Workshop quilt top is finished

Because it is a bit long to photograph inside, it was hung outside on the wash line.  I like the effect of light shining through.......looks like a stained glass window.

There was a little breeze, but not quite enough to make it flap about.  Now that this top is done it has taken its place in the "to be layered and quilted" queue......it is number three behind the yet-to-be-finished challenge quilt top and the wombat quilt.  Probably just as well it's not next, because I don't have a clue how to quilt it;  possibly something leafy, but beyond that I have no idea.

The jacket currently on the knitting needles is proceeding along very nicely, all pieces are made and the front bands are now in progress.  When it is done it will be a welcome addition to the wardrobe.  Pattern and yarn were bought at a craft show last year and there will be three full balls and possible part of a fourth left because I am short, so the pattern instruction length was much too long for me.  Never mind, the leftovers will make a pretty scarf.  It's a mohair blend so will be light and soft, and warm.

Yesterday morning brought some very welcome rain, and also brought some cold wintry weather - the cats have been very thankful for the fire, and so are we.  The promised (or threatened!) wind hasn't started blowing yet so all the lovely autumn trees around town still have some of their leaves left.  There is a large tree we pass on our way to town which is superb - on the northern side the leaves have already turned a beautiful bronze-red, while on the more sheltered side they are still orange-green.  I don't remember such beautiful colours when I lived here a thousand years ago, but perhaps I was too young and silly to notice them.

Dinner is preparing itself in the slow cooker, tonight's meal will be coq au vin - this is the weather for soups and stews, and what is coq au vin but a glorified chook stew?

"A knife should never, on any account, be put into the mouth.  Many people, even well-bred in other respects, seem to regard this as an unnecessary regulation; but when we consider that it is a rule of etiquette, and that its violation causes surprise and disgust to many people, it is wisest to observe it."

As I wouldn't want to surprise or disgust anyone I shall keep the knife well away from my mouth......but the chicken will be so tender, it probably won't even need a knife, a fork should be enough to cut it.

Enjoy your days!

Pretty flowers

A gorgeous arrangement of flowers sent by our older son for my birthday/Mother's Day.

 They really brighten up the house, as you can see.

Bless him - when he ordered them he told the florist "nothing pink" (he knows it's not my favourite colour) and I love these orange, red and purple of these flowers.  The tulips haven't finished opening but are very purple.  It's a great arrangement for autumn!

Yesterday the Monday night choir performed at a concert, they give two or three concerts a year.  It was well received, the audience enjoyed listening and we enjoyed performing.  Not sure when the next concert is to be but no doubt we will be told in due course.

The other day I was cutting borders for the quilt started recently and a little piece of elastic in my brain must have stretched too far and let go, because instead of lining up the fabric with the edge of my 6-1/2 inch ruler I lined one strip up with the half-inch mark and cut it six inches wide instead of six and a half inches.  Stupid stupid stupid.  This of course meant that unless I was prepared to cut a strip one inch wide and join it on, I didn't have enough fabric for all the borders.  However all was not lost as I had already decided to buy more of the border fabric to back the quilt, so I just bought a bit more.  It isn't really possible to have narrower borders as some of the pieced blocks are used in the borders.  Any leftovers, including that six inch wide strip, will end up in the stash.  Not that it needs any more contributions.....and I also have A Great Idea for the back which will entail piecing a strip of the fabrics used in the front.  Once this top is done it will take its place as number three in line waiting to be quilted.  The current challenge quilt will be number one, if ever it gets its borders done.

The grey pants which were having new elastic in their waistband probably should be done again as it wasn't pulled taut enough, they are a bit loose.  Not enough to fall down, just enough that I feel I need to keep hitching them up....which is a bit of a nuisance.  If I really feel inspired it will be done again but there are no guarantees.

We could really do with some rain, and fortunately some is forecast for the coming week.  The bird bath in our back yard is a very popular place lately and provides us with a great deal of entertainment.  We are seeing species of birds who haven't used it before, and some birds are quite territorial - they lose no time in letting others know they aren't welcome.  It can be very funny at times.  I'd love to get some pics for you but those birds move very quickly!

On 7th of this month we celebrated two years since moving out of the Big Smoke and into this house.  We are really glad we made the move, it's been a good one - we both feel very much at home here, even though the locals joke that you don't become a local until you have lived here for at least 20 years!  I was born here, moved away in my early 20s and never wanted to come back, but in 2005 spent a few days here digging into some family history.....and everyone I had contact with was so helpful and friendly, and so nice, that for the first time since leaving I thought that perhaps I could live here again.  So here we are.  As my family roots in the district go back to the 1870s.....I suppose I'm a local.

Our house in on land that during WWII was an army camp.  My father was one of the soldiers stationed here, he was from Melbourne, nearly 2,000 kms south and my mother was a local girl.  They met at a dance, although it seems my father wasn't much of a dancer, married a few years later and had three children.  It wasn't a happy marriage and after 25 years he left and went interstate, but my mother lived in this town all her life.  When I was growing up the area where our street is now was all bush, and some of the old army buildings not far from here were used for social housing - they are gone now.  Never thought, all those years ago, that I would be living here.

"Christian names.
There is a class of persons who, from ignorance of the customs of good society, or from carelessness, speak of persons by their Christian names, who are neither relations nor intimate friends.  This is a familiarity which, outside of the family circle, and beyond friends of the closest intimacy, is never indulged in by the well-bred."

Oh my, haven't times changed?  We don't have Christian names these days, we have given names.....and these are used on first acquaintance by many people, whether we like it or not.  I don't always.

Enjoy your days!

Some results from last weekend's workshop

As you can see, last weekend I had fun slicing and dicing and chopping and sewing fabrics - and these blocks are the result.

 Don't you just love the colours?  Very autumn....now there's a surprise, yes?

Unfortunately due to circumstances which won't be related here I was unable to attend the workshop on Saturday, so my weekend was only one day long.  The tutor helped me by cutting and pressing for which I was very grateful, because otherwise I would have been way behind everyone else.  All the blocks are now assembled and I need to cut fabrics for the borders, but that can wait until I repair the pants which need their elastic replaced.

Are all you mothers having a nice time on Mother's Day?  I know it's not Mother's Day all round the world today but it is in Australia.  When I was young it had become traditional to wear a white flower on Mother's Day, I wonder if that is still done?  In Australia the white flower was nearly always a chrysanthemum, because they are in flower at this time of year.  Then chrysanthemums seemed to become unfashionable for a while.  I like them, especially the lovely bronze ones.  And the lime green ones, because I quite like green.

Today we really know that winter is on the way, in fact if you stood outside in the cold wind you would say it's already here.  It's not.....quite.......warm.  The sunshine is lovely, the sky is clear and bright blue, but ooh - that wind.

Seems a lot of you agreed with my ravings a recent post about ageing.  Much is made of girls and young women and their body image problems, but what about older women?  Aren't we allowed to be unhappy with ourselves?  Are we supposed to be resigned to who and what we are, and to rejoice in it, and to celebrate every grey hair and wrinkle?  Resigned.....yes.  Rejoicing....no, not at all.  And as for celebrating grey hair and wrinkles, forget it.  They have become part of me by circumstance but they don't define me.

We enjoyed a nice dinner out for my birthday and the restaurant even gave me a bottle of champagne to bring home, bubbles, yay! So that will be drunk with tonight's Mother's Day dinner which will feature something along the lines of a frittata with eggs, silver beet leaves, fetta cheese and perhaps sweet potato - details to be worked out later.  As usual I will be cooking it myself because Kevin doesn't know what is in my head.  He can cook, but his cooking is unimaginative if he doesn't have a recipe to follow.

When I become queen I will never again make decisions about what to eat, because I will have someone to do it for me.  I don't mind cooking but after so many years (over forty.....erk) the novelty has well and truly worn off making the daily decision on What To Have For Dinner Tonight.  I really wouldn't care if I never had to make that decision ever in my life again.  I am over it.

"It is of the highest importance that all persons should conduct themselves with the strictest regard to good breeding, even in the privacy of their own home, when at table; a neglect of such observances will render one stiff and awkward in society.  There are so many little points to be observed, that unless a person is habitually accustomed to observe them, he unconsciously commits some error, or will appear awkward and constrained upon occasions when it is important to be fully at ease.  To be thoroughly at ease at such times is only acquired by the habitual practice of good manners at the table, and is the result of proper home training."

Even though we will be dining a deux this evening we will certainly observe all the little points we can.

Enjoy your days!

Happy birthday to me........

.......happy birthday to me,

Happy birthday, happy birthday,
Happy birthday to meeeeeee!

It's well and truly autumn now

Leaves are changing, days are getting cooler, nights are getting much colder now.....down to single figures most nights.....and colours are getting more glorious.  This pic was taken last year in Bathurst, which gets colder than here so has quite impressive autumn colours.

This weekend a visiting tutor is giving a quilt workshop, and my fabrics are cut out ready to go.  Just need to pack the machine, thread and other requirements, pics will follow when my new quilt top is complete....and it may come as a surprise, but the top will be autumn-toned.

Have been reading some rumblings and grumblings about the new blogger interface, and while I didn't ask for it I have no problems using it....but then my blogging is pretty basic, I haven't tried any of the fancy-nancy stuff that some bloggers do.  One of these days I might get enthusiastic and carried away, but not yet.  I know one's blog is one's blog, and you are not doing it for other people (although some do, I'm sure) but black backgrounds are too hard on the reader's eyes.  And blingy backgrounds that keep moving and shaking and have things like snowflakes or flowers or bees or butterflies continually falling down the screen are just as bad.  Perhaps it's my imagination, but nearly every art quilter's blog that I have come across has a black background.  It's a bit like choosing what clothes to wear or how to decorate one's house - while you want to be comfortable with your own choice, others have to live with it too.  End of rant, thank you for listening, returning you to your regular station now.

Yesterday I went looking in local shops for some long pants to wear in winter.  I wear jeans quite a bit but sometimes one needs something slightly more adult - but the choice was somewhat underwhelming, falling between pull-on pants with no waistband and pull-on pants with elastic all round, with smart office wear somewhere in the middle.  There are still a few shops I haven't tried (they are in the shopping mall on the other side of the river which some locals don't like to cross, much to our amusement) I am not holding out any great hopes that something suitable will be found.  Or even exist......left over from my working days are some grey pants which have a plain front band and elastic across the back; they were loose when first bought and now the elastic has lost its stretch so much that it would be a very brave person who put them on.  But that's easily replaced, so it looks as though I have myself a little sewing task.

Back in the days when I was young and slender I used to make pants, but now that the middle-aged barrel shape has set in getting a good fit when sewing for one's self is quite difficult.  Oh dear.  It's all downhill from 25........

During our recent time at the folk festival a couple of people remarked - nicely, much to my surprise - on my rapidly whitening hair.  It's been two years now since it had any colour put in, so of course it is becoming greyer.  While I don't miss the maintenance of regular visits to the hairdresser (or the expense), and there is still quite a lot of the original darker hair left, I do miss my auburn hair.  Having no colour round the face is very unflattering, especially if one's hair is not fluffy and one's skin tone doesn't suit white.

You can tell that getting older is not something I am enjoying.  The only good thing is, it's better than the alternative.

Yesterday we girded up our loins, pulled on our walking shoes, and trotted off with the walking group.  Everyone but us has bought a shirt in red and white with the appropriate logo in the appropriate place, but when one has lots of bright coloured tee shirts why not wear them?  Especially when one does not look at all good in white.  Wearing those dazzlingly glaring white shoes is enough for me.  It was really hard work yesterday too, for some reason I didn't feel quite 100%.  Perhaps 85%.  After walking for 45 minutes it was more like 53%.  Back up to 99% today.  Walking is supposed to be very good exercise but I don't enjoy it.....all I can think of after we finish is "that's an hour of my life I can never get back"......it's like taking nasty-tasting medicine, we know it's probably doing us good but that doesn't mean we have to like it.  Once a week is more than enough for me.

"The Promenade Dress.
The dress for the promenade should be in perfect harmony with itself.  All the colors worn should harmonize if they are not strictly identical.  The bonnet should not be of one colour, and parasol of another, the dress of a third and the gloves of a fourth.  Now should one article be new and another shabby.  The collars and cuffs should be of lace; the kid gloves should be selected to harmonize with the color of the dress, a perfect fit.  The jewellery worn should be bracelets, cuff-buttons, plain gold ear-rings, a watch-chain and brooch."

The good ladies of 1885 would no doubt be horrified if they could see what the walking group wears, wouldn't they?  But on the other hand, perhaps they would be envious - it's probably easier to stride out in current clothing than in the skirts, petticoats and corsets of those times.

Enjoy your days!

What a difference the right colour makes!

Several years ago these wombat quilt blocks were made for me by my "Secret Angel" Cathy in an internet swap - Cathy sent me one block each month, for the six months duration of the swap.  She even sent a label  for the back of the quilt, with the final block!  Full of enthusiasm I decided to use Attic Windows as the setting, and was quite pleased with them......until the outer border was added.

 The dandelion print didn't work, because it was too pale and pretty for the strong dark colours used in the blocks and sashings.  Every now and then I would take it out of the cupboard and ponder deeply on a solution, which always seemed to evade me......then one day I decided to remove the offending border, went shopping for fabric, and replaced it with a dark brown subtly striped fabric.

Now the quilt is darker than it was, but looks so much better.  The fabric bought for the backing is a grassy print in green and brown.....the right brown.  It will be quilted this year using a dark brown variegated cotton Aurifil thread, which is also the right brown.  The wombat design is from a book by Australian quilter Margaret Rolfe.

You know, I never thought I would make a brown quilt.  In the 70s I had my fill (and many other people's fill too) of brown.  But this quilt looks just right with its brown fabrics.  And after all brown is the colour of chocolate....and coffee......

The following paragraph is a post I wrote a few years ago - rather than link to it I will post it again.


Today Australia and New Zealand are celebrating, if that is the right word, ANZAC Day. It's the day when we remember the sacrifices of those who fought in wars for our country. My father was stationed in Papua New Guinea in WWII (as we found out a few years ago, he was in the War Graves unit) and never, never, ever spoke of his experiences - he was only 25YO when the war ended and it affected him profoundly. Consequently it affected all of us; my mother, my brothers and me. He was not a happy man, he was a distant, sometimes abusive, father who walked out one day and never contacted any of us ever again; we found out he had died many years after it happened. War doesn't only take people's lives....it takes away their souls too.

On a less gloomy note, our new neighbour saw an echidna just outside his back fence the other day!  We have been hear just on two years now and not seen one yet.  The neighbour on the other side has seen them too.  They are cute little animals....so long as one keeps one's distance, because those spines are sharp.

If those echidnas have any sense they will find somewhere out of the wind today, because it is quite cold.  Sunny with a bright blue sky, but a cold cold wind.  Yesterday we bought two new cat beds to put in front of the fire during winter; both cats have tried out both beds, and they have been given the kitty seal of approval.  We can see the beds being popular when the fire is alight, which to judge by today's wind won't be long.

"Chapped hands.
As cold weather is the usual cause of chapped hands, so the winter season brings with it a cure for them.  A thorough washing in snow and soap will cure the worst case of chapped hands, and leave them beautifully soft."

Somehow washing chapped hands in snow doesn't seem the right remedy....does it?  Winters here are not cold enough for snow, so I won't be able to put it to the test.

Enjoy your days!

It's good to go away but......

it's even better to come home.

We had a lovely time at the folk festival - catching up with friends some of whom we haven't seen since last year, hearing some great music, and on my part joining in some good singing sessions.  Some of the overseas performers we saw were 'Dry Bones' from Manitoba, Canada, and Riley Baugaus and Kurt Sutphin from North Carolina, as well as local performers.  There were other great performers from overseas and within Australia too.....deciding which ones to see was a difficult decision!  Some pics were taken, but they won't be shown because I don't have the permission of the people in the pics to do so.

We enjoyed spending time with our older son, and with friends who also live in Canberra.  One of my favourite coffee roasters has a shop not far from the festival, so of course a visit there was part of the trip and some beans have come home with us.

A town where we stopped overnight is Cowra - one of its attractions is the Japanese Garden.  It was late afternoon, so shadows were getting longer.

 As you can see, it's on a hill.

 I like the juxtaposition of imported exotic plants in the foreground, and native eucalypt trees beyond.  Most of the plantings were exotics, although some natives were used.

We don't know if the smoke was from burning off surplus growth, or if it was a bushfire.  It was a long way off, but we had extensive views from that hill.

Because it's now autumn I was hoping for some colour in the garden from the many imported trees - Australian trees as a rule aren't deciduous and don't change colour - but most of the plantings are evergreens, with lots of conifers shaped to represent rocks.  However, it was still very pretty.

Having house sitters was a great success.  We came home to a home-cooked lunch, a spotlessly clean house, a tidy garden, and two very relaxed cats.  Because it was our first time using the service we were a bit apprehensive, but such a good experience has given us confidence to do it again.  It was worth it to have Binky happy - last time we went away for two weeks and had the cats in a boarding cattery, it took her a further week to adjust to being back home.  In that week she was very stressed and unhappy.  As were we.

So now we can get on with planning the trip to Canada in October!

Yesterday was raining and rather cool, so we did something we hadn't done for a long time - we went to a movie; we saw "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and really enjoyed it.  It's about a group of people from England who, after retirement, decide to move to India to live.  Because it's about older folks there are a few sad moments, but overall it's a really hopeful movie.......such a change to see a movie that doesn't depend on action and special effects, but one that has a realistic story about believable people.  And with no sex scenes.  Am I alone in thinking that sex scenes, which seem to have become more prevalent in movies, aren't really all that interesting to watch?  All that heavy breathing and slobbering in soft focus........some activities are not spectator sports, are they?

"Public mention of private matters.
Do not parade merely private matters before a public or mixed assembly or to acquaintances.  If strangers really wish to become informed about you or your affairs, they will find the means to gratify their curiosity without your advising them gratuitously.  Besides, personal and family affairs, no matter how interesting they may be to the parties immediately concerned, are generally of little moment to outsiders.  Still less will the well-bred person inquire into or narrate the private affairs of any other family or individual."

Don't you think that should apply to sex scenes in movies too?  We can only hope.......

Enjoy your days!