down to earth

I'm sure it is no surprise to most of you to know I took knitting with me when I went to the Blue Mountains. There is nothing quite like a knitting project and a book in your bag when you travel. Either of them will get your through long train trips, very talkative fellow travellers, and those moments of boredom when you feel you can sit still no longer. Both of them combined make a long journey treasured time to create and reflect. I am knitting with Vivian's beautiful yarns from Eco Yarns now and every time I pick up the needles and feel the quality of the organic cotton she sent, I fall in love with knitting all over again. I am knitting for my grandson Jamie at the moment so only the best will do. While I was away I finished a pure cotton kimono top for him. It will be soft on his delicate skin and I won't be concerned about introducing him to any harmful chemicals in the yarn or dye because I know it is organic, whisper soft and completely safe. I used the pattern in this Cute and Easy Baby Knits book and a fine set of Clover bamboo needles.

Baby clothes need frequent washing so using quality yarn that will stand up to all that washing is essential. When you knit something as a gift, it is a very good idea to include some information about the yarn and how to care for it. I always give washing instructions for that particular yarn to the person who will do the washing, in this case, Jamie's wonderful mum, Sunny. It makes the task easier and will keep the garment wearable for many long years, and possibly for other babies who come along.

This is the label from the cotton used in the kimono top. I'll pin it to the top when I give it to Sunny and hope that she reads this post on caring for cotton. She usally reads the blog, so she may have already seen the top and read the instructions before I give it to her. Hello Sunny!

I believe hand washing is best for this type of garment.

HAND WASHING COTTON OR WOOL

Fill an enamel dish or plastic bucket with warm water. Don't use hot water because untreated organic cotton can shrink in heat. There are chemicals in ordinary cotton to stop shrinkage.

Place the garment in the water and completely soak it. Add either homemade liquid soap or bar soap, or dissolved Lux flakes and move the garment through the water gently squeezing it while it's under the water to allow the warm water to swish through the fibres. Natural fibres are much better washed with pure soap than anything else, and handwash if you can, the washing machine will weaken the fibres over time.

When you know the garment is clean, pour the water down the sink and fill the basin with clean water for rinsing. Never wring out natural fibres - it will stretch and weaken them. When the garment is thoroughly rinsed (at least two changes of water), squeeze as much water as possible out of it(without wringing), support it with both hands and place it on a clean dry towel. Roll it in the towel into a cigar shape, and press down to remove the water again. Do this a couple of times and replace the towel if it gets too wet. When most of the water is gone, lay the garment on a clean dry towel in the shade and allow to dry. Do not hang the garment because it will stretch. I have to admit, I like the ritual of hand washing special items of clothing - it's like paying respect to something special. I know many of you don't have the time for such things though so ...

Alternatively, when the garment has been hand washed, you can use the gentle spin cycle on your washing machine to remove most of the water. When it's finished spinning, place it flat on a towel and place in the shade to dry.

TREATING FOOD STAINS

If there is a food spill, remove the garment and treat it before the stain dries. If there are dry stains on the garment, plunge it into a basin of cold/warm water, apply soap to the stain and rub gently. If this doesn't remove the stain, add the garment to a half bucket of warm water with a lid full of powdered oxygen bleach added. Leave overnight and wash as above. This bleach is peroxide-based, not chlorine, so it won't harm the fibres.

The day after I finished Jamie's top, I started a new project, this time using Vivian's baby alpaca (see above). I'm knitting a rolled edge beanie from the Simple Knits for Cherished Babies book. It will be a soft and cosy winter hat for Jamie. When I've finished that, I'll start on a few things for our other grandson who be be along soon - in mid July. I always think it's impossible, but life keeps getting better.

I have been wanting solar panels for the longest time. In 1985 we moved into a house with solar hot water and used it happily for many years. When we moved into our current home in 1997, we had solar hot water installed, along with our first water tank, two skylights and whirlybirds and we put in a vegetable and fruit garden and bought another flock of hens. We dived head first into green living then but the one thing I wanted to add when we had the money was more solar power. Finally, they're here. Seven panels were installed while I was staying at Tricia's. We are still connected to the grid and we're currently sending power we don't use to the grid that we are paid for. The current rate for that is 44 cents to sell to the grid and 19 cents to buy back.

The solar panels on the roof.

I'm not sure how well our panels will work but I'm hopeful that we won't need to take any electricity from the grid from now on. Our electricity consumption is pretty low and we already have solar hot water, so I hope that by working with the patterns of daylight here and slight modifications on how we work with electricity, we'll reach our goal.

We did a lot of research before we decided on which company to buy from. There are a lot of advertisements by companies we'd never heard of before promoting cheap prices but on investigation, there were added costs. It was important to us that we deal with an established company that would be around to service the 25 year warranty. We also wanted to deal with an experienced green business, who knew their product and provided excellent service. We got that with Origin. The panels they installed are Sharp from Japan and they were installed on our roof in a few short hours. Hanno watched them like a hawk and he said they did very well.

The meter box in the garage.

The price quoted on our panels after the government rebate was $3,240 and we were going to pay that from our savings, however, when we signed up, we found they had an interest-free loan so we decided to go that way instead and leave our money in the bank longer, earning interest. We paid $180 on installation and pay the rest off over the next 12 months in $255 instalments. The government rebate will decrease on June 30 this year so I encourage you to act now if you're thinking of installing the panels on your roof. Our experience with Origin has been very good and we're happy to recommend them to you. The more of us doing this, the better.

Do you have solar panels? If so, I'd be very interested to know how well they've worked for you. Did you have to modify your housework to get the maximum efficiency? What difference did they make to your electricity costs? Whatever you can share with me about them, I'd love to know. I wonder if other countries have their government's support to buy solar technology.

ADDITION: Here is a booklet about the system we bought. And for Iris, here is info about the feed in tariffs. We sell our excess for 44 cents and buy it back if we need it at 19 cents. These prices change all the time and I'm sure will eventually go down.

I had a wonderful time in the Blue Mountains. It was very cold for this sub-tropical girl but the only times I found it really uncomfortable was when I was going to bed or getting up again. Oh, and getting out of the hot shower. I thought I could live there but I doubt I'd be happy to, the traffic is too dense and mad and the people don't look at you. That is no way to live - I want to smile and say hello to complete strangers and not have them think I'm a nutcase; you can do that in Queensland.

This is where I set myself up during my stay - Tricia's loungeroom. I worked on the book almost every day, hence the computer. It was warm there with plenty of light.

I had to take this photo for our international friends. We found these little fellows out at Rydal, in the show grounds. It was raining slightly, which is why the photo is hazy. There was a family of about 12 kangaroos grazing on the grass and they were a type I'd never seen before, with longer ears and a black tail tip.

Erecting the shed.

I am really pleased that Tricia has found her dream home. It's ideal for her - a small cottage that is interesting and charming with not too much upkeep. She has been really busy painting and fixing things, and two of her sons, David and Danny, have been helping her with the bigger things like erecting a shed and the heavier garden work. I will be very pleased to visit there in the midst of Winter in years to come but I'll always be happy to come home again.

On the train, coming home, there were only eight other people in my carriage so we could all stretch out.

And speaking of coming home, just before I got on the train, Tricia, David, Danny and I went to visit the house Tricia and I grew up in, then we visited mum and dad's graves at Rookwood. It was a good way to end my visit. It was a fine train trip, with plenty of interesting people to watch and listen to, even though I was pretending to be busy with my knitting. I left Sydney at 4.30pm and arrived in Brisbane 14 hours later at 6.30am and there, waiting on the platform was, you guessed it, Mr Hetzel. We talked on the way home and I looked around the garden at my seedlings as soon as I got in, everything was fine, even the housework had been done. And Hanno had made the bed, although I shouldn't be surprised at that.He phoned me while I was away and said he left it the first day but didn't like getting into an unmade bed at night so he made sure to make the bed each morning. So not much had changed in that short two weeks, except ...

We had solar panels installed! I'll write about this tomorrow, as I want to tell you about the ins and outs of it, but I'm really happy we have them after wanting them for so long.

So now I'm back - I'll be busy with the last bit of the book editing this week and then, even though there will be book work to do, it will ease off and I can get back to my simple life and all the bits and pieces I like to include in each day. I have new books to tell you about, some new knitting and of course there will be updates on my favourite baby boy, Jamie and the soon to arrive Sarndra and Shane baby.

The view from the train, at 6.30 am, as we crossed over the Brisbane River - home again.

The following photos were taken when Tricia and I visited the Peppergreen antique and collectables shop in Berrima. I have to say this is, by far, the most interesting and fabulous antiques place I have ever been in. It is mainly antique and collectable fabrics, trims, old night gowns, aprons, quilts, table cloths and kitchenware of all sorts, including cutters, metalware, pots, glass, crockery and cutlery. I was so impressed by the clean and ordered shop. Unlike many antique shops, each category was grouped together so you could compare apples with apples. It was like an Aladdin's cave where the first large room opened up to another equally large space, then another and another; all of it was catalogued, labelled and beautifully presented. The staff were friendly and didn't pressure us to buy but we did - I bought a vintage lifter-beater utensil and an old English washing stick - for poking clothes into the boiling water. I'm going to use it as a small pastry rolling pin. There were linen nightgowns there for five dollars that would be excellent for patchwork, we were tempted but didn't buy them. If you're ever near Berrima, please go to this amazing shop, you won't regret it.

A wall full of rolled up vintage and antique quilts.

Glassware and crockery.

Cups and saucers, ribbons and plates.

Authentic vintage fabric and batting.

Bottles and enamelware.

Glasses, canisters, buttons and metalware.

Jewellery, ribbons and cake tins.

I've included the last of the photos taken during my holiday, I hope you enjoy them. Each photo can be enlarged by double clicking on it.

Many thanks to everyone who sent emails and messages about missing me. I had a wonderful, and much needed break, but I'm really pleased to be back. I feel like I'm just starting out on the blog again and I have so much to share with you.

Dear Everyone,

I'm having a wonderful time here in the mountains with Tricia. It's been cold and raining the past two days and although I'm cold, I'm really enjoying it. I have gloves on while typing. I have a few photos to show you where we've been.

All photos can be enlarged by double clicking on them.

This first place is Brown's Siding Store and Cafe. It's owned by a friend of Tricia's, Kerry, who used to work for Martha Stewart. We had lunch there, the food was delicious - I had a Ruben sandwich and hot chocolate, Tricia had the smoked salmon and potato cakes. Apparently the cafe is packed to the rafters on the weekends - we arrived late for lunch so there weren't so many other diners there. Afterwards I had a look around and found wonderful stock like German scrubbing brushes, goats hair dusting brushes, pure soap, liquid soap, jams, tea, packs of trail mix, cake and brownie mix and many beautiful bags, cups and odds and ends. The goods for sale are beautifully presented and excellent quality. If you're in the mountains, this place is in Medlow Bath, right next to the railway station and just off the highway. It's well worth a visit, especially for the hot chocolate. : - )

One of the delights of being here over Easter was that I was able to spend time with two of my four nephews - David and Daniel. Danny came up a couple of times to help Tricia with various jobs around the house and David arrived Easter Sunday armed with Easter eggs and chocolates for everyone. David stayed that night after he and Danny erected a small shed for Tricia to store her garden tools and mower in. We had lunch at David's home on Easter Saturday where he cooked us a lamb roast and Tricia and I made cabbage rolls and up-side-down plum cake. Daniel is back again today to fix an original 1919 Singer treadle sewing machine he bought for Tricia recently. He brought fresh croissants with him!

Yesterday, Tricia and I went to the Megalong Valley Tearooms which is about 10km from Tricia's home at Blackheath. What a wonderful place that is! The tea room has been run by grandma, mother, and now, daughter since the 1930s. It used to serve tea with scones, blackberry jam and cream from the dairy cows out there, now they serve breakfasts, tea and coffee all day and lunch. Blackberries grow wild there and blackberry jam and cream scones are still on the menu - naturally we had some. The tea is still made using the old cast iron urn grandma set up way back then.

When we left the tearoom, we came across a heritage centre with many interesting carts and old wagons.

Further along, we stopped to let a trail ride pass by. It was quite a sight to see all the people, single file on their trained horses, wandering along through the bush.

The photo below shows the drive back to Tricia's. It was cold and bleak and definately the perfect time for knitting and the heater.

When we got back home again, the oil heater was on, I got out my knitting, Tricia was hand stitching her quilt and we watched Kirsty's Handmade Home. I had never seen that program before and enjoyed it very much. It was the perfect end to a brisk Autumn day in the mountains. I promise you that we are doing a lot of things that don't involve eating. LOL It seems that's all I've been writing about. I have been working on my book almost every day and will keep at it because the typesetter's deadline is looming. Tricia is pottering around her home fixing this and that and making patchwork cushion for her rattan sofa on the back verandah. The gas man is coming to connect the stove tomorrow, we're going for a drive through the highlands on Thursday and on Friday, the chimney sweep arrives. I doubt I'll move an inch when there is a fire glowing brightly here. Never fear, I have plenty of Vivian's beautiful eco yarns with me which I think make the perfect partnership the warming fire.

BTW, Sharon will post an update about the swap. It's closed now and soon your swapping buddy list will show who you will be swapping with. I hope you're enjoying your knitting.

We're here! We took two days to drive from Queensland to Tricia's cottage in the Blue Mountains. It was a great trip, we took our time, after Tricia was pulled up by the Highway Patrol at 20ks over the limit, breathalysed, licence and registration checked, then told to slow down and let go. LOL I think we must have reminded the officer of his mum. Anyway, it was kind of him to caution us and let us be on our way. We travelled to Brisbane and bought some old windows at a second hand yard ($30 each, in Sydney they're over $100 each), through the Gold Coast and called in to see Sarndra and Shane, then drove south and turned inland at Alstonville, coming out on the New England Highway at Tenterfield. That is a beautiful town and well worth a visit if you're up that way.

I'd packed sandwiches, date and walnut loaf and tea so we stopped at some really quiet and beautiful places on the side of the road to rest and eat. The wind was getting cooler the further south we went and to sit in some of these places, just the two of us, no sounds except the trees rustling and the birds, well, it was just beautiful and something I'll remember for a long time.

I took these photos to show where we've been. I thought it might be of interest to many readers to see some of the real Australia off the tourist track that you might have already seen.

This little antique shop was outside a country town on the New England Highway.

Above and the following three photos are in Rylestone.

Driving along country roads with the Autumn foliage starting to show their true colouring.

And then we arrived at Tricia's beautiful cottage.

This is the front verandah and on the floor you can see two of the six windows bought in Brisbane.

Some of Tricia's many quilts.

And the kitchen which has now been repainted. The little fabric bird on the door was a housewarming gift to Tricia from Sarndra. The black and white background in the pantry is fabric Tricia put on just after she arrived.

There is still a lot of work to do in this little home but it's easy work and Tricia can take her time with it. When I walked in the door for the first time, I felt like I'd already been here, and with my much loved nephew Danny here last night, it's fast becoming a very favoured place of mine. I feel comfortable here and more importantly, Tricia does too, it really is a wonderful home.

The temperature hasn't dropped too much, it's around four or 5 degrees at night and it rises to about 14 during the day. It's definitely jumper and cardigan weather and although we haven't got the fire or stove going yet, I'm hopeful they're be fixed soon and we can sit cosy and warm in front of the fire, knitting. We have to find a chimney sweep! Now that's a sentence I never thought I'd write. My bed is warm and cosy and we're drinking lots of hot tea. Life is good.

I'll post again soon.

I've almost come full circle again, tomorrow is my birthday. Sixty-three - it feels so good! I know there are people out there who don't like the idea of getting older but I am a staunch advocate of ageing. The alternative - death - does not appeal to me at all. So here I am, not quite an old aged pensioner, on the brink of a new career, with so many enriching activities and interesting people filling my days. Life's good.

Shhhh, let me tell you this quietly. There was a brief two minutes in my late 50s when I wondered if life would continue to improve. It did, it has, and it keeps getting better. I have lead a fortunate life. I was born into a working class family and went to an all girls' Catholic school. We were never handed anything on a silver platter, we worked for everything we got and we were taught, very young, the value of a family. That upbringing taught me the true rewards of hard work and set me up for life, and for that I will be forever grateful. I believe that work really is the key to a successful life. I have had some friends who tell me I'm lucky, but I will tell you this: the harder I work, the luckier I become. Now that I'm standing at this end of the age spectrum, I clearly see that whether it is in the home, working towards making your home a place of nourishment, comfort and calmness, or in a job earning money to provide for yourself and your family, what you put into your work returns to you in wonderful ways and turns you into a different person. I have been changed by the work I do - both in my paid work, my work in my home and here on the blog and forum.

The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.

John Ruskin

Just like the Queen of England, I am issuing a birthday photo. ; - ) This was taken yesterday.

There is so much to look forward to in this life. Don't listen to those who say you must be a certain type, size, height or age to be acceptable. Don't believe that dyed hair is better than grey hair, don't be tempted by plastic surgery, don't fall into the trap of thinking everyone should look young. Celebrate diversity, be the person you really are and not a facade that makes you the same as everyone else. There is beauty at every age. Those lines that weren't there a ten years ago, those few grey hairs, all those signs - they, my friends, are your badge of honour.

I'll be celebrating my birthday here with Hanno and Tricia, then on Saturday, Tricia and I will drive to the Blue Mountains where I'll spend two weeks in cold weather. I'm looking forward to it so much. I'll be working on the book while I'm away and I'll blog when I feel like it. That might be never, or every hour - who knows what I'll be capable of when I'm 63.