Wristies and sockies

Just after Mum's Big Oh birthday my baby sister fell out of a car in an awkward moment and broke both her wrists (crawling out the back of a 4WD and her jeans hem caught on the tow-ball).
Here she is drinking gin at our nephew's wedding:

Ten weeks later she is still in strife with them, needs surgery (cos the hospital she went to didn't apparently do the right thing. The hospital AT WHICH SHE NURSES. So if they can fuck up the brokenness of someone they know and care about, what happens to strangers???? Just wonderin'.)

So I made her a pair of little wristies to cheer her up and protect her wrists and to tell her I love her heaps:

The bright multi-coloured wool is a soft and cuddly soy/wool mix, the turquoise is 8 ply pure  wool. Despite what it looks like it is really a 2Purl 2Plain rib, and with a picot cast-off (how smartie pants am I getting with my knitting, eh!)

I also made wristies for The Sweetheart to wear in his freezing cold office:

Is Opal sock wool, all ribbed to be stretchy and snuggly.

And lacy socks for my all singing, all dancing Bollywood Princess Parvyn Kaur Singh (Google her name - there are thousands of links to all sorts of delightful youtube sites, and to her songs. She is gorgeous!)
I added ribbons through the eyelets just for fun.

The lacy pattern is an easybubs "P5, K4tog, (YO, K1) 6 times, K4 tog, P5 (should still be 22 stitches - or whatever you started with!). Then, K three rows. Rep". You can do any number of purl stitches to fill in the side of the rows. I did the soles in Continental knitting so they would be thicker, and added an extra fine thread into the toes and heels. Two at a time, toe up - THIS is the method I used but there are lots of vids and pages showing how to do it. So much easier than one at a time, and really doesn't seem to take that much longer. Also, essential for lacy socks cos then the patterns are matching...

Happy birthday my Mummy!

A couple of months ago it was my Mum's 80th birthday.

And we all got together for the first time since 1996 (or thereabouts - though judging from the hairstyles it could have been the 80s...).

How funny are we?!

This was at the house that our Mum built in the bush out of Castlemaine.
From sandstone she dragged out of her own ground. AND it was double-rock walls too!!!
She was in her fifties when she did this, and didn't have any help until she got up above head height and was starting to stand on wobbly 44 gallon drums for scaffolding. Whereupon, she paid a bloke $10 to help her. All up, including the 15 acres of land, her house cost her $30,000.
She started this in 1986 - couldn't come to Melbourne to see newborn S4 in July because the slab had just been laid and needed to be looked after (and besides - "if you have seen one newborn baby you have seen them all..."!!!).

And here all we are 16 years later (goodness, how difficult it is to get us all in one place!!!):

We haven't changed that much...

Cos here we are when we were all little.
With three other cousins (they are the dark-haired ones!). It isn't such a crash-hot pic cos it is 50 years old and the colour has died a tad.
This was in the Mallee at our farm.
On the swing that our Dad made for a Christmas present (he didn't actually MAKE it - he got one of the farm workers to weld it up from pipes and a slab of timber. Lethal, but no-one ever got whacked with it. That I know of, anyway!). It fitted all of us, and was the most wonderful swing!

How CUTE are those little brothers!!!
And middle of winter and we all have bare feet!
Alpal's pant legs are filthy - and LOOK - he has a dolly!!!!
(And Noela and Marion look like they are also wearing shoes and socks - far right for Noela and Marion is in between two dark haired cussies in the middle of the swing. Softies!!).
This would be about 1962.

Hussif

I made a hussif for S4 to take to Germany with him. It has little pockets for press studs, elastic, velcro dots, and whatever, and cute little cylinders to hold the tiny reels of thread, and buttons sewn on individually so he can cut them off as needed, pins, needles (already threaded...), safety pins.

Felt on the inside, and pretty Phasgogale Dreaming (tiny flying possum creatures) Aussie material on the outside to remind him of home.

That gorgeous tape measure tape? He and his girlie gave me that for my birthday present last year (along with lots of other treasures). Appropriate ties for this hussif I reckon!

Knitting and Skiting

I have had fun whipping up a pair of socks for S4. 

He headed off on Valentine's Day to study in Germany for a semester. 

He is about to start 3rd year Electrical Engineering,and is off to some Uni near Stuttgart who thinks he is a wonderful student. He is on exchange which means he can still get all the Government allowances that he gets when studying here, but he also won a scholarship (for "Academic Excellence"!). He has just had a week in England to catch up with friends from when he was working and living there with the Gorgeous Clancye. She isn't going, she has to stay here. This will be the longest they have ever been apart. Hard for them both I reckon.

The background is the jumper I am knitting for The Sweetheart. 

Last year I got to the armholes on both the back and front before it all got way too heavy for my poor belly. Will finish it in time for this winter...

Housewarming socks

These are the socks I made for S2 for a Housewarming present. He and his wife just bought their first ever home. I have a feeling it will probably be their last ever home, too. It sounds fabulous - 30+ fruit trees, and a chook palace, other shed, a well (with lots of water in it!), a paddock, lots of vege gardens - all on a couple of acres on the outskirts of Wodonga.

Bugger - I am bumped!

The hospital just rang - they need my bed for someone with a trifle more urgent need so have postponed my surgery for a week.

Now it is December 5...

The lovely nurses in Victoria have been on strike for the last few weeks. Whilst I cannot deny them the right to more pay I JUST WISH THEY WEREN'T DOING IT ON MY SHIFT!!!!!!!!!

Their strike hasn't had any influence on my delay - that is just the system... Too many sick people, not  enough doctors or nurses, not enough beds in not enough hospitals etc etc. At least we have hospitals, and running water unlike 90% of the world.


The Good News is that I will be able to go to the House Warming Party that S2 and his missus are throwing on the 3rd of December. They just bought a house, their first ever (eeek!!!) and are having the BEST fun playing cubby houses!
Here  is their blog:
http://widgetgrove.com.au/
They have a couple of acres, and there are already lots of good stuff - chook palace, hay shed, green house, garden beds, a well that reaches to the bottom of the earth (or at least to the water table!) and dozens of fruit trees. They now have chooks, and are getting some sheep, and are planting lots of garden stuff. I think they will be largely self sufficient within a short time!


In the meantime - I can keep knitting socks...

Happy New Year!!!

I know - it is way past New Year and most people have already packed away their decorations for another year (11 months) and are into sewing Valentines or Mother's Day pressies but I am still catching up!
We had a lovely little Christmas, did very little until later in the afternoon when Smellie 3 and his GF and Smellie 4 came over, along with StepSmellie 1 and his GF, and StepSmellie2. We did the pressie thing and had cold meats and salads, frozen icecream pudding, and Granma's Christmas Pudding. It was very peaceful.
My Sweetheart gave me a new camera!!! Hooray! Another Fuji - the big brother of the one I left in the bush. There are a heap of photos on it but at the moment it is going back from whence it came. When I am videoing you can tell when I zoom. And not just cos things get bigger but cos you can HEAR the little cogs and levers workign inside. Not a good thing. SO no photos of my pressies (lovely boys picked very good sewing quilty things for me) or post Christmas when we went back up to Mitta Mitta to The Witches Garden for a few days.

I was very disciplined with the tree this year - all pink and silver:
It also had lights sparkling away. These photos were taken with The Sweetheart's new iPhone which I was still learning to drive...

I found this very sweet little Advent Tree in Big W ($10) with cute hand painted decorations -  tiny brass hooks and eyelets to dangle them from.

There will be more when I get my camera back - much more interesting when you have  photos to look at!

What? Where? Who???

I know - another week has slid past me and you haven't heard from me.
Sorry.

What happened?

On Saturday we went to the footie to see Gisborne get thrashed by South Bendigo.
This is a shot by The Sweetheart so you can see what sort of football we play in Australia. It is like running two marathons - not a great big interchange bench like in gridiron, and far far more ball contact that soccer. Look at that score - how disappointing for Gissie!!!!

At half time all the little kids - children and grandchildren of players and supporters - get out on the oval and play kick to kick with their little footballs.  Look at this little bloke, he is still in nappies!!!

And then life got interesting with a sort of streaker. Some bloke on a buck's turn in a mankini.

Who says looking like Borat isn't a good look?
That isn't a bad looking arse, is it?
He just did alittle dash out onto the oval and then a u-turn and back over the boundary fence where he was met by all his mates. I don't know that too many people even got to see him.
The Sweetheart grabbed this shot - good job he had the big lens on, we wouldn't have been able to see this if I had used my little camera...







I need some help identifying this plant.

And I thought I planted snake beans in the garden, but instead these things have happened. They came up in a creeepery-vine which fooled me into thinking they were beans.
The leaves are heart shaped and the flowers are tiny little white ones that look like a solanum, there are then berries that rapidly dry to a paper casing with three of four dark triangulate seeds in them.

And the seeds smell a bit yucky. Not a pleasant spice smell, but a bit nasty.

I have the feeling I should be ripping them all out cos I am betting those seeds  will germinate and the whole world will be covered in them by next summer.

Any help with identification would be great - maybe I have something new and exotic that will be useful to the world. I know what bean seeds look like so am pretty sure that is what I planted...

You can get some idea of the scale with the seeds on the crossword. They are little pods, only as big as  my little finger nail.

And then I made a peach chocolate cinnamon cake.

I just made up the recipe, drained tinned peaches on the base of the square cake tin, 2 cups of dark brown sugar thrashed to death with 250 grams of butter, added 4 eggs, and 2 cups SR flour sifted with a few spoonfuls of lovely Dutch cocoa and a tablespoon of cinnamon, along with the juice from the peaches. Cooked for about 35 mins at 350* -  possibly should have been a bit shorter time as it dried out a bit around the edges, but nothing that a slathering of cream couldn't fix.

I think it would be nicer with some ground ginger in with it as well.
Next one...

I am knitting a jumper for The Sweetheart, 2 different cables one with a 12 row repeat, the other 24 rows, and in alpaca and wool variegated.   I did a lot of mumbled countings, and unpicking rows and stitches for the first few days, but now I have done three and a half pattern repeats and am getting the hang of it. Sort of. It is beginning to look like something is happening now.
This is the first time I ever knitted anything for someone bigger than me. And the last time I knitted something for me was 1984 when I was pregnant with S3. Still have it. The good thing of polyester wools -  they NEVER wear out...
Photos to come.

And have re-arranged my bedroom, spray painted some old lamp bases (one wooden candlestick one is now black satin and the other - formerly lolly pink girlie op-shopped china is now glossy Chinese red) and redid shades to make it all look sparky new there. And a really awful op-shopped plastic mirror frame that was brown and tan but is now satin black, and looks like finely carved wood.
Photos to come.

Yesterday my tall fiddling friend Andrew Clermont (or on Myspace, or just google him for all osrts of mentions!) dropped by with two of his musician friends (Parvi and Josh), they had lovely-to-listen-to rehearsals, showers, and an early dinner before heading to Melbourne for a few gigs.
Last night at The Lomond where S3 was co-incidentally working (because of the extra crowds because of the famous performer coming!) and then to stay with S4. A very early morning gig at The Hyatt in Melbourne and another at a school in Melbourne and then back here to play at The Maldon Hotel tonight. It is always delightful to catch up with him,and to spend time checking out the latest photos - he does wonderful slide shows on his iBook. The latest was a fabulous trip through Spain and Portugal in the last few weeks with his darling Bettina who is an extraordinary artist in Berlin. Check out her website to be impressed!!!

Wednesday night my lovely GP phoned to tell me that I failed dismally the Pap Test I had the other day.
Eighteen months ago I had 'low grade abnormalities' and had to see an oncologist-gynaecologist in Melbourne.
I was supposed to have another Pap Test after 12 months but last November was getting to Christmas and was a busy time. And besides they aren't the most fun things I ever do. Another besides, because of my naughty clotting factor I also bleed, and I quite like being menopausal and not bleeding. It hurts on top of all that. All very good excuses for procrastinating.
So back to see that nice o-g woman at the Royal Women's for another colposcopy and cone biopsy. Sigh...

I am a bit depressed about it all, really. A fuck it - am REALLY pissed off actually. And scared and worried. The only positive is that nobody in our family has ever had any sort of girlie cancer.


Better to to town and buy more food.
xxxx

Dad's Clothes...

Bruce Watson is a wonderful singer and songwriter here in Australia. And overseas, too. Sometimes overseas - he and his wife also have Just The Four Boys so they don't do the overseas bit as much as they want - or as much as they will when all the boys leave their nest!
Check out all about him here on his Myspace page.

He has a really great song about sorting through his father's belongings after he passed away. "Dad's Clothes" has been on my mind a lot this week.
On Sunday we went through The Sweetheart's Dad's stuff, and sorted who gets what.

"We sorted through Dad’s clothes today
Working out just who gets what, and what
we’d throw away...
Sifting through
the sifting sands of our family
We cried a little, we laughed a lot
Telling stories of the things we got
Telling
stories of the things we got
We didn’t know just what we’d find
Old fashioned
ties – and ties that bind
We sorted through Dad’s clothes today..."

You can find the whole song on that Myspace link, right hand side of the page and scroll through the songs until you find it and have a listen to it.

Dad had lots of stuff. And only two sons and a daughter to spread it around to...

His family history things that are going to a cousin as she is writing it all up.
Except for his war medals - The Sweetheart as the eldest son got them.

There were some paintings by Granma Inez - a stunning one on ivory of an ancestor painted 'from life in 1912' according to the inscription on the back of the frame.

And some lovely pottery. Dad was a really talented potter - he studied in Japan in the 1970s under some of the great Living Treasure potters, and had a lot of exhibitions over the years. A couple of years ago he told me he had worked out he had made over 40,000 pieces over the years. In which case we have bloody little to show for it all!!!! Only the leftovers that hadn't sold.

Four garbage bags of clothes - Pringle tshirts (silky and shiny and lovely to wear - ask me how I know this); and Ralph Lauren shirts and pants (including a rather loud pair of tartan trews), and a box of silk ties - mostly Italian hand made designer sorts of things, and some still in their wrappings. Jackets - pure wool as soft and tactile as silk and suede, and melton. Hats - a Stetson, and a Panama and a real boater.
And a German wool jacket and hat - the sort of thing you see every Sunday in Bavaria for Sunday Best.

And it all got divided up between the "kids" with some treasures to be divided between their kids.

All very sad really. A whole life relegated to memories. And worse - "where did THIS come from????"...
I have washed all the clothes and taken off his name tags. There is a great mountain of wonderful fine cotton shirts (he was very structured with his wardrobe - they are either variations of blue or of red)  to make into a quilt. There are lovely linen trousers that one of my boys will wear cos for them they don't have the "old man" associations that Pop's clothes have for his grandsons. And I reckon S3 will DIE for that Bavarian coat with it's embroidery and the cute hat.
It looks like THIS and the hat like THIS but of course not a cheap crappy party one but a real one.

I haven't got any photos as I left my camera at home, so you will have to just imagine all the rest. Though not to difficult to imagine Ralph Lauren shirts (though you might do a cat cough cough furball thing on those tartan dacks. They are so awful they are almost worth wearing. Not me - one of those Smellies I reckon).

Going home now, and I am going to STAY there - got far too much to do there really. And spending far too much time doing stuff here...

What happened @ Easter...

On Good Friday we went to Albury and stayed with S2 and his Beloved again. They have done lots of things since we were there last (the weekend before!) including digging out all the weeds from their patch of lawn and reseeding it, planting LOTS of seeds and plants in their vege garden, and getting on with their guitar lessons...

On Saturday we headed north.

We played submarines in Holbrook, and a nice Kiwi woman from Gisborne took our photo at The Dog on the Tuckerbox at Gundagai.

Then on to Bathurst where we met up with TWO Axe Murderers, and staying with one!

Christine is on the LHS of this photo in her studio, and we stayed in her wonderful home.
The most beautiful place we have ever stayed.
There are more photos after this, but just picture a 19th century workmen's brick cottage, semi detached, but instead of a dark passage to access the rooms a wide sunroom with the rooms opening off it with internal windows and glass paned doors. And then filled with flowers, quilts, beautiful old furniture, and wonderful food smells!


And that is Del on the RHS of the photo above. She came around for a moment to see what I looked like and we didn't stop talking for three hours!!!

This is where we went on Sunday, me in the 'truck' as Pit Crew and The Sweetheart getting ready to scare the living daylights out of himself! AS I mentioned in this post we were there to have a lovely fun time on what is The Mountain of Australian Motor Racing. I don't think it is very often used for club racing - mostly it is The Big Boys with all their money and sponsored hot cars that get to run around here. 

The Festival of Sporting Cars was a wonderful event!

This is The Sweetheart in our dear Little Red Car, lined up on the Dummy Grid. He had enormous fun, with a top speed of 200 kph down the straight on his runs. 

He leapt from the car at the end of each run absolutely GLOWING!!! 

This is the hotel where we stayed Sunday and Monday nights. It is right on the track with all the rooms opening onto balconies overlooking the track, the other side of the hotel has all the service rooms. Our room was on the second floor just in front of Armorall.

That cloud of dust is someone giving themselves an almighty scare. Nobody was hurt and only a couple of cars out of the field of 600+ were a bit bent over the entire weekend. A wonderful record!!

The whole event was organised and run by volunteers from all around the country - members of various car clubs. They all did a wonderful job - everything from flag marshalling to timing and just being helpful. This country really would be rooted if it wasn't for volunteers...

We packed up on Tuesday afternoon, getting Little Red onto the trailer just as the rain started, and headed for home.
The very first hill out of Bathurst the trailer started driving the car - it was a very greasy road. I started yelping and essentially didn't stop stressing for 15 hours. We DID stop for a snooze in a truck stop out of Wodonga for 2.5 hours but didn't get home until 5 a.m. I am still a *bit* tired...

However, it was a wonderful weekend, and a great experience. However, NEXT Easter we are going back to the National Folk Festival in Canberra - The Sweetheart can do My Thang!!!

Life...

Life... We would be a bit stuffed if we didn't have Life but geez it DOES get in the way sometimes.

This past week has been so busy.

Dad's funeral was on Wednesday.
Here we are (some of us) at the pub for a little wake after. There are a lot of boys on that side of the family!
Got to meet The Sweetheart's little sister for the first time (she isn't in the photo). Of course the family have known her marginally but she wasn't really a big part of this side of the family. Seems to have been actively discouraged from knowing her Dad.
She is only 23 - Dad remarried when he was 65...
She is gorgeous, tall and with a smile that lights her face and half the world - even though she was so distraught at the funeral for the Dad she never got to know. And she is living in Melbourne, last year at University (Industrial Design which is what my Baby Brother studied. And at the same place, too).



 On Thursday The Beezs came back to visit. They had a gig on Friday night at The Palais in Hepburn Springs which unfortunately turned acoustic when The Palais sound system went very ill. They were fabulous though and JUST what we both needed to cheer us up after a sad week.
They stayed a few days before heading to their last gig in Australia for this tour. They will be back in 2012. I shall let you know when their next gig is. Or check their website for Northern Hemisphere dates.

I got up one morning and Trevor seemed to be missing. Then he poked his little head out from a nest he had made in the couch cushions. Right in between them.
That dog certainly is a worry!
He did look very sweet however.

And look at that Chook cushion. She is wearing purple Doc Martens like I do and has a secret pocket in her wing that sometimes has treasures in it...Easter eggs for example.



Then Saturday we drove four hours to Albury to have a housewarming party for S2 and his Beloved. And it was also my Biggest Little Brother's 50th birthday. S2 and his Beloved cooked a great meal and we ate and had a lovely time. Except I forgot to take all my lovely drugs and found just how effective those pain killers are. Even panadeine every couple of hours didn't do anything nice for me. Got home last night and immediately gobbled my dose. Can't believe how much pain they do indeed kill!

Three quilts went north - a Housewarming Quilt for S2 and his Beloved, and a Birthday Quilt for my darling handsome Bro, and another Quilt that S2 made when he was 18. Actually, they are only tops so far...

The photos for all that partying etc are on The Sweetheart's camera, and we shall have to wait until  he downloads and sends them to me. I will add them later. Or sooner...

Got back Sunday afternoon in time to watch the Australian Grand Prix - poor Mark Webber, when is he ever going to have a proper podium? Or ten would be even better...

I am going to close my Blogaversary Give-away tomorrow night (Eastern Aussie D.S. Time) so hop in for it if you haven't entered

Very sad

Today is a very sad day.
The Sweetheart's Dad passed away at 11 this morning.
He went into Epworth Hospital yesterday morning after a few little T.I.A.s but this was not at all expected.

This is when I wrote about him on ANZAC Day last year, at the bottom of that entry about the other soldiers in my family.

And this is the quilt I made for him last year when he moved in to Happy Paddocks. He had it on his bed all the time, but hidden under the bedspread as he was so worried somebody might steal it. But he showed everyone so the whole world knew where it was anyway!

Here he is with The Sweetheart and my brother-in-law at his 88th birthday party in January. The BIL is such a pest - here he is pulling Dad's whiskers...

This is the entry for Dad's birthday with a little bit about him.

My Dad died when I was 17, he had been ill for ten years before he died (Multiple Myeloma) which meant I was really very young when he was last a healthy fathering man.
I have so missed having a Dad in my life for most of it. The Sweetheart's Dad was a bloke who certainly lived life to the full. (And then some!). Yep, he had a good innings...

I am going off to have a little think, and a cuppa tea, and then drive to Melbourne.

More op shop treasure!!!

And I found some more op shop treasure at The Salvos in Albury!!!
This is four panels that had been hand sewn into curtains, so really easy to pull apart. Each piece of material is about 2 metres long, lovely 1960's print I guess.
In all 8 metres of material for $6...

Just look at these mad statues of liberty, space capsules, astronauts, and all with luscious lime green and hot pink accents!!!
Think this will just HAVE to be a 1960's frock for next summer:



And this is S2 with Trevor sucking up to him. He thinks Trevor is depressed, so he cuddles him and says "Are you sad, Dear Little Dog?" and the DLD gazes soulfully at S2 and snuggles in and sighs "Yes I am, but less so when you cuddle me. Don't stop"....


The quilt is a couch quilt for The Sweetheart's lounge room...

Time flies

I have been away doing all sorts of things.
Last weekend was Labour Day long weekend. To celebrate the 8 hour day everyone in Victoria takes a holiday...

We went to Mitta Mitta to visit my brother and sister in law at their wonderful Witches Garden.
This past weekend was extremely rainy - a remnant of a couple of cyclones that have been wandering around the northern parts of Australia. So warm(ish) tropical rain bucketing down. We drove up in the rain to the Dartmouth Dam because it was too wet to do anything else:


And look at the rain pouring down the spillway cuttings (been years since there was water over the spillway from the dam, sadly) into the Mitta River:


Same as last year - the Might Mitta Muster was on. (Check out the link for last year's photos in the sunshine!).
Because of the rain all the woodchop events were cancelled, and many of the horse events too. There was a clever young bloke with a pile of whips he had made himself, and he was thrashing them around his ears, and around the ears of anyone who was brave (silly) enough to be his 'assistant'. What looks like smoke is the rainwater evaporating off the ends of his whips at the speed of sound as he cracks them:

And THEN I stayed on for a few days and helped my S2 and his darling move into their new home in Albury. This was some of the 1/3 truckload of boxes that had been in storage for the five years they have been working in Europe, and also some of the treasures they air-freighted home from Dublin. It was like Christmas for them, discovering all sorts of delights:

The bride is wearing her hen's night veil with the red devil horns...
All those boxes are now unpacked and their contents tucked away in their right places. It seems the only thing that got smashed along the way was the Man of Steel tin (sorry about the blurry pic - I was laughing too hard at this symbol of irony):


Tomorrow I shall post some pics of the quilts I have made for them and that I not only got to take photos of but GOT TO WASH (one was for his 18th birthday, the other for his 21st. Only one of them had been washed. EVER. He is now 33... And he lived under them all through 5 years at Uni. They were pretty stinky...)