We're just.....hopping along, you might say

Back when we lived in the Big Smoke our view was of neighbours' yards, and the street out the front with more houses across the road.  We now have an uninhabited hill behind us which is home to a mob of kangaroos; sometimes male roos, being fueled by testosterone and the desire to win the heart of of a young female roo, get stuck into each other.

These aren't the most brilliant shots ever taken, I was inside the house and had to zoom in; that's our wash line in the way.

When I - very quietly and carefully - opened the door to go outside for a better pic they hopped away, but not before I heard the grunts of the fight.  There's nothing wrong with their hearing, for sure.

They were back at it again this morning, too far away to even try for a photo.

The Ontario runner has had its backing pieced, and is layered and pinned ready for quilting.  Hopefully that will be done this week.......I want to have it finished!

Stitches have been knitted on the redacted scarf, and already I am much happier with it than I was with the previous design.  Stitches have also been taken on more rows of tumblers.  Books have been read......I'm a quick reader, and have been known to read a book in one sitting.  It's very hard to tear one's self away from a book one is enjoying, yes?

Today we're trying a different slant on a favourite soup recipe.  I have sometimes made cauliflower and bacon soup (which looks quite uninspiring, but tastes delicious) but this time chorizo is being substituted for bacon.  Hopefully its smokey flavour will do wonders for the otherwise fairly bland taste of cauliflower - which is why bacon is usually added - and we will have soup for several lunches. 

It has rained.  More rain is forecast, very welcome rain, because we are still in drought.  Not such a welcome story to the south-east along the coast, where some very expensive houses will probably fall into the ocean due to erosion.  Someone - original owner/s, developer, local council who has to give approval for such things - perhaps should have gazed into their crystal ball and thought "hey......building on unstable sand dunes isn't really a great idea, is it?"  It's not a new problem; back in 1978 a house in the same area fell into the ocean during a storm, but of course, as some folk say on the renno porn TV shows, "we wanna be right on the water!"  So we will ignore the history of such events, and ignore the science, and then weep and wail and gnash our teeth when our mansion topples into the sea.

I'm sorry these people have lost their homes, having survived two plumbing floods we have a small taste of what they are going through.....but honestly, did they just think their houses would stay on that high soft dune above the ocean forever?  Hindsight is easy, but perhaps a moratorium on all development within a couple of kilometres (or a mile, in old money) of the coast should have been considered a long time ago.

"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 than 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."

Probably.

Enjoy your days!

Serendipity

How is everyone this week......surviving another week of not doing much at all, I hope?

Once again, not much has happened here either.  We have kept a low profile because it is school holidays, bringing people from other parts of the state to our town - but probably not many from interstate, because borders aren't open unless you have a permit and a good reason to cross the border.  This means that, apart from some hunting and gathering, we have stayed home.

Which has led to sewing time, which also led to a serendipitous discovery.  Borders have been added to the Ontario runner on all four sides.

My stash yielded brown for the narrow border, and a dark yellow-green which is Just Right for the outer border.  Thoughts were thought about backing fabric; those thoughts were that there was nothing suitable in the stash, so a shopping trip might have to happen.

Then I happened to look on a different shelf, and look what was there - the very thing!

Don't you reckon these two were made for each other?  The darker fabric has a leaf design, the lighter is a floral design from a Christmas range more years ago than I can remember.  There is more than enough; the back will need to be joined, so a strip of the darker fabric may be used for interest.  Thoughts are still being thought on that.  Binding will be the darker fabric.

The scarf which was on the needles - actually needle, because there is only one circular being used - has been pulled undone and a different pattern started.  It has gone from being Pembroke to being Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf; a little has been done, and so far I am much happier with how the stripes are falling in the design.

Who do you reckon decided that filming people in hospital emergency rooms was a good idea?  I think it's a horrible thing to do; I know - I hope! - consent has to be given for the film to be used, but what an awful intrusive thing to happen to someone who is far from their best at the time.  Kevin has his orders that, should I be in extremis and someone approaches me with a camera, to send them away immediately (with rude words if necessary) and I have promised to do the same for him.  Perhaps if you have an interest in medical stuff it might be interesting viewing, but all I can think of is......what a gross invasion of privacy.

We have noticed at the airport in the Big Smoke, on our return from trips to Canada, signs informing that filming is being done for the program about security in airports and elsewhere.  The signs say that you should tell the film crew if you don't wish to be filmed - but shouldn't it be the other way round?  Shouldn't they have to ask permission first?  Just keep those cameras out of my face, folks.

I've been on television.  That five minutes of fame is not all it's cracked up to be, you know.

"Introductions.
An acquaintanceship or friendship usually begins by means of introductions, though it is by no means uncommon that when it has taken place under other circumstances - without introduction - it has been a great advantage to both parties; nor can it be said that it is improper to begin an acquaintance in this way.  The formal introduction has been called the highway to the beginning of friendship, and the "scraped" acquaintance the by-path."

This also applies to camera crews, in my thinking.

Enjoy your days!

In which we are still mooching along

It's the times for mooching, isn't it?  Very little outside social life, not much happening at all.......so we mooch along, day by day.

Not a whole heap has been done, although thoughts have been thunk about doing Stuff.

A couple more houses have been built.

 Cats peeking through a window, and kittens playing on a door.  I hesitate to use the term "cat house" because it has connotations......so these are houses with cats, not cat houses; the peeking cats have flowers in their garden, while the playing kittens just have lawn.

These are two Row By Rows which were gifts on our visit to Canada in 2015 - I love the colours!  Top one is from B.C., bottom from Ontario.  They are both supposed to finish the same width but don't, because after the Ontario row was assembled I saw the line I had missed in the instructions:  "Trim strips to 1-1/2 in wide before joining."  Oops......mine are wider but I like the extra width; it is going to have borders added and will be a table runner.

They have been sitting patiently waiting to rise to the top of the pile of Stuff to be finished.  Ontario will have a narrow border of brown to match the trunks then a wider border of green to compliment the trees.  Thoughts are still being thought about finishing B.C.

Thoughts have also been thought about the scarf currently on the needles, and the thought is that it might be pulled undone and a different pattern knitted.  It's self-striping yarn and I don't care for how the stripes are falling.

There is supposed to be a lot of rain forecast, but apart from a dribble early yesterday morning we are still waiting.  Never mind......if it comes, it comes, and if it doesn't - why then, there is nothing we can do about it, is there?  This morning was very foggy, so at least there is moisture around.

When we tire of mooching, one way to switch our brains off is to watch renno porn - house hunting and renovation shows.  We have our favourites although there are some we don't watch because we don't like the presenters, but the scenery is often gorgeous and the houses are interesting.  One thing, however, which has me saying "ew" is carpet in bathrooms......why?  I get the thing about warmth underfoot on a cold morning, but in the toidy area.......ew.  Obviously put in by someone who never had to toilet train small boys.

There are, however, many evenings when we just turn the TV off and listen to classical radio or find an internet station which plays our kind of music.  Doesn't seem to matter how many channels there are, there's still no guarantee that there will be something which appeals, is there?  We both grew up in an era before TV, so not having it doesn't bother us; if it were to suddenly stop working tomorrow I wouldn't be worried, but Kevin might miss his occasional sport fix - although it must be said, there isn't as much sport as usual in these current times of plague because so many events have been cancelled.

"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 forebears have been famed.  Climate undoubtedly has had much to do with this, for the youths of the "Radiant Land" of Australia are peculiarly favored in this respect."

That may have been thought to be true in 1885 when it was written, but not every Australian has "Anglo-Saxon forebears" - and certainly did not back then either!  We are a mix, a melting pot of ancestors from many nations, as are other countries.

Enjoy your days!

We have had visitors!

Such a rare thing these days, except for the electricians who recently installed a couple of lights.  These were proper visitors, friends on their way home from visiting family.  It was so good to see them, and to sit and chat for a while, and to enjoy coffee and a nice slice together.  For the non-Aussies, a 'slice' is what you would call sweet bars or squares.  This recipe is very forgiving; so long as you use the correct weight of fruit it doesn't matter what the fruit is, you can even throw in some walnuts or pecans for variety.  This morning's was a mix of sultanas, chopped dates and dried cranberries and is very nice. 

Aren't these gorgeous mugs?  They came all the way from Canada - thank you, Rose Marie!  They are even sitting on Canadian fabric.

We certainly needed that coffee to warm us, this morning was freezy frosty chilly.  It was cooler than towns north of here which are usually much colder than we are!  We even had frost on the front lawn; I don't remember that happening for the past couple of years because there was so little moisture in the air thanks to the drought, but not so this year.  We have already had several frosts on the hill, and winter is a long way from being over.

The mindless feeding through of fabric continues in the sewing room.  More leaves have been made, only two left to go now, and lots of these blocks are done.  This is the start of over 300 required for the design.....all lovely autumn colours.

Once the leaves are done it will be put aside for a while as the blocks on my Canadian quilt are calling my name.  Lots and lots of applique stitching down to be done on those; to make it easy I will use poly thread, otherwise the thread colour changes would give me the heeby jeebies.

Some music notes have been plinked.  Playing by oneself is nowhere near as much fun as playing with others, but it's better than not playing at all, isn't it?  My finger callouses have softened so they need to be worked on to toughen them again.......which means playing more than I have been.

Our world is opening up.  During the height of the plague we had no trouble getting a parking spot right outside our pharmacy, but no longer.  However, we're still keeping cautious for a while yet.

"Do not lack politeness.
Never hesitate in acts of politeness for fear they will not be recognized or returned.  One cannot be too polite so long as he conforms to rules, while it is easy to lack politeness by neglect to them.  Besides, if courtesy is met by neglect or rebuff, it is not for the courteous person to feel mortification, but the boorish one; and so all lookers-on will regard the matter."

Indeed.  It is still possible to be polite while maintaining the required social distance, as we need to currently do.

Enjoy your days!

To my Canadian family and friends......

.....best wishes for Canada day!

The town is growing

Another couple of house blocks were made the other day, taking the grand total to nine.

One house doesn't use much fabric as they are only 6-1/2 inches square, so they are a long way from being stashbusting blocks!  It's just for fun......and we all need fun in our lives during what is becoming a trying time, don't we?

Some leaf blocks have been made, six are now finished.  This is how the quilt centre will be arranged, not necessarily with these four blocks.

There are also over 300 half-square blocks to be made each measuring four and a half inches, so they have become leaders and enders while making the fifteen leaf blocks - and I am very happy with it; those gorgeous autumn colours make my heart sing.

Yesterday was quite a momentous occasion, the first Saturday quilt group meeting since late February was held.  We aren't a big group even when everyone is present and there were a few missing anyway, but it was good to be out among friends chatting and sewing together.  To make the day complete we even had our morning tea and lunch at the cafe attached to the store where we meet.  That made the second coffee in a few days that someone else made for me, because we did shout ourselves a coffee and a treat earlier in the week.....and what a treat that was, after so long.

We have had a few cold frosty mornings, not surprising considering that it is, indeed, winter.  I much prefer winter to summer but do feel the cold, so you will usually find me rugged up for all I'm worth.  Our stroll along the main drag for coffee was a chilly stroll, but it was worth every minute when that coffee arrived in front of me.

Kevin has gone back to playing lawn bowls, and I am enjoying a little 'me time' when he does.  Twenty fours hours a day for weeks on end is a lot of togetherness.

We've been in the fortunate position in this town of having very few cases of the current plague with no new cases for two months now, so we're much better off in our smaller community that if we still lived in the Big Smoke.  Providing that things don't get much worse we are tentatively planning a trip to Canberra in September, nearly six months after we would have gone, but it is still tentative.  We won't be going to the folk festival north of here in October because sadly it isn't going to happen this year, and of course the festival at Easter had to be cancelled, but a break away would be nice.

"Requirements for a happy marriage.
Respect for each other is as necessary to a happy marriage as that the husband and wife should have an affection for one another.  Social equality, intellectual sympathy, and sufficient means are very important matters to be considered by those who contemplate matrimony."

I wonder if the writer of those words could anticipate the happy couple being shut up together for months on end?

Enjoy your days!

Time for the autumn leaves

Now that the tree hanging is done, it's time for one of my favourite pastimes - mindlessly feeding fabric through the machine.

A couple of years ago while going through some 'free to good home' magazines at a local quilt shop a front-cover project caught my eye.....can't resist those autumn colours......so it came home with me.  All the fabrics have been cut for a while, some half square triangles sewn as leaders and enders then trimmed to size.  One hundred and twenty 2-1/2 inch squares are a wee bit fiddly-diddly to trim - not all at once, thank goodness - but they are now all done.  Then 15 stems had to be made, because there are 15 leaves.  This will be the first one, pieces are laid out ready to be joined.

The magazine design (an issue from 2007 of a now defunct Aussie magazine) had the leaves all in shades of one colour, all red, all green, etc., but I like my autumn leaves mixed, so mixed they shall be.  Just like leaves are in real life.  Lots of different backgrounds (but no white, the corner piece is actually a pale beige print) and lots and lots of leaf prints, many of which are souvenirs from Canadaian trips.

Then.....would you believe it?  While going through magazines recently to sort out what to keep and what to give to the Rotary Club book shed I found I already had that magazine!  The spare copy has now been donated along with other books and magazines, and a couple of books from the Rotary Club book shed came home with me in return.  We have all missed the Book Shed which has, of course, been closed for a few months but is now open again.

Every town needs a Book Shed.  It's a place for us to donate our unwanted books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, jigsaw puzzles.......and a place to buy more.  Yesterday my $5 bought me two good quilt books (each of which probably cost up to $40 new, and they are both only a few years old) and a CD, and the money raised goes to support various worthy causes.

Welcome to Frédérique from France, the first time I have had a French visitor to my blog!  

What do you think of the new Blogger?  Looks like it is being forced on us whether we want it or not, so I might as well give it a try.  No use postponing the inevitable, is there.  

Today is the winter solstice, the day of the year with the least amount of sunlight.  Pretty right too; it's been a cold grey day with a few showers, a good day to stay indoors and sew.  Or look at those two new books on scrappy quilts.  Or veg out on the computer.

"Always recognize acquaintances.

One should always recognize lady acquaintances in the street, either by bowing or words of greeting, a gentleman lifting his hat.  If they stop to speak, it is not obligatory to shake hands.  Shaking hands is not forbidden, but in most cases it is to be avoided in public."

Looks like that answers last week's question, doesn't it?  Of course, when that was written in 1885 people - most ladies and many gentlemen - would have worn gloves in public, so no touching of actual hands would have taken place.

Enjoy your days!