WILLIAM'S QUILT


When William was just a little bump on Kim's tummy, she asked me if I would be able to make a quilt for him. I readily agreed, but warned her that it would not be a "pretty" heirloom type quilt for a sanitised, pastel nursery. What I wanted to make was something colourful. Something that could go on the floor for him to kick and roll about on. Something that he could wrap around himself on the couch.Something that he could look at and discover things that would fascinate and delight him. A quilt that he could play with. A quilt that would perhaps get grubby and need to be thrown into the washing machine fairly often.



Over Christmas, when I should have been making a serious start on the project, most of my stash and sewing equipment was put away, to make room for the McRitchies, who were living upstairs. Even after they had moved over to Fletcher Christian, life seemed to be busy, and I kept putting off searching for just the right fabrics for the quilt.


But William's arrival on March 24th gave me fresh impetus...at last I knew the little man I was making it for!! I set about gathering together my most colourful "I Spy" type fabrics. They all came from my existing stash, except for a cheerful yellow print, which I bought mainly for the border. I also planned to scatter small pieces of it throughout the quilt, to help it harmonise with the more neutral colour scheme of the nursery.


Next, I made sure I had the right pictures to include, and printed off photos of familiar things onto specially treated fabric. There were pictures of William, his Mummy and Daddy, his four grandparents, his house, and of course, all the pets around Devon, who will no doubt play a large part in his life.



It did not really take me long to put it together, once I started, and I was wondering why I had put it off for so long!!
Having made the final stitches late last night, we made the grand presentation at the family breakfast this morning. William got to try it out for the first time. There were ooh's and aaah's from everyone, and as for William, well for now he finds the whole thing a bit of a yawn!

FAMILY, FOOD AND FUN Tina, Muriel, Helen and Roy

We seem to have a lot of family on the island at the moment, so what better excuse for a Fish Fry and get-together at Devon? We ended up having 20 of us here at Devon last night, right down to young William, just on the verge of celebrating his 3 weeks birthday!

My sister Sally and Roy (Tina's Mum and Dad) had arrived from Sydney that day, along with grandson 10 year old Nic...and Teddy and Sienna were extremely excited to see their Granny, Poppa and cousin. Bernie's cousin Muriel and George are here for a couple of weeks, staying with Bernie's brother Len and Helen, and they all came along. Then there were Karen and John, Kim's parents, who have come over for a fortnight to get to know their first grandchild William. And as usual, all the animals from Devon and Devonside, as well as Peter's dog were there too...so you can add 3 dogs and 3 cats to the number of guests!

Nic asnd Sally

John cooked the fish.....trumpeter and red snapper..... some of which he had caught last weekend. The rest had been generously given to Tina and Brandt by Fletcher Christian guests at who had been out on tourist fishing trips. There were loads of salads and island dishes, including pilhi made with plun (bananas) grown by Charles over at the Pitcairn Settlers' Village. The we finished off with porpay (cherry guavas) gathered and chopped by Tina and Sally, watermelon (grown by Peter) and rockmelon (from Len's garden.)

For some, it was the first time they had seen the newest member of the family, so there were plenty of cuddles...and more gift unwrapping! Not to be outdone, Basil and Digby demanded their share of the laps.

Karen and Basil enjoy a cuddle, Roy and Len share a joke, and Muriel and George relax aftyer licking the platter clean!

John Mason catches up on the footie scores, Sienna is the life of the party as always, and William (in his All Blacks cap and mittens)enjoys his dinner from Mum.




Don't we have a lot to be thankful for?

BUSY FINGERS

There has been a bit of a knitting marathon going on just lately.

May heard about a project to knit vests for AIDS babies in Africa....so she obtained the pattern and got busy. This was in spite of the fact that May and George have recently had their home dismantled (literally) around them, and have been forced into temporary accommodation in two tiny adjoining flats some distance from the church where George is the Pastor.

May tackles everything with enthusiasm, and has a prolific output, whatever she turns her busy hands to. She produces an individual quilt/rug for every baby born on the island, and in between other projects, she tackles the large number of unfinished quilting and embroidery projects that her lovely daughter left behind when she died a few years ago..a somewhat bittersweet task for May.

But just now it is the knitting that occupies much of May's time and attention. When her wool supplies begasn to run out, she thought she may take a break, but donations of fresh wool supplies meant that she returned to the project with renewed vigour!

Meanwhile, Annette has joined in, mainly using the copious supplies of carpet wool that Joy gave her. Annette's mother Audrey(who is 90), and Ina and Jillian from Rocky Point, have also produced some very colourful additions to the pile.

Not being much of a knitter myself (the counting bit gets to me!) I was delighted to find this jumper in the Op Shop. I do not actually know anyone skinny or free spirited or cold enough to wear such a garment, so I thought it had great potential for unravelling. The idea was to produce some splashes of colour to go with the neutral wool that Annette is working with. The deconstruction process has taken longer than I bargained for, because the seams have been sewn with two lines of close machine stitching and overlocking. Nevertheless, some of it has already been transformed into some colourful stripes that should please a little African baby.

The first batch of some 30 vests has already been sent away, to join the 56 000 that have already been sent to Swaziland. Downunder ladies are very generous with their time and skills!

BRINGING HOME THE DESK

A little after midnight last night, there was some excitement at "Devon", with Bernie and our friends Tom and David all holding phones to their ears, as we all held our breath. They were bidding on a desk which was being auctioned on the other side of the world, in the town of Itchen Stoke near Winchester, England. Finally the cry came "We got it!" as the price rose to their agreed maximum, and they were, incredibly, now the only ones in the race!

The story begins with an email circulating the island on Saturday, from a gentleman in England who was putting the desk up for auction. It was from the estate of his mother-in-law, who died last year. The desk had once belonged to Bishop John Coleridge Patteson, the first Bishop of Melanesia, and had been made for him from Norfolk and New Zealand timbers, for his study here on Norfolk Island, when the Melanesian Mission had its headquarters here in the latter part of the 19th century.

The owner was anxious that the desk should go to an appropriate home, hence the advice about the upcoming auction.

When we heard about it, we decided it should definitely come home to Norfolk Island. Time was of the essence, and we hastily contacted the firm of auctioneers, with emails flying back and forth, I think the auctioneers were a little surprised that we apparently had an old photo of the desk, probably taken before 1871, when the Bishop was martyred in the Solomons.

John Coleridge Patteson had been a prominent figure in trying to stop the "blackbirding" going on at this time, whereby young island boys were enticed or forced to travel away from their island homes to provide cheap labour in places likw Queensland. Ironically, Patteson met his death when he was ironically mistaken for a "blackbirder" on the island of Nukapu, from where five boys had recently been taken. St Barnabas' Chapel on Norfolk Island was built as a memorial to him, fulfilling a long-held dream he had spoken about previously.

Patteson had left the desk to his cousin in England, the well-known Victorian novelist Charlotte Yonge. Because of this connection, as well as the Patteson connection, the auctioneers warned us that there was a great deal of interest in the item in England and in Australasia, which would no doubt push the price up well beyond the pre-auction estimate of 800-1000 pounds for a desk of that size, style and vintage. Regrettably, in spite of the owner's intentions, it would probably go to the highest bidder.

The owner has told us when we contacted him, that the desk was given to his mother-in-law about 45 years ago by a patient whom she had nursed, but he knew little else. However, the provenance was well-documented by the following.

An old fragmented hand written note to the centre drawer lining records;

‘‘….entirely by his own carpenter who worked building fathers house in 1866, went down with Bp Patteson to N.I., and has been with ….. off and on ever since. The top and parts of the drawers are of yew and mottled Kauri. The sides are made from a log of Cedar which John Adams found on Philip Island. The top was inlaid by my fathers old Captain, Champion who now …… on Norfolk Island and who took infinite pains with it.
In a different hand
Made in Norfolk.
Received May 188.. from the Bishop of Melanesia. Chl Jonge. (signed in her hand)

This is one of the photos of the desk sent to us by the firm of auctioneers.

We are told it is 2 - 3 times heavier than a normal desk of this size! But it will be so good to see it come home, to a building that is on the same site as the original Bishop's house here on Norfolk Island.

FALLING IN LOVE WITH WILLIAM

Just a week ago, he was not here. He was a figment of our hopes, dreams and imagination. He was a swelling in his mother's belly. He was an anticipated visitor, for whom there had been much planning and preparation. But we had not yet met him.

Today, we are madly, head over heels in love with this little man.



He fills our waking thoughts and our night time dreams.



The name "William" peppers our every conversation.



We cannot imagine a time when he was not here, part of our family.







His Mum has formed a lifelong bond, and the ties will never be broken.

His Dad is the proudest man alive.

His grandparents are ecstatic about their first grandson. And the New Zealand grandparents are anxiously counting the sleeps until they meet him in person, instead of relying on emailed photographs!

And his uncles, aunts and cousins are ready to serve and protect him, and dance loving attendance on him.

William Mason Christian-Bailey - Born 1.46 a.m. Saturday 24th March 2007 - 7lb 5oz

WELCOME TO OUR WORLD

Just after midnight yesterday, Bernie and I became aware of activity and vehicles in the driveway leading down to Charles' and Kim's house, which is just behind ours. Soon after came a phone call from Charles to say that Kim's waters had broken, and they were at the hospital.

Kim had been scheduled for a C Section next Tuesday, and the prospective parents had been boasting that they were getting to choose their baby' birthday!
But the baby had other ideas. Bernie and I headed to the hospital, where we waited in the nurses' lounge. It was a little frustrating, because although the baby had been born at about 1/4 to 2, no one came from the Theatre until everything was sewn up and cleaned up more than an hour later!

But eventually we received the wonderful news that we had a healthy grandson. We were able to spend a little time with him, and also with the very proud new parents.

He looks so much like Charles did as a new baby, the likeness is incredible. But he seems to have more of Kim's colouring. And we have agreed that he has nice shaped feet like both his grandfathers! Isn't it amazing how we examine every physical detail of a new baby...I guess it is all part of the bonding process!

Yesterday afternoon, both Bernie and I were able to have a long cuddle of this very new member of the family.

HEAVEN ON EARTH

Cristina made her first visit to Norfolk Island when she was just 6 weeks old. At that time she was with her mother Sally, who is my sister.

Over the years, she has made many visits and has always felt a strong affinity with the island.

On his first visit 5 years ago, her husband Brandt also fell in love with the lifestyle and landscape.

Brandt and Tina became a little busy producing their first two littlies, Teddy (3) and Sienna (1).

But now they have decided to make their sea-change. They have left behind their home in the semi-rural hinterland of Noosa in Queensland, and have come to enjoy the delights of Norfolk Island for a while.

Cristina (Tina) and Brandt have taken on managing our family business, Fletcher Christian Apartments, and are wow-ing our visitors with their incredible hospitality, as well as getting involved in the community.

Meanwhile, Tina has decided to start her own blog, to record her experiences and activities while on Norfolk Island. This is not only enavbling her to keep in touch with friends and family back home, but is also a showcase for her wonderful photos. Tina has always been a clever, keen and prolific photographer, but has recently purchased a super-duper camera, with which she is excelling herself!!!

Take a look for yourself at http://norfolkheavenonearth.blogspot.com/

I think you will realise that Cristina and I are kindred spirits in many ways, and understand why we all love having our niece/cousin and her family around!!

ON THE HORIZON

Almost 41 years ago, I set off on a grand adventure. I received an appointment to teach at the school on Norfolk Island, at only five days' notice. Those five days were an absolute whirl, because my life in the city had been a very busy one, but one thing stands out in my mind.

When he heard my news, and after recovering from his shock, my father said:

"Just imagine........on an island, you will be able to seethe sun rise and set over the sea!"

And it is true. We are always conscious of that sea around us. But it does not represent a great divide or barrier; it is more like a wonderful calm and protective presence when this island has become your home. It is both reassuring and inspiring at the same time to go to some high point, be it a hill, the mountain, or the cliff top, and watch the ever changing vista of the ocean. At times you may see a fishing boat appear on the horizon, returning from a day's fishing. Or you may see a cargo vessel or oil tanker bringing supplies to the island. One can imagine what it was like in decades past as women and children watched for their menfolk to return from their whaling expeditions.

But we are often conscious of other horizons, such as that of the ever-present tree-lined twin peaks of our Mt Pitt and Mt Bates hovering over the island. One could become quite philosophical about the contrasts.

When I was challenged to produce a page for a fabric book entitled Horizons, I decided to feature these two very literal horizons, and leave it to the viewer to dwell on the more metaphorical implications! The book is part of a Round Robin I have been invited to join, with seven ladies from NZ, Australia and the UK. Each lady has chosen her theme, and each month the others produce a complete page for her on her theme, using textile and/or mixed media techniques. The first page I am working on is for Carol from Queensland.

For Carol's "Horizons" book, I decided to reproduce two Norfolk scenes...the sea and the mountain....printing photos from my computer onto fabric. I have then created a foreground using collaged lace, which is hand dyed and embellished.

This is a technique I have been experimenting with for 3 or 4 years. I have since learned that the basic technique is called "Normandy Lace"....yes, I naively thought I had invented it!!! It seems that Normandy lace is a means of using and preserving small pieces of precious and special laces by joining them into either a pattern or crazy-patch style. I have done the latter, and then taken it a step further by colouring the laces, and adding embroidery, beads and other embellishments, as well as incorporating items such as pictorial images on silk and other fabrics.

I hope Carol enjoys her pages. For next month, I think I need to explore the theme of "Openings".......watch this space!!

TALKING OF SHOWERS

I have no doubt mentioned that we are to become grandparents again very soon, with Charles' and Kim's first baby due in 2 or 3 weeks.

Yesterday was the day of Kim's Baby Shower, and would you believe it, the heavens opened up the night before with some much needed heavy rain showers, with the drizzle continuing throughout the day. But it did not spoil the lovely occasion, with a number of female friends and rellies gathering together under the roof of our patio to wish Kim all the best, and to make a fuss of her for an hour or two before she makes a start on her very busy life as a Mum.

Tina had organised some fun games and activities, including a competition where we had to estimate the size of Kim's belly with a length of toilet paper! Another belly comparison tok place when Kim and Joanna (due about the same time) lined up their bumps!!

There was a chart for people to make a guess at the size and sex of the baby, and suggestions for names and who the baby will probably look like. Some of the answers were somewhat tongue-in-cheek!

There was much ooh-ing and ah-ing as Kim unwrapped some lovely gifts, which included some very unexpected hand-knitted garments! (Well done Linda - you are not just clever round computers!)

It is hard to imagine that the tiny person inside Kim's belly (currently known as "Little Nibby") will be wearing some of these little garments before long. Kim felt very spoilt with all those thoughtful and generous gifts.

Young Anna and Amy acted as scribes, writing down the list of gifts and givers for future thank you's.

Everyone contributed to a delicious afternoon tea.

The menfolk had been banned from attending unless they were prepared to wear skirts. No one took up the challenge, although 2 or 3 did appear later in the afternoon! Here are the father-to-be and the grandfather-to-be! Bernie had shut himself up at the far end of the house for most of the afternoon, but said there was plenty of noise and laughter drifting up...a good sign that we were enjoying ourselves.

I could not resist the opportunity to get a picture of 3 generations of Bailey girls as they left. Unfortunately cousin Marie had already gone, or it would have been four!

A SIRIUS OCCASION

You will remember from your schooldays that the Sirius was the flagship of the First Fleet that came to Port Jackson in 1788, and together with the Supply continued to serve the needs of the new colony. On 19th March 1790, while bringing supplies and a contingent of convicts to the penal settlement on Norfolk Island, the Sirius was wrecked on the reef at Kingston. She remained there, almost undisturbed just beneath the surface for 200 years. It was not until the 1980's, as part of the Bicentenary activities, that a major project was undertaken to recover artefacts from the wreck, most of which are now housed in the Pier Store Museum on Norfolk Island.

The most recent addition to the fleet of the Royal Australian Navy has now been named the SIRIUS, and has chosen, fittingly, to make Norfolk Island its "home port." That is in spite of the fact that Norfolk Island does not even have a harbour!! A local lady, Janine Nobbs, was the Sirius's commissioning lady when it was commissioned in September 2005. Janine's husband, Brancker, is not only a Bounty descendant, but also a direct descendant of Philip Gidley King, who was in charge of the first penal settlement on Norfolk Island, established within weeks of the settlement at Port Jackson.

Last weekend, the new HMAS Sirius paid its first visit to Norfolk Island.

On Saturday morning, in an impressive ceremony in Bounty Square, with all the pomp and protocol that the Navy does best, a special presentation was made to the ship's commanding officer, Commander Tim Crawford.

This was followed by a march through Burnt Pine.

The presentations included a ceremonial scroll, giving the ship's company freedom of the island, and then a specially made symbolic key. The key and its box, I will proudly tell you, were made by our son John. He also produced a special box containing six of the nails from the original Sirius, mounted on a Pine knot.

The new Sirius is a former oil tanker, the MV Delos. It was purchased and converted by the Navy to replace the HMAS Westralia .

And that little flagship of the First Fleet could fit inside this modern vessel at least 5o times over!!

We look forward to many future visits from the Sirius. One interesting remark made by Commander Crawford was that he will ensure that his ship will never be in its home port on March 19!

TEA PARTIES

I was recently invited to participate in a Round Robin to produce a fabric book. The Round Robin involves 7 women from New Zealand, Australia, and England. This has been organised over the Internet.

We have each chosen a theme, and produced one page of our book before sending it on to the next participant to make another page, using our theme and dimensions, but using their own style and interpretation.

I chose the theme of "Tea Party"...why do I always end up in a nostalgic vein, I wonder??

Today...1st March..is the day we are to post off our first page, and I did not think I would make the deadline. But I have just completed the final stitches, and it will be heading off to England tomorrow, which is the earliest mail.

For the front cover, I have done some Crazy patchwork.

And for the reverse side, I used an old photo from Bernie's family album. It shows afternoon tea on the lawn of "Hillcrest", which was the home of Bernie's great-aunt Maria Heaps and her husband Dick. We think it was taken in the 1920' or early 30's.

I had a better photo, of a smaller group, which showed Maria actually pouring the tea, but it would not reproduce as well. Bordering the photo is some fairly old lace which probably dates back to that era

As a border, I have collaged recipes from old cookbooks, plus some handwritten ones, including some in my mother's handwriting.

The RR will be quite a challenge. We have a month to work on each page. I am looking forward to receiving my first task from Carol in Townsville. Carol's theme is "Horizons", and ideas for how to interpret this in fabric and stitches are occupying much of my waking thoughts. I am determined to try at least one new technique each month.

The other themes we will be interpreting include "Trees", "Openings", Catholic Saints", "Autumn"and "Architecture."

COLLECTOR'S CORNER

For some time now, I would have to acknowledge that normal shopping...once a favourite pastime...has lost much of its appeal. It takes real stamina, not to mention funds that are needed elsewhere!

However, there is still one kind of shop to which I am drawn like a magnet, and that is a secondhand shop. It may be an Op Shop, a Junk Shop, an Antique shop, even a Rummage or Garage Sale, but I will be there if the opportunity arises!

I was delighted when I learnt that Linda Chapman was opening "Collectors' Corner" down in the old Smithy's building at the other end of town. Linda operated another secondhand shop here some years ago, before going away with her family to West Australia for a few years. Ever since they came home, I know she has been chomping at the bit to get started again.

The Smithy's building is iconic in itself. Many of us remember it as the old Milk Bar some decades ago, and since then has been occupied by many different businesses, even a church for a time.

Now it is a most delightful place to visit, with several different rooms, nooks and alcoves for the collector to explore at his or her leisure. There is a "Hard Hat" room, with items of special interest for the menfolk, a room devoted to kitchen and culinary items, and areas with childrens' stuff.

Some of the pieces, including some of the furniture, are not actually for sale, as Linda and Richard are not ready to part with them...but they do add to the ambience of the place, and are used for displaying many of the goods that are for sale!

For those who like to linger, free tea and coffee are provided. You are also invited to browse through Linda's wonderful collection of books about antiques. Hopefully, you may just discover that you have something very valuable and desirable at the back of the cupboard at home!

My special interest, of course, is textiles, and I was able to pick up some lovely old handworked doileys and a couple of interesting fabric pieces. I also picked up another really interesting item that I will tell you about in another blog!

MR BELL'S INVENTION

Yesterday, when I was going through some old historical papers, I came across a Norfolk Island phone book for 1972.

I should tell you that in some respects,the 20th century came about 50 years late to Norfolk Island. When I first came in 1966, there were only a handful of party line phones on the island, most connected to the Administration, or people running essential services, and a few of the larger businesses. Even in 1970, when we first married, and I moved into Fletcher Christian, our number was "Four longs."

It was shortly after this that an automatic phone system was finally installed, and many of the locals vowed that they had no need of this modern technology.

In 1972, the Norfolk phone book consisted of just 3 folded foolscap pages.....six pages in all, with the back page inside and out being blank. Just four 1/2 pages are dedicated to the list of ordinary subscribers, and very few of these are people who had a phone just for personal domestic use! There is a whole page devoted to "How to Use the Automatic Telephone", with basic instructions like "Keep the receiver off while dialling" Come to think of it, real dialling is a thing of the past now!

Just a few years later, the local phone book had grown considerably in size. The old timers had put aside nostalgia for the days when news and messages were relayed by voice across the valleys. With a growing tourist industry, the pace of life had grown faster, and the telephone had become a convenient replacement for the leisurely visiting that had been the norm in earlier days.

There was resistance to the introduction of overseas calls in the later 70's. Cables (delivered by motor bike), and the new-fangled "telexes" were, we felt, sufficient to keep us in touch. I can even recall an Administrator of the time rejoicing in the fact that he could not be contacted by Canberra in a hurry!

The first overseas calls were operator assisted, and in many ways our exchange operators became very important in our lives. They were most obliging, even passing on messages or trying other numbers when someone was not answering their phone at the time. It was quaint, but typified the friendly old Norfolk ways.

Finally we got automatic ISD, and I remember the system having its official "opening" at a function at the South Pacific Hotel. It was a local hairdresser, known as "Susie Boobs" who had the honour of dialling the first call. Actually, the system had unofficially been in place a few days before, and a few lucky people had discovered this and jumped the gun to make calls to family and friends.

Well, we now have the Internet in a large percentage of Norfolk homes, and many people are taking advantage of the "Skype" technology to make very cheap calls using their computers. At around 3 cents a minute, it is a great improvement on the $1.50 per minute through Norfolk Telecom!

Within the next week or two, we will finally have mobile phones on Norfolk Island. We will get one...we even know what our number will be!

Mobile phones represent the collapse of just about the last barrier of resistance for Norfolk Island to being just like the rest of the world. Most of us are little sad, many are devastated. I suspect that in a year or two, the opposition will be a faded memory, just like it was in the 70's, when we embraced automatic telephones, and learned to enjoy the advantages of being able to keep in touch with one another.

By the way, the 2005-6 phone book has 76 pages in the White pages and 58 in the Yellow Pages. We have come a long way!

APPRECIATING ART-

AN EARLY START!!

Sienna, together with her brother Teddy, and her Mum and Dad, have been living with us for about 7 weeks, waiting to move into their new abode at Fletcher Christian.

In that time, we have seen her emerge from a baby to a little girl, albeit a mischievous toddler, full of fun.

At 16 months, Sienna is ready to explore the world around her, and that includes the contents of boxes, cupboards and drawers!

But I have been delighted to find her, in the odd quiet moment, examining some of my Crazy patchwork. She sits and runs her fingers along the embroidered seams, twiddles and feels the buttons and beads, and oohs and aahs at the shiny bits and pictures of things she recognises, such as the lacy crinoline lady.

Now, this is just what Crazy patchwork was intended for....to give sensory visual and tactile pleasure, and Sienna is a most appreciative afficionado!!

We often think we would be lost without our eye sight, but can you even began to imagine a world where you cannot touch and feel with your fingertips?