The Prodigal Blogger

I was trying to find photos of something I posted a few years ago, then remembered they were here somewhere. Amazing how you forget things in the blur of everyday life isn't it ? Scrolling back through my old posts made me realise that I'd been absent for such a long time from my Journal. I guess more instantaneous gratification is the norm these days, and I now use another online forum as do most of my friends. But putting your thoughts into words and preserving them, even if just for an insight into your feelings at a particular time, is very cathartic. I've been volunteering for a baby bereavement charity now for over 3 years, and taken an admin / executive role for most of that time. The AGM is approaching in a couple of months so once again time to evaluate and decide if I want to take a step back from the admin side and concentrate on the basics of the organisation. Angel Gowns Australia provides burial garments to families at no charge, made from donated wedding dresses. We were the first such organisation in Australia and I messaged about joining the group on the first night it was announced on social media. Never one to do anything by halves, within 6 months I was in boots and all, helping to design and draft customised patterns for our Angel Gown garments, and helping to write directions and guidelines on the best way to make them to our unique styling and all that involved. Currently I'm the national Secretary as well, so a pretty busy girl these days. Not much time for sewing the garments though, and it's only just recently I've been able to spend more than a couple of hours at a time at the sewing machine. My hands have been affected quite a lot with chemo treatment after my bowel cancer in 2013 and the fine motor control is sometimes not so good.

I've been working casually some evenings teaching basic dressmaking classes at the Parramatta College, our local community college. Some nights I have trouble picking up pins, the students have to pin their work for me to demonstrate. I've also been teaching some basic workshops in crochet and knitting, and that has helped I think to improve my hands quite a bit. Hopefully the altered sensation in my feet will also improve, that has been a lot slower unfortunately. The grandkids are all growing up way too fast, Riley and Amelie are 8, Aiden and Seth are both 5 and at school this year, and baby Ben is 4 in September. Miss Zoe his little sister will be 3 in December but seems much older as everything Bennie does she does too LOL Nan is certainly kept on her toes when she babysits for them every fortnight during school terms that's for sure.

A new adventure begins

Chemotherapy finished, and feeling pretty pleased with myself. Unfortunately 2 weeks post chemo I started getting quite bad peripheral neuropathy, to the point that my fine motor skills are seriously compromised and my feet feel like I'm walking on very gritty beach sand all the time. Doctors aren't sure it will improve completely, but as of this week I have slight improvement. I'm teaching Absolute Beginners Dressmaking and Intermediate Dressmaking classes at the Parramatta College 2 evenings a week in 8 week blocks and managing to demonstrate to the students, as long as they do the pinning that is LOL ! Hand sewing is slow and very frustrating although not really painful. My regular costuming clients have had to find other seamstresses, but I have signed up to make Angel Gown garments with a great new organisation in Australia. NICU Helping Hands Angel Gown Program Australia is a fully volunteer group who receive donated wedding wear and upcycle them into memorial/burial gowns for babies who "grow their wings too soon" as we say. With over 2000 still born babies in Australia a year, neo-natal deaths (first 8 weeks) and late miscarriages happening more and more there is unfortunately an ongoing need for our services. I've been helping (slowly) to refine our patterns for the gowns in my capacity as award winning patternmaker (dating from 1996 State medal winner for Custom Clothing at TAFE) and many years practical experience with sewing wedding fabrics. We have some fabulous work coming through from all over Australia, Our remote seamstresses in country areas are "topping the list" at the moment although we don't see it as a competition of course. The families who are offered our garments when that sad time comes at the hospitals are very grateful for the beautiful garments made with love and compassion by our passionate ladies who are supported by their partners and families with logistical help too. We are getting ready to fundraise to ensure ongoing supply of our special white presentation boxes and cards which go with every gown placed in a hospital or funeral home. If you've read this far you'll see that I'm very passionate about the cause, LOL, and see this as a way to repay my good fortune to be looking forward to many more years with my husband and family thanks to the doctors and nurses who looked after me in the past 11 months. My diagnosis anniversary is next weekend, does this call for a celebration ?

See more about Angel Gown Program here

2014 catchup

My world has certainly changed since my last posting ! I was just settling in to providing Nanny day care for grandson Seth when I started getting some nasty twinges in my abdomen which needed checking out. To cut a long story short, I was sent to a gastroenterologist as a precaution and she recommended a colonoscopy as I was coming up to 60 years old. Unfortunately she discovered a colon cancer which we hoped was early stage. 2 weeks later the surgeon had removed the cancer which tested as stage 3B, not so early. He recommended 6 months of fortnightly chemotherapy so we decided to "go with the flow" and began chemo 4 weeks later. As you can see quite a whirlwind of testing, results and treatment ! My surgeon recommended I use a private oncology service rather than the public hospital which although very good is quite clinical and not the best option for someone with anxiety problems ! So glad I could afford to take his advice. I formed a lovely relationship with my chemo nurse and the director of the Western Sydney Private Oncology Centre at Westmead over the 6 months. I had a PIC inserted in my chest wall so that I could have regular infusions and also so that I could go home for the second phase of each treatment which required 4 hours in the clinic once a fortnight then going home with a small bottle of chemo drugs attached through the port. I quickly got into the routine of fortnightly blood tests on the Friday before treatment, then Monday for treatment and Wednesday for de-access of the line. The port will stay in for another 6 months in case I need plasma or a transfusion at some stage. Have a follow up CT scan of chest, abdomen and pelvis in a fortnight, then hopefully just regular flushing of the port and an occasional blood test. Fingers crossed we have stopped it in its tracks, the doctors were all calling me the "model Patient" as I had very few side effects and tolerated the chemo fairly well. I have very thin hair and short nails at the moment, and a bit of peripheral neuropathy (tingling and numbness) in my hands and feet which is typical and usually temporary. The fatigue levels are very debilitating so my stitching and sewing has been minimal this past 6 months, and I've had to pass my dressmaking clients to other people. On the whole though I feel very blessed and extremely lucky that I insisted on following up my pains and that the doctors reacted swiftly to the results. It certainly pays to listen to your own body, know when there's something not right and insist on tests until you are satisfied that you've done all you can. Best wishes to anyone else going through similar at the moment, I believe in Karma so I'm sure all will be well if it's meant to be. XX

Autumn update

Further to my last post, our Intermediate Historical and Contemporary Embroidery coursework was displayed for the month of February at the Embroiderers' Guild NSW and was very well received. I was awarded a Distinction for my efforts, and all participants gained a Credit award or better. I received so many comments about my work, how interesting and emotive it was to the visitors etc. that my head got quite swelled LOL No sooner was that work taken down than I had another paid job to begin, 10 costumes for NSW convicts to wear while commemorating the bicentennial of the first "white" crossing of the Blue Mountains in 1813. So I've been helping plan my youngest daughter's wedding for May, while sourcing suitable fabric, cutting out and sewing up 10 colonial style shirts and 5 punishment trousers with side buttons and 5 regular drawstring trousers. With limited measurements supplied from the actors I have all my fingers crossed that my approximations are going to fit. I also commissioned some hand knitted natural hand spun woollen caps from the Kurrajong Spinners and Weavers so only had to make one myself. Now to distress the clothes a little and stamp them with the "broad arrow" in a few places. Photos to follow. All of this was completed this year after successful Carpal Tunnel surgery on my right hand on January 15th. I've been taking it fairly slowly and not straining the wrist, so far so good. Left hand next, but not so urgent. And my granny daycare commitments continue, at the moment twice a week while the other grandmother is overseas. It's been quite interesting entertaining a four year old (going on 14) girl and a nearly 15 months old boy, I'm really out of practice LOL Wouldn't miss the experience for the world though.

Major Work 2012

Have finally finished my 2 year Intermediate Historical and Contemporary Embroidery Certificate course at the Embroiderers' Guild NSW. The whole experience was certainly "challenging" for several reasons. I knew from the start what my theme was going to be - the difficulties experienced by the girls aged 12-16 years put into "Lynwood Hall" (now called Linnwood) when they were State Wards in the 1940's, 50's and 60's. I thought this would certainly fit into one of the theme categories we were offered, so I chose Pain. My original concept was to make or adapt a 1950's garment and embellish it with details illustrating my theme. About half way through the 2nd year I started to realise that I needed something a bit more unique, and while googling terms to find some suitable illustrations to modify I stumbled on emotional baggage images. Eureka, all I needed was a suitable piece of baggage. As luck would have it, not long after that I was volunteering at a vintage clothing show and bought a great 1950's suitcase at a great price. Full steam ahead. My final piece is mixed media using painted and stencilled handmade paper, unusual fabrics, machine embroidery, quilting and machined text. Don't know if I've passed yet, but hope I will as the marks from our progressive monthly assignments were good.

Au Revoir Grace

Why is it that we always promise we'll see our extended families more often, but it's usually at weddings or funerals that we catch up? Today we saw husband's side of the family at the funeral of his father's cousin Grace. A lovely lady, one of those true ladies that everybody just loved and in her 92nd year. We saw cousins that we haven't seen for years except at such gatherings and everyone left with promises to catch up more often. It's a fact of modern life that everyone is so busy that it takes a sad event to bring people together. My New Year's Resolution for 2013 will be to try to do better at visiting family members I haven't seen recently, so many on my side of the family too.

Grace and love of her life Cec

Blast from the Past

I've been doing some reminiscing lately, for various reasons, and look what was posted on Facebook today? My husband's 2nd cousin (or 3rd I'm never quite sure) found this photo of her uncles and me. This was taken in my husband's back yard at Lurnea, I can remember the dress I wore, navy seersucker with red and white spots and I made it myself. I'm guessing I was turning 17 and had just started going out with John who was turning 18 and his cousin Bob with beard was 19. I look very like my oldest daughter and youngest daughter combined ! Thanks Kathie, one I haven't seen before and will now treasure.

It's been difficult to post regularly this year. The Intermediate Historical and Contemporary Embroidery Course I've been taking with the Embroiderers' Guild NSW has needed a huge amount of dedicated time for homework over the 2 years. Then there's the dreaded "Major Work" due this December LOL We were advised at the beginning to pick a theme which would sustain us for the full 2 years, and 5 themes to choose from. They were Body, Time, World, Pain and Anarchy. So naturally I chose Pain! My connection for the last 10 years with the Linnwood/ Lynwood House story and the girls aged 12 - 16 who were sent there for various reasons which were not their fault has affected me from the first hearing. My own teenage years were quite turbulent with a fracturing family unit so I could certainly identify with the pain suffered by these kids. But how to interpret that into contemporary stitch? Well, I'll just say that whilst my theme hasn't wavered, my concept has "evolved" into what I hope is interesting and contemporary. At the moment I'm working on "emotional baggage" with a vintage suitcase, unusual materials and machine quilting. I'll try to post some in progress photos, it's quite hard to photograph this "mini installation" but I'll see how I go. Stay tuned !

South side of Linnwood with original fountain and restored rose garden

Bring on the Springtime !

So pleased that a touch of Spring has come to Sydney this week, I think I suffer in the Winter with Seasonal Affective Disorder. I want to hibernate and not go anywhere or do anything unless absolutely necessary. Today my latest vintage/antique underwear piece arrived from the US, a self-frilled top petticoat with a train. It was "as found" in a trunk in an attic, and after 2 hours of soaking and rinsing the grey colour out it looks pretty good. Hoping for a sunny day tomorrow to do it all again and "grass" it this time. Will photograph it after final treatment, such a pretty thing to own. I've been enjoying a new TV show on Channel 10 Sydney called "I Will Survive" which features one of my entertainer clients. I sewed for Davin GJ and his Performing Arts School for 10 years including his cabaret show costumes, so I can truthfully say I had a small part in his current success. 12 blokes are vying for $250,000 and a chance to perform on Broadway in NY while travelling from Sydney to Darwin by bus as in the show "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" Of course a lot of wearing drag costumes and makeup and performing, but the search for a fabulous dancer, singer and actor (called a triple threat in the business" is the main focus of the show. The judges are Jason Donovan and Stephan Elliot (writer and director of Priscilla) and guest star mentors will be popping in and out along the way. Here's a picture from the first episode, with Davin putting on his drag makeup for the first time

and then a group shot of a performance of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls just want to have fun" at half time at the footy in country NSW at Dubbo!

Images of Mandy's Counted Thread band round robin

Here, finally, are photos of my work on Mandy's band. This band is one of 7 bands which have been working their way around the world for the past few years between an online group of stitching friends. I've had this band for WAY too long, but now it's finished and I've worked on 6 of the 7 bands (I think!) I was fortunate to find a V and A Museum book with line drawings of Elizabethan blackwork patterns in it, and have been able to fine one suitable to use on each of the bands. I had to graph them up, so that was a great learning curve for me. The design for this one is circa 1660, and I've continued the yellow and burgandy colours from previous bands. Hope Mandy, likes it, just waiting to hear if one other lady is able to work on it before it returns to England.

It's been a while

I've been quietly stitching away on my Intermediate Course assignments and volunteering occasionally at Hambledon Cottage Parramatta, Linnwood at Guildford and for the Embroiderers' Guild NSW for most of this year. Our 4 grandchildren continue to delight us as they grow up, with the 2 babies Aiden and Seth both over 6 months old now. Our last child Bron has announced her wedding date in May 2013 and I'm sure that'll come quickly enough. There has been a little improvement in my balance problem, but not enough for my liking so I think I'll start another round of doctor's visits to try to get a better result. This has meant I'm not entirely confident travelling about town on public transport unless necessary and the recent Craft and Quilt Show at Darling Harbour in Sydney really tested my stamina. My major work for the Intermediate Course is due to be finished by 7th December and I'm well into the planning and sampling part of the piece. Next post I'll put up some photo information, then I can't change my mind once it's public, can I? LOL

Latest eBay purchase

I'm very fortunate that my dear husband sometimes buys things at my request on his eBay account. In May I'm mounting another exhibition at Hambledon Cottage Museum and Gallery in Parramatta NSW and this time my theme is Victorian / Edwardian children's wear. Hopefully by then I'll have invented a snappy title and added more items to my collection. I've been gradually finding some gems on eBay including this latest purchase which was advertised as an insect cover for a baby carriage. I actually think it's a netted coverlet for a cot or baby carriage and is in pretty good condition with just a few breaks in the netting background by the look of the detailed photos. Filet embroidery was popular in the late 19th and early 20th century and I'm sure this dates from the Edwardian period (prior to WWI in 1914) Can't wait for the parcel to arrive from the USA, any day now.

Here is a closer look at the first 2 letters of the alphabet, looks like some crochet detail as well as filet embroidery on the netted background. Wish it could tell me its story though !

Counted band finished

Can't believe I have FINALLY finished my section of Margaret's counted thread band round robin which was started on its journey way back in 2007 ! This is one of 6 remaining bands by 6 different stitchers which are being mailed progressively around the world, with the completion date originally of early 2008. As you know we crafting ladies tend to take on too many projects at once, creating UFO's (Unfinished Objects) and WISPS (Works in Slow Progress) but I think these bands certainly qualify as E-WISPS (EXTREME works in slow progress) There were extenuating circumstances of course, including loss of spouses, loss of homes and natural disasters which all contributed to the slow progress of each band. However now the end for some of them is in sight, and I hope my own efforts are worth the wait. One more stitcher in Canada to go and then I think this band will be ready to head home to the USA.

My section is the bottom one in burgundy and yellow pearl 12 thread, a traditional blackwork design illustrated in "Double Running Stitch" by Luisa F Pesel published in 1931 and taken from the Victoria and Albert Museum London collection of a 1631 Elizabethan sampler. I drew up the chart from the drawing which was very helpful to study the detail of the design. I chose to use 2 colours where the original had 3, and I think the design suits the feel of Margaret's sampler quite well. This band has travelled with me to Norfolk Island, Canberra (twice) Araluen in southern inland NSW while on holidays and has visited meetings of the Embroiderers' Guild NSW and the Lace Guild NSW Branch and been much admired everywhere it travels. I have another girl's band still waiting for stitching but I seem to have my embroidery mojo working at the moment so will tackle that next.

The "alien" invasion continues

Here are the three largest stinkhorns of the 9 new ones which appeared beside the mail box garden this morning. These three are all about 5 inches (13 cm)long and look spongey although I won't be testing that theory ! All the heat of yesterday has certainly produced a great crop of these smelly fungi. I'm just sorry I had to get so close to macro them, they are REALLY smelly en masse like this. You may even be able to see a visiting fly if you enbiggen (sp?) the photo They only last a day or two, then shrivel up and fade away. Very curious indeed.

Introducing baby Seth

Baby Seth Enrique arrived a little earlier than expected on 30th December 2011, yet another Capricorn to add to our little family. We are very proud of our daughter Dianne who delivered him naturally after an emergency Caesarian section last pregnancy. It was a hard and fast labour after an induction 12 days early, but she is very grateful to the support of her doula (birth coach) Tricia and student midwife Zoe who agreed with her that the offered C section was not needed despite some horrific tales from the OB. No wonder the Australian C section rate is steadily climbing if this experience is the norm, he wanted to deliver the baby because they thought he was very small. Well, he surprised us all weighing 3.03kg (6lbs 11 oz) and measuring 45 cm long. They only stayed 24 hours in hospital after his birth as dad Steve has a month off to help with big sister Amelie (nearly 3) and baby Seth. I love this photo of the kids so much.

We are all very relieved that Seth arrived safely and mum and bub are continuing to do well at home. Now I can concentrate on getting organised for the year to come, more in another post.

A fabulous Christmas

I was so glad I offered to host Christmas Day at our place this year. All the family were invited to come from about 3 pm and stay for a meal. The ladies all brought a contribution towards the meal with them so the menu comprised cold meats (turkey breast, leg ham, cold chicken cuts) and fresh king prawns. We had pasta salad, coleslaw, green salad, pineapple, tomatoes, beetroot slices, asparagus, sweet corn, cocktail onions and bread rolls for main course. Then for dessert... my daughter-in-law made a beautiful warm lemon and raspberry bread and butter pudding and mini cupcakes, my brother's partner made a gingerbread house for the kids and decorated mince pies and my oldest daughter brought the makings of mini pavlovas. I also bought a traditional Christmas pudding and a cake, but we didn't even cut them up on the night, there was so much other good food. So now the fridge is groaning with leftover food and hubby and I are finding it hard not to indulge ourselves a little. We won't mention all the chocolates and other food gifted to us, lucky they all have long use-by dates on the packages LOL. We had 19 adults and 6 children under 4 as well as my yet-to-be-born baby grandson. The day was intermittent cloud and sun, with a pleasant breeze in the afternoon. We assembled our blow up castle/slide in the backyard for the kids and so everyone sat on the ground on doonas or on the outdoor setting with nibbles and drinks watching the kids (including some "Big kids") play on the equipment. The littlies all got on well together with only minor skirmishes now and then. Christmas is such a big thing for the kids, they get over excited and tire quickly but it was a lovely family afternoon. My mother and father-in-law joined us. They are both widowed now and over 80, so they really enjoyed the time with the great grandchildren. It certainly reminded me of the great times I had as a child at my own grandmother's home sitting outside on the lawn with the family at Christmas. Hopefully we'll have many more such happy times in the future. On boxing day we delivered my little grandsons their cubby house gift as promised. Riley (3) helped unpack the box and found the instructions for the men and then didn't stop smiling the whole time he helped assemble the little house.

Riley was very quick to start "screwing together" the fence using only the picture on the box to guide him! Pop and Dad got busy screwing together the main parts of the house while Riley acted as Foreman of the site LOL

Here is the completed house being checked over, Riley couldn't wait to get inside and that big smile made it all worthwhile. Several family members contributed towards the purchase of this much loved cubby house for the boys. PS apologies for the set out of this post, Blogger won't let me put in paragraphs at the moment !!

"Alien" visitors

The weather has been so damp and humid in Sydney since late November that it was inevitable that some stinkhorn fungii would start to pop up in the garden. They really do look like an alien life form, so bizarre. Apparently there are over 77 varieties worldwide and the first one I've shown is indigenous to Australia. We've had about a dozen of the thin orange/pink variety called phallus rubicanus

popping up in the mulch in the garden next to the letter box (mailbox). The next one is the anenome or star stinkhorn and this is the largest I've ever seen in our garden, about 8 cm across the centre and can I say they REALLY live up to their names, peeeeuuuuuwwwww. There is a crop of about 10 next to our BBQ under a grevillea shrub.

So you can see why I'm very glad my little granddaughter Amelie (who loves digging in the garden) will not be visiting every Monday for a while. Her mum is on maternity leave waiting for the birth of our 4th grandchild and 3rd grandson in a week or so. Amelie would be so attracted to the bright red "flowers" and the smell is hard to get off your fingers if you are unfortunate enough to touch one.

The year in review

It's just over 2 weeks till Christmas Day and I've organised 1 gift so far! It's been a year of mixed blessings here. My husband has been diagnosed with bi-lateral peripheral neuropathy (tingling and numb feet) which has really impacted both our lives. He cannot drive very far these days but has started a Pilates therapy programme and hopes to get some relief. I've finally started seeing a therapist regularly so hope to get my anxiety disorder under a bit of control. We farewelled my step-father in late October and 2 days later our 3rd grandchild Aiden James was born to my son and his wife Bel, and in January (or sooner) we're welcoming another little grandson, a brother for Miss Amelie. So as you can see, we're living in a real soap opera here LOL I guess Life is like that don't they say Truth is stranger than Fiction? We had another family wedding in July and my 3rd daughter announced her engagement on her birthday in September so I suppose we'll be looking at wedding plans next year. I began the Intermediate Historical and Contemporary Embroidery Course in February at the Embroiderers' Guild NSW and attend once a month for 2 years. The homework has been challenging while I've been ill, but I think things will improve next year as my medication kicks in and I start to feel better. I'm booked to install another exhibition at Hambledon Cottage Parramatta in May, this time featuring infants wear from the Victorian and Edwardian era. I welcome your suggestions for a catchy title. I continue to do Guest Speaker gigs with my travelling trunk show of costumes and vintage underwear, and teach children textiles and fibre arts at the Embroiderers' Guild. Miss Amelie will not be coming on Mondays each week in 2012 as her Mum will be on maternity leave, but promises to bring her to visit frequently. We formed such a strong bond with my granddaughter over the 2 or so years I've been minding her and she has slept over successfully several times. I'm going to miss my Nana Naps with her LOL So to all regular readers and followers, I wish you all the Joy of the Season and a very happy and prosperous 2012.

I've joined TAST 2012 too

I'm really looking forward to Tuesday January 3rd 2012, because that's the day Sharon B starts TAST 2012. For those who don't know, Take a Stitch Tuesday is an online tutorial which Sharon share's with stitchers all around the world every Tuesday. There are over 500 participants signed up so far, so if you like the idea of stitching along with so many friends worldwide, and sharing triumphs and problems via your blog, pop over to Pintangle here and sign up. Follow Sharon's excellent directions and strap yourself in for a fabulous journey !

Vintage cotton reel tassels - one method

Inspired by my friend Doreen's post about her cotton reel tassels here, I challenged my sewing group ladies to make some today. Doreen kindly sent basic directions and with those in hand we started scraping and soaking off the labels on the ends of the vintage wooden reels. When clean we dried them and used fine sandpaper to neaten the ends. Next we searched my stash for laces, braids etc for the body. We layered them to get a really luxurious look. As today was very hot in Sydney we mostly took the easy way out and used ready made tassels but one clever lady made a beaded multicoloured one. These were threaded onto a large wooden craft button which was then glued to the base of the reel. Next we made hanging loops which were glued into the top hole with clear craft glue through another large wooden button. The ladies all glued beads, sequins etc around the top to dress them up. I sewed some beads on one thin braid on top of another wider braid around the middle of my reel, the copper, gold and green one in the photo. Thanks for the great idea Doreen, we had so much fun with these today.