Serendipity

Our walk this morning was at North Lake. We haven't been there for months and felt that it is becoming somewhat degraded. Despite the good rains the lake is a long way from being full, and you can already see the weeds poking through the shallow water.

We didn't take any photos, but here is one that Kevin took yesterday by accident. I love the colours and texture. I think it could be translated into a great background fabric. Can you guess what it is?

Getting active

I went to water aerobics on Monday and again today.

Yesterday we went walking around Manning Lake in the early morning, and then I went shopping. Unfortunately I forgot to put on the pedometer again after my shower, so I don't know what I might have achieved. I did manage over 10,000 steps on Monday though, as well as the aqua.

I am determined to shift some weight. I lost 6.5 kg before we went to New Zealand in September and I didn't put on anything while I was there. But I have been inactive since we came back (I was sick for a month, but that is no excuse not to have resumed exercising when I was better) and I have regained 2 of the lost kilos.

So this week is start again week. I have even bought some new scales that weigh in 100g increments - the old ones only measured in .5 kg. I have compared the two and both seem reasonably accurate.

I've been very lazy

and haven't written anything in my blog for over a week.

In fact I haven't done much of anything, except socialise. We have had a number of visitors. I did go once to water aerobics last week - first time in more than two months. We have been walking fairly regularly though.

Today we went back to the spot at Bibra Lake where we saw the Scotch thistles growing. They are really pretty. The foliage is a soft green and the flowers are a pinky purple. But looks are deceiving. When you look closely there is nothing but thorns, no leaves at all, and I would hate to get caught up in them. The new plants look nothing like the mature ones, but I suspect those soft pillowy leaves have sharp edges.


The Scots seem to have left a legacy of savage weeds to the Antipodes. We were amazed at the prevalence of gorse in New Zealand.

Walking - again, and a bit of fibre

I was right - yesterday was pretty bad. I got to 7038 steps though.

Today I have done nothing in the textile area, but I am over 9300 steps, plus I have done an hour's water aerobics. Now I am wondering if all this is ever going to pay off in terms of weight loss.

I went to Fremantle this afternoon to the Art Market that is held next to St John's Church every Thursday in summer. It will finish at the end of April. I wouldn't say it was spectacular, but of the 10 or so stalls selling jewellery there were a couple that had different stuff.

Not much in the way of textiles though, though one lady was selling non-textile stuff from Mexico while stitching on a tablecloth, while another stall offered clothing made from vintage fabrics. All for size 0-2 though.

I did get one bargain. I bought a pair of walking shoes from Jim Kidd for $30, originally $150. These were offered to WestCard holders as a special - reduced price for the general public was $80. I have had a WestCard for maybe 10 years and this is the first time I have used it.

It rained this afternoon. Just a sprinkle, but I hope more is to come.

Two days today

The new pedometer has settings for km covered and kcals used up as well as the standard step counter, which can register up to 999,999 steps. Would take me a while to do that much!

I have decided that I will continue with just the daily step count and not bother with the other bits. Yesterday I did 10170 steps, as well as doing an hour of water aerobics. Very pleased with myself. Helen came to tea and we had a rolled turkey roast cooked in the barbecue with potatoes and pumpkin and a delicious warm salad of cauliflower and green beans. I adapted that from Margaret Johnson's "Recipe of the Day" in The West Australian. She has lots of good recipes and I have collected a bundle of clippings.

Early today, just after sunrise, we went for a walk at Woodman's Point. This is a strenuous walk because of the loose sand, but we had a bonus. There was a dolphin and her baby swimming just offshore - less than 3 metres away. They were plunging in and out of the weed bank - each time they came to the surface their fins were festooned with loose weed. It was a lovely sight and we watched for 5 minutes or so.


When we got home I went straight to the sewing room. I completed one workshop sample and made a good start on another. This needs hand stitching, so it may take me a while to finish it. The third sample has colours and fabric selected. I plan to cut and stitch tomorrow after I have been to water aerobics.

Because of the time I spent at the sewing machine I haven't managed a terribly good step tally. I think I'll be lucky to reach 7000.

Happy Birthday

I turned 65 today - retirement age. Too bad I retired 6 years ago! I don't think I would have reached this birthday if I hadn't.

Yesterday morning we went for a really long walk and I was hoping to record a high number of steps for the day. However, I couldn't find the pedometer when I got up this morning. Both of us searched everywhere. No sign of it. We went walking and I felt strangely naked without it.

When we got home I decided to buy another one. I was surprised at how many places sell them and at the range of prices - $2.99 to $49. I decided to buy a mid range one for $14.95 from Jim Kidd Sports Store. Because we were planning to go to my sister's in Hillarys for tea I rang the Carine store and asked them to put one aside for collection.

We got to Carine about 4.45 pm. This has got to be the worst shopping centre carpark in the world, or at least in WA. Spaces were at a premium plus the spaces are really narrow and the traffic was really intense. No-one was going to stop to allow you to back out and straighten up. After a circuit, Kevin dropped me off and went looking for a park.

Ten minutes later there were spaces galore. We obviously got there at the wrong time. Anyway, I have my new pedometer and tomorrow I will start counting again. Last week I had two days over 10000, and no days with less than 8000.

Walking Update

I haven't reported on my efforts for some time.

A week ago today I achieved my best ever result : 12148 steps. Since then I have not exceeded 9000 steps on any one day, though no day has been under 7000. Most have been 8000 plus.

I will beat 10000 today. At the moment the pedometer reads 9939.

The staff at the ABC here in Perth have undertaken a walking challenge for a few weeks until some time in April. I gather, when I listen to the radio, that the stars of the challenge are one of the reporters and the breakfast announcer Eoin Cameron. They are tallying total steps, not daily totals. Maybe I need to do some addition. It could look good?

You can check out the ABC challenge here.

Boring bits today . . .

but necessary tasks. Iris and I spent a couple of hours going through the proposed changes to the law governing incorporated associations in Western Australia. The group we belong to is incorporated so we needed to become familiar with what is proposed so that we can prepare for changes that we may have to make in our constitution. We think that the only change that will affect us is the necessity to appoint a public officer to be the contact person person between Consumer Affairs and the group. Apparently WA is the only State or Territory in Australia not to have this requirement. We will report to the group at the next meeting. The Bill will not be introduced in Parliament until late this year so it will be 2008 or later before we have to look at our constitution again. Iris and I did a revision in 2005, so I can't say either of us is looking forward to tackling it again.

Then I collected the last bits of paper for my appointment with the tax accountant tomorrow, read my mail and sent off a swag of emails.

We did quite a long walk this morning so, even though I spent a lot of time sitting, I have racked up 9939 steps as of this minute. Should easily crack the 10000 today.

Some progress

I have finished the black and white convergence style top that will be the base for my WAQA quilt. No photos as yet - I am not sure whether an entry is permitted to be published before exhibition, so I am playing safe.

Today I put the borders on, then used basting spray to attach some tearaway stabiliser to the back in preparation for the applique. I will complete the applique before I sandwich and quilt, because I expect the back to be rather messy.

I haven't reported on the walking for a while. Last week wasn't all that good - I didn't manage 10,000 steps on any day, though I did not have one day under 8000. Yesterday I did 10901 but today won't be so good. I wish the pedometer could measure effort as well as the steps. Today's walk was quite short, only about one and a half kilometres, but it was up and down hills and at a good pace, so I really felt I had worked at it.

I don't do mending . . .

unless it is absolutely forced upon me and today was the day. Daughter Helen gave me a pair of jeans to mend some weeks ago and questioned me regarding their status when she came down yesterday. Naturally they had not been touched so today I sat at the machine and did them, plus some silk trousers of mine that needed a bit of stitching to extend their life a little. Didn't take much time or effort - why do I put things off so much? Procrastination would have to be my major fault.

Helen's visit yesterday was so that we could take photos of her making fruit salad to use in a class activity. It is very handy for her that her folks have all the digital gear, though she uses her digital camera heaps in her classroom.

We have managed a morning walk every day for the last ten days and I can feel that it is making a difference. Some of the walks that were quite strenuous are getting less so, so I think my fitness is improving. Still plenty of room for improvement though. Saturday's step tally was 11107, yesterday's only 8962. Don't think today's will be very good either.

Auditions

I spent a little time today going through my thread collection. I have two pieces of fabric that need additional stitching. One is a piece of embellished fabric made from wool tops on scrim, cut into squares and embellished on felt. I am going to handstitch this (shock! horror! me doing handstitching!) I found three hanks of yarn in different weights but the same colourway. It is very vibrant and I think it will look good. I seem to remember that the colour combination is called Marrakesh. All I have to do now is decide which one to use.



The other piece is constructed from layers of synthetic fabric on top of a heavy cotton. I stitched a grid and then used a soldering iron to burn back the layers. The squares have a nice crusty look but are a bit rough. I intend to make a bag from it. I tried an overlay of red tulle and I think that will work well. I am going to stitch the grid from the wrong side with either a fancy stitch or free motion meandering. Now I need to decide which of these two threads to use in the bobbin.


12264 steps yesterday - wow! Almost 9000 so far today.

Steps and Stamps

Our walk today was around North Lake. The lake is now almost completely dry. All the water that is left is a largish puddle of about half an acre or so. The odd thing is that, unlike the other local lakes that have dried out as greyish mud flats, the entire bed of the lake is covered in bright green vegetation. Kevin has a fantastical theory about why this is so.

I just missed the 10,000 yesterday - 9564. Today is much better - 11658 already and I still have to get the washing in and prepare dinner.

One of the reasons for the high tally is that I went into Fremantle this afternoon. I needed some lens solution and I still have a book voucher from Christmas. Didn't use the voucher, but I spied some lovely little metal batik stamps in the Oxfam shop in Queen Street. They were only $3.95 each so I bought 4 of them. They are quite small - the biggest one is no longer than 6cm. Made in India.


I placed them under a bit of fabric that I had previously rubbed with oil pastels and a texture sheet. I used a blue metallic oil pastel and made a quick rubbing of each stamp. The rubbings are very rough - I didn't take any care at all and the bird is legless. I am thinking that I might try them with Shiva sticks as well as for their original purpose. They might be interesting stamped into Angelina fibre and paper pulp too and they could probably be used for foiling . . . I have plenty of ideas - I just need to make the time to try them all out.

Walking

I just made it yesterday: 10107 steps when I unhooked the pedometer.

This morning we went for a walk along the beach at Woodmans Point. We took the camera but missed the only really good photo opportunity. We came out of the dunes onto the northern edge of the point and there they were. Probably a hundred seagulls perched on the beach and a pelican fronting them. It looked so like a traditional classroom - I immediately thought of May Gibbs' Mr Kookaburra and his class of bush creatures. But before we could focus the pelican turned his back on the class and returned to the sea where three of his siblings were waiting. The class took off in segments as we approached.

Our question of the day - where can you find baby pelicans? Neither of us can remember ever seeing other than full size pelicans.

The beach walk took 3805 steps, but I wish the pedometer took effort into account as well. The same number of steps in a shopping centre is easy. Slogging through seaweed banks and loose sand is NOT.

I have spent the rest of the day going through some of my textile magazines. The slips of paper have proliferated.

Some years ago I used to photocopy the contents page of magazines, circle or highlight the articles I found interesting and file the copies in a display book. A good idea - but every time I used the index to find an article in a particular issue I found another article that appealed - and failed to see the relevance of some I had highlighted.

Then I started writing technique (and project) names and page numbers onto sticky notes and putting them on the cover. I have used these today to find a particular project, but I have also found articles that didn't make it in my selection in 2003, but which I really like now. So I found the article I wanted - plus about 50 others.

I would really like an easy reference system - I have LOTS of magazines. A computer data base doesn't appeal. Suggestions welcome.

And despite the huge effort this morning I have only racked up 8353 steps today.

Green tomatoes

We slept in a bit today and it was nearly 8.30 when a visitor arrived just as we were setting out for our walk. It was going to be the beach today. Maybe tomorrow?

Yesterday was 7983 steps - better than I expected. And despite not having been for a walk today's count is already nudging 9000. Reason: I went shopping. Only for boring groceries, but you can get in a lot of steps when you shop in an unfamiliar supermarket! The layout is never the same. I also went to the fruit and vegetable shop just down the hill in the Stock Road Market area. I don't go there often because I find the owners a bit off putting, but they do have cheap vegetables. While I was there I found green tomatoes in amongst the ripe ones so I swooped on them. I love Green Tomato chutney, and I haven't made it for ages. It is still bubbling quietly away on the stove and the whole house smells absolutely wonderful.

I also did a bit of zapping and burning this morning on yesterday's fabric and another one. No pics, because I don't think they are ready. Both need some more texture and/or embellishment.

A Starting Point

This piece of fabric was originally part of a challenge block. It was stamped with gold paint and had gold flakes scattered over it before being overlaid with red chiffon and zapped. I used most of it last year when I made my A4 challenge quilt for April.

Today I sprinkled some of the metallic thread ends I have saved over the bit that was left, put another piece of red chiffon over the top and stitched all over in gold thread. Tomorrow I will either zap it or use the soldering iron on it. It will be the base for a series of 6 ATCs for a swap to raise money for cancer research.

I did not do at all well in the step program yesterday - only 6609 steps. I don't think today will be much better.

A little bit of sewing

I made this piece of fabric ages ago. It is silk tops on top of felt with pintucking, programmed stitches and freemotion embroidery. It was just the the size to make a book cover and I even had a book. So today I did it. It took me less than half an hour.

I also did quite bit of playing with QuickFonts in my 3D software. I had downloaded some Dingbat type fonts and I tried turning them into designs. There are a couple that I am quite happy with and I will stitch them out eventually. The rest went straight to Trash.

On Saturday I did 11129 steps. Yesterday was 7916. Today I will be lucky to reach 7000 - you don't take many steps sitting at a computer or sewing machine. We did go for a walk though this morning.

Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Nothing done today that relates to fibre - but I haven't mentioned my impressions of the production of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie that we went to see on Thursday night.

I enjoyed it , though I thought it was too long. It needed to be tightened up, or more material included. The costuming was a bit hit and miss. Some costumes were quite elaborate (the fantail pigeon and the magpie spring to mind), others such as the Banksia Men were just bundles of knitted fabric. That was probably because all of the cast except the three leads spent time as a Banksia Man and quick on and off was the main requirement. It was interesting that the ladies of a CWA branch in NSW were given credit in the program notes for the knitting they did for the show.

Dale asked me yesterday about the 10,000 steps program and how I was going. I had to confess that I had not put on the pedometer for a week. But I did this morning and as of this minute I have racked up 10922 steps.

Museum visit - some fibre seen

We went out to Welshpool today to the warehouse where the major portion of the Western Australian Museum's various collections is stored. The reason for our visit was to see a Papuan dance mask that Kevin donated to the museum in 1962. It has been in storage almost all the time since.

While there we were shown a number of different PNG artifacts including some tapa from Oro Province. When we were living in Popondetta in the 70's I used to buy tapa from the women who made it. I did this on behalf of the Vocational Centre where I taught. The centre ran a small business and tapa was made into hats and bags or sold by the piece to tourists. The photo is of a piece of tapa that I bought for myself at that time.


Tapa is made from the bark of a species of mulberry. The pieces of stripped bark are beaten out over a log until they are flexible. Some pieces of tapa are huge, this one is quite small - about a metre by 60 cm. The very best tapa is as flexible as cloth with almost no holes. Thicker tapa with no holes is generally not as highly regarded as thinner tapa with holes, but even the best quality tapa must be decorated well to be valuable. Traditionally, the red in the designs is made from hibiscus gum, the black from charcoal. In the 70's these were painted on with brushes made from chewed twigs. Designs are usually based on natural objects - fish, lizards, palm fronds, but may also be purely geometric.

Tapa from some of the Pacific islands is varnished but PNG tapa is soft. It was used for all the things cloth is - wrappings for gifts, food and as shrouds, clothing, curtains, table and bed covers. I believe tapa is still being made but woven cloth has replaced it for everyday use.

The tapa I saw at the Museum was not the best quality and the painting was very poorly done. The line surrounding the red motifs was very definite, unlike the the soft lines and dots of the tapa I am accustomed to. It looked to be the work of a beginner or someone unaware of the traditional styles. The pic below shows the design outlines of a traditional piece very clearly.



PS: I walked 11023 steps yesterday. I have 9433 on the pedometer at the moment and I still have to prepare dinner.

10,000 Steps

I have resumed the 10,000 steps program. The idea is that you do at least that number of steps per day to maintain a basic fitness level. The steps are measured with a pedometer. At the end of last year I was attaching it religiously to my belt every morning and achieving the goal most days. Then it was Christmas and New Year, and the daily walks became walks every third or fourth day. The week before last we started walking every day again, but the pedometer languished on the bedroom chest of drawers until yesterday.

It is very hard to do that number of steps when you spend hours at the computer, sewing machine or embellisher! Yesterday I only managed 8865 steps. Today I have done 10,168 so far and will probably clock up a few more before bedtime.

A few of the steps involved walking out to the back garden to examine my "alien flowers". The centre of the flower has opened out a bit more and there are more bluey-purple bits in the middle.