Merry Christmas to all!

For my Australian friends - here's something to make you feel a little cooler, and for those who live in colder climes a little taste of what to expect as winter continues.

We woke up to this snowy view after spending the night with a musical friend in Ontario, and were very entertained watching birds at his many feeders.....a cardinal, chickadees, nuthatches and finches......and our first woodpecker!

Best wishes for a Christmas full of peace and love.  For those who have lost loved ones during the year, I hope Christmas brings healing and hope for the future.

Enjoy your Christmas Day!

Travelling on from last post

While in Ontario we spent a couple of days in Goderich, which we enjoyed - it's a really nice town.  We stayed in a lovely B&B for a few nights, and had a great time exploring the town and the local district.  The historical museum and gaol were fascinating; small towns often have interesting histories.  It has a good quilt shop, Quilters by the Square, where one can buy fabrics for one's autumn leaf fabric stash.  As one did.

In August 2011 a tornado cut a swathe through the centre of Goderich, killing one man.  The beautiful gardens round the local courthouse were flattened and large trees snapped like matches - surprisingly just a few were not harmed, and are still growing while the gardens are being replanted around them.

This wonderful metal sculpture and the plaque below are in Lions Harbour Park overlooking Lake Huron.

 If one is really keen one can watch the sunset from the lakeside beach, then run at great speed up the hill to see it again.  We settled for just the hilltop view.

The east coast of Lake Huron has beautiful sunsets.

A bag has been made from fabrics and a pattern which were a gift from Rose Marie when we visited North Bay, as soon as its pic gets taken it will be posted here for you all to see - it has turned out very well.

Not many sleeps until the fat man in the red suit drops in for his annual visit.  Have you all been good?  Somehow I don't think he will be stopping here this year; that Canadian holiday was a nice present from both of us to each other so the fat man will pass by our house without stopping this year.

Last week was the biennial eye appointment and fitting for new reading glasses.  Don't you just hate having to try on all those different styles, looking in the mirror the whole time?  It's difficult not to be too critical and it is a very fraught exercise, I find.  The new glasses have dark red frames, green would have been nicer......I'm quite fond of green, you know......but all the green frames were styles I didn't like.  Clunky plastic frames seem to be on the way back after several years of fine metal ones.  My new frames are not clunky.

Speaking of green, did you know that emerald is the Pantone colour of the year for 2013?  Apparently that means you will be able to find emerald green in home accessories, and clothing, and anything else your little heart desires.  I'm rather fond of emerald, you know.  A judicious sprinkling of emerald here and there might be just what the Chateau des Wombats needs to spark it up.  Unfortunately there were no emerald green frames at the optometrist........

"Short-sightedness.
Short-sightedness is not always a natural defect.  It may be acquired by bad habits in youth.  A short-sighted person should supply himself with glasses exactly adapted to his wants; but it is well not to use these glasses too constantly, as, even when they perfectly fit the eye, they really tend to shorten the sight.  Unless one is very short-sighted, it is best to keep the glasses for occasional use, and trust ordinarily to the unaided eye.  Parents and teachers should watch their children and see that they do not acquire the habit of holding their books too close to their eyes, and thus injure their sight."

Unfortunately it's not that simple, there's a congenital eye problem here, folks.  It's not just age-related, although that does come into it a little.  It has nothing to do with all the thousands of books I have read over the course of my life either........

Enjoy your days!

Powering along.......

........which is good, because yesterday evening we weren't powering at all - we had a blackout.  It's storm season here and a week ago there was an almighty storm with lots of thunder, lightning, wind and rain; on the other side of the river a lot of damage was done by hail.  We were spared any damage.  There were also power blackouts.  Another storm yesterday afternoon and this time we weren't so lucky because we lost power for an hour and a half.  So the computer was turned off, and the sewing machine was also turned off because it's a computerised model and I didn't want its innards fried by lightning.  A bag has been cut out ready to be sewn but it may have to wait for a few days to be assembled, until the storms have passed.

Here's a couple of pictures from our holiday, you can see how gorgeous the fall colours were.  This bloke is quite armless, I would say......he doesn't look a happy chappy, does he?  Have you ever seen anything more mournful?

 The local park in Bayfield, Ontario.  It's a beautiful village which has been on the shores of Lake Huron since the early 1800s, and we enjoyed our visit.

Now that the heat wave has finished for now my guitar has come out of its case and you will be pleased to know I haven't forgotten how to play it.  My fingers remembered the chord patterns, and my brain remembered how to transpose to a different key.  Might even have have a plink on the ukulele from time to time too.

What is it with some blokes and their facial hair?  I don't mind a neat beard and/or moustache, but how about that little tuft of hair on the chin under the bottom lip?  It looks as though its owner spilt gravy on his chin.  Does anyone honestly think it looks good?

Here at Chateau des Wombats the Christmas decorations are up, such as they are.  Now that just two Olde Phartes live here we don't have a large tree, but we do have a few smaller table top trees.  A glass dish of glass Christmas tree balls, a couple of sparkly gold reindeer (which shed a few more of their sparkles each year), some red and green candles, a Jim Shore angel named Flossie and my wombat tree decorations complete the festive look.  There's something to be said for minimal decorating - it doesn't take as long to pack away again after Christmas.

"The beard.
Those who shave should be careful to do so every morning.  Nothing looks worse than a shabby beard.  Some persons whose beards are strong should shave twice a day, especially if they are going to a party in the evening."

Is a chin tuft regarded as a shabby beard, I wonder?

Enjoy your days!

Some coolth would be nice

This week has been very hot with temperatures well into the 30s, yesterday was 39.7 deg C....that's 103.46 if you still think in old numbers......which ever way you count it, it's still a wee bit hot.  We shouldn't complain too much though as last summer was milder than normal, so we were probably due for some heat this year.  At least, being inland, the humidity is much lower than it was when we lived in the Big Smoke.

Here's something to make you feel a little cooler.

 A foggy rainy day when we visited Quebec, much colder than it is here today.

Seagulls and salmon, I didn't dibble my fingers into this river....too many dead fish.  It didn't smell wonderful either, but as we had never seen a salmon run before it was very interesting!  Canadian seagulls are similar to Aussie gulls but much larger, they look like I imagine ours would look if they were on steroids.

Fallen leaves in the car park of Butchart Gardens, aren't the colours beautiful?  The little black cone is a light, not a gnome's hat.  The photos we took on our holiday are gradually being captioned so as we become old and decrepit we don't forget where they were taken.

Life is slowly getting back to normal here.  A few days ago a half-finished project, started before we went away, was completed - a skirt made from this idea, very easy and fun.  Mine is a dull red textured cotton fabric bought on special at a local quilt shop, now it needs a top to be worn with it (because the world is not ready for the alternative)......wonder what colour would suit?  I am leaning towards a black and white or grey and white print, but I will take the skirt shopping to the wondrous dress fabric shop we have here and check out possibilities.  There is another skirt which was finished right at the tail end of last summer needing its hip yoke re-sewn as the current line of stitching is all over the place like a mad woman's breakfast, then those lovely projects which came home from Canada with me that I am itching to get into can have their turn at being made!

Still haven't managed to have some guitar time but it will happen, the heat has fried my brain and it needs to be a bit cooler for me to concentrate on learning anything new.  On hot days like we are currently having I am doing well to remember my own name, you know.

This evening the Monday night choir is having its annual Christmas concert without me, as I would have only been able to attend two rehearsals with several weeks' break between them, and that isn't enough to learn several new songs although I do know the standard Christmas carols - yes, even the second and third verses!  So I am going to be a kitchen helper; the supper at these functions, supplied by choir members, is always scrumptious.  My contribution is a yummy chocolate slice, waiting in the fridge to be cut into dainty little squares.  And to be honest I will be glad to be able to wear a cool cotton skirt and top rather than the long pants, shoes and blouse with neck scarf choir uniform, it's going to be fairly warm in that church I think.

Next weekend the radio station will be having an open day for volunteers and visitors, so it will be a good chance to meet other people involved and talk to The Person Responsible For Training to find out how it's done.  Perhaps next year I will have my own radio program, wonder what it will be called?  One thing is for sure, it will be a mix of music.  This town is known as Australia's country music capital which means lots of songs played on radio about dogs dying, and relationships breaking up, and trucks breaking down, so perhaps something a little more cheerful would be good - although I must admit to a liking for those old parlour songs from Victorian times which were often tragic too.  "Don't go down in the mine, Dad" comes to mind.......yes, I do have a recording of it, in fact I have two recordings by different Aussie singers.

"Refrain from absent-mindedness in the presence of others.  You pay them a poor compliment if you thus forget them."

Do you think the weather can be used as an excuse for absent-mindedness?  We certainly wouldn't forget on purpose, and wouldn't wish to offend anyone.

Enjoy your days!