Making music

The vocal workshop I went to back in May inspired me to join a choir - I randomly saw a come-and-try night on Facebook so I went and tried and it was great! It's a community-based indie pop choir with no auditions, no commitments, heaps of people there can't really sing (although  many can) and they do mostly alternative mostly Australian tunes. Awesome. I was a bit worried about turning up, on my own, to a room full of strangers but of course the first person I saw was someone from work because it is Canberra after all. I've been a few times now and it's still fun.

They put the sheet music up on the website so I thought I would practice at home, but the keyboard I got for Christmas years ago has given up the ghost, so I bought this little Casio. Not the fanciest, but perfect for picking out the alto part on random Thelma Plum songs. I'm not the greatest singer but I can actually hold a tune, and of course people singing together always sound so much better than the sum of their parts. We learn one or two songs at the weekly meetings, and sometimes re-visit, but sometimes not! Perfection is not the aim, thank heavens. It suits me very much.

Beach again

It was a lovely weekend down the beach - the weather was glorious on Saturday and a bit cloudy on Sunday, which was good for going for a run! Too hot on Saturday, but perfect for a very long walk along the beach. The sky was blue, the sea was green, the light was golden and there was hardly a single person there. All perfect!



I did the usual mix of sewing, reading, eating, strolling about and general bludging, then came home on Sunday to go out for dinner for my husband's birthday. We went to a bavarian restaurant for schnitzel and pork-based products. I didn't like it but the others did, and the beer was very good :) No, number two has not had any beer, he just finds his own jokes very funny.



This post is really for the gratuitous beach shots. I forgot to mention, last weekend I went to the Canberra Quilt Show and the associated craft fair. It was OK - there didn't seem to be nearly as many quilts there as usual. Maybe they had just spread them out more, but it looked a bit thin. There were way less stalls and vendors too. Maybe the age of the big craft fair is coming to an end, with the internet and all.



Some of the quilts were lovely, as ever, but way too arty and ornate to be inspirational. I am just sewing down the binding on that pink and yellow medallion and then I'll take a photo. It's quick and cheerful, definitely not show-worthy!

Souffle

Have you ever made a souffle? I've never made one, I've always been a bit scared. And our oven is currently hideously broken (it doesn't heat up above 150, and only on the top half of the oven) so I wouldn't even try ... but number two son did. He found a recipe, followed the steps and turned out two absolutely perfect sweet vanilla souffles.

Of the perfect degree of jiggliness, set on top, light and fluffy, and delicious. Isn't he clever? We all just stood around the stove top with spoons and dug in until they were gone. Well, they don't keep, so what were we supposed to do? He's going to try different flavours now, and maybe some savoury ones. Here he is instagramming his own awesomeness... millenials :)

A yellow bomber jacket

This is what I made when I was down the coast last time. I wore it to a friend's farewell drinks last night - off on posting to Geneva. I'd like to say we are going to visit her, but that would be a bit optimistic. My intentions of visiting are always good, but then they come back three or four years later, and I'm just "you're back already? really? was it fun?" and my life has trundled on without excitement or event. But Geneva does sound nice.



This is McCalls 7100 and I wish I'd googled it before I started sewing because it was actually one of their sewalongs! So there was a lot of information out there, which I didn't have until afterwards. It is not something I have ever made before, and to be honest it wasn't what I intended when I got the yellow cotton drill off the shelf. I was going to make more of a coat, but I didn't have enough fabric, so thought what the hell, I'll use it for the bomber jacket.

 

Oooo, so many chins. It was surprisingly fun to sew and not too complicated. Despite all the measuring the pockets aren't even, but I don't think anyone would have noticed (it is ALL I can see when I look at the photos).

I didn't really understand the instructions on how to sew the bottom facing and ribbing, but bodgied my way through and it turned out OK ... until I gave it the final press and MELTED the ribbing. I could have cried, it was so frustrating. But I didn't chuck it in the bin, I unpicked the facing, cut the melted bit off, stretched the ribbing so it covered the gap and sewed it back together. Swearing like a pirate at myself the whole time, and it certainly doesn't look super professional. But do-able. And the whole thing is strangely fun and very definitely easy to wear! Who doesn't need a yellow cotton bomber jacket with strange squiggles on it. I am under no illusion that it is flattering, but it is colourful.

Quilting again

I picked my broken sewing machine up on the weekend - all fixed and good as new. At least as far as I can tell ... it is certainly a lovely machine. My new bargain one had been doing very well, but the Janome is such a powerhouse. Super fast and a lovely straight stitch. I finished up the trip around the world top, but I wasn't feeling very scrappy for the next project, so I thought I would start a medallion. In bright happy colours (I don't know why, I wasn't feeling very bright and happy, but maybe that's the point?). The central squares are printed on the fabric, not pieced by me, it's very straightforward.

So that's the top so far. I probably won't add much more to it, just leave it single bed sized. The weather here hasn't improved much - I went for a run at lunchtime and the apparent temperature was 1.5! Actual temperature was 5, but there was a nasty wind chill even with the fog. Horrible, but luckily for me I have a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and it warmed up in the first two minutes. Short sleeves and short leggings (that is, knee length, I'm not talking short shorts here, that would be revolting) and I was just fine. Yay for blubber.

And I had to catch the bus home because number one son dropped me off at work and took his newly-minted P plates to school. ON MY CAR. I am trying not to be nervous about this, because it means I don't have to pick him up from uni tonight and can stay by the fire ... but still, so much to be nervous about .... MY BABY AND MY CAR.

The polar blast

Once again, Australia was surprised by winter .... it happens every year, especially when we get a polar blast that dumps snow anywhere inland. Canberra had a few flurries - very exciting - and solid snow in the hills. I went for a run Sunday morning around the lake which wasn't too bad, just a bit windy, but I could see the snowclouds hovering over the hills.

Number two was rowing at the same time and said it was a bit of an adventure. Even our funny little artificial lake had a chop from the wind, and the beginner rowing eight kept whacking their oars against it and spraying each other. But good fun he said! Each to their own. We sent number one son out in the car, on his own, to pick up his brother. Finally, a driving slave! My days of running everyone around are nearing the end...

These are my birthday slippers. That's one of the nice things about a birthday in August, I tend to get snuggly things and chocolate. Other than the run, and some errands on Saturday  morning, the weekend was very much about enjoying the fire, and some sewing. We went over to friends on Saturday night to admire their new swimming pool (from the window) and have a lovely dinner ... the boys stayed home. I think they would have enjoyed themselves but we can't really force them to go and hang out with our friends any more.

Quiet beach weekend

The title says it all - I had a quiet weekend at the beach. On my own, and loving every second. I sewed a cotton bomber jacket, which turned out surprisingly well. I've moved to approaching the garment sewing the same way I approach quilting - which is to make something that appeals to me for whatever reason, and not care at all about whether it will be useful. If I like the pattern and I like the fabric, then I can have fun making it .... wearability is an optional extra! Which is why I ended up with a mustard coloured cotton drill bomber jacket. No pictures yet because I haven't worn it, but I'm sure I will....

I thought I would have a bumper crop of lemons to bring back home but they are still not quite ripe. Beautiful - a greeny tint of yellow - but mostly not pickable. I think the bamboo is giving them quite a lot of shade, which might make the ripening process a bit slower. Or it could just have been a cold winter? I don't think it was ... it has certainly been a very dry winter. The countryside on the drive down was very brown.

There was also a lot of wind, and some pounding surf. I went down to the rocks below Mossy Point which I've never done before (despite walking the cliffs above the point hundreds of time) and the waves were smashing very spectacularly onto the rocks and misting me with spray. It was mesmerising ... and I took a lot of photos.

A pastel scarf

In the ongoing quest for pastels I think I might have gotten closer ... just a tiny hint of green, and of pink, and the rest cream. And plain cream on the warp as well, in case it was looking a bit vibrant.

This looks a bit wrinkled because the warp is the linen blend, and it certainly holds its body and is not a springy as pure wool.

There is just a hint of green, with a bit of pink, and a couple of points where they blend and it gives a brownier-green (or a brownier-pink, depending). What these photos don't show is that I used two skeins and my dyeing is terribly random. One dyed more green and one dyed more pink so there's a distinct shift in tone about two-thirds of the way down the scarf! Perhaps no-one would notice but me, but I think it's horribly obvious...