Being lackadaisical

Blog post titles always take time and to start with it was going to be "Whatever, Whenever" but I then realised that it was touching on Shakira's song from years gone by. So next it was the "Long and Winding Road".....yet another song! So I am sure you get the drift....Larry and I are feeling rather somewhat "Lackadaisical" at the moment - so the perfect title! Winter has set in with very chilly days and the inevitable tickly throat and sniffle  - one wonders if we are actually allowed to just have a simple cold at the moment!! So today was well and truly one of those days where I could not get out of bed.....so that is pretty much where I stayed for most of the day with a good book.....

 It feels like it has been a tough week for a number of reasons not least the continual sobering world news. But we've had some contented moments smelling the roses and having the occasional walk....

 The ornamental pears out the back must have heard me complaining and they have finally produced some colour pictured here on a very cold frosty morning......

 A surprise gift in the post definitely lifted the spirits......a W and an M for perhaps William Morris or maybe Michele Wheaton (my maiden name) or even Michele and Maisie.......and the card said "just because".......a special friend indeed.......

 Little Wade doesn't seem to have lackadaisical days and isn't it a shame we can't have their demeanour forever? During this cold weather the cubbies have had to be assembled indoors....

 An email during the week also lifted the spirits this time from Barbara all the way from Austria! She has been busy creating some Morris designed quilts and from my books and how lovely they are. Thankyou so much Babara for sharing......

My sewing machine hasn't been idle either as I continue the mystery quilt and complete another palliative care quilt all ready for Faye to quilt.......

And how pretty those donated Morris blocks that I put together look now that they have been quilted......more for palliative care.......

I did a bit of rearranging of quilts at home and have hung a quilt that I designed and made for my late mother for her 80th birthday. She always loved blues and I notice I even had some blue Morris prints and that was 16 years ago. Her favourite flowers were featured throughout and it is lovely to walk past it each day as I think of her (and that she would have been 96 just a few days ago if she was still here)...........

 I moved this quilt to where it has more light. This quilt was made almost 25 years ago - makes me think I must get back to designing pictorial quilts again..........

 Well I seem to have filled the post with non-lackadaisical prose so that must have been therapeutic....thankyou! I will leave you with this dear face of Maisie that Emily posted today. This sweet girl with her one little microtia ear was thrilled that there was enough lobe for a clip on earring. Bless her......we have nothing at all to be lackadaisical about after all :-)

Dreaming of "one day"

The slogan "we are all in this together" reminds us that this virus is still lurking and to be grateful for what life brings us today. So many have lost jobs and livelihoods and I too have been affected in a small way. I had a series of lecture events that have of course been cancelled or postponed and only this past week I should have been enjoying the company of guests who were looking forward to seeing our beautiful city in our 8th William Morris in Adelaide Tour. I just went online to get the link and also read that my tour in August has been cancelled. So like many my trickle of pocket money has dried up but we can only hope that the November tour will go ahead so I can share some of our special Morris collection.......

 So I've diverted those disappointments by "dreaming of one day" and getting back to stitching. The palliative care quilts pile has grown and since early March I have stitched 17 quilt tops. Faye has been incredible with all her machine quilting and last time I spoke to her she had 40 donated tops waiting to be completed! These bright ones she quilted for me are now finished......

And Lessa who has led us through this journey thought I might like to do some quilting on these donated hand embroidered blocks that she turned into two quilts. My quilting is by no means perfect but I'm glad I could finish them off...again for the palliative care project......

 

 Another quilting friend Rachelle dropped by during the week and she too shared the disappointment of cancelled workshops, events and classes. If you click on this link Rachelle Denneny Designs you will see some of her very fresh, bright and modern quilt patterns that she sells. Rachelle also turned this difficult time into something positive by starting a mystery quilt online - the third in the SA Quilters Guild series that you can see HERE. You can also join in with the other 700 quilters (!!) - it is not too late as it starts on Friday! Rachelle then decided it could be a way of raising funds by providing a donation option to her favourite charity Backpacks 4 SA Kids that help the vulnerable in many ways. And if that wasn't enough she then decided to hold an online auction for the same worthy cause! So I put my hand up and have donated some Beatrix Potter goodies including quilts from my book. Rachelle has a wonderful way of putting the images together.....

 And this cushion I made is going to a new home as that was auctioned yesterday. So with the mystery quilt donations and the auction (that is on every day and doesn't finish until this Thursday evening), Rachelle has raised over $7,000AU! An amazing effort and I am glad I could help.........

 My fabrics are all cut up ready to go for the mystery quilt instructions that start on Friday so the "dreaming of one day" thoughts can be tucked away for a while.....

Larry and I were blessed with our 42nd wedding anniversary during the week so we dropped by our local cafe to pick up some delicious tarts to bake at home for lunch. When we popped in there was a gorgeous cupcake and chocolate gift box waiting for us from them.......how lucky are we?.....

Another day we ventured out for a drive and enjoyed an impromptu lunch at another favourite spot. We are so very lucky that we can dine with restrictions still in place, but this time there was no-one so we could sit inside......

These past couple of weeks here at home the weather feels like early Winter with very chilly days and lots of rain. The garden is certainly looking like Autumn but we still don't see our row of three ornamental pear trees changing colour. They have been in for a couple of years now and the label assured us of "reddish- purple autumn leaves and beautiful white flowers in spring". So we are "dreaming of one day"! But there is glorious colour in the oaks, crepe myrtle and birch.......

 The roses are now finished and I managed to cut a few last blooms. So we "dream that one day' life returns to some kind of normal.....what ever that might be. Take care x