Rainy days and Mondays.....

Blog post titles can be such a challenge at times but today it is a Monday (and a public holiday for a local horse race!), but sadly we don't have the 'rainy days'! We have had above average temperatures and below average rainfall this past Summer....in fact Adelaide only received 6.6mm of rain for the entire month of February - almost 70% below the average so we desperately need it! And I am sure we can all relate to the rainy day lyrics from Karen Carpenter too.......

Karen was only 32 years old when she died and I remember that tragedy so well. So while we wait for rain our lives go on.....with a touch of William Morris thrown in! Today I received an email telling me about this amazing house that is about to be opened to the public for the first time in the UK (thanks Darylin).  David Parr House in Cambridge had a secret hidden inside it for years and the story of David Parr is fascinating. He purchased the house in 1886 - just 10 years before William Morris died. David worked as a decorator of homes for the Arts and Crafts decorator Frederick Leach who also worked with William Morris on occasions. For over 40 years David Parr decorated his own modest home all by hand sometimes by candle light including an inscription that my late mother used to tell me regularly...'If you do anything do it well'. .... I might have to work out a way of visiting when we are in the UK next year...........

While speaking of 'Arts and Crafts' I thought I would share some recent work I've completed this past week most of it with a touch of Morris for my monthly market......

 And a new diversion from the cotton rope bowls to making bags so I might make a few more of these before next market day. I recycled a faux leather bag purchased from an op shop by disassembling it and then cutting it into strips to make the handles as it is not cost effective to buy new ones........and some Morris willow bough patterned fabric for the trim.......

 and I did complete a couple of bright charity quilts ready for a friend to quilt...... 

I've also recently enrolled in a dressmaking class using these wonderful designs - Tessuti Patterns. The course runs over 6 weeks and I hope to learn some tricks of the trade with these two garments first on my list.......

 So not a lot to chat about today but thought two weeks would pass me by before I'd touched base again! So I will conclude with some lovely images of little Wade who is almost walking but still gets around and is already becoming obsessed with the internet!!.....

 and little Maisie who has just passed her latest hearing test with flying colours (thanks to her Mum for the photos.....I just love her trying to get the embedded coins from the city pavement!!)......

 and finally from my desktop calendar......I love these words from the Dalai...so very true and how wonderful the world would be if only we respected each other's personal views......