Sunday, June 24, 2012

Somebody's warm.

G'day. I made this coat for our lovely little pooch some years ago. It is one of a few that I have made him. On weekends hubby and I and pooch go for a walk, usually early of a morning. On the days that I don't work, I take our boy for a walk. Good exercise for us all, especially pooch and I. Hubby now works part time on a farm most days and doesn't need the exercise.


Saturday morning dawned clear and cold. I peeked out the back door to see what the morning looked like and all I saw was the backyard covered in a coat of frost.We are used to a bit of cold here in winter, so I wasn't unduly concerned. At least it wasn't raining. On with the thermal long sleeved spencer, jumper, jacket, hat, stocking, socks and jeans. Thick gloves completed the outfit. Hubby was still in bed while all this was happening and showed no sign of wanting to move. "I think I'll sleep in this morning " was all he said. Mobile phone and tissues in jeans pocket , coat and lead on pooch and off we set.


Everything was white. Puddles on the side of the road had ice on the top of them, paddocks down the bottom of the hill were nothing but white. By this stage I began to realize just how cold it was. Steam was coming out of not only my mouth, but pooches mouth as well.Scenery looked lovely, but probably better off seen from the warmth of a car. Our walk usually takes about 45-50 minutes if we go the usual way, but somehow that morning I knew that wasn't going to happen. The shorter route was more on the cards.Even pooch didn't want to dilly dally. The usual 500 wee stops that he likes to make, just weren't happening, he saw the need to keep moving in the hope that his faithful leader would see sense and take him home. Arrived home to hubby informing me that he had heard on the local radio station that it was minus 3 degrees in town here, at that particular stage. After braving one of the coldest days we had had last Wednesday and getting the train down to the big smoke, you would think that I would have more sense than to venture out on such a cold morning. As I said in my last post, growing old does not necessarily mean growing wiser in my case. I also said that I thought I had caught a chill and was coming down with something, thankfully that only lasted about 24 hours. In the photo above, poor pooch is looking pleadingly at hubby to let him in. Which of course hubby did, then firmly closed the door while I took my shoes off and they both stood inside in the warmth, looking out at me with a smile on their faces.Oh hum, one day I will learn.!!!! Take care. Liz...

Friday, June 22, 2012

Just swaning around.

G'day. I stayed at my sons home last Wednesday night. A good and long standing mate of his was having a birthday party. This mate has not been very well of late, hence my desire to attend. I also made the rather silly option of catching the train down. Son would pick me up at the station.This involved a nearly two hour trip all up, on one of the coldest days we have had so far. I arranged to leave work early and off I went, cursing myself for not taking my car which would have been the warmest option, though not necessarily the quickest one. Hubby had to stay home. Friends from South Australia had rang only two days earlier to say they were visiting Victoria and could they stay for one night and yes, you guessed it, that was the night I wasn't going to be home.


But, to be helpful, I did get a beef and red wine casserole going in the slow cooker before I went to work and all hubby had to do was put the vegetables on and dish up. 


Party went well, everyone had a great time and I was warmly tucked up in bed at about 11.00pm. Thursday morning dawned bleak, wet and cold, but I decided to try to dodge the rain drops and go for a quick walk around the lake that is near to where my son lives. He wisely, was still asleep and warm, not like his fool mother.who was out braving the elements just to get a bit of exercise to work off all the food I had gorged on the night before. But, the highlight of this exercise was seeing the beautiful pair of black swans with their four nearly grown young.It was a spectacular sight and well worth the cold and wet. 


Home on the train on the Thursday afternoon, hubby waiting at the station to meet me, car running, heater going. He reported that the meal the night before was a big hit, guests enjoyed their stay, sorry I wasn't there etc, etc, and maybe we will catch up before they go back. Oh well, it all worked out well in the end, but wait, is it the beginnings of a cold I feel coming on? Did I catch a chill on the twenty minute walk from work to the train station in temperatures that hovered around the 6 degree mark or was it the foolhardy jaunt around the lake that did it, in the wet and cold? Growing older does not necessarily mean growing wiser, at least not in my case. Take care. Liz...



Friday, June 15, 2012

Who's bright idea was it to paint rooms?

G'day. We are in the middle of painting rooms here at the moment. What a nightmare and what chaos we have happening in the house.


Two rooms in the house were painted blue, the rest of the house is cream. My sewing room in the picture is one of the blue rooms and a bedroom is the other. We had talked about painting them since we moved in, nearly twelve months ago, but because of the logistics of moving things around, the painting was conveniently forgotten about, that is until the other day when hubby, bless his heart decided that the time had come and a start had to be made. My sewing room was always going to be the hardest room because of the six by six foot old kitchen dresser that houses a fair amount of my sewing stuff. Also in the room is a very large and heavy solid timber table that hubby made many years ago, this has the sewing machine plus the computer etc on it. Plan of action was get as much out of dresser as possible to make it lighter to move to the centre of the room. Even mostly unloaded it is monstrously heavy, but brave souls that we are, we did it. As you can see, it was all dumped on the bed, but because the other bedroom was being painted as well and was only partially finished  late in the day, the smell of paint was quite strong. We realised we couldn't sleep in that room, so everything from this bed was transferred to the bed in the nearly completed room. There may not look a great deal on the bed, but believe me, it was overwhelming. I forgot how much fabric I had and how many patterns I had accumulated. I can see a big eBay sale happening very soon. Not to be content with painting  two decent sized bedrooms, we painted the bathroom walls and also the laundry.At the moment I am sitting squeezed in between the dresser and the table to write this, while the painting goes on around me. I look forward to having everything back in it's place sometime soon and being able to see two lovely fresh rooms instead of the blue that didn't go with anything. Take care. Liz...

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Ah, I remember her well.

G'day. We have been in our new home nearly 12 months now. Actually it will be 12 months in July, but who's counting?Recently I decided to unpack a box that had been sitting looking at me every time I opened the wardrobe in the spare room and this is what I found.


I painted this large ceramic plate many years ago. It was a whimsical piece styled on myself. My hair was long and red (not natural) My body was plump and cuddly and at the time of writing this, it still is in parts. The mermaids tail is  something that I never managed to grow, but I though it suited the pose anyway. The green chaise lounge I had had for many a year and I just loved it. 


It brought a smile to my face to see this platter again. In some ways it is like looking at an old photo of myself as I thought I caught my likeness rather well. My hair is still long and flowing,the red was replaced by blonde, the plumpness is not quite so plump now, but hubby tells me I am still cuddly. The green chaise lounge lives in my sons house and is still much admired by all who see it. All in all, it is nice to see this old girl again. Shame about the tail not growing though. I think I would have made a good mermaid!! Take care. Liz...