A little of this, not much of that

Pretty much sums up my week.  How was yours?

The decision was made to use the darker fabric to bind the blue and green quilt, so strips will be cut this week.  The bags shown recently have been handed over to the Worthy Cause, so they have left the sewing room.

Diamonds have been cut, and also sewn.....an easy mindless project in front of TV.  Words have been read.  Notes have been plinked and sung; once again I was the leader for the U3A ukulele group, and once again we managed without descending into total anarchy.  I have to admit to being floored when I mentioned making sure ukes were in tune....one woman said she never tuned hers, didn't own a tuner, in fact didn't think it made any difference!  Ohmygawd......if you have ever heard an out of tune instrument, doesn't matter which instrument it is, it's enough to set your teeth on edge.  (well, mine, anyway)  She has instructions to buy a tuner before next Thursday, and I will show her how to use it.

Many years ago we used to meet up at folk festivals with a lovely man and his wife who had a sticker on their car window which read "Love thy neighbour - tune thy piano".  Never a truer word spoken.  Or written.  He used to have a beautiful green parrot on his shoulder, and a permanent trail of bird poop down his back.....but his piano was always in tune.  Sadly, he is no longer with us.  I don't know about the parrot.

As not a great deal of note has been accomplished this week, we will trawl back through the vaults for some photographic inspiration.

When Kevin was putting the 1926 Singer treadle machine back together he noticed this piece of metal on the floor that he thought must have come from the machine.  I duly photographed it and asked the "what is it?" question on a social media vintage machine page.  It is the central piece of the tension assembly, I was told by Those Who Know.  Kevin checked - but it isn't from that machine!  So - it either came from the 1925 machine, or I have ended up with a spare.....and a mystery.

Pics are appearing on social media of autumn on the other side of the world, beautiful droolworthy pics of glorious fall colour.  These are a little different; they are fungus photographed on an autumn trip to MacMillan Provincial Park on Vancouver Island.

This looks like two birds, or perhaps two fish, doesn't it?  But no - it's fungi.

The park had lots of different fungi.

There are very tall straight trees in that park, too.  Vancouver Island is the Land of Tall Straight Trees.  We have tall trees in Australia too, but they aren't very straight.

The weather has gone from quite hot to rather cool, and hasn't yet swung back.  It's the time of year where the big decision as to what to wear is dependent on conditions, and will we be inside or outside, will it be sunny or windy......however, we know it probably won't be wet, although it rained a few nights ago.  We were woken at stupid dark early o'clock to very loud thunder and the garden enjoyed a drink, although it would like more.

Continuing on with Etiquette if the Street, Some General Suggestions:

"A gentleman will always precede a lady up a flight of stairs, and allow her to precede him in going down."

Of course he should.....and just think, this was written many years before the advent of mini skirts when some men tried to walk up stairs behind a lady!  Shame on them.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

A day for the wombats of the world

Because today is International Wombat Day!  It does seem a bit silly to have an 'international day' for an animal which lives in only one continent - Australia - unless we count the small number in zoos around the world, but wombats are wonderful and deserve a day of celebration.

The first wombat in my collection was bought in my home town (where we moved in 2010, and where we still live) while on a visit to my mother, back in the late 1990s.  There used to be an interesting shop which was part plant nursery/part café/part gift shop - gone for many years now - and we took ourselves there for a ladylike morning tea.  On a potted plant there was a cute little wombat which appealed to me, I bought it for not many dollars......and the rest, as they say, is history.

Here it is, posing on a daffodil fabric from my stash.  It is slightly creased, but wombats don't use irons.

It has since been joined by many many more.

My blue and green quilt has been booked in with a long arm quilter, and will be delivered a week from tomorrow.  It occurred to me the other day that no decision had been made on binding - woops!  These are a couple of options:

The green swirl used as backing, and a dark blue/green/edging toward purple Fossil Fern which has been in my stash for some time, and which is richer in real life.  The swirl would be interesting in a narrow strip but I am leaning to the dark fabric, which I think it would make a better 'frame' around the quilt.  Thoughts will be thought on the matter over the next few days, and the cutter will be taken to the chosen fabric.

Words have been read, diamonds have been cut and sewn.  Notes have been plinked and sung; our U3A ukulele group leader is away for a couple of weeks so I led the group on Thursday and will do so again next Thursday.  We blundered through without descending into total anarchy; I am not a trained teacher and many people (including, I suspect, the (now ex) DIL) (who is a proper musician herself) would consider that I'm not a proper musician either, but we managed.  I had the heeby jeebies on arrival and breathed a sigh of relief at the end, let me tell you.

The heat of summer is upon us, and it's not pleasant.  If we were to set foot outside this afternoon we would probably be blown to kingdom come, so apart from hanging out washing this morning and bringing it in at lunchtime, we are staying inside.  We are promised a few more hot days with cooler relief by the end of the week, which will be welcome......and rain would be even more welcome, as we are tumbling headlong into another drought.  However - that's Australia for you; if it's not flooding it's on fire, or it's in drought, or it's flooding again.

Despite all the weather throws at us, though, I can't imagine living anywhere else.  Except perhaps Canada, in autumn......but definitely not in winter.

On Friday I had a foray into a new-to-me op shop (although it's been open for some time, I just hadn't been before) and came away with two tops, one dark blue with orange/red flowers, brand new with tags, and another bright yellow with tropical flowers and an interesting double flouncy sleeve.  I have also removed a few shirts/tops from my sumptuous wardrobe; unfortunately I have inherited the thick neck that comes from my mother's family, and now prefer shirts without collars.  Both my brothers have/had it, until a few years ago I hoped I had escaped......but alas, no.  If I have another chance at a life after this one I will pick parents who have slender swan-like necks.

The term 'op shop' - short for 'opportunity shop' - is, it seems, unique to Australia.  It was coined in Melbourne by Lady Someone-or-Other to reduce the stigma that was around at the time for those who bought second-hand goods, but an opportunity shop....who can resist an opportunity?  My Posh Melbourne Grandmother used the term 'opportunity shop', but somehow I don't think she ever shopped in one.  These days, of course, we're all about recycling and being environmentally aware, so opping - or thrifting, or whatever you call it - has become quite popular.  So...someone else will like my collared shirts, and my neck will be more comfortable.

 Continuing on with Etiquette of the Street, Some General Suggestions:

"A young lady should, if possible, avoid walking alone in the street after dark.  If she passes the evening with a friend, provision should be made beforehand for an escort.  If this is not practicable, the person at whose house she is visiting should send a servant with her, or some proper person - a gentleman acquaintance present, or her own husband - to perform the duty.  A married lady may, however, disregard this rule, if circumstances prevent her being able to conveniently find an escort.

Funny how that little gold ring suddenly renders one safe on the street alone at night, isn't it?

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

All bagged up

Finally - the second bag which was started on my treadle machine last month is finished!

The blue and yellow floral bag was made on Spring Fair day at the house museum, and the tan and brick bag started.  (The solid fabric was called "Brick" on the cardboard roll, so "brick" it shall be.)  Today it was finally finished, so they can be ticked off the imaginary-in-my-head list of Stuff to do.  The tan fabric was a lucky door prize several years ago and, while it's nice enough, it's probably not something I would choose were I to go fabric shopping; those squares don't lend themselves to being cut into smaller pieces, but it's fine for a bag.  The blue and yellow floral has also been in my stash for *ahem* quite a while, and now there is a much smaller piece of it.

The lavender and pink bag was made yesterday on My Lovely New Bernina (24 years old and still going strong).  It too was already cut out and pressed; in my optimism I took three bags with me, but in the end managed to make one and a half.

The floral fabric is a blend, poly/cotton, possibly 65/35% - I have no recollection of when or why it came into my stash, but it was a very long time ago.  Some has been used for small projects in the meantime, but now it is all gone.  Used up.  Finis.  Done.  It was slightly sheer so a few different colours of solids were tried with it, and much as I don't really care all that much for pink I had to admit this particular shade of  pink suited it best......so, pink it is.  

These bags will go to a group which assists women in hospital, so it's a Worthy Cause.  I don't mind supporting the occasional Worthy Cause.

Words have been read.  Diamonds have been joined, and more cut.  Notes have been plinked and sung.  Hunting and gathering was indulged in so we may eat, which is probably a good thing.  My brain and the clock are once more in synch with each other, so life proceeds along.

Our weather is in the 'warm one day, cool the next' time of year; a lull before the more extreme heat of summer, and we have been warned by 'Those Who Know' that the coming summer will be hot and dry.  Oh well.....we have survived hot and dry in the past, and will no doubt do so again.  The children next door are already using their pool, to the usual accompaniment of squeaks and squeals.

When out and about a few days ago we stopped for coffee, and while sipping and watching the passing parade - always an entertaining activity, no matter where one is - I was taken by a woman wearing a bright orange tee shirt teamed with loose orange and purple pants and orange footwear.  Her tee shirt read:

                                        I don't want to

                                        I don't have to

                                        You can't make me

                                        I'm retired!

Isn't that the best ever?  I commented on it, and she told me it was a gift.  I don't usually stare at other women's chests, but that was definitely worth a look.

Continuing with Etiquette of the Street, Some General Suggestions:

"Never turn a corner at full speed or you may find yourself knocked down, or may knock down another, by the violent contact.  Always look in the way you are going or you may chance to meet some awkward collision.  People are very rude and vulgar who do not look they way they are going; it annoys others."

Words as true today as when they when they were written in 1885.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Not a stitch, not one street or laneway

No sewing was done on the house quilt.  The older I get, the more the first few days of daylight saving hit me; once it's been underway for a while it's easier to cope, but I'm pretty useless for those first few days.  That's my excuse for why I didn't get to quilt group on Tuesday.  It was still dark when I woke up, and I don't bounce out of bed when it's dark.  

Never mind.  There is no deadline....it's just a fun project.

Consequently it's been a(nother) lazy week, although the time change fog is lifting now.

The backing for the blue and green quilt has been pieced, although it needs to be cut down to size.

The fabric needed to be cut and re-joined to make a big enough piece.  There was no guarantee that the diagonal swirl (this is tilted) would match up when that was done and, if it didn't match, that would bug the bejabbers out of me every time I looked at it, so the blue stripe was added.  My brain can do random with no problems....it can do matched.......but it doesn't do mis-matched.  Mis-matched just looks.....untidy, doesn't it?  The blue stripe will be about one third of the way down going across the quilt, and the swirls will go top left to bottom right.  Or vice versa.

It is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, so best wishes to my Canadian family and friends!

This was taken on Thanksgiving back in 2015.  We had celebrated Turkey Day with our son and his partner the previous day and, of course, being a holiday there wasn't a lot open on the actual day.  As it was a glorious day we took a bus to Rosetta Mcclain Gardens which we had passed several times by bus and car, but this was our first visit......and it was worth it, for sure; it was a beautiful place to while away a couple of hours with its early autumn colours.  While strolling around we heard a familiar sound - an Australian cockatiel!  It was sitting on its owner's shoulder chirping away, so of course being True Blue Ozzies we said in our best broad Strine "g'day, mate".  However, the bird being Canadian born and bred far from its native land didn't understand our accents, which we thought was funny.

Words have been read.  Notes have been sung but none plinked, but uke group resumes tomorrow so we will be plinking again.  Diamonds have been cut, and sewn.  Thoughts have been thought about many profound things.  Hunting and gathering has happened.  A little shifting of fabrics from one place to another has been done.

A major Aussie car race is taking place today which Kevin is watching, at times through his eyelids.  The sound is turned off because I cannot stand the screaming commentary, and the radio is playing instead; currently it's a program of instrumental music from movies.  I have tinnitus, and find having a radio playing in the background helps distract my brain from the endless annoying humming and buzzing in my ears.  My generation grew up without television, certainly those of us who grew up in country towns did (TV came to the Big Smoke several years earlier than it did to smaller towns) and to this day I am more than happy to leave it off, unless there is a program I really want to watch.  But - we had radio!  There was always music; in our house the 'wireless' was turned on first thing in the morning and turned off last thing at night.  The local station played a mix of the latest hits and music from earlier times so we grew up familiar with music from the 1950s, 40s, 30s.....even the 1920s, and those older songs were also played at the dances we attended so of course we sang along while tripping the light fantastic.

An unwelcome visitor popped in for a chat earlier this week - winter made a return!  It was so cool on Thursday evening that we even had a fire; we could have done with one last night too because this morning was distinctly chilly.  We'll see how this evening develops, it may even be lit again.  This is the latest we have had a fire, we are usually done with them by the end of September......but not this year; last week was very warm for so early in the season and this week has swung to the opposite extreme.

Etiquette of the Street, Some General Suggestions:

"If a gentleman is walking with two ladies in a rain storm, and there is but one umbrella, he should give it to his companions and walk outside.  Nothing can be more absurd than to see a gentleman walking between two ladies holding an umbrella which perfectly protects himself, but half deluges his companions with its dripping streams."

"Absurd" doesn't begin to describe it, does it?

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Hidden treasure!

When my 1926 treadle machine went for its recent visit to the house museum it was taken apart for transport, as it's far too heavy for two Olde Phartez to lift.  First the staple was unclipped from the leather belt join, and the belt removed.  Next two screws holding the machine were removed, and the machine head lifted from the wooden cabinet.  Finally - this is the tricky bit, although Kevin assured me it wasn't difficult, just fiddly - the four vertical screws holding the wooden cabinet to the metal base were removed, and the wooden cabinet lifted off.  When it returned home, the process was repeated in reverse.

To make re-assembly less fiddly Kevin laid the wooden cabinet on its back, first removing the six drawers so they wouldn't fall out and get damaged. (The floors in that part of the house are tile, anything dropped on it is likely to break.)  Imagine his surprise when he looked inside the cabinet and found some very old things which had obviously fallen out the back of one of the drawers, become wedged in and never found - possibly not since the 1920s!

There is a piece of floral fabric, possibly fine cotton or rayon (viscose); a large piece of pale blue fabric, also fine cotton or rayon; a piece of gold brocade; a length of narrow lace, and a piece of floral beaded trim - it appears to be unused - which could be used for an evening garment or bag, and which has a 1920s look to it.  There was also a bonus certificate from 1927 for the amount of 100 pounds, equal to $200 in today's money, with a 25 pound ($50) bonus.  Converted to today's money value it's worth several thousand dollars - but I can't cash it in; for one thing I am not the person whose name is on the certificate - and for another thing, the company no longer exists.

The machine was a freebie, back in 2001.  My brother rang me to say his neighbour had "an old machine like yours" (our grandmother's 1925 Singer machine, by then in my possession) so if I wanted it, get there quickly or the neighbour was going to take it to the tip.  We hot-footed it over to his place in peak hour traffic (peak hour traffic in the Big Smoke was not for the faint of heart then, it's probably much worse now) to find the neighbour had taken the machine apart but everything was still with it.  Some of the fancy feet - the manual - even the key to the cabinet! - a plastic bag of screws - all was there.  Nothing was missing, so putting it together again was just like doing a not-very-hard jigsaw.  We had, however, never looked behind the drawers before!

I wonder how that long-ago seamstress felt when she couldn't find the certificate, and her leftover pieces of fabric and trim?  "Oh dear, it was here somewhere......"

The neighbourhood is coming along well.

It has become my take-along project for the quilt group first Tuesday of the month meeting, as it's just pinning and straight sewing.  Lots of pinning is required, as those strips are only cut one inch wide and I don't want them to slip while being attached, but that does make for slower results.  Never mind; every painstaking pin will be worth it when it's done. 

The pas couple of days I have been helping Kevin with some of his family history research.  It's been interesting finding out about his paternal grandmother, Emily from the circus; he remembers her as a little old lady - but before she married she was a bareback rider who was regarded with awe because she could swing down and pick up a handkerchief while at full gallop!  She also danced the 'Highland fling' and 'sailor's hornpipe' in the ring, starting out as a child.  She retired from the circus in her mid-20s when she married and never, it seems, performed again.

Diamonds have been joined, and more have been cut.  A wooden hanger has had its old knitted nylon cover removed (remember them?) and replaced with a pretty floral one, following a helpful online tutorial.  Words have been read.  Notes have been sung but none plinked, as my aging fingers have been resting after the previous musically busy week.  Hunting and gathering has been done.  That was the week, that was.

Daylight saving started at stupid dark early o'clock this morning, at 3 a.m.  We set our clocks as we were going to bed so our brains could start to adjust from waking-up time, but just the same I expect to feel a bit lagged for a few days until my brain kicks into gear.  Which it will.  Just not immediately.  Our state has had daylight saving since 1971, but there are those who still whinge and complain about it every year at this time.  Just get over it.  Your moans won't make it change back.  I don't love it, but I certainly don't hate it either.....there's no point in hating something so trivial, is there?

"Keep to the right.

On meeting and passing people in the street, keep to your right hand, except when a gentleman is walking alone; then he must always turn aside to give the preferred side of the walk to a lady, to any one carrying a heavy load, to a clergyman, or to an old gentleman."

Well, yes....I understand sheltering a lady from mud and splashes of the street, and an old gentleman who perhaps couldn't nimbly leap out of the way himself......same with a heavily laden person....but a clergyman?  If a clergyman is walking with a lady he would walk on the outside, surely - clergyman or not?

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer