Happy Easter! Being simply festive

Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, suggests we mark festive days in our homes as a way of adding meaning and celebration. We have a number of easy ways of doing this at Easter. 

I have a small box of Easter related items which we keep in the garage on a shelf. It is easy matter to change the displays and freshen everything up.

In my lounge room I have an Ikea shelf which I use to display my collections of icons. As the liturgical season changes through the year, this changes too. These little LCD battery operated lights are less fire risk, and look pretty too. 

This icon is the scene where Jesus breaks down the gates of hell to free the captives inside. 

No one gets left behind!

DD found these two bunnies in her op shop. As the grandchildren are coming for the next few weeks, I imagine they will be popular. 

Symbols of Easter: a collection of decorated eggs, a hen terrine, and some pomegranates. 

The picture is from Lindisfarne and is of the Wild Goose, a symbol of the Holy Spirit. 

Bunnykins become the Easter Bunny- on my mantle. 

The other side of the mantle

Apart from this, we keep simple Easter traditions: Hot Cross buns in our house are only eaten from Good Friday onward. No cheating -because to eat them at other times of the year is to spoil the fun of special food at Easter.

Fish on Good Friday evening meal.

Simple meal on Easter Saturday: we had cheese and home made sourdough bread and sweet potato hummus and salad. 

Sunday is a feast day: we usually do a roast.  We also have chocolate! 

I wish you all a Happy Easter or whatever it is you can find to celebrate at your place. 

A flurry of project related activities

DH completed this stud wall with insulation and colourbond, so that he can now completely close and lock the workshop we made for him from the single carport which is attached to our house.  There are roller doors on the front and back to allow access to the rear of the house if we need it.

A carpenter friend helped him with the frame, which they clad on the workshop side with marine ply which was going cheap at the shop. The frame was wood salvaged from a partition which was taken down at the church. The colourbond came ready cut, but DH needed to trim it a little. 

This is a project we have had in mind for many years -it is so good to see it completed.

It has created this little square space which is about the size of an apartment balcony, which is near our front door. Seemed like a great space for a small table and chairs to take advantage of being out of the wind but on the sunny north side during our winter. 

DH and DD are keen to see me go ahead and decorate this space -so the challenge is there! They think the table needs a cloth, and the chairs need cushions, and maybe we can have a trailing plant hung on the wall.....

Our limes are fantastic at the moment, so I made some lime pickle. It needs a week or so to develop its flavour -haven't tried it yet! The bundt cake uses sourdough starter -I made it with cherry jam. 

We are also picking pomegranates and our first quinces, whilst the olives are turning black on the tree. 

But it hasn't been all hard work -we escaped to the country to a Quilt Show in Harvey, and had a lovely day. The quilts were excellent, and DH and I really enjoyed our lunch in a nearby cafe, too.

There is something quite charming about that light in the old church, and the wooden floors glowing in it. The quilts were excellent!

I don't think I showed you the bags I made- did I? This is my favourite. I found an  embroidery panel in an op shop and couldn't leave it behind. I made two others, using old conference give-away cloth bags as the interior lining and straps. 

This is my newest quilt on the design wall. I am using a new Accuquilt Go die that I was given at Christmas time, to make the snowball blocks. The rest are scraps in green, yellow, orange and brown. As it comes together I am really enjoying it -it looks like X and O -and the blocks merge together as a kind of Moroccan carpet effect. 

Did I mention that I love scrappy quilts? LOL

Friends gave us tickets to hear the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Chorus play the Beethoven 9. It was amazing -standing ovations ! 

That guy Beethoven really knew how to make music! 

Dora is doing her own projects: asking for food, asking why there is so much noise, asking to be let out (and in again 5 seconds later) and in between times, looking cute and photogenic. Here she is posing with Auntie's sewing machine. 

Bread for all, and roses too

This post is to commemorate International Women's Day 

I was a young woman in the Australian Council of Churches" Commission on the Status of Women, when another member introduced me to the slogan "Bread for all and roses too" 

When women wanted the vote, they didn't just want the vote, they wanted good hospitals and schools and relief for widows and 'abandoned wives' and prison reform and all sorts of justice issues -for women and for all.Women wanted to have justice for all, but some beauty too.

Often women's crafts and arts are diminished and demeaned as somehow inferior or silly. However the skills have been passed on from woman to woman down through our families -the skills of taking a few flowers and putting them in a vase, or adding a tablecloth to the table, or embroidering a flower on a pillowcase. Just a softening touch to provide the 'roses' of beauty into our everyday lives. 

Hear is the song below, from the movie Pride on YOuTube
(PS if you haven't seen Pride- you must watch it!) 
As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day 
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray 
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses
For the people hear us singing, bread and roses, bread and roses.

As we come marching, marching, we battle too, for men, 
For they are in the struggle and together we shall win. 
Our days shall not be sweated from birth until life closes, 
Hearts starve as well as bodies, give us bread, but give us roses.

As we come marching, marching, un-numbered women dead 
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread, 
Small art and love and beauty their trudging spirits knew 
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses, too.

As we go marching, marching, we're standing proud and tall.
The rising of the women means the rising of us all.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories, bread and roses, bread and roses.
(http://unionsong.com/u159.html)


 I hung up a  purple green and white quilt this week in our entrance, in honor of International Women's Day.

Why purple green and white? These are, especially in Australia, the colours of feminism. This week marks International Women's Day on March 8.  Wearing purple, white and green sashes was considered to be a “duty and a privilege” for campaigners: green for hope, white for purity and purple for “loyalty and dignity” (https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/pantone-colour-of-the-year-2018-ultra-violet-feminism-suffragettes/178623).

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I wish us all a wonderful International Women's Day.

When you slow down

We walked on the beach this morning, and found this beautiful shell, which looks like an angel wing.

There was a strong southerly wind blowing, some gorgeous clouds and more than a hint of emerald green in the waves. It was so good to start the day this way! 

We are taking some time this week to slow down again, because we have been a bit busier than usual: good things, but not our usual slow life. 

Last night we went to the Pines at Joondalup to see a wonderful film about Gurrumul Yunupingu 

Do go and see it if you can. 

The week which started with a comedy show called Pirate Church in which I was interviewed by a couple of reprobate pirates! 

The week included a concert with the Australian String Quartet in the Government House ballroom, and it was absolutely sublime. 

I also went to the Community Sewing Day on Saturday -where the show and tell of amazing donated quilts was quite wonderful. 

So it is time to slow down a little, read a book or two, catch up with some routines, take care of things and enjoy a slower life.

Second quilt finish this year! #HappiestWhenScrappiest

Yay! Christmas In Australia is quilted and bound! 

I love the fact that this quilt used up some bits and pieces I found when I did a major clean-out of the fabric in my sewing room. I also love the way that the "playing patience" block we were shown at the WAQA January sewing day took on a new look when I used four patches which were found during that clean out. 

I really love scrappy quilts, and of course if you are a quilter you make lots of scraps! 

My  favourite quilt designer is Bonnie Hunter -the scrappy queen! 

#HappiestWhenScrappiest

Taking pictures in my summer garden showed me just how much this quilt captures an Aussie summer, right down to those blocks with Christmas decorations printed onto yellow and green backgrounds. 

I adapted my usual meandering free motion quilting, to be more angular and block-like. It gives a nice effect, though when I went to the WAQA sewing day this month and looked at other people's quilts, I couldn't help but notice that my quilt has a LOT more quilting than other people do on theirs. I like to make sure every seam is going to stay put! 

This quilt came together very quickly. 

Now, what quilt will I make next, I wonder? 

Summer days in green and gold

Just pinned the "Christmas in Oz" quilt together. Don't know why it has taken so long to get to this stage, but there you have it. Partly it was because I was in full magazine production mode for WAQA, but still, it took a while to get this far. Not sure how to quilt it yet -it might even work with diagonal straight lines. 

The Eureka lemons are going well at the moment. I have a new citrus juicer that I bought second hand, which will help me cope with our citrus harvests. My hands struggle with some things -like opening cans and squeezing lemons. I am thinking we might make lemon passionfruit butter! 

Glorious summer days in the park behind our house. The sheoak nuts are ready to eat, and the pink and grey galahs are enjoying them very much.

DH's leg is so much better! He walked with me around Carine Open Space this week- just look at this lovely colour! Extra points for finding the coot in among the reeds. 

Our Kalamata olives are getting so big! No sign of them ripening as yet, but I am keeping my eye on them.  We have had to be a bit wary because we think there might be rats around again! We have heard some noises on the roof (in the roof?) at night. This is their hungry time of the year, and when the fruit is ripening they come for a feed! I am watching the pomegranates in particular. 

Making the best of things

This post was going to be full of pictures of our trip to the South Coast. We were looking forward to long white sand beaches, granite outcrops and cool weather.  Last Sunday we packed up the house, got a neighbour to feed the cat, hitched up the trailer and we were off....as far as Williams before we had to turn around! DH managed to twist his knee so badly he couldn't walk on it, and the medical centre at Williams was not open on the weekend. What to do? We could go on -to another town with no emergency weekend clinic...we could go all the way to Albany  (another 200 kms) and then go to the hospital there... with DH either admitted for treatment during our holiday or released to a bed for some days to recover.....

We decided to come home. We got home, unhitched the trailer with some neighbour assistance, and I drove DH to the Joondalup Emergency department. We were given every consideration and care, and by 9 pm we were driving away with painkillers and crutches. We both have words of praise for the Australian free medical system, which is world class.

For about a minute we considered getting take away food on the way home -but realized it would be quicker and nicer to eat with what we had, even if we had been running down supplies before leaving for a week.  Supper consisted of cheese and crackers and home made mango chutney, followed by home made bread from the freezer toasted and served with home made cherry jam and cream! Not too shabby at all.

At least the cat was glad we were home!

So DH spent the week on crutches, gradually improving. He is a volunteer treasurer for a small community group, so being immobilized actually worked out quite well, as he spent the week preparing the books for the auditor. 

This is not the south coast, but it is still a beautiful morning at Mullaloo. 

What have I got to complain about really? 

In the UK it is traditional to  take grapes to the sick, so every day I have been out to the Rubio grapevine to get DH some grapes. They were tied into stockings to keep the birds off them, and it has been quite successful in producing beautiful ripe fruit. A bunch a day for a whole week! 

DD and I decided to try to have fun this week, anyway. We did a tour of our favourite Op Shop haunts -and had coffee and lunches out just as we would have done on holiday.

This was my favourite op shop buy -just $3 for two pristine condition useful quilting books, and the French dictionary thrown in for free! Thanks to St Martin's Bookshop in Kensington.