthday. I know it's all downhill after 25, but let's not rub it in. And older son gave me a gorgeous Aussie native plant for Mother's Day.

Yesterday I unpicked the terrible quilting on my hanging and did it again using cotton thread, bugger the monofilament stuff. I even managed to j-u-s-t about quilt over the same lines so the holes in the batik fabric aren't too obvious. The quilting is not great but it's done, the hanging sleeve is sewn in place (nearly forgot about that) and I am part way machining the binding on.

Enjoy your week.

Jennifer