We are back - but the caravan is still on holiday

We had a great time, marred only by a mechanical problem with the van the day before we were due home.  However.....the necessary part has been sourced which we will be taking back over the highway this week, and hopefully it will be home with us where it belongs later this week.

It was lovely catching up with family and friends.  Our son is doing well; we were able to attend one of his performances, something which, living so far away, we can't do very often, and which we enjoyed.  The One And Only Grandkid is shooting up like the proverbial weed and already up to (possibly even slightly past) my shoulders; mind you, I'm not very tall!  To me, however, the joy of playing and sharing music again with friends at the folk festival, some of them not seen for four years, was the highlight of my time away.....but, after so long, everyone looks so much older and several people were missing.

Over the years, on our annual trips to Canberra, we have seen many of its attractions, including the autumn colours - which, this year, were more beautiful than we have seen for many years.  Perhaps that was helped by their mild cool summer.....April was certainly cool this year!  One place we hadn't been before was the National Rock Garden.

Although the sign says "proposed future site" there are already several large rocks in place.  We counted 11.

This is from Western Australia, such a rich red.

A little information which hopefully can be read.

Doesn't it look like a bird?  But no - it's a large chunk of grey norite, some of which has been cut away and polished to show the beauty inside its craggy exterior.

Adelong is a small town south of Canberra.

This is a view of The Warrumbungles, such a rugged interesting place, that we will pass again on our way to the van.

Our van is waiting for us at Tooraweenah, in the valley to the left in this pic......as the article in the link says, it's a very small town!  However it's in a beautiful area, and at night the stars have to be seen to be believed; not far away is an important observatory which is interesting to read about if you are into sky Stuff.  The drive from here is about three hours.

Of course a little fabric shopping happened.....a few blues, and a gorgeous yellowish-green that just jumped into my hand.....

There is a blue and green project in progress in my sewing room, and my stash of blue fabrics needed a boost.  These will help nicely.

Some knitting happened while travelling, the second sleeve of my jumper is finished and the front is started.  A few diamonds were joined, words were read.  Crosswords were completed.  Plinking and singing were indulged in.  Once we return with our hopefully fixed caravan on Thursday, normal life (such as it is) can resume at Chez Wombats.

Some new-to-us clothes were bought in Canberra, their op shops are excellent.  Those elusive black cropped pants, however, are still out in the wind somewhere.  Perhaps one day......one of the tops bought on a Canberra op shop foray has already been worn.  It was donned yesterday afternoon for a farewell to a much-loved member of our choir who is moving several hours away to be closer to family, and who will be much missed.  

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Two gentlemen walking with a lady.

When two gentlemen are walking with a lady in the street they should not both be on the same side of her, but one of them should walk upon the outside and the other upon the inside."

Yes indeed.  That way, she should feel protected on both sides.

Enjoy your days!

Back in a few weeks!

The car is being packed as I write this, we'll be off soon - back in late April.

Until then......

Enjoy your days!

Counting down

Only eight days until we leave for our trip down south, and those eight days are going to be fairly busy.  The worst part is always deciding what clothes to take as it's such a changeable time of year where we will be going - warm one day, cool and rainy the next, even downright chilly at times.  Layers, layers.....at least we aren't going to a far-flung outpost several days from civilisation so if a different selection of clothing is required, there are always shops.  

We don't take much food with us, our little caravan has limited storage so we buy fresh as it's needed - and, of course, there might be a quilt shop or two (or three) to visit.

And there will be autumn colours.....

This was taken on a cool late afternoon at the beautiful Japanese garden in Cowra.

A magnificent oak tree in Boorowa.....for such a small town, Boorowa has excellent cafés; it's often a coffee or lunch stop depending on the time of day we are passing through.

Dahlias adorning our morning tea table at an 'open garden' visit outside Canberra.

A park in Bathurst.

A magnificent tree in Sofala, now quite a small village, but in the 1870s when some of Kevin's ancestors lived there it was a hive of activity during a gold rush.

This pic was taken back in 2011.  A year or so later we again stopped off at Sofala....."something is missing".....we said......then we realised that this beautiful tree was no more.  According to the woman in the local store it was clandestinely chopped down very early morning before anyone (other than the chopper/s, of course) was awake.  Next time we drove through I dropped off a print of this photo to the store lady and it was prominently displayed in the store.  The tree removal, it seems, was controversial and done by very few people.

Notes have been plinked and sung, as we have a gig at a retirement community on Wednesday afternoon.  We played there a few months ago and were treated to a beautiful afternoon tea - something to look forward to again, and the audience was very appreciative of our songs.

Words have been read, some stitches have been knitted.  A little music sorting has happened.....the end is getting closer, yay!  

Diamonds have been cut but many more need to be done, as I need a lot to take away with me.  A few were sewn yesterday at quilt group, a few more will be sewn on Tuesday during my monthly volunteer 'job' at a local gallery.  My duties are just to 'meet and greet' visitors when they arrive, and Tuesday afternoons are often quiet, so I sit and stitch.  Recently I was asked to bring in one of my quilts to be possibly featured on their social media pages - how good is that?  Perhaps I should take my blue-ribbon-winning hanging.....or perhaps I should take my tumbler quilt, as some of it was stitched while 'meeting and greeting' at the gallery.....or perhaps my blue and orange quilt so they can see that not everything I make is brown......decisions, decisions.....

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Shouting.

Never speak to your acquaintances from one side of the street to the other.  Shouting is a certain sign of vulgarity.  First approach, and then make your communication to your acquaintance or friend in a moderately loud tone of voice."

Even back in the days this was first written a street would have been a fairly noisy place, with horses, carriages, carts, etc., no doubt making it difficult to hear someone calling from the other side unless they were indeed shouting.  With traffic these days, it would be well nigh impossible.

Enjoy your days!

Forty seven years and counting......

Yesterday was the 47th anniversary of the day we stood up in front of family and friends, and said nice words to each other.  47 years!  My gawd, that's a long time!

To mark the occasion we harnessed up the trusty steed and drove up the hill to a town an hour north, because their annual quilt show was being held.  I entertained myself at the show for a while, and Kevin strolled around enjoying the architecture and streets of Armidale.  Once again I met up with my Armidale namesake - another Jennifer Richards, how cool is that?  Her quilts on show were lovely, and her hand quilting beautiful.  I have been to that show before; it's not a large one as the hall isn't big, the group isn't huge, and because they have an annual exhibition there is usually only one year's worth of quilts to be shown.  I was impressed by the standard, however, especially the quilts of this young feller.....he is very talented and has great colour sense, while his quilting is superb.

It was International Quilting Day on Saturday, so a show on that weekend is very appropriate!  Here's a few of my quilts, even though they weren't done at the weekend.

Every quilter, it is said, has a blue and yellow quilt.  This is one of mine.

This was made from the leftover star triangles of the quilt above - same blue and yellow fabrics, different borders.

Love this one, just a study in black and white.  It was started in a class back in the Big Smoke and finished here.

Autumn - my favourite season!  Started in another class with the same tutor, after moving here here to the Small Smoke.

A soft pretty quilt made for a friend undergoing some health issues.

If I was asked which of all my quilts is my favourite - and of course there more than these shown - this one would be very close to the top of the list.  I love its exuberance, how could you not?

Words have been read this week, stitches have been knitted.  No diamonds have been joined - indeed, more need to be cut so as to have enough to take away for a few weeks in the caravan; it is only two weeks now until we leave so I had better get cracking with the cutting.  More music has been sorted, in fact I can almost - almost! - see the bottom of those piles.  Songs have been plinked and sung.

It's going to be a busy couple of weeks with shopping, a musical gig, and various appointments for both of us.  Once we are in the car heading off down the road, I suspect there will be a big collective sigh of relief.  We are going down south to catch up with the family, and for me to attend the big folk festival.  Kevin will probably spend time with our son while I am off making music, they can do Boy Stuff together and perhaps The One And Only Grandkid will join them for some of it.  There has been a marriage split so the aforementioned Grandkid now lives with his mother, although of course he spends time with his father.

We will just keep out of the way as much as we can, and smile sweetly while offering no opinion on anything or anybody.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Carrying packages.

A gentleman will never permit a lady with whom he is walking to carry a package of any kind, but will insist on relieving her of it.  He may even accost a lady when he sees her overburdened and offer his assistance, if their ways lie in the same direction."

Not sure about the use of the word "accost"?  These days it has cme to mean "to approach someone boldly or aggressively", something I hope a proper gentleman would not do to a lady of his acquaintance.

Enjoy your days!

I won a blue ribbon!

Never won a blue ribbon before!

This is special because it's the 150th anniversary of Tamworth Show - even the artwork on the prize card is from a design used on similar cards in the 1930s.  An Aussie show would be like an autumn fair or state fair, I suppose, with farm animals and birds being paraded and judged.  There were various cooking and handicraft sections, and there was even a recipe provided for a boiled fruit cake which had to be used by all entrants in that section.

My hanging (my prize winning hanging, how cool is it to be able to say that!) in full, plus some carpet.  One of the rules was that entries had to be finished in the past year.....mine was a little older, but as it hadn't been exhibited previously I was assured that entering it would be fine.

Last time I won a prize with my sewing was back in nineteen-umpty-um....might have been 1996 or 97.....my quilt group in the Big Smoke had a competition for a pieced or applique basket block.  Mine was pieced, and it was judged the pieced winner; the blocks were eventually made into quilts and raffled for charity.  I won a book and a pack of fabrics, but not a blue ribbon.

Some knitting has happened.  The decision to write out the cable pattern for the front of my jumper was, after a few minutes, abandoned as a lost cause, and a PDF pattern bought - this one, with the pattern all written out for me.  That's the cable I plan to use up the centre front, two repeats wide; it's not so difficult that it will take forever to do, but is interesting enough to be a fun knit.  I like intricate twisted and interlocked cables.  I don't care if they are in fashion or not.  It's my jumper, and I can make it how I like.

A few diamonds have been joined, more have been cut.  Words have been read.  Notes have been sung and plinked.  More sorting of music has happened but the 'waiting to be sorted' piles are very few and quite small now; a couple of folders containing Christmas songs were unearthed the other day, so they will now go into the Big Christmas Song Folder from whence they will be pulled out again in November.  Once the music sorting is done the next big sort will be the books which are in dire need of sifting and sorting, and which will be much bigger job.

It has even rained, lovely soaking rain last night and this morning, and very welcome it is too after the past few dry months.  Over the past couple of years we had a lot of rain, we even had several floods, but since the rain stopped late last year it has been very dry.  I'm sure the town will look a lot greener tomorrow than it did on Friday.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Streets:

"Offensive behaviour.

No gentleman is ever guilty of the offence of standing on street corners and the steps of hotels or other public places and boldly scrutinising every lady who passes."

Indeed not.....the men of the mid 1880s really weren't much different to the men of today, were they?

Enjoy your days!

Sifting and sorting

Those many piles of music are gradually being sorted.....goodness, I had no idea there was quite that much....but it will be good to have it done, and to have it all in alphabetical order.  It has gotten to the stage where I couldn't find songs I knew I had so I would make another copy, and that is wasteful.

As a resuly not one stitch has been sewn, not one stitch knitted, although that will change once the music is sorted.  Words have been read, songs have been sung and plinked.

Consequently there are no pics of anything in progress, so we will visit the vault instead and enjoy a taste of autumn to come.

The pic doesn't quite do this tree justice - its colouring was spectacular and caught my eye when we parked behind the shops in Midland.

The building behind the tree was a child care centre.  I would have also photographed the carpet of fallen leaves under the tree but a person with a camera approaching a child care centre might seem suspicious, yes?

After several visits we have decided that Vancouver Island should be called 'The Land of Tall Straight Trees'.

Taken on a cool damp day.....the ground under the trees probably doesn't see much sun, so perhaps it never really dries out.  

A fallen tree with its coat of - moss? lichen? - not sure, but it was pretty.

Speaking of knitting, the Big Decision has been made as to the cable pattern on my in-progress jumper.  There will be two repeats of a twirled and twisted cable running up the centre front, and on each side will another narrow rope cable; enough to make it interesting to knit, but not so complicated or difficult that it will never get finished.  So....one will sit down with pencil and paper and write out the pattern sequence, then one will type it in large font so it can be easily read in a moving car.

Later this afternoon we will be taking a trip to the other side of town, across the river - it never ceases to amuse us that locals here, no matter where they live, seem to have an aversion to crossing the river, as though they are going to the deep dark depths of a different country - and collect my wall hanging which I entered in the show.  I could have gone yesterday to see it hanging but it was a bit too warm to venture out, and in any case I very much doubt that it will get an award....but that's all right.  As I have been saying for many years, blessed is she who expecteth nothing, for she shall never be disappointed.

Summer is hanging on by the fingernails, reluctant to let go, but this is usual for March.  We have noticed, however, that many trees are starting to change colour so perhaps they know something we don't.  Our trip down south next month will be a taste of autumn - something to look forward to, indeed.  The autumn equinox is in just a couple of weeks, and another year is rolling on.

My recent visit to the optometrist for the annual eye check-up had a good result, and my reading glasses don't need to be changed for now.  There is a cataract slowly growing on my left eye, it seems, and eventually it will be need to be fixed - but not yet, indeed probably not for quite a while.  Oh, the joys of getting older.....

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Smoking upon the streets.

In England a well-bred man never smokes upon the streets.  While this rule does not hold good for this country, yet no gentleman will ever insult a lady by smoking on the streets in her company, and in meeting and saluting a lady he will always remove a cigar from his mouth."

I am not sure which country is meant by "this country", as my book was first published in - I think - North America, but my 1886 edition is "Revised, Illustrated and Compiled expressly as a Household Treasure for Australian Homes".  Either way we prefer that no man, well-bred or otherwise, smokes on the streets, and indeed very few do so nowadays.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Those elusive black pants....

....are still nowhere to be found.  A few days ago I called in at the store where I hoped a pair in my size would have miraculously appeared on the rack, but no.  Doomed to disappointment once again.  However I have High Hopes of perhaps just possibly finding them, or something like them, when we go south in April.

I suspect it will be the last time I pop my head inside that store, too.  When one is greeted as one walks in by "hey darl, how are ya" one thinks to one's self......hmmmm, do I really belong here?  One is far from being a snob, one does not expect to be greeted by 'Madame' these days (in truth, I don't think one ever was) but 'darl'?  To say nothing of the music of a type I never listen to voluntarily (I'm not a musical snob either, my musical choices might surprise you) played at a volume guaranteed to wake the dead, and the rough cement floor which at one stage in its life may have been carpeted but now lies waiting to trip an unwary foot, it's not a pleasant place to shop.

Ah well.  I have enough clothes that I'm not walking around naked or cold, so that's something....but those pants, when and if I eventually get them, will fill a gap in my sumptuous wardrobe.

Something pretty....more of Auntie Laura's beautiful tatting.  It has been previously shown, but it's so lovely we can look again.

The linen centre is surrounded by a very wide lace border.

I'm fairly sure my mother never used it - perhaps for very special occasions, which were very few and very far between when I was young - but I have displayed it with a vase or pretty bowl in the centre.  A darker wood table such as ours shows the lace to perfection.  Despite its gossamer appearance it's surprisingly heavy....there's a lot of thread used to make all that lace!

Diamonds have been sewn, and more have been cut.  The plan is to cut a lot to take away in April; our little caravan doesn't have TV (it's not missed either) but stitching makes the time pass nicely.  Words have been read.  Notes have been plinked and sung.  

Stitches have been knitted, the first time for some months, and now the second sleeve on my jumper should be up to the armhole; it will be measured later this afternoon to check.  A decision also needs to be made about the cable pattern on the front.  I have found a cable design I like but am wondering - should it run up the centre front to the round neck, or be placed to one side or the other?  Or should there be two cables, and if so, how should they be spaced so as not to make me look as though I am wearing braces to hold up my pants?  Perhaps three, one in the centre and two spaced evenly at the sides, would be good....or would it be a bit much, bearing in mind that I am no longer as svelte as I once was?

Decisions, decisions......

While on some of our peregrinations during the week I noticed that leaves are now not as green as they were, indeed a few trees look as though their leaves are starting their autumn change.....or perhaps they are just stressed by our lack of rain and warm-ish temperatures, much as we ourselves are.  However in a few days it will be March, and while that doesn't mean the end of summer heat - it is the start of the winding-down of summer.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Answering questions.

A gentleman will answer courteously any questions which a lady may address to him upon the street, at the same time lifting his hat, or at least touching it respectfully."

I suspect that these days a gentleman, on being asked a question, will look up the answer on his phone.  He may or may not - probably not - be wearing a hat which he can either lift or touch respectfully.

Enjoy your days!