Report from the sewing room

Fabric has been cut out!   It doesn't look very exciting, but it does represent a milestone.

Pieces for two blocks have been cut in the last few days, and it was a painful process - holding down the ruler with my left hand did hurt.  Now the pieces need to be joined but that can wait until we return from our trip, because feeding fabric through the machine also hurts; it's the forward movement at table height that my shoulder doesn't like.  Never mind, in another ten days it hopefully may be easier.

Yesterday was Australia Day, and we celebrated by driving across the river to a pub on the south side of town to listen to Aussie musician Andy Baylor and his band, one of many musicians who were in town for the country music festival.  We have seen him many times before, and always enjoy his performances - other people did too, some even danced.  Not us, sadly - the shoulder would not have liked being flung round to western swing and cajun music, good though it was, and Kevin does not and will not dance.  So we stayed sitting, and my feet danced under the table.

Now most of the visitors to our town have left, the venues are quiet again, streets have been re-opened, and it's nearly a year until it all happens again.  Just as well we have a couple of folk festivals to attend before then, isn't it? because I need my music fix.

On the day after tomorrow we will be driving to Canberra, so in ten days there may be a report on the wedding.  We will be taking our cameras with us on the trip but probably not to the wedding, as there will be an official photographer and we will be in the wedding party so we won't be wandering round taking happy snaps.  I really don't like having my photo taken, you know, so teeth will be gritted and face tortured into a grimace while I try to grin and bear it.  When I was younger and slimmer it didn't worry me, but I am not photogenic.  The camera makes me look even shorter (I'm only 5ft 2in, you know) and fatter (my svelte days are behind me, sadly) than I am.

Why is it that only younger women are allowed to have body image issues?  Perhaps we are supposed to stop caring how we look, once we hit middle age.

"Presentation at the Court of St. James.
It is always a satisfaction to an Australian colonist to be presented to the Queen during a sojourn in England.  The Agents General have procured presentations for themselves and others, and as the Queen is also a most excellent woman, and worthy of all honor, such presentation is looked upon as a very great honor to be sought for."

In 1885 when this was published, the reference was to Queen Victoria.  These days many Australians, myself included, don't really wish to be presented to royalty.

Enjoy your days!

Making much progress!

The outfit for the Mother of the Groom is all done!  So the wedding party and guests won't need to be bothered by the terrifying sight of a nekkid MotG.  One remaining option is to bead the short sides of the wrap, but if that doesn't get done in time the world will still continue to turn.  I found out last week that my Bernina overlocker does a beautiful rolled hem.....much better than the Elna I had for 17 years, which made way for the Bernina a few years ago.

The uke gig went off well, people applauded which gave us a great buzz.  The concert opened with the first few verses of the song performed by different soloists in front of a black curtain, then on the chorus after the third verse the curtain opened and we joined in playing our ukes and singing our little hearts out.  Much was the cheering and clapping from the audience as we were revealed.  Many kind things were said to us and about us, it was great fun and I am so glad I could do it.  So now we can say that we opened one of the major concerts of the country music festival!

Oh my, it has been so hot.  I am over it.  Summer started early and heated up quickly, so it seems to have lasted forever and will be with us for at least a couple of months yet.  I am thinking longingly of this......

 .....and of this.......

.....when it was cooler.  For several days in a row the temperature has topped 37-38 deg C (that's over 100 deg F), nights aren't very cool either.  Can you imagine living in a few hundred years when scientists tell us it will even hotter?

Saw the specialist today about my shoulder and he is pleased with its progress.  It is ahead in some ways - for instance, last Tuesday was the first time I was able to fasten my bra myself, eight weeks to the day after the op, and he seemed to think that is very good indeed - but a little behind in others, as I should be able to raise higher than I can.  It is stiff and sore in some positions and there is still swelling in my shoulder and neck, so he told me to start taking anti-inflammatory tablets again and to keep on taking them.  That will help get the swelling down, which will help with the stiffness, which will make more movements easier.  He did say to keep playing uke as it's excellent physical therapy.  It will be good to be able to put my hair up again; had I been a well-off lady in Victorian times I would have had a maid to do it for me, but alas.......no maid resides in this house.

"Certain local rules have been recognized in society at Sydney from the fact that a gentleman's social position is acquired by virtue of certain offices which he holds, and the social status of woman is also in a less degree determined by the official rank of her husband."

So that's the problem......obviously my husband does not have the rank for my status to require a maid.  It's all his fault!

Enjoy your days!

Notes have been plinked!

Or should that be strings?  Notes are played, strings are plucked?  Either way, the musical drought was broken yesterday at a practice for next weekend's gig.  The shoulder managed to behave itself for over half an hour, after which time it said "enough, no more"......so I took notice, and took it home.  When sewing, fifteen minutes is the limit.

The other day I bought new sandals for the wedding.  I decided I wasn't happy with the sandals I bought a few months ago, and saw a pair on sale which I liked better - they are dressier, too.  The others will still be worn but on more casual occasions.  What do you think of the new ones?  Higher than anything I have worn for years, all of two and a half inches off the ground.....but that's all right, because I am short.

 A new bag - green! a slightly brighter colour than this pic shows, it matches the fabric below - and a feathery hair ornament which may or may not be worn, I will take the hairdresser's advice on this, but I liked it so I bought it.  My hair is long and will be worn up.

The skirt and scarf/wrap are the autumn-toned print, the green fabric on the left is the top, the teal in the background is the skirt lining.  The print and lining were bought locally at the Really Good Fabric Shop, the green in Toronto, Canada, some years ago.

Earlier in the week I realised that there is no way I can have the top made in time because of the current shoulder limitations, so took myself off to the local shops to see if anything suitable could be bought.  There was nothing.  That was quite sad because the whole outfit was planned round that lovely green cotton fabric.  However on asking at the Really Good Fabric Shop if they had a contact for a dressmaker the woman there said "I'll make it for you"....and I am so happy.  It's already partly done, I had a fitting on Friday.  I will be able to finish making the skirt myself; next step is to attach the waistband, add a hook and eye and it will be done.  Then the remaining fabric piece will have its edges straightened and finished with a machine rolled hem. The original plan was a hand-rolled hem with a beaded fringe trim but that will not happen......beads can be added in the future.  That will give me a scarf/wrap to keep the sun off my neck as the wedding is in a park, and to ward off the air conditioned chill in the restaurant at the reception later.

One of my musical friends said yesterday she was once told that the groom's mother should wear beige, and keep her opinions to herself.   Beige?  Weddings are joyful times......how can anyone wear dreary beige to a happy occasion?

You will be pleased to know that there seem to be no ill effects from last weekend's fall.  The shoulder is no worse, my bum had quite a bruise which made sitting painful for a few days but it is getting better too.  After the wedding the shoulder may be recovered enough to go back to presenting my radio program, my arm needs to be able to stretch out to the front and side which it can't yet do.  Even the morning walk has started again now that the sling has been cast aside......short walks at first, but they will gradually be lengthened.

So life is slowly getting back to what passes for normal.

"We put bright colours on our little children; we dress our young girls in light and delicate shades; the blooming matron is justified in adopting the warm, rich hues which we see in the autumn leaf, while black and neutral tints are declared appropriate to the old."

Would you describe the Mother of the Groom's choice above as warm and richly hued....even though she is perhaps no longer described as a "blooming matron"?

Enjoy your days!

Hottest day of my life!

Yesterday was unbelievably hot.....45.1 deg C maximum, which is 113.18 deg F in old money.  It is the hottest temperature ever recorded in this town.  I was born here and spent the first 23 years of my life here, and although I remember hot summers it was never this bad.  Some of the world is currently freezing with snow and ice storms and I'm sure they would like some of our heat, but believe me - you wouldn't want heat like this.  The wind blowing from the outback was so hot it just about seared our eyeballs.  It was still 37 deg C (98.6 deg F) at midnight, and the only way we managed to sleep was because we left the air conditioner running all night.  Goodness knows what our next power bill will be, but it will have been worth it.

Today is still hot, fortunately much milder than yesterday but still hot enough to make concentration difficult.  Consequently the work on the wedding skirt has come to a halt, like everything else round here.  When it's that hot one's brain doesn't work very well and it's easy to make mistakes.

This was taken on our recent holiday; the sun was a ball of intense red-orange, not the rather benign washed out pink it appears here.  It was nowhere as hot as yesterday, either.

Anna the nice physiotherapist has explained to me that parts of the body which have been operated on can be sensitive for quite a while, which explains why my shoulder doesn't like hair or clothes resting on it.  She has given me a couple of suggestion to desensitise it, which will be tried.

Would you believe, this morning I took a tumble in the kitchen......slipped on a drop of water on the tiled floor......my foot slid out from under me and down I went, all in slow motion.......landed on my bum (which fortunately is well padded), bumped my left elbow, and of course it's my left shoulder which is recovering from its operation so I hope no damage has been done.  It all happened so slowly that perhaps I will be lucky; a quick hard fall would have been worse.  The shoulder doesn't feel much different to yesterday, so hopefully that's a good sign nothing has been hurt - it's aching much the same as it has been, no better, no worse.

It was a much harder fall a few years ago which tore the shoulder, so let's hope it's not torn again.  I don't fancy a repeat operation.

"Putting away furs for the summer.
When you are ready to put away furs and woollens, and want to guard against the depredations of moths, pack them securely in paper flour sacks and tie them up well.  This is better than camphor or tobacco or snuff scattered among them in chests and drawers.  Before putting your muffs away for the summer, twirl them by the cord at the ends, so that every hair will straighten.  Put them in their boxes and paste a strip of paper where the lid fits on."

The very last thing on our minds yesterday was cold weather clothing, we were concentrating on how little could be worn while still maintaining decency.

Enjoy your days!

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2014!

It's already afternoon on the first day of the new year here, before you know it 2015 will be upon us.  Not that I am wishing my life away, but we all know that time flies faster as we get older, don't we?

Did you all have a good Christmas?  We did, it was quiet and peaceful and our lunch at a local restaurant was excellent.  We even had some rain!

A wonderful way to start the new year - stitches have been sewn!  This morning I was able to sew on a button which came off one of my buttoned shirts (which are still pretty much all I can easily wear) and was so emboldened by that success that after lunch the remaining rolled hem finish on the skirt centre back seam was done.  Next step is to press that seam, then pin and sew front to back.  If the shoulder lets me I will do that later, if not.....well, there is always tomorrow isn't there.  In just four weeks we drive to Canberra for the wedding, so that is the looming deadline.

Speaking of the shoulder, it appears to be doing well.  It is very sensitive to touch and my long hair brushing across it feels like broken glass, which is quite surprising and rather painful.  It is still stiff and sore too but the exercises are being done daily, and movement is gradually coming back.  The uke hasn't yet been touched, but on 11th of this month we are having a rehearsal for The Big Gig the following week - I will be there, and I will be playing.  Even if I have to play my little $50 soprano uke rather than my very beautiful new larger much better sounding (and considerably more expensive) tenor uke, I will be playing that day.

Our roses are blooming, aren't they pretty?  I don't know their names because they were in the garden when we moved here.

 While these pics were taken a couple of summers ago the roses look just the same now.

One of three red roses, all different.  The miniature rose in the header pic changes colour as it blooms, the horticulturalist who worked on the garden called it a chameleon rose.  There is also a yellow rose which seems to be struggling, we get one or two flowers a year in spring and that's that.  Such a shame, because I really love yellow roses......perhaps we should replace it.  Because of the low humidity here roses seem to do fairly well, except for that yellow one; our neighbour has some beautiful yellow roses, must ask her their name.  In the Victorian language of flowers a yellow rose stood for "decrease of love".......does that mean if you were given a bouquet of yellow roses it would be a means of saying goodbye?

"Morning receptions, as they are called, but more correctly speaking, afternoon parties, are generally held from four to seven o'clock in the afternoon.  Sometimes a sufficient number for a quadrille arrange to remain after the assemblage has for the most part dispersed."

Perhaps this explains why "morning dress" seems rather formal when compared to what most of us wear before lunch?  I could stay, because I know how to dance a quadrille......several quadrilles, in fact.

Enjoy your days!

Christmas wishes to all!

Many thanks for reading my blog during the year and for taking time to comment!  It is appreciated.

The wombats and I would like to send to you all my very best wishes for a Christmas full of peace, and for good health and happiness in 2014.  Have a wonderful holiday time and drive safely, because we don't want to lose you.

See you next year!

The longest day has been and gone

I know for some people the shortest day has just happened, but here in sunny Oz the longest day was yesterday, December 21st, at 11 minutes past five in the afternoon.  Days will now start to shorten imperceptibly, only by five seconds at first then more rapidly, but it will probably be a few weeks before we notice much difference.    Unfortunately the current heat wave will be with us for a couple more days, but hopefully it might be a little cooler for Christmas because sleeping is not easy in this heat, especially while wearing a sling.  Oh, to be able to curl up on my side again.......

To get us all in the festive mood here are a couple of Christmas wombats with their tree, it's not a pine tree but it's still green!  Aventurine leaves on a bloodstone base; it and the wombats are gifts from previous Christmases.  If I had the use of both arms I would take some pics of our decorations, but that will have to wait until next year.  How is your countdown to Christmas coming along?

The specialist is pleased with the range of movement in my shoulder, apparently it is where it should be at this point, and is very slowly gaining strength although I can't lift my arm very high at all.  This means my hair has to stay down for the time being because putting it up is completely impossible, totally out of the question, and I refuse to cut it.  I like to wear my hair up, and am not yet ready for The Chop.  On Friday the physiotherapist said not to even think of playing uke just yet, pity about that......I had been hoping for a plink or two over the festive season......the uke group has a gig in next month's big country music festival so I need to be able to play for that.  One song, only two chords......I can do it......my arm might fall off afterwards, but it will be done.

Christmas programs are everywhere on TV right now too, some are fun and many are abysmal.  Why do so many performers sing Christmas carols as though they are pop songs?  Most Christmas concerts feature hip young things singing old carols in the style of their latest (probably their only) hit.  And what's with the hand-held microphones?  Surely in this day and age a headset mike gives the audience (these concerts are live) a better view of the performers than having the bottom half of their faces obscured by a microphone.  And who chooses the songs?  Warbling about chestnuts and open fires and winter wonderlands is ridiculous in Australia's summer heat.  Many years ago two Australian composers wrote some lovely songs which are much more relevant to our Christmas, it would be nice to hear them instead of songs about non-existent snow.

When I rule the world things will be different......

"Walking with a lady acquaintance.
A gentleman should not join a lady acquaintance on the street for the purpose of walking with her, unless he ascertains that his company would be perfectly agreeable to her.  It might be otherwise, and she should frankly say so, if asked."

While I don't know about all of you, I suspect that given the age and matrimonial status of most of us this is quite unlikely to happen.

Enjoy your days!