Light Horse

Some early morning photos, taken in Sturt St, of the statue just in front of the town hall. From one side it is a mounted soldier on a war memorial, triumphant.

Walk around the other side.

It's actually a rescue.

This is a memorial to the local men who fought in the bitter and infamous Boer War in support of Britain.

It is a memorial of imperialism - it also celebrates mateship.
 Of course I am susceptible to myths of  mateship. I was brought up on the old Victorian School Readers.  Childhood heroes are unforgettable.
(Those school readers will get a post to themselves very soon!)

There are light horsemen in the district still.

I watched the Creswick Light Horse riding down the road to the reopening of the Ballarat Arch of Victory last year with mixed feelings. Reminded of the old wars, but delighted by the horses  - one of them nibbled the Governor General's posy!

Cooling down

It's been a very hot weekend and of course we had friends around to lunch in the middle of it. Poor Yin was exhausted from the shopping at various city markets and then the cooking. 

But the food was eaten, we talked and gave the children lots of water and ice to drink and paddle in and it was lovely.

Today it rained buckets. 60mills. Lots of lovely water.

This is not a creek, it's the road out front.

And there go the neighbours.

Shared magic

I had a present from across the ocean and another clime.

Suzanna, maker of many a magical image, has shared a part of her winter-to-spring season with me

 

So here is The Groundhog, measuring his shadow to see if winter has ended yet. When my candles are lit at Lammastide now, he'll be there too.

By the Yarra

Off to Fed Square on a hazy, grey Saturday.
Going to the gallery with a friend.

Lots of folk taking photos so I took out my camera too.

We sat on a bench under an umbrella with a cuppa (yes, just one cup each) and chatted all morning. Then we went down to the riverside with the picnic we'd brought along and talked more.

A hot breeze puffed the scent of lemon gums all along the walkway.

We moved on up the path to the winebar in the old bluestone warehouses overlooking the river. They used to hold the bananas from Queensland a hundred years ago. Had some cool white wine. 

See - some people take their plants out for a drink.

We watched the ferries go down the Yarra to Williamstown.

But we were supposed to be going to the Potter to see the Western Desert artwork.

Have to do it next time!

Just got to the station in time.

Lolly quilt

I took these pictures at night, with the new quilt-to-be over the bed, after a spot of hand-quilting, because I just couldn't leave it be even at 11pm.
My quilts are put together with luck and guesswork. Materials turn up, are scissor cut, hand sewn and quilted - and not made up too precisely. I measure by eye, fold material into squares and triangles, adjust as I sew. So they can be worked while I'm scrunched up in bed, on a rug in the park, sitting on the back step.

All these materials, save for one small piece, are second-hand, some very old - seventy years at least for a couple of old curtain remnants. No synthetics. Cotton, linen, wool and silk.

When I put the quilt together I had in mind a bag of lollies from a milkbar, so it has a much more pastel array of colour  than I usually choose.

The first two blocks were so formal and neat that I had to make  balancing blocks of bigger, more random shapes.So far I like it.

The friend I'm making it for has chosen a backing and border of red spotted with white, and that's all I have to do now, the border and the back.

Paddy and Kitty

 I haven't been able to write about this until today. 

It's now two weeks since we lost our two good friends. Paddy was 17 and Kitty was 15. They were in pain and aren't now. Yin and I cuddled them both into their last long sleep.

They were the best dogs and we miss them terribly.