Lest We Forget

Today is Remembrance Day in Australia.

At 11 o'clock on the 11th day of the 11th month each year, we observe a minute's silence to remember those who fought, not only in the Great War, but those who also gave their time and many, their lives, in other conflicts around the world.

Remembrance Day was originally called Armistice Day and commemorated the end of the hostilities for the Great War and the signing of the armistice, which occurred on 11 November 1918.

We also observe ANZAC Day on August 25th each year. It's a public holiday and veterans, and in some cases, their descendants, march as a sign of respect and remembrance. Much like Veterans Day in the USA.

When I was young I used to think ANZAC Day was an attempt to glorify war and just an excuse for a lot of blokes to get together and get drunk. But as I got older, I changed my view and think of it as a day to reflect. I was a Girl Guide when I was younger and we always used to march in the local ANZAC Day Parade, along with all the veterans, my Dad included.

But it's Remembrance Day on November 11 that affects me most and brings a tear to my eye. It's a day that always makes me sad. Sad for innocent lives lost, families left without sons, fathers, uncles, brothers, futures never realised.

But that can be said about all wars can't it.

New Arrivals

Apart from the Goddess Gown and the Lucy Housecoat, I also purchased a couple of other vintage patterns from Etsy the other day

This one's a Vogue from the 1970's. It's a maternity pattern but, no...I am not expecting. I like it for the one shoulder dress, which will be great over Summer

I also like this 1972 McCalls, especially the short blue version with the cut away armholes.

...and then there's this 1963 McCalls...

All of these have already arrived in my letterbox. Unfortunately, the only one that is yet to reach Number 10, is the Goddess Gown. Hope she gets here soon.

Hot...Damn Hot

Melbourne's sweltering at the moment. In fact, it looks like we may be going to record our hottest start to November since 1902...

I'm not a huge fan of the heat. I prefer Spring to be a little milder than this...and so do my critters. As you can see, my little one, Pebbles, has a rather unique way of keeping cool. She just stands in one of the many water trays we leave around the yard and then has her drink. In fact I've often caught her sitting or lying in them.

This one just wants her Mum to make the heat go away

Here she is again, standing in her water bowl on the front veranda

Hey! ....leave room for me to get in too.

Not a chance.

They're both being pampered today. They're having a hair cut and bath. It'll make them feel a lot better.

In fact, Peb's always looks like a Gremlin once she's been groomed...very funny girl.

Monday with Janet

Yes, Monday again and it's hot and sunny here in Melbourne...and did I say HOT!

It was a very productive weekend. MONT spent a good part of Saturday with a group of blokes who were helping out a lady who lost her husband and son in the February bushfires here in Victoria. Her husband was a sensational fella and had been at Number 10 a few times to do some plastering. He's very sadly missed by a lot of people..

Then yesterday, we spent some time at Number 3. Again. Trying to get some more things done before the floor sanding man turned up today. I can't wait to see the finished result later in the week...and yes, I will post photos. I PROMISE!

Today though, something gorgeous.

I love the work of Canadian artist, Janet Hill. I've already purchased three of her prints and when I saw these I thought, hmmmm maybe I can have these too.

They're a great idea for Christmas gifts. You can go to her Etsy store here and see what she has and order some if you like.

You won't be disappointed. I sure wasn't!

Friday

I love Friday.

Even though I only work three days a week now, Friday still feels like it's the end of the working week, which means I can relax, have a glass of wine (or 2) and an easy dinner with MONT before collapsing into bed.

I think Friday is my favourite day of the week because tomorrow is Saturday and I usually have the good fortune to be able to do what I like.

Have a lovely weekend

Grrrrrr

"Ummm excuse me, my fence is falling down and it's taking my clothes line with it...it doesn't look too safe to be working next to"
"Oh it's not our fault love, we're not responsible for the retaining walls that have been dug out here, we're just doing the plumbing work."
"Well, it doesn't look too stable leaning over that way."
"Yeah, well, maybe we can get the grader over there and prop it up a bit."
"Yes, but that doesn't help, because there's no dirt around the fence posts which are just floating in the wind."
"Well, maybe I'll just push it back then tie a rope around one of the posts and secure it to your tree so it doesn't fall any further....oh, you got any rope?"

Yep, that's the way the conversation went with one of the "plumbers" working on the site behind Number 3 yesterday.

As you can imagine, I wasn't favourably impressed

A new house is to be built behind Number 3 and they've dug retaining walls along our common boundary, which means there's no soil left to hold the fence posts up. It also means my block of land is now a little higher above sea level than my neighbour's.

So I went inside, and called the local council's building department and was given the name and number of the surveyor for the job and told to give him a call.

Long story short...After numerous calls back and fro to council and surveyors I realised that no-one appears to be accountable anymore.

I finally called the company responsible for building the house and expressed my safety concerns as well as the fact that I didn't want to lose my clothes line. I was told they'd get in touch with the person responsible and get back to me.

She did....and told me the person responsible would check out the job and see what could be done.
Haven't heard anything else as yet

It certainly was an interesting day at Number 3. Frustrating but interesting.

Anyway, the internal painting's finished and it looks really good and I measured up for the blinds and curtains that I have to replace. I also gave the bathroom a good scrub and it's looking a lot brighter and shinier than it was before I took to it with the Jiff, Domestos and the scrubbing brush. Amazing what a bit of bleach and elbow grease can do. Pity the previous tenant didn't think of that. There really is nothing more gross than cleaning debris from basin and bath plugholes and finding stuff the person responsible for the muck left there, should've cleaned before she left. Eeeww.

Glad I had extra heavy duty rubber gloves with me..

Melbourne Cup Pretties

Sarah Kelly of Canberra, in GREY, wins the Cup final of Myer Fashions on the Field...and doesn't she look lovely? Timeless, classy, elegant.


Great outfit designed by Cue.



Some nice little chapeaux


And another pretty one. Natalie Sadie of Essendon in a David Medwyn outfit. Nice colour combination.

Photos from Melbourne's Herald Sun

A little spooky

I was checking out a new blog today...Little French Nest by Kelly and it really is lovely.

But as I was scrolling through I came across this....and it was a little spooky because this is the front gate at Number 10

...and the night time view

How uncanny.

This is the photo of the heart gate that Kelly took in France.

For the record, I got my idea for the heart gate and fence from a garden centre/nursery catalogue that was left in the letter box, oh, maybe 5 or 6 years ago. Yep, inspiration comes from many sources.

Goddess Gown and Lucy Housecoat

I have a new addition to my collection.

It's this little beauty and she's described as a Goddess Gown.

I found her while browsing through Etsy and a couple of websites that feature vintage patterns and she's due to arrive at Number 10 any day now.

I also purchased this lovely design from 1969....

And this beauty is from the 1950's. It's called the Lucy Housecoat. Don't you love designs that are given names?

What I've found really interesting though is the difference in the sizings from what we're used to today.

For instance, the "Lucy" is classified as a Size 14, to fit a bust measurement of 32 inches. I found a lot of designs like that, particularly from the 1950's.

I know I've been doing a lot of looking and choosing and buying lately but not much sewing....but that's going to change soon. I've had a few other things taking up my time like getting Number 3 finished.

Also... I always find getting out the pattern and the fabric and then constructing a garment is something you have to be in the right frame of mind for, otherwise things can turn pretty "ugly" pretty quickly.

That's my theory anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

The Race That Stops A City

It's Melbourne Cup Day tomorrow and the city is in quite a spin. I must admit though, I've never bought into the sales pitch that it's "the race that stops a nation". It might stop a city, or parts thereof, but a Nation? Nup.

What it does do though is give the chapeau industry a nice little kick along. Big time. Yep, the milliners absolutely love this time of year, even though they're run off their feet. The Spring Racing Carnival does a pretty nice job helping the frock industry too, not to mention the bookies and the TAB. Who said times were tough?

As far as hats go though, I quite like a little cloche.

I think they're quite classy and would be my choice for a day at the races.

This little lemon number is particularly nice.

As for me, I like the greys...so what else is new? The only grey racing in tomorrow's Cup is Newport. Haven't got a clue what it's won in the past or who's on it, but it's a gorgeous grey and that's good enough for me. '