The Power of the Written Word

Since the advent of the telephone, the written word has taken a bit of a back seat and letter writing somewhat diminished. In recent years it has made a huge re-appearance with the use of emails, blogs, groups on line etc etc.

One may forget how powerful the written word can be. So, without becoming too philosophical, this is a warning to read, review and edit carefully and re read again before clicking on the "send", "publish", "comment" etc. etc. buttons. I have learnt the lesson the hard way and the outcome saddens me.

Another blogger whose blog I read frequently, recently stated that she would not be blogging anymore due to some rude, inappropriate and hurtful comments left on her blog. On places like facebook, people are using the written word to bully or belittle people they take a dislike to. Some of these comments are probably sent rashly and whilst the writer is emotionally charged, without thinking of the consequences of how their words may be construed by the recipient.


At least with a letter, you can physically destroy it and have time to mull over it before you post or deliver it. But with cyberspace, once you hit that send button there is no retrieving it.

So, keep it positive and think twice or three times before you send. Lesson learnt.

Glimpses of Sydney

We had a busy time in Sydney but here are just a few glimpses. Most of these were taken from the ferries - love those ferries in Sydney. They were punctual and so easy to get on and off. We still managed to miss a couple of them though - too busy chit chatting.


The Sydney quilt show was good. There were some outstanding quilts and the sales stalls were very tempting. I didn't spend too much - very controlled really. The stand out at the show was the Japanese textile display. The silk thread on silk fabric embroidery was out of this world and the wearable textiles were very interesting. No photography was allowed and any description I could give you of the work would not be able to describe just how beautiful it all was.

The Victoria Building - inner city

Ruby the wonder dog. Ruby lives at Avalon in Sydney and she is a very intelligent lovable red cattle dog who thinks she is human. Ruby rules the roost.

Baby Hex

This is my little "Baby Hex" quilt I made a couple of years ago in case either of our children decided to bless us with a baby one day.

Well GUESS WHAT?? Our older daughter and her husband are expecting their first child (our first grandchild) and we are all very excited.

"Baby Hex" is made up of 1,253 - 1/2inch hexagons. It is all hand sewn and hand quilted. It took some 18mths to complete. Of course, it was going to be a much larger quilt, but common sense prevailed. It accidentally turned out to be a bit of a colourwash quilt. Originally, I was using up all my little scraps of pastels in light to medium tones, then a friend gave me a whole bunch of 1/2" hexagons because she grew tired of doing them. The ones my friend gave me were of a much darker breed, so I decided to start in the middle with the light ones and then graduate out to the dark.

Serendipity!

Tommorrow I am off to Sydney with a girlfriend to here. We will have to be up at 4.00am and on the road by 5.00am to get to the Brisbane airport. Exciting stuff. Looking very forward to seeing the quilt show winners and checking out the Japanese Textile Art. I will blog all our travels when we return.

Greek Rice Pudding

My friend, "The Greek Goddess of Cookery" gave me this recipe for traditional Greek Rice Pudding - "Rizogalo".

Sorry, I cannot share the recipe without her permission, but I can tell you it is magnificent, delicious and downright altogether YUMMY.

I want to tell her "thank you" and "magnificent" in Greek, but could not find the words on any free dictionaries on line, darn it!

Eyes hanging out

The eyes are hanging out of the head this morning, blog friends! I spent a very romantic and enjoyable evening with "Mr Dreamboat" - Michael Buble. Mmmmmmmmmm. He was entertaining, sexy, adorable, witty and funny, and an all round wonderful performer.

Catch up Blog

Can't believe it is over a week since I blogged. Life has been ultra busy.

Yesterday was my last day in the office of Blue Care (again). I have had so many farewells from that place, and there is every chance I may be going back to do more temporary/fill-in work down the track. They gave me a farewell afternoon tea and this gorgeous arrangement of flowers. (The lily just came out in full bloom this morning - love it).

Last night I dragged out an old UFO to do a bit of hand quilting, as it was just the weather for it. I am paying a bit for it this morning in the headache department though. Why is hand sewing giving me a headache? This is the puzzle I am trying to work out. I bought a $10 fold up office chair like the one Caity showed as at quilt group. It is ideal, as it makes you sit up nice and straight. I am really concentrating on my posture and trying to have breaks at regular intervals, but still I get the back/neck/head aches. Can anybody help me with a solution? (and don't say - stop sewing ).

Beginning the Applique Journey

This is the pattern we all did in the applique workshop with Gail Chalker this past Saturday. There has been a Baltimore Album quilt in the back of my mind for many years, and I think this experience has set me on the journey. I just loved doing this block, and I like the design, but I am just not into mauves and purple and will do it again in another colour way.

Gail's tips and hints were wonderful and made the whole experience painless. Now, I will have to start another whole stash of fabrics for the proposed Baltimore!!! Anyway, who needs an excuse to collect fabric?