Perspective


Australia by an American


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My Meadow Quilt

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When I was in the US last year I saw a quilt class being offered in Melbourne in October and had to sign up.  It was to learn how to make the Meadow Quilt, a pattern by fabric designer Lizzy House .  The catch with the pattern is she doesn't publish it; the only way to make the quilt is to take the class. So I signed up. I've been sewing for 20 years and have never actually taken a quilting class before.  I knew I wanted to use fabrics that were a little different than the meadow quilts I had seen, but I also didn't want to go broke buying $24/meter fabrics in Australia when I knew I get the same thing for $10 in the US.  It was right before my mom and I went to Bali, so I decided to keep an eye out for fabric there that would work.  On the days we went batik shopping in Denpasar I found bundles of the perfect fabrics for $2/yard.  I bought way more than I needed just to make sure I had enough.  With all of the batik factories we went to on that trip...
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Baw Baw Blog

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A couple weeks ago Phil set out to climb Mt Baw Baw again with a couple like-minded (read: crazy) bike friends.  We drove out with Les and met John and Glenda at the primary school in Drouin to start the ride.   The crazies started on their ride while John and I headed off to explore the area by car. Phil, Glenda, and Les at the start About 10km in to the ride, as they passed the Drouin West primary school, Phil realised that that was the place he meant to start, and now an already painful 80km ride had become 90km. John and I stopped at the Noojee Trestle Bridge and took a leisurely walk across.  Then we headed on to the "town" of Noojee and saw the sights - the water wheel that no one knows the origin of.  Then we enjoyed some lamingtons while we waited for the tiers to catch up.  They arrived and took a few minutes' break, then set out again on their adventure. Noojee Trestle Bridge Noojee Water Wheel John and I then drove to Tooronga Falls an...
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One Sleep Until Citizenship!

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In January of 1649, Thos Morgan, my great great ..... grandfather, signed the death warrant for King Charles I, an act that in normal times would make him guilty of treason for conspiring against the monarchy.  He ended up fleeing to America, where he changed his last name to Carrier in order to avoid being sent back to England for trial.  Of course, later he married a woman who was tried and hung for being a witch, but that's another story... Three hundred and sixty two years later, I found myself taking a new job in Australia.  In order to get my work visa, I had to pledge allegiance to the monarchy of the same country that my ancestor fled from so many years ago.  And tomorrow, I'll take the Australian Citizenship Pledge and become a dual citizen. Besides the physical move, there were a lot of little details involved in getting to this point.  We arrived on a skilled worker visa, which required providing my resume and degree in addition to the length...
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