Melancholy

It seems to be inevitable that after busy times one can become a little lazy…well perhaps just 'resting' but I think melancholy sounds better. I guess it is really our body saying 'please just stop for a while' ...but the problem for me is that I get restless and bored! Larry is good at going into his own quiet space and this time he is working on an enormous tapestry of The Swing by Jean-Honore Fragonard. I don't know why I was drawn to this painting as a child but I was rewarded with a print version in 1973 from my parents. I am not sure of the significance of that date but I had just finished school and was about to start nursing. Sadly the print is terribly faded so when Larry has completed his version it will replace the print on the wall (Larry tells me that might be a couple of years away!)…….

 Melancholy did overcome me yesterday though as I said farewell to another special gentleman who served in Squadron 83 in Bomber Command. Jim was a true gentleman and he will be so terribly missed at our regular Pathfinder lunches. He was a very generous and lovely man and in fact was Lord Mayor of Adelaide for many years. My late Dad was in 582 squadron and recently I came across a remembrance list of those lost from his squadron based in Little Staughton in the UK - I still cannot imagine what they all went through. At our Pathfinder lunches there will only be one of these brave men left - David Leicester and when he is gone there will be a huge void never to be replaced. But I think a few sons and daughters (including me), will continue to meet to keep their memory and bravery alive. It was so poignant to see William Morris appearing on the service sheet yesterday……..

 Quiet times also allow us time to stop and watch the cycle of life as the monarch butterflies return. Just a few weeks ago we noticed them circling the milkweed bush and now the eggs and munchers are hard at work and in a few weeks this bush will be reduced to nothing……..

 Autumn has finally arrived and we are enjoying glorious warm days in the garden…….

Letters from the UK arrived with my Beatrix Potter Society renewal and also the new look William Morris Society newsletter with an embroidered cot quilt on the cover. This was a recent Society acquisition and the coverlet was designed by May Morris and stitched by her mother Jane. I am so thrilled that we will be able to see it on tour later this year………..

 I think my restlessness is also a result of having just completed 10 months intense stitching and writing for the Beatrix Potter book, so yesterday I decided to clean the silver! It all belonged to my late mother and I was so lucky that each birthday for many years I received a new cup, saucer and plate from her……..

 So after the cleaning I decided to start rearranging! Years ago the family had to put up with my restlessness in the form of rearranging the house and furniture but now I am satisfied to just rearrange the clutter of ornaments!…….

 To our random act of kindness friend the coffees continued this time in the new extension of a shopping complex close by. Architecturally it is wonderful and there are some lovely new shops as well - we just hope they last……..

 Gorgeous chairs in one new shop but not for me at well over $1,000 each!!……..

The goodies at home are ready for the little ones who will come Sunday for the annual egg hunt. Over Easter I will also do my next Morris quilt instalment with pattern give-aways……so till then enjoy the Easter season the way you like to x