Old memories and new patterns

My sister Tricia travelled up from Sydney yesterday to visit for a few days. We have some family events to attend, the first one being a remembrance for our cousin Stephen, which will be held tonight at his sister Susie's home.

Tricia caught the train from the airport and I picked her up from the train station. I feel a bit removed from it when I'm in a busy place like that, people going everywhere and no familiar faces, or smiles. But there she was, suddenly, that face I've known all my life, we hugged and the talking started. Welcome back.

She had brought a few surprises with her. After going through hers and mum's photos, she collected some of our cousin Stephen to bring to show Susie. Among those photos from a far off distant time, was this one of us. I'm the blonde with the straight hair. I remember those home knitted angora tops we wore. Mine was pink and Tricia's was blue and I called them our fuzzy-wuzzy tops. The inscription on the photo's envelope, in my mother's hand, states Christmas 1950. Then, I would have been two and Tricia, four. We look older than that, my guess is we are four and six.

Another surprise she found was my first prayer book. It's called Pray Always - prayers and instructions for children. The copyright is New York, 1951. Wow.

Some one asked about my little jar cover, made to cover the sourdough (and ginger beer) as it ferments. When you have something fermenting, you want the jar to be open to the natural yeasts in the air but protected from insects. I made a couple of little pure cotton squares to do the job and they have worked well. So above, I've done a couple of drawings that will fit neatly on the top of one of these squares. When I do my next covers, I'll add more weights, four of the size used in the photo is not enough. I think my next covers will be round too, and I'll have buttons or beads hanging all the way around.

Please use the drawings if you like them. If you're unsure about how to make up a stitchery like this, I have written instructions here. They're simple and easy to make and don't take a lot of time, so perfect for a weekend project. The lovely thing about making these little bit and pieces is they become part of the patchwork of your home and remind you every time you use them, the importance of your home and your place in it.

I hope you have a restful weekend. Thank you for being here this week and welcome to the newcomers. The figures increased by ten thousand over the past month. Please say hello if you have the time. I hope you find what you're looking for here.

I'm not sure what happened to the layout of this post but I can't fix it. Sorry. : - )