Brrr.......

Winter hasn't yet gone......this morning was frosty chilly, minus 2 deg C, and the past few days a nasty chilly wind has stopped us from frolicking among the dandelions in our bare feet.  We have even had a fire again, much to Bianca's delight.  Next weekend is supposed to be a different story.

Black and white fabrics have been getting cut out.  The last of this was used.  I'm not into collecting and re-using selvedges, but I will keep this one because......

......my middle name is Grace!

'Jennifer' was a very popular name for girls of my age, there were several other Jennifers in my year at school.  Most were Jennifer Ann/Anne, one was Jennifer Margaret, but I am Jennifer Grace.

My mother had a cousin, Dorothy Grace, who died in 1926 when she was only 15.  While I wasn't the first girl born in the family after her death I was, as far as I know, the first one to be named after Dorothy Grace, whose middle name seems to have been used in preference to her first name.  Thank goodness for that, I say; 'Jennifer Dorothy' would have been a bit of a mouthful.

We will be lying a little low for the next couple of weeks as school holidays may bring visitors (and their germs) to our town, now that the world is opening up a little.  The only outings will be for some hunting and gathering, although the thought of a road trip is taking shape in my mind.  One of the possible routes we take when going to Canberra has an alternative road which we were warned was not suitable for caravans, but it has apparently now been upgraded and sealed......so we might, one day soon, go for a Nice Sunday Drive on a weekday to a smaller town and try out said road sans caravan.  If we think it's a bit hairy for the return trip we can come home via the slightly longer way that we have previously used.

Perhaps one day we may be able to take the caravan away again, but who knows what may happen next year?  Already many events which would have taken place in 2021 are being cancelled.

Thursday night choir is back, although numbers are down.  The ukulele group is in talks, as they say in the media, about returning in a couple of weeks and it's looking positive.  Playing in a group again would be wonderful.

"The table appointments.

A snow-white cloth of the finest damask, beautiful china, glistening or finely-engraved glass, and polished plate are considered essential to a grand dinner.  Choice flowers, ferns and mosses tastefully arranged, add much to the beauty of the table.  A salt-cellar should be placed within the reach of every guest.  Napkins should be folded square and placed with a roll of bread upon each plate.  The dessert is placed on the table amidst the flowers.  An epergne, or a low dish of flowers, graces the centre; stands of bon-bons and confectionery are ranged on both sides of the table, which complete the decorations of the table.  The name of each guest, written upon a card and placed one on each plate, marks the seat assigned."

Oh my.....I wonder what the author of these words would think about the current habit (one in which, I'm afraid, Kevin and I do sometimes indulge, and I would bet some of you do too) of eating from a tray on one's lap while watching television?

Enjoy your days!

A week of firsts

Quite a few 'firsts' have happened this week.  On Tuesday my first volunteer shift happened at a local gallery - volunteers started back last month but I didn't want to appear before the public looking like Dr Frankenstein's monster, so held back for a month - it was good to be out and about again.

Friday afternoon was my first time volunteering at a history museum - that was also postponed for a month - but as no visitors came, there was no social distancing to worry about.  It was also warm enough to wear a short-sleeved top, and......sandals!  First time for both bare arms and bare toes for several months.

It has rained.  The forecast is for more rain.  That will be good.

Following some deep thinking, yesterday a box was taken out of the cupboard in my sewing room and now cutting has re-commenced......not the gorgeous orange batik, but these black and white prints and others not in the pic.

These were already cut; triangles now, they will become diamonds.  

The design was inspired by a workshop a few years ago with Jenny Bowker, whose work I have long admired.  Unfortunately that was also the year of our two floods when nearly everything in our lives was shelved until things returned to a semblance of normality.  The original plan was for light and dark black and white background prints, but a quilt seen on our last Canadian visit which only used light black and white prints turned my mind in a different direction - so, mine will be all light.  The darks will keep for another project.  Or two.  Or maybe more.

I like black and white quilts.....this will be my third.

These creamy iris are flowering again just outside our back fence, planted by the previous owner.  They flowered the first year we moved here but have seldom flowered since, probably due to being trampled and eaten by visiting cattle from the other side of the hill.  The cattle haven't been around for ages......but today I noticed there is one flower, with more to come!

Days are getting longer, those lovely dark winter mornings have ended.  One has never been a person who bounds out of bed at the first sign of light, to cheerfully greet the new day.  One likes dark mornings.  We will have a short reprieve soon when daylight saving starts in a couple of weeks, but that will be it for some months.

Sigh.......

"The success of a dinner.

A host and hostess generally judge of the success of a dinner by the manner in which conversation has been sustained.  It if has flagged often, it is considered proof that the guests have not been congenial; but if a steady stream of talk has been kept up, it shows that they have smoothly amalgamated, as a whole.  No one should monopolize conversation, unless he wishes to win for himself the appellation of a bore, and be avoided as such."

No mention of mobile phones disrupting conversation, you notice.

Enjoy your days!

In which we are still mooching along.......

It has been a week of not doing much.  Stitches have been sewn, none have been knitted.  Books have been read.  Notes have been plinked (yay!) and even sung (double yay!).

Stitching down the applique on the Canadian blocks has resumed.  Nunavut is done, New Brunswick isn't far from being done......in that order.  Nunavut had easier shapes for stitching, so it was done first.  

Pictures of these were shown earlier this year and they don't look much different now because the stitching is being done with see-through polyester thread.  If it wasn't, can't you imagine the squillions of thread colour changes?  Doesn't bear thinking about, does it?

We'll have some flowers instead, because it's spring.  These are all plants from our garden in the Big Smoke.

Love the new shoots on this bottle brush - Callistemon 'Taree Pink'.  It was an impulse buy as a very small plant from the local hardware shop, which had a small but excellent garden section.  I took it home, found a spot on the north-east corner of the front of the house, planted it - then stood back and watched while it grew.  I have never know a plant which grew so quickly.

A pink bottle brush poking its head in at the side, and creamy white Grevillea 'Moonlight'.

Another grevillea - I think this is 'Robyn Gordon'.

'Taree Pink' again.  If everything we planted grew as well as this did, I would be a happy woman!

The Big Smoke's climate is much more humid with milder winters than here, and these plants loved it.  We did plant a 'Taree Pink' here; it turned up its toes at the first sign of a proper winter.......but perhaps I might try again.

I really like our Aussie native plants.  They don't have the gorgeous autumn colour that trees from other countries do but their new growth in spring is often a glorious bronze, just as spectacular in its own way.  They are often rich in nectar which attracts a lot of birds, and of course watching them makes for great entertainment.

Speaking of birds......a few days ago I heard an odd tapping noise, and couldn't think what it could be.  It happened again yesterday morning, and turned out to be one of our resident peewees, more usually seen flying around looking for insects.  They are often seen pecking at the 'other' bird in a car mirror or window - this one was pecking at the bottom corner of the big floor-to-ceiling window; its beak tapping on the window was the odd noise.

Have I ever told you the details of my etiquette book, bought many years at a library cull for just a dollar or two?  It was originally published in 1885, probably in the U.S. judging by the spelling, with an Australian edition in 1886; mine is a 'facsimile edition' (meaning an exact copy, even down to typeface) published in 1980.  It's full title is "Australian etiquette, or the rules and usages of the best society in the Australasian colonies, together with their sports, pastimes, games and amusements.  Revised, illustrated and compiled expressly as a household treasure for Australian homes."  Several years ago bloggers were signing off with a quote from a book or poem, or sometimes a Bible verse or inspirational saying - I decided on advice from my book.  It was published at a time when some people moving into 'society' for the first time may have been unsure how to behave in social situations, but for all that is not too stiff - its advice is more about courtesy and making others, as well as one's self, feel at ease no matter what the occasion.

"Punctuality.

The hour generally selected in cities is after business hours, or from five to eight o'clock.  In the country or villages it may be an hour or two earlier.  To be punctual at the hour mentioned is obligatory.  If you are too early you are in the way; if too late you annoy the hostess, cause impatience among the assembled guests, and perhaps spoil the dinner.  Fifteen minutes is the longest time required to wait for a tardy guest."

Advice as true today as in 1885, yes?

Enjoy your days!

It's a big world out there

I didn't realise it was so huge!  Best of all, I can sew - or read, or knit, or do just about anything - without having to stop for frequent breaks because of muscle tiredness around my eyes.  The deterioration was probably such a gradual process for several years that I hadn't realised how bad it had become, so when the surgeon muttered words like "take out at least seven to eight millimetres" which is way over a quarter of an inch......all I could think of was "ohmygawd", but every millimetre has been worth it.  Thankfully the bruises are finally fading now and stitches are becoming less noticeable.

Another house was made, this time twice as big.

It's a bit on the lairy side, isn't it?  For the non-Aussies "lairy" is a word meaning flashy or showy; it is first documented in print in 1906 but sadly isn't heard as much these days, although was still common when I was growing up.  The world needs more lairy houses, doesn't it?

Because our quilt group didn't meet for several months I missed out on my turns for block of the month, so when Madame Presidente asked if I would do one for early October I thought I should say yes.  I did think of handing out the instructions for my little houses but, because some members seem to have an aversion to anything with small pieces, the house size was doubled to 12 inches.  These blocks are often used to make kids' quilts for charity, so bright houses will be fine.  That pink/purple/gold/black stripe is one of my "whatever was I thinking when I bought this?" fabrics but it makes a cheerful house, while the yellow door is nearly the last of that fabric; I shall miss it.

Spring has been springing ever higher now.  Wattle Day came and went with nary a morsel of gold on our little bush, but there has still been plenty of golden gorgeousness around town.

Speaking of lairy houses, isn't it about time that grey has had its day?  It has been popular, inside and out, for some time now.  While we're making changes, whose bright idea was it to paint ceilings and/or walls black, and add dark floors?  Dark kitchens too - dark cupboard doors with black (granite, of course) bench tops suck the light out of a room.  I'm not a fan of white on white kitchens - too cold and clinical for me - but surely there is a happy medium which is not grey.

Those folk who hand over the keys to a renovator and give them carte blanche to do what they like are very trusting, aren't they? I would be saying no black, no grey, absolutely no pink whatsoever, no red, purple or shades thereof, no white, grey or black kitchen, no granite or marble at all.......it still leaves green, and blue, and yellow, and orange, and cream, which is warmer than white.

We have also noticed tables disappearing in some houses, replaced by a high island at which one perches on a stool.  Not for me; I like to sit on a proper chair at a proper table, thank you, and enjoy my meal.

While looking at accommodation options online before our last trip to Canada we saw some apartments which had no table, just the aforementioned bench with stools - which is why the apartment we rented had a table and chairs by a window, with a view over a sometimes busy but always interesting street.

"Dinner a la Russe.

The latest and most satisfactory plan for serving dinners is the dinner a la Russe (the Russian style) - all the food being placed upon a side table, and servants do the carving and waiting.  This style gives an opportunity for more profuse ornamentation of the table, which, as the meal progresses, does not become encumbered with partially empty dishes and platters."

That sounds very civilised to me, but due to the lack of servants in this household is unlikely to happen.

Enjoy your days!

Stitches have been taken out, and stitches have been put in

The stitches around my eyes were taken out on Tuesday morning, and my world is much brighter and bigger than it has been for a long time!  There is still bruising and marks from sutures and incisions, but hopefully they will eventually be less noticeable.  I am self-conscious about going out in public because of the no-doubt-inevitable question "what happened to you?"

As the song says, ain't nobody's business but mine..........

In addition to some hand-piecing and knitting, four little houses were made during the week.

The village now has 15 houses.

The design in "Freddy's house" uses 61 houses; another four have been cut out, if my maths is correct that makes 42 still to be cut.  There's no hurry on this......it's just something fun to dip into when the fancy takes me.  It needs a name, but no doubt something witty will pop into my head one day.

Spring seems to be springing, yesterday was very nice and today is even nicer.......but I can't smell it.  You know that indefinable 'something' in the air - a waft of scent from spring flowers, the feel of warmth on one's bare arms, even having one's bare arms bared at all - it's not quite here yet.

Spring also means pulling out weeds.  Sigh.......for the past couple of years it has also meant glorious golden blossom on our little wattle bush, but something seems to have munched on those tender little blossom buds and this year there are none.  If I could get my hands on those little blossom-munching bugs I would not be kind to them.  I don't read murder stories for nothing, you know.  The knowledge gained may come in handy one day.

The incentive to play music has sunk way back inside my head; not being able to play together with friends has made my brain very sad.  However during the week I did put together a song arrangement and send it around, who knows - perhaps one day we may be able to perform it.

Even sadder is the fact that we don't know when we will be able to see our Canaussian boy and his lovely partner again.  That makes me so sad that I try not to think about it.  International travel has become a pie-in-the-sky dream, whether we go to Canada (looking extremely unlikely now) or they come here (also looking unlikely).  

"The salutation after introduction.

A slight bow is all that is required by courtesy, after an introduction.  Shaking hands is optional, and it should rest with the older, or the superior in social standing to make the advances.  It is often an act of kindness on their part, and as such to be commended.  It is a common practice among gentlemen, when introduced to one another, to shake hands, and as it evinces more cordiality than a mere bow, is generally to be preferred.  An unmarried lady should not shake hands with gentlemen indiscrimately."

I won't be shaking hands with those little blossom-munching bugs.  Should we meet, I will probably slap them from here to next week.  Or even next month.  Or next year.......

Enjoy your days!

Two more sleeps.......two more wake ups

The appointment to have the stitches in my face removed is early o'clock on Tuesday morning, at 8.a.m.; quite early considering how cold it is - we have had some very very chilly weather - but I will be there on the dot, even if I haven't breakfasted first.

It's too soon to notice any difference when looking in a mirror, the same old woman looks back at me - but the difference in my sight is amazing.  As the song says, I can see clearly now!  The bruising is still very noticeable though.  Perhaps when that fades and any suture marks disappear I may look truly gorgeous.  In my dreams......

On to much happier stuff.

It's only been in the past few days I have been able to wear my glasses for any length of time without irritation from sutures.  Some knitting has happened however, the scarf in progress has been undone (again) and is now in progress again (again).  Version 2 was coming along nicely when, a couple of days ago, I looked at what had been done......then looked at how much yarn remained on the ball......and thought "hmmm......this needs to be narrower, or it will end up shorter than I want it to be".  So it was undone and restarted.  About one inch had been completed when it was compared to a previously made scarf, and it still didn't look right.  So it was undone again, and Version 3 re-started with a size bigger needle.  Success!

Oh well.  While all that happened it kept me out of mischief, didn't it?

Warm scarves are definitely the order of the day, yesterday was really really cold and today isn't much better.  Our "feels like" has barely touched 5 deg C all day; last time we were this cold was when we were wandering around Canada late in 2018.  Bianca hasn't stirred much from her cushion in front of the fire.

Aren't these stunning colours?  They were taken at Bathurst on our way home from an Easter trip to Canberra, some years ago.

It can get quite cold at Bathurst, which means their autumn colours are beautiful.  Yesterday they had snow.

The wall below had memorial plaques to pioneers of the district set along the top.

It was a pleasant, if slightly cool, place to stop for lunch.

A couple of days ago while browsing through the book, "Freddy's house" by Freddy Moran, I came across an idea that will work for my little house blocks.  61 houses will be needed, each will be framed by four triangles to make 'square in a square' blocks set on point - and for those frames I will use black and white prints.  Freddy's house blocks is different to mine but is the same size, so the cutting instructions will work.  I like Freddy's work, her colour sense is very exuberant and her designs are fun.

How are you all doing with the new Blogger?  I am still sorting it out but so far so good, although I may need to fiddle around with a different template.

"The word "present" is often used in place of "introduce".  While it is customary to repeat the names of the two parties introduced at the close of the introduction, it is often omitted as a useless formality.  It is of the utmost importance that each name should be spoken distinctly.  If either of the parties does not distinctly hear the name of the other he should say at once, without hesitation or embarrassment, before making the bow, "I beg your pardon; I did not catch (or understand) the name" when it may be repeated to him."

Indeed.  It is probably slightly embarrassing to immediately forget the name of someone to whom one has been introduced.

Enjoy your days!

Slicing and dicing and stitching back together

That is not what happened in my sewing room over the past week......it's what happened to me.

Earlier this year during my regular eye check-up the optometrist recommended seeing an opthalmic surgeon about my diminishing range of vison.  A sad fact of being older is that one's skin sags, and if that droopy skin is in one's eye area it does affect one's sight; just imagine those teeny tiny muscles around our eyes straining to keep our lids open, leading to eye tiredness and a narrowing of our field of vision, as the surgeon explained it.  A date was duly made to have the offending skin dealt with - then the world fell apart, and that date was cancelled.  It was eventually rescheduled so last Monday morning I duly presented myself to hospital, was poked, prodded and spiked, given some happy juice, sliced, diced and stitched back together as mentioned above, bandaged up, and sent on my merry way looking like Dr Frankenstein's monster.

However all is now well, the swelling is going down, the bruising isn't quite so technicolour, and the sutures will be removed in just over a week from now.  Nothing much could be done for a few days (which is very boring) but now I can wear my glasses again so can read on my tablet without having the font enlarged to the point of ridiculousness, and I can knit.  I am already noticing quite a difference in how far I can see vertically and horizontally, so the discomfort will be worth it.  

There were no selfies taken.  Two black eyes is not a good look.  I know this from past experience; 20 years ago I was accidentally hit on the bridge of the nose during Scottish country dancing.  I stayed upright (not sure how, it was quite a whack) but did see stars, and had two black eyes as a result.  Fortunately it was the start of a fortnight's school holidays so by the time I had to go back to work much of the bruising had settled.

This is a roundabout way of saying there are no pictures of my week's achievements, because nothing was achieved.  Revisiting some of the photos on our computer, these were taken in Canberra several years ago in the garden of the National Gallery of Australia.

I don't know what the berry is - perhaps it's poisonous?  Blue plants often seem to be, and this is very blue.  The red flower is a Grevillea.

I don't know this one either, but it's pretty.  Even though it's pink.  Pretty sure it's a native.

If you have left a comment on my blog and I haven't replied, you are a 'no-reply' blogger and might want to look at changing your settings; I haven't been ignoring you, I always reply if possible!  Elaine from Vancouver left a comment recently and I appreciate your visit, but couldn;t let you know.

"It is the part of true politeness, after introductions, to explain to each person introduced something of the business or residence of each, as they will assist in opening conversation.  Or, if one party has recently returned from a foreign trip, it is courteous to say so."

I suspect overseas tripping has been curtailed for good, so that's out as a topic of conversation, isn't it?

Enjoy your days!