Girly

The last two babies in the family have been boys.

So it's nice to be contemplating a baby girl's arrival.

Only about 12 weeks to go now.

I'm just finishing the binding on this two-day cot quilt.

I literally threw this together for the pure enjoyment of total immersion in pink. Apart from measuring the squares, I eyeballed it, which is perhaps not a recommended technique for a slapdash quilter like me (I was very selective about the bits to show you).

I have a new walking foot for the Ancient Bernina which I was desperate to try out.

The result, I think, is pretty. And the busy, overall pinkness covers up any blues.

Lol

Lily showed me this yesterday — wonderful! DO click and watch this, it's a riot.

To market to market

I helped sell flowers at Subiaco's first farmers' market on Saturday morning, thanks to Shelley, who is one half of Australia's BEST flower business (Wayne Stubbs Flowers).

Farmers' markets are all the rage over here at present. There's been a really good one operating out of the the Graylands Primary School grounds on Saturday mornings, and last Saturday, Subiaco Primary held its first one.

All three of my kids went to this school, and the schools get funds from the market stall-holders, so it's all a good thing.

It also adds a bit of colour and energy to Subi on a Saturday morning — things have become very glossy and contented in that part of town recently, and the shopping's all a bit samey now that a lot of the smaller normal shops have given way to chain boutiques, coffee shops and jewellery stores.

So a casual, bustling market is just what the doctor ordered. And while this first one was a bit light on for fresh produce, with lots of artisan breads, olive oils, exotic cheeses and so on, this will soon right itself as the organisers attract more fruit and vegie sellers.

With Wayne and Shelley's amazing flowers and typical sense of flair and occasion, we turned our little patch of the school yard into a gorgeous and colourful explosion of flars.

It was very hot and dry, with big easterlies blowing in from the desert all morning, and the temperature quickly got to 37C and stuck (that's 98.6 F).

But there was an enthusiastic crowd, we had lots of laughs, and I saw so many familiar faces, which was brilliant.

I had so much fun with my best friends Deb and Shelley, and Iman and Isme — can't wait for next time!

The West Australian

How hideous it is. Every day.

Get a load of this article from this morning's paper (click on it for a bigger image):

Anna Jacobs is a best-selling, prize-winning, highly acclaimed, popular and successful writer.

So why do the heading and the intro par belittle her by referring to her as a gran and a grandmother?

Why not woman, or author, or writer, or novelist?

How is her being a grandmother relevant in any way? Is it because it's so untterly unthinkable that once someone's old enough to be a grandparent, he or she is not only disqualified from achievement, but also totally incapable?

The fact the writer of this piece, and/or the sub-editor, have no apparent knowledge of Jane Austen says everything.

Back again

Gorgeous five days down south, in Albany, with the drive down and back again through a miracle landscape of citrus-yellow canola. (This is how it looked last year when I was on a flying visit.) How I love it.

It was cold and wet and blustery down there, and occasionally the wind felt like it was blowing straight from the Antarctic, complete with ice-chips.

I shall get back into proper posting mood really soon, but until then, thanks for all your kind wishes for my parents on their anniversary. I passed them all on and they were thrilled.

I've come back with two bags of cuttings for the garden — just as it used to be whenever I visited them down there.

In the meantime, here's a fabulous NYT article all about clothes dryers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/us/11clothesline.html

Drying your washing in the US could almost become a constitutional issue — gotta love those whacky Septics! (And you all know I do, I really do ...)

Why my week whizzed

I've been cutting and gardening and cleaning (just a bit) (not that you'd notice) and seeing friends and sewing.

This is a cot-sized quilt top that is on its way to the extremely talented Tracey in FNQ, who is going to quilt it for me. I'm very excited about this, as her quilting is a work of art ... though knowing of her expertise did make me very conscious of my wonky piecing and slapdash sewing ... and did I iron all the bits the right way? Oops.

I just can't wait to see the result!

The quilt is a multinational project. I started the piecing in December last year in San Diego, using fabrics I'd bought there and in Chicago. Finished the sashing yesterday here in Perth. Now it's all in Queensland, or on its way at least, and when I get it back and finish the binding, it will be posted off to Sam and Tom in Brighton, UK, whose baby is due in January. It was their gorgeous country wedding I went to last July with Lily.

Sam is the daughter of my cousin, Kathleen, and in 1996, when Sam was just out of her teens, she came and lived with us in Subiaco for eight months. We had a ball with her, and the kids still adore her.

:: My parents had their 59th — that's fifty-ninth — wedding anniversary yesterday, so in a short while I'm driving south to spend the weekend with them and catch up with my brother. Yay!

Next year we'll be giving Old Betty Windsor a nudge to send M&D an anniversary greeting for their diamond wedding. I think you have to pay for it these days — typical.

Before I go, I'm making a CD of MP3s to play on the drive down. Hooray for MP3 players in cars. One CD will hold about 110 songs. Brilliant. Stick it in, press 'random', and that's me all set.

See you later.

More C stuff

A fairy. For the top of the C tree. She started as an angel, but I thought she had on too fancy a frock, so I've rubbed out her halo and given her a couple of holly leaves for festive ambience.

Hmmmm. Looking at her, I'm not sure about those wings ... a bit banana-like. May have to have a re-think ...

:: Bloody amazing weather in Perth today. Sunny, breezy and warm; it makes you feel g-l-a-d to be alive. Apart from the horrible, horrible news from South-east Asia and the South Pacific.