But at least I have access to the internet!
It's a long tale that can summed up in one phrase: "too much rain".
Yes, you guessed it; last weekend, Moree, the town where my mum had her cataract operation, had the second highest flood on record!
We were trapped until yesterday. Mum needed to be home becasue she had another appointment (which was made nine months ago) in the town of Tamworth today and needed to come home first to collect ehr x-rays,etc.
Even when I made the decision to leave by the "long way home", I had no idea that the planned route (due to flooding in other areas) was 631 kilometres (395 miles). That is really the loooooooong way home - Moree to Bingara, mum's home town, is just 117 kilometres (73 miles) by her preferred route.
This map shows the route I thought I would be taking; the road between Narrabri (B) and Bingara (G) is the one I wanted to take!
View Larger Map
Anyway, I was about 40 kilometres (25 miles) out the Narrabri-Coonabarabran Road when something told me to stop and check mum's phone. Sure enough, there was a voice message from mum's friend at the tourism office in Bingara, telling us that the road from Narrabri to Bingara had just been reopened. So, of course, I turned around and headed back into Narrabri, through town, and onto the Bingara Road! Yay!
What could have been an nine hour trip turned into a four hour trip (counting lunch stops, asking for information about road conditions, buying fuel and heading 40km in the wrong direction before being turned around! Thank you Lord!
I have managed to change my own ticket and will return to Sydney tomorrow - three days after I planned!
I will have photos of the flooding (if they worked) for you on Thursday!
And, mum's operation was very successful. Hopefully the other eye will be done next year.
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Sunday 27 November 2011
Scrappy Strings II
DD and I have been practising using the quilting frame with two layers of calico. Rather than "waste" more calico, we continued on the calico we had already used for practice! Here is a sample of my freehand stippling in red thread (the purple is the old practice) working from right to left.
Here is a sample of DD's freehand work - pretty good, don't you think?
Thanks to a hint from Cindy of Tops to Treasures, I bought three metres of beautiful blue polar fleece to use instead of batting but it is so pretty we can't bring ourselves to use it! Being the end of spring, the Big Box Craft Store has very little polar fleece in stock - they need the space for summer fabrics.
This pile was all sewn togehter on Tuesday. DD and I worked together, I cut and press, and DD chain pieced - the production line keeps us both happy and is quick and efficient.
Here is a sample of DD's freehand work - pretty good, don't you think?
Thanks to a hint from Cindy of Tops to Treasures, I bought three metres of beautiful blue polar fleece to use instead of batting but it is so pretty we can't bring ourselves to use it! Being the end of spring, the Big Box Craft Store has very little polar fleece in stock - they need the space for summer fabrics.
So, DD and I decided what we needed to do was to make a quick and easy quilt top, then get some batting and practice on a "real"quilt.
To that end, we began making string blocks. Each is 9 3/4 inches square, and made up of six or seven strips. Here are the first five (of 24) that we have completed. Since I took these photos, four more blocks have been finished.
I spent several hours, cutting and pressing strips and matching them into pairs. This pile doesn't look like much but it consists of 80 pairs of matched strings, plus some strings that have been sewn into pairs and are now pairs waiting to be joined to pairs.
I spent several hours, cutting and pressing strips and matching them into pairs. This pile doesn't look like much but it consists of 80 pairs of matched strings, plus some strings that have been sewn into pairs and are now pairs waiting to be joined to pairs.This pile was all sewn togehter on Tuesday. DD and I worked together, I cut and press, and DD chain pieced - the production line keeps us both happy and is quick and efficient.
Hopefully it won't be long before we have a quilt top to work on!
(And hopefully by the time you read this I am on my way home from mum's).
Saturday 26 November 2011
late spring in his front garden Part 2
Are you fully recovered now?
And are you enjoying your tour?
You know, a lot of people say Australian native plants are boring but they obviously haven't looked closely enough!
Before we cross over the bridge to the front porch, we'll make a detour along the narrow path that leads to the meter box. In this part of Australia, the electricity company has a meter installed on the outside of each house and every three months they send someone to "read the meter" so that we can be charged for the amount of electricity we have used. That's the theory anyway!
Anyway, we're not here to discuss the failings of large utility companies, let's rejoin the tour.
The little path I mentioned leads off to the left of the bridge (as we face the house); on the left of the path that small plant with the tiny seed pods is leptospermum scoparia; we shall meet another version of this plant in a couple of minutes.
Before the path makes a sharp turn around the side of the house, on our left we see a very old westringia, commonly known as "native rosemary". 
It is the plant in the foreground with the grey-green foliage. (The plant in the background is a bottlebrush, not in flower at this time of year). The Westringia plant was here when we moved in nearly twenty years ago, so it is old and gnarled, and almost devoid of foliage. It won't be long for this garden.
It has light mauve flowers, a colour common to many Australian species. It does look a lot like rosemary, doesn't it?
Turn around now and head back towards the bridge. The rest of the plants in this area are not in flower and not very interesting.
To the left of the path, you will see this graceful little shrub, not much taller than knee height.
Aren't those flowers dainty? This austromyrtus dulcis - the Midgen Berry! The name doesn't do this plant justice. Those tiny flowers are so cute but you have to bend in close to see them. Don't worry about the native bees -- they have no sting!
Now we are back at the the bridge. Crossing the bridge, to our left, we see another low growing shrub, under the bedroom windows, a species of leptospermum scoparium, known in Australia as "tea tree" and in New Zealand as "manuka". This is the flower that produces the seed pods shown above. As you can see, it's a tiny flower - that's my thunb nail (again) to give scale.
Now that we're over the bridge we enter the front porch. To our right is another small shrub; a species of melaleuca. Larger versions of this genus are known as "paperbark". This one comes up to my lower thighs. Isn't the flower gorgeous? It's one of my favourites - both for its shape and its colour.
Well, here we are on the porch. There are other plants to see in our front garden but they are not in flower at this time of year.
Please come back and visit us again - the bottlebrushes are spectacular in summer and autumn.
And are you enjoying your tour?
You know, a lot of people say Australian native plants are boring but they obviously haven't looked closely enough!
Before we cross over the bridge to the front porch, we'll make a detour along the narrow path that leads to the meter box. In this part of Australia, the electricity company has a meter installed on the outside of each house and every three months they send someone to "read the meter" so that we can be charged for the amount of electricity we have used. That's the theory anyway!
Anyway, we're not here to discuss the failings of large utility companies, let's rejoin the tour.
The little path I mentioned leads off to the left of the bridge (as we face the house); on the left of the path that small plant with the tiny seed pods is leptospermum scoparia; we shall meet another version of this plant in a couple of minutes.
Before the path makes a sharp turn around the side of the house, on our left we see a very old westringia, commonly known as "native rosemary". It is the plant in the foreground with the grey-green foliage. (The plant in the background is a bottlebrush, not in flower at this time of year). The Westringia plant was here when we moved in nearly twenty years ago, so it is old and gnarled, and almost devoid of foliage. It won't be long for this garden.It has light mauve flowers, a colour common to many Australian species. It does look a lot like rosemary, doesn't it?
Turn around now and head back towards the bridge. The rest of the plants in this area are not in flower and not very interesting.To the left of the path, you will see this graceful little shrub, not much taller than knee height.
Aren't those flowers dainty? This austromyrtus dulcis - the Midgen Berry! The name doesn't do this plant justice. Those tiny flowers are so cute but you have to bend in close to see them. Don't worry about the native bees -- they have no sting! Now we are back at the the bridge. Crossing the bridge, to our left, we see another low growing shrub, under the bedroom windows, a species of leptospermum scoparium, known in Australia as "tea tree" and in New Zealand as "manuka". This is the flower that produces the seed pods shown above. As you can see, it's a tiny flower - that's my thunb nail (again) to give scale. Now that we're over the bridge we enter the front porch. To our right is another small shrub; a species of melaleuca. Larger versions of this genus are known as "paperbark". This one comes up to my lower thighs. Isn't the flower gorgeous? It's one of my favourites - both for its shape and its colour.Well, here we are on the porch. There are other plants to see in our front garden but they are not in flower at this time of year.
Please come back and visit us again - the bottlebrushes are spectacular in summer and autumn.
Friday 25 November 2011
late spring in his front garden Part 1
WM is the gardener at our house. The front garden completely covers the space between our house and the footpath, except for our double driveway. We have no lawn on our property at all! When WM does the mowing of the the footpath (we call it the "nature strip"), it takes him less than an hour to get out the mower and edger, do the jobs, then clean and put the tools away! Too easy!!
Because most of the plants in the front garden are currently in flower, and because most of them have teeny, tiny flowers, I will do this "tour" in two sections: today and tomorrow. The front garden is completely planted in Australian natives so many of these plants will be "exotic" to most of you!
We begin our tour at the garage doors. To the left of the driveway (looking at the street), is this magnificent stand of "kangaroo paws"
so named because the shape of the flower looks like the tiny front paws of Australia's most famous marsupial!
These plants in flower are over five feet high. The plants themselves come up to my lower thighs.
To the right of the driveway, on the fence line (no one in our street has front fences), is the letter box. Between the letter box and the driveway is a low growing but wide plant which I call the "spider" grevillea 
- again because of the shape of the flowers although it is much prettier than any spider I have ever seen.
There is curved bark-covered path leading from the letter box to the front door. To the left of the path and quite close to the grevillea is a very bright stand of everlasting daisies (a native of Western Australia). The plant itself is short, barely eight inches tall. The bright flowers' petals feel like paper, which gives rise to one of its common names - paper daisy; although in florist shops it is called "everlasting daisy".
If you want to pick it, it's best to choose young flowers, 
as the older ones can look quite scruffy.
Lest you think that all Australian native plants are yellow, look at this plant opposite the daisies, on the other side of the path.
I call it star flowers for obvious reasons! It's certainly easier than "isotoma axillaris" and prettier than "Rock Isotome"!
Following the path towards the house, we come to the little wooden bridge built over a dry water course (man-made). It once flowed but because neighbourhood children were attracted to our garden as a place to hide and play, when the lining of the creek wore out we chose not replace it.
To the left of the bridge is a very low growing ground cover called scaveola. It, too, has the mauve flowers so common in our garden.
The flowers are very small, about the size of my little finger nail and roughly resemble the shape of fans - hence their common name.
I will leave you on the bridge, just a metre and a half from the front door, to catch your breath. Relax and enjoy the view. Feel free to wander around and take a closer look.
I hope you'll join me for Part 2 tomorrow.
Because most of the plants in the front garden are currently in flower, and because most of them have teeny, tiny flowers, I will do this "tour" in two sections: today and tomorrow. The front garden is completely planted in Australian natives so many of these plants will be "exotic" to most of you!
We begin our tour at the garage doors. To the left of the driveway (looking at the street), is this magnificent stand of "kangaroo paws"
so named because the shape of the flower looks like the tiny front paws of Australia's most famous marsupial!These plants in flower are over five feet high. The plants themselves come up to my lower thighs.To the right of the driveway, on the fence line (no one in our street has front fences), is the letter box. Between the letter box and the driveway is a low growing but wide plant which I call the "spider" grevillea - again because of the shape of the flowers although it is much prettier than any spider I have ever seen.
There is curved bark-covered path leading from the letter box to the front door. To the left of the path and quite close to the grevillea is a very bright stand of everlasting daisies (a native of Western Australia). The plant itself is short, barely eight inches tall. The bright flowers' petals feel like paper, which gives rise to one of its common names - paper daisy; although in florist shops it is called "everlasting daisy".
If you want to pick it, it's best to choose young flowers, as the older ones can look quite scruffy.
Lest you think that all Australian native plants are yellow, look at this plant opposite the daisies, on the other side of the path.
I call it star flowers for obvious reasons! It's certainly easier than "isotoma axillaris" and prettier than "Rock Isotome"!
Following the path towards the house, we come to the little wooden bridge built over a dry water course (man-made). It once flowed but because neighbourhood children were attracted to our garden as a place to hide and play, when the lining of the creek wore out we chose not replace it.
To the left of the bridge is a very low growing ground cover called scaveola. It, too, has the mauve flowers so common in our garden.
The flowers are very small, about the size of my little finger nail and roughly resemble the shape of fans - hence their common name.I will leave you on the bridge, just a metre and a half from the front door, to catch your breath. Relax and enjoy the view. Feel free to wander around and take a closer look.
I hope you'll join me for Part 2 tomorrow.
Thursday 24 November 2011
Wednesday 23 November 2011
away from home / knitting progress
I will be away for a few days, probably without access to a computer, so if I don't leave comments on your blog it's because I haven't read your posts!
By the time many of you read this, I will be in transit between Sydney and Bingara (the town where my mum lives). Because of track work, I will be travelling by coach to Tamworth instead of the usual train (which I am not really looking forward to because I can get up and walk on the train!). Then another coach to Bingara - a journey of about nine and half hours!
On Thursday I will drive mum 100 kilometres (62 miles) to the town of Moree, where she will have an operation to remove a cataract on Friday. We will be staying in Moree on Thursday and Friday nights, and I will stay with mum on Saturday night. If all is going well, I will return home on Sunday.
I have pre-written some posts to keep you entertained while I am away! Enjoy!
Today I will leave you with a photo of my knitting: this is the blanket for William, my newest next door neighbour.
I am up to the fourth of the ten balls of Cleckheaton Fiddle De Dee cotton that will be needed to finish this blanket. With about sixteen hours of travelling and time in the hospital, I hope to have a UFO by the time I come home.
By the time many of you read this, I will be in transit between Sydney and Bingara (the town where my mum lives). Because of track work, I will be travelling by coach to Tamworth instead of the usual train (which I am not really looking forward to because I can get up and walk on the train!). Then another coach to Bingara - a journey of about nine and half hours!
On Thursday I will drive mum 100 kilometres (62 miles) to the town of Moree, where she will have an operation to remove a cataract on Friday. We will be staying in Moree on Thursday and Friday nights, and I will stay with mum on Saturday night. If all is going well, I will return home on Sunday.
I have pre-written some posts to keep you entertained while I am away! Enjoy!
Today I will leave you with a photo of my knitting: this is the blanket for William, my newest next door neighbour.
Tuesday 22 November 2011
the weekend that was
This past weekend was one of the busiest weekends I have had in a long time.
I've already told you that DD and I went to "high tea" on Sunday and visited the discount book store on the way home.
There's a post coming next Sunday about our newest project: a scrappy string quilt top; the why and wherefore will be given then.
So I guess that leaves Friday and Saturday.
On Friday it was 38*C (100*F) here. DD and I had great intentions of spending some time using the quilting frame but the garage, as I may have told you before, is not insulated so it was way too hot to be out there most of the day! We did spend some time out there in the cooler evening and some of what we accomplished is also shown in next Sunday's post. (I'm not trying to tease you; there is a reason for the delay and it will become apparent over the next day or two!)
We visited the Big Box Craft Store because I received an email to say they had 50% off selected quilting fabrics. When we got there it was off those in the $16.99 and $19.99 ranges only; and, since we had no notion of what we wanted, we bought nothing! Yes, you read that right; we drove across town to a fabric sale and bought zip! zilch! nada!!
On Saturday I took DD to a discount fashion store where she bought two tops and a new skirt. We then drove to the monthly meeting of the Blue Mountains group of the Knitters' Guild of NSW. We had two retailers there - one was selling cashmere blend yarns and one was selling alpaca fleece, yarns and items. Again we bought nothing! Aren't we good? (No wonder I didn't feel so bad buying all those books on Sunday).
DD was voted in as the new treasurer for our knitting group - congratulations to her and the new convenor and new secretary.
D. you've done a great job over the last three years and I'm sorry that you were not properly thanked!
D. you've done a great job over the last three years and I'm sorry that you were not properly thanked!
On Saturday night WM, DD and I went to a local production of "Pygmalion". This is one of my favourite plays (and one of my favourite musicals in it's other incarnation: "My Fair Lady").
 |
| photo from stagewhispers.com.au showing Bob Sparrow (Henry Higgins), Ali Gore (Eliza Doolittle) and Alan Pope (Colonel Pickering) |
The costumes were great, and the acting was pretty good. The one character that stood out for me was Mrs Higgins, plated by Robyn Pope - what a fabulous performance. Not a falter with her lines and she just played the part with what appeared to be consummate ease.
Well done to all the Glenbrook Players.
Monday 21 November 2011
don't let me near the discount book store
Yesterday, DD and I had "high tea" for lunch. I won't go into the details - it is sufficient to say that it was basically the same as when I took mum in September. You can read about that on this post.
After lunch, we had to pass the discount bookstore to return to the car.
Well, when I say "pass", I mean, we had to go into the book store.
And I came out with a few books (as you do).
If you read Quilting Arts magazine, you'll recognise this one; the author of the book, Robbi Joy Eklow, writes an essay for each edition of the magazine under the same title.
I nearly didn't buy the next one except for the second sentence in the introduction:
The concepts presented also apply to quilting on a short arm machine or a domestic machine using a quilting frame.
A quick flick through the book convinced me I wanted to own this one.
I bought a few others but they're for Christmas presents so I can't show them here!
Are you giving books as gifts this Christmas?
Sunday 20 November 2011
I like chocolate cake batter
On Saturday 12th November, Baseball Nephew had a training session at the Olympic Baseball Park in western Sydney. My sister and nephew stayed with us on Friday night.
...and the beaters.
Younger Grandson watched on but only smiled when he was tickled!
In honour of their visit (we only see them two or three times a year), DD made a chocolate cake.
Older Grandson learnt the delights of licking the spatula
...and the beaters.
Younger Grandson watched on but only smiled when he was tickled!
Saturday 19 November 2011
scrappy on Saturday
Over the past two weeks, I have been cutting and piecing madly to "catch up" with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
I have now done blocks for seven of the eleven months for this year.
I "cheated" by combining two months (August and September) which were white and black respectively. I chose to make black-and-white blocks; I think you can see why!
Here are my February (red) four-patch, nine patch, string, improv and Wonky Window blocks.
And my April (purple) string and improv blocks. Coincidentally this is my birthday month and my favourite colour combined.
My June (yellow) blocks: string and improv.
My October (orange) can be seen here and my November blocks (brown) can be seen here.
I have no intention of doing the July blocks (red, white and blue) because I don't have enough red or white scraps.
So I have only pink, green and blue to go!
Can I finish them all before the end of the year?
Friday 18 November 2011
Thursday 17 November 2011
exciting news
It may surprise you to know that baseball is not one of the most popular sports in Australia.
It is not broadcast at all on free-to-air television.
It is certainly not the big deal that it is in USA.
However, my uncle (dad's brother) played baseball for many years. Dad's first cousin also played baseball, as did his sons, and at least one of his son's sons.
My sister's son, my only nephew, started playing tee-ball when he was much younger.
From tee-ball he graduated to baseball.
So, in summer he'd play cricket (one of our most popular national sports) and in winter - yes, that's right, winter - he'd play baseball.
It is not broadcast at all on free-to-air television.
It is certainly not the big deal that it is in USA.
However, my uncle (dad's brother) played baseball for many years. Dad's first cousin also played baseball, as did his sons, and at least one of his son's sons.
My sister's son, my only nephew, started playing tee-ball when he was much younger.
From tee-ball he graduated to baseball.
So, in summer he'd play cricket (one of our most popular national sports) and in winter - yes, that's right, winter - he'd play baseball.
This is a photo of him after the Grand Final of the B-grade earlier this year. He also played in the A-grade grand final.
 |
| photo copied and cropped from Cougars Baseball Club Facebook page |
This summer he will not be playing cricket.
Instead, he has been named in the 2012 Under-18's NSW Country Baseball Team as a pitcher. So he will spend the early part of the summer travelling around the state for training and then compete in the national championships in Geelong, Victoria, in January.
This is very exciting news in our family. He has made a state representative team and may, if he plays really well, make it to the national team.
That is great news in itself.
But my nephew is still six weeks short of his sixteenth birthday!
Wednesday 16 November 2011
scrappy rainbow
Late last Thursday night, before I went to bed, I sorted through all my scraps to find everything I had in different colours.
All of those colours have been put in separate bags (black and white together) and then all the bags have been stored together in a paper shopping bag (which shows that there isn't all that much really!).
I've also done purple and red blocks but they can wait for another post. The weather today is very overcast and they are two colours that don't photograph well!
This is what greeted me when I walked into my sewing room on Friday morning.
All of those colours have been put in separate bags (black and white together) and then all the bags have been stored together in a paper shopping bag (which shows that there isn't all that much really!).
I have been in my sewing room quite a bit over the past few days. I've already shown you eighteen of the nineteen brown blocks here.
Here are the two orange blocks. They are brighter than this picture shows but could still pass for brown blocks! There is no white/cream in these blocks, it's actually a pale apricot colour - I'm not too good on correcting the colour balance of my photos!
I've also done purple and red blocks but they can wait for another post. The weather today is very overcast and they are two colours that don't photograph well!
I'm working on yellow now! But I don't think I'll get too many blocks - I have a limited range of fabrics and the tones are too similar!
As you can see from the first photo above, the colour I had the most scraps for was blue; and most of that came from our sewing rather than from donated scraps: what would be the most common colour in your scrap basket?
Tuesday 15 November 2011
second Christmas present finished
Two down and two to go!
This is a book about opposites and was much easier to make than the last book because the panel was printed more squarely so less blocking was required to make the pages match!
Next week my calendar is really full so I'm spending some quiet time this week in my sewing room working on more blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge - I have several months of catch-up to do!
This is a book about opposites and was much easier to make than the last book because the panel was printed more squarely so less blocking was required to make the pages match!
Next week my calendar is really full so I'm spending some quiet time this week in my sewing room working on more blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge - I have several months of catch-up to do!
Monday 14 November 2011
that was the weekend that was
On Saturday evening, I was reading and commenting on the some of the many blogs on my reading list when my computer froze!
I rebooted it and got an error message - "looking for a driver" - before it froze again.
I rebooted and found a new symbol (icon?) on my computer - right where the strength of Internet connection is usually shown. I clicked on this strange new symbol. "No connection available."
WM and DD looked at the computer but there was nothing for it. I turned the computer off and used WM's slower, older computer to finish reading the blogs I was reading.
Today my tower went to the computer shop. Some kind of new card was put in it. And now I have connection to the Internet again! Hurrah!
DD and I were out on Saturday. When we came home we did some quilting on the "new" frame. The Brother machine works best with the top and bobbin threaded with Gutermann cotton thread; cheaper threads and Gutermann polyester break!
All practice so far has been done on calico (which is called "muslin" in the USA I believe) top and back with no batting.
We didn't get any pantographs with the quilting frame so we created our own.
So, a frustrating weekend but, as is often the case, it had some wonderful moments. I leave you with a picture (taken in Glenbrook) that can't help but make you go "awwww!"
We make 'em cute in our family!! LOLHere are my attempts to follow the laser light accurately (not too bad for a complete novice!)
 |
| The lack of symmetry is exactly how I drew it! |
 |
| I enjoyed doing this one the most! |
On Saturday, DD and I went to the Glenbrook Spring Fair. We looked around the fair in the morning, had some lunch and volunteered our time (and Younger Grandson for added cuteness) at the stall being held to raise money for Caring Hearts Community Quilting Group. There were five of us volunteering. In three hours we sold less than $100 worth of goods - between us! I certainly hope the team that volunteered for the morning sold more!
DD was very disappointed; not one of the wheat bags we had made and donated was sold. The coasters she had so carefully made were also unsold at the end of the day.
So, a frustrating weekend but, as is often the case, it had some wonderful moments. I leave you with a picture (taken in Glenbrook) that can't help but make you go "awwww!"
 |
| Younger Grandson aged 20 weeks |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)