My friend Angela has been quilting her old embroideries and the latest one is quite stunning. It was a cross stitched embroidery stitched by her late mother-in-law, so it held special memories. She turned it, from an embroidered table runner
To a stunning work of art by mounting it on a background and then quilting it.
This is then an heirloom for future generations. What a wonderful way of transforming a piece of embroidery.
I am slowing down a lot at the moment. Not because I want to but because of the medication I am now taking. The specialist seems to have found why I have not been well, for years, finally. I now have some medication that seems to work but the side effect is that it slows me down. That isn't a bad thing, but I sleep more and I progress at more leisurely pace and take time to consider thing more deeply, like my struggles with new technology.
This time it is printers. I now have 3 printers. Why, well I think the first one got zapped in the cyclone.
The second was super basic and cheap and I couldn't get the colour jets to work.
But I have got the third one up and working. It took lots of time, (3 days) , much thinking about, like where I might find information and then digging through the manufacturer's website, (I use HP printers) and I like an inkjet printer so that I can print on fabric, and it works.
This now has me thinking about some of the issues I have with my sewing machine. It is all controlled by a computer chip. I rage to myself that it isn't as good as my old mechanical machine but I think the main reason I have issues is that I don't understand the technology that runs it. In fact technology has got away from me completely in lots of different areas. So, it's back to school for me. In fact I have booked a day with my 13 year old grand daughter to learn how to use the program 'Canva' once again.
Life keeps moving on if you like it or not.
I suppose it is to be expected at my age, but my health has been an ongoing problem since my last cancer operation. I suppose what I am saying is that I might just dissapear at any time. So, I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has read and commented on this blog over the last 17 or 18 years, now while I can. (Too late if I pop off suddenly.)
I started it when I was travelling as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family. Then it became a way to share projects with other teachers and students, and finally, it became a great indulgence.
I used to keep dairies but a blog is a far better way to document things. You can't get to "long winded" and you can store you photos here as well.
Thank you.
The weather here has finally turned cold and the wind is talking to us in a loud voice as it rushes through the trees. It feels good to be inside in the warm with my sewing and not outside where it is only 5 degrees C, which isn't cold for some people but is for me. I have given my embroidered wool blanket to my daughter as she is moving into her new home in just over a weeks time. Up on the downs the temperature has dropped below zero and I know they are starting again with no furniture and little in the way of bedding etc. (If I go to visit I will have to take my fold up bed and bedding. I might put that visit off for a while.)
I am thinking about what I might stitch next. I am still to finish my tent stitch book cover, and I have another piece ready to stitch but I have been looking around for inspiration. I thought I might stitch some cushions for my daughter's new home and there are some really striking simple designs on The Fabled Thread.
These Florentine examples are interesting.
I have to say I find this website a great source of inspiration.
They have a great range of kits, if kits are your thing and I think I might get one for one of my grand daughters, Jasmine.
(Jasmine is 13 y.o. and a super crocheter. I gave her one lesson and all the links on You Tube, then she taught herself. She is working towards her own stall at the local markets with her jewellery and is also crocheting Poppies for her whole school for Anzac Day next year. )
The fact that this company has supporting videos for most of their kits is just the thing for this generation of sewers. The Year of Stitches is a great resource.
As older embroiderers we sometimes overlook that although this is not the way we learnt it is the way my grand daughters generation learns and if she needs help I am always on hand, which happens quite often.
This little video is also a good one and I love her stock of needles.
When I have problems with my sewing I like to divert my attention to something physical, like walking, but, my feet aren't co-operating at the moment so I turned to cooking.
I made a big pot of pumpkin soup. Too much for me, so my second son Guy, (the other kids don't like pumpkin) and the neighbours got some of that, I froze the rest.
Then I thought about my great-grandmother's Mutton Broth. This great-grandmother was from Northern Ireland and her grandmother came from Scotland. (All the stories about the soup and the family came from my grandmother who told me all about it when she taught me how to cook it when I was 10 years old and she was training me to take on the care of a household as my Mother had developed terminal breast cancer.)
Now, the problem with making this soup is getting the meat to put into it. Forget the supermarket butchers, you won't find any there, although I did get one lot there a number of years ago, but not now. So I found a butcher and with baited breath asked the question, "do you have any lamb neck chops?"
He said, "not at the moment we sell out of them as soon as they come in."
Lots of people who have retired live down on the bay and it seems they like Mutton Broth as well.
But, he looked in the freezer room and came out with a cut of meat and it weighed about 1 kilo. (I would have liked 2 kilo but 'beggers can't be choosers'. ) Now this sheep must have been very old because I got a different product than I normally receive after the cooking.
When preparing the meat I remove all the visable fat and put it into a saucepan with chopped onions, water and any other herbs I might have in the garden at that time, and then cook it on a very low heat for most of the day. I turn it off to sit overnight by which time all the fat has risen to the surface and set and can be easily removed along with the bones. But this time although the fat rose to the surface it wasn't a solid sheet, rather it was suspended in a jelly. Only old sheep have lots of cartilage and this had dissolved in the cooking process trapping the fat. It took some time to remove it and I couldn't get it all but I wasn't too concerned because the flavour of meat is carried in the fat and a little fat wouldn't hurt. (famous last words!!)
Next problem was getting the vegetables. We had a vegetable garden and you just walked out and picked what you wanted now you have the supermarket who only have soup vegetables in packets at certain times of year. Off to find a green grocer, which I did, and they had onions, turnips, pasnips, carrots, garlic, celery and that was it. I thought longingly about my Grandfather's vegetable garden and how I had taken it for granted.
Still, this wasn't a bad start. By this stage I wasn't about to make my own stock and resorted to the dried stuff in a packet along with a good swig of Wosthershire sauce. But, there was something missing. Barley. You can sometimes find packets of this in the supermarket on the bottom shelf at the back and I knew I had bought some some years ago and stored it in a airtight container at the back of a cupboard where it was cool and dark and 'low and behold' I found it in just that place. ( I also found the beer mugs I brought back from the Beer Fest in Munich in 1972 in that cupboard.)
By this stage I had been slow cooking the soup for a few hours and I wasn't sure if that barley was edible, it looked ok. I soaked it in water for half a day and didn't have any reaction when I ate some so added it to the soup, returned it to a low heat and let it simmer.
The next day I seasoned it with salt and pepper and threw in some tomato paste for good measure. Delicious.
The neighbours could smell the soup cooking and had been waiting for me to bring them some. One told me he had added some chilli sauce to his to give it a bit of 'zing'.
There was a lot of chopping of vegetables involved in preparing this soup which made lots of scraps. My neighbour's (Hayley) guinea pigs got the lions share, but the chooks and ducks didn't miss out. Unfortunately Lollipop the donkey is on a diet. I felt a bit guilty about that.
Postscript: There is still too much fat in this and I have had my gall bladder removed. This means my liver sends chemicals into my system to get rid of it fast. And I found some more chops in the supermarket labeled "bones". I have added the extra meat and flavourings and distributed it to people who live on their own around the island. They all enjoyed it but I will never be able to eat it again. I will just have to settle for a vegetable broth.)
My niece Kate is an artist. She also carries the same gene that effects the autoimmune system that I have. Her's has hit a lot earlier and more severely than mine did. She is unable to use her hands as she did before, which for an artist is devastating. But she has turned her minus into a plus. She can't paint but she can press the button on the camera on her phone and with her artist's eye the images she captures are breath taking.
She posts under the name of garden_and_cosmos where she looks at "an exploration of endangered Illawarra plant communities". You can find her Instagram page here.
The next thing I am facing, that I couldn't even look at during all that trouble with the local council, was cleaning out my clothing wardrobes and draws. Now, this might seem simple but after I have done the clean out I have to get the goods to the mainland and then to Vinnies. Just the thought of that was too much, but now I can face it.
It is amazing what turns up! In the depths of a draw I found an old ipod and after charging it (I found the charger as well} there was all my old music collection I lost when I bought a new Apple computer a couple of computers ago.
That screen is very small and I didn't have glasses or hearing aids back then but the music sounds great. I also found lost photos and documents I had saved here. Things are looking up. I need to find out what actually happened to all my music. It has got to be there somewhere. I will have to delve through all the post on this site I subscribe to called Mac Most
It is free but you can buy classes and other information if you want to. Everything links to You tube videos these days so you can see the actual screen. Great site if you have a Mac and are clueless like me.
Like most people I have been disturbed by what has been happening in the political sphere around the world. The news is something I try not to watch too much on the T.V. But I did see a brief piece about the death and funeral of Pope Francis and in this there was a picture of the presidents of Ukraine and the USA talking to each other. After all the fireworks that have gone on between these two I thought this is what Pope Francis would have wanted even if it happened because of his death.
I found this piece on-line at Facebook and thought I would share it.
Easter can bring beautiful or horrible weather. I remember being stuck with three kids in a beach side apartment and it rained the whole time. This year the weather was fantastic and we got the huge storm on the last night. My family remembered that we live on the sea side and the teenagers decended, with their friends.
(source: Redlands News.)
Noise, mess, sand, new friends they made jumping off the jetty and lots of noise. They ate all the food I had on hand and then they were gone. ( I had forgotten how teenagers eat!)
It was so quiet that a dugong swam into the beach.
School goes back today and peace has descended and I am left with hours of housework ahead of me. They said that they would be back next weekend as that is a 3 day break. I need to have more food on hand this time.
My daughter, Laura, has decided to leave her position as an academic at the University to concentrate on her leather making. A big step. From a good income and career path into the unknown. A brave move and I'm not sure that I would have had to courage to do this. But, she is a very skilled artisan, (besides being blessed with outstanding academic ability) and this is where her interest lies.
She recently won a prestigious leather making competition and plans to travel to Japan to study with a master of the skill there. She has a new web page and her article on the differences between hand and machine stitching on leather is interesting. Among her images is a piece that uses the dreaded cane toad hide. (The inset in the front of the case.)
I just don't like cane toads and they are an invasive species, that at the moment during this wet spell, are everywhere. But I have to admit that hide is attractive in this piece.
We started sewing together when she was small and I still have her first piece of cross stitch from when she was 7 y.o. (I thought I might have another embroiderer.)
During lock down I purchased a course on dressmaking with Philippa Naylor for her. (I can highly recommend her courses. Her web page on dressmaking foundations covers everything you need to know BEFORE you start stitching.) For Laura, these classes gave her the skills to take to that next level. I thought she may have gone into clothing design but she became fascinated with leather work. So, this is the path she has now set out on and I'm sure she will be very successful and happy with her choice. (Despite the fact that I would have liked her to take up embroidery.)
Oh boy! I have had to come up to town to open the town-house for the electricians. I couldn't work the key in the lock, or find the switchbox and I hate the $5,500 fences. They are durable, but look terrible and far too expensive for what they are.
There is no water pressure to clean the pavers, which I had to sweep because the were covered in leaves. My husband comes up to town twice a week for rowing, this is his total pre-occupation and my son is computer nerd! He never goes in the back garden. Now it is raining, hard. Not my day!!
But I have had a couple of very enjoyable books.
"Trees in Winter" arrived in the post and I read it in one sitting. I just love his lino prints. How he gets to include so much detail is amazing.
The other book is so rich in detail it is going to take some time to get through and I want to visit her sources for myself.
I have never heard of some of the sources or the concepts raised before. But I don't doubt what she is saying. An eye opener this one and it needs to be widely read. (I hope it will be included in the reading for Women's Studies at the Universities.). I have it for a month from the library but I think I would like it for my own library.