Post638 You win some, you lose some.

On my Eastern balcony, various succulents have come into bloom over the last week or so, aloe buds opening joyfully and the jade, cassula ovata, sending out long stems of tiny star flowers that I’ve not seen before.

The cassula plant itself (below left) is thriving, along with the swordfern, (well below) clearly enjoying the rain and milder sunshine.

There is a lot of work, however, to be done on the Western balcony where I still need to replace and replant after the summer heat. It's a job I will get to over the next month, but in the meantime I am just enjoying what I have.

Last Wednesday was WES Group and we were a merry band of 12 gathered to hear Raelene talk about Community Arts Projects, focusing on projects gathered around a cause. Most involved quilts or quilting and included the Rajah Quilt made by convict women coming to Australia in 1841 with materials supplied by Elizabeth Fry to help them prepare for the life ahead, quilts made in POW camps, AIDs Quilts, and several school or community commemorative projects.  It was an animated, dynamic meeting with everyone contributing.

The highlight of my week, however, was the 80th birthday celebration for a Guild friend, held as a lunch at the Marion Hotel. I’ve not been there before and very much enjoyed the atmosphere in our room, dominated by a huge eucalypt reaching through the roof. 

I had a great time in our Guild corner, having time to talk to a small group of members I rarely see for more than a few minutes. It was a chance too, to meet and talk with a couple of spouses, all the while been plied with rounds and rounds of finger food. 

I had managed to knit my friend the 2025 Shetland Wool Week beanie for her birthday. The blog post is here.  

The only blot on my day was the ticket I received exiting the carpark. The hotel is on the corner of a busy road with no traffic lights. As I needed to make a right-hand turn I plotted a path away from the intersection, down the side road, without realising it was, for the length of the hotel carpark, a one-way street. The carpark was busy and I had turned into the side street heading the wrong way before realising my error.

I couldn’t see how to reverse, and there was nothing coming, so I went ahead, immediately there were flashing lights and the siren of the police car. The lone officer was polite and understanding. He breathalysed me - the main purpose I presume, of his wait outside the carpark. As I had not had any alcohol to drink I did not add to his statistics. He took great pains to explain the road directions, booked me for ignoring a road sign and travelling the wrong way on a one-way street and said he would issue a fine for one offense with a caution for the other. Thoroughly decent - and I was in the wrong. At home I checked my licence record. As I thought, last month the last of my demerit points (the 3 for trying to take a photo of the mounted police while at a traffic light) expired, so for 17 days I’ve had zero demerit points. I had hoped to keep it that way but alas…

The birthday celebration meant foregoing our Book Club meeting on the other side of town. I spent a couple of hours on Friday recording and annotating what I had read since the last meeting to send off to the group. By Sunday evening, most members of the group had sent me lists of what they had read so I added them to our database.

I had read a fair bit. I finished reading the H.L Marsay Inspector Shadow series and binged last week on the Fiona Tarr Opal Fields series. I had enjoyed the first in the series a while ago, so plunged back in and read No.2-No.6 one after the other. The seventh is out, but I think I've had enough for a while. I'm now on to The Denisovans In the Captivating History series.

Last night I cooked Honey-Soy Chicken and Fried Rice for dinner.  I forgot to take a photo of the chicken. It was tricky to get it cooked through without burning the honey-coated skin. I cooked it in advance while the solar panels were active then heated it covered in aluminium foil. It worked well.

In the meantime I have ploughed ahead wth the Berwick cardigan. I've pinned a section to show the curl.  It's slow-going in the round, but progress is evident. Here it measures 30cm in height - according to the pattern, another 4cm to go before I add steeks for the arms. It still looks huge in width. That's hard to measure, but it's about 1.8 metres around. It won't be too small. More like a coat.  This afternoon, after swimming, I've added another 2cm to the height. With a bit of luck I'll be up to the armhole steeks next week.

Post 637 The sky clears a little

On Wednesday I had an optometry appointment, the first with the replacement for the brilliant optometrist I’ve been seeing for around 5 years, who has recently enrolled full time in a Doctor of  Medicine course. To my relief, her replacement promises to be as good. He was thorough, thoughtful, knowledgeable and listened. My eyes are stable, I’ve now added a non-steroid cream to the nightly regime and will see him in six months time. 

Rather than rush home and change for swimming. I stopped at the wetlands on the SE corner of the parklands, and went for a walk. I haven’t been for a long time and a lot had been done - plenty of fallen timber arranged for animal visits and habitat.       

Most of the birds can be heard rather than seen, but the lorikeets were in view, as well as a wandering noisy miner. I managed 23 minutes before the rain came. I didn’t stop to photograph the magpies strutting in the rain.

Before Pilates on Thursday I had an appointment with my orofacial pain clinician to do the preparation for a new night mouth guard.  We had agreed on the timeline 12 months ago. The technology has changed significantly. Instead of biting into goo, creating a plaster cast, on to which the plastic is  moulded,  the clinician used a laser pointer to scan the inside of my mouth in great detail, projecting an image on to a computer screen. It took a while until she was happy with the scan. She is now using that to print me a 3D mouth guard! I'm very impressed. I return in 2 weeks to fit the guard.

Although I went to bed at a reasonable time, I made the mistake of reading another chapter of R. L. Marsay's A Christmas Shadow.  I had enjoyed the first 5 in the series, then set them aside. I've now returned.  My Kindle dropped out of my hand just before 2am. 

That left me a little tired on Friday, but, after running short of stitch markers for the Berwick cardigan, I ventured to the Needle Nook. Their online listing of  packets of stitch markers proved wrong. I selected 50 of these pins from a paperbag on the counter, handed over $5 and had a conversation with Hugh about steeking before taking myself determinedly to the swimming pool to swim laps. The markers do have the advantage of being wire rather than plastic.

The City Council had given notice of a road closure this weekend to remove a crane - the one that has appeared in my sunset photos for at least 2 years, and which curious readers had asked about. 

On Saturday I photographed the sunset towards the northwest at ten past five (above). Ten minutes later, directly west,  (right) the crane was still moving.

By the time I left for dinner at 6pm there was an additional crane in place (left) - clearly the move was on.

Dismantling a crane is evidently a major work. All day Sunday the cranes were slowly moving, 

Structures appeared above and below and only occasionally could tiny human figures be seen, dispelling the sense of a giant robot.

No wonder there were road closures!

At 3.15pm on Sunday. the cage that had evidently been inside the building supporting those tiny figures, was lifted out and manoeuvred to the street below. At that point I lost track, focused on finishing another book and progressing the Berwick cardigan. 

It was dark when I next looked - and there was no blinking light to warn planes. The job, I guessed, was done. When I checked in the morning, for the first time in recent memory, there is no crane on the grey building. The smaller one on the Credit Union building next to it is now the only one currently in view. 

I doubt it will be long before more appear.

We had a jolly crew of eight for dinner on Monday. I wasn’t happy with the crackling on the pork but everything else I deemed successful. I either need to buy from a different butcher or adapt to the way the current butcher is now cutting.

I slept exceptionally well last night and got a couple of rows of knitting done this morning before heading out to swim.

The Berwick cardigan has, as I hoped, stopped curling now that the pattern contains both knit and purl stitches. The edge will straighten when the band is added - and I will also block it.  Progress is still slow. I'm far enough into the 40 line pattern to see where it is going but I need to constantly check, and frequently have to undo several stitches. With 405 stitches in each round, it takes a while. It is, however, progress!

Post 636 Look to the sky - or the pattern.

One of the joys of living on the third floor is sometimes being treated to flocks of birds wheeling and calling around sunset. It doesn’t always, or even often, happen, but Thursday was one day when it did. I took a few photos, but most, while capturing more birds, were blurry.

I had been out all afternoon - at Pilates, then to the Yarn trader to renew my supply of fine gauge knitting needles, to Bunnings for a lucky bamboo (still no sign of the ones on tubes, but plenty in pots), to the Guild to drop off a Piecework article for a friend of a friend, Officeworks to pick up some printed merchandise and the local IGA for milk and fruit. 

At home I managed to separate one of the bamboo stalks and put it into the glass vase that came with some flowers a few weeks ago. It looks as if both might survive.

It was lovely to reheat some Osso Bucco, pour a zero alcohol Margarita and watch the birds. Oddly the latest Piecework was in my letterbox - an interest issue focused on blue and white.

I had spent Wednesday embroidering an aide memoire for my neighbour. I’m not sure if it will help her remember her keys, but it’s worth a try. It also gave me a small embroidery break from knitting!

The weather has remained warm. I had lunch in the CBD with friends on Friday, getting the city loop bus a bit early so I could call at Myers for some of the Narciso Rodrigues for her perfume I had settled on in March last year, which now seems has been discontinued. Myers still had stock, so I took the opportunity to stock up. I now have enough for a couple of years. 

The lunch lasted three hours, with excellent food and even better company. The restaurant wasn’t crowded and we could hear our conversation!

That morning's red sky had certainly not turned out to be a warning!

Saturday morning's pre-dawn sky, however, was even more interesting, a series of stripes and swirls ahead of two days of largely overcast sky with frequent rain..

Both were upstaged by a rainbow which I just happened to see on Sunday afternoon as I glanced out the eastern door.

Having finished the Chapter and Skein shawl last week, I did embark on a beanie with the remaining yarn .  It is a great grab-and-go project. 

Partly for that reason, I thought it was about time I tackled Marie Wallin's Berwick cardigan, which had arrived in May 2024, so, apart from shopping for food over the weekend, I spent most of it setting up and starting what is a challenging knitting project.

It is knitted in the round from the bottom up and a steek. With 404 stitches on the needle, and two alternating colours, twisting proved a challenge. I thought I had it sorted, but after 4 rows, found I had not one, but two twists. The only way I could get it sorted was to pin it out on the arm of a chair, cut the steek, remove the twists and stitch the cut end together with a sewing needle. 

I have now finished the Fair Isle border.

Annoyingly, but predictably, It is curling as it progresses.  I'm hoping that the introduction of purl stitches as I move into the main grey section will alleviate this. If not, I will have to see if I can block the work in progress. I don't think I can work with a fattening snake!

I haven't furthered the Poppies needlepoint cushion - one major project at a time is enough. For breaks from Berwick  I have been reading Ann Sutton's Saffron Weald series, set in the South of England in the 1920s. From a rocky start, they are improving and providing a welcome diversion. I've almost finished the second in the series. By tomorrow I should be on to #3, Book Clubs can be Murder, which is what attracted me to the series. 

Post 635 Friends and Neighbours

I almost missed the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra morning concert last Wednesday. I had subscribed back in October last year and filed it under “bookings” rather than “subscriptions”. In the past, tickets were sent out as a set, initially by mail, then as an email. The most recent practice (unannounced) is to sent an e-ticket a few days before the event. I need to adjust my record keeping. I had agreed to help out at a Guild event on the same morning and was willing to forego the concert, but the Guild organiser kindly found a replacement for me. 

I enjoyed the concert from my seat in the front row. I don’t recall sitting so close before. While it provides a lot of interest (as well as interactions and playing styles, an excellent view of varied shoes!) it is easy to lose the overall sweep on the piece unless I  close my eyes. The Horn Concerto, though, was fantastic from my vantage point. 

Afterwards I visited the Art Gallery for a last quick look at the Love and Devotion in Asian Art exhibition that finished on Sunday. The Cafe was too crowded for me to stay for lunch, although the new menu was enticing.

Saturday was Anzac Day - traditionally a public holiday on the day itself, the 25th April. 2 States and the ACT have now broken with tradition, adding a holiday on the following Monday when the 25th falls on a weekend. The remaining 4 States and the Northern Territory adhere to the tradition. This means most businesses, including supermarkets, were closed here on Saturday. Others, like garden centres and hotels open only in the afternoon - to show respect to the dawn services and Anzac Day Marches that take place in cities and towns throughout the country. 

I don't attend either of these, but I do always remember family members who served in both World Wars. This year I added both my grandmothers to those I honoured.  Although they never met, both grandmothers gave birth during the war. Nell, my maternal grandmother,  on the left, gave birth to my Uncle Albert a year before the outbreak of WWI.. Her husband. my grandfather, enlisted in August 2014 and my Aunty Grace was born in May 1915. She was two years old before her father saw her. He sent postcards and Nell managed on her own, no doubt with some help from her 10 siblings. 

Ada, my paternal grandmother, gave birth to a son in December 1915, while her husband was serving in France. The child died 15 months later. Neither of these women were well off. What must life have been like for them, keeping the home fires burning, Nell 21 when War broke out, Ada 18?

I made my usual batch of Anzac biscuits on Friday in preparation, saving them from burning just in time. I like them crispy - which is just as well!

There was a bit of drama around our carpark. Access is via a button on a fob. These were all programmed as one - so that the theft of one meant reprogramming them all. The Strata Committee have found an app that enables individual programming so individual fobs can be taken off the system. Our Strata president nominated an hour on the morning of Anzac Day when we could take our fobs to the carpark for reprogramming. That meant a bit of a scramble to retrieve fobs from family members at very short notice. We managed it, thanks to Anthony. Then, on Sunday night the carpark entry door jammed, so had to be cranked and left open overnight before repairers came and had it fixed by 11am Monday morning.

On the way home from Pilates on Thursday I called at Dymocks and picked up a copy of the latest in the Tea Lady series. On Friday I did my Monday dinner shop since supermarkets would be closed the following day, and visiting the Post Office to pick up a book for our May Book Club meeting which I had not been home to receive.

Over the weekend I managed to read both of them. Both were really good, the Tea Ladies rather too much so. I lived through that era in Sydney and recognise the world and people it so vividly conjures. It left me depressed. I tried to summarise my feelings in my review. 

The Book Club pick  was my first by Peter James. I chose it out of curiosity as to how a writer goes about a novel featuring living people. I was surprised and impressed.

The weather has been warm - a pleasant mid-20s Indian Summer. 

Partly as a result of the fob-reprogramming exercise, another drama unfolded when my immediate neighbours locked themselves out of their apartment late yesterday. I could let them into the building, but not their apartment. They couldn't contact their son who had a spare key so they shelterd with me while I was cooking dinner and we waited for a locksmith. I could, at least, offer them an Anzac biscuit! Their son eventually found the message, cancelled the locksmith and arrived an hour later - his concern manifesting itself in blustering attempts to exert control and allot blame. Order (and apartment access for my neighbours) was restored before my dinner guests arrived. Today I've had lengthy discussions with my neighbours, the son has apologised, we've worked out how to keep calm and carry on - and laughed.

That's in between the podiatrist, swimming and  Shane arriving at 8.30am to finish the installation of the drip tray in my ceiling.  The sponges are to muffle the sound of any drips which collect. If I hear more drips, the system is not working and I ring Shane who will attempt to get here in time to actually see it happening through the manhole.

While we both hope this doesn't happen, neither of us would be sad if Shane  were the appointed worker on future repair projects. He is a teacher as well as a maintenance man. I now have a clear idea of the ceiling space and the ventilation system. It seems the vents I had barely noticed in the balcony ceiling are critical to ceiling airflow, which enables evaporation and assists in heating and cooling.  They need cleaning. How this can be achieved depends on whether or not they play a part in fire management. Fortunately, this is already on the agenda of the next Strata Management Committee. Serendipity!

On Saturday, I found that, after all, I did need to wind the second skein of wool to finish the Chapter and Skein shawl.

I finished the shawl this evening. This is it straight off the needles. I will block it tomorrow. The crude measurements hopefully give a sense of size.  It used 1280gms of wool, leaving 720 gms, which I might try using for a beanie. I may, however, slip in an embroidery project first.

Post634. Plenty to see and do.

 

Last Thursday I woke to this sunrise, taking the first photo from my bed. By the time I got outside for a closer look, the first flight out of Adelaide to Melbourne was visible -  it's the dot in the grey sky slightly to the right of the middle in the photo below.

The red sky didn't, I think, amount to trouble for either local shepherds or sailors. On Sunday morning I  took a series of photos of the plane as it disappeared Eastwards - here right at the top of the photo. The Sunday sky was more pink than red - and was grey within 2-3 minutes.

I spent much of the week indoors. 

On Wednesday Shane and his apprentice arrived at 8.15am and set to work to drape my living room with drop sheets, before the top half of one worker disappeared into the ceiling. I had a doctor’s appointment at 9.30, so left them to it. I had my flu shot, and a long conversation with my GP about my blood test results from the week before. He, like the nephrologist, is happy with the results. My kidney is in good shape. My sugar level is OK and my weight stable. He says if I were 15 years younger he would suggest further weight loss, but at my age lifestyle is more important! I’m not sure that’s a great rule to live by, so I will continue to watch my weight and work slowly on a reduction.

When I returned home,  Shane was convinced, as he has long suspected, that this leak is under the solar panels. 

They have now installed a drip tray in my ceiling.  Several hours was spent re-plastering and repainting, with several trips to paint shops to find the exact colour for both wall and ceiling, so it doesn't refllect or show when the light direction changes.

They finally cleaned up and left at 4.15pm and will be back to add a connecting drain pipe from the ingress point to the tray.

I sat in the living room and knitted or wrote for the entire time. I like to hear their conversation. Shane is a great teacher, constantly engaging, explaining, showing, instructing and tasking the apprentice in a clear and supportive way.

I also now have a neat and tidy manhole ready for future inspections.  

I had been toying with the idea of cooking quail one Monday night. We used to cook it fairly frequently a couple of decades ago and I had almost forgotten. It turns out, however, that it is no longer easily available in Adelaide.  I checked with my local supermarket on Friday, but contrary to what their website says, they don't stock them. I'll investigate further, but in the meantime, eggplant is in season, and my butcher had freshly minced lamb.

Saturday proved to be quite busy. I spent much of it making Moussaka, in between making phone calls for my neighbour who had lost her phone.  Turns out she had left it at the supermarket checkout in the city.  In the afternoon, from 2.30pm- 5.50pm there was a concert in the Square, featuring two bands and a soloist. Their music was more soothing and melodic than last year's concert. I could hear, but not see the performers. This is the back of the crowd, facing the stage out of sight to the right of the photo.

In the evening, dinner was at a restaurant, to celebrate the 13th birthday of a family friend. Really relaxed. I'm not sure if my gift of cricketing books will prove a long-term interest, but it is well worth a try.

I spent most of Sunday finishing a special knitting project I had decided on for an upcoming birthday. It was intense and slightly complicated work, but produced a good result which I will reveal in due course. I am now  back on the Chapter and Skein shawl, which is a lovely, gentle project. I am only just over halfway through the first skein, so rather think one skein will be sufficient.

Books keep arriving safely. Illuminated Knits contains four patterns: a blanket, two shawls and a top, all with Celtic knot patterns.  Food for thought, rather than a rush to execute.

The Embroidery of Mexico is, without a doubt, the best I've seen on the topic. It contains detailed information about the stitches and templates of the embroidery traditions of very specific geographic areas. 

It is a treasure trove.

Today another of the Kathleen Herbert lecture reprints arrived: again, really useful background for my August talk. 

This, I think, is the last Ive ordered, so now to get down to writing.  

Today I managed to swim - 700 metres in half an hour. It’s good to be back in the pool.  Fortuitously, the temperature today, the middle of Autumn, was 30C.

Afterwards I called at Barrow and Bench hardware store. Yesterday I called there to buy a screw for a door handle that has been hanging off the wardrobe on one screw for months. When the remaining screw gave way I finally took it to find a replacement. After an enormous amount of assistance from Karen, I bought a replacement handle that came with screws. 

The problem was, the screws had to be cut to the right length. We took a punt, and Karen cut and filed them, telling me to return if the screws were too long. They were - hence today’s trip. Another worker cheerfully cut them again for me - extraordinary service for a $4.50 purchase! I also bought a couple of plants. 

The handle is now fully restored and functional. 

This afternoon I went through the pattern books accompanying the embroideries I mentioned last week.

Most are vintage knitting books that will go to a good home. A couple are crochet patterns, including this book of crocheted swimwear. 

I wonder if any Guild members will be tempted to give them a try?