Double Cream

Since the 19th of April I have been in Victoria, Australia taking care of my Mother, who lives in a seniors caravan park. Today I found this lovely fushia growing wild near the fresh water tank and put it in a little milk bottle, and while I was sorting through some mementos and pictures I found an old painting that I made when I was a teenager:

Later today I made a few cloth strawberries just for creative enjoyment. These are a deep pink color, and the ones in the photograph below, on the shelf, are red.

I have put a little bit of scent on them.

It was quite a treat when someone offered to take me shopping again, because I am very dependent on others for transportation. I found this candle holder at the two-dollar store and it looks great with one of those flickering led-lights, which are also available here at the discount stores.

I am campaigning for double cream in the U.S. by using the words Double Cream in the title of this post. This is an opportunity of a lifetime; a market never charted in the U.S. I would probably buy enough double-cream at my local supermarket to make it worthwhile to produce in my area of the country.

Truly I had hoped to show some scenery but have not been given a tour yet. I like the towns being so numerous here and the shopping is so convenient from any direction.

 

Lesson for Ladies

I would like to take a moment to write about the importance of the aged women and remind them of the seriousness of the message that God provided in Titus 2. This was not written to those outside of Christ, but to believers.

To be sober-minded and to avoid speculating-type gossip about other people is something that would be easier to manage in old-age if it were first practiced in youth. So, if you are young, be careful to train your thinking so that your mind does not go to negative, sour, suspicious and impure thoughts. Whatever your character is now, will be more pronounced in you as you age.

Disagreeable conversation is also developed in youth and can make a woman unpleasant.

In the fictional story of Anne of Avonlea, there was a young woman whose personality was so disagreeable that Anne said to her, "You are all prickles and thorns and that is why no one wants to be near you." Young women need to guard their character so that the thorny,prickly and contrary remarks do not become a habit.

Developing good character is like working with clay. I once held a lump of it in my hand and worked it while teaching my children during the homeschool days (those were the glory days). While I was working the clay, it remained soft and pliable, but once I set it down for awhile, it started to harden.

So watch your personality and practice what you want to be like as an old lady. If you are all bitter and thorny now, those qualities will become hardened in your personality later as an older person and will affect the way you are treated. We all want to be treated gently and respectfully when we are older, so let us grow in graciousness while we are younger. Avoid hasty, sharp replies and condemning, critical talk when conversing. An easy way to learn this is to always keep in mind that if you are a Christian (a Christ-One) you are a soul-winner. Jesus said that if he would be lifted up from the earth, he would draw all men unto him. Think about drawing people to you by your gentleness. Think of how those souls may drawn to the gospel message. Apply God's character instructions prayerfully to your personality now while you are pliable and can be worked, so that in your old age they will harden into beautiful silver and gold.

 

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A Shopping Trip

I have been to the reject store, which would be a cross between a dollar store and a Ross store, and here is a picture of my purchases. I realized too late that although it was very little expense, it will end up being expensive to take it home with me if my bags are over-weight. I may have to leave it with someone else. They were chosen for the room I am fixing up.

This was an easy pillow case to stitch for the pillow I bought at the reject store.

The window ledge in the caravan is very narrow so I created a little cloth window box for it. Most of the decor in this room is no-sew, made by tearing, twisting, tucking and tying.

This the scarf made from the coral fleece fabric, the color of the galah birds. I made it curl by cutting elastic half the length of the scarf and stretching it the full length of the scarf as I stitched it.

 

 

 

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Today's Offering

 

On Mother's Day one of my brothers gave our mother this bouquet of Australian flowers, from his yard.

 

 

 

On the Lord's Day the preacher's wife presented these little works of art for the tea time after worship services. They are made using a round shortbread cookie as a saucer.

 

One of the commenters mentioned the clock cookie that serves as a base for these tea cup novelties (above).

This is a green fleece tea cozy I made very quickly and easily, to keep the tea pot hot.

 

In the mornings I go for a walk and have a bad habit of setting my teacup on the ground while I take pictures. I lost this red tea cup a few days ago and someone kindly set it inside the wire soap rack near the outdoor faucet.

I spoke to the ladies Bible class from the church of Christ in Frankston, Victoria, and covered the subject of the word "she" in the Bible, and showed how wisdom, understanding and knowledge are often personified as a sister, she, or her, and the reasons for it. One of the churches in Revelation was addressed as "the elect lady." We discussed how Christ already liberated women in several ways, and how, by following Christ, women are free to be what they were created for.

I am missing being home but am keeping very busy and today the weather was cold and I had a good day sewing, mostly uninterrupted. I wish I could reveal one of the rooms of the caravan that I have created but it is not yet finished.

 

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Mother's Day

 

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Some Things Have To Change

There are some things that need to change back to the way they were, and it would be so nice if they would change before I return to the U.S.

One thing that should change back is the availability of cotton lawn. It is a thin cotton that drapes a lot better than the quilting cotton we use for dresses. I am trying to calculate how much I can bring home in my suitcase.

It looks like the fabric we get at JoAn fabrics, and it has the lightweight feeling of soft muslin, but it is closer woven and is printed.

These are just a small sample, and I will get more photos later.

It has been very hard living out of a suitcase, with one thing piled on another, and all the shuffling that it takes to pull out thhings and put other things away, that I have wanted the 19th century travel-trunk. Our suitcases are large enough these days, that I wonder why some enterprising person could not manage to make a suitcase closet like the one I have roughly illustrated, above. Even if such a thing could never come about again, at least a suitcase should be designed to be used for something when it is closed, so that living in small quarters is easier.

Scenes of travel-trunk from the movie "Daddy Long-Legs."

Finally, one thing that really must change back home: perhaps some independent dairy folks could give us double cream. They could really get a corner on the market, and with so many tea rooms in America, and as nuts as people are about tea and scones in the U.S. these days, double cream would be a sought-after commodity. It is extremely under-stated to say that double cream is "nice."
I attended the wedding of a childhood friend from the old days back in the 1960's when I lived in Tasmania. You might remember my writing about the Martin family; one of the members of that family got married. The brother, who stayed with us in Oregon a few months ago, is still on a motorbike trip . He began in Alaska and has now gone as far as Columbia, South America. I visited with his sisters and mother and their children today at the wedding. We will be getting together again while I am still here. As I said, my social life is expanding.
When I returned to my mother's caravan, all the "cousins" in the caravan park called out "Hi, Cousin," and asked me how I liked the wedding. They know every thing I do.

Tomorrow one of the residents at the caravan park is taking us in her car to worship services in Frankston. The ladies of the Lord's church have asked me to speak to them so tonight I am preparing a lesson and will post it later.
Sunday afternoon we go to a Mother's Day dinner hosted by one of my brothers.
I am still sewing and have done a few more things in the caravan. I will take lots of pictures to share.
By the end of the day I am so tired and even discouraged and want to cut my trip short and go home, sleep in a nice bed and wake up to familiarity. The next morning I feel a little better and think I could manage to stay here another day. I am supposed to return on the 31st of May but if needed, can extend my trip.
Since I am able to video Skype my family twice a day, it makes it a lot easier to stay.

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Shopping in Mornington, Hastings and Frankston in Victoria, Australia

This morning I went out to fabric stores in Hastings and Frankston and had a really good time looking at a fabric called lawn, a soft, thin cotton fabric with endless varieties of prints, which I have not seen in U.S. fabric stores in a long time. You see above the piece I bought today. I also got a small piece of coral colored fleece that is the shade of the Galah birds I have shown here a few posts back. I am looking for more of that color combination.

After I returned from shopping there was still time to do a few things so I made shortbread, using Tasmanian butter, honey and flour, and it baked just right in the toaster-oven. I am getting closer to glamping, with proper cups of tea poured from the pot into cups on saucers. I am still culling and cleaning and getting creative ideas at the end of the day. In this photo you see the scones I made in the toaster oven yesterday.

Since my mother lives in a caravan park, we are the talk of the community. While I have no idea what anyone else is doing, the residents here know when I have gone out and which brother or sister took me, what places we visited and when I return.I would not know how to figure out where they go and what they do all day. I was gone a lot longer today and did not get back til about 3 p.m. and while I was gone, my Mother got several visits from the other caravan-ers wanting to know why it was taking me so long and when I would get back. I think some of the other campers missed watching me take my basket to the laundry and carry buckets of hot water back to wash dishes. I must remember to wear a different apron so the local residents will not get too bored. They know what fabric I buy because it hangs on the line and they want to know what I am going to do with it. One of the things they find quite curious is the way I dress, but I explained that I am a dressmaker and like to wear my creations.

I have sewn two dresses for my mother and will attempt a skirt for her tomorrow. I am also going to a wedding tomorrow that is taking place in someone's house.

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Something Green

My social life is out of control, with people I know and people I do not know, offering to take me away from all this. Their concern is that I will spend two months in the confines of an old caravan and not get out and see things. I finally gave up fighting off the mad throng of chauffeurs and agreed to go out once a day, as long as it is in the morning.

Today I was taken to a shopping center and I could not pull myself away from all the discount stores with the appealing things, including the green teapot, above, and the tea cup, from different stores. I also got a couple of small goblets to pour our orange juice in.

When I got back from the mall I successfully made a toaster-oven stir fry and it was delicious.

This is the pasture with the evening sun.

 

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Scones With Double Cream and Jam

This morning I could not resist taking a photo of my home baked scones with natural berry jam (no sugar added) topped with double-cream, a product that cannot be found in very many places in the U.S.  I do not think I can transport it out of Australia, and I cannot understand why our cows don't make it. What a pity when it is so nice.

The afternoons are sunny and warm.

There is a pretty-ish sort of park here,

I have added a mug to my mother's unused cup rack. I sure hope no one tries to use them.

I had the first birthday I have celebrated with my family in 42 years. This is a tea cup someone gave me. They must have seen my blog.

This patchwork cushion has a story connected to it.  I made a checker board so that my mother and I could play a game of checkers.  Neither of us had played in so long that after numerous attempts, I had to look up "How to play checkers" on the web.  If anyone had observed our comical attempts to play the game, they would have thought we were both daft.  After reading aloud the rules, we were able to play, but my mother won the game quickly.  The next day I decided the cloth checker board would make a nice pillow. Mother says she can still beat me--with the pillow.

These are some of the manufactured houses in the caravan park, which they call "units".  Someone with more imagination could start a line of these units and call them cottages. Who wants to live in a unit?     

This one is pleasant. No one has invited me to view the interiors of these little homes. I would love to see them.

I am sitting here in shock that the blogsy app I bought for ipad actually published the post. The only problem I have is that I cannot remember how I managed it.

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