From the old to the new

The old and new computers are going to computer hospital tomorrow for the new one to be brought to life, and to learn how to speak to the old one.

Hopefully all will be well, and we will soon be back in the world.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Back in the land of the living

The computer living, that is......our computer has been in for repair.  The verdict is - its condition is terminal, something quite annoying considering it's only a few years old.  Forgive the recent lack of blog comments, we've been cut off from the world without it.

Oh well.  We have ordered a new computer, and will continue to nurse this poor old thing along until its replacement arrives and is installed.

The annual record of the blooming back yard wattle bush.

She's getting to be quite a big girl, isn't she?  (Anything this gorgeous has to be a girl, no way could it be a boofy boy!)  Considering she came *this* close to being pulled out when she was a mere stripling, just a few nearly dead sticks with three tiny green leaves, she's doing very well.  Kevin was going to get rid of it, don't you dare, I said, it's not dead yet....it has green leaves.....so, fortunately, he left it.

There have been no pics of diamonds for a long time, have there?  These are on the ironing board waiting to be pressed; it's more a summer project when the weather is a bit too warm for knitting.

Although......it's not the act of knitting, the problem is the weight of a woollen garment on one's lap on a hot day.  The current jumper is all knitted, and the seaming is well underway; there won't be enough winter left this year for its auspicious debut, so it can be flaunted next year.

Many words have been read.  Not one stitch has been sewn either by hand or machine, the motivation hasn't been present, but it will return.  Notes have been plinked and sung.  There are songs waiting to be arranged but that will be left until the new computer is ready; no sense spending that time until I know the result won't disappear into cyberspace never to be seen again.

Yesterday we took ourselves off for a Nice Sunday Drive to Nundle, about an hour away, for a concert featuring harp and classical guitar.  The music was sublime, the instruments amazing - I greatly covet that beautiful guitar, even though we're not supposed to covet other people's gorgeous Stuff.  Nundle is a higher altitude than here in the valley and winters are much colder, but yesterday was pleasant; there was no nasty wind, and the sun was almost nearly not quite warm.  Nearly.

Back when I was a stripling of about 17 or so there was a 'music shop' here which sold, among other things, LP records.  (Remember them?)  I used to check out the sale racks for anything that looked interesting, having begun to develop fairly wide musical tastes, and one day I bought a recording of Spanish guitar music by Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida.  What a revelation that was!  It sparked a love of classical guitar which has never abated, indeed, I had lessons in classical guitar for a couple of years in my 20s before I started having babies.  There never seemed to be time to go back to it but I still use the techniques that I learned to this day, even when playing ukulele.  Several years later I bought another guitar and still have them both, one classical, one more folky/jazzy...and of course, three ukuleles.  Kevin is very supporting of my musical efforts and I appreciate that very much, because I cannot imagine my life without music in it.

As a child and teen I wanted to learn music but it wasn't possible, there was no spare money for frivolities such as a daughter's music lessons.  (It seemed, and still seems to me, that there was really no place in that family for the fish-out-of-water-daughter anyway.)  Both my brothers learned because a state-wide youth organisation had a branch here including a band which was free to join and to learn music, but in those days it was an organisation for boys only.  My mother had played piano in her younger days and picking out tunes on her piano, still in her parents' house (but sold with the house a few years later when they died) gave me endless fun.  My father had played violin as a child.  I was the only one in the family who was left out of playing music, and I have always resented that.  While I know there is no point in dwelling on what's passed and can't be changed it still saddens me that I was never given that chance - even though it probably would have meant learning scales on piano, something that didn't appeal at all.  But....once I heard that guitar recording, I knew it was for me.

Continuing on with Etiquette for Public Conveyances:

"Never talk politics or religion in a public conveyance."

One might add, especially not using a loud voice on a mobile phone.  The rest of us neither want nor need to hear your thoughts on these or indeed any other matters, unless we are engaged in conversation with you.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

You're the top....

....you're the Coliseum, you're the top, you're the Louvre Museum......

With apologies to Cole Porter!

My top is done.

I am very pleased with it....once the sewing table is cleared off it will be layered and quilted.  It measures 48in by 60 in as is, without any borders.  I quite like its borderless look.  Some of the greens are edging a little toward yellow but not ~quite~ getting there, while a few of the blue fabrics are leaning toward lavender - but also not quite getting there, which makes for a good mix of fabrics.

Work has also started on sewing together the top for 'There goes the neighbourhood'.

It's a fun design.....and it will be fairly large!  I must admit I hesitated over those pieced setting triangles, but now I can see they were the right choice.  A decision has not yet been made as to trimming the outer edge, or whether borders will be added; if so, they will be more pieced greens.  These are opposite corners, and they will eventually meet as more rows are added.  The backing fabric is the only thing purchased for this quilt; it's all from my stash, but has left not even the tiniest weeny little dent in it.

Now that winter is beginning to wind down a little, it's wattle blossom time once more.  Our wattle bush is in full bloom once more, looking spectacular and smelling delightful as always, and is much beloved by bees and other insects; when we get close we can hear the bush buzzing and humming with insects.  This was taken late yesterday afternoon - it's a much brighter yellow in full sunlight, but is also a bit tricky to get a good photograph without too much golden glare.

Australia has nearly 1,000 species of wattle - Acacia - so many, in fact, that there is wattle blooming somewhere in Australia every day of the year, although Acacia is by no means exclusive to Australia.  We celebrate Wattle Day on 1st September, but our bush may have finished blooming by then.

Have you all had a good week?  Ours has been, although being retired Olde Phartes it's been fairly quiet.  No diamonds were cut or joined, stitches were knitted - the neckband on my jumper is nearly all cast off.  I am using an elastic cast off so it can be turned under and stitched down, I prefer a double neckband to a single.  Words were read.  Notes were plinked and sung.  Hunting and gathering was done so we can eat again, which is a good thing.

The song arrangement for the ukulele group was finished, has been tried out and approved.  There are two or three more arrangements I want to do, but as they aren't needed for next month's gig they will get done they get done.

Continuing on with Etiquette for Public Conveyances:

"A lady may, with perfect propriety, accept the offer of services from a stranger in alighting from, or entering a tram, omnibus or public conveyance, and should always acknowledge the courtesy with a pleasant "Thank you, sir," or a bow."

She should, indeed.  Acknowledging a courtesy with a "thank you" is the right and proper thing to do.

Enjoy your days!

Half done!

One half of the blue and green quilt is done.....

I f I were taller I would be able to get a better pic...but alas, I stopped at five foot two, like the song.  Although my eyes are dark brown, not blue.

Progress is slower on this than on a regular layout, because it isn't rows of blocks sewn into strips which are then joined into a top.  Joining it in sections seems to be the way to go......it's more like assembling a jigsaw puzzle than a quilt, which is fun for a change.  Some of the next sections are pinned ready for sewing; pinning, pinning and more pinning is the way to go with this.  Coloured flower-headed pins are useful for making sure that the pieces are joined correctly - yellow to yellow, orange to orange, etc., otherwise it's a bit too easy to pick up a piece and turn it the wrong way, then get confoozalated.  And we wouldn't want that, would we?

You know.....I don't ever want to make the same quilt twice, there are so many designs I want to try before I leave this life, but this one could make me change my mind.  Just maybe.....possibly......

It's been a fairly quiet week.  Last week's lurgy left me feeling tired and washed out for several days but the worst seems to be over now, for which I am thankful.  Stitches have been sewn, no diamonds were joined.  Stitches were knitted, in fact the neckband of my newest jumper only has two more rows until the cast off - yay!  Words have been read, notes were plinked and sung.

Yesterday I did some work on a song medley arrangement for the ukulele group, something that I once would have never known I could do.  But I can, and sometimes I surprise myself; I have had very little formal music training, and indeed Proper Musicians like our (now-ex) DIL tend to look down their noses at those of us who don't have the benefits of their extensive musical edumacation.  I know many excellent musicians, including some very well known names, who don't read a note - but they don't let that stop them from enjoying their music.  

It's not going to stop me, either.  

A site I follow on social media is the wonderful Grandiloquent Word of the Day.  Yesterday's word was "linguaphile" - one who loves language and words.  Finally....a word that describes folk like me!  

Now we are done with Etiquette of the Street, we can move on to Etiquette for Public Conveyances:

"Etiquette for Public Conveyances.

In street trams, omnibuses and other public street conveyances, it should be the endeavor of each passenger to make room for all persons entering, and no gentleman will retain his seat when there are ladies standing.  When a lady accepts a seat from a gentleman, she expresses her thanks in a kind and pleasant manner."

Indeed, she does.....or she should, for sure.  I am afraid, however, that nowadays many so-called "gentlemen" sit while ladies stand, as I found out when commuting in the Big Smoke.

Enjoy your days!

In which we have an unwelcome visitor

Another busy week in which not much was achieved beyond the necessary hunting and gathering.  Unfortunately a visitor, the Dreaded Lurgy, popped in for a few days and left me feeling tired and fragile.  Things are now on the mend, however, and soon I will be back to jumping out of my skin.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Dreaded Lurgy, it was used in 'The Goon Show', a radio program that many of my generation grew up with.  The Dreaded Lurgy is an illness with vague symptoms that leaves one with a general feeling of lassitude, but probably nothing that can be medically defined; it's not the flu, or even a cold, it's just......The Dreaded Lurgy.  "I have a lurgy", we say, and people know what we mean.

Consequently not much has been achieved, although some diamonds were joined.  A little knitting was done - that neckband might be finished soon - many words were read.  Some notes were plinked and sung.

A couple of pics were taken to aid in sewing the blue and green quilt together, something which will be started this week.  It is laid out on the spare bed and, as I am happy with the placement of the blocks, I have taken a couple of pics to make sure they are joined correctly.  First, the right hand side....

....then the left.  These will be the first two rows.

More pics will be taken as the next pieces are made.  Not all the blocks came from my sewing room; it was a BOM for members of my Tuesday quilt group, so some fabrics are not mine.  However as the Tuesday group is quite small, not many blocks came back - indeed, we have made the decision to do away with the Tuesday BOM due to small numbers, although there are still one or two optimists who hand out instructions and get a few blocks back which they use for charity quilts.  The Saturday group is much larger.

We have had some quite freezy frosty chilly weather this week, certainly enough to remind us that we are still in the coldest month of the year.  Many places hereabouts have had record-breaking morning temperatures recently, the coldest for many years or even since records have been kept, so it's not just us complaining about the chill.  Never mind; it will be back to summer's dreaded heat before we know it, won't it.

On Tuesday afternoon I was at the volunteer desk at the Gallery when a couple came in to browse the exhibitions.  The bloke was, I thought, suitably dressed for the weather, but I'm not sure about the woman's choice of attire; she was wearing long pants (good idea), a puffy jacket (personally I don't like them, but they are currently popular), gloves (so, obviously feeling the cold), shoes that you and I would wear to walk around the block (better than bare tootsies in this weather), and - bare ankles.  No socks.  I screamed to myself as I tucked my sock-clad feet under my desk.....I mentioned it at sewing group the next day and the consensus of opinion was, ankles get cold too.  

When we were in Canberra in April, however, I noticed that many of the Trendy Younger Folk did not wear socks.  Long pants - usually tight leggings, which I don't consider pants - and shoes with laces, and bare ankles.  Canberra is even colder than here in winter, I wonder if they have discovered their sock drawer yet?

Speaking of tight leggings.....when I become Queen Of The World, leggings will be banned outside the walls of a gym.  It can't be healthy wearing tight synthetic fabrics over one's nether regions all day every day, surely?  Actually, when you look it up (as I just did) - it's not.  

Concluding Etiquette of the Street:

"Whispering in a shop is rude.  Loud and showy behaviour is exceedingly vulgar."

It is.  When I was a child we were taught that whispering was not done.

Enjoy your days!

A week gone, and nothing much to show for it

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you are busy, sometimes chasing-your-tail-busy, and at the end of the week there isn't much to show for it?  That was my week.

Last night's choir concert/party was fun, my song was well received, and now there is no singing for a couple of weeks.  The room we use is being renovated - something which was to have been finished several weeks ago, but which had not yet been started when we were in it on Thursday night - and our leader is having eye surgery.  We will miss our choral evenings.

This is my sparkly brooch, worn last night pinned to a lime green silk scarf.  A gen-u-ine 1960s design which is now quite sought-after, if online listings are anything to go by.  I don't know if this is the original box - there is no brand or other information, not even the name of the jeweller who sold it.

This morning my wool order arrived.....is it not bewdiful?  A mix of green, blue and a little purple.  Perhaps it will become a jumper.....

.....or perhaps a cardigan......yet to be decided.  Those big balls are 200 grams each, so not many ends have to be darned in to finish.

The jumper currently on the needles is having its neckband knitted; holding an almost-completed jumper on one's lap is quite warm, and evenings this week haven 't been too freezy.  (Mornings have been freezy frosty chilly, but then I don't knit first thing in the morning.)    Diamonds have been cut. Those yellow sashings which were cut too long have been shortened, and are now - fingers and toes crossed - the correct lengths.  Words have been read.  

The coming week looks like being even busier, too.  Activities which are suspended during school holidays will resume....there is a legal appointment to amend our wills now that there has been a marriage break-up in the family (not ours, I hasten to add)......monthly sewing guild.....quilt group next Saturday......volunteering......if I'm really lucky I may have a chance to turn around and scratch myself, as the old saying goes.  The plan (the hope!) had been to make a start on sewing those blue and green blocks, but alas - it was not to be.  

Never mind, it will happen in due course.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't find it easy to use a machine in the evenings when my eyes are tired; it's too easy to make mistakes, as I have learned in the past.  Evenings are for hand work, whether sewing or knitting.

We took advantage of a slight lull earlier today to fit in some hunting and gathering while we could.  As we were leaving the car park we were surprised to see, parked well away from other cars - a Rolls Royce!  Not something one usually sees in the supermarket car park in a country town, for sure; the usual selection of (slightly boring) cars doesn't usually include Rollers.  There was someone sitting in the driver's seat, and we couldn't decide if it was the owner or perhaps a chauffeur.  If it was a chauffeur that would mean the owner was inside hunting and gathering with the hoi polloi - and surely that would never do, would it?

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"Ladies should not monopolize the time and attention of salesmen in small talk, while other customers are in the shop to be waited upon."

These quotes show that sales staff were male, as the word 'salesman' or 'salesmen' is used.  I would have thought that some shops were using female staff even back in the 1880s - surely goods being marketed to women - women's and children's clothing, fabrics, household furnishings, etc. - might have been sold by female staff?

Enjoy your days!

It's been said before....

....and no doubt will be said again......if I had half a brain, I would be dangerous.

All the narrow sashes for between the house quilt blocks were cut last weekend.  The shorter sashings had already been attached to the left side of each and every block, and the blocks joined into rows.  On Tuesday at quilt group one more sashing was sewn to the right side of every row so now all the blocks are sashed vertically, if one can have 'vertical' in an on point setting.  That just leaves the long strips for joining the rows into a quilt top.  (I dislike the term 'flimsy' used for quilt tops.  Believe me, there is nothing flimsy or insubstantial about this one.)  The shorter strips were the length of the blocks, so were all cut nine inches.  All well and good.  Hunky dory, one might say.

When cutting the longer strips a little voice in the back of my brain said to me "you need to allow nine inches for each block width, plus the half inch sashings, plus two times one quarter inch for the two outer seams".  Calculations were calculated and strips cut.  

However.....when I went to attach the first strip it's too long......because the blocks are not nine inches between the sashings, they are eight and a half inches.  That's what happens when one doesn't measure, one just assumes the guess is right - so now each and every one of those strips will need to be measured again, and shortened.

Oh well......although I suppose it's better than cutting them too short, isn't it?  Silver linings and all that stuff, but still....

Sigh.

I want to start sewing the green and blue blocks, but those sashings need to be corrected first.

My jumper is now being seamed in preparation for knitting the neckband.  Having the weight of a whole jumper on one's lap is really good on a chilly night.  Words have been read.  No diamonds have been cut or joined this week.  Ukulele groups aren't meeting because it's school holidays and some folk have grandparent duty, so it's a quiet couple of weeks.  A little hunting and gathering has been indulged in, although I'm not sure that 'indulged' is the right word for a foray into the supermarket during holiday time when some of the kiddie-widdies are a bit feral.

Some plinking will be done this week as the choir is having a 'Christmas in July' hooley next Saturday night, and I have been asked to reprise my recent prize-winning performance.  It's probably a good idea to practice before that so as not to make a complete and utter fool of myself, yes?  It has been suggested that we wear 'bright clothes', something not easy during the dead of winter.  I have a purple lightweight wool jumper, and a lime green silk scarf, and a sparkly brooch which was my mother's, so that should do nicely; if memory serves me correctly I may have given her that brooch a long time ago either for a birthday or for Mother's Day.  Some of those vintage brooches are quite sought-after now.

Wearing a brooch isn't 'done' as much these days as it used to be, is it?  I wear brooches in winter because they set off a plain jumper or jacket nicely, but summer clothing fabrics don't always lend themselves to a brooch.  Woven fabrics are usually sturdy enough to have a brooch pinned on, but not knits.

Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street:

"It is an insult for the salesman to offensively suggest that you can not do better elsewhere, which should be resented by instant departure."

Indeed.  If it is suggested that I may get a better price or article elsewhere, I shall be off post haste to find out if this is so.

Enjoy your days!