As you read this, the Laundry King and I will be winging our way to America. First stop California. I had grand plans of preparing other posts to magically appear in my absence but I wasn’t that organised. Do not despair dear readers, I will still be posting from time to time so check back in a few days. (I’m so excited, I’ll be meeting Diane in person on Monday!)
Tomorrow we depart for the United States so things are very hectic at Casa da Praia. When I was a lawyer, I would invariably prep my body for changing time zones by pulling an all nighter before going on holiday. I can report that a certain zen descends at about 4am when the lists, flow charts and memos all come together. These days, sans delightful but demanding clients, I have more control over my timetable so I hope to be in bed at my usual time. My list of action items for today includes:
Of course, our holiday travel means that we will miss out on a summer Christmas this year. Rooruu has some great ideas for a summer Christmas but that’s a list for another day.
This ACEO#2 (Art Cards, Editions & Originals) arrived from Lisa Call last week and I couldn’t be more thrilled:
Of course it is wonderful to be able to view images of inspirational textile art online but the real thing has a special allure. This particular piece is small but perfectly formed - at once strong and yet delicate to the touch. Just exquisite! Lisa has completed a sub-series of nine, 12 inch quilts in a similar style - have a look at her blog.
By the way, I have enabled comment moderation on my blog as I will not have constant computer access while I am travelling. Please don’t let this put you off making a comment!
In the past week, I have detected a number of instances where images from blogs that I am associated with have been copied on other blogs. Kirsty has also remarked that she has become a bit twitchy about theft and concerned about protection of her original designs.
Content theft and plagiarism is rife but Jonathan Bailey highlights enforcement tools that are available to all of us in his comprehensive article on 5 Content Theft Myths and Why they are False.
Sploggers may be the most prolific plagiarists on the web but my focus today is on bloggers in our very own circle who use other people’s images without consent. I don’t necessarily ascribe bad motives to these people. Often they simply want to pass on details of a something that has excited them - they give full credit to the quiltmaker and include links back to the original post (one even carefully copied over the © copyright information!) BUT this does not make their actions right.
| Education Newsflash: As a general rule, if you did not create the image, you do NOT have the right to display the image on your blog unless you have consent from the copyright holder. If in doubt, leave the image out and instead link back to the blog post or website that captured your attention. |
As we prepare for the forthcoming arrival of our home exchange guests, it’s time to update our welcome manual. In this document, we try to set out key matters that will make their stay more comfortable and safe. Despite our efforts to keep it concise, the manual runs to 20+ pages and covers such diverse items as: local attractions; where to shop; dining out (not that we do this very often); what days to put the rubbish and recycling out; public transport options; water restrictions information; how to operate the home theatre system and other appliances; how to recognise a huntsman spider and a bluebottle; and various other household idiosyncracies.
We first prepared the manual two years ago but the update has proved to be a surprisingly time-consuming task. Local businesses have changed names and locations; bus and train fares have gone up; new tolling arrangements apply on Sydney roads and so on. All those little things that you absorb into your everyday life without realising it.
I find writing directions for magazine projects to be be a similarly instructive exercise as you document the process step by step. Construction techniques; when and which way to press seams; and other such things we that we have incorporated into our quiltmaking skill set (and sometimes take for granted) suddenly need to be made explicit. There’s still so much more to learn but sharing through blogging means we can all participate a little in living and learning by osmosis.
As a kiwi (me) and an American (the Laundry King) living in Australia, it is not unusual for David and I to get into discussions about the Australian lingo. In cases of discrepancy, I can usually assert my authority. After all, Australia and New Zealand share similar linguistic roots and I’ve also had a close association with America since being an exchange student to Washington State in 1983. That, the infamous liver incident in France aside, makes me positively multi-lingual.
One of the most recent linguistic curiosities was in the shopping mall last week when David noticed that the butcher was advertising turkey “buffe” [breast] for the upcoming holidays. (Aussies don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but turkey is quite traditional Christmas fare.) Anyway, David spluttered something about “what on earth is a buffe?” and Australians having no clue about turkey. I countered airily that everybody knows what a buffe is, including most Americans. Ahem. I have just googled the words “turkey buffe” and the few sites that this term appears on (eg Inghams) are Australian. It’s just as well David doesn’t read my blog or I would have to eat my words.
And speaking of turkeys, don’t forget to vote in today’s federal election.
PS: It has come to my attention that my recently updated blog button is not showing up properly on Firefox browsers. I have had to change the image url AGAIN so here is the current blog button code. Thanks for your patience.
I may be going on holiday and will be away from my studio and sewing machine but that doesn’t mean my brain needs to go on a holiday too. Much of my time away will be spent catching up with family and friends (and eating way too much) but I know there will also be quiet times. So I’m thinking that this might be the season for me to learn more about creating dynamic webpages using the server-side, HTML embedded scripting language PHP and relational databases. (I did warn you that this would get technical.) Anyway, if anyone has any reading recommendations on this subject, please let me know.
Valda is my Mum (she is also known as Raewyn, but that’s another story) and she is currently adventuring with my youngest sister Delia. They have completed the first leg of their trip in America and are now playing Monopoly staying with my sister Amy in London.
My Mum has set up a blog to share some of her photos and tales. There’s only a handful of snaps up at the moment but I encourage you to visit Valda of Warkworth from time to time as she continues her travels through Hungary, Poland, Germany, Egypt and Bangladesh.
And on the subject of photos, MG Quilts has now posted a great collection of photographs of the Natural World, Urban Landscapes and Curiosities on the Inspiration Gallery of her new website:
Does your blog need a spruce up? Does the very idea of playing with blog templates give you the heebie jeebies? Due to popular demand, I am now offering a mini-makeover service for Blogger/Blogspot blogs. Here’s the deal:
What you need to do:
What I will do:
Back in September, I started knitting myself a jersey for my Christmas sojourn in Pittsburgh. Here it is. I’d model it myself but it’s rather warm here today.
©2006-2010 Brenda Gael Smith trading as Serendipity Patchwork & Quilting.
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