Wherever you are, and whatever you celebrate........

........best wishes for a time of love and peace.

And chocolate.  Lots and lots of chocolate.

Back home again......in an empty house

Finally - we moved back home a couple of days ago, seven weeks after moving out.  The house isn't fixed; we have no carpet, very little furniture, and the kitchen has to have major repair work done.....but we are home, and Bianca The White Cat is also home after her extended holiday.

Just as well we weren't expecting guests for Christmas, isn't it?  There are no spare beds, they had to be thrown out because of water/mould, but our bed is safe

Ah well.  No sense crying over that which is gone.  There is still some packing and sorting to be done here, but we are gradually making the place livable.

Big celebration this week, Young Euan turned three a couple of days ago!  He loves his dinosaur shirt and Lego animals from his distant grandparents.

However, our Canaussian son over there on the far side of the known universe isn't doing too well.  For some time now he has been having treatment for a vascular tumour in his hand, and tomorrow goes into hospital for an operation to remove it (the tumour, not the hand).  He's been in pain for quite a while and doctors have tried various treatments, but have now opted for surgery.  The treatments he has been having are experimental as it seems there are only about fifty cases known world-wide.  We always knew our boys were special, but making medical history is not how we wanted them to be unique.....he has a wonderful partner who will keep us updated on his progress, and supportive friends who will be waiting in hospital with her.

Most of my stash didn't suffer in the flood, but my plastic basket of batik fabrics was sitting on the floor.  Note that I said "basket", not "box", which means there were lots of holes for water to enter.  There are a few interesting colour runs, but they will be taken care of in due course - they certainly looked pretty hanging out to dry.

 It was a warm sunny day, so much so that my arms did get a little sunburnt from spending so much time hanging fabrics out, bringing them in, hanging out the next batch......

Those fabrics dried very quickly!

One morning when we were staying in our apartment home-away-from-home we noticed that this gorgeous moth had made itself at home on the wall in the entrance hall.  According to an online friend it's an Emperor Gum Moth - they are quite spectacular, and very big.  This one's wingspan would have been the length of my hand from wrist to fingertip.

There are pictures online of these moths compared to a human hand for size.  I don't think I would hold one just to show you all but take my word for it - they are huge.  We had one in our garden a few years ago too.

Over the past few weeks the uke group has had a few gigs, which has been a good distraction from getting upset over a flood-damaged house.  We're getting quite good at playing Christmas stuff, you know.  We've even been invited to play at a gospel breakfast at a small church a little way out of town next month, isn't that something?  Fame at last......who would have thought that at my advanced age I would be arranging gigs for a musical group......

Are you all organised for Christmas?  We're not, but then we wouldn't be organised for anything else right now either.  We have two small tabletop trees each surrounded by tiny lights, so at least the house does feel a bit festive.

"The hand.
The beautiful hand is long and slender, with tapering fingers and pink, filbert shaped nails.  The hand to be in proper proportion to the rest of the body should be as long as from the point of the chin to the edge of the hair on the forehead."

Somehow I don't think our boy is worrying about his pretty pink nails right now.

Enjoy your days!

Not back to normal yet

Like that shampoo ad said on TV a few years ago, it won't happen overnight......but it will happen.

Well, it seems this flood really caused damage.  The bottoms of several doors soaked up moisture from sitting on wet carpet, so they will also be replaced.  Some skirting (base) boards will need to go, but only a couple - most are made of proper wood, so they have less damage.  We can't help wonder why real wood was used for some, and cheap crappy artificial wood for others?  We have noticed that some odd short cuts were taken when this house was built 25 years ago.  At least one inside wall has to be partially removed to check for moisture between inner and outer walls.

Two of my books were lost.  One was a Mon Tricot knitting and crochet stitch and technique dictionary which I bought new in 1974, and to which I refer often; even though all that stuff can be found online sometimes there is no substitute for a proper book with real pages, is there?  Guess what - I found a copy on Ebay!  A small thing to be sure but something to cheer me a little, it should arrive soon.  The other was a book of basic women's knitting patterns which is still available, so that will also be done soon.  Both those books had their pages stuck together too firmly to be separated, because of the paper used.

However we aren't buying 'stuff' at present, because there is nowhere to put it!  Much of the house has been emptied, and furniture which hasn't been hauled away is stored in the garage.  We are trying to keep floors as clear as possible to make it easier for whoever puts down the new carpet.  One thing is for sure, though......we won't be going back to the store where the last replacement carpet was furnished, the owner bloke wasn't wonderful to deal with.  When we said to the assessor/builder from the insurance company that we would prefer to use another supplier he asked was it because of the boss man......we said yes......funny, he said, several other people have told me the same thing. 

Having said that......this morning a fundraising Christmas Fair was held and I couldn't resist some pretty blue and green earrings, they won't take up much room will they......and a necklace made in Madagascar from cow horn dyed in bright colours, which I am wearing as we speak.  I will call them my Christmas present.

My guitars and tenor ukulele were sitting on the wet floor but because they were in their cases I think they will be all right, and my cheapie soprano uke is probably some sort of plastic which would be impervious to water anyway.  On another cheery note, there have been a couple of ukulele gigs lately, playing music is more fun than moping about our spoiled house! 

Our town has two big used book sales a year, one in May organised by a Rotary Club and one in November organised by a Lions Club.  Since moving here I have found some wonderful treasures at these sales, but didn't go to the current sale in case I was carried away and bought books.......and right now we have nowhere to put them.

Sigh.  I do enjoy those book sales.......

"Never hold your companion in conversation by the buttonhole.  If you are obliged to detain him forcibly in order to say what you wish, you are pressing upon him what is disagreeable or unwelcome, and you commit a gross breach of etiquette in so doing."

Oh my - I would never do that to anyone, and I hope no one would ever do it to me.

Enjoy your days!

Been here before, you know.......

On Monday last week we arrived home from a great weekend at the Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival to a flooded house again, courtesy of a broken pipe under the bathroom sink..  This time is much worse than last time, the entire houseful of carpet was saturated, and it and nearly everything which stood on it has to be thrown out.

Our new three months old furniture......the new carpet......plus some other stuff which I am trying not to think about.  The water tripped a power board which caused a blackout and we had food in the freezer, so that's gone.  I had alpaca knitting yarn in the freezer because I spied a little thing with wings being interested in it......that's gone too.

Right now we are feeling slightly shell shocked, but this too will pass.  Normal blogging will resume as soon as possible.

Secret Squirrel Reveal

Ta-da!

 It is now in the hands of its new owner.

 Even has a fancy-nancy pieced back.  It was quilted by a local long-armer; I could have done it myself but it would have taken me quite a long time, and I wanted to have it finished.

 The fabrics are from my stash of "Holy Fabrics"......the ones which are too precious to cut up and use for just anything, it has to be a Very Special Project.

 These squares were from a shop which has changed hands over the years but is still in business.  I was unable to get any of the florals for the border (it has been quite a while, after all) so decided on a lavender spot, which was used on the back too.

The last of the florals, a green print, is the centre square on the back.  It has a couple of squares of the background green to keep it company so it doesn't get lonely.

Not sure what to make next, there are so many choices......decisions, decisions......

We have had rain this week!  Great heaps of rain!!  The hill behind our house is bright green and the grass may be even growing; it could be over 1/4in long now.  The kangaroos are quite pleased.  Within a week we had 120% of our average October rainfall, and a couple of towns nearby had even more.  The coming summer may still be hot and dry, but our gardens are happy for now.

We enjoyed our trip to Nundle a couple of weeks ago so much that we did it again yesterday.  For such a small village - only about 300 residents - it's a lively little place, and even has a quilt shop on a farm just outside town.  The Airing of the Quilts was on yesterday, a long line of quilts hanging on the fence from the road to the house and the quilt shop.  A few pics were taken and may make their way onto the blog; I can't credit any of them though, as none were labelled.  Once again we had an excellent lunch at the pub, and found a new - to us - way to come home.

Some people must wish their lives away, mustn't they?  Over the past week ads for The Big Occasion in Late December are starting to appear on TV with the phrase "ten weeks to go".  It will be here before we know it......let's not make it happen any sooner.  We haven't even decided on our plans for this year, we may be here at home and then again, we may not.  It might, as usual, hinge on what the grandkid and his family are doing and we think from hints dropped earlier this year that they may be visiting DIL's sister and her feller way down south.  We have, of course, extended an open invitation to come here at any time but the answer is always "it's such a long way" (yes, we know, we have driven it many times) or "don't think we can get enough time off work" (but there will be no trouble getting time off to go way down south, it seems) or some other reason.  Oh well......the time will come when one or both of us is unable to make that long trip by car, flying is expensive, so perhaps we need to resign ourselves to not getting together much.

When our children were small their grandparents lived away from the Small Smoke, Kevin's because they moved away on retirement and my mother because she lived in a country town all her life; I was the one who moved to the Big Smoke.  We saw more of Kevin's parents who were only a couple of hours away than of my mother because it was a much longer drive to visit her, although nowhere near as long as it is for us to visit the grandkid's family.  Because of childhood abuse I wasn't close to my mother (my father disappeared from our lives in 1972) so I never wanted to spend much time with her as an adult, just enough to feel that duty had been satisfied.

"Yielding to one another.
One of the greatest disciplines of human life is that which teaches us to yield our wills to those who have a claim upon us to do so, even in trifling, every-day affairs; the wife to the husband, children to parents, to teachers and to one another.  In cases where principle is concerned, it is, of course, necessary to be firm, which requires an exercise of moral courage."

Something I have never been good at, I think.  When one is browbeaten as a child it is difficult to stand up for one's self as an adult, you know.

Enjoy your days!

Is done!

Finally - the lime green bag is finished, done, completed, and has already been used.

 It's cheerfully bright, and very summery.

I have trouble coping with summer's heat, but this new bag might cheer up those stinking hot days a little.

Have I ever mentioned that I am quite fond of green?

The Secret Squirrel project is progressing nicely.  Pics have not yet been taken because it is a secret.

Not long ago I buggered up the sound system in my sewing room.  I can't work in silence, I need music; my choice of either a CD or the radio, it depends on the music being played and my mood.  I had one of those radio-CD-cassette player systems (remember cassette tapes?) and those tapes hadn't been played for ages so I popped one in to try it out.....and it stuck.  Eventually we freed it, but every time the unit was turned on there was a continual clicking noise no matter whether the radio was on or a CD was playing.  Considering it was bought in the year 2000 it has done sterling service so a couple of days ago I bought a new mini system, and now I have music again and I am a happy woman once more.

There is a strange sound on the roof......could it be light rain?  It's been so long since we have had a decent shower we have forgotten what rain sounds like......(jumps up and runs to window to check)......yes indeedy, the path outside is damp.  Wonders will never cease!  In recent days we have had a taste of the summer to come, and I for one am not looking forward to it.  We really like living here in the Small Smoke although the hottest weeks of summer can be trying - but the alternative, the humidity of living on the coast, would just about do me in.  I'll take the oven over the sauna any day.

Now that local folk are gadding out and about in their summer clothes again we are seeing some wondrous sights.  Just because one can wear something, doesn't mean that one should.  I do check before going out in public that I am passable, but of course my standard of passable may not be someone else's.

We have a long weekend coming up, so I think we need a Nice Sunday Drive although it will probably be on Saturday.  Perhaps a trip to Nundle, a small town not far away from here, near where my maternal grandfather was born way back in 1885.  He used to tell few tales about growing up in the village when it was still a gold mining town, I wish I had listened more attentively.....but you don't when you are young, do you?  Pop's birth was registered in the local courthouse when it was possibly the most important building in town; the building is still there, but now it's a museum.  His mother's name is wrongly given as Emma on the official record, although her name was Emily......I wonder if perhaps Pop's father John had been wetting the head of his seventh child and fourth son and so slipped up with his wife's name, or if perhaps he called her Em or Emma so that's what he told the clerk who was recording the details?

We will never know.

"In calling upon a man during business hours, transact your business rapidly and make your call as short as is consistent with the matters on hand.  As a rule, men have but little time to visit during business hours."

Yes, and make sure you get your wife's name correct on official forms.  Your descendants will not thank you for making their family history record search more difficult than it should have been.

Enjoy your days!

Spring is now springing

The weather is warming, wisteria is now flowering......it must be spring!  New seasons don't arbitrarily arrive on a particular day, they ease in gradually - and now spring flowers are blooming, trees are wearing their new green leaves, and the air smells like spring.  Perhaps it's only the neighbour's jasmine creeping over the fence......the smell of that stuff drowns out all other scents......

Not so good news for the next few days however with high temperatures, a hot wind and fire danger alerts, a bit early in the season but it does happen.  Hopefully it's just an aberration and things will settle down for a while afterwards.  Some rain would be welcome.

Last Sunday's treadling demonstration went well!  There was a lot of interest from folk of all ages, many people reminiscing - "my grandmother/aunt/neighbour had one of those" and admiration - "my goodness, you are clever" and incredulity - "it's so old, and it still works!"  When children were asked to guess how old the machine was their answers ranged from "about 20 years old" to "about 200 years old".

Over the previous few days the stash was raided and fabrics were cut out to make four bags.  I knew there would be no iron available so hems and facings were pressed at home beforehand, and two of the four were finished.  They still haven't been near an iron.

The ticking was given to me by a colleague several years ago.  She and her husband had a business restoring and selling old furniture; the restoration they did themselves, but the upholstery was always done professionally using beautiful (and probably quite expensive!) fabrics.  One day she gave me a bundle of leftovers including two long already-sewn pillow covers which, when cut across, were just the right size for bags.  Two strips were cut from each piece for handles, and fabric for linings came from my stash of elderly fabrics.

Two down, two to go.

These will also be made on the treadle, because it was such fun!

The lime green purse is creeping slowly towards the finish line, and now that the treadle weekend is done other projects can be worked on.  A Secret Squirrel project is also waiting its turn.

Haven't told you all about an outing we had a month ago.  Each August a big agricultural showcase, Agquip, is held in a town an hour away and, while many locals are blasé about it, we find it very interesting and have been a few times since moving here.  A highlight is lunch; this year we had Hereford steak sangers and very nice they were too; nothing flash and fancy, just a thin piece of tender steak with fried onions and a dash of barbecue sauce inside two pieces of bread.  There was a copy of the Hereford breeders' magazine on the table for lunchtime reading, while nearby in a small enclosure was a live example.  So you can admire the cattle and read about the cattle while you eat the cattle......we could have had Angus, or Murray Grey, or another breed......

We are having this month off choir because our fearless leader, Bill, is travelling overseas.  We miss our Thursday night singing.

"Time to send invitations.
Invitations for parties and entertainments of a formal nature can be sent out for a week or two weeks before the entertainment is to take place.  A notice of not less than one week is expected for such invitations.  They should be printed or engraved on small note paper or large cards, with the envelopes to match, with no colors in the monogram, if one is used."

Do people still send out such printed and engraved invitations, or are they now delivered online or by text?

Enjoy your days!