Autumn is finally here!

Everyone locally is very pleased, although those who don't like winter are probably dreading the coming months......but anything will be better than the heat we endured over summer.  We seem to have arrived home at the right time!

We had a good time in Canberra and the family is all well, Young Euan is growing and is now walking, he wanders around talking to himself non-stop......no one can understand a word he is saying but that doesn't bother him, he just keeps chattering away.  The folk festival was excellent, and - as usual - quite a lot of time was spent catching up with people rather than attending concerts.  Many notes were played and sung, and just think - we can do it again in late October, just a few hours north of here.

After the festival and some family time we packed up the caravan, the two ukes, the car and ourselves, and headed south to Victoria.  The first night was spent in Lockhart camp ground, where sunset over neighbouring farmlands was very peaceful.

Next day we crossed the Murray River, the border between New South Wales and Victoria.

 We headed for south-western Victoria, based in Hamilton.  One day we drove to Port Fairy where I was surprised to see a White-faced Heron - I didn't know we had herons in Australia!  It was standing so still that we nearly missed seeing it.

 Lunch that day was fish and chips while overlooking the Southern Ocean......next landfall to the south is Antarctica.

 Another day we drove to the southern end of The Grampians, we had been to the northern end several years ago.  It is wonderfully rugged country!

 Heading north again we stayed in Echuca for a few days, and treated ourselves to a lunch cruise on the Murray River.......our table can be seen, second from the right.  We expected it would be a bit rough and ready but no, it was gourmet and very deliciously complimented with local wines.

 Heading north again for an overnight stop at Narrandera, overlooking the lake.

 Many countries have white swans, but black swans are native to Australia!

 A couple of nights at Parkes included a visit to the radio telescope, "The Dish".

While we were sitting in their cafe having our lunch the dish was moving, it's quite an awesome sight to see.

Since arriving home we have been busy with appointments, and volunteering jobs (me), and having our flu shots because the sneezin' season is approaching, and shopping, and washing, and cleaning, and.....and......earlier this afternoon I finally made it into my sewing room to cut fabric, but so far not one note has been plinked on uke or guitar.

"Avoid talking too much, and do not inflict upon your hearers interminably long stories, in which they can have but little interest."

Hopefully that has been the case!  Letting the pictures speak for me will hopefully show some of the highlights of our holiday, instead of words droning on and on.

Enjoy your days!

4,444 kms later, we're home!

Pics and reports will follow in due course.

Jennifer

It's enough to turn you off people

It has happened again.  Our house sitter has cancelled on us.  She rang on Friday morning to say she has a job interview on Tuesday in a large city a few hours south of here and if she was offered the job it would be a great opportunity for her, etc., will it cause you much inconvenience etc.  I replied "yes, it will......it leaves us in quite a hole".  I don't think she wanted to hear that, but I don't care - it's true.  I am fed up with people.  This is the third sitter to cancel on us in barely two years so I don't think we will bother using the system again.  We have had some lovely house sitters, one dud (the last one), but three cancellations is just too many.

Kevin was all for cutting our holiday short but I said no.  I have been looking forward to visiting Victoria again for a long time, we have made tentative plans and cancelled them before, and this time I want to go through with it.  We are going.

We ran round chasing our tails on Friday to organise what needs to be done.  Fortunately Bianca has been booked into Deb's cattery, she has been before - we were so very lucky that Deb had a vacancy for the time we need.  It's money we hadn't planned on spending, but it won't break the bank.  We also have a gardener popping in a couple of times a week to check on our garden, especially the newly planted section - poor plants, they are really struggling in the current hot dry weather - more money.  Our neighbours are lovely people but they have their own homes, families and gardens to look after, we don't want to put a burden on them, and anyway the young couple in No 70 have a new baby due to hatch any day now......it's already a week overdue!  Luckily a 'hold mail' form had already been lodged with the post office so we don't have to worry about that.

So on Wednesday morning we will hitch up our little caravan, hop in the car and take off.

That's Kevin enjoying doing nothing behind our little van.  It's just the right size - 12 feet long - for the two of us, some clothes and food......and two ukes.  Yes, they're both coming with me!

Who needs a huge behemoth to tow when you can have compact and cosy, and cheap?  We're sure the owners of bigger vans look at ours and laugh, but then we drive past them filling up with enormous amounts of expensive fuel and we laugh ourselves silly.  Nearly every time we take the van somewhere we are approached by at least one person asking if we want to sell, and our answer is always no.

We'll be driving to Canberra  first, spending our time volunteering before and during the folk festival,  enjoying lots of great music (and of course, for me, playing and singing) catching up with family before and after the festival, and on Monday April 4 taking off again to drive south to Victoria.  We plan to arrive back here on Tuesday April 19 so this blog will be silent for the duration, but there will hopefully be lots to tell you all about on our return.

My hand is much better, neither it nor my arm have fallen off, so that will something we don't have to worry about while we're away.  The burn on my elbow is healing too, just as well......burns are rather unsightly.  It won't stop me enjoying the festival!

"Keeping step.
In walking together, especially when arm in arm, it is desirable that the two keep step.  Ladies should be particular to adapt their pace, as far as practicable, to that of their escort.  It is easily done."

Every year at the festival we spend a lot of time catching up with friends not seen since the last such event, and it does entail some walking......and much talking and passing-on of news, so it's essential to keep pace.

Enjoy your days!

Quelle bummer......

.......the blister on my right hand had become sore, swollen and red, quite painful to touch, not moving too well......seems the blister from the burnt-off sun spot had become a little infected.  Yesterday I was able to get an urgent appointment at the medical centre and a nice young doctor said, yes, it's infected, probably a good idea to take a course of antibiotics, so the hand and I are taking bright blue capsules for a few days.  So far it hasn't fallen off, it's still attached to my arm, which is a good thing.

Consequently not many stitches have been taken because it's difficult to do much with a painfully sore hand, but at least that applique block did get finished.  Later today there is a hook and eye to be sewn on a new top so it doesn't gape too much across the bosom, but that's not a big chore.

As nothing has been finished or photographed this week we will have a couple of pictures from the Canadian holiday.  I don't wish to bore the socks off you, gentle readers, so will just drop in the odd (hopefully not too odd) photo every now and then.

 My favourite small town in Canada of those I have visited is Goderich.  Since we were there three years earlier these inukshuks have been built on the shore of Lake Huron, probably hundreds of them!

The Town Square (which is really an octagon) now has trees growing again - on our previous visit it was still being repaired after a tornado the year before.  All the trees in the square were broken or completely killed, only a few were undamaged, but now replanted with mature trees it looks really good.

Quite a few books have been read lately, though......reading doesn't hurt my hand......there are sites where one can download free e-books into one's tablet, so one does.  A genre I read a lot is mystery books, I don't mind a bit of blood and gore but I don't like sadism and torture, stories where someone (usually female) is being stalked, too much sex (we know it happens but we don't need it described in graphic detail, we all have imaginations), and I'm not a great fan of paranormal stories although I don't mind a little touch of the supernatural.  Just a little.  Don't overdo it, folks, or it becomes just too unbelievable.  The delete button has been pressed more than once, because I just wasn't getting into the story.

We're getting ourselves organised for our trip - only ten days until we leave!  The festival office co-ordinator has done the roster so we office volunteers know when we're working, and I have also been sent my printable performer's ticket because a friend and I have been assisting at the Sunday morning hymn singing session for so long we're part of the furniture.  It's a very ecumenical session so folk of any, all or no religious persuasions join in every year and we have a blast......no instruments, just unaccompanied voices singing old hymns and gospel songs we've all known and been singing forever.  We've even been recorded for radio more than once, the roving radio bloke couldn't believe that so many people could sing so many harmonies without a guitar or keyboard in sight!

I'm also debating whether to take one or two ukes, our caravan is quite small; one is fine, two might be pushing it for space but I would really love to take two......I know only one can be played at once, but they are pitched differently and and I would like to play the baritone in sessions.  Better make a decision soon.......

"Another way to remove freckles.
One ounce of alcohol; half a dram salts tartar; one dram oil bitter almonds.  Let stand for one day and apply every second day."

Some of these remedies sound very alarming, don't they?  I think cyanide poison comes from bitter almonds.  Perhaps these days I'll just let nature take its course when it comes to freckles.

Enjoy your days!

Circles

Recently our quilt group was given this year's non-compulsory challenge......and the theme is "Circles".  Long and loud were the groans from a very small number of people, but not this little black duck!  It will finally give the impetus to dig out a long-languishing UFO, the black and white Winding Ways blocks.  They were mentioned in a post way back when I was quite a new blogger, so to save you (and me) looking back that far here they are again.

 Several years ago I attended a workshop to make Winding Ways because it was a block I wanted to try, and going to a class means there is more chance of that.  I really like the graphic look of just black and white, and managed to make nine blocks during and just after the workshop.

 Some more fabrics......since this was taken a few fabrics have been removed from the pile because they weren't black or white enough.

We had the option of purchasing acrylic templates for rotary cutting, and when it makes construction so much easier - why wouldn't you?  Once the pieces are cut, they are swapped round so each block had both lighter and darker fabrics.  I kept cutting for a while, then those blocks were made up.  Now there are 23 completed blocks and I would like to make seven rows of seven blocks, so another 26 are needed (how's that for mathematical genius, eh?)......four of which have already been cut.

I am thinking about a 2in solid black border around the blocks, then a row of half-blocks for a pieced border to finish the quilt.  Possibly.  Eventually.

The fiddly-diddly applique block has been glued down using fusible web and still needs to be stitched.  I usually use matching thread and machine buttonhole stitch, but for this I decided to use poly thread so the whole thing can be stitched without having to constantly change colours.  Every time I go into my sewing room it's there looking at me, I just want to get it done so I can go onto my own much more interesting projects but really don't feel enthused about it, and the heat has fried my brain anyway which makes it difficult to concentrate on anything.

Ah well.  The quicker I get to it, the quicker it will be finished.

Last Wednesday I took my not-very-lovely aging skin to the doctor and pointed to a few blemishes.  No worries, he says, they are just freckles (I have so many freckles I couldn't begin to count them) but the ones on the back of your right hand and the outside of your left elbow are sun spots.  We can leave them or I can burn them off, says he.  Get rid of them, says I.  So he did.  Geez, that hurts.  I'm sure giving birth wasn't that painful.  Now they are blistered and the blisters keep leaking......sorry about that, it's gross I know, but that's what is happening.....but once they are healed they will be gone forever.  The back of my hand isn't too bad although it does get bumped occasionally (and leaks again), but the one just above the pointy bit of my left elbow is not in a good place.  You don't realise how much you lean on your elbow until you can't.

February is nearly over, and it has been the hottest driest February ever for the Small Smoke.  Our maximum temperature has been three degrees hotter than average and our monthly rainfall total is way out of reach - only about six drops have fallen this month.  Surprisingly, though, the minimum temperature has been a degree cooler than the long term February average!  We're hoping for better weather in March and maybe, just possibly, perhaps even some rain.

"To remove freckles.
A good freckle lotion is made of honey, one ounce, mixed with one pint of luke-warm water.  Apply when cold."

Sounds easy, doesn't it?  I am assuming that one is meant to apply the lotion once it has cooled down, not in winter time only.

Enjoy your days!

New skirt added to the sumptuous wardrobe selection

The new skirt is done, finished and has been worn, once with a bright blue top, and again with this green top.  The skirt silhouette is more flared than it looks here.  It has been given some lovely compliments!

The closest I will ever come to taking a selfie.  It doesn't count when one's head is chopped off, does it?

Next project(s) will be to make two blocks for my group's blocks of the month which are made into charity quilts, one is pieced in autumn colours and the other is fiddly diddly applique with unbelievably teensy weensy pieces.  I'm just trying to work up enough enthusiasm to get them done.

Ah well.  Once they're finished I can get on with my own much more interesting projects.

We have a sitter organised for our trip away next month, and we have been very careful to check her references.  We will be meeting up with her for coffee next week and don't anticipate the trouble we had with our previous sitter - this woman is older and seems much more responsible.  The troublesome sitter left a few things here and has never come back for them; her family lives not far away from us so we will drop them off one day, and wipe our hands of her forever.  We don't wish her any ill, we just want nothing more to do with her.

Our newly landscaped front garden is struggling in the heat, but it looks so much better than it did before!  When the weather finally cools down there are a couple of terracotta pots on the back verandah which need something interesting in them, we will see what pretty things we can find.  I have a few ideas......something involving flowers and perfume, perhaps.

Recently I was bemoaning to Kevin the lack of decent programs on TV.  We don't subscribe to cable but we still have access to 20 or more free channels.  However it doesn't seem to matter how much choice there is - if something doesn't appeal to you you aren't going to watch it, are you?  Repeat after repeat after repeat of British police dramas (there can't be too many people left alive in some of those villages, can there?), unreal so-called reality shows (I don't care if you think you can cook better than someone else, or pout better when given a bad score, or turn on the waterworks when your souffle falls flat in front of the judges, really I just don't care), competitive home renovation shows (take out the competitive aspect and they would become much more interesting), sport, sport and more bloody sport, How We Won The War over and over and over again (doesn't matter which war)......honestly, if our television set were to suddenly self-destruct I wouldn't care.

And don't even get me started on the commercials......

I don't think Kevin quite agreed though, because playing with the television remote seems programmed into the average bloke's psyche.  If what you are staring at (as distinct from watching) doesn't appeal, there is always the off button - but that is a button the average bloke seems to have trouble hitting, yes?

"Australians indulge and excel in all kinds of manly sports, and healthy and invigorating pastimes, games and amusements - boys and girls at a very early age are adepts in nearly every kind of out-door bodily exercise, and would seem to have inherited a natural aptitude for attaining in early youth proficiency in nearly all the sports for which their Anglo-Saxon forefathers have been famed."

What about their foremothers?  And not a word about television, you notice - it would have been but a distant unattainable dream to the good folk of 1885.

Enjoy your days!

It's still summer here

Roll on autumn, I am over heat......we're ready for some coolth here......

When we returned from Canada summer had hit with a vengeance.  The temperature on our final day was 9 deg C, it was cool, overcast, a little drizzly.  Just nice.  We arrived home to temperatures 30 degrees hotter with no chance to acclimatise, and I haven't recovered yet.

Just when it becomes unbearable some of our pics roll round on the computer, and instantly I feel cooler.

 Kew Gardens is a park between the Lake Ontario boardwalk and Queen Street East, which goes for miles and miles and miles.  (the street, not the park)  The day we visited was really nice, the view even more so with changing colours.

 View from a friend's window in Goderich, just imagine waking to that every day of your life!  Although right now that hillside is bare of colour and the river has ice floating on it, I have seen my friend's photos on facebook.  Goderich is a town I could live in, it has gorgeous scenery, a really good music shop (where I helped the Canadian economy just a little) but sadly no quilt shop.  There used to be one but the owners retired and hadn't found a buyer, hopefully one might re-open in future.  I left some dollars behind me on our last visit in return for some fabric and a pattern and other things in the quilt shop......probably just as well it wasn't there last year......

Yes indeedy, we did see snow in Canada.  All six pellets of it.  I look at this and remember how cold it was that day, and straight away I feel cooler.

However I have noticed that some trees hereabouts are starting to get that late summer faded look, and the Virginia creeper on the fence of a local sports field is changing to bronze......so perhaps summer will eventually end, woo hoo!  And what a happy woman I shall be then!!

Under the sewing machine needle as we speak is a new skirt.  While in Canberra I visited a quilt/craft shop I hadn't been to before (unlikely as that sounds - we've been visiting Canberra for nigh on 20 years) looking for a black and white print to make a new skirt.  There was one fabric I liked but didn't quite love enough to buy, then I saw another.....and it was lurve at first sight, a black and grey floral print on a white background.  My favourite skirt pattern is a flared A-line with a hip yoke, and for this skirt I cut the front and back, usually one piece each, into three panels which are then joined with fine black piping.  It's looking very gorgeous if I do say so meself (she says modestly), and all my solid colour tops will hopefully look good with it - teal, blue, green, red, yellow, orange.  Not pink though.  Definitely no pink.

Years ago when I was younger (and much more slenderer......sigh......) I used to be totally fearless when it came to dressmaking.  I would blithely swap the sleeves of one pattern with another, change the necklines, add bits here and take them away there, and ended up with some really interesting clothes.  I'm a self-taught dressmaker and no one ever told me "you shouldn't do that, it won't work" so I did it.  The older I have become the safer I play it with clothing and that's a shame, isn't it?  Perhaps this re-done skirt may lead on to bigger and better things; I'm thinking it could be a good idea for using a featured piece of a special fabric, the three panels could be confined to the front with a one-piece back as per the original pattern.

Make no mistake: I'm a chickybabe no longer, I don't have gorgeous legs, I was never tall and willowy (thanks to my not-very-tall parents and other ancestors), but in our summer a skirt is so much cooler than pants, so I wear skirts.

Last week our uke group started up again.  We were all pleased to be back, certainly I was - I have missed our music making!

We've also had the front garden re-landscaped; since our lovely big tree came down in a storm nearly two years ago the garden has changed.  Plants which needed the tree's shelter were struggling while others enjoyed the lack of competition and were threatening to take over the entire universe.  The roses are gone (yay!), donated to our neighbour Elaine who loves roses, and the crepe myrtle which was infested with some sort of mould has also gone because we didn't love it either.  In their places are native plants which will, hopefully, grow well in our hot dry climate.  Pics will be taken soon, if I get up early enough.....summer days are sunny and the sun's glare after mid-morning makes it difficult to get good pictures.

"But a love of dress has its perils for weak minds.  Uncontrolled by good sense, and stimulated by personal vanity, it becomes a temptation at first, and then a curse.  When it is indulged in to the detriment of better employments, and beyond the compass of means, it cannot be too severely condemned.  It then becomes criminal."

Goodness me......I hope I'm not that vain!  One can't help wondering what the ladies of 1885 would have thought about our modern clothes?  Perhaps, after the initial shock, they might like them - our clothing is softer and easier to wear, especially as we no longer wear corsets.

Enjoy your days!