If a tree falls.....

.....and no one hears it, does it really fall?

A couple of months after we moved here this pic was taken from the hill behind our house.  That's our house with its red roof - the pointed steeple you can see belongs to a large nursing home complex lower down the hill, behind the houses across from us.  You can see the small group of trees which give us wonderful summer shade, just uphill from our back fence.

 But on Monday afternoon we had a storm, and this very large section of tree came down.  It's from the tree on the extreme right, fortunately it fell sideways and not towards us.

The trees are a hangout for many birds, so I hope none of them went for a ride when it came down.  The rain was so heavy and the storm so fierce that Kevin didn't hear it fall.  Perhaps, in that case, it didn't fall at all and this is an illusion we see every time we look out our back window?  I was out at the time and had a most exciting drive home through pouring rain.......talk about cats and dogs.  Fortunately it had almost stopped a few hours later when it was time to drive to choir practice, that was a much more sedate drive.

A less exciting happening during the week was, we have joined a walking group which meets on Tuesday mornings at 8.30am.  That's very early, to me....I am not a morning person by nature, getting up early all those years I was working was a real effort but I managed, and when I retired and could get up whenever I wanted not when the alarm said to it was wonderful, so I love being retired for that reason alone......but we went, and while I didn't manage the distance of those who have been walking for several months I hope to improve with time.  I have even swallowed my pride and bought new walking shoes which are glowing shining shimmering......white.  What is it about white shoes that makes one's feet look absolutely enormous?  And why are most women's walking shoes white?  They are comfortable, and I will wear them, but I do not like them.  They make my feet look like Minnie Mouse's feet.  I don't enjoy walking either, in fact even as a child I was never ever one who liked exercise or sport, but for my health's sake I felt I should do something more than sitting and sewing, or sitting and reading.  So there it is.

Blogger has done the dirty on us with its double word verification, hasn't it?  We weren't asked if we wanted it.  However I am reluctant to turn mine off as I have had a problem in the past with nuisance spam comments, so my apologies if it bothers you but it is staying.  I have noticed, though, that if you click on the question mark ? beside the window where the words are to be typed, up comes a page which has a "contact us" message at the bottom.  Click on that and you get a list of five options, one of which is "words are too hard to read".  I have been clicking that and sending it off - if enough people do it, the message may get through.  Perhaps it's my imagination, but over the past couple of days the verification words have seemed easier to read - so possibly the message is getting through.

Although I don't specially follow these things, I believe some award is happening this week in Hollywood.  Checking out the outfits worn can be interesting, can't it?  Some are beautiful, and some are a real train wreck.  We very seldom go to the movies, so winners and losers make little difference to us.

"After you have visited a friend at her country seat, or after receiving an invitation to visit her, a call is due her upon her return to her town residence.  This is one of the occasions when a call should be made promptly and in person, unless you have a reason for wishing to discontinue the acquaintance; even then it would be more civil to take another opportunity for dropping a friend who wished to show a civility, unless her character has been irretrievably lost in the meantime."

We live in a country town.....does that mean we have a country seat, or a town residence?  I can assure you, you will find no lost characters here.

Enjoy your days!

Just so you can see.....

.......how far we can see from our front verandah, on a clear day.  Judging by the weather radar when it's raining and how far away the showers are, we estimate that those hills in the far distance would be somewhere between 20 and 30 kilometres away.  That's approximately 12 to 18 miles, but it could be further.  Last week's rainy day pic is what we can see during heavy rain........not much really, except a white mist over the top of Rose-the-neighbour's house with its green striped blinds.

My parents' house here had a lovely view across the town to the hills in the south-east, and when we were looking for a house to buy the requirement at the top of my list was "a view of hills"......and I have it, even though this is looking south-west-ish rather than south-east.  And as we live part-way up a hill there is more hill behind us, so lots of hills here.  That makes me happy, because I need hills in my life.

Did you all have a lovely Valentine's Day?  We took ourselves out to dinner and had a fabulous meal because 14th February is my husband's birthday - yes, he's a Valentine's Day baby.  But his name is not Valentine, it's Kevin.  There was once a Saint Kevin, it seems, and his feast day is 3rd June.  Perhaps we should celebrate then, too.  I always enjoy a meal I haven't had to cook.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mind cooking.......but after more than 40 years of being a domestic goddess in one form or another, the novelty has worn off.

You should all be proud of me, because this week I put up my hand to be newsletter editor for the craft group at our local craft centre.    It will be a bit of a learning curve, but after having a blog for a few years hopefully it won't be too difficult.  As I said at the meeting, I can do a good line in bull dust.  Except I didn't say dust.  I said the other word that starts with sh and ends with it.

According to this morning's local paper we are having the coolest mildest summer since records began, over 100 years ago.  Today is warmer than it has been for a couple of weeks, but it's still not as hot as last summer was.  There is a large deciduous tree which we drive past on our way into town - and during the week I noticed that it's changing into its autumn clothes!  So is the it's-either-Virgina-creeper-or-ornamental-grape growing on the wire fence of the local football ground, and so is the we-think-it's-an-apricot-tree in our backyard.  Perhaps it's because we are in for an early autumn - it's certainly not for lack of rain.  Considering we should still have at least 6-8 weeks of summer left, those leaves are changing quite early.

Today is a day for cutting out fabric, there are a couple of monthly block obligations to be done and there are more Bears Paw blocks being cut out.  There's no scheme in mind for them so far, it's just the fun of playing with lovely leafy prints and my favourite autumn colours.  When that's done, the skirt from the fabric shown in the last post will be cut out.  I don't know about the rest of you but I find cutting out very tedious, wonder why that is?  I start with good intentions then drift off into doing something else.......meanwhile the fabric is still sitting partly cut.......my neck, shoulders and upper back give me problems sometimes, standing with bent head for long periods of time does them no favours so I keep having breaks.  Like this present blogging and coffee break.  Then I don't always get back to cutting.  But I have promised myself that I will, because I want to make that skirt.

"Trifling with a lady.
A man should never make a declaration in a jesting manner.  It is most unfair to a lady.  He has no right to trifle with her feelings for mere sport, nor has he a right to hide his own meaning under the guise of a jest."

Something to ponder on for Valentine's Day next year while accompanied by beautiful red roses such as those in my blog header, cut in our garden one day last summer when their flowers were bowed down by rain.

Enjoy your days!

The unloved project is finished

Finished and done, as you can see.  Last night the binding was finally sewn down and today the last stitch was taken on the hanging sleeve.  It is rectangular, just looks a bit distorted because it was laid on the floor for this pic.  

 I have decided that I don't love it because it is someone else's design.......my input was limited to fabric choices (unlike several of the workshop participants I chose not to buy the kit supplied by the teacher) and some of the quilting ideas.  But that's it, it's now out of my hair and I can get on with things I would rather be doing, such as the pinwheel quilt.

Have also been gathering together fabrics for this year's visiting tutor workshop, aren't they scrumptious?  All batiks; the pale leafy print is for the background and border, the stack of FQs in greens, blues, browns and golds is for the blocks, the lovely red print is for the side strip on each block and the brown is for the inner border and binding.  Somehow I think this will be more 'me', as making pieced blocks and playing with their colour and placement is great fun.  Thanks to my friends whose lovely fabric gifts will be part of this quilt!

 A few years ago I bought this luscious print to make a skirt and now its time has come to be made.  The top colour is lighter aqua than it appears in the pic, while it shades to almost midnight blue at the bottom and is overprinted in black.  It will be a pleated skirt on a narrow hip yoke, to make the most of the fabric.  Unfortunately I'm short and the fabric is 115cm wide so not all the colour will make it into the skirt......my skirts aren't that long......but the deep rich colours at the bottom will be in it, for sure.  Not sure of the fabric composition but going by the way it behaved when washed, it is probably some sort of polyester.

 This week's weather pics.....last Monday afternoon the heavens opened and we had 28 mls of rain (to give you the idea, 25 mls is an inch) in about 15 minutes.  The hill behind us was very misty.

And the view over the roofs across the road disappeared again.  Normally we can see for miles and miles.

While this was happening in our street, some parts of town had no rain at all!  There is a low hill between here and the rest of the town which seems to be the dividing line, rain falls on one side of the hill but not the other.  On Monday it was obviously our turn, while a couple of days ago the other side of the hill had their turn.  In yesterday afternoon's storm quite a bit of hail fell here - I wonder what they had in town?  We are only a few kilometres away from the centre of town, but there is that hill.......

While local gardens are loving the rain, the damp plants have become havens for unpleasant insects like mosquitoes.  A few nights ago I decided to tidy up some of the garden and pull out a few weeds....a very easy task, as the ground is soft after so much rain.......and am now suffering from bites, probably mosquito bites.  On my arms I can understand, as they were bare - but even allowing for the fact that I was wearing shorts, how ever did I get bitten on the hip?

The other day at quilt group the conversation turned to the current rash of reality cooking shows, where people try to put on a good meal but are eliminated week by week.  Now I don't know how you all feel, but I find shows like that are nasty; they are not about the recipes and cooking, but more about "who can we get rid of this week?  If we chuck off so-and-so we might lose viewers because they are on the side of the poor dear, but on the other hand we can't chuck off those two nice young blokes because they give the females in our audience something to watch and we don't want to lose our female audience" etc.  As you may have gathered if you have read this far - I don't watch them.  Give me a good murder/mystery story any day, I don't mind a bit of gore.  To judge by the murder rate there can't be many people left alive now in some of those little English villages, can there?

"Speaking one's mind.
Certain honest but unthinking people often commit the grievous mistake of "speaking their mind" on all occasions and under all circumstances, and oftentimes to the great mortification of their hearers.  And especially do they take credit to themselves for their courage, if their freedom of speech happens to give offence to any of them.  A little reflection ought to show how cruel and unjust this is.  The law restrains us from inflicting bodily injury upon those with whom we disagree, yet there is no legal preventive against this wounding of the feeling of others."

You may hold your own opinion of the aforementioned reality cooking shows, and I reserve the right to my opinion.  Should it differ to yours, we can agree to hold a civilised discussion on the matter without hurt feelings on either side.  I would not inflict bodily injury to put across my point of view.

Enjoy your days!

Wet, wet, and more wet

It's been raining here.....in fact, we've had a flood.  Not us personally, but the river which flows through our town overflowed its banks the other day -  this week we have had so much rain that a new record has been set.  The previous record of the most rainfall in a single day stood for 136 years but was broken this week.  Schools were closed and children sent home, as roads were cut.

Our back yard was sodden, the bird bath overflowed....didn't even see many birds using it, although a group of hardy Noisy Miners braved the rain one day for a dip.

 The clouds were so low that our view over the back fence almost disappeared.

In fact, the view from the front verandah did disappear!  Instead of being able to see for miles and miles across the valley as we usually can, we could see the house across the road.......and nothing but a white mist beyond it.  Summer disappeared, and we were back to wearing warm clothes for a couple of days; in fact, summer this year has been unusually mild.  Not that I am complaining.

Smaller towns a few hours north-west from here have been suffering the worst floods for over 60 years, there is so much water it has become a health hazard because the local sewage systems aren't working as they should.  Many people have had to be evacuated from their homes and we can't begin to imagine the horrible smelly mess they will face when they are allowed to return home.

We feel lucky to be here in our warm dry house on the hill.  It's been a good week to stay indoors and read, and sew, and just keep out of the rain.  I think the cats have also broken records for the amount of time spent sleeping, because it wasn't even worth looking out of the windows.  Although Bianca did get excited one day when the wind blew a leaf on the path just outside the floor-length window........she woke up for a second or two before settling down again.

Last year's workshop quilt is being worked on, it's now more than half-quilted.  It is not going to defeat me.  There are other projects I would far rather be working on but I am not letting myself go near them until this is done, although I did break out the other week when I assembled the pinwheel quilt. It's spread out on the spare bed, so when I want some pretty blue and yellow pinwheel goodness I have only to walk in there and admire it.

"If a gentleman is walking with two ladies in a rain storm, and there is but one umbrella, he should give it to his companions and walk outside.  Nothing can be more absurd than to see a gentleman walking between two ladies holding an umbrella which perfectly protects himself, but half-deluges his companions with its dripping streams."

This week the main street was a sea of bobbing umbrellas, although a few hardy souls braved the rain with no protective covering.  Mostly men.  Women seem to have more sense than to go out in heavy rain with no umbrella or at the very least, a coat.

Enjoy your days!

Border choices

These are the fabrics which will border the pinwheel quilt, the blue inner border will be one inch wide and the floral one will be....oh....about five and a half inches, from memory.  The EQ7 plan is in my sewing room, not here with me at the computer, and I'm too lazy to get up and fetch it.  The binding will be in the same blue.

The fabrics are 'Nature's Notebook' by April Cornell for Moda and I don't know if they are still available, as I bought them nearly two years ago before we left Sydney.  It was a very pretty fabric range in yellow and blue.

You will be pleased to know the Dreaded Lurgy is slowly becoming a distant memory, although as well as a lingering cough it has left a feeling of continual tiredness; hopefully that soon will fade away too, and the wombat household will be back to what passes for normal.

During the week we headed off to the main street of town to soak up the music festival atmosphere, and soak it up we did.......it was raining.......while I'm sure those camping in caravans and tents could do without it, our garden is loving it.  Three blocks of the main street are given over to buskers who range from really very good to perhaps a wee bit more practice would be a good idea........a group of five teens, none of whom looked a day over 15, were really terrific and have made the finals of the busking competition, according to the local paper.  Good for them!

Today I am toodling around on the sewing machine making small Friendship Star blocks of the month....while I don't mind making them because they go into charity quilts, making 4.5in finished blocks is much more fiddly than making larger blocks with more pieces.  My contribution of six blocks will hopefully be finished today and I will go back to thinking about borders on the pinwheel quilt....plain is easier, but I think they will end up being mitred because it will look better.....and doing some more quilting on the piece which was started in last year's workshop.  I'm not feeling love for it but am determined to finish it.  I can tell you one thing though, it won't be hanging on the wall when it's done.

"In receiving morning calls, it is unnecessary for a lady to lay aside any employment not of an absorbing nature upon which she may happen to be engaged.  Embroidery, crocheting or light needle-work are perfectly in harmony with the requirements of the hour, and the lady looks much better employed than in absolute idleness."

Should you happen to call there is every chance you may find me engaged at my sewing machine......but I will lay it aside for an hour or two, and pick up my light needlework so as to be more sociable.

Enjoy your days!

Still being organised....

....as you can see.  Here are the little pinwheel blocks joined into rows, laid out ready for the rows to be joined.  It's more pastel than the colours I usually use, but sometimes a change is good - yes?  After these blocks are joined the first border will be white - this will make the blocks appear to float - then a narrow blue border, with a yellow and blue floral print for the outer border.  Binding will be the same blue as the inner border, and backing is a yellow and white check.

This is the quilt top from which those little pinwheels started life, they are the leftovers from the flying geese units on the star blocks.  All fabrics are yellow and blue with touches of green.

 The pic above has made the colours look slightly faded....they aren't, as you can see below.

 In the stash cupboard there are several metres of a pretty blue, yellow and green floral print for the backing, and when it is eventually quilted it will be bound in deep mossy green.  Even though these two quilts use the same colours and some of the same fabrics, I think  - I hope - they will be very different.  When I get over being The World's Most Unconfident Machine Quilter this will get done.  I'm practising on smaller quilts first.

Bianca thinks she should have equal time with Binky, who was featured in my last blog post.  She decided the black chair was a perfect foil for her white outfit.  Yes, she does have odd eyes, one blue, one green.....but unlike many odd-eyed white cats she is not deaf.  She is a big girl and is now nine years old.  For many years now our cats have all been rescues; Binky came from the RSPCA, while Bianca was a private adoption from a friend.

This week I had Plans to accomplish Great Things and they have flown out the window, because the Dreaded Lurgy has me in its grip (perhaps that should be grippe) so not much has been accomplished at all.  When I can say more than two words without dissolving into a fit of coughing, and when my ribs and back and stomach stop hurting from coughing, and when I get some decent sleep without coughing myself awake, all will be well in the wombat household again.

Fortunately both choirs are in recess until next week, because at present the singing voice sounds like a demented frog.

"Keep an account of calls.
A person should keep a strict account of ceremonial calls, and take note of how soon calls are returned.  By doing so, an opinion can be formed as to how frequently visits are desired.  Instances may occur, when, in consequence of age or ill health, calls should be made without any reference to their being returned.  It must be remembered that nothing must interrupt the discharge of this duty."

Please don't think me impolite, but it might be best if calls at present were kept to a minimum because I don't wish to infect any of you.

Enjoy your days!

How's this for being organised?

It's only the middle of January, and this year's challenge quilt is already being made!  That's pretty good going for me, also known as The Queen of Procrastination.  The quilting on last year's was only started a week or two before it was due to be unveiled.  

Here's the first block completed and another being made - somehow my Singer Featherweight seems the right machine to make these little blocks.

 These nine-patch blocks measure 6-3/4in finished and form a chain of pinwheels across the quilt; the size is because the pinwheel blocks are leftovers from another quilt and are 2-1/4in square.

This is what the pile of blocks looked like yesterday.....but today, they are all done!  Yay for me!

Here is a picture of Binky, just because we haven't had one for a while.  Does that look say "go away and leave me alone", do you reckon?  Binky has several hidey-holes for when she doesn't want to be disturbed, but on this occasion she was checking out our bed while it was being made.  She is a sweet old puss and we reckon that in the middle of next month she will turn 15.

The huge country music festival held each year here in the Small Smoke will be starting soon and some of the thousands of people who attend have already started arriving.  The usual population more than doubles; last year because of interstate flooding numbers were down, so we didn't really see how much it changes the town.  Although I was born here and lived here until the age of 23 when the lure of the Big Smoke proved attractive (that wasn't the only reason I moved, but it's a long story and believe me you don't need to hear it) last year's festival was the first I had attended, and even then we didn't go to many concerts and managed to completely avoid any line dances.  Line dancers never look as though it's an enjoyable activity, do they?  I have seen chooks in a farm yard have more fun.  All together now......hook your thumbs into the belt of your tight black jeans, tuck in your fringed satin shirt which emphasises every teeny bulge and wrinkle, cram a hat - good idea in the middle of summer to have a hot felt hat - on your head, kick out with one leg and repeat after me, "yee har".

"Balls.
The requisites for a successful ball are good music and plenty of people to dance.  An English writer says, "The advantage of the ball is, that it brings young people together for a sensible and innocent recreation, and takes them away from silly, if not from bad ones; that it gives them exercise, and that the general effect of the beauty, elegance and brilliancy of a ball is to elevate rather than to deprave the mind."  It may be that the round dance is monopolizing the ball-room to a too great extent, and it is possible that these may be so frequent as to mar the pleasure of some persons who do not care to participate in them, to the exclusion of other dances.  There should be an equal number of waltzes and quadrilles, with one or two other dances, which would give an opportunity to those who object (or whose parents object) to too many of one sort."

You notice that nothing is said about line dancing?  I enjoy waltzing and like nothing better than a quadrille......yes, I can dance any number of quadrilles......so let's hope my mind is well elevated.  Wouldn't want to have a depraved mind, would we?

Enjoy your days!