We have tiles!!

The truly gorgeous new tiled floor is done.  Finished.  Walk-on-able.  Tiles were laid last week; we moved out for a couple of days while they were being laid.  The builder will be coming back early next week to fix up some doors as the new tiles are thicker than the old ones were, so doors now scrape on the floor.

Bianca spent ten days with Auntie Deb at her cattery, as she would have been really stressed by the noise and dust and loud music.  We haven't seen a lot of her since she came home as she has been spending a lot of time asleep on our bed.  With no carpet in much of the house, and no fire, it's nice and warm under the covers.

So my stuff is being (slowly....) moved back into my sewing room.  It's very dusty.  My lungs don't like it at all.

Next will be the oh-so-flash new fire.  It was to have been installed yesterday but the installation bloke rang to say he was crook (translation:  he wasn't straying too far from a bathroom.....need I say more?) and would come tomorrow.  Which is all well and good, but yesterday and today are the coldest days of the year so far and they are indeed very chilly, today is foggy, damp and miserable, so that fire will be really welcome.  Fortunately we have a gas heater, so we aren't freezing.

Then the new carpet......and the house will nearly be ours again.  We still need to buy replacement furniture and have our (mostly my) books and stuff unpacked.

During this time very few stitches have been taken because my sewing stuff is packed up, but a couple of weeks ago I managed to make one block as it was my turn to provide a BOM for my quilt group.  Those blocks will be turned into a charity quilt, and it was found here.

Slightly fiddly-diddly (lots of tiny squares) but not difficult, and fun to make.  My sewing machine, fabric and I de-camped to a local quilt shop for a few hours to get it made, as sewing while the floor blokes were here was a lost cause.

Those young blokes were polite and respectful, but we weren't happy that they finished last Friday afternoon and didn't come back until Monday to clean up.  We did quite a bit over the weekend ourselves, because we had to live in their mess.  I wasn't happy, either, with the tilers who, the minute they arrived, set up their tradie radio blasting forth loud rock music in our kitchen.....they could have waited until we moved out, which we did very smartly anyway.  Not sure the house has recovered yet, it usually has much gentler music playing.

However, all that is now water under the bridge.

As there is no chance of sewing I have been knitting.  The first sleeve of my jumper is now finished and the second is cast on; the back was finished while we were away.  I'm thinking - hoping - it should be pretty when it's done.

Two uke gigs coming up.  On Friday next week the Mature Age section of the local Eisteddfod will be held and I  am competing on my own.......solo, in public......just me and a uke.  The uke class (which I no longer attend) is also competing; one of the organisers contacted me and specifically asked for them, after last year's performance!  Isn't that nice?  I passed her request on to prod them into entering again because last year I entered the group first, then told them "we're in".  Win or lose, it will be a fun evening.

"One color should predominate in the dress; and if another is adopted, it should be in limited quantity and only be way of contrast or harmony.  Some colors may never, under any circumstances, be worn together, because they produce positive discord to the eye."

The yarn for my jumper is soft blue with a hint of lavender, which is neither contrasting or disharmonious.

Now......my afternoon coffee is finished, my daily uke playing has been done, so I am going to my sewing room to dust and move stuff around.  If I'm not back in a couple of hours, send help - tonight is choir, and that is a fun night so I don't want to miss it.

Enjoy your days!

Living in a bubble

Work has started on the floor.....yay!!

The old tiles have been removed and the dried stuff underneath has been removed by grinding to a fine grey gritty powder which seeps into cupboards and into noses and eyes and through closed cupboard doors all over the contents therein.  The builder bloke taped up a plastic wall (which was supposed to keep out dirt but didn't completely) to the ceiling, so this is what our living room looked like from the inside:

 The table doesn't usually live here, but we have to eat somewhere.  The TV is to the right, this was our living quarters for a few days.  The light on the left is in the kitchen, and straight ahead is a large floor-to-ceiling window on the back wall.

 From the kitchen, looking into our bubble.......everywhere a grey gritty mess.  But the work on the floor is underway, so we are rejoicing!

This week we will be moving out for a couple of days; the alternative is to stay in our bedroom and not eat, not go outside the bedroom at all, because those new tiles (which did arrive) can't be walked on for a day or so when they are first installed, so we would be trapped.  The insurance pays for our accommodation and we pay for Bianca's.  That's all right.

But the week hasn't been all grey grit and noise - yesterday I put a top together!

What do you reckon?  I love it.  Pattern is Gumballs from McCall's Quilting, April 2008.  Think I will change the name though, I'm not enamoured of Gumballs.  I shall ponder on a suitable title.  It's turned out exactly as I hoped it would, and I love the complimentary colour scheme.

I make it a rule never to make a quilt twice, there are so many great ideas and patterns out there that I have never even made once which I would love to try first, but wouldn't this look great in black and white with little pops of bright colour......maybe one day......

My knitting project is going great guns.  While we were away I finished the back of my new jumper (sweater, if you aren't in Australia) and am charging up the first sleeve, it's nearly to the armhole now.  Back and sleeves are plain and I will gussy up the front with a fancy cable or something.  I have never tackled making socks but have been making jumpers since I was about 23, fearlessly using patterns with lace, fancy cables - you name it.  The thought of making fiddly socks gives me the heeby jeebies; I would far rather make an elaborate jumper any day.

Is anyone else's sense of humour tickled by the descriptions of some things?  For a while now it seems that we don't wear pants, we wear a pant.  I thought that was what dogs did when they were trying to cool off.....we also wear the jean, the trouser, the tight.  On our leg, perhaps?  Just one?  One clothed and one naked leg?

Oh dear......

"Morning dress for gentlemen.
The morning dress for gentlemen is a black frock-coat, or a black cut-away, white or black vest, according to the season, gray or colored pants, plaid or stripes, according to the fashion, a black silk hat, and a black scarf or necktie.  A black frock coat with black trousers is not considered essential, nor is a dress coat and colored or light trousers.  The morning dress is suitable for garden parties, Sundays, social teas, informal calls, morning calls and receptions."

They wore trousers in 1885, it seems.  It sounds a very splendid costume, and one that, somehow, I cannot see my husband wearing.

Enjoy your days!

Aaaannndddd here we are, back home again......

We've been back for a week, and what a busy week it has been......appointments, often more than one, every day......but we seem to have caught up with things, so now it's the blog's turn.

We had a good time.  Didn't make it over to the coast, but there is always next year isn't there?  The folk festival was excellent as always, the family is doing well, Euan is sprouting up, friends are happy and healthy.  There were other distractions before we came home too; a craft festival, and even a ukulele festival which was great fun.

Also didn't take many pics!  Probably because we have been going to Canberra for so long that there doesn't seem to be anything left to photograph.  We missed our chance to get a Euan photo but never mind, our son has promised to take one of him with his quilt that I made him when he was a much littler tacker than he is now.

We had some company for a few days at the pet-friendly camp ground.

Two of the team of four Clydesdales associated with an Aussie brewery - they don't pay me to advertise so I won't name them.  Makes a change from the usual dogs and the occasional cat who camp with their owners, doesn't it?  They stayed for a few days, and were beautiful.

We found a new-to-us spot on the lake in Canberra, Black Mountain Peninsula.  This is Black Mountain looming up, and the tower is - wait for it - Black Mountain Tower, would you believe?

 Some of the black swans on Black Mountain peninsula.  Black swans are native to Australia but have been introduced to many other countries who, perhaps, believed their own white swans are not exotic enough.  I was snapping away when these three started edging toward me, and as I didn't trust the looks on their feathery little faces I put away the camera and backed away.  Slowly.

 You know how much I love autumn colour......a couple of oak trees in Boorowa, a favourite stop on our trips to and from Canberra.  The white building behind is the Court House, built in the 1880s.

Autumn colours everywhere were glorious.  Not quite up to the standard of a Canadian autumn, but not bad just the same.

Sadly not all our trip was good as I came down with a nasty bug which laid me low for several days.  However I recovered, and am now back to jumping out of my skin again.

Last week there was an Occasion.  The annual anniversary of the day on which I was born came round once more; this one is probably significant because it ends in 0, but all I can think is "geez......I am really old now".  We were on our way home in Mudgee and assumed because it was a Tuesday night - normally a quiet night in a country town, one would have thought - we would have no trouble getting a table for two at a local restaurant.......but no!  Two restaurants we tried were completely full so we ended up at a pub.  The food was excellent (Mudgee has a reputation for being somewhat of a gourmet town) but when all was said and done it was still just a pub, with a large TV showing a football program up on the wall.  Kevin gave me a surprise present, a beautiful wombat brooch, which went a long way towards making the TV recede into the background.

Isn't it gorgeous?  It doesn't have a coloured nose, the camera must have caught a reflection from somewhere.  It was made by Desmond of Celtic Dreaming; I have several of Desmond's pieces, some Celtic and some Australian, bought at the folk festival over the past nearly 20 years and I love them all.

The builder brought his tiler here a few days ago, and went off promising to order the new floor tiles immediately.  We hope he has.  Once they are in hand the repairs can, hopefully, start; our weather is cooling down and concrete floors are not warm.  It's also darker because grey concrete is darker than sort-of-beige carpet, and now that days are shorter and the sun is lower in the sky we find we need to turn lights on early in the afternoon.

Never mind......perhaps it will all start to happen soon.

"We put bright colours upon 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."

Oh dear......seems I am now confined to black and neutral tints.  Well, bugger......I don't like neutral tints.  Neutral tints are dull.  Boring.  I suppose considering lime green to be a neutral is out of the question?

Enjoy your days!

Hanging in an empty night

All finished, quilted, labelled, bound and photographed!  At last!

 Close up the colours are brighter, as you can see below.

 The back, with the extra piecing not as obvious as I had feared.

 A panel of stars was inserted to make the backing wide enough.

 The title, "Hanging in an empty night" is a line in a song written by a friend, Cathy Miller.

One of the first quilting books I bought a long time ago, and still a favourite, is "Star Quilts" by Mary Elizabeth Johnson.  It's wonderfully inspirational and, although I have never made any of the quilts whose instructions are in the book, my collection has a few star quilts including this one.

Last weekend the final stitches were taken on the blocks to make "Gumballs" from a pattern in McCalls Quilting way back in 2008.  I laid them out on the spare bed (AKA the design bed, I still haven't gotten around to getting a design wall) to see how they looked.......and I love them, they are just what I hoped they would be!

A bundle of blue/teal/purple fabrics was won in a giveaway on Linda's blog a couple of years ago, and when those fabrics arrived I looked at them......pondered......looked again......added a few more blues from my batik stash, and some orange and gold for contrast.......and this is the result.  When we return from our holiday those blocks will be joined into a top.  The colours make me think of flower petals floating on a tropical lagoon.......getting a bit fanciful here, folks.  I'll try not to let it happen again.

Next Wednesday we will be hitching up our little caravan, climbing into the car and heading south to Canberra to see the family and no doubt marvel at how much Young Euan has grown, and to enjoy the folk festival and some Canberra shopping (Canberra is the Medium Smoke so there is more choice than here) before going east to the south coast, then back to Canberra for a few days before returning home.  This week I found out that there will be a craft show in Canberra on our last weekend there, how fortuitous is that?

When we come home the repairs to the house can start.  The insurance company has finally approved a builder to fix the kitchen cupboards and replace what seems like several acres of floor tiles, after which the new carpet can be installed.  Once that is done we may - gasp - have to visit the Big Smoke to purchase replacements for the furniture which was damaged by water, then our books and treasures can be unpacked again.  I miss my books so much; all my sewing and quilting books are packed, nearly all my music books, nearly every cook book......a few favourite fiction books......my own library, built up over a long time.

While we're away it may not be possible to comment on blogs because we will have limited internet and we will probably have exciting things to do, places to go and people to see.

"No lady worthy any gentleman's regard will say "no" twice to a suit which she intends ultimately to receive with favor.  A lady should be allowed all the time she requires before making up her mind; and if the gentleman grows impatient at the delay, he is always at liberty to insist on an immediate answer and abide by the consequences of his impatience."

Well, I didn't say "no" at all.  Not once.

Enjoy your days!

Choofing along with the binding......

This is quite a large quilt, each side is two metres long so that makes eight metres of binding to be sewn down with tiny stitches.  Perhaps they don't need to be as teeny as they are; taking teensy stitches just comes naturally and I actually have trouble taking big ones.  It's looking quite good, if I do say so meself (she says modestly).

A minor conniption was had, however, when piecing the back as the fabric had a row of holes across the width!  The correct size pieces had already been cut and partly pieced, but fortunately there was enough left to be able to cut off the holey piece (possibly caused by machinery when it was wrapped round its cardboard core) and add a new pieced piece, so there are a few more seams on the back than I had originally planned.  At least there was enough fabric......the conniption would have been major had there not been, let me tell you.

A little corner of the not-quite-finished quilt bundled up on my sewing room table out of Bianca's way, as cats do love a nice soft quilt to snuggle into.  The binding is more than half done, and the Cunning Plan is to wave it around at quilt group on Saturday for show and tell.  Which will still happen, even if it's not quite finished.  Tonight is choir practice so it will be staying home for a couple of hours, it would be difficult to sing while bearing the weight of what has turned out to be a fairly heavy quilt on one's lap.  A few wrong notes might just be hit.......even wronger than usual.

Nothing to report on the house repairs, although we expect to be told very soon which builder the insurance company has selected to do the fixing.  As we are going away in less than two weeks it will have to wait until we come home in mid-May.

My toe is still attached.  It is tender and sore, but it hasn't fallen off.  The bursitis is still hanging around in my hip and driving me demented at times.  Older age is not for sissies.

Ms 64 has gone, and no one here is grieving. Her roaming cats have gone with her, for which the neighbourhood is thankful

Last Sunday we went for a Nice Sunday Drive (on a Sunday, something we seldom do!) to a small village an hour north-east of here for lunch at the local pub for our 41st anniversary.  Walcha Road Pub (it's pronounced wolka) is over 100 years old and bounced back from a major fire several years ago - the charred edges of the bar are evidence of that.  The food is excellent, unexpectedly so in a settlement of about 20 people, and it's a popular place for a weekend lunch.  We have been before but haven't visited in mid-winter, perhaps one day we will brave the snow and go there!

We have also had some excellent rain, after our dry February it has been very welcome.  Our garden is now smiling again, and the weeds are shooting up like you wouldn't believe.

"Proposals of marriage.

Rules in regard to proposals of marriage cannot be laid down, for they are and should be as different as people.  The best way is to apply to the lady in person, and receive the answer from her own lips.  If courage should fail a man in this, he can resort to writing, by which he can clearly and boldly express his feelings.  A spoken declaration should be bold, manly and earnest, and so plain in its meaning that there can be no misunderstanding.  As to the exact words used, there can be no set formula; each proposer must be governed by his own ideas and sense of propriety in the matter."

Well....I can't remember the exact words, but I'm sure they were indeed bold, manly and earnest.

Enjoy your days!

Where has the time gone?

Do you ever feel as though life has been flashing by while you sit back and watch?  That's been us recently, life has been very busy but we don't seem to have much to show for it.  Ah well.

Nothing to report on the home repair front.  When all this rigmarole first started Kevin thought it would all be sorted and we would have new floors within a week......blokes can be very naive, can't they?  He is now starting to believe me when I say it won't be finished before it is cold enough to light our fire, something I have been saying for a while thinking I was talking to empty air.  Looks like it is starting to sink in.

The ukies had another moment of fame and glory at the Seniors' Week concert early last week.  There are no more gigs on the horizon but we keep playing together, just the same, because we never know when another call to fame will come.

My hurt toe is quite sore and tender but so far hasn't fallen off, which is a good sign.  I am still keeping it strapped to its neighbour; even slight pressure from the edge of a sandal strap is very painful so the tape gives a little padding and protection.  Hopefully it will be healed by the time the weather is cold enough to wear closed-in shoes.

My blue and yellow star quilt is quilted, and it looks truly gorgeous!  In the few spare moments available lately nine strips of binding fabric were cut and are now starting to be pinned together, however nine may not be enough.  When they are joined into one long strip I'll measure it, there is plenty of fabric if I need to cut more because when it was bought all those years ago - more than I can remember, actually - I bought one whole metre, and would you believe it's green, dark mossy green?

Many of the fabrics used are florals with touches of green, hence the choice of green for binding.

Here it is between the top border fabric and backing fabric.  Green is a difficult colour to photograph - it seems to be affected by lighting more than any other colour.  The actual tone is somewhere between these two pictures.  My goal is to have it bound and finished by Saturday of next week, quite achievable in the time frame if it weren't for so many other commitments.  Oh well, we can only do what we can do, can't we?

It seems there is a bonus to the bare shoulder fashion that I don't like.  A nurse friend is now giving flu shots and said that makes it easy for her because the women wearing them don't have to roll up a sleeve!  But I still don't like it.......

"Extravagance in dress.
Dress, to be in perfect taste, need not be costly.  It is unfortunate that in Australia too much attention is paid to dress by those who have neither the excuse of ample means nor of social culture.  The wife of a poorly paid clerk, or of a young man just starting in business, aims at dressing as stylishly as does the wealthiest among her acquaintances.  The sewing girl, the shop girl, the chambermaid, and even the cook, must have their elegantly trimmed silk dresses and expensive cloaks for Sunday and holiday wear, and the injury done by this state of things to the morals and manners of the poorer classes is incalculable."

Nothing wrong with an elegantly trimmed silk dress, I would have thought.

Enjoy your days!

Ouchie......

Back in October 2012 while visiting Canada I kicked my right foot, which was eventually found to be broken.  It duly healed......without any treatment, I might add, because I thought it was just bruised so didn't see a doctor about it for a couple of months and by then it was too late to do anything......one of several such injuries during the course of my life.  I said at the time "It's not the first time I have done this and I will probably do it again before I die"......

......well......

......I have.

A few mornings ago at stupid dark early o'clock I was paying my customary bathroom visit (it's a bugger getting older, isn't it?) when I managed to kick my right foot very hard on the tiles around the base of the shower.  On the corner of the tiles, of course, where it would do more toe damage.  I suspect that my second smallest toe is broken; it is certainly sore and bruised, a technicolour bruise, a veritable prince of a bruise, and the skin is broken.  I haven't been to the doctor because, even if it's x-rayed and found to be broken, it will just be strapped to its neighbour for support which I am already doing.  I will be probably told to rest it (been doing that) - ice it (ditto) - keep it strapped (see above).  It has been giving me a certain amount of grief and pain, but hey......it hasn't fallen off yet.

On to happier things!

Last Saturday evening's concert went off very well, the audience said nice things to us and about us, and on Thursday night we had three new ladies turn up to join the choir.  One of them said to us "you all looked as though you were having a lot of fun and I wanted to join in!"  Next Monday afternoon we will sing a couple of songs, and the ukies will sing and play a couple of songs too, for the annual Seniors' Week concert.  Striking while the iron of fame is hot, as it were.

My quilt has been delivered to the long armer and I feel as though I have sent an orphan child off to boarding school, but no doubt she will be beautiful when she comes home again.  The ugly duckling will have turned into a swan.

Recently the second row by row brought home from Canada had all its applique finished.

Top is from Vancouver Island, B.C., bottom is from Ontario.  They are both supposed to be the same width - this is what happens when you don't read instructions.  The strips on the Ontario row were to be trimmed to 1-1/2 inches before being sewn together so they would both finish up the same width, and I didn't - however, I quite like the wider result.  The Cunning Plan is to border each with a narrow border of brown, possibly the brown peeping through in the middle although it's a bit redder than I had hoped but there is enough in my stash to do the job, then a wider border of dark green which may or may not be in the stash, and they will become table runners.

Cutting has started on the next hand-pieced project, 3 inch tumblers made from my stash of reproduction fabrics.  When those fabrics first started appearing way back when (it would have to be nigh on 20 years ago, wouldn't it?) I succumbed and bought some because I really liked them, and every now and then would add another one.  Or two.  Or so........now it's their turn to shine; so far two tumblers have been cut......only two, because my toe hurts when I stand for too long.  Hopefully one or two more may be cut today.

There was a story to those repro fabrics, I remember reading about it in a quilt magazine at the time - may even have the magazine, but it's packed away with all my magazines and books so I can't check.  However, if you are interested to read about it I did find this article.  A result of the controversy was that the Smithsonian agreed to give quilt historians and fabric designers access to quilts in their collection so their antique fabrics could be reproduced for all of us to use, and some of those fabrics are in my repro stash; one could also acquire (buy or be given with a purchase of a certain amount of fabric, I forget which) a label to use on the quilt made from said fabrics, but I don't have one.  An image search for "Smithsonian quilt fabrics" will bring those fabrics up.

There is no progress to report on the house repairs.  The second builder has come and gone and hopefully reported to the insurance company, now we are waiting to hear from them.  It will all be fixed in due course, and no amount of worrying on our part will hurry it along.  So we don't.

It is raining!  We had good rain in January, twice the monthly average, but February let us down - barely one quarter of the monthly average.  March is, at least, starting well.  Temperatures are lower, too; the severe heat of summer has, hopefully gone never to return, but I wouldn't count on it.  It will be back again next summer.

"Ostentatious display of knowledge.
In refined and intelligent society one should always display himself at his best, and make a proper and legitimate use of all such acquirements as he may happen to have.  But there should be no ostentatious or pedantic show of erudition.  Besides being vulgar, such a show subjects the person to ridicule."

Probably.

Enjoy your days!