Daytripper

0810 daytripper mosaic
Originally uploaded by rooruu

One ticket, one day in Sydney. What can you do?

Lots.  I'm only doing one photo a day for Ali Edwards' a week in the life project I alluded to a day or three ago - except for today, which has been documented in somewhat exhaustive detail.

Starting from the top left...one daytripper ticket - so you can catch trains, buses, ferries as you wish for the day.  Day wasn't entirely planned, but the cost was only a dollar or two more than a plain return, so what the heck.

Train station - nice old building.  I was a bit early, so occupied myself with the Sydney Morning Herald and a cool drink - even early today, it was warm.

Mad floral shoes from the Metro section of the paper, worn by a girl in a band.  You'd think the flowers would brush against each other and fall off.

Central Station - the country platforms, colourful safety bumps and the sandstone clock tower.  If you haven't been to Sydney, the native stone for the area is Sydney sandstone, which just glows in the right light, and is so warm and pale (not like the heavier, darker stones which characterise other cities).

Having alighted again at Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building is right there, with its sculptures and carved sandstone, Victorian elegance against the modern minimalism of the buildings around it.

I had a message to do at offices near the Hilton Hotel, and it was an opportunity to inspect the Bronwyn Oliver sculpture, Vine, that's in the Hilton foyer.  It's enormous!

The coloured glass and narrow passageway are part of TGV, The Galeries Victoria.  Two floors up is the huge Kinokuniya bookshop, but I'll go there at the end of the day, not traipse around carrying any finds.  The Big Issue is a magazine sold by the homeless, who keep a percentage of their takings.  Anytime I'm in the city, if I see a Big Issue seller, I'll buy a copy.  This man was wonderfully cheerful, and easy to spot in his bright safety vest (I didn't photograph him because I didn't like to ask - it was odd, in the centre of the city, how often one felt inhibited about taking photos, mostly because you didn't want to seem like a Bad Egg of some sort).

Wandered through the stationery Dymocks (a choice of thousands of 2009 diaries) and then the bookshop Dymocks.  I photographed the home design and quilting sections where I browsed, but no purchases - apart from anything else, I have a gift voucher for Borders... On to the newish Apple Store, which I hadn't been to before.  Naturally, surrounded by its friends and relations, my iPod worked fine and didn't show the on/off switch problems I'd been having.  There are benches and tables laden with internet connected Macs, laptops and desktops, and they encourage you to do some browsing to see how they work.  So I did, and browsed to my blog page.  Because I could.  And took a photo, so I could blog my blog.  Because I can.

On through the Strand Arcade, admiring the graceful trusses - Victorian, maybe?  I couldn't photograph it, but it's good to know there's a Crumpler shop there - they make very excellent bags from little ones through to large - I keep my digital cameras and iPod in Crumpler bags.  Australian designed, wacky names, good quality.

Toddling towards Borders, I was very happy to see a big wall of one of my favourite books, The Time Traveler's Wife.  After due consideration, the gift voucher was invested in two fiction books: The Story of Edward Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, and The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti.  If I like 'em and want tell you about it, I'll do it here, in a later blog entry.  The bookshops around home aren't bad, but the big ones in the city - Kinokuniya, Borders, Dymocks - always have stuff you haven't seen.

I detoured through the David Jones' Food Hall, photographing some pomegranates and zucchini flowers on the way (so that's how they sell zucchini flower!) and had lunch at the Piccadilly food hall: Thai Mussaman beef and a view.  Back into DJs and liked (but didn't buy) these Christmas cards.  I seem to have a bit of a thing for silhouette designs at present.  I didn't buy because I bought some cards in the sales in January (at half price).

Afternoon tea was taken in the DJs coffee shop overlooking Hyde Park.  The famous David Jones' passionfruit sponge cake is not quite as good as it used to be, but it's still a winning combination - the tartness of the passionfruit, the sweetness of the cake, the richness of the cream.  Yum.  Started reading one of my new books while eating cake; when I'd finished the cake, I fished out my writing notebook and wrote for a time - I rather like writing in cafes and rarely have the chance.  Especially not when you can look out over a pleasant view like this one.  They weren't madly busy at that hour, so they let me be. It was a nice break in the day, change of pace, change of thinking pattern.

No photos of this, but I went upstairs to browse their sale racks and came away with three pieces of clothing for work (a top, a dress and a pair of trousers), for less than $50 (they would have totalled nearly $200 if I'd bought them at full price, which I didn't and wouldn't have.  And it's kinda nice, when you've just gone through your summer stuff and thought, it's time to replace those cream/taupe cotton 7/8 length trousers - and have a pair waiting for you, heavily reduced in price.  Yay!

Across Market St to the other David Jones' store to suss out their Christmas shop, which has opened.  I know, it's ridiculous to be thinking Christmas with October barely started.  But they have different things to other places more locally, and now's a good time to see that before much has been sold.  The little figurines are Gisela Graham designs (or some similar name) and pricey.  Some of the painted faces had unfortunately shifted from a slight superiority to a downright sneer, which isn't exactly what you want on your tree, is it?  The Christmas decoration stories they have this year are not vastly different to what one has seen before: blue/white; tropical brights, such as pink/lime; traditional green and red; some handcrafted-look stuff in red/white; and so on.  They had lots of Jim Shore figurines, too, and lights and so forth.  I invested in two decs I didn't photograph (they're Christmas surprises) and a box of the painted red/white hearts.  And have no particular plans to return for anything else.  It wasn't 'orrible, it's just that a) this house has plenty of Christmas decorations and b) the selection was quite repetitive, one bauble deisign or bird might appear in different colours to suit each 'story'.  Anyhoo, no trees in this house till December!

On the way back to the station, took time to browse Kinokuniya - photos here of their home design section and quilt book shelves.

So there you have it - a daytrip in town which didn't end up involving ferries or buses (did I mention it was 35deg Celsius, hot hot hot?) but did get a few messages done, browsed some bogglingly big bookshops and more.  It's good to have a change of scene like that when you're on holidays - go breathe some different air (probably smoggier, but you can't have everything), mix with different folks and create some different spaces in the day.


Ali Edwards' idea is to comprehensively document each day of a week, but I've gone a different way, detail on one, and just one photo of the others.  Whatever works for me! - not sure how I'll scrapbook it yet, but I'll think that out later.  There were so many other things I could have added to the day today too, but it was always a smorgasbord to pick from, rather than a required list of destinations.  The Powerhouse Museum and the Many ferry, for instance will still be there another time.

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The US presidential election

From here in Australia, it's been fascinating to watch.  But now, it's also getting a tad scary (exhibit A: Sarah Palin interviewed by Katie Couric.  Especially if you watch Tina Fey's version from Saturday Night Live...).  Here's how the New York Times' editorial summed up the VP debate:

In the end, the debate did not change the essential truth of Ms. Palin’s candidacy: Mr. McCain made a wildly irresponsible choice that shattered the image he created for himself as the honest, seasoned, experienced man of principle and judgment. It was either an act of incredible cynicism or appallingly bad judgment.

Quiltlet: C is for Cootamundra

0810 C is for Cootamundra
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Here's the third in my series of quiltlets for Australian Patchwork & Quilting magazine: this one, C is for Cootamundra, is in vol. 17 no. 3, out now in Australian quilt shops and newsagencies.  (Quiltlet?  Little quilt?  Call it what you will).

Although most of the quiltlets won't have direct reference in their design to the place after which they're named, this one was too good a conjunction to pass by. Cootamundra, such a wonderful-sounding Australian place name, is very much associated with the national floral emblem wattle (or acacia). Some yellow yoyos, and a green background (coincidentally the national colours, green and gold) and, well, this one's turned out pretty patriotic. Yay to the photographer who found some real wattle to include!  I was aiming for an impressionistic kind of wattle, rather than a botanically accurate one.  But you've already worked that out, haven't you?

During this break I hope to finish both I and J, which will be out in issues in 2009. And no, I won't tell you which Australian places I've chosen...

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Kiva

In case you've been looking to invest in a Kiva loan recently, and have found only a few loans to choose from, they've uploaded LOTS in the last day or so - over 500 to choose from when I looked just now.  There's a link over in the sidebar with a different entrepreneur each time you load this page, or toddle on over there and check out the other choices.  They do gift certificates, if you're thinking Christmas list thoughts, too.

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Quilt: Festive Charm

0810 Festive Charm
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Festive Charm is a Christmas  quilt (well, Christmas table runner) I designed for Australian Country Threads magazine. It's in vol. 8 no. 12 and is out now, or any day now. This is the Christmas projects issue.

I picked up a pack of charm squares (Peace on Earth by 3 Sisters for Moda) and that was the basis of this table runner - economical and effective.  And not uber-Christmassy, either, so it's useable throughout the year.  Even more economical.

I blogged about it back here with a scrunched-up photo.

And I'd like to send greetings to Candy , who asked me to put whole images of my designs up when they're published. How about two in a row? That's a start!

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Modern craft - article from The Age

Nice article on modern women's craft and community from The Age newspaper in Melbourne - read it here.  A stitch through time, by Ginger Briggs.

I like the references to the pleasure of process rather than the requirement of perfection.

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Dandelion/holidays

0809 dandelion seed head
Originally uploaded by rooruu

I'm on holidays for a couple of weeks, and at this point it's like this dandelion head - trembling with possibilities, all sorts of directions in which to head. And lovely to have. Today's plan? Lunch with friends in a nice local deli - we booked the window seat so we can watch the world wag by as we talk of cabbages and kings. It's all good.

Don't you get to wish, when you blow on a dandelion head?

Oh, and here's an idea I'm playing with this week , from Ali Edward's blog.  I kinda sorta do it in this blog anyway, but will focus particularly this week.  As long as I don't get distracted...

Spring leaves

0809 spring leaves
Originally uploaded by rooruu

These leaves were exquisite - small, still growing (you could see where they were headed by the larger ones on the tree - maybe a small oak?), the freshest, most unblemished green. Absolutely spring (yes, spring and autumn are my favourite seasons).

Valley of the Waters, Wentworth Falls

0809 Valley of the Waters, Wentworth Falls
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Afternoon tea at the Conservation Hut at Wenty Falls, on a balmy Saturday afternoon, in good company and with this view. What's not to like?

(The Blue Mountains are blue, if you don't know, because of evaporating eucalyptus oil from the many trees. I'm not sure why other blue mountains in other parts of the world are blue, but that's the reason here).

Kiva: Jenny Chagua Gabriel

Most Christmases I've written a Christmas letter to put in with the cards, telling some of the year's stories and experiences.  While I'm not writing it yet, it's around now that I start thinking about it, and what the year's stories, experiences, themes might be.  One theme is certainly Kiva, participating in this microfinance venture to support entrepreneurial people from poorer countries.  What better way to celebrate spring holidays than adding another Kiva loan to my portfolio?  Meet Jenny Chagua Gabriel from Peru:

Look at that embroidery - isn't it beautiful?

Here's more info about Jenny .  Jenny is 31 years old and lives with her parents in their house. She us a responsible young woman whose heart is filled with gratitude towards her parents. This is why she has spent more than five years embroidering the cotton skirts that are traditional in the area where she lives. She decided to launch this business because of the high demand for her work, due to its high quality. She works full-time, and for each skirt she uses many beautiful colors to achieve just the right combination. With a lot of hard work, she completes her custom orders on time. Jenny thoroughly enjoys the ability to independently work from her own home. Jenny works hard for one reason: to improve her quality of life and that of her parents. She is requesting this loan to buy fabric and thread in bulk, and thus increase her productivity. It looks as though she may be a source of employment for many people in the future, since because of the growing demand for her products she will be able to contract employees to do some of her embroidery work.

Jenny's loan is fully funded - with the recent changes to Kiva, and the return of your investment as each repayment is made by each entrepreneur (instead of at the end of the loan term), loans are being funded all the time.  Just look over here and see who you can help - minimum loan is $25US, which isn't much (even if our dollar has sunk a bit against the American dollar).  This is my sixth Kiva loan this year, and I'm now lending with a combination of repayments and new investment money - my portfolio's here .

Kiva's another one to think of if you have Christmas presents that you do with a goat or toilet or such from Oxfam or World Vision's gift voucher catalogues.  There's a permanent link to Kiva over in the sidebar.

White blossom

0809 white blossom 1
Originally uploaded by rooruu

With a few warmer days, the blossom trees have really - um - blossomed. The orange orchard welcomes you with a sign that says, "Come and see our navels" (I kept meaning to get a photo of that, and they changed it a day or so ago - to the pure, all things are pure) and has other newly harvested fruits for sale too. I've some holiday time and PLENTY to do during the break. Including admiring blossom trees.

My decoration (really? Try the quiz yourself).

The Shopping Sherpa mentioned this quiz , which purports to describe your decorating style.

Here's what it said about the answers I supplied - although to have the word troglodyte included does not, to me feel complimentary, nor the assumption that I have or may fall victim to 'designer cliche' (wouldn't say I have) and not all the images it supplied of 'things you'd like' were things I did like...Nevertheless, it's an interesting way to consider choices and ideas:

BACK TO NATURE

There's nothing quaintly countrified when it comes drawing inspiration from nature. You have an elemental approach to interior design, certainly in terms of colour, texture and (most of all) materials. It's going to take guts to even attempt to pull off the look: you not only see the beauty in wild flowers but in field grasses and scrubland too.

Living Room

You love connecting with nature and the world outside. The rustic living room is cousin to the country cottage, but it's altogether earthier and more rugged, almost troglodyte. There's something elemental about this look, which embodies the romantic spirit of a pilgrim and celebrates the independence of the hermit. That said, it can be warm and welcoming -- a respite or sanctuary from the world outside. It's about the homespun and the homely, about authenticity and log-cabin cosiness. Country-style accessories will help to soften the overall look without compromising on integrity. Vibrant, jewel-like colours command attention while bold prints add character and personality. Curled up on the sofa with a good book, your living room's the perfect place for some "me-time".

Bedroom

Your bedroom benefits from a lovely feminine touch. Sleep is fundamentally important to our well being. Clean, fresh air can truly aid sleep, but so, too, does a well-made bed and the best mattress you can afford. Touch is an important issue in the bedroom, from crisp, linen sheets to wool or even sheepskin underfoot. You like to surround yourself with pretty frills and flounces in your bedroom, using light, bright colours to create a refreshing retreat that's easy on the eye.

Dining Room

You're a maestro of minimalism using carefully chosen ingredients. At home, 'less-is-more' simplicity appears effortlessly stylish. With so little on show, every single item comes under scrutiny, so it's important that you give time and thought to your choice of china, glass and cutlery. Try to avoid the 'designer cliche' trap, whereby every single piece has impeccable provenance: at best this looks like showing off, at worst it's sadly predictable. When it comes to entertaining, you like to make an effort for family and friends.

Home Office

A little of what you fancy does you good -- even when you're working. Making a dedicated space for a home office really does make sense: a desk with adjustable task lighting and adequate filing is all you need to keep on top of things. Your innate sense of style will probably lead you to creating a work space that's as individual as the rest of your home. Just bear in mind basic ergonomic principles, especially when choosing a desk and chair.

Conclusion

Your home is a canny combination of styles and references: the log cabin but also the tree house, the hermit's retreat, but also the childhood den.

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Quilt detail: challenge

0809 quilt detail
Originally uploaded by rooruu

This isn't one of the quiltlets from Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine, but part of my entry in the 2008 Quilters' Guild of NSW challenge, which has the theme, "Coast and Country". I'll post a pic of the whole quilt after they've been judged (in October). I do like the possibilities of quilt challenges, not only to work within established parameters (for this one, the theme and a set size, 50cm x 70cm (approx 20inches x 27.5inches) ) but also to take the opportunity to try something new by way of techniques or approaches or whatever. I did, with this one, and was happy with how it turned out.

Some fabric blogs etc.

A couple of Australian online fabric shops that stock interesting modern fabrics and support Australian designers too:

• Kelani - blog here 
• Duckcloth - blog here 
• Sarah London - blog here (and she's incredibly generous with patterns/ideas/inspiration in various types of craft - her Hawaiian crochet flowers, free pattern on the blog, are mad and wonderful).

They very likely do ship overseas, so if you're not in Oz, don't be put off.  I have no affils or brownpaperbag arrangements with any of them.  It's nice to encourage small businesses like these.

      

Changing the subject, Amy Butler's just released china tableware with Mikasa - view the range here , but it's not ezzackly dirt cheap at $US75 for a side plate or $79 for a single place setting (also, this house just invested in new china, which hasn't been blogged yet, although the sharp Shopping Sherpa  picked it from a vague hint I dropped a while back.).  Amy Butler's china, Vintage Botanica, looks to be based on her Belle range of fabrics.  That may reveal what a fabric tragic I am.  But perhaps you already guessed).

Images sourced from here. 


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White banksia rose

0809 white banksia rose
Originally uploaded by rooruu

I do like the tumbling generosity of banksia roses.

Barack Obama meets Jed Bartlet

Aaron Sorkin, the original screenwriter for The West Wing, conjures a meeting between Barack Obama and (ex) President Jed Bartlet in this terrific piece from Maureen Dowd's NY Times column.

Read it and weep.  Or laugh.  Or both.

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Hot air balloon jigsaw

0809 hot air balloon jigsaw
Originally uploaded by rooruu

After the Simpsons jigsaw that lived in the tearoom at work, the next one onto the table was this, and we all enjoyed contributing to it over morning tea or lunch over several weeks. It is a nice way to switch your brain off-track and relax. Well, except when you CAN'T FIND THAT WRETCHED PIECE. Sorry. I forgot myself there.

Many op shops have jigsaws, and some have them checked/labelled. They're usually pretty cheap, too - a lot cheaper than buying new. You take the risk of a missing piece or two, but the price is right.

The next jigsaw (an op shop buy) is already opened, and we laughed when the lid was lifted. Somebody, somewhere, is till hunting for that set of reading glasses they lost...they were neatly folded on top of the puzzle pieces.

We've decided on a couple of jigsaw principles. One is, small boxes mean small pictures, and it can be harder to work out which piece goes where, with fine little detail. Another: yes, it is worth sorting out the pieces by general colour groups.

I wouldn't be keen to have a running jigsaw at home, but at work, as a shared enterprise like this, it's rather fun.

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Spring

0809 blossom 02
Originally uploaded by rooruu

You know it's spring when the winter-warm sheets are drying in the sunlight and a gentle breeze before being folded away till next year, and the crisp cotton sheets have taken their place.

Oh, and blossom. Of course.

Oh, and sitting on the sunny verandah, browsing the weekend papers while eating a leisurely lunch.

As the kids say, it's all good.

It is.

Lizard basking

0809 lizard basking
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Here's the lizard we saw on today's walk. The weather's definitely warmed up, and so this one - and several others - were enjoying basking in the sun on a rocky area by the river. Not sure what kind it is: it's about 15 inches long, nose to tail end, smaller and smoother than last week's water dragon.

Balloon leaves

0809 balloon leaves
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Such a busy week it's been - all sorts of things inflating in their consumption of time and energy, needed here, needed there, jostle jostle, trying to keep up with everything. It's OK, a lot of it's happy-busy, but it still leaves you in a slightly collapsed state by Friday evening.

The worktable's awash with several projects, and more are running through my head, so it's a weekend to aim to clear the decks a bit, finish a couple of things and then have room to play more.

We've had a couple of warmer days this week, and so spring cleaning has got its way closer to being on the agenda. Who doesn't love housework?????

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Nasturtium

0809 burgundy nasturtium
Originally uploaded by rooruu

I don't mind the orange and yellow ones - nasturtiums are cheerful flowers, and easy to grow. But there's something rather rich about the deep colour of the burgundy ones.

I also rather like, in this photo, that the leaf is chewed. It's not perfect, it's real.

River view

0809 river view
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Not a bad place for a weekend walk, is it?

Water dragon

0809 lizard
Originally uploaded by rooruu

For all our walks along the river, this is the first time we've seen a lizard. It was nearly a metre long, nose to tail, and suspicious of us. It stayed still, we stayed still - and when we moved (I'd hoped to get a better photo) it scooted off down towards the river, into the underbrush.

We thought it might be a water dragon, and maybe so - here's a link to learn more.

Feet (Tap Dogs)

This one made me hoot with laughter throughout. Dead simple, and funny and clever.




And here's the URL, if the above doesn't work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZCbIw1w6rs

What the heck. While I'm at it, here's my favourite part of the Sydney 2000 Olympics opening ceremony:



And again the URL, if the above doesn't work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrK1DgRmuLM

The energy of it is infectious, the beat so engaging. Lovely stuff.



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White flowerhead

0809 white flowerhead
Originally uploaded by rooruu

I had a whole bunch of things to get done at work today. What's that line from Gilbert and Sullivan? "I've got a little list..."

Well, I got through most of them. It's good to tick them off.

Now to make up the weekend's list....

Poppy

0809 poppy
Originally uploaded by rooruu

It's not a red one, but who says that's all you can use to signify remembering?

We didn't stop, today, but that doesn't mean September 11 is forgotten. No. It's not.

Mobile phone tower

0809 mobile phone tower
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Ridiculously, I felt almost surreptitious taking this photo. I've got no evil intent - I'm just interested by the manufactured techno-geometries of the tower against the drifting watercolours of the late afternoon sky.

I thought it blogworthy because it is just a bit of scenery from daily life in 2008 - years from now these will probably be quaintly obsolete. Reflecting on what teenagers consider to be essential to daily life, my teenage years are tinged with the quaintly obsolete - how DID we survive without IM, the net, social networking, mobile phones (cellphones) and so on and so forth? It's amazing really. But we did. And here we are.

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Quilt fabric catalogue

0809 quilt fabric catalogue
Originally uploaded by rooruu

These catalogues are utterly evil, they are. Much worse than browsing the website - technology's all very well, but it isn't the same as a double page spread of quilting fabrics all calling your name... You can track ideas (hmmm, green fabrics) across ranges and pages, see at a single glance what options are available (fat quarters? charm squares) etc. Back copies also become intriguing snapshots of fashion and trends in quilt fabrics - what's available now is just amazingly more than even a decade ago, in styles as well as volume.

(You can request a catalogue on their website http://hancocks-paducah.com/).

Brown leaves

0808 brown leaves
Originally uploaded by rooruu

It's the end of winter - still nippy at times, but hinting of spring in the middle of the day, if you find a spot in the sun and away from the wind. And these leaves stil tenaciously on their tree. Great shapes, aren't they?

Paddock and sky

0809 paddock and sky 02
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Stopped on my journey home from Fathers' Day lunch to take this photo. The sky was amazing - the colour and formation of the clouds - but I'm not sure that the camera caught what I hoped.

You can see from the brownish colour of the ground that it's been dry recently. This week's rain has greened things a little, but more rain is needed before the greener look of the paddocks from earlier this year is restored.

What the????

Reproduced below, an actual email from Amazon.

I think their logarithm failed them this time.

Dear Amazon.com Customer,
We've noticed that customers who have purchased or rated books by Country Home Books have also purchased A Weighting Scheme for Security Patterns Using Mobile Agents by Jessie Walker. For this reason, you might like to know that A Weighting Scheme for Security Patterns Using Mobile Agents is now available. You can order yours for just $76.00 by following the link below.

While I'm sure this is an utterly fascinating tome,


no. No additional purchase happening here. What the????

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Quiltlet in progress

0809 quilt in progress
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Sorry, I can't show you any more of this, until it's published in Australian Patchwork and Quilting vol 17. no. 8 early next year (2009). I toyed with the scraps from the quilt I showed you a few days ago (still clearly besotted with the black and white fabric from Alexander Henry) for this one. The quiltlet series started with APQ 17-1 and A for Adaminaby (they're named after Australian towns) and I've also shown you B for Bondi from the issue currently out in Australia. This one is H for... well, you'll just have to wait and see!

Bird on the water

0809 bird on the water
Originally uploaded by rooruu

I've been noticing silhouettes in home decor things recently (did I tell you about the china? No, don't think I did), but here's a snapshot with the messy authenticity of nature as is. Not sure if it's a cormorant? Dunno. But it stayed still long enough for me to fire off the camera. And I like the water, blue to dark and rippled.

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Ikea catalogue 2009

0809 Ikea catalogue 2009
Originally uploaded by rooruu

See? I can spell catalogue (in Australian English), and it's the correct spelling for this, as it's the Oz Ikea catalogue (as opposed to the US Ikea catalog link I posted a little while ago).

I'm always interested to see this, and see what new ideas it contains. Not a lot here that leapt out and bit me to buy instantly, but always good for a browse.

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Quilt in progress

0809 quilt in progress
Originally uploaded by rooruu

This one started with that fabulous Alexander Henry black and white fabric (in a shop game to stock it). The quilt's going to be published in Australian Patchwork & Quilting magazine vol. 17 no. 8, due out early in 2009 - so all I can give you for now is this sneak peek. The quiltlet for that issue is made from the scraps of this quilt.

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Kiva: Karomat Roziqova

Kiva's just had a great policy change!  Now, as the working poor repay their loans, the lenders receive back their funds (rather than waiting till the end of the loan period).  I've had enough paid back from Tajikistan, Bolivia and Pakistan (link to my lender page on Kiva) to be able to lend again - turning the money around to work again for someone else.  This time, my fifth loan, is to Karomat Roziqova in Tajikistan.

Why her?  Another needlewoman, a tailor, using her craft skills to support her family.  This is what I learned from her Kiva page:

Karomat Roziqova is a resident of Rudaki district. She's married and has a child. She embroiders cloth. To ensure smooth operation of her business, she would like to take out a loan to purchase beads and threads. She plans to repay the loan within 15 months. Her business brings in a decent income and so she is trying in any way possible to develop it.

There's a Kiva link over in the sidebar - why not click on that and see if you'd like to participate too?  Minimum loan is $US25, so it's not much, and it's a loan, so you can turn the money around and around again to help, as I've been able to do with this loan.  Microfinance is such a satisfying game to play! (In case you wonder, when it is paid back you can withdraw it if you wish - I prefer to keep playing).

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Reading (well, listening)

0808 A breath of snow and ashes (audiobook)
Originally uploaded by rooruu

This isn't on the Gabaldon shelf because it's in transit, the current car audiobook for commuting and other journeys. It's one of my favourite books in the series and I am enjoying experiencing the story again. Listening, I find, can draw my attention to sections I might have skidded through, reading.

It's a whopper, though, like the book - 48CDs. They're that kind of story, lots of threads, good characters, plot twists and turns. I'm not listening to the audiobooks in order, but it's not worrying me much - I'm just enjoying whichever one is the current one.

For some weird reason, I can only find the book before this, The Fiery Cross, direct from Recorded Books for over $100US. All the others (unabridged - I'm not interested in the abridged since I like the stories and want to hear EVERYTHING) are available from Amazon.com or Audible.com or both. Can't figure that one, but since they are so large and expensive, I'll wait for TFC to turn up at either of the above. If you do know of it being available, do let me know.

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The Gabaldon shelf

0808 The Gabaldon shelf.
Originally uploaded by rooruu

I've been going through a delightful revisiting of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series this year. It's partly reading/print, though I've still a couple of books to go (I read other things in between) and partly due to audiobooks. I now have most of the unabridged audiobooks as well, and am thoroughly happy with Davina Porter's excellent readings (I experienced a little disquiet at first, but now am perfectly content). The books, as you can see, are thick, and the audiobooks therefore long. Hearing the audio is sending me back to the books, rereading sections I've heard, reading ahead to upcoming sections.

Gabaldon's created such a rich and engaging world - twisting plots, wonderful characters. I know I've hooked several others onto her writing, and they've mostly gone on to have Gabaldon shelves of their own.

As you might see from the book on the left, I mainly have the paperbacks, as that's all that's available in Australian bookshops. The first of any new title in the series here is the large format paperback, followed by the standard size. So since I expect to be rereading these for many more years, I'm gradually acquiring the (more durable) hardbacks from the US.

If you haven't read them (the first book is Outlander, unless you're in the UK or Australia, in which case it's called Cross Stitch) then do.

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Stone wall

0808 rock wall
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Such good colours and textures and shapes - monochrome on monochrome, until tyou look and see all the shades of grey and pale browns, and the bright lime of the moss.

More time at the dentist today. I'd rather think about stone walls. Tell me if you feel this, she says, applying something icy cold to a tooth that is JUST FINE, judging by the height by which I spontaneously elevate from the dental chair. O-kay, she says. After an hour and a half of it all (my mouth aches hours later), there's another appointment made for a date a few weeks hence. Sigh. Spent a large part of the rest of the day with half my mouth numbed, surreptitiously checking that I wasn't drooling (I wasn't, but you can't tell). Dentristry and elegance. Worlds apart.

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Magnolia stellata

0808 Magnolia stellata
Originally uploaded by rooruu

The more usual magnolias are showier, grand. I like the delicacy of stellata, the way in which air and space are part of the flower's gracefulness.

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Early morning trees

0808 morning trees
Originally uploaded by rooruu

There's something very beautiful about the gently dappled sunlight, the pale blue sky, the tracery of twigs through to the strong verticals of the tree trunks. I'm glad I looked up.

Camellia

0808 camellia
Originally uploaded by rooruu

The structure of these never fails to amaze me. There's something almost origami about them, or maybe reminiscent of first class food carvers. Delicate strength and rhythm to them. Beautiful.

Jonquils

0808 jonquils
Originally uploaded by rooruu

(I keep typing jonquilts, my fingers know that quil- word so well they can't help themselves!)

Sign of spring. So cheerful! And their scent is a favourite.

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Water's edge

0808 water's edge
Originally uploaded by rooruu

The profile on the stone's surface seems to echo the transitory ripples on the water. Or so I thought.

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Chimneys and Olympic thoughts

0808 chimneys and sky
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Rosehill racecourse, where the Stitches and Craft Show is held, is near an industrial area including these refineries. There was a certain beauty in the way the chimneys rose above their surroundings, with colours reflecting those in the sky.

My favourite gold medallists are both Australians: Steve Hooker, with the pole vault, and Matthew Mitcham's diving from the 10m platform. Not just the grit, the skill and the many long hours of practice required, as with many other sports, but because of the sheer bloody courage required to leap into the air as they do. (And how about Matthew winning gold with the highest-scoring dive in Olympic history?)

My least favourite moment: why do Australians who get silver or bronze have to apologise to the country? Hello? Second or third best is pretty damn good... So is just getting selected for the team, putting them at the top of a huge pyramid of other sportspeople.

Chinese innovation: the widget in the flagpoles that makes the flags flutter when they get to the top. Much better than limp flags, as so often happens in stadia.

Memo to the television sponsors, whose ads are burned on my eyeballs: your ads are burned on my eyeballs. Cease and desist. Please. There's repetition and there's mental cruelty. Enough. Please.

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Saturday

0808 blossom and sky
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Another Saturday walk along the river - the weather was kind, sun and wind, where rain had been forecast. As usual, we were able to solve pretty much all the world's problems (as one of course does, on a long Saturday walk!) as well as checking in on this tree. The blossom's less dense than it has been, but still beautiful. It's not yet spring, but it's getting closer...jonquils are out, and the blossom trees, and when the days finally warm up, you know it's closer than it has been.

In the afternoon, I toddled off to the Stitches and Craft Show at Rosehill. I haven't been for a couple of years, and don't know that I will again. Beading and scrapbooking are less my thing, and they're bigger at this show, with many vendors. While there were plenty of people there, I saw everything I wanted to in a couple of hours (whereas the June show at Darling Harbour takes a day).

Upstairs this time was what appeared to be a concept allowing smaller businesses to have a table for their wares. It felt a trifle awkward, somehow, and I browsed from a distance rather than up close.

My eye was caught, however, by BKH Design. She sells bags, homewares, and fabrics. The fabrics reminded me of Florence Broadhurst - not as copies, but in that style of modern design, and on a midweight cotton, heavier than quilt fabric. You can see more of her work here: http://www.bkhdesignshop.blogspot.com/
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Kiva: the Volver a Empezar Group

Kiva is microfinance, an easy way to lend directly to the world's poor and help them improve their lives. Among the many choices, I'm biased towards textiles and women, so my latest loan is to this group in Bolivia. Their name seems to translate generally as "start again". I'm aware of all the basic services I take for granted and they do not. Reading the stories of Kiva's borrowers is such a fascinating window into other people's worlds and lives.

About the Volver a Empezar group:

The center of Alto Lima is located in the Ballivian zone in the city of El Alto which is where the "Volver a Empezar" Association is found. They work with great responsibility with their payments and internal activities. Within the group, many of the women lack basic services in their homes. For example, doña Verni cannot rely on potable water that should be supplied by public water basins. What's more, like many others, she cannot rely on gas services and must buy gas in tanks. Lamentably, she lives in a zone where distributors of these tanks do not pass very frequently which is why she has to go to busy streets in the hopes that one of these trucks will pass by. She longs to be able to rely on these services in her home. The main activity of this group is the weaving of sweaters, scarves, and other pieces of clothing, in Alpaca wool that they later sell in the "16 de julio" market in the city of El Alto. Currently, they want to be able to increase their production so that they can sell their products to handicraft shops. It is for this that they need more capital for the acquisition of raw materials to make their sweaters. They have the security of increasing their income, in this manner they will also be able to improve the quality of life for their families.

Who are they?

Bertha Blanco, Reyna Apaza, Karen Quispe, Reynaldo Sinka, Martha Arroba, Emiliana Ramirez, Julia Ronquilla (not pictured), Gregoria Cora, Feliza Capajaña, Tomasa Calle (not pictured), Julia Quispe (not pictured), Lucia Mayta, Feliza Tola, Veneranda Sinka, Hilaria Mamani, Cristina Mayta, Nelly Villca.

You can lend as little as $US25. And, when it's paid back, you can lend it again to another Kiva borrower - it's a loan, not a donation. This group still needs several thousand dollars, so why not support them?

Of my earlier loans:

• Moriya Nabieva has paid back 60%
• Shamshad Iqbal's group has paid back 42%
• Cielo Group has paid back 33%

There's a Kiva link over in the sidebar with another business if you'd like to support a different one.

A question or two

In trawling through Flickr, someone has come across one of my photos. They've written to ask if they can use it in a tourist guide, and if so what name they should write for the credit.

On the one hand, flattering. On the other, I wonder how many commercial organisations are using Flickr as a free source of stock photography, relying on the flattering effect of such requests to avoid any reimbursement (like they'd have to pay for stock photography). There would appear to be commercial gain for them in their guide. Nor have they specified print/online/other multiple use possibilities.

What do you think? Would you say yes, if someone approached you about an original photo of yours like this?

One piece left...

0808 one piece left...
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Who'd a thunk? After being the tearoom for a couple of months, the last ?third or so got done in less than a week.

I've decided perhaps there's an identifiable factor called "jigsaw ending frenzy" in which the forcefield of the jigsaw increases in inverse proportion to the number of pieces left. As the number of pieces decreases, the urge to find their place intensifies (you wouldn't believe how many people get interested when it's nearly finished....).

The self adhesive Contact plastic went on So Fast....

And now we're basking in our achievement (there were times when we thought we'd put a board over this one and start another - but now we're glad we persisted).

The next one is a photo of a whole lot of hot air balloons preparing to ascend. The general consensus is that it's easier. Surely. Except for that rather large green/brown farmland section....

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Quiltlet: B is for Bondi

0808 Quiltlet B is for Bondi
Originally uploaded by rooruu

This is the second in the series of little quilts I'm designing for Australian Patchwork & Quilting magazine and naming after Australian places. Maybe, after Sydney, Bondi is one of the most familiar Australian place names? Probably, what with its iconic beach.

The aqua with chartreuse circles fabric in this quilt is the one that set me off - and I can't count how many times I've used the Lonni Rossi chartreuse oriental lettering fabric. It's a design you could do in many colour combinations and fabric themes, though.

This one's in vol. 17 no. 2, which is out in patchwork shops now and in Australian newsagents any day now (they also included a quilter's profile of me in the issue, which was flattering).

G's with the magazine now, and I'm working on H, such is the lead time of magazines.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's making any of these designs, and see pictures of your versions!


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The scream...

0808 Simpsons jigsaw referencing Munch
Originally uploaded by rooruu

There's a collective jigsaw puzzle in the tea room at work - anyone's welcome to sit with it with their cuppa and switch brain spaces for a little while.

Turns out this particular one, though, is pretty tricky - it's taken some months to get this far. I don't do jigsaws at home, but fiddling about with them in odd breaktime moments at work has been pleasant (and at times, frustrating!).

When they're done, we put clear self-adhesive Contact plastic on them and bung 'em on the wall (trust me, nobody else wants to wrangle this Simpsons take on Munch again!!)

Current reading: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

0808 book: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Originally uploaded by rooruu

I'm not sure what sold this one to me. The quirky title? The fact that I did once visit the Channel Islands, as they were a place I'd always wanted to see (although Sark was the biggest drawcard, I must admit)? The letters-format of it? A review that compared it favourably to Helene Hanff's 84 Charing Cross Road which is one of my enduringly favourite books?

Can't say which. But I can say I read it in a sitting on the weekend, and found it engaging and delightful. It's fiction, set in 1946, when a London-based author, Juliet Ashton, learns of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and through this of the lives of those trapped on Guernsey through the Nazi Occupation. The epistolary form lets voices speak - funny, sad, descriptive, occasionally vituperative. It's got light and shade, and some lovely quirky funny moments. From an early letter of Juliet's:

PS. I am reading the collected correspondence of Mrs Montagu. Do you know what that dismal woman wrote to Jane Carlyle? 'My dear little Jane, everyone is born with a vocation and yours is to write charming little notes'. I hope Jane spat at her.

I chuckled. Juliet's character, in particular, comes off the page so clearly.

Mary Ann Shaffer, from what I can gather on the internet, was an American who had visited Guernsey in the 1970s and who became interested in the Occupation years there. She wrote this book under prompting from her literary club. Sadly, although she was able to know it was going to be published in thirteen countries, she died early this year, aged in her seventies, before it was published, and her niece, Annie Barrow, did the final tweaks (as Mary Ann had requested her to do).

Anyway, I'm delighted to recommend this book. Do read it.

Added later: both Candy and Isabelle have left comments saying they'll read it.  I chuckled.  You were certainly two I thought would like it!  (Pennie is another, and Erica, and...oh, quite a few people!).  My copy's already in the hands of one friend, and headed then for the hands of another.  And then I suspect I'll want it back so I can reread it.

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A well-received quilt

0808 well-received quilt
Originally uploaded by rooruu

This is the gift-quilt I wrote about last week. I didn't make it solo, but co-ordinated its creation (design, assemble, baste, partly quilt, partly bind and generally whipcrack the others so it got made on time!).

Isn't it lovely when someone who really needs a quilt receives one their friends have made, quite out of the blue? She likes watery pursuits, so the quilt's colours reflect that.

And even it's nicer when their first action is to wrap themselves in it.

Saturday lunch

0808 chicken pie
Originally uploaded by rooruu

There's a new bakery opened locally, so it seemed worthwhile to try them out. This is a chicken, leek and mushroom pie, garlanded by grape tomatoes. It was a nice pie, with breast chicken meat and baby mushrooms, although the gravy was a tad 'dried-herby'. The pastry is certainly presented elegantly, and 'ate good'. With a touch of spring warming the air and the Saturday Sydney Morning Herald to browse, it was a most pleasant Saturday lunch.

Wool yarn

08 handspun wool yarn mosaic
Originally uploaded by rooruu

It's hard to know, sometimes, when it's OK to photograph at markets and when it isn't. I'm neither spinner nor dyer, but I am an admirer of colour, and these were beautiful. I just wanted to catch them to remember and enjoy.

Conifer

0808 conifer
Originally uploaded by rooruu

A catch of the day (well, from last weekend, the climate's colder where we were). Can't tell you any more than that it's a conifer and its colours and shapes appealed, so out came the camera.

Ikea 2009 catalog

Yup, I can spell Australian English and English English.  But if you want a sneak peek at the new US Ikea catalog, here's a link.

We may not get all the same things, but it's an idea of what may be on offer.  There isn't a preview of the Australian Ikea catalogue on the ikea.com.au website.  The print version's due out in Oz in September.