NSW had them well before anyone else – followed by the ACT But it wasn’t until the 1990s before they arrived here. All (well about 99%) of the pubs and clubs here in Victoria now have them
Before that (for some) ‘tripping’ across the state borders was the way to go Bus loads went up and down the highways – train loads in one state Weekends away were the thing! I’ll admit back in the 1980s even we took the occasional Saturday drive up to Echuca/Moama – visiting the Rich River Country Club (as it was known then) for lunch plus the novelty of pulling the handle on the machine (as was the way then)
Then it all went a bit haywire They now can be found in just about any suburb in Australia It’s accepted that Australia has a problem with gambling on poker machines
But it seems we weren’t the only ones doing some travelling over the border. Here’s a video to watch – (not on YouTube) so anyone will be able to open it. . A little 1966 insight into why the Irish favoured a tiny island in the Irish Sea
At times we are our own worst enemies – I get carried away thinking I can do it all but there just aren’t enough hours (or even the means) to do everything I want to do. I’m not talking about household management or maintenance here by the way😊
(Think colourwork, stranded or intarsia – that beautiful ‘all over’ look of Fair Isle being a favourite. Aran with all its different interpretations of cables. Baby and children woolies in all shapes, sizes, styles and designs- get the picture 😊)
A ‘favourite’ blog I like to visit and ultimately get lost in is Gansey Nation – written by Gordon Reid, who lives in far north Scotland, in the small town of Wick (just south of John O’Groats). It’s a blog about ganseys/guernseys – his current project on the needles, (on which there’s a weekly report) and how to knit them. As well as – sometimes very humorous – daily happenings in his and others lives. The website address is: http://www.ganseys.com. ‘a blog celebrating the traditional hand-knitted pullovers worn by the fishermen of the British Isles.’ source
So when I saw this in the libraryI knew it had to come home with me. A pick up/put down large sized book – not quite what I was expecting – just a little about the history, mostly (as the back cover says) The ultimate sourcebook for Gansey knitting techniques and stitch patterns.
The sections on ‘gussets and shoulder strap’s’ would definitely be useful if I were to knit a traditional Gansey – in the round . Pages and pages of stitch pattern designs with knitted samples to look at, tidbits of information like possible origins and interpretations of the motifs eg cables/ropes made interesting reading.
Close to the end there’s some author designed ‘projects’. This one for a child caught my eye
……until I saw this ?project/review on Ravelry and changed my mind Instead I’ll take the idea and work it into those little ‘me do it’s’ I make
Which meant that even though I’d been eyeing up some more ‘left overs’ to use up, with the word Gansey/guernsey running round my mind I fished around and pulled out some full balls of fawn instead. There’s a ‘simple’ version of one in this book – one I’ve knit before
And have started again!
Its time for Unraveled Wednesday hosted by Kat… Why don’t you pop over and see what’s going on
The time for our winter trip up north is getting really close which means over the past few months we’ve been thinking about the M word and the B word. Those two words ‘Money and Budgets’ – are bandied around a lot on the Internet and can be the bane of our lives if we aren’t able to manage them properly.
Money matters – doesn’t it – as far as I’m concerned it most certainly does – some months it seems there isn’t going to be enough to go round, then somehow we manage to scrape through. Gas and Electric prices are on the move, health insurance is supposedly rising again next month, so many items in the supermarket are going up and don’t mention the cost of petrol– these are what are affecting us at the moment. I’ve nearly always shopped with a list but recently have even taken to using a calculator as well – just to keep an eye on the total of the ticket!
2009
We all have different methods of keeping check on where the cash is and what we spend it on; mine is no more special that anyone else’s and I certainly don’t always keep to the budget we have decided on at the beginning of each year.
For me, I find it helps if I keep a physical record of purchases and payments – anyone remember my exercise books from a few years ago? It was an idea that helped us when life was a little more difficult than it is now. These days I use a ‘very simple’ cash in/cash out plus reports app called Spending Tracker….
It doesn’t provide you with more money nor will it stop you spending money you ‘don’t have’ but if you record what you do spend (and there are lots of categories for that to happen) it will show you visually where you are overspending; to me its a help because I need to know we are able to survive (and also save a bit) on what we do receive.
~ ~ ~ ~ Sitting here on a rather cool morning wondering if it’s maybe a bit early to start gathering together warmish weather clothing to take up to Bowen? From the look of the weather forecast it’s not as if it’s going to be worn down here in the next 5 weeks. Perhaps I’ll just make myself another cuppa and have breakfast instead – then gather my bathers and towel together ready for exercise in the pool time later this morning
Oh, and what tricks do you have for keeping an eye on your finances?. Is there enough to go round or have you had to cut back again?
When I think of May here in Victoria I’m reminded of rain – years ago the state school year was made up of 3 terms (not 4 as these days) – beginning the year in hot summery February the weeks would go by, cooling off gradually until the ‘pre winter month’ of May arrived and with it school holidays. And as sure as fate it always rained….and trying to entertain several youngsters in those conditions when cash was short was trying to say the least. This Melbourne related climate change – climate ready pdf (interesting reading dated 2015) mentions the wet 1970’s years and the whats/hows since then and into the future.
All in all it’s been a better month than the last one ….colder definitely, but full of ‘new/ish’ things to see and do. Things I didn’t tell you about 😊. But first something I’m more than delighted about
Photo from another year – showing the sunny side of life
New in the shops from early this month – Imperial mandarins – my favourite ray of sunshine during winter in Melbourne. ~ ~ ~ ~
A brand new experience was missing the turnoff on the Eastern Freeway at Springvale Road and having to pay the toll for Ringwood Never did that before. These days there’s no need for us to have an etag, there are ways and means to get around our big city and out into the bush toll free so a nearly $10 charge to drive through a very long tunnel instead of familiar roads was a costly reminder to concentrate on where I was going.
My reason for having my head in the clouds was I’d been over the other side of the city doing something new – wandering around a very old cemetery trying to locate the gravesite of a distant relative – my GtGtAunt Eliza.
She was a new chum a long time ago, migrating from Co Fermanagh to Australia with her husband in 1855, experiencing the excitement of a new challenging life in a new country as a young bride over 160yrs ago. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A new local ‘exercise physiologist’ came along to Probus to chat about Exercise and Ageing…. complete with step and hand weights he certainly opened the eyes of some of the more elderly members on things like the importance of balance and strength. Seeing a couple of giggling seniors attempting the ‘drunk test’ or as the site below calls it ‘heel/toe or tightrope walking was certainly a new event.
There were new medical ‘things’ to think about:- usual thyroid medication being substituted with another brand (same ingredients same strength) one that joy of joys doesn’t need to be kept in the fridge. No more trying to prise tiny little tabs out of their foil wrapping hoping they don’t break into little pieces – because the new ones come loose in a bottle. new pain areas to contend with this month – a knee that swelled and was hot plus excruciatingly painful when bent at a certain degree. The doc thought it might be gout – that certainly was a new one. Waiting for blood results to exclude that and work on the premise it’s….yes…you guessed right – my friend OsteoA making itself known in a new place. Too bad the cherry season has finished here. https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/healthy-living/nutrition/healthy-eating/are-cherries-cure-for-gout https://www.verywellhealth.com/cherry-juice-for-arthritis-5088626 ~ ~ ~ ~
This month’s new learning experience has been Billy Joel’s Lullabye (Goodnight, my angel) a song unknown to many of the choir. With its rather slow tempo (and almost mournful sound) it has been producing some weird noises from a group of seniors who have a liking for upbeat and just sing for the fun of it. I’m sure it’ll be wonderful when we’ve mastered it. We’ve a fair way to go before we sound like this – but we’ll have a jolly good try at doing so
And finally a new blog theme was what I wanted – ‘a new me’ – well I didn’t change much because the one I decided on has a similar but not quite the same look as previously (sounds like a weight loss program doesn’t it😊). It did bring a new little problem with comments not being visible on the home page – hopefully everyone knows the drill now. There have been several new followers as well…thank you for joining. I/we don’t blog for comments or followers but it’s nice to attract both. (I’m still having the most awful time trying to comment…..anywhere)
That been snippets of my life during May….what was yours like? ******. Oh and if you think the month of April sped by at a rate of knots, I’m beginning to wonder if someone put some energy drink in May’s cup instead of water. She’s moved along much too quickly!
It was my cousin mentioning something about a concert we went as young teenagers (when my family was visiting them in Belfast March 1958) something that started me thinking about someone I hadn’t thought about for a good many years. Lonnie Donegan.
Unlike most of my friends, I really enjoyed his early folky music…before he turned to ‘comedy tunes’. Tunes like ‘Did your chewing gum lose its flavour on the bed post overnight’ 🙁
I was also a fan of trad jazz – yes I knew all the pop singers of the time and the words to their songs but wasn’t that interested in them. They didn’t hold my attention the way folk and jazz (plus big band) did so my friends tended to think that as far as music was concerned I was a bit strange.
When Gordon Lightfoot died early this month I thought (wrongly) didn’t he share the stage with Lonnie Donegan at one time? No, it was Terry Lightfoot – jazz musician with Chris Barber (who LD had played with in early 1950s) .
Age might do weird things to your memory but when Willie Nelson turned 90 late this April just gone I definitely remembered another concert One I (and The Golfer) went to
It was the night The Highwaymen came to town. (Yes you can add country and western to my my list of likes as well😊)
Willie, Waylon, Cash and Kristoffersen – The National Tennis Centre Melbourne. (Now known as Rod Laver Arena) 32 years ago today – May 22 1991
This video isn’t from that concert- but it might just as well have been Filmed March 1990
I know most of you aren’t in this age bracket but here are links that might bring back memories for some of you – and let others know what it was all about – and how it was an inspiration for many who have come afterwards
With wetter weather sure to arrive sometime I’d been thinking about treating myself to some ‘short boots’ to garden in. Something to puddle around in keeping my feet and ankles dry (and hopefully warm). Probably an unnecessary purchase because there’s a perfectly decent pair of blue wellies out in the garage plus I’ve had these ‘rubber shoe’s’ and these ‘rubber clogs’ for what seems like forever.
Over the years they’ve all been good for pottering around in the wet ground but my now very spread older ladies’ feet make it hard to get the shoes on and I’m beginning to find the clogs are heavy and unstable- balance is becoming a bit of an issue because my feet seem to slip about in them. And if it’s wet enough to need knee high Wellington boots it’s too wet for me to be out there!
So I began to look online – but without thinking, I entered ‘boots for women’ (forgot the gardening bit)…..well that was interesting. Do you know a pair of Blundstones boots for women now cost well over $200 – neither did I. Guess I won’t be buying any of those.
Then for days afterwards….just to tease me and show me big brother is watching and my searching was recorded somewhere…. each time I was online this set of ads kept appearing…. Oooh I thought, those on the left are just what I’m looking for, short gum boots…or so I thought…
Turns out the uppers are actually a knit fabric…well that wouldn’t work would it. They’d get all wet and dirty 😊
Available in lavender and sensible black as well as the ‘girly’ pink but thinking about it, those soles do look rather thick and clompy and I see the word ‘platform’ in the ad.
I didn’t get on well with them the first time round……so don’t think I’ll bother this time😊
As an aside, if you’ve time to waste and you want to see even more interesting ask Mr G to show you ‘women’s platform knitted boots’. There’s a whole world of weird and wonderful out there.
Fun Friday – the day you forget the worries of the week.
You know how some shelves in your freezer seem to be dedicated to ‘left overs’ ( things too ‘good’ to throw away, that can maybe be added to other ingredients to make a meal) well I seem to have accumulated an awful lot of left over yarn. Bags and bags of it shoved into stored in other larger bags.
Just one – there are more 😊
So here we are following on from my attempt a few weeks ago and working with the principle that ‘from little things big things grow’ (combine lots of little things….) plus ‘make hay while the sun shines’ (because sunny autumnal days are never to be sneezed at) – I’ve an idea in mind and look I even found some cute buttons (in my large collection of left overs of course) that hopefully will work. So as they say – watch this space!
It has been six months since Tess Müller stopped speaking. Her silence is baffling to her parents, her teachers and her younger sister, Meg. But the more urgent mystery for both girls is where their mother, Evangeline, goes each day, pushing an empty pram. When their father Stefan discovers a car wreck and human remains on their farm, old secrets emerge to threaten the fragile family. A storm is coming and the Müllers are in its path
~ ~ ~ ~ And look at this , just by magic- because I didn’t publish this post earlier in the month – here’s the finished cardigan (now tucked away in the charity box) plus a ‘lovely little book’ spotted on a library shelf, sitting there waiting for me to find it. Lots of short ‘stories/essays’ by knitters about- what else but – their stash of yarn. It’s been a great book to dip into, with each chapter just the right length to enjoy while resting my hands. Have any of you read it?
Not sure about those buttons but they’re all I had and little boys or girls will love them
The recent middle of May Saturday morning (that’d be the one just gone, the 13th) in my suburb east of Melbourne was cold with a heavy sky. The front looked no better out of a dirty window than it did in real life out the back. There was a strange weird look to everything. Some might say it’s late Autumn- others early winter. Whatever….it takes some getting used to!
*****
I spent the morning trawling for something I remembered from years ago….one of those memes bloggers used to take part in And it’s Just right for Musing over on a Monday morning😊
What you do is, make a google search for “unfortunately (Your name here)”…. don’t forget the quotation marks!
Here a just a few of the ones that came up for my name….. “Unfortunately Catherine”
Unfortunately, Catherine dropped hers. My parents asked if anyone would share and I said I would. But then I started licking the ice cream right in her face without letting her taste it. She cried, but still never got to taste it.
Unfortunately, Catherine died at the age of 40, on May 19, 1907 from a hemorrhage. The story passed down is that her death was caused by an interrupted pregnancy.
Unfortunately, Catherine gets involved too deeply with Thomas to keep a professional distance to the case. Fortunately, Thomas seems to fall for her, too
Unfortunately, Catherine’s competence as a diplomat didn’t override her fertility shortcomings in her husband’s eyes. After twenty-three years of marriage, the couple had only produced one living daughter, the future Mary I of England. Henry, desiring a legitimate son, sought a legal separation.
Unfortunately, Catherine’s successor and son, Paul I, did not share many of these views. His personal relationship with Catherine was poor.
~ ~ ~ ~ It appears that bad luck seems to follow me all over the place and I certainly didn’t have any luck with men. Why don’t you give it a try – see how you go.
*****
And this is the reason Melburnians find it difficult to know what to wear at this time of the year. Cool misty photos above – taken early. Temperature 8c/46f. These below – taken in bright sunshine mid afternoon. Temperature 13c/55f. That sunshine makes all the difference
There is a little hidden benefit to having my man, The Golfer out of the house several times a week. He is out in the fresh air ‘working up an appetite’ while putting the world to right with his mates
Pumpkin soup in the making
While I am able enjoy my ‘taste test’ meal – quietly on my own And get to ‘dress the table’ – my way😊
Looks good enough to eat!
Almond fingers – my favourite
And then of course have 2nds with him for dinner that evening 😊
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ps…the comment run around is still alive and well! I’m having problems- others are having problems I don’t think it’s related to me having changed themes recently but you never know Anyway the old one has been retired so there’s no going back 🙁
Seemingly there are now very few WordPress themes that show comments on the home page. So to be able to comment here on Still Waters you need to go to the actual post – click on the title- ie ‘open the post’ then scroll down to the comment box.
I think my personal difficulties are with Google/Blogger rather than WordPress. I’m working on it
Sharing with Denyse’s weekly link up Wednesday’s Words & Pics Why don’t you pop over and see who’s visiting her today
Over the years I’ve mentioned a certain bench in the local park It’s about half way up a slight rise in the land – about the time you start to think ‘this path is definitely not flat’
The first photo I took of it was way back in 2009. Victoria was still in drought and everything had a dry crisp look to it. The council were just beginning to develop the reserve but because of the lack of rain it took a while. It was also about that time my back condition worsened and I stayed closer to home – so even though I might have wandered round the duck pond I didn’t venture ‘up the hill’ and snap what I jokingly called my bench for quite a while.
2009
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The drought broke, plantings were made, everything greened up – and flourished.
It’s taken aawhile for the changes to be realised (a great deal of the work is done by volunteers) there have been additions and removals, Australian native plants grown, left to their own devices, most have survived, growing strong and sturdy (sometimes a little too rampantly so have been cut back, some died And for some reason it has become almost a tradition that I take a photo when I walk up that way…..which means you are able to see how much the little bare area next to a couple of established gums has changed. Some photos are better than others – (time of day, various cameras, iPads & phones, where I was standing, zooming in or not, plus some cropping) but if you click or use the finger slide method to enlarge you’ll get a fair idea of how it has ‘grown’
2011
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2012
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2013
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2015
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2016
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2017
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2018
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2019
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2020
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Rain and more rain (thanks to La Niña) Covid restrictions as well as a temperamental back that had me doing other exercises rather than walking stopped me going up there for another couple of years and look what I discovered the other day – a very swish looking new bench. Much more upmarket than the simple wooden ones.
2023
2023
It’s Monday morning again….I’ve been sitting here for a little while with my usual early cuppa in hand thinking about the many changes that are going to be made to the area…..
….catering for changing population wants/needs/attitudes/expectations rather than those happy with more natural surroundings…..…..
Hopefully as long as the green space is still here in our suburb (and it doesn’t get swallowed up by ‘new improvements’) all will be well.
Anyway I must get on – can’t sit here for much longer – changes at my usual pool (urgent repairs/closure) meant the users have had to go elsewhere – I’ll talk about the ‘new’ one some other time. Let’s just say it is different 🙁
And talking of Mondays, it’s the start of the 2nd week of the month, how did that happen? Is anyone else concerned about the speed with which the weeks and months are passing by this year?
Have there been any changes (big, little, horrendous) to your way of life recently?
My initial reaction to a gift I was given late last year
…..”Mum ordered this online – it’s described as Pale Marigold but isn’t exactly what she thought it would be, she thinks it’s too bright . She knows you knit for charity and you’ll welcome it..
(‘Mum’ is a longtime friend who moved to another suburb daughter lives locally) ~ ~ ~ ~
By the time I took this photo back in early March (for a post I had in mind but never got round to) I’d had a rethink – yes, it’s a bit bright – not quite orange..not quite yellow…youngsters like bright, I’d rephrased my thoughts to something like – Never look a gift horse In the mouth – because I knew it would be welcome wherever it went and by whoever wore it.
So another tried and true pattern had come out of the pile. Styled for a little girl, with a lace panel on the front and sleeves but easily adapted for a boy by leaving them off. Then I got sidetracked and this was put to one side – it’s only just recently I’ve been able to say that from the 300gms I’d been gifted I managed to produce both a jumper/sweater and cardigan (similar sizing) adding the same lacy design to both of them
With a mind going round in circles recently, I’ve begun to take slow walks again. The piles of recently fallen leaves at the local park reminded me that nothing (or very little) lasts forever and to enjoy life in whatever way you can. Those thoughts plus the addition of some beautiful sunny days helped chase the blues away
So what if I had to drive to a place that was within walking distance – those extra 500m downhill one way (then uphill coming back – with no conveniently placed roadside benches,) would have had me exhausted. It’s what happens there that makes the difference 😊
Feeding the inner child
And the book I began – In a Strange Room – well unlike the knitting, I didn’t return and finish it…..it’s sitting on the shelf waiting for me to pick it up – sometime.
It’s Wednesday again the first Wednesday in a (another) new month This time it’s the first Wednesday in May 2023.
So I’m sharing today’s post at Denyse’s weekly link up called Wednesday’s Words & Pics . Why don’t you pop over and see who’s there this week
Back in January at the beginning of the year coffee morning with a group of lady friends there were the usual observations from some about ‘another year down, wonder how many more there will be to come?’ For ladies of a certain age that’s always an unknown.
This get together was a special one Sadly our ‘oldest lady’ was not there….and would not be at any of our gatherings again. We needed to process the news of her death, accept she wanted a family only funeral – to pay our respects and say goodbye in our own way So much of the morning was taken up with consoling her daughter (who’d popped in to say hello) and sharing memories of ‘our Marge’.***
(I don’t remember if I’ve recounted this story before- but here goes)
** Like the time when late one year she was really down in the dumps, she had lost family and friends and the passing of time was beginning to get her down.
However after the ‘festive’ break she seemed to have put all that behind her because over coffee she had us in stitches relating snippets of fun from her big family Christmas get together where her youngest grandaughter had made a model of a time machine that would ‘roll back the years’ and ‘make Nanny happy again’.
Like several of the ladies she’d been in Australia for many many years yet was the only one who still talked about her life in England.
‘Think of that she said, I can go back to living in the little village where we all knew each other, where there was a corner shop (who delivered) and a greengrocer, the post office was in the front room of Mrs What’s Her Names’ ‘Oh, and lots of other good things I can’t quite think of at the moment’. (had trouble with her memory at times😊)
One of us laughed and said it sounds a bit like the village where Milly Molly Mandy lived with her Mother and Father, in the same little cottage as Aunty and Uncle along with Grandma and Grandpa. Another said, don’t forget Billy Blunt, little friend Susan and Toby the dog!
Of course some of the newer younger ones had never heard of the little girl in the striped dress or the books a lot of us had read in our childhood so out came the phones to see what they could find out. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milly-Molly-Mandy
After that it was Reminisce Central at the table with talk of all those trades who delivered to the door – mobile shops! First and foremost there was The Coalman! Then the milkman and his horse later overtaken by electric carts, the baker who came with a big basket on his arm, a greengrocer who had a van with sides that lifted up to display all the fruit and veg. I mentioned we had a fish and chip van and a long Co-op grocery shop that came once a week similar in size to some of the mobile libraries seen on the roads these days
When the younger ‘girls’ started talking about ordering online and not having been in a shop for years Marge was all ears. Close to 90yrs, unlike some of her friends she was neither a computer or mobile phone user so she still couldn’t get her head round ‘ordering somewhere in the sky and it arriving the next day’ ……’How do you know you’ll get what you asked for if you don’t talk to a real person’ ‘It would be lovely to have things home delivered the way they used to……but I would miss having a chat with the man at the corner shop!’
Sitting here with my early cuppa I’m still feeling the loss of the group’s ‘elder’ who played such a big part in welcoming ‘new chums’ for many years. It would be great if we could roll back time and have our fun loving Marge with us again – we’ll just have to imagine her having a real long chin wag with whoever was manning the pearly gates the day she arrived 😊
What’s on ‘your’ mind this Monday- would you like to tell us about it?
A day that now – commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served. source
Say hello to some little things I’ve had bubbling away in the background. A couple of little newborn sets for the baby programme…..knit over the last few weeks using left overs from other projects….from years ago in some cases 😊
Those odd ‘bits of this, bits of that’ half & less balls were getting out of hand or should I say…..filling the bag and needed to be used up. There was enough for backs as well as fronts on another two, not all 8plys are equal so they turned out slightly larger. The charity welcomes ‘traditional baby colours’
Just hanging around
Made using a ‘favourite’ adaptable pattern…..we’ve all got them haven’t we😊. This one couldn’t be easier if it tried – after the rib band the back is straight, on the fronts the only decrease to think about is for the neckline starting half way up and the sleeves consist of a rib band, several side increases then straight knitting with the cast off all in one line.
Here’s some others I prepared earlier 😊
It’s a style that lends itself to so many interpretations…. Over the years some worked – others, well they weren’t a fail, let’s just say I wouldn’t try it again (the fisherman’s rib pattern was too chunky for the sizing- but that’s what the recipient wanted)
Sometimes where reading is concerned – a bit like food and knitting when things aren’t going the way you’d like them to – ‘comfort’ books are all you want. What I call Australian historical is often where I go to….especially to those written by Darry Fraser. They are ‘lose yourself’ novels many of them about strong females in a man’s world in 1800s Australia
When Elsa Goody’s father and brother George die in quick succession she and her sister Rosie are in trouble. Pursued by an unpleasant suitor with dubious motivation, Elsa leaves for Victoria on the hunt for a fortune in gold coins that her brother has hidden. If Elsa can find it she will be able to save Rosie and herself from married slavery.
Still Waters 