Monday, March 24

Scraps

I feel 'Retired' is a stupid word. My belief is, you are not 'retired' until you are dead & gone.

However, for want of a better word, we are now 'retired' from everyday working life out in the Commercial world. We can please ourselves how we spend our time, & our meagre funds. If we want to read, or snooze in the midday hours, we can.

Although, in Gom's case, he is more likely to be found screaming around behind the mower, or the Whipper Snipper like some lunatic, in the burning of the midday sun. Hell bent on either killing himself, or driving the remaining stubs of grass into the dirt, never to dare grow again. Of course the Dandelions laugh at him, & poke their heads up defiantly, & wave & nod as he glares at them.

I find in spite of not having to worry about working life, I still really enjoy the vibe of a long weekend. I love the calm, & the lack of noise about. Though we don't seem to hear the noise of the traffic thundering along the Pacific Highway, we must hear it, on some deep level, because on the weekends, the 'noise' is distinctly different. A nice sense of peace lowers, & I feel relaxed. The occasional hoon might be tempted to rev his motorbike, or 'gun' his car engine, but on the whole, ours is a quiet neighbourhood.

After my post about noise, I kept remembering the W. B. Yeats poem, 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree'. One we learnt at school, & I have never forgotten. I know that craving for peace & the quiet. Now I am sure the English police are out there. I confess I can never remember how to use my quotation marks. Do I use the double ones for titles or is that only for speech? I am open to reprimand here!

I have been enjoying this long Easter weekend. We have had friends to visit, & spend some time laughing & talking. Family meal out at a nice Pub, with excellent food & reasonable prices. SIL was raised Catholic, & will not eat meat on Good Friday, for 'his mother's sake'. Daughter is inclined to scoff, but I admire his respect for his mother. Our outing was on Saturday, so SIL could indulge his craving for meat. We all really enjoyed our meals.

It poured with rain on Friday & Saturday. It was cool, & lovely. Yesterday & today have been fine, but still reasonably cool. I have been enjoying the peace & quiet & indulged in some of Molly's therapeutic pursuits. I have been playing about with scraps with no particular plan. I know it will evolve, I will just play about, making more scrappy nine patches.

My other project is to be posted off on Tuesday. This is just another small peek at a little eye.


Below are the results of the scrap tomfoolery. Refugee squares from other projects, for a very scrappy happy quilt to give to someone. My daughter & I tend to really love scrap quilts, & we love that quilts can contain so many memories of other quilts, as we make them.
I have been enjoying doing these, & have not been stressing about colour placement. It is falling where it may, & seems to look perfectly happy about it. I will probably make another batch today, but will need to cut more patches. My back is not happy to be cutting, or sewing at present. I will need to resort to some of the heavy artillery painkillers I think. Mentally, it is wonderful to feel I can sit in comfort, climatically speaking, to sew.
I was surprised to learn that this year Small Grandson's school was having an Easter Hat Parade. I thought all the schools had stopped any Easter activities for fear of offending the other religions, but reason must have prevailed, somewhere, & so an Easter Hat was ordered from the Mums, with only a day's notice! Bit poor on the part of the school?
Daughter & Granddaughter went off in search of a suitable set of Rabbit ears. "No NO" said SG, "Those are all pink & purple, those are GIRLS ears! I can't wear those!"
O K Plan B. Find something else
They found a black plastic hat. Perfect fit. Green tinsel- bit doubtful about that... oh well, we could rip that off.
Then they found some plain white plastic 'eggs'.
Hmmn, we could paint those.. glue them on, get some of these fuzzy little chickens...
So, the Easter hat was born! They painted & decorated the eggs. They decided the green tinsel looked like grass. They glued all the eggs & the chickens around the hat, & lo!
How cool is that! SG was so proud of his Easter Hat, for the Parade. No one else had one like his. He brought it up to show me on Friday.
Being Nanna, I had to get a photo.
Which really doesn't do it justice!



I have always been a Nanna who doesn't think too much chocolate is good for children. Never mind that SIL is a chocoholic. He is not my son, & I don't feel responsible.

I have made it a habit over the years of giving the Grandchildren other things. Usually PJs for Granddaughter. This year I got her some very timely ones, she told me. All of her old ones are on their last legs- literally. She uses the pants for lounge-around-home use. It seems to be a very popular modern habit. And why not, indeed. If comfort is the thing, what better than Jamy pants!



I hope everyone has had a an Easter weekend filled with whatever makes them happy.



Dire Straights, Love Over Gold.



39 comments:

Thimbleanna said...

SG looks so cute in his hat! I love that you still have that tradition -- haven't seen it here in many years -- like you said, many things have been passed over for fear of offending someone. It's really sad. Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Anonymous said...

Meggie I really love reading your stories, thank you so much for taking the time to share these with us. Your grandson looks too cute in his hat!

Anonymous said...

How cute is that hat! I can't ever remember making one for either of my children. As an Easter Hat Parade has nothing to do with a Christian Easter all children can join in and have fun.
I had to laugh about the 'retired' word. I 'retire' this coming Friday. (That is my Fork in the Road from a posting a while back)
Don't worry too much about the inverted commas Meggie. I get mixed up sometimes too. Mainly because the print is too small to see properly and I can't distinguish one from the other!
Cheers,
Jenny (Enjoying peace and quiet)

Harmany Quilting said...

I too enjoy 'Innisfree'. I have been known to read it when I am in the midst of chaos and boys and stuff and instantly I am calmed and transported to another place. Yep, don't ever retire. I remember when my Dad retired, unfortunately my Mother couldn't and still had to cook and clean. Your scrappy quilt looks divine, so happy. What a gorgeous hat for a gorgeous boy.

See you Meggie,
Nicola in West Australia

molly said...

"Innisfree" is one of my favourites too, Meggie. Love the sound of "lake water lapping with low sound by the shore..."
Do kids still have to learn poetry by heart? if not---a pity!
Playing with fabric really is so calming and relaxing---glad you had time to indulge in some therapy!
When I've made quilts for grandkids i try to make sure i have bridges between them, so they're all connected, one to the other, the way I hope my grandkids will be connected to each other. to do this I always incorporate some scraps from the last quilt into the new one. scrappy quilts are perfect for this....Scraps rule!

Leslie: said...

I love SG's hat. How innovative and unique. I bet all the other kids were very jealous of that hat!

keryn said...

Love the Easter hat, and he looks so pleased with it. Aren't little boys lovely at that age? Your blocks look so bright and cheerful; hope the sewing inspiration keeps coming.

Our mum always bought us slippers for easter, and tucked an egg or two in each one. I must have been easily pleased, 'cause I was always delighted with my fluffy warm slippers. And one year they had Zippers!! How cool did I feel!

ancient one said...

Loved your grandson's easter hat! What fun!

smilnsigh said...

Very cute Easter Hat for a guy! Congratulations to the makers. Not an easy task, especially on such short notice! :-)

Jellyhead said...

The Easter hat is a fine hat for a young fella!

I like the colourful 'scraps', too... the quilt will be such a cheery one.

Glad to hear you're having a relaxing long weekend Meggie. Happy Easter!

caramaena said...

Oh sg is just adorable in his hat!

Linds said...

I love the hat, Meggie! And playing with scraps..... what a joy.I will never run out of fabric in this lifetime. I just looked at my stash. So many ideas and plans of future quilts in the head!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the easter hat and the delighted look on the face of its wearer!

The scrappy nine-patches are looking amazing too.

BBC said...

I'm as busy in my retirement as I was when working. I don't do Easter.

Rosie said...

can I have that hat when he has finished with it?

Cher said...

as a fellow nanna, I do the same at Easter-give non candy/food gifts-simple and fun. and I would agree-retired is a stupid use of that word. I mean, you still do a version of work-just not a paycheck for it.
love, love your scraps-always much more fun to play with the bags of this's and that's!

Kitty said...

That's one fabulous Easter hat! Good for him.

Whilst my smalls do get chocolate at Easter (and Christmas, and other times) I am a bit of a sweetie fascist and tend to ration its consumption. Otherwise they're climbing the walls with the sugar rush and nobody ends up enjoying it, do they?

Glad to hear you've had a good Easter. x

Knot Garden said...

Very clever Easter hat, the tinsel looks just like grass! It reminds me of an Easter bonnet competition on of my daughters was once in. We decorated an old straw boater with chickens.
Nice to hear you're having some cooler weather.

Paula said...

Empty Nest is the one that always gets me. I hate that phrase.

Happy Easter Meggie and what a sweet boy you have there!

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I like your cheerful 9 patches.

Ian Lidster said...

There is such a virtue in taking back one's time for oneself. I too certainly don't consider myself retired, nor will I ever until they close the box. But, I do work at my own pace from my own home and I quite cherish the freedom it brings me. Love the work you have done in your quilting, by the way, and I hope your Easter was a good one.

~Bren~ said...

Love the hat!!! I don't like a bunch of candy for kids either. I get my kids a sugar free chocolate bunny and a dvd each. They always put the best movies out just before Easter....Zach got The Bee Movie (which was great!!) and Charlotte got "Enchanted" (from what I saw it was good too). So much better than a basket of sugary dyes!
Blessings to you, my friend!

Mike said...

Boy, he does look proud of that hat!

Mary Johnson said...

I love the scrappy nine patches. I made the sweetest quilt for my sister a few years ago. http://tinyurl.com/2q2pnc

I think it was from the book - Best of Black Mountain Quilts but I modified the applique some.

I also love long weekends even though I'm no longer working - in part because Keith spends more time at home!

Christine Thresh said...

Your picture of your grandson in his Easter hat is so cute. How very creative.

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Mary said...

I am so glad you posted that picture of SG's Easter Hat.

Because I have no doubt I will need to make one one day and now I know where to turn for inspiration.

It is fantastic.

Thank goodness you were not out travelling on that highway this past weekend!

Unknown said...

The truth that everyone has to know is "each and every human sleeps everyday" that is happen only when there was not having any disturbances. even if the noises are there, if u want to sleep then use White Noise devices.

Q said...

A perfect Easter hat! Your grandson is darling!
I have never made a quilt but feel inspired by yours.
Maybe next winter.
Tahjnk you for your stories.
I look forward to visiting your blog.
Sherry

Stomper Girl said...

That really is an excellent hat. Well done. Fixit's family won't eat fish on Good Friday either despite their non-Catholic-ness. Unfortunately their idea of fish is one step above fish fingers so I was quietly relieved not to be there this year - much as I love them!!!

Linda G. said...

Meggie, I know it's rude to LOL at someone's life, but I can't help it. I've been playing catch-up and that GOM! You never have time to be bored anyway:)
Love your colorful quilting project..
That photo of SGS in his easter bonnet is an absolute jewel! Hang on to that and enter it in a photo contest sometime. Our local Costco has a world wide photo contest every year..I'll try to get the info to you when the time comes:)

Ragged Roses said...

It sounds like you had a good weekend Meggie, we all need to have a long break now and again. I too really dislike the word "retired", Love the easter bonnet, my daughters never have had to make one for school, such a shame.
Kimx

Anonymous said...

He looks gorgeous and it is always nicer to have something unique and homemade to wear.

I know what you mean about noise. I always notice when there isn't any!

Lucy said...

I think Easter bonnets are delightfullly pagan anyway,especially that one!

Finn said...

Hey there my meggie-doodle, so good to see the mellow mood that scappy happy sewing has brought you *VBS* That and gorgeous grandkids! Love the bonnet-do, it's quite perfect!
The patchwork is just as wonderful as a new box of crayons, for all the same reasons except the smell. All the possibilties. Irks me these days, how we often have to defend our right to 'play' and have quilting be a relaxing, enjoyable pasttime *VBS*
Have you tried cutting sitting down? A bit of the shelf grip stuff really keeps a small cutting mat from slipping around. Course you can't cut BIG scraps, but what the heck?
Enjoy everything! Hugs, Finnie

jovaliquilts said...

What wonderful scraps you have! So bright, so cheery! :)

Tanya said...

Love that hat! He's going to remember that for years! I still remember a grade school fun hat that my mother made, so much better than any of the store bought hats and so much more memorable!

Tanya Brown said...

My father has a similar dislike for the word "retired". For him, it conjures up visions of being exiled to a porch swing and wearing protection against incontinence.

Instead, he uses the phrase "retreaded". Seems sensible to me!

Your scrap quilt in progress is quite cheerful, and I do love SG's Easter hat. It's a very clever design.

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