Alas....it was not to be

The Cunning Plan to have all the binding sewn down on my Canadian quilt didn't happen in time for show and tell yesterday....but that's all right.  It can be shown at the meeting at the end of January so I don't have to rush.  It is more than half done, anyway.

So now my thoughts have turned to houses.  To be specific, the box of house blocks and sashing strips and setting triangles.  And backing fabric.  And Stuff like that.

Very merry and cheerful and bright, yes?  It's going to be a fun quilt.

Gorgeous fallen leaves in the car park at Butchart Gardens in autumn, taken just because the ruby and garnet colours were so lovely.....a good reason to visit Canada in fall.

The cone is one of the lights found throughout the garden.  We have been lucky enough to visit in summer when the roses and other flowers were in bloom, and also in autumn with foliage colours.  On our last visit the annual display featuring the twelve days of Christmas was being set up, which was fun to see.

What a busy week, I'm glad to draw a line under it!  Two ukulele gigs and a choir concert, all of which went well, plus the usual weekly rehearsals, and hunting and gathering, and socialising.....next week is looking (slightly!) less hectic, thank goodness.  An end-of-year dinner with the choir on Thursday night will be the highlight; I always enjoy a meal I haven't had to think about, prepare, cook and clean up afterward.

Words have been read.  No stitches have been knitted, no diamonds have been cut or sewn.  More had better be cut soon, the waiting-to-be-joined stack is perilously low.  Notes have been plinked and songs sung.  That's about it.

Here in Australia the concept of 'Black Friday sales' has never been big but over the past couple of years its popularity has, as they say in the media, soared to new heights.  Our traditional big sale day is Boxing Day but if one is shopping for Christmas pressies it makes more sense to shop a few weeks earlier, doesn't it?  To that end we betook ourselves out a few days ago and I was able to find some cropped navy pants to replace a pair which are still fine for wearing at home, but less so for wearing out.  That's probably my not-very-major purchase for the year done.

Last of the big time spenders, me.

It has not rained all week!  Today is quite warm and sunny, a foretaste of summer.  A couple of days ago Kevin rolled the outside blinds down to shade the windows on the north side - our sunny side - if the sun doesn't hit the windows so fiercely, the rooms inside stay cooler.  They were a purchase several years ago, and we are so pleased we did it.  It won't be so hot after tomorrow so we will enjoy the cooler weather before summer really hits hard.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Intrusive Inquiries.

If you meet or join or are visited by a person who has any article whatever, under his arm or in his hand, and he does not offer to show it to you, you should not, even if it be your most intimate friend, take it from him and look at it.  That intrusive curiosity is very inconsistent with the delicacy of a well-bred man, and always offends in some degree."

In other words, don't be nosy.  If your friend wants to show you the article, she/he will do so.  If she/he doesn't wish to do so then, in the immortal words of Kath and Kim, "mind your own beeswax".

Enjoy your days!

A corner has been turned!

A cause for much rejoicing, let me tell you.

The binding was re-joined correctly, and all is good.  Even the final join (often a bit tricky) was done without incident, although I noticed when pinning the binding to the quilt that there could be, just might be, a very small tuck where there shouldn't be one.....but I won't tell if you don't.

The binding is now being sewn down on the back with tidgy widgy little stitches, and more than a quarter is done.  I always start a little way down from a corner so, by the time the fourth corner is turned, there isn't much binding left to be sewn.  The Cunning Plan is to have it finished for show and tell next Saturday morning....not sure if it will be, but I'll give it a go.  I sew until my fingers get tired, have a break, sew some more....

Last week was very busy, this week is quieter.  There is still one ukulele gig on Wednesday evening, and that's it for the month.  Four gigs - I don't think we have ever had that many in the space of just a few weeks!

This morning we played for a fundraiser fair and it was fun, although it's always hard work being outside.  We were under cover which is better than being in the open - at least we could be heard - but by the time we finished I just wanted to go home to peace and quiet.  The local pipe band played and, much as I love the sounds of the pipes, they are definitely an outdoor instrument!  Another band played in the same space as we did before and after us, and they were good; a bit jazzy, a bit boppy, and they played songs that we knew so we sang along.

One thing our town is famous for is its beautiful jacaranda trees and this year they have been late to flower, probably due to the cool wet start to the season.  However they have caught up, our trips towards town are now brightened by the beautiful trees in full bloom along the way.

Here we are - we made number 5!  This pic though was taken in our back yard in the Big Smoke where we had a self-seeded jacaranda; it appeared as a small seedling twenty years before we moved out, and we enjoyed its beauty every year.  Looking at maps and satellite pics, though, that lovely tree has now gone.  It wasn't a large yard and by the time we left the tree took up most of it, but we enjoyed it for its shade and its flowers.

The forthcoming season is now making its presence felt more and more.  Shop displays....ads on TV......people out and about today in seasonal clothes.....goodness, I don't even think of getting out my Christmas earrings until at least the first of December!  Our younger son's birthday is 2nd December and we always celebrated his birthday before starting the family Christmas, and even though he has been in Canada for nearly 18 years and had moved out of home before going there, we still keep the same tradition.  He was born early, he wasn't due until 20th December; The One And Only Grandkid's birthday is 19th December, which is even closer to the big day.  

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"A crowded street.

When a gentleman and lady are walking in the street, if at any place, by reason of the crowd, or from other cause, they are compelled to proceed singly, the gentleman should always precede his companion."

One thing which I notice in old street scene photographs is the number of people out walking.  There would have been few distractions such as movies, television, even radio, so if you wanted a social life you went out.  One could stroll along showing off one's new outfit and admiring - or not! - others' new outfits, too....and of course one would definitely need an escort to precede one, through such a crowd.

Enjoy your days!

There's the right way, and there's the wrong way

A few days ago the binding for my Canadian quilt was cut, diagonal seam lines marked - because if seam lines are marked the strips are sewn together correctly, right? - and the strips joined.  The wrong way.  Thse seams have now been fixed, and there is one long strip instead of strips going off at strange angles to each other.

My calculations were correct; the seven strips called for in the pattern were much too long so I cut five strips and measured them after joining, but it wasn't quite long enough for that final join and for corner allowances.  Another strip has now been joined on, making it (hopefully) long enough.  It just needs to be pressed....then it can be pinned to the quilt, yay!  The second label is also done.

Aren't these cute little flowers?  Over the years we have taken some interesting pictures, so every now and then the photo vault will be dug into and something retrieved.  This was taken at Mount Annan Botanical Garden the year before we left the Big Smoke behind.....these are paper daisies or everlastings, and are popular for dried arrangements.

It is raining again....another flood warning is in place.....we'll all be rooned, said Hanrahan, if this 'ere rain don't stop.....a line from a poem by John O'Brien, the pen name of Father Patrick Joseph Hartigan.  Patrick Hartigan was born in 1878 to Irish immigrant parents in Yass and grew up with a great love of country Australia and its people, serving as parish priest in small towns before moving to Sydney many years later.  'Said Hanrahan' is well known, many Aussies recall studying it at school, and the line "we'll all be rooned, said Hanrahan" has become a byword for lighthearted pessimism.

Now that both labels are finished, other projects can be resumed.  A few diamonds have lately been joined but more need to be cut for the Tumbling Blocks quilt; not long ago I calculated how many would be needed to make a smallish quilt, and the answer was - 449 hexagons each made of three diamonds, making a total of 1347 diamonds.  There are already nigh on 70 hexagons made....they go together very quickly, and are fun to make.

Not one stitch has been knitted.  Words have been read.  Notes have been plinked, indeed two gigs in just a few days has kept us busy!  Our midweek performance at the seniors' village was well received, and afternoon tea was indeed as delicious as was promised.  We'll be back there in a few months, by request.  Yesterday's fun day also went successfully; the acoustics in that club were bad, but we soldiered personfully on.  Now we have a week's rest, then another gig at a charity fundraising market next Sunday.  We have played for them a few times, the organisers are lovely people and very appreciative that we give our time.

Thoughts are turning to the occasion late next month which is now starting to make its presence felt.  For many years we have gone out to lunch or dinner to make the day more festive, otherwise we would just sit around and grin at each other.....but not this year.  Prices are so steep that we could buy food for a few weeks with what that one meal would cost, so we will stay home.  We realise that restaurants have to pay staff higher holiday rates, and food costs are increasing everywhere, but two Olde Phartes are not going to eat $300 worth of food at one meal.

Oh well......so long as I can have a couple of mince pies with good quality cream and don't have to do much cooking, I'm happy.....

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Recognizing friends in the street.

No one, while walking the streets, should fail, through pre-occupation, or absent-mindedness, to recognize friends and acquaintances. either by a bow or some form of salutation.  If two gentlemen stop to talk, they should retire to one side of the walk.  If a stranger should be in company with one of the gentlemen, an introduction is not necessary.  If a gentleman meets another gentleman in company with a lady whom he does not know, he lifts his hat to salute them both.  If he knows the lady, he should salute her first.  The gentleman who accompanies a lady, should always return a salutation made to her."

Interesting, isn't it, that "walking the streets" has come to have a different meaning these days.

Enjoy your days!

Just hanging around

The hanging sleeve - actually two shorter sleeves, to spread the weight more evenly - for my Canadian quilt has been prepared, and the next step is to cut the binding.  Sleeves are on the right, matching the solid red back.

The instructions have been good, but I think cutting instructions for the binding may be a little extravagant; pattern says to cut 7, 2-1/4 in strips, but by my calculations I should only need five or perhaps six.  So......five can be cut, joined and measured, then more can be cut if needed as there is ample fabric.  I really lurve that border/binding fabric, it's so gorgeous.

The second label is not far off being done, a couple of evenings' work should see it finished.  The quilt edges also need to be trimmed, but that's a quick job.  It's getting closer to being finally completed, and believe me - much rejoicing will happen when it is.

The coming week is really busy with two rehearsals and two gigs.  Rehearsal tomorrow afternoon, performance on Wednesday afternoon at a seniors' village - we have been told not to eat much lunch beforehand because the home-made afternoon tea will fill us up, cream horns were mentioned, yummo - rehearsal again on Thursday afternoon, performance on Saturday afternoon for a fundraising fun day at a lawn bowls club.  A big sigh of relief will be heaved on Sunday, I can assure you.  A week to recuperate, then two more gigs the following week.

The last Saturday in November will be a sad day too, because it will be our last choir concert.  We won't stop getting together each week to sing, but our director/piano player Bill said, being in his late 70s, he feels he doesn't play as well as he used to and some members are getting past performing although they enjoy singing.  We used to have more members, but all the shutdowns over the past couple of years has meant that several folk have dropped out.  I enjoy the buzz of performing for an audience and feel that having a concert to aim for keeps us to a higher standard than just singing for fun, but I also understand Bill's point of view.  Especially having sat in front of the men a couple of weeks ago.....

Of course there was yet another flood earlier in the week, two of the three river crossings were closed and the main bridge through the centre of town came perilously close to also being closed as the river was so high.  One crossing is mostly across the flood plain and goes under water easily; another has side by side bridges which are above the river but the approach road on the western side is quite low so it doesn't take much for it to also close, meaning the one bridge remaining open gets very busy.

I really feel for those who have had flood damage to their homes and businesses.  Back in 2017 we had two floods just nine months apart caused by plumbing issues (one in a bathroom, one in the kitchen) which meant having to re-carpet twice, throw out three-month-old furniture, live away from home for seven weeks after the second flood while the house was dried out and repaired - but it was clean water.  River floods are not clean, the water can contain sewage, dead animals, all manner of things you wouldn't want floating through your house.

To say nothing of the smell.

My etiquette book was bought at a library surplus sale several years ago back when we lived in the Big Smoke, and from memory only cost a few dollars.  It was first published in 1885, with a facsimile edition - my copy is one of those - published in 1980.  Facsimile editions are exact copies of the original text of an older book, usually photographic  copies; these days it would be easier to scan the text, but back in 1980 that technology hadn't yet been invented.  This book (which may have been first published, I think, in the U.S.A. or Canada) when compared to another etiquette book on my bookshelf is quite relaxed - the newer book, published in Great Britain, is much more stiff and formal.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Forming street acquaintances.

A lady never forms an acquaintance upon the street, or seeks to attract the attention or admiration of persons of the other sex.  To do so would render false her claims to ladyhood, if it did not make her liable to far graver charges."

 Indeed. 

Enjoy your days!

Reverse label is done

Reverse in two ways; it will go on the reverse of my quilt, and it  shows the layout in reverse because that seemed logical to me.

Even if it isn't logical to anyone else.

Many years ago.....many many years ago.....this little butterfly was embroidered when I was given a tiny frame.

It would have been done 30 years ago, maybe more....as was the rose, although this time I bought the frame.

For many years they sat on the kitchen windowsill where they could be admired - which they were - and where they could get a little grubby - which they did.

The embroidery was done using one strand of DMC floss over one thread of the background fabric.  My eyes were over 30 years younger back then, too.

No stitches have been knitted, no diamonds cut or sewn, although I will need to cut more soon.  Words have been read.  Notes have been plinked and sung.

The past week hasn't seen much rain but more is promised tomorrow, bringing even more flooding.  A couple of days ago we needed to cross to the other side of the river and were surprised by how much water is still around; the river is quite high and is flowing very quickly, which was even more apparent when we came home by a different bridge.

Now I'm not a scientist by any stretch of the imagination, but I would think that every time a river floods there would be silt left behind which, after a few floods, would eventually make the river shallower than it had previously been.  In subsequent floods the water would then flow over the banks more quickly than before and spread further, for the same reason.  That's why floodplains are often very fertile, and why crops planted there grow so well.  It's impractical to dredge rivers (although it's sometimes done where a river empties near a beach) and not a good idea to interfere too much with the natural scheme of events anyway, so I don't know what the answer is.....or even if there is an answer.

It might help if people stopped covering so much of the earth with concrete paths and buildings and left more open ground for water to soak into, rather than having it run where it wasn't, perhaps, designed to run.

Oh well.  As I said I'm not a scientist, just a concerned Olde Pharte who fears for the world.

Over the past couple of years of shut downs and "don't do this"...."don't go there"...."wear this bag over your head if you so much as stick your nose outside your front door"....I am getting quite lazy.  It has become very easy to just veg out in the mornings, have a leisurely breakfast and take my time getting showered and dressed; by then it's nearly time for lunch and that's half the day gone.  As we head into summer (it's been a cool wet start to the season this year) it might be easier to get into more disciplined habits.  The suspicion which has spoiled any interractions we have had with other people is gradually easing, too.  I know the covid plague is far from ended - it may never be finally over, although we are certainly over it - it will be with us for a while yet, but we can't keep the world shut down forever and keep our sanity, can we.

Meanwhile we are seeing pictures of beautiful autumn colours to make us (me in particular) drool.  Only six months to go.....I wonder if there is anywhere in the world which has a climate that goes from autumn to spring and back to autumn, bypassing summer and winter completely?  Because I would move there in a heartbeat if there was.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"A lady never demands attention and favors from a gentleman, but, when voluntarily offered, accepts them gratefully, graciously, and with an expression of hearty thanks."

If those offerings include chocolate - good quality dark chocolate only, of course - they would most certainly be accepted gratefully and graciously.

Enjoy your days!

Decisions, decisions.....

What a week it has been.....family stuff that I won't go into, but it's been fraught.  Thank goodness I have my sewing room and my music to help keep me sane.

Having given up on this year's quilt group challenge, my thoughts are turning to next year's.  At yesterday's meeting ideas were asked for and I suggested a two colour challenge - could be a quilt, a bag, a cushion, table runner, anything - using shades of just two chosen colours.  In the absence of any other suggestions, it was chosen for the challenge.  The fact that I have a couple of two-colour UFOs to choose from is a bonus.

A few years ago I made a quilt in blue and orange:

Soeveral months ago when it was my turn to choose a block of the month for members to make I chose these two blocks in blues and greens; the finished quilt measures 48in by 60in, plus borders if used.

That's a manageable size.  More need to be made, but it's very easy.  The top left block isn't brown, it's khaki green, but green fabrics don't always photograph well.....especially deep khaki yellow-greens.

Then there are blue and yellow stars, once again my choice as a BOM.  About six or seven different star blocks were made; the pattern needs 12 large stars and 16 small ones.  My thought was to make a star sampler rather than have all the stars the same design, certainly for the large 12in stars.  There is a lot more to be done on the star design than on the blue and green design, and it's bigger to quilt.......so, I think it will be the blue and green, although I haven't given up on the stars.  It can hang around for sometime in the future.

Stitches have been sewn on the red quilt label.  No stitches have been knitted.  Words have been read, notes have been plinked and sung.  

It has rained and it has rained and it has rained some more.  The town has had yet another flood, the highest one so far this year; the ground is so wet that water can't soak in.  It runs into already full rivers and creeks which are probably silted up from previous floods so that they are shallower than they used to be, then spreads above the banks and onto the land beyond, closing and damaging roads, ruining crops, flooding houses.  So far today we haven't had a drop.....the sound you can hear right now is that of mowers doing what they can before the next shower!

The kangaroos on the hill don't mind rain.  They are often to be seen hopping around and grazing on wet grass (food and drink in one mouthful - how convenient!) and fighting.  This morning we had a female with a joey popping its head out of the pouch; I don't know if kangaroos wear 'baby on board' signs, there wasn't one to be seen, but perhaps they should.

I wonder if wet kangaroos smell as bad as wet dogs?  Or, even worse.....wet teenage boys?

Yesterday, 22nd October was World Wombat Day.  How you can have a "world" day when the wombat is unique to Australia I don't know, but it happens every October.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"A lady walks quietly through the streets, seeing and hearing nothing that she ought not to see and hear, recognising acquaintances with a courteous bow, and friends with words of greeting.  She is always unobtrusive, never talks loudly, or laughs boisterously, or does anything to attract the attention of the passers-by.  She walks along in her own quiet, ladylike way, and by her pre-occupation is secure from any annoyance to which a person of less perfect breeding might be subjected."

All of which is a far cry from the "look at me-look at me-look at me" of current generations, yes?

Enjoy your days!

Spring is sprung

It's been a slow starter this year, but is now creeping in.  This morning we trotted off to the monthly main street markets (which we hadn't been to for years, what with plague shutdowns and all), and it was very pleasant strolling in the sun.  We treated ourselves to breakfast - eggs Benny with smoked salmon for me, yummo - and collected a plant that our friendly horticulturist had for us....I had forgotten that we had ordered it!  It's a red flowering bottlebrush, Callistemon "Four Seasons", and we have just the spot for it when the weeds are cleared out.

It was even sunny enough to need a hat, just as well the hair and I went to the hairdresser the other day for the six-monthly trim.  Since having eye surgery a couple of years ago I need to wear a broad-brimmed hat on a sunny day, and that's easier with shorter hair.  Not short, though.  It's still shoulder length.  I am not yet ready for the Olde Ladye Choppe.

I hope I never am.

After we came home I looked at the partly-finished bag which was started at my treadle machine demo last month and it looked back at me as it has been doing for several weeks.....and I thought, hmmm, I thought.....so now it's done.  

The green bag was made during the demo, the red bag finished today.  They aren't huge bags, but.....a big bag holds a lot of Stuff so you fill it up, then you can't lift it and your ageing body complains and says "why did you do that, you shouldn't have put so much in it, take something out".....so, a smaller bag is better.

Slow progress on the first label for my Canadian quilt.  The initials for the provinces and territories will be done in one strand of floss, the sashing and border have been done in two strands.

Yes, I know it needs pressing - it will be, once it's completed.  The second label is now on the light box waiting to be traced.

No stitches have been knitted, no diamonds cut or sewn.  Words have been read, many notes have been plinked.  The coming week looks to be quite busy with something happening every day, but I do have hopes that something worthwhile may be accomplished.

Now I don't know what the rest of you think, and I realise that language is constantly shifting and changing, but poor grammar - or what I perceive to be poor grammar - seems to be more and more prevalent.  On the window of a women's clothing store this morning I saw "Fantastic starts here".  Fantastic - what?  Fantastic women?  Fantastic stupidity?  It's as bad as the sign on another business wall that reads "Great happens here"; we pass it occasionally, and I shudder every time.

It's not a place I shop at anyway, because so much of their stock is synthetic - even their summer clothes.  Australian summers can be quite warm, so natural fibres such as cotton and linen are most comfortable; even away from the humidity of the coast polyester is not a good choice.  Over the past couple of years our town has lost several women's clothes shops, I can think of at least five or six which have closed....one only yesterday.  I visited it on Friday but there was nothing I loved enough to buy, even at 40% off.  I think a lot of shopping has moved to online now but I am cautious about buying clothes when I can't feel the fabric first, then if it doesn't fit there is the hassle of returning and ordering another size.  Time for my trusty sewing machine, if only I can get patterns which fit.  When I was young and slender that was never a problem....sigh.....

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street.

"The street manners of a lady.

The true lady walks the street, wrapped in a mantle of proper reserve, so impenetrable that insult and coarse familiarity shrink from her, while she, at the same time, carries with her a congenial atmosphere which attracts all, and puts all at their ease."

Does that sound like you?  I'm not quite sure that it's me, either.

Enjoy your days!