more more weird things about ME

I don't think you'll get the full six this time but here goes:

• I've used the Library Database so often I know my 14 digit patron ID number off by heart. Our lovely library has been in this same building for 150 years.


• I own around 100 coffee cups.There are blue-and-white ones, christmas ones and cat ones. Some are blue and white with cats. A lot are blue and white and japanese. Any others were gifts from people who don't know me very well. I'd have more but I've broken quite a few since moving up here ... concrete slab under floor not very forgiving :[ btw these are stacked three rows deep!


• I ADORE paper and paper products but hardly ever write letters anymore.


• I have [ I'm told ] an unusual memory for faces. Not necessarily the names to go with them mind you, but generally I know WHERE I know someone from, even if it's from years before.

BTW Earlier 'weird things' posts can be seen here and here

Currently I'm:

reading: Douglas Adams - Dirk Gently and the Holistic Detective Agency

knitting: Nothing. Just finished a toddler beanie in white and variagated blue wool I dyed from BWM's 4-ply [ fingering]

sewing up: christening robe. Started last year for Riley before I knew he was Riley, but Christina has one already so it's sat around for ages.That's quite okay cos this one's going in the granny box for Nadie. Still need to sew up the Brea bag.

crochet: just starting on the border [FINALLY] of the never-ending baby shawl that matches the christening robe. I've been going around and around and around for months [ on and off ] and it takes ages to do a row given that there's about a thousand stitches per row now. The lace edge for the shawl is the same as but deeper than the edge of the robe... and this one's going into storage as well. By the time I had my kids, my mum couldn't knit any more and she hated not being able to do things for them to wear. It may be quite a while before Nadie needs this stuff and I'm determined that she will have it, whether I'm still knitting, crocheting and quilting by then or not.

quilting: about to get back to quilting the Challenge quilt after dinner. [ or maybe not ... starting to feel that a veg in front of the teev is in order ]

Gardening? Nope but we've had some rain !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Housework? minimal

Listening to: a compilation CD of bellydance music

Plans for tomorrow? Going to Melbourne with DS#2 intent on meeting up with DS#1 Stephen [ plus DDIL and DGS ] and DD [ minus The Boy who has to work ] at Nonna's with a view to celebrating last week's birthdays

Haven't seen Riley since January so I have a feeling all else will pale besides the prospect of some quality grandson cuddling. It is entirely possible that ma in law and Nadie and I could become involved in a fracas over who gets to do said cuddling.

and the global Bloggers' Tea Party continues

The global teaparty continues. Thanks for stopping by. Is Lady Grey ok? or would you prefer Chai? Maybe peppermint? Russian Caravan? Do you think I have enough teapots to go round? Do you prefer a cup or a mug?

Laume's tea party post has inspired me to show you some of my collection of teapots and milk jugs. I'll leave some of the other tea related stuff till later as this is going to be picture-heavy enough.

Now if you've bopped on over to have tea with Laume you probably noticed that her teapot collection is quite eclectic. Right? Well, almost all of mine is blue and this will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who actually knows me :] I'd actually love to have a pretty one with roses to match all my Royal Albert and Royal Doulton cups but somehow I always seem to acquire blue ones.

I've been actively resisting acquiring any more pots for a couple of years and I really only weakened because the one on the right of this photo which matches both my favourite dinner service and two of my milk jugs jumped at me at an antique fair in Bendigo. [ and why it was at an antiques fair I don't know because it's not even 'vintage' ] Maz you can back me up, right? I put up a valiant battle but the pot was just too strong... and at the Fryerstown Antiques Fair in January I got assaulted by the matching sugar bowl... but prior to those lapses I had been good for a long time. I even gave a couple away when I moved up here.

the little group with the coffee mug are miniatures ... the tallest is just over an inch ... so we're not going to get much tea out of them.

The novelty mantlepiece pot was a present from a long time student. I'm not really into the novelty stuff as a rule but this was blue and white ... and has a cat . I don't need to say any more do I?

okay I have to fess up to some more novelty pots:

a student found the black one at a garage sale for $10 and the other two were bought at Thrift Shops for a grand total of $9.

and I just realised that I didn't get a pic of grandma Marnie's well used, well worn silver plated pot.

tea for two or two hundred?

Artsymama is hosting a global teaparty so in honour of the occasion, I give you [ once again ] my tea-shirt [ or is it a T-cosy? ]

It's after 11.30 pm so I'm downing one last cuppa and heading off to bed rather than grab the camera and buggerise around with a brand new photo of my teapot collection or something equally pertinent.

I'll leave you with a couple of quotes :

'Where there's tea, there's hope" ... Sir Arthur Pinero

"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot" Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Star Date: 41697.9

and finally

in the immortal words of Noel Coward: "Wouldn't it be dreadful to live in a country where they didn't have tea?"

for those who might like to make their own tea-shirt, here it is out flat. It was made in 2 strands of vintage laceweight and I'd write you up the pattern but I can't remember for the life of me what size needles I used. If I work it out, I'll get back to you.

The pattern for my teaparty quilt appeared in the 2001 Australian Patchwork and Quilting Yearbook and again recently in one of those compilation-type editions they put out from time to time but I don't recall the name. I hadn't realised until last night that I hadn't photographed it [ pretty poor since it was finished in 2000 ] so that was rectified this morning.

and whiskers on kittens

Happy Birthday

Today is my firstborn's 32nd birthday.

I'm feeling a bit pensive this morning, a bit folorn that his father didn't get to see the person he's grown in to. Didn't get to see how becoming a father has softened and matured Stephen's character... and I'm sad that I won't be seeing him today. If he wasn't working today [ and yesterday and the seven days straight before that ] I'd be in the car for the 2 hr drive down there, broken tailbone or no broken tailbone... but he is ... so I'm not :[

Friday was ma-in-law's 84th bd so in honour of the joint anniversaries, I've chosen this photo taken at Stephen and Christina's wedding which was probably the single happiest day of my life.

and in late breaking news:

I just got offered another goaty girl.

Nicky is a pure bred British Alpine and is coming to me as the result of a marriage breakup unfortunately. She should look something like this one. Bigger than Ms Robyn, smaller than Rosie and a good milker.

April are you jealous??????

I probably have rocks in my head taking on another mouth to feed in the middle of a drought but of course I said yes. She also offered me ducks and chooks but I don't have a fox proof pen so I probably have to say no to them.

Awwwww look at that sweet little face!

Sh-sh-sh-shibori and this week's gratuitous cute cat

Place: The Hermitage at Daylesford [ about a 40 minute drive away on sunny country roads ]

The cast: the gorgeous Zoe from Purl's Palace which is my favourite YS [ can't be a LYS cos it's not really local ], and nine adventurous ladies some of whom I'd met previously. One of these was Pat who'd driven the 3+ hours from Apollo Bay last night. Oh, and moi of course.

The occasion: my first workshop for Purl's Palace... Shibori Dyeing on Silk

The specs: Gaywool Dyes on medium Habutae, 8 minutes in the microwave.

Here are some of the girls stitching serenely in the sunlit courtyard

The result: judge for yourself :]

Pole wrapping and a happy face

Pleating, folding and clamping

Stitching and tieing and the latest in fashionable headgear

Just look at how saturated those colours are! I luuurrve these Gaywool dyes.

It was a bit rushed towrds the end mainly because of the time getting them all through the 2 microwaves and I really didn't get to recap so maybe a slightly less leisurely lunch next time but otherwise nothing I'd change. Doing the much more labour intensive stitched and tied ones first was definitely the way to go.

Australian Native Animals 101

This cute little guy is my echidna. I say "my" because he lives somewhere on my bush block but I rarely get to see him. Well I say "him" but I really don't know. It's not like he's going to let me turn him over, and I wouldn't know what to look for anyway, even assuming I could get that close...usually, I only see the remains of the white ant nests where he's been and the funny little funnel shaped holes he's dug in the garden with his snout.

Just so you know: echidnas are not related in any way to american porcupines or english hedgehogs, being a lot smaller than the first, larger by far than the second and as egg laying mammals [ monotremes ] are actually second cousins to platypus.

Today I did a really impressive echidna impersonation.

I lay on the table at the acupuncturist with needles sticking out of my legs, jaw and tush.

Basically needles # 1 through to 14 were fine. It was #15 that was the problem. Last week it was mildly painful when he placed five directly over the break and then it sort of subsided into a weird, heavy but not painful sensation... and I had 3 pain free days as a consequence.

TODAY however he must've had one of those buggers a squillionth of a millimetre away from where it was last week cos I gotta tell you it was ... not fun. One second nothing. Next second there were what felt like a gazillion volts straight through my caboose. There was screaming, clenching and a really top quality impersonation of a Harrier Jump Jet. Talk about your vertical-take-off-and-landing!

HE did a lot of apologising.

I did a lot of deep yoga type breathing.

Now this is a whole 'nother issue. You're supposed to breath in through the nose for 6 counts more or less, hold for 3, out through the mouth for 6, hold again and so on. I'm a mouth breather. It drives my dentist insane... and when I'm lying face down, even though it's face down through a conveniently placed hole in the table, I can't seem to get enough air in through my nose and my lungs feel like they're about to explode. Today I concentrated on that whole nose / mouth thing like my life depended on it.

More apologising.

Some quiet time, nice music, gentle heat. One could even forget the invasive presence of foreign metallic objects.

Then we got to the removal of the needles. Numbers 1 - 14 I couldn't even tell if they were in or out, but good 'ole number 15...

Let's just say we had another VTAL episode.

and more apologising

but I'm going back

next week

and in textile related news:

Tomorrow I'm teaching a Shibori workshop at Daylesford. Usually I teach shibori with Procion MX dyes on cotton fabric but for tomorrow's workshop, we're using Gaywool Dyes on silk. This is a hot dye process using a microwave so I dug the old one out of the shed. Do you remember how cumbersome those old microwave ovens were? It was even bigger than I remembered. Still it does the job.

In case anyone's interested in wading through the multiplicity of titles on the subject [ many of which are so simplistic that they're hardly worth even borrowing from the Library ] these are the ones I own and recommend:

This first book is the classic by Yoko Wada and after 20 years, it's still the best. The illustrations are incredibly detailed and precise. Thankfully, it's now in soft cover because the original hardcover cost an arm and a leg and some bugger stole the FerntreeGully Library's copy that we'd been borrowing constantly for years. The Janice Gunner one is prettier with nice big pictures and luscious colours in line with current publishing trends but covers less ground and the Britto one [ a present from my friend Claire R ] is the only one I've seen devoted solely to Shibori on silk and absolutely beautiful. It's mainly concerned with the wonderful textural qualities of pole wrapped silk for wearable art and is very informative but probably not the first one to acquire.

proof

Forget the tired, overweight, middle aged person wearing it, focus on the top... note the well fitted bands on the armholes. Oh yeah!!! that's the right stuff :]

What attracted me to this pattern in the first place was the extended shoulder line and the interesting shaping of the neck... far more flattering of flying-fox upper arms than your standard singlet top.

specs:

pattern: Lotus Blossum tank from Interweave Knits Summer 06

yarn: 8-ply cotton from Bendigo Woollen Mills 2 x 200 gram balls, can't remember the colour name but it's been discontinued.

needles : 4mm circs and straights [ Krystal Nacre ]

modifications : kept the shaping but did good old feather and fan instead of the 18 row repeat pattern for Lotus stitch because I needed mindless tv knitting. Minor mods to stitch count to accomplish the change of pattern.

In other developements, todays's trip to the Op Shop [ Thrift Store ] for $6 bag day yielded these cute coffee cups for Nadie, and a couple of funky bright aprons from probably the 1960s [Maz, you want?] and these doll patterns also for Maz. There were also a couple of old quilt mags, some assorted crochet cottons, a shirt for David, a bright plaid pillow case that should match the Licorice Allsorts quilt, a buttoned cream jaquard one for moi and a few other bits and bobs. Most of the clothes and linens are currently drying on the line. Can't stand that musty smell.

Everyone was much better behaved today, with little of the frenzied snatching and grabbing. Given the widespread media coverage of the disgraceful scenes at Target stores this week when the Stella McCartney stuff went on sale, perhaps people have been shocked into better behaviour. Stranger things have happened.

ya wanna know something?

People with FMS are not supposed to indulge in high energy / high impact activities. It tends to exacerbate the sympoms. [ which are a high level of pain and chronic fatigue ]
Right. I know that.
So tell me why I did three and a half hours of tap class last night and bellydancing this morning? [ well actaually it was Clogging but most people don't know what that is so it's easier to say "tap" ]
The cracked coccxyx is letting me know that it also does not think this was one of my more brilliant decisions.
Although the most physically painful part of the last 24 hours was actually the sitting at quilting this afternoon.
The most sedate activity possible is the one that was a literal pain in the tuchous.

and in a 180 degree change of subject, because I can't think of a clever segue:
I had an epiphany the other night:
When it comes to knitting, if you don't finish it, you haven't failed.
...the possibility still exists that it will totally suit you, fit like a dream and be in all ways perfect... but if you actually go ahead and finish something, then you have to acknowledge any imperfections. Whether said imperfections are the garment's or one's own. Now bear in mind, I am a woman who is generally incapable of judging what will or will not look okay in a change room because in my minds eye I'm still that 20kgs lighter person that I was only 10 years ago.. Why would I expect that something based only on a tiny wee two dimensional image of a garment worn by a stick insect is going to a] fit or b]suit ...but if I don't actually FINISH it? Then of course ONE day it's going to be divine. ONE day ...
Anyway, armed with this revelation, and new determination and taking a deeeeeep breath, I wielded thread and sticks and knit up the bands.
nearly done
sewed in the ends, lightly blocked, tried it on ........................and?
bugger
bum
the armholes are way too loose.
Add to that, I'd used cotton for a pattern that was originally designed for bamboo yarn. I wouldn't know bamboo yarn if it snuck up and bit me on my achey caboose.
I now suspect that it's a whole lot less stretchy than Bengigo Woollen Mills 8-ply [DK] cotton.
The otherwise very pretty top has been sitting on the end of the sewing room table since Sunday night.
This morning I tried it on again and it still looked revolting.
Nothing for it. Those armhole bands had to be redone.
This is when I discovered that the sewing in was SO PERFECT [ oh yeah ] that I couldn't find the end. This couldn't happen on some other garment? It had to be THIS one?
Out with the scissors. Hack. Slash. Unravel.
So here I am, watching Weird Al Yankovic on Spicks and Specks and reknitting the second armhole with a third less stitches. Yes I know that sounds like I took out too many but believe me, the one I've already redone fits just P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y. Now so long as I haven't mozzed myself by Blogging about it slightly prematurely....

with apologies to Queen

"I'll be lazing on a Sunday afternoon...."



Oh it's a thrilling life we lead here in the bush just chock full of excitement. Formula One racing? pfft! Skydiving? meh! Moomba Festival and the Birdman Rally [ well actually that looked like fun, but I digress ]



The highlight of my Sunday, the absolute pinnacle of my day was the all important rite of the trimming of the goat's toenails.



What do you mean, I need to get a life ?



Today dawned pleasantly warm, and general mooching ensued. A late breakfast on the verandah was involved and I will confess that I was still in my pjs when a phone call just before lunch alerted me to the imminent post prandial arrival of my friend Robyn from Daylesford and her hubby Paul. Just time enough to throw a batch of biscuits [ cookies ] together for afternoon tea. Robyn's stated aim for the visit was to meet the new does and kids next door, Paul's was to execute the aforementioned trimming of the goaty girl's toenails. He also joined us for the walk over to Pete's and stood around in that country bloke way discussing the finer points of goat ownership and milking shed construction and the appalingly high cost of feed and bedding due to the drought, while we femmes fussed over the nannies and kids. Blackadder the billy is a little malodorous but very sweet natured, so he received some petting also mainly to distract him from the current object of his very obvious affections [ the mother of my sweet Robyn ] who was looking more than a little frazzled from being chased around a tree by her studly younger man. As we left she was in the process of informing Pete that she needed to go have a good lie down in a darkened goat pen with the caprine equivalent of a strong G & T.

After refreshments and general catching up, Paul fixed my recalcitrant mulcher and after they left I spent some time happily shredding up mulch for the garden. Yeah, I know. Easily pleased... and your point is???

Knitting ... nope

Quilting .... not so much

but one relaxed Sunday, a partially mulched garden and goats with very pretty toes have to count for something.

No acupuncture tomorrow because of the public holiday so I don't get back to see Mr T until Friday. The positive effects of last week have pretty much worn off but for a few days there the level of relief to my abused coccyx was quite pronounced... and Nadie? ... the TMJ is upset about being used as a pincushion BUT no migraine !!!!!! for a whole week !!!!!!!!!

my card

Felicity posted a link to this site where you can create your very own Library Catologue Card [ even though most libraries don't have 'em anymore ]

so here's mine:

you can get your very own here

and btw can you guess what that call number is for?

why does crochet have a bad rep?

It seems to me that in the craft hierachy crochet has a pretty bad name for poor taste, craptastic offerings.

Now given how many cute crochet tops/ shrugs/ were around the last two summers in the stores, I was wondering why this perception lingers. I mean, maybe it's just me but these first two tops are pretty cute, right? They're flattering, they're not garish. I am right aren't I?

Is it just that we are all still doing a style cringe remembering the string-with-holes rainbow offerings from the 70s?

and then I found THESE.

I don't know what's worse ... that someone designed and made these horrors or that someone else feels that there is a commercial market for the patterns.

I'm going to have a lie down now. I feel strangely ill.

things of a textile persuasion

Yesterday was Purl's Princesses [ SnB without the bitching, except yesterday there was just a teeny weeny bit ] over at Daylesford. Great fun and the 2 hrs or so went far too quickly again. Given that it was only our secong GTG we are all getting along famously and Jeanette commented as we left on how comfortable the group felt already. Zoe was off on the road with one of the yarn reps so her wonderful hubby Andy was head princess for the duration ... a task he managed admirably I might add :] and we managed not to tease him too much.
We were all kept supplied with interesting teas in cute japanese teapots but I have to ask WHY did he choose to park the large plate of biscuits [ cookies ] right in front of me? It's not as though I look in need of feeding up. Before I was even aware of it, I'd consumed four [ hanging head in shame here ] shortbread fingers. Not all at once mind you, but still FOUR. I did however resist the siren call of the choccy coated wheatens.
Jeanette was still knitting socks, Barb was back to the golf sweater after making Zoe's Kimono Wrap during the month, I was working my way up the gusset for the Brea bag, Robyn was working on the Kimono Wrap, Faye was embroidering a felted tea cosy, Alison was doing a feather and fan scarf in Silk Garden and a new lady, whose name I didn't actually catch was knitting a jumper [sweater ] in very fine dark brown handspun. I forgot to take the camera, but the main culprits can be revisited here.

Today was the Textile Arts Access Program over at Maryborough [ about 60km away ] and I'm bushed but I feel really good about what was achieved. Unfortunately I can't go into too much detail or show you photos because VicHealth have confidentiality issues. If we had made a Blog to be contributed to by all concerned a part of the initial funding proposal, it would be okay but we didn't think of it in time. :[ There's going to be some kind of press release soon just for the local papers, and I'll be able to cannibalise bits of that if appropriate but for the time being nada. Their attitude is understandable but a wee bit frustrating cos I have some great photos from today. Bugger.

Anyway, after I finished up there [ landing the others with the cleanup because I had to leave and the girls were still working - my excuse and I'm sticking to it] I shot back across to Castlemaine, picked up David and cleared the Post Office Box... red and white card ... parcel to be collected ... HAPPY SQUISHY MAIL.. 3 balls of black 8-ply [DK] from Nora at GoodYarnKarma

Feel free to go have a look over there particularly if you have yarny goodies that need rehoming [ and this is not just for aussies either ]

and in other areas of my so called life:

reading: nothing much, mainly cruising quilting mags

quilting: the challenge is ready to be basted and the still secret new project is coming along nicely

healthwise:

the pain in the proverbial reacted badly to the acupuncture initially [ which was to be expected ] and I had to hit the heavy duty painkillers yesterday morning but all has been reasonably quiet so far today... touch wood! Last night I was able to stand up from a chair without hesitation or assistance or extreme pain :] fingers firmly crossed that this was not just a temporary aberration.

Pain in the proverbial part 2 plus obligatory and totally gratuitous cute cat photo

Today was the not exactly fiercely anticipated first visit to the acupuncturist.
I was expecting some antipodean relation of Sheepish Annie's Dr de Sade but not so. I was, in fact, agreeably surprised. He turned out to be a very softly spoken person of the unbelieveably tall persuasion [ I'm around 5'6" and he was at least a foot taller than me ] and not at all scary.
Some pain WAS experienced but mainly I would have to characterise most of it more as discomfort.
One interesting thing was that he could actually see and feel where the old break is ... but it's not surprising that no one else has ever found it... it's in an area that even my nearest and dearest don't get to see. For a middle-aged catsmum it was an experience fraught with possibilities of major embarrassment but Mr Tall-and-very-nice-and-what-a-shame-he's-not-ten-years-older managed to put me at ease. Nice aromas. Nice peaceful music. Nice needles ... no scratch that last... the only nice needles come attached to knitting or quilting... but still not too bad. Just as well too cos I think this is going to demand repeat performances for quite a while.

It still hurts when I sit of course but not as badly as it usually does by this stage of the day.
Keep your fingers crossed for me please! I sort of hesitate to pin too much hope on a pain free existence but I am allowing myself to be just a wee bit sanguine about the outcome.

Who needs catnip?

Today's cute cat photo is Ms Sophie going totally nuts in some beautiful dyed roving. This is a cat who gets high on woolly pheromones.

playing catch up

Wednesday: Patchwork first, then Lorraine and I jumped in her car and went bellydancing for an hour. Back to patchwork for maybe half/ three quarters of an hour, then off to collect Beryl from the station [ a whole 3 mins away ], pick up lunch then back to quilting with Beryl in tow. A pleasant few hours later we collected David from Windarring and drove back out of town.
Rest of day / evening spent catching up, stitching and trying not to drool on Beryl's copies of Gloria Loughnan's and Ruth McDowell's new books. Reintroduced myself to my RM books that have been in Beryl's custody for a couple of months [ so she could peruse them before last week's 4 day masterclass with Ruth at the Australian Quilt Convention. Colour me green. ]
Thursday dawned as it is wont to do and we headed for Bendigo after dropping Dave off. Spotlight first to get some yarn to finish the bag I'm knitting. Note to self: Knit from Your Stash only works if you have enough yarn for the project to start off with. One moderately annoying thing happened at Spotlight. Beryl found a set of santa panels on the clearly marked $3 a metre sale table. There were 3 designs printed across every 45cm of length, so we were expecting to only get 90cm for our $3 because we're used to that shortfall with american by-the-panel things being a yard not a metre. We were going to share it and have a row of three each. The little snip at the counter was adamant that it was $3 for one 45cm row. She was very close to rude about it. We left. Perhaps if there had been a slightly more senior person around we could have settled it one way or the other. Bother! Mind you I expect nothing else at Spotlight.
Next and much more amenable stop: Honeysuckle Patchwork at Long Gully. I needed Moda Marbles in 2 greens for the current project that you still haven't seen, and Beryl needed to purchase FQs for a birthday swap her tassie group is running. We found the greens okay because Nicky has the whole 200 odd fabrics in the Marbles range, and most of the birthday FQs and I was ambushed on my way to the door by a couple of japanese prints and that new Ruth McDowell book. I swear. They pointed guns to my head and everything. Honest.
Having fought our way clear of the book-and-fabric pheromones at Honeysuckle, the next stop was just down the road at my other quilt group where we only stayed long enough to say hello and drop in quilt show forms.
Next stop was over the other side of town at Bendigo Woollen Mills where I only succumbed a little bit to TEN x 50 gram balls of 4-ply off-white pure wool baby yarn for $15 in the magic room out the back. If you were paying attention in January you will know that 'on sale in the back room at Bendigo doesn't count' is a vital rule for this year's Knit From Your Stash.
Lunch stop at Beechworth Bakery [yummy] then home via Maldon and The Village Patch where only fairly minor indiscretions occurred ... me a metre of harvest gold on sale and a Heartwood Creek Santa-with-cat ornament and Beryl some more FQs. Final stop was at Threadbare in Castlemaine where BJC picked up her new Roxanne thimble and the last FQ that she needed.
Collected Dave and straggled home for a recuperative cuppa or three and then out for Chinese.
Friday we went to Daylesford and mainly just mooched in an enjoyably virtuous manner. Bought NOTHING at the japanese shop with the multiple maneki neko cats [ stranger things HAVE happened but rarely ], a stencil at Purl's Palace and some shorts and a shirt for David. Nothing at all to speak of.
Lunched at Coffee Bean then home.
Yesterday we quilted all day.
Today we rose late, went to the Farmers Market [ disappointing... no goat cheese or gourmet snags ] coffeed at Saffs to make it up to dave for missing out on a snag at the market, and spent the rest of the day quilting.
BJC was seen onto the train about 2 hours ago and should be having a well earned dinner about now. Of course having commented to BJC that I hadn't heard the kookaburras much lately, they made themselves known just after I dropped her off and the four crimson rosellas that have barely been in evidence all week are all at the bird feeder as I type. TYPICAL.
Rosie has discovered the new billygoat next door and is letting me know that she's feeling amorous. She is camped as close to him as the fence line of the goat paddock allows and is singing goaty love songs in his direction constantly. I keep telling her she's a tart. She doesn't care.

AFTERNOTE: Beryl has just rung to say that after nearly 3 hours she is still not at Southern Cross which is normally an hour and a quarter trip. There has been some major disruption at Footscray and no trains are getting through. Buses have been put on but her hubby who has just come over on the boat from tassie and was going to meet her at Southern Cross, is now driving to Water Gardens [ wherever THAT is] to pick her up. Probably not what he wants to do after 12 hours on the boat. Poor bugger. Welcome back to Victoria!