The quilt which was an 18th birthday gift is now in the hands of the recipient.
Yesterday was the 18th birthday of our elder granddaughter. Her growth from baby to young lady is beautifully captured in the reel of photos below.
It has been an absolute joy to witness her transformation and watch her finish her secondary schooling. She is now poised on the threshold with exciting life and career prospects ahead of her.
Congratulations!!
I have put my head down and done some concentrated sewing over the past couple of days. It is a birthday gift for our elder granddaughter.
The result is that I have now completed 21 patchwork blocks which is half of the total needed for a QS quilt.
I wrote a post in February which you can read here in which I mentioned that I had done the first block.
Here are the other 21 blocks ready to start sewing.
The disappearing 9 patch is essentially a 2-step process. The first is to sew the 9 pieces together and you can see some of them here at that stage.
After that, each block is cut into 4 pieces and rearranged before restitching. This gives the overall random finished pattern.
I hope to have the patchwork completed in the next week or so but it is somewhat dependant on other activities.
I know that I am a couple of days late for American Independence Day which is celebrated on 4th July. 6 years ago I had my own version of Independence Day as 4th July 2019 marked my last working day in the office. Interestingly enough, it took me another 3 weeks before I was sufficiently organised to even write a blog post which combines a measure of relief and optimism. You can read it here.
A themed dinner with work colleagues.
Well, here I am 6 years later and still writing this blog – I have actually been writing it since March 2011. Life has had some ups and downs, some expected and others totally unforeseen. We managed a mere 6 months of retirement before our collective worlds were turned upside down with the arrival of Covid-19 in early 2020.
There was plenty of time for gardening.
There have been family events – milestone birthdays and weddings as well as several funerals. The death of my mother in early 2021 left an enormous void in my life and that of many others.
Farewell, Mum.
While Covid-19 did put a dent in our overseas travel plans for a few years we made up for that with road trips within Queensland and interstate once the tightest restrictions had eased. The addition of a new puppy in 2020 gave us plenty of distraction, too. We resumed travelling abroad in 2024 and have plenty of plans for later this year and beyond.
The household seems to revolve around Islay.
Our biggest post-retirement change was a move from Queensland to regional Victoria. Although we bought a home that was only a couple of years old there continue to be some modifications needed to make it completely to our liking.
We have settled into life in our small country town and life hums along in a regular rhythm of activities at home, volunteering, cultural events, visits from family and friends as well as travel near and far.
Enjoying a local Writers’ Festival.
Did I really know what to expect from retirement? Not really, but it is simply a matter of finding your own pace and space.
In my last port I mentioned that we had visitors coming to stay. Our daughter and 2 granddaughters who live in Brisbane have been to visit for a week. They spent the first couple of nights in Melbourne where they went to see Beetlejuice and then took the train to Warrnambool where we met them and spent 3 days exploring the surrounding area, including the Great Ocean Road.
At the whale watching lookout at Logan’s Beach but no whales in sight.
Some stunning scenery along the Great Ocean Road.
Finally, we had 2 nights at home before a drive to Melbourne today to drop them at the airport for their return flight. I managed to take up 4 pairs of jeans for the girls as well as trim the younger one’s hair.
Yesterday we went to Bendigo where we went shopping for a 16th birthday gift for our younger granddaughter, had lunch at at Italian restaurant and then GMan, our daughter and I went to see the Frida Khalo exhibition at the Art Gallery. Although the granddaughters weren’t interested in seeing the exhibition we did manage a photo of them near the entrance. They had gelato and went to the gardens instead.
It has been a full and interesting week and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the family.
Back to reality tomorrow as I finish washing the extra bedlinen and rearranging the guest rooms. I am also hoping to do a bit more fence painting as the forecast is for fine weather and not too cold.
It is over 2 weeks since my last post but I have not been overly busy. So, why has my lofty goal of writing a post every second day fallen so spectacularly by the wayside? I have had time to write, computer and internet access as well as plenty of potential material but still no posts.
I look back on the last 2 weeks and my last post was immediately following Easter and my birthday which coincided this year. The intervening time has included several milestones.
25th April is ANZAC Day, the anniversary of the day of the landing of the Allied Forces at Gallipoli in 1915. While not at the original landing, my paternal grandfather did serve at Gallipoli. It is a day to reflect and honour our servicemen and women from all theatres of war.
The remembering did not end that day as 26th April was the fourth anniversary of my mother’s death. The passage of time does dim the acute grief but I miss her every day and this time of the year is particularly poignant.
Grief was brought sharply into focus with the recent death of my uncle and I am currently making a brief visit to Queensland to attend his funeral and importantly, to support my cousins at this time.
There is definitely a degree of inertia with respect to the garden. I feel as though we are all holding our collective breath as we wait for the season to break and bless the ground with some rain. Autumn is definitely with us but it still feels unseasonably warm for the beginning of the second week of May.
The other significant event here is the federal election in Australia. It was held on Saturday 3rd May and we are certain of the main result there are still quite a number of unresolved contests as the counting and recounting continues.
We also cannot ignore global events such as the conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and other places around the world. The impacts of decisions by President Trump continue to cause ripples across the globe which will impact us all. The recent death of Pope Francis and the current conclave to elect his successor are also of note. While it is important to be aware of national and global events, it is wise not to let it overwhelm us.
On the local front, I have had plenty to occupy my mind as I am working on some administrative documents for voluntary work.
All of these things have diverted my attention from the minutiae of my daily activities which is where I draw most of the inspiration for my blog posts.
Meanwhile, life keeps rolling on. Apart from my flying visit to Queensland we are actually on a bit of a road trip to South Australia. You can read more about it here. There may be one or two more holiday posts in the next few days before we head for home.
I hope to share some more of our activities in home once we get back. Please let me know if there is anything in particular you would like me to write about. Most of my posts fall under the general headings of:
Gardening
Cooking
Sewing
Op shopping
Cleaning
Renovations
Decluttering
General organisation
I would love to hear your thoughts.
I have been away from the blog this past week as other things have taken precedence. We have enjoyed visits from two groups of guests. I has been a delight to show them around our town and the surrounds.
Here are a couple of photos taken from the summit of Mt Tarrengower which overlooks the town.
An almost full moon as we looked east towards the town.
Sunset in the opposite direction.
Our house guests of the past few days departed this morning so I need to get back to some food prep and meal planning. The first step was to cut a generous handful of rhubarb from one of the clumps which are happily growing near the back fence. We usually have some stewed fruit on our cereal each morning so I chopped and stewed the stalks and have containers of stewed rhubarb ready to go in the freezer.
I began a new sewing project today. This is the first block of a patchwork quilt I am making for my elder granddaughter. It is for her 18th birthday in December. One block done, 41 to go.
Most of the fabric has been randomly collected from op shops and offcuts from various previous sewing adventures. However, there will be some from a particularly special piece. The small pale pink squares have history. They are from some leftover fabric from a dress which my mother made for herself – probably close to 30 years ago. From those leftovers I made a dress for my granddaughter which she wore on her first birthday.
This is not a great photo but you get the general idea. It was from an Enid Gilchrist pattern which I had made many time before and numerous times since.
The other patchwork was for the boxer shorts which I mentioned in my last post. I had rather optimistically thought that it would be a simple matter of adding a strip of fabric into the side seams and a bit at the top to extend the overall length of the crotch.
As I began to unpick the side seams it became obvious that the construction method was appalling and regardless of any alterations that I might make, the existing seams were not robust enough to stand up to much wear at all. So, I altered my plan and unpicked the entire garment. By this time it became obvious why they were not a great fit. The pieces bore only minimal resemblance to the pattern I had.
I used the excess length of the original trousers to add pieces to be able to recut all of the pieces for the boxer shorts using my own pattern. I used flat felled seams for joining the extra pieces as well as the main construction as I always do. These seams are great as there are no raw edges on the inside as well as being extra strong due to the two rows of stitching.
This photo shows the randomly joined pieces of fabric before I cut out the pattern pieces. I did not have enough fabric nor the desire to match the pattern.
It was a bit of a fiddle but I now have a pair of boxers which are comfortable. The various joins are really barely visible.
They say that variety is the spice of life. Well, today has included a bit of everything.
I have done a bit of ironing, some sewing (paid alterations) and tackled what I mentally refer to as Operation Photos. I dream that one day I shall have all of my photos digitised, sorted, labelled and categorised. I know that it is not going to happen overnight but I now know how I can break it down into bite-sized pieces and feel that I am slowly, inexorably making progress.
These are slides of my siblings and me that were taken by my father over a period of 2 decades. The sorting began when our mother was still alive and my sister and I are continuing the process of making sure that they are properly recorded in a manner so that we can all enjoy the amazing memories which are preserved in the slides.
I am the eldest child and as far as I am aware this is the first photograph that Dad took of me. According to his notation on the edge of the slide, I was 8 days old.
Finally, we went out to dinner this evening at an historic hotel in Castlemaine which dates back to the mid 1800s.
I chose field mushrooms with salsa, guacamole, cauliflower rice and fresh green salad.
This is definitely a meal that I would consider replicating at home.
I know that it is a slightly odd title but it really describes the last 8 days or so.
As I mentioned in my previous post, we are on holidays in Queensland. This is my home state and where we lived for 22 years before moving to Victoria about 18 months ago. I am delighted to be on holidays here and we spent a week at the beach over Christmas with both of our daughters and 2 granddaughters. We have enjoyed spending time with my sister, brother-in-law and brother as well as catching up with several friends.
However, underneath all of the fun and socialising I had an odd, nagging feeling that somehow unsettled me when I least expected it yet I could not pinpoint the source. That was…………until yesterday. I realised this was the first time I had returned to Queensland on holidays from interstate since my parents had died. The odd feeling was coming ‘home’ but Mum and Dad were not here. 2025 will mark the 4th and 24th anniversaries of their deaths respectively. I love and miss them both every day but this trip has turned out to be particularly poignant. I am so glad that I figured out my feelings as I honour their memory.
Well, here we are at the end of another year. Like most years, this one has had its ups and downs, highs and lows.
There has been overseas travel and renovations at home.
Sad farewells to friends and family members who have left us far too soon.
Catching up and celebrating with extended family – siblings and cousins.
Regular routines and out of the ordinary adventures.
Living in a location with 4 distinct seasons and lots of deciduous trees clearly defines the seasonal cycle through the year. I appreciate the seasonal changes and cherish the special aspects such as savouring seasonal produce when it is at its best.
We will be spending New Year’s Eve with family but I suspect we may all be in bed well in advance of midnight.
Resolutions are not really something that I do but I am keen to work on some key principles and encourage others to do likewise as we move into 2025. Things like kindness, gratitude, sharing, empathy and community spring to mind. Nothing too big or exciting but simply woven into every day and making a difference to our own and other people’s lives.
I love this image and have used it each year on the blog for a few years as I like to think of the waves gently washing away the year and leaving us with a blank page ready to write the story of the upcoming year. I think it is a better reflection of my attitude to the New Year than fireworks and popping champagne corks.
I would like to close this post by thanking each and every one of you for your interest which encourages to continue writing this blog after almost 14 years.
Happy New Year and best wishes for 2025.
organised castle 