Post573 Mostly Textiles and Light

As predicted, the temperature on Wednesday, when WES Group met at the Guild, soared to 42C. Inside the Gallery we stayed cool and totally engaged as one of our members showed us her work of the last 30 years with cloth and paper.  The photo to the left shows two scenes she created in layered and embroidered cloth as well as the book she subsequently made from a photograph of one of them.    

The quality and quantity were astounding and we spent more than an hour examining them in detail and asking questions.

When I got home I spent the rest of the day in my chair, blinds and curtains drawn, fan and aircon on, writing up the meeting summary, reading and stitching. No point in being outside.

Thursday began well. The temperature had dropped by some 10 degrees. My new mouth guard was ready. Xrays and tests on a tooth that has begun to ache indicated a root canal problem, and I managed to get an endodontist appointment in March. From there I visited the dressmaker, who had muddled my appointment, so we rescheduled for Friday.  I filled in the time before Pilates with lunch at the Queen St Cafe. Atlantic salmon is becoming my go-to meal when eating out. I do think this is my favourite version!

It was good to be back at Pilates. My recovering finger gave me no trouble.

The dress fitting went well on Friday morning. We pinned the hem and I picked up the finished article on Saturday morning. It looks stunning. This is the birthday fabric from Harran in Turkey. I'm very pleased I went for a cream lining rather than pink. The gold motifs really shine. As yet I have no event to which to wear it, but it will happen!

It was lovely to wake to a temperature around 20C on Friday as the bats were returning to the Botanic Gardens to roost, even though they evaded the photo.

They were back as usual in the evening to feed the Moreton Bay Fig in the Square.

The drive to dinner on Saturday  was eventful. My route through the centre of the city was blocked at Victoria Square by building work on Flinders St. Traffic, including two empty long-loaders leaving the building site, was diverted around the Square. Slow progress, especially with the long-loaders making several tricky right-hand turns.Beyond the CBD, traffic banked up again, first for the Laneway Festival at Bonython Park (Niamh and Veronica in attendance!), then for the Adelaide United soccer match at Hindmarsh Stadium, then for a breakdown. It seems Mad March is already upon us.

Monday was Brigid’s birthday and we celebrated with dinner at Olive in the city. A really nice meal and great company.  Such a fabulous young woman.

I had a haircut booked today and moved it from early afternoon to midmorning so I could go on to the Art Gallery for another look at Radical Textiles. It was a pleasant thing to do. The exhibition is too large to take in at one visit. I wanted to check out some of the weaving, and take a couple of photos so I can ask a Guild friend how it is done. 

This time my favourite was this knitted piece - a triumph of design and graphing. 

The dress is a close runner up. 

I had planned to also visit the Museum two doors down, to see the Viking Treasures Exhibition, but decided to leave that for another day.           

                                               

The Gallery shop has a wonderful collection of goods related to the Textiles exhibition. I couldn't resist this kit.

It’s getting towards the best time of the year in Adelaide, especially along North Terrace. 

 I enjoyed the excursion, and the chance to look around the city.

I wasn't, however, sorry to get home and get down to stitching again.   I finished the border on the Huckaback on Aida on Thursday (written up in my embroidery blog ) and have begun work on a  motif in the centre ( yes, Evil Eye related).

I'm hoping to have this finished for the Guild Exhibition, which means finishing it in the next 2 days.  If I had stuck to the basic pattern I'd be finished by now, even allowing for a complete change of colour (originally in 22 shades of blue and white). I'm fundamentally adapting as I go, and keep adding colours and flames. The whole background of the hand should be filled in with a flesh colour, but I think it might have to remain blank for the exhibition.

I need to even up the flames before I go to bed tonight and my recovering finger needs breaks, so time to post.

Post 572 Mostly heat and health.

 

My blood test results last Wednesday were pretty good. At the moment there are no kidney danger signs. My GP has set up my Care Plan - a government initiative not supported by the previous practice. I’m pleased with the management of the  more connected, larger practice. I continue working on weight reduction, largely by maintaining my eating regime but exercising more, and watch Vitamin D levels during the summer heat. It was great to take the time to work it all through. I now have a bone density test booked.

I was a bit late to my Desk Hostess duty at the Guild, but all was quiet. We had only one visitor, I brought the bins in and managed to tie quite a lot of knots for the Aquile tassels. It's finished, and written up in my embroidery blog. 

Annoyingly, when I got home, there was a  courier notification to say I had missed a delivery and giving me a web link that told me I could pick it up somewhere in Adelaide sometime soon. Basically, keep checking, and eventually you'll find out when and where to pick it up. Alternatively, I could have it redelivered for a fee. 

 Their website identifies a collection point at Pack and Send, a block away from me. However, it was not until 2.30pm the next day that the information about my missing parcel appeared on the much-checked website. It was at the Courier’s Depot at Port Adelaide.

I took  the 30 minute drive, eventually found the warehouse entrance in 34C  and collected the parcel.

 It turned out to be, of course, a book I had ordered from England. Back at home, around 4.30pm with the aircon on, the book proved to be as clear as Mary Corbett had suggested.                                       

On Thursday morning  I had a fitting for the dress being made from the fabric Alison and Karl gave me. Connie had made a toile, which was a good move. It is basically a muumuu which hung really well, but the shoulder and neckline needed a lot of adjustment. All pinned and ready to be translated into a pattern. 

I also took along my dress purchased a year ago from Mexico. I’m having the strange side wings removed. It’s a fabulous dress, but a strange shape, with peaks, like wings, at the hips. It felt odd doing this on 6 February, which was my late friend Lorraine’s birthday. This time last year she asked me to order one of these for her, as she loved it.  I was trying to organise for her to try it on when she became ill, and it didn’t happen. That’s sad, but I have joyful memories of her enthusiasm and shared interest.

After the dressmaker, I went to Cumberland Park looking for a Bookclub pick for this month, the latest Peter May, but they had sold out. I’ve now bought the ebook.  Friday was a regular friends lunch at ITL in Sky City. A lovely relaxed catch-up. 

There was a brief respite from 30C+ temperatures from Friday through to Sunday. I made a couple of shopping excursions to prepare for a salad-rich meal on Monday when the temperature once again soared. After dental appointments, or work, 8 of us assembled around 6pm for bread, cold meats, party pies, party sausage rolls, Greek, Waldorf and coleslaw salads, prawns, pickled octopus and rollmops. Lots to exchange and catch up on. I won’t need to worry about cooking for a few days! 

It took a while this morning to do chores and prepare for the cleaners, but once done I have been relaxing out of the heat. My finger is sore and tender, but healing nicely. 

Tomorrow is WES Group, and the current forecast is 42C. Fortunately the Guild aircon is usually effective.

I’ve progressed the Certificate Course Huckaback piece. Yesterday I managed to swing past Create in Stitch to pick up a supply of perle 3, which is making the last stretch of the border much easier. There is still a way to go, and I need to take frequent breaks because of my finger.

I managed, however, to work a second bargello motif (right in photo) today. Five more to go. 

Better get on with it.

Post 571 The Eyes Have It.

 

It’s been a week of relentless heat, at least 35C every day and 40C yesterday as the girls made  their way here on foot  from school and working in the city. Troopers. 

The city provided inspirational light to those still out when the sun set around 8.45pm.

I’ve spent most of the week inside, reading, researching, stitching or writing without the use of my right index finger. I shopped a couple of times, and spent Saturday making a pasta bake for Monday, because my big adventure was lunch at friends’ house on Sunday. It was great to catch up in their cool house and feast on gazpacho and seafood.

I cancelled Pilates on Thursday after a lot of thought. It's important exercise for me, but even exercises on legs and torso usually involve gripping something, and I really don’t want to knock or stress my recovering finger.

 Yesterday the 8 stitches were removed. One bled, so I had a dressing on it until midday today. The routine is now pressure bandage overnight for about 6 weeks to disperse fluid and, from Thursday, twice-daily massages of wound to ensure scar tissue doesn’t harden, plus regular mild bending (beware overuse!). It’s a bit sore around the wound.

My main focus has been on stitching the third Evil Eye mandala, which I finished yesterday. Details, of course, in my embroidery blog. 

Inevitably, as I stitched it, I was thinking about history and meaning for my presentation later in the year, so while the bolognese sauce was simmering on Saturday I got out my books and worked on the it. The PowerPoint is now almost prepared. There’s another embroidery I want to do, but fundamentally it’s there. 

On Friday I had a fasting blood test. Foolishly, I had it in my left arm, as usual. The vein seemed to have recovered from the cannula for the finger operation, but by the time I got home it was bleeding messily, so I applied pressure and sat for half an hour. It is still bruised, but OK. I get the results tomorrow.🤞🏼

Progress on the Certificate Course Aida project has been much slower. I'm discovering the limitations of Aida as an embroidery medium - which may, of course, be the point of the exercise. More to come. Before I progress it, I'm trying to make the last two tassels for the Aquile, which, if I succeed, will also go in the Guild Exhibition. I seem to be managing the knots without my index finger.  240 down, 720 to go! I'm on desk duty at the Guild tomorrow, so maybe I'll get some more done.

The kit I ordered from Tanya Bentham arrived today. At the moment working in wool is not attractive, although the design is.

While I have made inroads in my book pile, I haven't eliminated it and another book arrived today. After the knots, it might be time to redress the reading/stitching balance.

Post 570 Hands and Eyes

I finished last week with my bandaged hand, 

As you can see, I stitched the bandage layers together. They kept slipping apart, exposing the cotton wool padding, so I found a couple of threaded needles (threading being beyond me) and stitched crudely with my left hand. Rough and ready, but effective.

Friends phoned to see how I was going and family checked in. In the evening I had a go at stitching left handed. Before the operation I had threaded three needles for the next round of the evil eye mandala - a straight stitch round, which I managed to complete. With a seated hoop I could move my left hand below and above, my right hand resting on the hoop. Not entirely comfortable, but workable. My left arm muscles got a bit of a workout.

By Wednesday the pain in my hand had subsided. I washed my hair under the shower left- handed.  My right hand, in a plastic bag, secured by two elastic bands, remained outside the spray. Later, I sat for a few minutes in the car, testing my grip on the wheel, before driving about 1km to the dentist. I had no trouble, no pain in my right hand gripping the wheel with thumb and two fingers. The bandage bulk was a nuisance, but not an impediment. My new dentist was running late but thorough, pleasant and efficient when we connected. My new mouth guard should be ready in three weeks.

On Thursday I saw my hand therapist who cut away the clunky bandage, amused by my stitching. The gauze covering the excision remains in place until the stitches are removed next Monday. She made me a moulded cover which protects the dressing and wound. I can take it off if I want a break, or leave it on. It’s a little sore, but not painful.

On my way home I stopped at Gorman in Rundle St, to check out a dress I’d seen online, then called at the Jura shop. I bought the dress and discussed a coffee machine glitch at the Jura shop. As always, they were super helpful, working out the problem and a simple fix, which I tried as soon as I got home. It worked! 

It was then I realised that the shield was not on my finger! Panic! I grabbed the apartment key and retraced my steps to the lift and the carpark. Through the car window I saw it, sitting behind the steering wheel! Clearly I need to pay more attention!  The shield appeared to be firm, but could easily slide off.  In my panic I had not grabbed the car key, so back upstairs and down again, eventually reuniting finger and shield -  and having a coffee!                                                                         

I am able to stitch with the new dressing. Although I can't use the affected finger, I can now use the middle finger and thumb to thread a needle and to pull a needle through fabric. That's quite workable, I can touch type, with the middle finger doing double duty. I have added a plaster to prevent the cover coming off!

The first Guild Certificate Course workshop for 2025 was on Saturday and I made the effort to attend. I've missed the last few and I miss the stitching and the people.  This one was taken by Carol Mullan on Huckaback, Creating New Designs on Aida Fabric .

I have done quite a bit of Huckaback, and have a bit of Huck fabric in my stash, but I was interested in the notion of designing on Aida. The requirement for the workshop was an A4 piece of Aida and assorted threads. I had used up most of the Aida in my stash but found a piece I’d bought from the Guild trading table - mat sized, 35cmx42cm, already edged with bias tape and centre marks tacked .

It was an excellent workshop. I enjoyed catching up with Guild friends I haven’t seen for a couple of months and Carol is an inspiring teacher. The problem was, while others were experimenting with small samples  of designs, it seemed a shame not to use the whole of my mat-sized piece, so I began playing with a border, intending to keep working my way into the centre. Fortunately, Carol pointed out that a border might be sufficient to achieve the design goals!  I lasted until lunch by which time my hands were both aching. It is, however, addictive and I returned to working on it that night and on Sunday.in between proofreading for my brother.

It was a long weekend here, 35C-37C each day and 22C overnight on Sunday. We ate outside on Saturday night, I stayed in on Sunday, venturing out to stitch with a friend on Monday afternoon. She helped me decide how to fill in the border of the workshop piece. More on that next time.

Final story for this week is a follow-up to our robbery. The strata committee have now viewed the CCTV footage which shows a lone male entering through a narrow passageway behind the apartment block, separating fence panels to enter the carpark, then dodging behind cars and lockers to avoid people as they go to their cars.

His theft from my locker is not caught on camera. However, he exits though our foyer, which is on camera. He has a stolen trolley, now loaded with my boxes and someone's fishing rods. Outside our front door is a small entry area. The lock on the gate has been jamming in the lock position, so was strapped open. A confused resident, blaming a visiting tradie, had removed the strap, shutting the gate. The thief finds the gate won't open, The apartment door has closed behind him and he is trapped with his goods.

Having come this far, he throws the boxes over the railing (right) into the garden, followed by the trolley, and then himself - all caught on CCTV. He picks himself up, retrieves the trolley, reloading the now broken boxes and the fishing rods. All this, however, has made a noise, and further along the road, our Strata president has come out to see what's going on.  As the thief makes away with the loaded trolley, the President gives chase. Thief abandons trolley and runs away! 

That's how my stolen goods came to be returned.  A report, and CCTV footage will be supplied to the police following the proper processes. 

The neighbour who shut the gate by mistake is a heroine!

I finished the second Evil Eye Kit, and have started on the third. Details in my embroidery blog.

I apologise for so many off-putting photos and anecdotes this week. For me the experiences were alleviated by some very satisfying stitching.

Maybe the mandala is working!

Post 567 Repair and Recover

On Wednesday I had an optometrist appointment mid-morning, checking on the treatment prescribed in December. The news was good. Both eyes have improved and I can move from emergency treatment back to control.

As the optometrist is not far from Centennial Park I paid a visit to Jim's grave, which is looking really good. I also checked in on Lorraine's burial spot. The headstone is not yet in place. I did some shopping on the way home and spent the afternoon filling out forms and paying bills associated with my hand surgery.

I also had correspondence with our Strata Rep regarding the carpark break-in which I had assumed when writing last week, occurred overnight. I was wrong. It occurred around 2pm on Monday.  As I wrote last week, I went to the dressmaker and Create in Stitch around that time. From receipts and recall, I have worked out I left the carpark around 12.50 and returned no later than 2.45pm. That is the window in which my storage cage was broken into! 

I am assuming the thieves watched me leave and acted quickly. The alternative, that they were tracking my car, is paranoid!

On Thursday morning as I moved my car I noticed something in front of it. When I investigated it was this bag, from Jim's  funeral. As far as I can recall, it contained only the guest book signed by those who attended. Other items, his wedding ring and locks of his hair are stowed upstairs. I imagine the thieves abandoned the book and it has blown away. It rocked me for a bit - a piece of family history lost.  

Friday was relatively busy. First, a catch-up phone call with my longest friend, who, it turns out, has contracted Ross River Fever, she knows not how. That's serious and debilitating. She's a fighter from way back, and will pull through, but it will be a battle. 

The hospital rang with instructions about my Monday surgery. The nurse was terrific - answered all my questions.

I then drove to Glenelg for lunch at the Marina with a friend. It was fabulous - good food and service, great company, a pleasant view and a sea breeze. 

On Saturday I cooked a moussaka so my minder and I would have something to eat after my hand surgery on Monday (perhaps a bit heavy-handed on the nutmeg!), and prepared for my Book Club on Sunday, printing off a list for each member, of what I had read since our last meeting and reminding myself. Most of us were in the same boat when we met, having trouble remembering details about the books we had read in December. It took us quite a long time to catch up on our reading. Between us we had read 52 crime novels other than the recommended 3 since 8 December! Our next month's reading is 17 Years Later by J.P. Pomare and The Black Loch by Peter May. I'm looking forward to the latter.

I had to be at the hospital by 1.50pm on Monday. A friend had rejected my plan to go by bus and tram and kindly insisted on giving me a lift there. It made it much easier, Katherine had planned on picking me up afterwards, but developed a bad cold, so Anthony stepped in, no small commitment as it required an overnight stay.  By 11.30am on Monday the spare bed was made up, the plants watered, rubbish out, table set for dinner, moussaka and Greek salad in fridge, disposable gloves, plastic bags and elastic bands in bathroom and kitchen ready to protect me from water and this blog post ready to this point. My right hand index finger, I realise, is used for most things I do. The before photo (left) doesn’t look too bad, but the cyst will grow rapidly again and risks infecting the joint. I'm not confident I will be able to type much after the surgery.

The surgery went smoothly. My right hand now looks like this and I can hold my iPad stylus as below. Definitely no touch typing, but works ok on an iPad keyboard! I will, apparently, be able to stitch after Thursday when the dressing is simplified and I have some rehab. I have a prescription for an opium-based pain killer which I had made up on the way home. My instructions are to take Paracetamol first, then ibuprofen and the Palexia only when the former have no effect, a routine of which I thoroughly approve and to which I am adhering.

The moussaka and Greek salad worked well for our dinner. There’s enough left over to feed me for a several days, so cooking is avoided. Dishes are in the dishwasher, as washing up manually isn’t the best idea! We watched some television and I wrote some of this at 10.30pm with the stylus as illustrated!

I slept well and managed to have the kitchen sink cupboard empty in time for the arrival of a plumber around 11am. He replaced the broken water meter, replaced my drinking water filter, and measured my bathroom cupboards so his company can advise me on the replacement of a fascia which is water damaged, Neither of us has an explanation for the damage. It looks as if the whole cabinet will need to be replaced, so I await further information.

The local anaesthetic wore off around 9 this morning. The wound stung and throbbed a little, aching a bit late this afternoon so I’m taking Panadol every 6 hours to try to stay on top of it.

I had hoped to finish the four tassels for the Aquile mat before my surgery, but managed only two. I advanced the second evil eye mandala, but didn't finish. It will be a while before I work on either of them . My bandage gets simplified to a water-resistant one on Thursday, so we'll see after that.

Thanks to all who have helped me this week - so many people in so many ways. I am truly blessed - and grateful.🙏🏼 I'm very tired, so posting this early.

                                                                                               

Post 568 A Birthday to remember!

On Wednesday, after a morning of packing the car, drenching the plants and closing the curtains, I picked family up from the airport, before heading. straight to Carrickalinga. There was an accident on the expressway that delayed us for some 15 minutes, but otherwise we made good progress.

We had a holiday rental on the beach. We've stayed there before. It's a very 1970s Aframe, with a  master bedroom and ensuite on a mezzanine, accessed by a spiral staircase, with living area below, both overlooking the beach. Through the door at the back is a rumpus-room setup, bathroom/laundry and a bunk bedroom. The house is currently For Sale. 

The other family holiday rental is a 15 minute walk up the hill and has spectacular sunset views. They cooked a BBQ dinner for our arrival.

I had a good, and very lazy, four days. I didn't have a swim. The rest of the family gathered early in the morning and in the evening to swim (far too hot to swim in the middle of the day: we are neither mad dogs nor English).  The day temperature fluctuated around 25-28C, a good 5-7 degrees cooler than Adelaide.

Our Strata requests we turn the water off in our apartment when we go away, so I had done this as I left. The taps, both hot and cold, are situated in a cupboard in the lift foyer on each floor. Mine are behind a downpipe, not easy to get to.  As I turned the stop-cocks off, the hot water meter fell off on to the floor of the cupboard. The round meter, on the left, should be on the round dial on the right.  I didn't have time to deal with it before going to the airport, so reported it the next day. This resulted in several phone calls on Thursday, and my neighbour giving a plumber access to the cupboard. On my return on Sunday, the dial was as I've left it. I'm assuming the plumber is trying to source a replacement. To my relief, and as the plumber predicted, once I reopened the stopcock, the hot water supply is unaffected.

 

Sunday was my birthday. We had dinner at the Normanville Surf Club on Saturday - an excellent, relaxed meal with lovely views and attentive service. The Canberra visitors were flying home on Sunday afternoon, so we packed up our house by 10am and imposed ourselves on the rest of the family for brunch before heading back to Adelaide at 1.30pm.

I didn't manage to photograph the piles of bacon and eggs Fionn cooked on the BBQ, nor the haloumi Brigid cooked, nor the numerous mocktails made by Niamh and Veronica, but the fruit and cheese convey the idea.

I was, in the words of Fionn, showered with presents. 

This is some of them. Two are really enticing kits, one Japanese fabric to make into a bag in any way you like, and the other a very inviting cross stitch mat on Nordic style. 

Veronica's very cheeky earrings consist of working pencils (!) and silver bird claws made by an artist who is also a taxidermist. These, I think, will provide a better signal than an evil eye amulet. I can't think of a clearer way to say Do not mess with me! I shall use them accordingly.

We made it to the airport in plenty of time for what was, unfortunately, a fairly turbulent trip back to Canberra. 

Back at my place, the plants had survived well. I had clearly overlooked the Christmas poinsettia in my pre-holiday watering frenzy. It looked sad, but has revived with water. I unpacked food and immediate needs, had an 80 minute phone conversation with my brother and numerous messages from friends to round off the day.

On Monday I set about finding places for my presents. Brigid had given me a hanging bird with a crystal, which needed a spot where the bird colours could be seen and the crystal wouldn't set anything alight by focusing the sun. I tried suspending it in the fly screen of the balcony door, but the colours are lost in the light. The Japanese women enjoyed holding it above the bookcase, 

but in the end it hangs nicely from the converted oil lamp.

Fionn's bird is taking longer, because the solder gave way at the base and I am trying to find a fix. I don't solder, and I’m out of superglue. Trip to hardware shop tomorrow.

Niamh's pin cushion demanded white or yellow pins, requiring a trip to Create in Stitch. It looks fantastic. All I need to do is to put the same pins back as I use them.

My next task was the fabric Alison and Karl gave me. It is woven in Harran, Turkey and purchased in a market town.  There are 3 metres of it and it deserves a proper dress. The dressmakers I know are retired or semi-retired. I could be a nuisance and call in a favour. Once I could have tackled it myself, but not now. After a bit of searching I found a dressmaking business just over a mile away on Unley Road, so took the fabric there straight away.

They were amenable, but needed me to supply the lining fabric.

I was headed to Create in Stitch for the pins, so thought I'd ask there before heading to Spotlight. Simela found me a fine cotton in a cream colour, which works well. I went straight back to the dressmaker, and have ordered a very simple, A line, long dress. I have a fitting on 31 January. 

While I was away my neighbour had taken in a parcel on my behalf.  This turned out to be a birthday gift from my friend Vivienne, who has knitted me two hats! They fit nicely and will come in handy in winter. The other component is ingenious, two clip-on earrings, joined by a chain, to form a shawl clip! Another useful winter accessory.

Fionn got it right - showered with gifts!

My prediction about which project I would progress while away was well off the mark. I began the Evil Eye protection embroidery and just kept going. I really loved doing it. I finished it early on Saturday. When I got home on Sunday I mounted it in the display hoop and on Monday found backing fabric. Detail in my embroidery blog.

I managed a few knots for the tassels, but nowhere near enough. I’ve almost managed one tassel, rolling some of the linen trimming into a round and covering with needle lace to form the head. It’s slow work. 

This morning I composed a final, rounding-off sentence for this post, before discovering that my storage locker had been broken into during a Sunday night car-park break in. My locker is about 75cm wide and 1.5 metres deep. There are storage boxes at the back and a 1.8 x1.8 metre trolley in front. The trolley is quite hard to move. The photo on the left is face-on to the locker gate. The large cardboard box sits on top of the trolley that has to be manoeuvred out when the gate is open, to access the boxes piled beyond.

The intruders cut, not the lock, but the metal the lock goes through. They must have pulled the trolley out, removed 2 boxes behind the trolley, replaced the trolley and arranged the door to appear locked! They took 2 boxes,  marked Personal Treasures and Treasures from Asia respectively, into the street and abandoned them, opened. A box of diaries was opened and some diaries, I think, are missing, as are the remaining 8-10 copies of Conversations with Baby Boomer Teachers that I self-published.  With the help of neighbours, the rest is back. The weirdest thing is that the intruders put the locker back together. It’s not easy to do. They could not possibly have been searching for diaries (could they?)! There is a lot of Strata security activity. We had CCTV installed late last year. I haven’t asked yet if it picked up anything.

I had written this morning that it has been a good week and thanked everyone who sent messages. Today’s discovery has not altered that. Yah Boo Sucks to intruders. At the end of the day, it's just stuff. If I ever meet them, I shall thank them for being tidy. I hope, however, I'm wearing Veronica's earrings! 

I really appreciate the connection, support and love shown to me this week. I may not have swum, but I feel afloat. One nice touch is that while we were at Carrickalinga, Fionn asked what happened to a boomerang we had above a door in our Hindmarsh house. I didn't know. Turns out, it was in the box of treasures found abandoned in the street. It did indeed come back!