The Indian hatchet design is a variation of string quilting. I was lucky to find the striped material (on the borders) that matched the colours in the squares. No two squares are alike, and the strips were deliberately skewed (i.e., not parallel). I made this one for my nephew, Michael, in 2011 for his 9th birthday. It suited his bright, cheeky personality.
I made this for my granddaughter, Olivia, in 2005 when she was aged about three. Using purchased patterns, the little sunbonnet maidens were embroidered directly onto the calico squares by my embroidery machine. The borders and binding are in pink gingham.
This was made using (new, unused!) soft cotton handkerchiefs, quilters’ muslim and other fabrics from my stash. It is my own design, but inspired by a similar one I saw in a quilting magazine. It wasn’t made for anyone in particular, and is currently advertised for sale on Gumtree, The quilting was done by machine, using a simple flower pattern.
It seems a lifetime since I was preparing for my Performer’s Diploma in Piano. At the time, I was worried that my concentration might lapse during the exam, so I decided to tape myself playing the exam (and other) pieces to learn how to get through without mistakes under pressure. I bought a good quality microphone and tape recorder (well, the best I could afford at the time) and placed them at the treble side on the piano. It sufficed, but was no means a studio recording. However, it did have the desired effect of reducing errors during my exam (and yes, I did get my Diploma).
I was pleased with some of the recordings, so kept the tapes. After a while we no longer had a cassette player, and I thought I might have thrown them out.
Recently my husband bought a machine that could convert taped music to MP3 format (to convert some old favourites he’d bought, oooh, decades ago), so I looked for my old practice tapes and found them again. At last I could listen to those recordings of mine and decide in hindsight (‘hindsound’?) which, if any, were at a reasonably good standard, acknowledging that over time some parts of the tapes had deteriorated somewhat (but be assured my piano was always in tune). It’s interesting (to me, if no-one else) how I might prefer to play those pieces of music now that I’m older and not trying to ‘prove’ anything. I still play some of those pieces – the easier ones.
I have added them to this page, so that I can keep the recordings safe and so others can listen to them here if they like.
We had some budgerigars in the house back then, and whenever I played the piano they sang too, so occasionally their chirping can be heard faintly on some of the recordings.
Sadly for me, I am now well past my musical prime. My piano is about to be tuned and have some minor adjustments (re-voicing and tightening the action) ready for sale – if I can bear it! Even though it is an 1984 model, it is still a top class piano (Yamaha C5) and very special and would be ideal for the serious student or performer. If I were younger and looking for a superb piano, I would opt for this one, rather than fork out the $50K to $65K now needed for a brand new C5. When I finally do decide to part with it and work out a fair selling price, I hope it gives someone else the same pleasure that I’ve enjoyed from it. At least I will always have those recordings, which might make that decision more palatable.
Since writing the above (long story), I have been put in contact, through a friend of his, with Kotaro Nagano, the young Japanese virtuoso pianist who has made quite a splash world-wide in the last few years, winning several prestigious piano competitions. He is, arguably, the world’s finest pianist of Chopin. Google him! he is also a world-class harpsichordist, and yes, he builds his own harpsichords. I have attended one of his concerts and he is indeed an astonishing pianist. Kotaro wants his friend to buy my piano (IF I can bear to part with it) for her own use, but also so that he can use it to practise on when he’s in Canberra to perform (because he is hosted by her). So he and his friend have visited us to check out my piano and put it through its paces. What a treat we had! The upshot seems that it’s likely that a sale will go through eventually, but not for one or two years, as his friend needs to add an extra room to her home to accommodate it. In case you don’t believe me, photos are attached. We also took a video of his playing, and once that’s edited I’ll try to put it up here too.
18.Bach Prelude & Fugue Bk.2 No.7.mp3
02.Beethoven Sonata Op.101 -I.mp3
14.Beethoven Sonata in C# minor Op.27 No.2 (Moonlight) -II.mp3
12.Chopin Valse Op.34 No.2.mp3
21.MacDowell; Woodland Sketches- To A Wild Rose.mp3
01.Mozart; Piano Sonata No.12 in F, K332 -I Allegro (no repeats).mp3
01.From Foreign Lands and People.mp3
03.Hasch-Mann Blindman’s Buff.mp3
As is their way, the possums usually come at night. This one decided to look down at us in our courtyard from the top of our brush fence. At the time, we were delighted to see it. But now there are too many that use our broadband cable as their very own ‘information superhighway’ at night, leaving little ‘data bits’ all in a row underneath. My husband wasn’t very impressed when we lost our internet connection at night, randomly, after they chewed through it. Fortunately it was repaired without charge.
