On a lazy Sunday afternoon

It's been a busy week, so some lazy time at the end of it is very welcome!

Last night we saw the local dramatic society's production of "Midsummer Night's Dream", a play which I studied in my second year of high school - a thousand years ago, at least - and it was an excellent production.  A very good cast made sense of most of Master Shakespeare's words, not always an easy thing!  The humans wore modern dress, the mechanicals wore fun steampunk costumes, and the fairies were.....well, fairies, I suppose.  They didn't wear tutus or wave sparkly wands, but we still knew they were fairies.

That was preceded by a performance early in the afternoon by the uke group in the garden of the local music school, people said nice things to us and about us but I don't think we played as well as we have on other occasions.  Never mind, there's always next time......

On our recent trip home from the Big Smoke we stopped off at a memorial to a miner killed on 16th December, 1929, in the bush between two towns which are rapidly encroaching on this peaceful spot.

You can even tell that I was wearing blue denim capri pants and a red top, can't you?  Here is more information about the event which led to the memorial - the so-called "Rothbury Riot".  Many words have been written about this in newspapers, books, and song; here's one (interestingly on an Italian site) written by a local man a year afterwards, a musician who played violin in a dance band.  It was played and sung for many years afterwards. Another song written many years later was sung by my choir in Sydney who learnt it at my request because Norman Brown, the miner shot and killed by a police bullet that day, was my mother's cousin.  His death certificate states that he died from the " effects of a gunshot wound in the abdomen accidentally received at Rothbury during the quelling by police officers of a riot".  Accidentally - who knows?  There's no one alive today to dispute that; police apparently had orders to fire into the air to dispel the miners, although some eye-witnesses said they fired directly into the crowd.  Norman was sitting to one side with a few mates and was hit by a ricocheting bullet, dying almost instantly.  The information contained on his death certificate was written after the inquest into his death which took place nearly two months afterwards.

Norman was born when his mother Laura was 17.....interestingly my grandmother Edith, her sister, also had a child out of wedlock at 18.......and now the mystery deepens, as Laura later had (so my mother told me) a daughter named Dorothy Grace.  Gracey, as she was known in the family, died of appendicitis as a teenager, but on looking online for her birth record the only Dorothy Grace born in possible years has Ethel given as her mother - and Ethel was a sister of Laura and Edith!  Note to self:  must investigate further.....I have no memories of Laura as she died when I was barely a toddler so have to rely on memories of what my mother told me, and she died 15 years ago so I can't ask her.  Matters like illegitimacy used to be hushed up and not spoken about in earlier days so my mother probably wouldn't have known who gave birth to Gracey, she herself was only two years old when Gracey died.  Laura is named on Gracey's grave marker as her mother, and Albert, the man Laura married in 1910 (two years after the only baby I could find named Dorothy Grace was born) is named as her father.

Family mysteries are quite intriguing, aren't they?  A distant cousin and I both have Grace as our middle names as a tribute to Gracey......Jennifer Dorothy would be a bit of a mouthful.  Jennifer Grace isn't too bad.

"Sunday hospitalities.
In this country it is not expected that persons will call after informal hospitalities extended on Sunday.  All gatherings on that day ought to be informal.  No dinner parties are given on Sunday, or at least, they are not considered as good form in good society."

Thank goodness for that, because I am feeling too lazy to prepare for a dinner party.

Enjoy your days!

Gone gone gone

Last weekend the big tree in our front garden was broken in a storm.

 Some of it fell against our caravan.

 Fortunately the van wasn't damaged, despite one branch nearly spearing through the top.

A week ago it was a tall Eucalyptus nicolii, and now it's gone.

No more shade on a hot summer afternoon......the plants which were selected to live under its shelter a year ago are still there but now they won't have the benefit of its protection from hot sun or winter frost, the reason they were chosen for that garden.  Its shady branches provided board and lodging for many species of birds, and protection from the glare of morning sun for our neighbours' upstairs balcony - they told us they will miss it too.

The whole district felt the effects of the storm:  the wind was very strong, the driving rain was fearsome, many areas had no power and our tree wasn't the only one to be lost; many were completely uprooted while some, like ours, were snapped off part way up the trunk.  Trees fell on house and shed roofs and on cars, so we were fortunate we didn't suffer more damage.  The following day a tree surgeon told us it could not be saved so it was removed, cut up, and taken away.

Losing a majestic shady tree is sad.

On a happier note, our financial bloke told us we can afford to continue living.......just as well, because tree removal is not cheap.  The Big Smoke was big and smoky, as usual.

This weekend the quilt group is holding a UFO weekend but my machine will be staying home, because sewing on a machine which is sitting too high on its table is painful.  My Sew-Ezi table could be taken along for more comfortable sewing, but that means more to carry.......so it will be a handwork weekend, for me.  Fabrics and templates will be taken, and the remaining seven Flower Basket blocks will be traced and cut out. Who knows, all 225 blocks may be finished one day - only eleven still need to be made!  It was started nigh on eight years ago and will probably be the only quilt I ever make by hand.  At that rate I may not live long enough to make another......

"Manner an index of character.
A rude person, though well meaning, is avoided by all.  Manners, in fact, are minor morals ; and a rude person is often assumed to be a bad person.  The manner in which a person says or does a thing, furnishes a better index of his character that what he does or says, for it is by the incidental expression given to his thoughts and feelings, by his looks, tones and gestures, rather than by his words and deeds, that we prefer to judge him, for the reason that the former are involuntary."

It's true - we do try to avoid rude people, don't we?  Being with them is not pleasant.

Enjoy your days!

A finished project to report

Finally - something is completed, and I now have a new purse!

Several years ago I made my first purse using this pattern, and it has been used and loved nearly to death.  Its main fabric is an all over Laurel Burch cat print in blue, green, turquoise, line and purple and the trim is a celtic design in blue, purple and green on black.  As greens and blues feature in my summer wardrobe I looked for a fabric in similar colours and found this Jinny Beyer 'Coraline' print for the main fabric; the smoky teal trim is from the "I Believe in Santa" range by Nancy Halvorsen......so I can have Christmas all year round, should I wish!

Lots of inside pockets, and the base will flatten with use.  When I went fabric shopping I was a little disappointed in local choices and would have liked something brighter, but have to admit these fabrics are growing on me.  My purses generally aren't made from two fabrics from a co-ordinating range because an element of surprise is much more fun......and much less predictable.  And who wants to be predictable?

After the response to last week's block I promise there will be a tutorial, but it will have to wait for a week or two.  First, the instructions need to be written and printed out for quilt group on Monday - I can already hear the comments about triangles.

Finally, progress seems to be happening with the shoulder - it's not hurting so much, and the range of movement is increasing.  My hair can now be put up which is a boon on hot days, and the daily exercises (which have yet to be done today) are getting easier.  However, last Friday Anna The Nice Young Physiotherapist said no driving the car just yet so I am still being chauffeur driven, or catching the bus.  Hopefully the day will soon come when it doesn't get mentioned any more; I'm sure the world, like me, will be very relieved when that finally happens.

Next week we are off to the Big Smoke for the annual visit to our financial bloke, to see if we can afford to live past next Christmas.  Ah well, there always busking on a street corner if the money is running out, isn't there?

Oh dear, the sights one sees......an attractive young chickybabe in the main street this morning wearing under her loosely fitted slightly sheer top a low-cut bra which was a few sizes too small, there was more of her out than there was contained, if you get my meaning.......bounce jiggle bounce jiggle as she made her merry way along......just because one can do something doesn't mean to say that one should, you know........our town isn't huge, but we do have at least one shop where one can be properly fitted for undies.

Of late the unpleasant heat we had for so long seems to be finally easing, and it is so much more pleasant.  Perhaps autumn is just around the corner!

"In every class of life, in all professions and occupations, good manners are necessary to success.  The business man has no stock-in-trade that pays him better than a good address.  If the retail dealer wears his hat on his head in the presence of ladies who come to buy of him, if he does not see that the heavy door of his shop is opened and closed for them, if he seats himself in their presence, if he smokes a pipe or cigar, or has a chew of tobacco in his mouth, while talking with them, or is guilty of any of the small incivilities of life, they will not be apt to make his shop a rendezvous, no matter how attractive the goods he displays."

I don't think I have ever been served by a retail dealer who had a chew of tobacco in his mouth, and indeed I hope I never am.

Enjoy your days!

Fraying at the edges

Isn't this a fun block?  It's called Frayed Sawtooth Star and comes from EQ7.

 Next month is my turn to provide a sample block and instructions to make it, for my quilt group.  Some of the women seem to have an aversion to triangles, so I always make sure that my blocks have some.  The background is white on white, my sewing table is white....can't tell where one ends and the other begins, can you?  When several blocks are set together a secondary diagonal line is quite noticeable.

Here is the current project, a new purse for me.  This is the lining, with one of the side seams having self-made bias binding applied over the seam; all the inside seams are finished this way.  It's a more attractive colour that this, the machine light was shining onto it and making it appear washed-out.......and yes, all that quilting was done on My Lovely New Bernina by me before the pieces were cut out.

Sewing has become possible again, so long as I take plenty of breaks and don't reach forward too much.  Wednesday last week was one of the worst days since I went Under The Knife; at sewing guild my machine was set up on a table and it was a bit high for me to use comfortably, so after a short while I stopped sewing.  However by the time I arrived home it was agony, and it was for the rest of the day too.  Ever since then I have been very careful with what I do, which is why, for a while, I am sitting here at the computer having coffee instead of sewing.

Was I the only person in the world who was annoyed by the treatment given to various country's flags by many idiots at the sports carnival which recently finished?  Flags have their own protocol; as far as I know they are not to be dropped on the ground at any time and should always be treated with dignity.  Wearing your country's flag round your shoulders as a cloak is not dignified.  If you want to dress up, use your mother's old curtains.  While I don't think Australia's flag design is relevant these days and would love to see it changed, I respect what it stands for.

Only two days of February to go, and we have had less than half the average rainfall for the month again.  Rain is forecast for tomorrow but it's doubtful that we will get much.  Last year's rainfall was well below average and the past two summers have been hotter than average, so water supplies in many places have dried up.  A local bloke told me recently he thinks we are in for an early, long and cold winter because he has seen snakes on the move shedding their skins.  As one who doesn't do reptiles I will take his word for that......I am not going out and about looking for snakes, believe me.  Australia has some very deadly snakes and many of them live in our area.  On our recent trip to Canberra we noticed that many trees are looking autumnal, poor things have gone into an early dormancy because it's been so hot and dry.  Autumn won't arrive for a while yet, but colours are already changing and leaves are dropping.  Hopefully there will be some colour left when we go back to Canberra in April for the folk festival.

Some pics of the wedding have appeared on the photographer's web site, so if you would like to see them let me know and I will send you the link.

"Can any one fancy what our society might be, if all its members were perfect gentlemen and true ladies, if all the inhabitants of the earth were kind-hearted ; if, instead of contending with the faults of our fellows, we were each to wage war against our own faults?  Every one needs to guard constantly against the evil from within as well as from without, for, as has been truly said, "A man's greatest foe dwells in his own heart"."

The folks writing the etiquette book in 1885 knew a thing or two, didn't they?

Enjoy your days!

We've had rain!

Only a little rain, it is true, but precipitation falling from the sky nevertheless.  More is forecast for the next day or two, and judging by the weather radar some could even fall later this afternoon.  Fingers crossed.......the long-term average for February is 85.9 mls and so far this month we have had 31 mls.  February is only half over so hopefully we can make the average, if not a little more.  The official weather station here is at the airport which we can see across the valley; sometimes there is a difference between here on the hill and there, but on the whole it averages out pretty much the same.

Here's a rather pretty wombat.

None of my wombats have names because it would be too much for my elderly brain to keep track of, but this one seems to be calling out to be named.....what do you think?  She (it has to be a girl) was bought at a local garden centre late last year.

A little sewing has been done, another two quilt blocks have been made - one is completed, one still has to have its applique machined down - slowly and carefully.  Tomorrow is sewing guild and somehow I don't think my machine will be coming with me because using it is still painful, but I may take the overlocker along and have a go at making a fabric flower using the rolled hem edge.  Instructions were in the latest guild newsletter, and there is fabric left from the wedding skirt that will do nicely.

Speaking of pain, my shoulder is still far from happy although it has improved slightly since the previous post.  I wish I had never had the operation, in fact if the clock could be turned back I wouldn't go under the knife at all.  I would just put up with it. For a brief few days I was able to put my hair up, but now can't do that again either.  It is quite upsetting; when I get upset my blood pressure goes even higher and one day I shall probably explode from it.

Ah well, she says, heaving a sigh.

Yesterday we took ourselves off for our annual outing outing to the movies to see 'Philomena', and I can certainly recommend it.  Just make sure you take plenty of tissues with you, because it has some very sad moments.  Even when I was growing up some years after the events shown in the film there was quite a stigma attached to girls who became pregnant out of wedlock.  Most of them married.....the high-waisted Empire line dresses of the 60s, and a big bouquet, were very popular!  I remember rumours about a girl who 'went to visit her aunt' for a few months in a large city several hours north of here, but can think of only one girl who, very bravely for the time, had her baby girl and neither married nor gave up her baby for adoption, before marrying a few years later.  When I was a teenager my mother told me that if I ever came home and said I was pregnant she would kill me, and I believe she would have.  She would certainly have done bodily harm to my person because she was a violent woman.

Before that movie started we had to sit through trailers for several current and forthcoming movies.  Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I am not at all interested in movies which are full of noise, action and special effects with not much plot, blokes in or out of uniform shooting each other, and young lust and teenage angst.

You can see why we only go to the movies once a year.........

"Childhood is like a mirror, catching and reflecting images all around it.  Remember that an impious, profane or vulgar thought may operate upon the heart of a young child like a careless spray of water upon polished steel, staining it with rust that no efforts can thoroughly efface."

This is right, you know.

Enjoy your days!

It was a lovely wedding

Fun, and funny in a happy rather than a silly way.  It was also very hot, 39 deg C which is over 100 F; even the cafe where the reception was held was hot because their air conditioning wasn't working properly.  Fortunately its roof opens which allowed warm air out, it is on the site of a former observatory which was sadly burnt out in bushfires ten years ago - and our son had even arranged for an astronomer to be present, once it was dark!  If one wished one could walk outside in the dark to where a telescope had been set up, and look up at the stars.  But as one has been known to fall and break bits of one's person which is not a good thing to do and one was wearing sandals with a higher heel than one is used to wearing these days, one decided to stay indoors and talk to people - friends from our son's time at high school, and friends from his time playing in community bands, and some of his friends in his new life, and his new in-laws.

Our cameras weren't even taken out of the car, but many of the young folk were taking happy snaps and selfies, quite a lot of which have already been put up on facebook.  The official photographer was wandering round taking more happy snaps, and the families lined up in turn for the official shots.  They won't be ready for a few weeks......it probably takes that long to make the groom's mother look human, you know.  Just as well photo editing software is available these days.  For a few days beforehand my shoulder had begun to hurt, and by the time the wedding rolled round I was in quite a lot of pain - which will probably show in the photos.

However, we still need a photo or two for a blog post, don't we?  So here are the little glass wombats which were my Christmas present from our newly-wed son and his wife, a month before they were married.

 Aren't they the cutest little fellers?  The big one is only a couple of inches long, the smaller one is.......smaller.

And here is their penguin friend, brought home when the same son was plying his musical trade on cruise ships - it came all the way from Ushuaia, at the southern tip of South America.  He was amused to see penguins swimming alongside the tender when going from shore to ship one day and brought this little one home with him because he knows I like glass.

Last Friday the physiotherapist said to stop the shoulder strength exercises and to go back to only doing the flexibility ones because the pain had become so bad, she said the bicep is unhappy - it was re-attached to the shoulder during the operation.  Didn't even know it had become unattached.......the long car trip probably didn't do it any good either, it's over 700 kms each way (which is over 435 miles in old money) so double that for the return trip, not all on flat smooth roads either, and then add more for driving round while in Canberra.  Just when it was making good progress too......it could be lifted almost up to shoulder level......ah well, no doubt it will improve again soon.  Right now it hurts to reach out to turn on the kitchen tap.

The two quilt blocks which were cut out recently have been sewn (albeit with a certain amount of agony) so that is tomorrow's quilt group obligations met.  At present it's back to no sewing, just reading and doing crossword puzzles and tootling round on the computer, and living a slightly boring life, while waiting for a very unhappy arm and shoulder to settle down again.

"The congratulations.
At the wedding feast, or At Home, friends who congratulate the newly-married couple should address the bride first, if they have any previous acquaintance with her, then the bridegroom, then the bridesmaids, and after that the parents and family of the bride and groom.  They should give their good wishes to the bride and congratulate the bridegroom.  If they are acquainted with the bridegroom and not with the bride, let them address him first and he will introduce them to his bride."

Indeed.

Enjoy your days!

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!