Month: November 2023

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🧶 And so it begins. . .

That virus (or whatever it was I had) certainly got the better of me and lots of things went by the wayside including (blog and book) reading and knitting so I ended up only making a half dozen of the fair isle beanies – a small effort compared to a couple of years ago for a different charity. I popped In (masked) for a short while the night they were ‘due’, only stopping long enough to hear what the next challenge’ was.

  • “Now you all know 4 year old boys don’t want to be little kids – they strive to be big ‘uns. . . trouble is they’re too old for toddler type clothing yet sometimes older styles don’t look quite right on them. Let’s get the grey matter working and see what we can come up with”

    It took me a little while dithering around before deciding that my contribution will be a jumper along the lines of The Trio – which will also be a way of using up some of the ordinary ‘run of the mill’ acrylic I favour. It may not be top of the range (remember my run in with the yarn snobs) but it knits well (wears well is what I’ve heard from others with children) and – unlike the red acrylic my ‘friend’ asked me to use – is soft..not scratchy.

A touch of Aran means there’ll be small 4st/4row cables and columns of ‘knit/purl through the backs’ that are crossed at times plus honeycomb up the middle – plain side edges, back and sleeves though….because it’s easier (and less bulky) 😊

And this is what came home from the library the other day
Perfect to keep me company between rows as I set the pattern
Kaffe Fassett in the Studio

I wish I could remember the name of those yellow roses – they and most of the others were planted about 15years ago….as per usual I never wrote it/them down and labels don’t last that long – so I just enjoy them for what they are each year.
The spring flush is coming to an end. Some very hot days, cold wet ones as well as windy ones have given us a mix of blooms with old, current and a few ‘promises of what’s to come’ on all the bushes at the same time

The Old and The New on a background of Erigon and Arctotis.
All will be having their summer haircuts very soon

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Wednesday Words &Whimsy can be found HERE. 
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Also being Wednesday it’s time to thank Kat for hosting  Unraveled Wednesday  

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Surprise find….

More birthday treats – we had lunch in Healesville last week at a ‘new to us’ place imaginatively called No.7 Healesville……their street number is 7 🙂

The beauty of using gift vouchers is they often take you out of your comfort zone…specialising in Mexican fare using a shared plate system this definitely wasn’t a run of the mill pub lunch affair. I enjoyed it so much I nearly forgot to catch some food photos 😊

My almost finished serving of Thyluda, avocado, pea, baked ricotta, herbs – on the plate
Silver trevally ceviche, pineapple vinaigrette, cucumber, purslane – in the bowl

Eaten outside under a big brolly on a sunny but not too hot day it was surprising how filling seven small courses plus wine and coffee was – my very ladylike comment when I got in the car was “Don’t drive off yet, I need to loosen my trousers, I’m stuffed”

Not my photo

Outside table tops made from what appeared to be rough slabs of concrete!


Just wondering if we enjoyed it enough to return as ‘paying customers’…will have to think about that. What new experiences have you had recently?

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For those who also ‘talk to the moon’

I mentioned to my ‘next sister’ that I was becoming like our ‘ little sister’ and drinking tea while talking to the moon.
Always a ‘poor sleeper’ little sister Patsy was renowned for her middle of the night tea breaks . . . This poem came back by return mail.

(not written by her – something she’d found during middle of the night browsing. She too has become a tea drinking moon chatting person 😊).
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I met the moon for coffee
It was Friday night I think
When she watched me hardly sleeping
And invited me for drinks

We found ourselves a table
In the middle of the night
And the constellations twinkled
Like a thousand fairy lights

She asked me how I’d been
As she poured coffee from a pot
For she said she’d watched me
Waking up at midnight quite a lot

I said my brain was far too full
My mind was always on
And when I woke it felt as if
I was the only one

The only one who lay awake
Whilst I sat on my bed
With thoughts that raced at lightning speed
Around my busy head

The only one who watched the clock
Tick one and two and three
Who laid awake and worried
Whilst the world was fast asleep

My thoughts were stuck in orbit
And I couldn’t pull them back
As they preferred to swim against
A sky so vast and black

The moon said simply nothing
But she opened up a book
And I saw it was a diary
So I took a closer look

And listed there were names of people
All around the world
And all the thoughts and worries
That the moon had overheard

Just then, my eyes were drawn towards
The name that was my own
And that was when the moon said
“See, you shouldn’t feel alone”

And then she pulled me close
Using the night sky as a blanket
And said “I know you sometimes feel
So lonely on this planet

But when you cannot sleep,
Get up and watch me from your room
And you’ll see so many others
Having coffee with the moon”

Becky Hemsley 2022
Artwork: Natalia Maroz

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Would you like another one. .

So these are the birthday chocolates bought as a treat for both of us

With birthdays 5 days apart it’s always – treats for both of us

❤️ Hamlet Belgian chocolates ❤️

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Would you like another one. . .

What do you think . .

Is the pope Catholic?


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Oh dear now look at what’s happened

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Never mind – one down. . . three more to go 😊

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(Sharing with Min’s Wednesdays Words & Whimsy)

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And away you go. . .

It’s ’consult the calendar‘ time again.
Time to think about next year’s activities.

This year’s choir (a half hour drive away) is minus a leader – my previous one (ten minutes down the road) the one that was in abeyance is now going to resume rehearsals on the same day as before.

I dislike not knowing what’s going to happen- will they secure a new conductor- do I sign up again and then be disappointed when the class is cancelled or go with the known option, return to a very ‘happy’ casual group who delight in singing without pressure on them to ‘get it right’.
.
One of those little things that had me smiling and feeling good at the end of sessions with the local group was the leader/conductor saying “Away you go and have fun” and then the accompanist ‘playing us out’.
She’d play a little medley while we packed up, always finishing with a cheerful rendition of Marie’s Wedding aka Lewis Bridal Song ( which of course had everyone singing along) – then almost skipping out the door.

Such a jolly toe tapping tune with words that make you smile – thinking about the person they are off to see and all the gifts (real and imaginary) they have for her.

It’s been recorded by so many individuals and groups ( there’s even a Wiggles version😊 ) – – each makes it ‘their own’.
I know I’ve added quite a few here – obviously you don’t have to watch all
But it’s good to compare – and enjoy

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mairi%27s_Wedding

Mairi’s wedding –

Lyrics by: Hugh Robertson

Chorus:
Step we gaily on we go
Heel for heel and toe for toe
Arm in arm and row and row
All for Mairi’ s wedding

Over hill-way up and down
Myrtle green and bracken brown
Past the shieling through the town
All for Mairi’s wedding

Chorus

Plenty herring plenty meal
Plenty peat tae fill her creel
Plenty bonny bairns as weel
That’s the toast for Mairi

Chorus

Cheeks as bright as rowans are
Brighter far than any star
Fairest of them all by far 
is my darling Mairi

Chorus

Over hill-ways up and down
Myrtle green and bracken brown
Past the sheiling through the town
All for sake of Mairi

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📘 All the Ws. . .

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

 I’m listening to:-

Huda and Me – H Hayek.  A surprise find on the abc listen app.  A ‘fun’ tale about a couple of migrant children who ‘run away’ to find their parents in Lebanon.  Yes, it’s probably classed as a children’s book but that hasn’t stopped the smiles on my face.  A big big plus is that the narrator – Jean Bachoura – speaks clearly.

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At the moment I’m reading:-.. – .
well I was until a short while ago – the head and eyes are feeling much better so I’ll be back to it soon (and hopefully reading/commenting on blogs)

The Sleeping and the Dead – Ann Cleeves (2001). 

Reprinted or (as mentioned in the foreword) ‘re-launched’ in 2022 to celebrate the author’s milestone anniversary with her publisher.

The Sleeping and the Dead is a tense psychological crime thriller from CWA Gold Dagger award-winning writer, Ann Cleeves.  source

* Detective Peter Porteous is called to Cranwell Lake where the body of a teenager has been discovered. After trawling through the missing persons files, he deduces that the corpse is Michael Grey, an enigmatic and secretive young man who was reported missing by his foster parents in 1972.

I often wonder about genre descriptions – described as a psychological crime thriller (explained) I’m eager to find out what it’s all about.  To me the first few chapters are just setting the scene, very slowly, a little cozy like, almost Midsummer Murderish but I’m sure they’ll change as pages get turned . 
* * * * 

Tea is so intoxicating – Mary Essex (pen name of Ursula Bloom) 1950

* I shall turn this into a tea-house, with lunches if requested, and shall serve pleasant meals in the orchard,” announced David, “and with my penchant for cooking I ought to make a fortune.
“Oh dear!” said Germayne.

An ‘off the shelf’ library pick purely for its title.  Can tea be intoxicating??.
 It sounded like fun and so far is just that.  I’m not sure it would appeal to a much younger person – set in the early to first half of the 20th century the writing is delicious, so humorous and descriptive with characters, settings and attitudes definitely ‘of that time’.  Perhaps not their ‘type’ but people of my parent’s time.

Memories of a fun afternoon- Afternoon tea with a difference. 

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I recently finished:-

The Bottle Imp – Robert Louis Stevenson (1891)

(This was a suggestion in last month’s comments – Found in the Gutenberg Project’s copy of Island Night’s Entertainments (summaries), short enough at 15,000 words to qualify as a Novella.  Did you know there’s a yearly ‘challenge’ Novellas in November for those readers who celebrate short reads?). 

An interesting little tale – be careful what you wish for, it might turn out to not be what you want, it could surprise you in many ways!

The Year I met you – Cecilia Ahern (2014)
Jasmine loves two things: her sister and her work. And when her work is taken away she has no idea who she is.

We meet Jasmine – who has been fired and put on ‘gardening leave’. . . still on the company payroll but unable to look for another position for 12 months.
During that time she talks to –  in her mind as well as in real life – Heather her sister,  Matt her neighbour,  Kevin her ‘cousin’, her father, his new wife Leilah and their young daughter Zara as well as Monday (yes that’s his name – he was born on a Monday!) a ‘headhunter’ who approaches her with a job in mind.
There are others she talks to, sharing her thoughts and feelings with – and, oh, does she talk. . . On and on in great long sentences and huge great paragraphs.  I almost gave up at one time but did finish –  wondering what on earth was that all about🤔😊.

The Midnight Library – Matt Haig (2020)

 Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived

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I need one of these. . .

Have been a bit out of sorts recently
Not sure what ‘I’ve picked up’ – tired, headache, red itchy/weepy eyes.
(It’s been difficult to visit, read, comment – anywhere – even here).

So I’m taking a wee one

Have a break – Have a KitKat – – History

Hopefully I’ll be back next week sometime

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Oh, hello. . .

Towards the end of last year a local op-shop (thrift/charity shop) closed for a little while for a good clear out refurbishment and reopened looking ‘all shiny and new’. No fear now of tripping over something😊
It’s a rather nice one, quite small in size by some of the other ‘chains’ standards: it isn’t part of a national chain but supports a local charity which means it receives plenty of good quality donations as well as other bits and pieces.  Unlike some of the other shops, garments and bric a brac must be in very good condition or it doesn’t go out for sale.

I’ve browsed (and bought) there for years – even more so since the re-opening – and during that time not one person I have known has come into the shop while I’ve been there – until a couple of weeks ago.

I was looking at some newly priced garments on one of the ladies’ racks and I heard this voice say, ‘Oh Hello.  How nice to see you.  It must be years since the last time’

‘Are you looking for something special?’ she continued .  ‘I’ve just come in to look for something for a friend, it’s not really the sort of place I frequent’

Anyway I recognised the voice instantly having worked with her many years previously but when I looked around it wasn’t me she was addressing.  So I put my head down and carried on browsing. When she turned way from the shopper she was talking to and almost bumped into me I saw her look , trying to place me in her mind.   Do I know this person or not?    

So I thought I’d put her out of her misery, said Hello, and told her I popped in now and again – you never know what you’ll find.  Well once she heard that she excused herself (Nice to see you, must go) and was out the door in a shot leaving me wondering what I’d said to upset her.

One of the volunteer staff I’ve come to know through ‘popping in regularly’ came over and asked me if I knew her, seems my ‘old friend’ usually came in on another day of the week and always seemed to find fault with the merchandise.  Frequently bought clothes but was never happy as they weren’t the sort of thing she was used to but as she put it – Needs must!

It’s a shame that pride and embarrassment make us ashamed of what we have become (if that’s what it was)  I certainly would not have been one to judge her.

Have you ever been in a situation like that? How would you have reacted?

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Said many a knitter. . .

There are a lot of flying hours between Australia and North America or Europe. Across the Atlantic as well
Those hours are not happy ones if some official decides to spoils your fun.

These days I’m prepared with a spare ‘set’ in my big bag in the hold
Trying to explain to the other half why I needed a craft shop in a strange city wasn’t a good way to start a 6 week overseas trip. 🧶❤️🧶

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🧶A head start…..

A couple of weeks ago this suggestion was made at my ‘after hours’ craft group – it followed on from general chit chat over what to do with all those half balls and scrappy bits of leftovers that we know disinterested family will more than likely just bag up and toss because in their eyes ‘full balls are so much easier to rehome’

“Daft as it might sound, there are memories in leftovers. Most of us remember when we used the main quantity, what we used it for and who we made it for. So in a similar vein to a quilt made from left over or preloved material that has memories the maker can talk about, think about making something to donate incorporating your leftovers. Tell us all about those memories and if possible show us.”

The chat then moved on to – ‘the weather’…..predicted heatwaves, cyclones, bushfires, floods…….the sort of things Australians talk about before summer (all year round if the truth be told 😎)
When someone jokingly said, ‘forget summer – Heads up, I can tell you it’s going to be cold next winter!’ I knew what I was going to make.
Something I’ve publicly declared as ‘I’d willingly knit anything but these’
Yet here I was thinking, ‘yes, I could do that!.

So once I got over the ‘shudder, shudder, casting on of 90 odd stitches, I was off and running. Show and tell night is in a couple of weeks time and seeing the amount of ‘little balls of colour’ still in the bag there’s probably going to be more than just these three on show😊

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Another library book to start the month. Reprints of older publications – this one from 1944
Absent in the Spring – Mary Westcott (pen name for Agatha Christie)

“ Returning from a visit to her daughter in Iraq, Joan Scudamore finds herself unexpectedly alone and stranded in an isolated rest house by flooding of the railway tracks. This sudden solitude compels Joan to assess her life for the first time ever and face up to many of the truths about herself.”

Definitely sounds like an interesting read – I wonder what Mrs Scudamore will discover?

Oh, and here’s where the left overs on the table were from.

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(I’m adding this here because it may be of interest to some of you).

I’m not really a ‘groupy’ sort of person, I tend to get distracted and end up talking/listening and not ‘working’ – yet really enjoy this evening group – it’s made up of people of all ages….not just grandmas looking for kindred spirits- there are several much younger members- some still out in the work force.
Which means topics of conversation can range along the lines of….
* walking to work in the city in heels
* the reaction of other commuters when knitting is produced
* best local places to buy fruit & veg
* how to persuade a teenager to get out of bed at the weekend
* what’s on special in the wool dept of the big store down the road

and recently from our crafty city worker who loves her heels….
* the perils of train travel wearing a ‘boot’…..necessitated because of the so and so who pushed past her and caused her to trip on the kerb, cracking a small bone in her foot. Ouch!

Just one topic not allowed- politics in all shapes sizes
local, interstate and international!.
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SO…after the previous ‘scraps’ discussion two weeks ago, (see top of this post) last week this ‘old chestnut’ was raised.
“If you died or were unable to knit, what would happen to your projects on the go?”.
The consensus was ‘tucked away in a cupboard and forgotten or tossed without a care or op shop’.

Well…thanks to a younger (more aware) member we now know there is a group called Loose Ends who will try to find a volunteer to finish the garment. Not just knitting but many other crafts as well – not just in the USA but in many other countries as well.

https://www.looseendsproject.org

Loose Ends (group) – Ravelry link

FAQs about Loose Ends Ravelry link

Washington Post – loose ends fibre arts projects

Isn’t that a great idea 🧶❤️🧶

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Following on from Denyse’s withdrawal from blogland, Min is now hosting a Wednesday link up called Wednesday Words &Whimsy.
Why not drop in HERE and see who her visitors are – perhaps you’d like to join in as well

Wednesday is the day Kat hosts ‘Unraveled Wednesday’ .
Pop over and discover what others are knitting, reading and talking about.

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