a butterfly child so free and so wild

Sorry about the 60s flashback - one of my Orange Jessamine shrubs is flowering. The name (which I think is very pretty) brought back the song Jesamine, which Google assures me was sung by The Casuals in 1968. I have two orange jessamines - they each flower when least expected, at completely random times during the year. They have the most delicious, heady perfume - it's wafting in through the window right now.

The weather is still hot - not disgustingly so, but still hot. We've been promised "the chance of a shower" on Sunday and Monday, but that probably means not very much at all.

Our veggie garden is continuing to do well. I tidied up some of the excess growth on the weekend and fed it some blood and bone. Hopefully that will keep it going a few more weeks at least. The corn plants are not quite as high as an elephant's eye, but they are starting to produce cobs. It's probably time to start thinking about what to plant for winter...





Our globe-trotting daughters will both be home by the weekend. Maddie is somewhere over the Pacific Ocean as I type, and Kati will be on her way home tomorrow. Both seem to have had a fine time, and it will be just wonderful to see them both again.

I have been trying very hard to avoid impulse buying - trying to save money for more traveling. It's very difficult though - I read about this site somewhere. What lovely things one can buy there (in spite of the rather steep postage)!

Finally, here's something else I love. It's a Banksy in Los Angeles - there sure are lots of boring walls in this city which could use a little adornment!

2011 so far

Now that we're 12 days into the New Year, here's what's been happening.

New Year was celebrated very quietly, but I did manage to stay up and see 2011 in.

Our little family is currently dispersed over three continents. Kati is in the UK, in Blackpool, and Maddie is in New York. Both are enjoying the beautiful cold weather (and snow), while we swelter through a very hot (even for Perth) summer. This is how I've been spending most evenings - and very pleasant it is too.





I haven't done very much gardening because of the hot weather. Everything seems to be coping with the heat though - we are overrun by zucchini vines, and it's a constant challenge trying to come up with new ways to cook yellow squash. We have had kilos of them for weeks now, with no sign of any let-up.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to finish all the various crafty projects I've started over the last few years. Including this quilt, which I started more than ten years ago.





I'm still working on the hand-quilting - then I need to find out how to do the scalloped border. There are also numerous knitting projects (one at a time is my new mantra) plus various other bits and pieces. I'd also really like to organise all the photos into albums - something I've been meaning to do forever.

Oh well, there are only so many hours in a day, and only 353 days left in the year...

Solstice

As of 10.38am (AEDT) today, the days are getting shorter again. In the northern hemisphere, this sign of light coming back into the darkness of winter is eagerly awaited. Here in (tediously) sunny Perth, I love the idea of a bit of winter darkness! I know that the worst of the summer is still to come, but it's still a reminder that it won't last forever.

Preparations for Christmas are proceeding apace. Most of the presents have been bought, and I only really need to worry about getting Christmas dinner together now. I'm rather pleased with these little needle cases I've made for a group of friends for Christmas. I used up a small fraction of my fabric stash to make these, as well as an old doily for the embroidered squares.

I just love this gift I received from one of these friends in return - my brain is feeling a little addled right now.



Happy Christmas/Solstice/Festivus!

A week (or so)

Things that have been happening around here :

The Christmas tree is up, but only one Christmas present has been bought. It's the old river-in-Egypt thing about how soon Christmas is happening. I have bought all the ingredients for the Christmas cake, which I plan to make later today.








In the garden, the zucchinis and yellow squash are taking over. There are lots and lots of tomatoes, but they're still green. My Jane Brocket-style pot of basil is going well - it's almost pesto time again!

We've had a week of lovely warm-but-not-hot weather. Today it's hot again. I must say that even I (a confirmed cold-weather lover) am really enjoying the balmy summer evenings. Although it can get very hot during the day in Perth, it (almost) always cools down beautifully by sunset.

One year though, I'd really love to have a white Christmas - it just seems right somehow...

"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in."

On Wednesday night Martin, Kati and I went to the Leonard Cohen concert at the NIB stadium. I can't come up with enough superlatives to describe how great the show was - I've been singing the songs in my head ever since . Even losing my new phone couldn't spoil what was a truly wonderful and memorable night.

Waiting for the rain

It's been so hot here - not even officially summer yet, and we've had several days in the high thirties. Yesterday it was very cloudy and it drizzled a little. We've been promised a storm today - it looks hopeful so far.

Other news :

Kati is flying home from Melbourne right now, having purchased 29 dresses!

Maddie is working hard on her thesis, looking forward to a trip to New York in January. (I can't believe she gets to see it before I do - I have wanted to go there for so long!)

I went with my sister Annette to see the Peggy Guggenheim exhibition at the Art Gallery. One of the high points was hearing a teacher explaining a Jackson Pollock to a group of kids who I swear were pre-schoolers - "...now this is abstract expressionism, children!"



There's lots happening in the garden - I'm still enjoying the roses.

We have something of a glut of peas at the moment. Some I planted, others came up by themselves from the pea-straw I used to make the garden beds. The tomatoes are also looking promising.



We're off now to see one of my all-time favourite movies - The Maltese Falcon. As it should be seen - in a cinema, on film, with all the crackly bits. Aaah, Humphrey!

Adelaide

Martin and I went to Adelaide last week. We left on Wednesday - it was threatening to be in the mid-thirties in Perth. In Adelaide it was 15 degrees!

We had a great stay. Martin was at a conference so I mooched around the city solo on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday. I wandered around very happily, taking in the Rundle Mall, the Art Gallery, the State Library, the Torrens River and the Central Markets. The Art Gallery is a delight - I especially enjoyed the little Bloomsbury section. On Friday a friend of Martin's took us on a drive to the Adelaide Hills, Glenelg (the marching band was just for us of course), and then on to the stately homes of North Adelaide.





We enjoyed some wonderful meals - a very meaty one at an Argentinian restaurant, Swiss food at Alphutte's and Coffin Bay oysters & South Australian whiting (yum!) at a seafood cafe on Gouger Street.


On Saturday, we flew home. Just in time for the Alliance Francaise quiz night. For the second year in a row, our table came second (losing by just one point). L'annee prochaine, nous allons gagner!