Chapter 97, The Perils of Pauline...

Long time with no post...again... and I need to start off with the sad news first. Our lovely little Alfonse le Soot disappeared last Saturday afternoon. He was a prince among cats, and we miss him so much. The likely culprits in his disappearance are Mr. Fox or Mr. Eagle, both of which abound in these parts. Alfonse was not a wanderer, and indeed, on this day he spent his time climbing around on the trellises and roofs of the house, climbing trees, and snoozing under shrubs in the sun. We saw him on the trellis around 3:30 PM, but by 5:20, at the dinner call and time to be locked in his kitty condo for the night, he didn't appear. We are so very sad...thank you for being part of our lives for 11 years, Alfonse. So, after a long hiatus during which we made a trip to California to recharge our batteries after the stresses of the construction, we are now in residence in the remodeled house, and I've begun to make the space that is the quilting studio a real, happening place. Some of you may recognize the pieces of the blue and white Lady of the Lake, my life's work, on the cutting table and ironing board. Not much progress has been made, and since each block requires 20 2" HSTs, and it's for a king size quilt, you can imagine that, while I think it is beautiful, it sometimes feels like an albatross around my neck.
Here is half of the cupboards at the other end of the studio. Things are still pretty much piled in there haphazard, until I get up the energy to sort things out a bit and decide on final homes for the books and other junk. The matching cupboard on the left has more books, and a lot of yarn for knitting projects.
And this is the "business" corner, with the Bernina. I'm a bit worried, because I haven't used this machine very much, although I've had it for a year and a half. A friend who has the same model (the Aurora 440QE) tells me the motherboard fried on her machine and on that of her friend's 440QE...great! I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.
There will be quilting going on here soon. I have two children's quilts to make next up, so that will be a good break from the endless LOTL, and the fun of deciding on a design and choosing colors.

I have also been knitting a lot, and finished my first Elizabeth Zimmerman ribwarmer. Here's a pic, which also shows you my new hairdo. Yes, I finally decided to let my natural graying brown color take over, so cut off all the old, dyed hair, and we'll see what I end up with. Anyway, that's the news of the day from the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. So, how's by you?