It's Friday. Time for "Benches on Fridays" courtesty of Rune E at Visual Norway http://visualnorway.blogspot.com/ . I've spent an enjoyable time in Flickr this morning, looking at the photos of Bernie Zajac . I like his photo of "Two Seats" in Brisbane Square (Adelaide Street) in Queensland, Australia. Please check out the stunning work of this very talented young Australian man at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbernie/page1/ . His landscapes of this country, particularly Tasmania, are amazing.Time to take a trip into the countryside, both husband and I, leaving straight after work.A quiet sleepy little town by the River Murray. It is indeed time to hit the road...... for a much needed relaxing weekend...back Monday.

The Bench of the Week was begun by RunE of Visual Norway http://visualnorway.blogspot.com/ I enjoy seeing what he and other bloggers find for this. Barbara Martin at http://barbaramartin.blogspot.com/ has a delightful bench featured at Two Jack Lake, 12 miles from Banff. For my part I would like to contribute with a photo of my friend, seated on a bench at the aboretum of the Waite Institute here in South Australia. We hope to do many more walks here,even more so now that she has purchased her Nikkon camera. Here she is resting under a gum tree across the way from one of the fascinating water bird sculptures by Meliesa Judge.

The Waite Aboretum is part of the University of Adelaide. It was established in 1928 and contains over 2,200 trees. The Eucalypt collection is one of the most extensive and well documented in Australia.

Textilosophy quotes"
Music is what feelings sound like" - Author Unknown.

"Play the music, not the instrument" - Author Unknown.

"An intellectual is someone who can listen to the "William Tell Overture" without thinking of the Lone Ranger. - John Chesson.

"You can't possibly hear the last movement of Beethoven's Seventh and go slow". - Oscar Levant, explaining his way out of a speeding ticket.

My posting today is a photo I took of an old piano for Pink Saturday. The idea of pink for this day is from How Sweet The Sound. Many learnt the piano at a young age . Did you? My mother always wanted to learn, and would have loved to have a piano in her youth, but it was during the Depression and money was tight. For many years in her marriage, she worked hard to buy a brand new piano to finally learn, which she did when I was five years old. I started school and piano lessons at the same time.We went to the same teacher, a humourless old biddy who would release me from her clutches after school, to play with her sad and reclusive granddaughter only when she was satisfied my piano lesson was completely finished. This softly-spoken little girl , the same age as I,with steel-rimmed glasses which she constantly pushed up further on her freckled wrinkled-up nose ,was the epitome of patience...head down, twirling ringlets reading and waiting for the endless scales to finish, with me trying to read big fat black notes on simplistically illustrated pages. Eventually on this long one -night -a -week my mother would arrive winter-crisp from work for her lesson.The granddaughter, as I remember, was desperate for company and imagination and I happily provided both. I felt extremely sorry for her having such a crotchety old grandma, because mine had a wonderful and abiding sense of humour. Her mother was obviously working too.
Eventually Mum made a mistake by allowing Dad to talk her into trading in our beautiful piano and buying a dark old pianola, so he too, could join in the fun. It wasn't the same.We both lost heart a bit after that, though Dad pedalled away at the pianola occasionally ,oblivious. The chair lifted as my little legs hardly reached the pumping pedals, though as I became older I wondered if passers-by thought how clever our family was at playing, but let's face it, a pianola sounds like a pianola. Always. That pianola went with me as I taught in the country, right up to the gateway to the outback, Port Augusta. Eventually it was sold and went to the other side of Spencer Gulf to Whyalla. Mum had reneged on the dream long ago. The heavy old pianola always smelt old and musty and I was pleased to be rid of it. Mum said to put the money towards an overseas trip I was saving for - the pianola was mine to do with as I wished. Occasionally I see an old piano like the one I photographed in a dusty old shop in the country and wonder about it's history. I also wonder what became of the little girl. She'd be in her fifties now, and where I live at present, I often pass by the house where the lessons took place. And for the record I can still play as long as there are no more than three flats in a piece, or just an F and C sharp!

Time for a Sepia Scenes posting suggested by" Wednesday Sepia Scenes "at http://sepiascenes.blogspot.com/.

"If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?" - Rumi.

...Here's the rub...I am not getting to my textiles and hand-sewing. I have withdrawal symptoms. Panic is setting in because teaching starts again soon. All things considered, I seem to be on my "Grumpy Old Women" way to 'enlightened polishment' this week with one thing and another..trying to appreciate each irritating rub.Actually,I am well on my way to Gleam. Let's face it... the amount of polish is directly proportional to the amount of rubbing force applied , right? But why am I "she who is rubbed"? By now,I'm irridescent and glowing -and Rumi tells me that's a good thing. I think it must have been difficult to film the witty world-weary participants of the "Grumpy Old Men" and "Grumpy Old Women" series - camera glare I'd reckon from such "polished performers" (excuse the pun). It still is one of my favourite series. Tickles my funny bone, ...MUCH nicer than a rub, but evidently not as beneficial. Room for both I'd say.

"Clothes maketh the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society" - Mark Twain.

Had a delightful weekend not influencing anybody. Er, don't mean nudity, had to rethink that quote there for a minute... no, just wearing the kind of clothes that didn't "maketh me" look good, but did maketh me feel real good. What kind of weekend did you have? Did you turn heads, or just the next page of your weekend reading. Hope it was the kind of weekend you wanted or needed.Happy week ahead.

Posting for Pink Saturday courtesy of How Sweet The Sound.

Daughter in China a few years ago.

Textilosophy quote: "The soul of the world is nourished by people's happiness" The Alchemist. Paolo Coelho.

"You are destined to fly, but that cocoon has to go" - Nelle MortonGee Mum, you did it. The "for sale" sign is up.Best wishes to you and Dad, as you prepare to put your family home of 57 years on the market, in preparation for something more manageable. Those butterflies are a bit shaky when they emerge, but what an achievement.

Love comes in all shapes and sizes. Couldn't wait to photograph these two.I became aquainted with them on a visit to a house, where they were out in the garden aviary. They are inseparable. "Seeking to serve and not exact due service."

Full of quiet gentleness. Inseparably wholehearted, straightforward ..an absolute delight. Actually they look a little like the kitchen staff at Meals on Wheels, let's say for example the bigger Mrs. Wainwright, ..practical and stable, in charge of scones,and the little fussy Mrs Harrison always checking if there's enough peas on the boil...

"Whatever you are, be a good one" - Abraham Lincoln.

I think they have the friendship thing nailed. Hope you had a good weekend spent with those you love.

...So I'm sweeping the kitchen floor this morning thinking about marriage, and in particular, the wedding party. Wondering where the best man is from ours. Husband, I think couldn't care less...30 years on from a wedding, does anyone still have contact with the best man?I mean, the bride's father gives her away...or a close rellie...someone actually gives the bride away... usually the dad or uncle bob...they are usually still around twenty years on albeit in different states of decrepitude...But where does this grieving chappie, the best man, who's happy for his mate's gain, but sad for his loss,stand in the general scheme of things
,down the track 20 years on, or 2 weeks for that matter...Poor bugger.

'cause I mean seriously, unless your the groom's brother, you may be thinking you have to take a step back out of someone's life...
This morning, sweeping away, I'm thinking , forget the dad and uncle bob, the best man should give the groom away. Brilliant I thought. In my excitement , with an extra flourish of sweep into the dustpan, I announced this to my husband, this revolutionary piece of social tongue-in-cheek engineering, highly coloured from my perspective by the Australian male mateship thing that we Aussie women contend with..

Looking up from under his glasses, husband in all the wisdom of a 28 year of marriage man, murmured "I don't think that's something you'd be wanting to put out there...".

(photos courtesty Flickr.)