31 Years Later . .

Once upon a Time when I was a lot younger and had newborn Twins we embarked on an extension - renovation to our home.  

One Friday, the builders decided that they were done, and just threw together 2 days worth of work in an afternoon.  

It was a rushed job and it showed.

2 Weeks ago, I opened the Linen/Coat Cupboard and "Lost it".  
I had had enough! 

 

Why oh Why did they leave it like this?  
And Why haven't we done something about fixing it?

In houses built when ours was, the Frame was built into the floor joists before the Timber Floorboards (in our case Tasmanian Oak) were attached.

When you remove walls there is a 90 mm gap between the rooms.

A Good Tradesman would source similar floorboards and repair the gap properly.

We Clicked and Collected some Carpet to go inside the cupboard and cover the unsightly board.  BUT the door wouldn't close.  

More work was required.

The scrap of Structaflor they used was basically thrown onto the bearers and only screwed down because it didn't lay flat. It was noticeably higher at one end and the door barely cleared it without the carpet.

I discovered it also wasn't glued down - which made getting it out an (almost) simple procedure.

Which apparently involved drilling a LOT of holes, and then hitting it with a hammer.

(OK - Point of  no return!)

When that was removed we discovered WHY it didn't lay flat.  

One Joist was over a 1/4" higher than the others.  And attached to that - was an electrical Junction box.

What would have been a 2 minute job for a Chippie with a sharp chisel took DH Half an Hour to fix. 

Mainly because he couldn't find his Sharp Chisel and the need to be careful around that junction box.

We did have pieces of Tasmanian Oak Floorboards (doesn't everyone keep offcut timber in the roof?). 

And DH was able to sand 50 years of Dust off them before he broke not one but THREE of his tools in the process.

We deliberately decided to not fix the boards down and leave the junction box accessible.. 

And when we are out of lockdown I will line those linen shelves.

Now FINALLY the inside of the Cupboard is presentable and I found somewhere to keep the Step Ladder!

Birthdays Lockdown Style.

Yesterday we were given a bit more "Freedom".  

Our 5 km restriction was stretched to 10 km.  (Although I am starting to feel like a Puppy on a Retractable Leash, I understand why we have to do this.)

As a Kid, Try as I might I just could not understand Venn Diagrams.  

Today I happily drew one - 10 km from Us and 10 km from DD.

Somewhere in the middle they Overlapped.  

And we were able to see her for her Birthday!

Now, we ARE allowed a Picnic (with conditions) BUT I am sure the wind was straight off the Antarctic.  

So Picnic in the Car it was!

[And Bessie has a Great Cubby in the Back ;) ]

And while the Grown-ups were sorting Whose Coffee was Whose...

In swooped 'The Strawberry Thief"

For a Little One that has only just turned One - She did a very good impression of the Seagull that Stole my Sandwich!

There wasn't much left of the Birthday Cake Decoration by the time Miss A had finished - 

This Girl LOVES her fruit and devoured every single piece she took.

So Happy Birthday to MY DD.  

It may not have been the Celebration we would have liked but a precious memory anyway. 

Hope the next one can be celebrated in Style!

Hexagon Mystery - Finished

 Well, I am feeling pretty pleased with myself!

I started the Mystery Hexagon Quilt as a distraction to all things that were happening at our place back in September - and 5 clues behind everyone else.  

It took me 37 weeks and several lockdowns to finish what was scheduled as a 35 week project.

In the end, I did stray from the original pattern and changed the final corner instructions from straight lines to continuing the pattern to the edges.

The next job was to Appliqué the borders on and they didn't take as long as I thought they would. 
(A quick Click and Collect to GJ's for some Roxanne Glue helped) and reminded me that I actually like Applique!

It was very satisfying to put in the Last Stitch.  

Under normal conditions it would call for a Celebratory 'Coffee and Cake' down the Local Cafe - But sadly not this time!

So here it is.  Not a terribly Good Photo as it was attached to the Garage Door with Magnets!

I will leave the 'Glamour Shots' for when it has been Quilted.

For the moment it is now as finished as it can be and waiting for this Lockdown - (Are we still in #6 ?) to be over so I can hand it over to be Quilted.

Vaccine.

Last Monday my DH and I rolled up our sleeves and had our Second AZ Vaccine Shot. 

To mark the occasion we got souvenir Stress Balls.

But this story is not about Us.

* * *

He came into the Church Hall behind us.  He didn't have an appointment, we was a "Walk In" but they welcomed him anyway.

Taking the next seat he raised his head and softly spoke to anyone who would listen.

"I have just lost 4 Members of my Family to This....."

"In Indonesia - My Cousin, He could not breathe.

Just 52 - He was not Old."

He then bowed his head and waited for his turn.

* * *

I have a Sore Arm - He has a Broken Heart.

Happy Birthday Little One

 

One Year ago we were in lockdown.

One year ago we welcomed our 
First Grand Daughter -on Zoom - 

and waited for our first cuddle.

Today we are again in Lockdown

Today we wished her Happy Birthday 

- Via Google Duo - 
and wait for a Birthday cuddle.

Putting a Line under 2-0-1-9

DH Retired December 31st, 2018 and I thought we were to spend our early "Getting to know ourselves again" time Wandering Wineries and Windswept Beaches.  

The 2019 Bushfires put those ideas on hold. 

2019 was also the Year we decided to start a Temperature Quilt.  

He meticulously recorded the Highs and Lows each day of his first Retirement year and whether we had Rain or Shine.

I started pulling Fabrics and piecing Blocks and even made a couple of Progress Posts on my Blog. 

The Blocks started to become a Quilt over the year and early 2020.

Somewhere between my Post of the 5th March and the next on the 18th March Covid had made it's way here and it was time to take it seriously. 

Monash University had been planning for On-line and Remote learning since February, with many of their Students stranded overseas. 

And making working from Home possible became the top priority.

Work on my Quilt also stopped, Like so many of us - At the Borders!  

It was in danger of becoming a UFO - Unable to decide on how to finish it, It was put Aside but not Away.

I went to move it the other day and thought "What is Stopping me Finishing This?"  

My newly acquired Very Empty Workspace soon filled with a Very large Quilt.  It may just be the biggest Temperature Quilt ever made.

The Final wide Yellow Border 
(For Hope for the Future) was now sewn to the Grey Smoke - a Reminder of the Horrific Bushfires of 2019

Hexagon "Stepping Stones" recording the Wonderful Weather on our Trip to Darwin, and Our Retirement treat of the return Journey on The Ghan are Appliqued onto it - 

With a Celebration for the Last Stitch!

It is now Pressed and waiting now Lockdown No 5 is over so I can get it to the Quilter.  

I look at it and I think that This was to be the start of New Beginnings for Us.

And now it is a Reminder of the Precious Freedom we enjoyed -      -Before Covid.

Getting Side-tracked.

The decision to move the hand worked EPP to the Sewing Table was in theory a good one. However, I quickly came to the realisation that there was too much clutter on my table.

The solution was to tidy up - which in true fashion always starts Somewhere Else!  In my case it was under the table.  

Of course all my Cake Decorating Equipment and Ectaras that are minding their own cluttered business in drawers needed to be sorted.

And then once they were neat and Tidy. 

The Table that is under my Table needed sorting as well.

Icing Bags and Nozzles now sit beside Photography bits and bots.

Together with the Scrap Fabric Bin and my Mother's ancient Laptop.

And then the reason for the whole distraction was to move my Printer (Re: Holiday Scrapbook Project) onto the top of the Horn Sewing Cabinet. This houses my Overlocker, so that also needed cleaning off.  

And finally, the Scan and Cut found a Home back in the Sewing Room.

While that was happening I remembered that Officeworks now Recycles 'Dead Pens'.

Awesome! Another side-track.  Locate all the dead pens and bundle them up to go to the Shop.... after lockdown.

Eventually - I had an empty Workspace!  I sat and admired it for what was left of that day, contemplating that I may have too many Hobbies.