Australia Day

Well 26th Jan is quite an important day for me.

It's the day my ancestors arrived in Australia, 219 years ago.

They were Nathaniel Lucas and Olivia Gascoigne and both were convicts.

Nathaniel, a carpenter, was 20 when he was convicted at the Old Bailey of stealing some clothes from his neighbour ( six muslin aprons, some towels and handkerchiefs, and muslin shawls and caps).
Olivia, a servant, was said to be 24 when she was convicted of stealing money "by force of arms" . Such a conviction would normally have meant the death sentence, but the sentencing Judge was retiring that day, and he commuted many sentences. So Olivia, like Nathaniel was given transportation for 7 years to Botany Bay.

We have transcripts of the trials, fascinating reading. And there is a letter in the Mitchell Library in Sydney that Nathaniel wrote home to his father in 1796 whilst living on Norfolk Island. It's a beautiful letter, from a proud husband and father. Its tells of his grief when his twin girls were killed by a falling pine tree. Of his amazement in the fertile island and all the crops and livestock it supports. And of his good relationship with Gov. King.

I wonder if I will leave such a well written history behind?

Nathaniel was appointed a superintendent of carpenters in Sydney in 1804. He built the first Mill in Sydney, and many other buildings in Sydney, Parramatta and Liverpool, none of them are still standing unfortunately.
I have read that Lucas Heights, where Australia's only Nuclear Reactor is housed, has a Nathaniel Lucas connection.

Nathaniel died in 1818, his body found in the Georges River near Liverpool, he was said to be "mentally de-ranged" at the time.
Soon after, Olivia moved to Port Dalrymple in Van Diemens Land. She farmed there with some of her children, until her death in 1830, and is buried in the Cypress Cemetery, Launceston.

There are 4 other convicts in my family, all on Mum's Lucas side!
Having convict ancestors was frowned upon until probably the 1980's, and interest was spurred on by the Bicentennial in 1988.
Luckily for us, the Lucas' were quite good at getting their names in the local papers, wherever they lived. The exploits of Richard Lucas fill pages, mostly petty criminal stuff, but I guess it takes a few generations before you can chuckle about it!

I should read more about my history, Mum has some more books, huge ones filled with lists of names, transcripts, obituaries and inquests, births, deaths, and marriages. Rather stark documents, but a framework to imagine what they were really like, and wonder if i'm anything like them?

naughty cindercat!

Boy, been a while, you can tell i'm back at work!

I like indoor plants a lot, i like the way the make a room cheerful, trouble is i'm not real good at keeping them alive, too much water i suspect.

But someone is not helping with the lifespan of one of my newer plants.

As you may be able to tell, it has been pruned back rather harshly, and the brazen gardener went to work while i was taking this photo!!!!!!

What a bad girl, poor poor pot plant!!!!!!!!!!!

So it has now been swapped with a less delicious one, hopefully that will stop her.

Cat Desk Calender

Susaninstitches asked about the cat desk calender:

It uses a Creative Memories pic folio album, and was time consuming but easy.

I now have a cindercat pic for each month. And the great thing is that a can just print new months for 2008 and slip them in, and change the pics if i want, afterall, i have plenty of cat pics to add!!!!!

The Kiwis are here

I'm enjoying the cricket on the radio, but think I'll put the TV on, with the sound turned down as I can't stand chanel 9's commentators.

The reason for wanting to see as well as listen is New Zealand all-rounder, Daniel Vettori!

Not only is he good-looking, he can read! Even if it is the Da Vinci Code.

What bird is that?

Just come back from my Sunday morning walk.

We walk along a local creek. Feels very unlike surburbia!

As I was waiting for D to turn up, I thought I'd prune the Cecile Brunner Rose, and look what I found.......................

A pidgeon flew out giving me a big fright, then I looked a little closer and saw the nest with 2 small eggs.

If only the little wrens would come back next door. There used to be a lot of them, before the fench was mended and the creepers pulled out.

So after showing D the nest we set off on our walk.

The creek is quite high and there seems to be more birdlife around.

We saw, and heard a pair of Kookaburras. Laughing merrily they were! I love them, and in 2 years of walking the creek we had never seen them before today.

There are also some ibis or cormarents(sp?) around lately, very magestic birds. The creek must be healthy to attract them.

Feeling very happy to live in a great part of Melbourne.

And another quilt photo

This was the only other large quilt I finished in 2006.

It is a signature quilt, with blocks collected at the Canberra Scquilters Retreat, held in Canberra, April 2006. A great weekend, and this quilt will be a lovely memory of the friendships from Scquilters.

It was machine quilted by Desley Regan, from Addicted to Quilts. She is an amazing machine quilter and a good friend!

The quilt now lives on the couch in the loungeroom, and warmed me last winter when i wanted a nanna-nap.

I'll find Desley's web page to put on the links.

Time for another cat photo

Good Old Cinder, such a helpful cat.
Helping me out with some plans for work.

Had to explain the torn bits to the contractor when I gave them back.

Idiot Proof

This is a cooler brick.

It says you must "Freeze before use"

Doh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is the world so full of idiots?

Are we really so dumb?

Do we really lack the basic intelligence to realise that a cooler brick would do bugger all unless we wacked it in the freezer overnight?

I guess there are lots of other examples of this, and don't get me started on how bad television is in Australia!

Summer Days

Boy it's been a hot day, 35deg C at least.
Nothing seems to wilted out in the garden though, will get out and water when it's dark in a few hours.
Summer used to be my fave season, not so much now, but it still has the strongest memories for me. I grew up in a very small town, in a very warm part of Victoria, Australia. Summers seems to last for most of the year!
We were always at the local pool, no sunscreen or hats. I wonder if I'll start looking like a raisan in my 40's :) Hanging out for the hour to pass by after lunch, so our food had "gone down" and we wouldn't drown.
Nowdays I still like summer, but it now means spending time in the sewing room, listening to the cricket on ABC radio, gardening and having a break from work.
I'm off soon to walk with a friend, need to try and do this more often, we yak all the way, and it's great for letting off steam, as we have a rule:
What is spoken on the walk, stays on the walk!!!!!

M.

Time for a cat photo

This is Cindercat having the most lovely stretch!
She was asleep on the top of the showerscreen, a most unlikely place for a comfy snooze i would think, only about 6cm wide. It must have been the bathmat that made it so inviting.
Cinder likes to hang out in the Bathroom, she has an obsession with the towel cupboard, and tries to get in there whenever you open it.
She also likes to drink out of the bucket. I shower with a bucket to save some water and for some reason Cinder thinks that warm, slightly sudsy water is delicious.
If the bucket is empty, and Cindercat is thirsty, look out! She will madly paw at the glass shower door until you come and open it. Then she will lick the bottom of the shower, YUK!!!!!
Lucky I only use enjo products to clean with, and no chemicals.
I worry sometimes that she is diabetic, but she shows no other symptoms.

No Forklift drivers

Well, it happened!

A customer needed something that was up very high in the pallet racking. There was no way I could reach them standing on a ladder. So John from engineering climbed up the racking. Extremely unsafe! But I was offering moral support and hoping like hell he didn't fall on me.

Perhaps I could get my forklift licence, it can't be that difficult??????

There must be a huge auction on around the corner, cars are cruising our street looking desperate and hassled.

This happens most Tuesdays, drives us nuts!!!!!

They park on our nature strip and block the driveway.

I love it when you are walking back from the Milkbar and they think you are returning to your car, faces light up like they've hit the jack pot at first, but the further away you walk the more despondent they look!!!!

Our storeman usually acts as the parking-nazi, and enjoys his role a little too much!!!!!

But he is away this week, so i have taken a few cable drums and blocked our driveway, and parked my own car in the 2nd driveway.

This is my desk:

Obviously a hub of hard work!!!!

Back to Work

Well the 2 week break is over, it's back to reality.
Only a few people back so far, Vikki and I in the office, few guys in engineering. We are hoping that customers won't be after any stock that requires a forklift!!! Vikki has already had to climb a ladder to get at something.
Vikki got engaged on Christmas Day and has a big rock on her finger, quite nice actually, very tasteful. I'm not a big jewellery fan, but this ring looks stylish and not over the top.
I hope to get a few posts done this week while it's not too busy.

My Little Garden

We are on water restrictions, have been for a year or so, and they were made more severe on New Years Day. I am only allowed to water with a hose twice a week. It's been very hot this last week and I have been bucketing water from the washing machine when I did a load and have shallow bowls in the bathroom basin and the sink.

I think these measures will keep the tomatoes and a few precious pot plants alive.

I love Pelagoniums and Geraniums, not sure what the difference is, perhaps someone can enlighten me?????????

This is one of my favourites.

It started as a cutting from a quilting friend, and I have since given cuttings to a few quilting friends. It is a very dark purple, almost black. Love the hardiness of Pelagoniums, they love a prune, and are fairly low maintenence, a lot of the time I prune them to add to the compost bin.

Perhaps in a few months time they will be the only survivors in my little courtyard! I am always on the hunt for new specimens, and often leave a meeting, or a friends place with a few cuttings.

This courtyard was disgusting when we moved in. Cooch Grass and dog shit! I went about the work gradually, one area at a time, pulling out the grass and adding mulch to stop the weeds coming back. I had a few old realible plants from the old house, agapanthus and ivy leafed geranium, a few lavenders and rosemary, cacti for the edges.

It's taken me 2 years, but I'm quite happy with my little garden, it gives me pleasure and helps feed us too.

Mini Cat quilt

This is my latest finished quilt. As you can see from the pen, it's a small quilt. Another one from Sarah Williams (See Link). I started it at the Canberra Scquilters Retreat in April 2006.

It is the 2nd one of Sarah's quilts I've done, the first was a mini trip-around-the-world which looks good too, can't find a pic of it though.

I can't resist a cat quilt, have a few finished ones, and lots of fabric!

My real cat is fast asleep under the bed. It's a real hot day here in suburbia, and she usually finds a quiet dark place and sleeps there the whole day.

I may join her shortly, just need a good book to read.

I've been bucketing water from the washing machine this morning, need more buckets. Trying to keep a few loved pot plants and the tomatoes alive. We are an odd numbered house, so can only water with a hose on Wed and Sun.

It's suppose to rain sometime today, the clouds have drifted over, but they don't look very wet ones!

What have I done?

Oh dear,
I spend too much time on the net already, but a few friends have great blogs, and I wanted to post some comments, so had to have my very own blog.
I guess I'll just ramble on, post pictures of the cat and some UFO's..............................................................
So bear with me while I get used to this blogging business.