[Lightning McStitch]

OK, my turn to be lost in the lingo.

I’m not from up north but I do know what Bundy is…

Sorted the jelly/jam question as a kid (we knew some American kids)…

And I spent enough time in Liverpool that I can almost understand them…

But why would one need to rearrange their lingerie in order to fit a piano in? Maybe I have a lot less frilly knickers than you! 🙂

(is this the French version meaning the Laundry room? I’ve never heard an Aussie call it anything other than the laundry)

[Nicole]

You bet me to it!

I love auto correct.

[JohannaO]

So in my brain, I am now seeing a lace covered piano. A massive piece of lingerie to cover a piano. Like your grandmother’s doilies, only…. more provocative?

I know it’s a slip of the fingers… but the image is giving me one of the best laughs I’ve had today.

[needlewoman]

During the mid-Victorian period, some very strait laced women (sorry, didn’t really intend that pun), insisted that the legs of pianos be covered – usually with ruffles a bit like pantalettes. To hark back to the film, there is a scene in which Mary Lincoln is undressing after a party, and the amount of pin-tucked, lace trimmed underwear on display is phenomenal. It must have been so heavy to wear especially when you consider all the frills and furbellows (sic) that adorned the heavy frocks. I often wonder how the women who conquered the Australian outback in 19th century coped in all their clothes in the heat, and often working as physically hard as they did. I’m guessing on both small and large land holdings, women helped out with sheep, and the rest then, too. I hope your husband’s knee mends soon, Justsewit. I always thought it was backs that were strained most by shearing, but knees too makes sense, when you consider the joints that bearing most of the weight of the shearer, and the sheep. What sort of piano? I have a dear Yamaha that’s now nearly 50 yrs old. I learnt the piano from aged 9 to end of Year 12, and Mum sent it over here when she sold the house after Dad died since my brothers never learned. It’s rosewood with a sliding lid – ie, it disappears in the top part of the piano. However, it needs tuning badly; when I win the lottery – or sell my fabric stash. I hope you all enjoy yours for many years to come.

[Tamara]

I’m dying of embarrassment and laughter!! Furniture!! Im the Lounge room!! Stupid iPad!

I had to rearrange the furniture! To fit in in!

Lace covered pianos hehehehe!

[Tamara]

Needlewoman, Murray did his knee whilst playing netball of all things years ago and had to have a knee reconstruction. He had a few kickers yesterday and he think one might’ve got the back of the knee. Yes you are right backs are the mot susceptible to injuries when shearing. That and hips as you aren’t bending your knees, so it works all the way down really. It also doesn’t help that these sheep are massive!

I’m the old days the women would strip down to their camisoles. They would do that if they were working in the heat. But they would always do the proper thing and wear hats and gloves going to the co-op. Alot of the time I think the working ladies would go around in trousers if they were working with the guys but it didn’t happen often. Once upon a to,e, the women had to cook for the sharers. I am aware it still happens but here I’m the west they now bring their own and frankly I’m rather glad! Catering for one shearer and a couple of kids is quite enough to handle.

It’s a Casio Privia 750 in white. I wanted a black one but wasn’t willing to wait another ten days so we had a white one shipped up straight away. It was pretty easy to put together as it is encased in the stand and looks like a narrow version of a piano. The sound is so much better than the stage piano we had. The kids have already worked out how to record their playing which would be great to have them listen to themselves playing. This one has a sliding lid too with soft closure. My daughter is in her third year and my son in his second. The trouble is they are both on the first book still. N will practise but miss 10 won’t except tonight when she really had a good tinker. It helps to have a working instrument with no dicky keys. This is a bit lower down too so there is a better opportunity to perfect the rounded wrists. My mum has an old acoustic piano that she learned on – apparently it spend some years o the verandah. I didn’t have lessons but I sat down and taught myself to play Memory from Cats when mum was away at a ladies church retreat. I was about 14. I am rusty but I relied on my ears more than reading so with the kids learning, I am basically learning to read music properly. Music runs in the family – mum and my sister are music teachers as was my late sil, hubby played the b flat double base (aka the tuba) as a teenager as his sister used to play the trombone – the school has a brass band. I’m the only one who didn’t learn formally

I am hoping this will last a good while even though no one knows exactly how long a digital piano lasts. It isn’t the most expensive one but it is quite a good quality one I believe so I am expecting it to last at least ten years.

There was a lady selling her acoustic piano in town but Murray was hesitant to get it for fear it would go through our floor – not concrete and raised off the ground. We get a piano tuner up from Perth and he is organised through the music teacher. He does the school pianos at the same time.

[Nicole]

Jed says sheep always kick when the weather is changing.

[Tamara]

These were in the yards only that morning as the ones that we did first were off water since the night before. As it happens we are forecast for thunderstorms so the theory could be true. One ewe decided to try and get up and walk away right in the middle of Murray shearing it! How rude! But them they don’t think! Fortunately we are done for the moment and the proper shearing will be done by the team later on.

Some people still do their sheep in January and February here and I still say they’re mad! But then a lot of people round here have gone out of livestock and just crop.

[Tamara]

I just opened a letter from school….. Miss Imogen Grace has been accepted into the instrumental music program!! yay! Now we have to choose an instrument preference.

[meleliza]

How exciting! I tried to teach the boys myself, but they simply refuse to listen to me. The music teacher at his school also gives private lessons – during school hours too!!!!!!- so I signed him straight up in Kindergarten. After a few months of lessons, he wanted my help and now he will listen to my instruction a little too. #2 will start this fall too and after hearing about for a year is actually getting a little excited. It’s an old piano I bought second hand years ago and it badly needs tuning. I’d love to get a new, or at least newer, one one day, but it can be hard to come up with large purchases like that. I’m partly waiting to see how good they get, like whether we want a baby grand or something or if another upright would do. Wouldn’t it be ever so lovely to have a baby grand?

[Tamara]

I only ever knew one person who owned a baby gand and he was a professional musician. He was married to my sister’s third grade teacher.

The imstrumental program is for brass imstruments so she has a choice to learn the cornet, the tenor horn, the baritone or the trombone. She wants to do the cornet because her grandfather plays but it is a popular imstrument. We sort of figure she can swap across later on but will encourage hert owards the tenor horn to start. If she cant get notes out they will look at another instrument. I never got this opportunity sl it is exciting. The only thing I worry about is there might be a bit of an overload music wise – piano lessons Wednesday, choir thursday, guitar friday and now this. Still it is an opportunity I wont let her pass up on and she is quite thrilled to be chosen.

[meleliza]

That will be fun for her! I’d go for the cornet too. Are there any French horns? Those are my favorite brass. So elegant.

[Sarvi]

While we’re still circling the topic of local differences, I was wondering, in my greedy way, about what kinds of snacks folks like to eat. The other night I noticed I had some wine that was ready to go, so I put out some nibbles to go with it. Salty olives, truffle cheese, crisp flatbreads with seeds and herbs, a bowl of spicy pecans. I didn’t actually want any dinner after that.

What are some favorite local goodies [besides your local -mite 🙂 ]?

[Tamara]

No french horns Meleliza unfortunately. But it is only a small band and with experience in any brass instrument she should be able to pick up another of the brass instruments and be able play. That would be my pick also. Her preferences were 1, cornet, 2, tenor horn (which is slightly bigger), the trombone (which you have to get the slide just right) and the Baritone which is what Murray started out with before he moved onto the Tuba.

Really must find out what you have to do to learn the drums so that Noah has a chance – his instrument of choice when the time comes. My fil plays the cornet instead of the bugle at our Remembrance services like Anzac Day.

We generally go for fruit or veggie sticks with dip as a snack. The kids like pikelets – mini pancakes and cupcakes but I only do them occasionally. Popcorn is a favourite not just reserved for the movies. Crisps (we call them chips) are popular in our house too. Plain compared to truffle cheese! You eat rather well Sarvi!

[Sarvi]

It’s a rare treat, but if I could, I’d be buried in a casket of the stuff. The smell of it is like catnip for me.

When you say crisps/chips — you mean a thin, crunchy, deep fried potato snack? Or a thicker finger-shaped pieced that’s crispy outside, tender inside?