Post 617. Christmas Wishes

I managed to mend (at least for now) the glass angel whose head had come away from the solder, so my nativity is now only missing shepherds.

I spent Wednesday morning at CMI Toyota, knitting and emailing while my car was serviced. Just before 7am, Couriers Please informed me they would deliver the bishop cushions that morning, but I managed to contact them and redirect the delivery to the Pack and Send down the road. All power to Couriers Please! 

I was not as fortunate the next day, when I cancelled Pilates and waited in all day for a delivery that never came! While the courier left a delivery card, they did not ring. The system records attempts, and there were none. I have now learned from reliable sources that some courier companies tell couriers not to ring apartments because it takes too much time! I now have the bags. The account of the new merchandise is in my embroidery blog. 

As I was confined to barracks on Thursday, waiting for a courier who didn't come, I decided to wash all my woollens. I put the 9 merino ones in the washing machine  and the five possum merino in the sink to hand-wash. I dried the machine lot first, a bit of turning and bone dry in 3 hours. 

I then spread out the possum merino ones dripping wet. This, at least, is a very good job jobbed.   

I had tickets to the Messiah at the Cathedral on Friday night, but after a lot of thought, gave it a miss. The temperature on Wednesday and Thursday was 39C and 40C, and forecast as 30C on Friday. The Cathedral has no cooling system and the heat builds up over several days. The deciding factor, however, was the cricket. The Cathedral is within an easy walk of the Adelaide Oval, and when a match is on, all parking around the Cathedral is restricted Event parking. As the third Ashes Test Match was in it's third day, scheduled to finish at 6pm, parking for a 7,00pm performance at the Cathedral was sure to be challenging. I opted out.  The attendance over 5 days was 223,638 a record for Adelaide Oval, so a good decision.

Apart from a couple of big supermarket shops and visits to an Art shop and the Post Office,  most of Friday and Saturday was spent adjusting the print on the Bishop bags. On Sunday I ordered 6 more, this time in a paler background colour, in the hope the printing will be clearer. I've organised for these to be delivered to my daughter's home.🤞 I'm hoping this will now be enough bags for those interested.

Once that was done I put the cricket on the television and set to work to get my Christmas gifts in order. I'm missing some of the Christmas sacks with initials on them for each grandchild, but as they are all now adults, and I have no shortage of gift bags, I improvised.  The bags are slowly turning up in unexpected places and I will swap on the day.

I haven't watched a cricket match for decades. As a child I heard the cricket on the radio throughout summer - pretty much everyone listened, and my family certainly did. On Sunday it proved very entertaining. Both sides went all out, making mistakes, but nevertheless demonstrating enormous skill and tenacity.  It was cricket at its best, and uplifting to watch, regardless of who won.

I kept watching until stumps, finishing the second front of my cardigan while doing so. I think I rather overdid making it larger. It is more a coat than a cardigan - but that's good. I've started on the sleeves. I was tempted to knit the two together on the same needles, as my mother and grandmother would have done, to ensure they are identical, but decided to keep it simple. If I managed to match the two fronts working them separately I can manage the same for the two sleeves.

The Christmas emails, eCards and calls keep coming in and four more cards came in Monday's post. I do so love getting the updates. It really lifts my spirits. It's my community, connected strongly over distance.

Monday's dinner was a sausage and vegetable bake, the original recipe from Ken Cock, the dear friend who died this year. My version has many more vegetable varieties than his, but still holds his memory. The photo, of course, is before  cooking! 

As family began to arrive my buzzer failed to work. That heaven for phones! I could go down and let them in. I reported the problem to the Strata. This morning I checked with my neighbour, and placed a sign over my buzzer instructing deliverers to buzz her. Our Strata rep, just back from a 2 week holiday, checked with other reps (the key one of whom was on holiday in Thailand!), then came up and showed me how to reboot my connection. It worked!  My buzzer is now operational! A learning curve for all of us. 

Apart from 2 parcels I have re-routed, I am still waiting on a couple of deliveries one of which is a dress I ordered to wear on Christmas Day. It was meant to arrive yesterday by Express delivery, but appears stuck in Melbourne - no surprise at this time of the year. It is now at Melbourne Airport, so pretty unlikely to arrive tomorrow.🤷

The weather has cooled a little. and is forecast to stay this way until  the weekend. By that I mean 23C-26C  - comfortable for eating outside, not pretty snowflake weather. 

The doves were back today, finding spots where the tiles were warm, but not too hot, to groom and fluff up their feathers, managing to look a bit dishevelled but nevertheless helping each other  to get it together.

Let's shake out our feathers, and help each other to peace and goodwill this Christmas.

Post 616 Installation, Lament and Light

This wasn’t the way I had planned to begin this post, and I can’t safely leave a candle burning for long in my apartment, but I feel the need to light one, however briefly, for hope, solidarity, affirmation, defiance and belief. 

Light will triumph over darkness.

The week’s narrative originally focused on Friday’s activity - my 6 hour television installation. Just before 8am  on Friday two young installers/electricians arrived with two vehicles, made several trips from vans to apartment with large boxes, which they then unpacked, piling up the empty boxes.

It’s hard to believe that’s all for one television. 

A couple of hours later, Richard, salesman and project manager, arrived to supervise, with a trainee. A lot of discussion, conversation and construction, dismantling, rebuilding occurred. Around 1pm I downloaded the B&O app and Richard began teaching me how to use the TV. In spite of my fear, it went smoothly. 

At 2pm all four workers were sitting watching me find channels. We were all very pleased with ourselves. 

I discussed my idea of a low cabinet behind the TV to accommodate the cords. The additional power point I had requested had slipped off their worksheet, leaving my dvd  player still on a power board. Lots of phone calls.  When pushed, one of the young electricians reluctantly said if it were his, and he had a cabinet there, he’d stick with the power board for the dvd player. 

After they left around 2.15, I made a coffee and stared at the blank machine for some time, then took myself off to Nordic Design Furniture to discuss a cabinet. David, their designer, agreed to visit at 9.30am the next morning. He arrived at 8.30am(🙄) and left 45 minutes later with a drawing. By 1pm I'd paid a deposit on a Tasmanian Blackwood cabinet to hold cords and the dvd. It will likely take months to build, but will I think be worth the effort and wait.

It was not until well into Friday evening that I plucked up courage to use the remote and navigate through a few free-to-air programs. It worked! Only on Sunday did I try navigating beyond free-to-air, and successfully logged in and opened some apps. There remains a problem accessing Apple products. I can stream iTunes from my phone or iPad, to the TV, but it won't open directly - my punishment for not buying an Apple product! I can only view Apple photos one at a time. I expect to solve these with help at some point.

I took the photo around 8.45pm on Friday night- the calm and successful end of an intense, 37C day, charged with fear and expectations, navigated with compassion and persistence by 4 highly skilled young abovemen. There are even bats returning to feed if you look closely.

The WES group’s last meeting for the year went well on Wednesday. We shared morning tea, news and projects. I didn’t seek  permissions to show everyone’s work, but I think it’s OK to show this section of a large rug one member had finished weaving the day before.

Another member recommended this book, not just for knitters, but any hand- crafters.

I took along the Bishop cushion and bags. It was the encouragement of this group that gave me permission to proceed. Incidentally, the amended bags are on their way from Guangzhou and the cushions from Melbourne.

Sunday was a Book Club Christmas Morning Tea without book discussion.

There were a lot of stories about miscommunication in medical settings and the mis-application of AI, but on the whole we are a cheerful, resilient and problem-solving group. I got up early on Sunday to make gingerbread trees and angels from dough I prepared late on Saturday afternoon and left in the fridge overnight. I like my biscuits crisp- probably leaving them in the oven a fraction longer than ideal. They are definitely crisp. I took a few to Book Club un-iced but when I got home, melted a block of white chocolate and drizzled it over them. They would certainly not pass muster in any cooking competition, but I like the taste. 

Much of the evening was spent knitting while watching the TV news as the BONDI shooting incident unfolded - a shocking and terrible thing. At the moment it looks as if we will rise to the occasion and put in place the necessary controls to maintain our democracy and prevent a recurrence.

Monday dinners are back on. Last night it was 5 of us for party pies, salads chicken and duck legs, Today my first 3 Christmas cards arrived - all from cousins in England! I love the messages they bring. More connection and light!

To cap off the day, around 5pm a piper began playing laments in the Square. I suspect it was the same one who played 3 years ago and stayed well out of sight. This time she (if it was the same one) stayed below several large trees, out of my sight, played for ten minutes and left.

I've spent the best part of today with my two youngest granddaughters, who got their Year 12 results yesterday - a trying time for everyone. While there are minor disappointments, their results are excellent and they will be able to do the courses they're aiming for either at their first or second-choice universities. Which it is will not be known until offers come out on 10 January. Today we went shopping at an Art Gallery and had lunch at Queen St to celebrate. 

They are candles of hope for the future in a fractured world. We are in this together, however old, wherever we are, were born, or are headed. Even as we lament, we remember:

In this world of darkness so we must shine, 

You in your small corner, and I in mine.

Post615 Art, Craft and Nature

 One way or another, there's been quite a bit of art and beauty this week. I treated myself to these Pyrethrum daisies on Thursday. They looked so cheerful and I could see them in this  vase. They are drooping in the heat and won't make it to the weekend.

This week the honeyeaters have been out in force, this one in the honey locust tree behind the apartment. This morning the one on the left was less picturesque in the native frangipani, 

but probably keeping out of the was of the noisy miner claiming territory on the other side of the same tree.

I spent much of the early part of the week thinking about 

an item in the catalogue for the Elder's auction on Sunday. It was a maquette of a statue in Rundle Mall,  Girl on a Slide by David Howie (left). It was a favourite of Jim's. He always said it reminded him of Katherine.

I went to a  viewing on Thursday after Pilates, and took the photo on the right. It was clearly an early maquette (since it hadn't been used!) with the general shape, but little detail. The figure was roughly 6"-7" long. While not what I call beautiful, it is a great piece of history. I talked it over with Katherine and thought long and hard. In the end I decided it belonged in a museum and not in my home. I nevertheless went to the auction to see the outcome. It sold for $2200, towards the lower end of the estimate. I'm glad it sold. I hope it informs the history of Adelaide Art.

On Friday I took myself off to the Museum and Art Gallery. I did a bit of Christmas shopping and had lunch at the Museum. I sampled the upper galleries of the Art Gallery, delighted to see these silhouettes on display. I can remember how many years ago I first saw this, but it made me smile then as it did this week.

I also bought a copy of Jenny Aland's History of the SA School of Art, which is the oldest in Australia, having begun in 1856. Jenny worked with Jim in the Education Department and since retiring from there, continues her work with the for the Arts.

It's a remarkable, monumental, achievement and I'm enjoying dipping into it.

I hadn't managed to plant much of what I bought last weekend at St Margaret's Market. as I had run out of potting mix. As fanily dinner was back on here on Monday, I went shopping on Satuday for moussaka ingredients, then on to a nursery. As well as potting mix  I bought a Bay tree, and a wicker balcony basket.  When I got home I parked the nursery purchases and spent the afternoon making the moussaka. I once did this over two days, but have now got it down to 4-5 hours. It takes it out of me - but with a sense of achievement. It went down well on Monday night and felt good to be back in this routine.

 

On Monday I got up early and, in my nightdress, got stuck into planting. The Bay tree is on the lower right. I managed to rearrange the baskets on the rail to fit in the new wicker one, repotted a couple of spider plants that were badly pot-bound, and potted up the plants from St Margarets. The nightdress went into the laundry basket, I showered, dressed in proper clothes and vaccuumed the carpet where my feet had traipsed soil. 

I  also finally ventured into the Square to see what my tinsel balcony decoration looked like from below. I didn't much like it, so today, after coffee with Panayoula in Dulwich, I called at the Heirloom Christmas Shop and bought a big red bow.

Much better.

The hanging nativity  arrived. It will do for this year, but I'm hoping to find one in the future that lets light through.

Five days ago the Bishop of Grafton announced the appointment of Tiffany, a new bishop for the diocese. I've managed to add her name to the embroidered bag, and spent many hours trying to adapt and adjust photographs to have more bags and cushions printed. It's a tricky process when dealing with multiple photographs. I have both bags and cushions orgered. When they arrive I'll know whether I managed it, and will tell the story.

And  10 minutes ago I finished knitting the sparkly acrylic yarn and writing a blog post. This is the result.

Emails and messages have begun arriving in response to my Christmas cards. I love getting these. They lift my spirits. 

It's been a busy, but satisfying week.

Post614 To hear the Angels sing.

It's been a rainy week again here in Adelaide.  We had almost three times our average November rainfall this year, but the first two days of December have been fine enough for the birds to visit and the coming week is shaping up as washing friendly! I have sheets ready to hang out tomorrow.

Last week I  concluded with a comment that I looked like spending this whole week waiting for service people and deliveries. Au contraire, it all happened on Friday!

It wasn't raining when Shane arrived at 8.20am with an apprentice. to locate the roof leak I  had heard last Saturday. About 3 hours later, after removing my temporary manhole cover, inspecting the roof cavity by sticking his head through the hole, teaching the apprentice  to do the same, then working up on the roof for an hour or so, he reported back to me. He had found and repaired a roof capping and a capping on the top of the cement wall of our lift shaft inside the ceiling cavity (which has to be done from the roof as the ceilings are not load-bearing). He wasn't convinced it was the whole culprit. He was right. In the afternoon it rained and the drip was back! It only lasted about 20 minutes. He is recommending installing an evaporation tray in my ceiling, which should stop my drips. It won't, however, ensure the roof is waterproof. I wrote up a report for the Strata Committee and sent it off on Sunday.

No sooner had the roof repairers gone around 11, than the bathroom scales I had ordered arrived. They are certainly solid - and a bit larger than I expected. The tiles in the photo are 12" square. All the instructions assume they are for a doctor's surgery. I'm hoping they really will be reliable. The scale is marked in half-kilos and a bit hard to read when standing on them, and, of course, it doesn’t stay when you step off, but I can just manage it it with glasses on.

I was meant to go out to lunch when the repairers left. I was looking forward to it, wearing a dress, earrings, tights- even a change of handbag to match the dress. At 11.45am, I found a message from FedEx saying they were delivering a parcel between 10.20am and 2.20pm. This I knew to be the Bishops bags I had ordered from VistaPrint and I was anxious to get them.  I attempted to redirect the delivery to the nearby Pack and Send but got nowhere. Neither could I find out what they would do with the parcel if I was not at home.  I have had some bad experiences with couriers taking parcels to difficult-to-access depots. After several unsuccessful phone calls, answered from who-knows-where, and drawing a blank on their website, I cancelled my lunch attendance. The courier didn't turn up until 3.40pm. I could have gone to lunch.  Grrr.

At least, when the package arrived, the Bishop bags were very good and will serve the purpose I had in mind. The story of all the merchandise is in my embroidery blog. 

Also on Friday, B&O negotiated the delivery and installation of my new television on 12 December. In the various spells of waiting during the day I worked on another tote bag featuring a Kasia Jacquot panel, finishing it in the evening.

I find a lot to like in her designs. The stitches she suggests are simple and limited, but because she uses a full 6 strands of cotton, they give texture and dimension. She also has an eye for colour. I was sceptical about the idea of white around the heart - but it works.

I also had another call from my neighbour to check an email she feared was a scam. We spent a good half hour catching up. A lot was ticked off on Friday (at the cost of my lunch!)!

My hairdresser did go ahead and add my Santons to her window display. She sent me these photos on Thursday. I'm chuffed.

Plants on my back balcony enjoy the rain. I left the Vergola open for the early part of the week and closed it for much of the latter part. I paid a bit of attention to the indoor plants and those on the front balcony, which is covered and not reached by rain. I have a few plants I've struck from cuttings, growing in a range of odd glass jars or glasses in clay balls.  I'm especially pleased with this spider plant that I struck from a pup.

On Saturday I acquired more plants from Maggie’s Market at St Margaret’s. It was the last one for the year, so I dropped off some empty pots and came away with 5 plants, all varieties I’ve bought from them before and managed to grow. 

On the way to St Margaret’s I called at the Guild Stash sale. It was good to be there, catch up with a few friends and see the scope of members’ work. I found the basket in the photo above - good for a pot plant. Immediately after explaining I am not buying any more wool until I’ve cleared my stash, I saw these three odd balls and added them to the basket. It is acrylic, which I never buy, with a twist of metallic sparkle. Suddenly, knitting Christmas beanies was back on my agenda. I found a pattern. and began knitting that evening. After knitting about an inch of the band, it occurred to me I might be able to knit a coronet, rather than a beanie. I’d never seen a knitted coronet, but went looking and found a pattern that made use of the beanie band I was knitting.

By Sunday morning I was right into it. Knitting the peaks takes a bit of getting used to, and I made mistakes. I was planning to go to the cinema for a 2pm showing of The Choral, part of the British Film Festival. I was once a regular film goer, but haven’t been since Covid. I wanted to see The Choral, and I wanted to overcome my attendance reluctance. The Strata committee had planned a lunch picnic in the park which I had thought to attend for about an hour before heading to the film, but I ended up trying to master the peaks. I could see from the balcony there were only about 6 people at the picnic - most likely the committee. In the end I just went over and said hello before driving to the cinema. 

The cinema was crowded. Clearly most Adelaideans my age got over their COVID fears before me. The film was excellent, a bit more serious and thought-provoking than I expected. The music was as I hoped, and it was a tribute to determination, spirit and resilience. It did not gloss over the cost of war and its relentless machinery. That’s, I think, as it should be. 

I had intended to go to the 6pm carol service at the cathedral, but the film somehow left me with no appetite for it. I returned home and finished the test-run crown. The photo doesn’t show the sparkle.

It was good enough to wear, and work out improvements. I've been working on the second one, above in the photo. It works much better in a number of ways. I will repeat this one, but I also want to try a variation.

I’m enjoying knitting, especially when there’s a creative edge, but I hanker for an embroidery project, so I framed up another Kasia Jacquot panel, this time Veronka, which I’ve worked before. This time around I mounted it in snap frames so I could see most of the whole, using the Elbesee clamp in a seat stand  So far that’s working well. I haven't done much of it, but it's there to give me a change from knitting. 

I’ve ordered a couple of Kasia Jacquot’s stick-on embroidery patterns for tops. I want to embroider one to go with the pants I embroidered. Yesterday I went looking for a simple black cotton shirt.    I searched online and narrowed my choices down to a chain store that seemed to have several possibles. I wore the pants and tried on quite a few tops, including some men’s. Only one really fit the bill. It’s a cotton/viscose mix. I've also got a pale green linen shirt that might work.

Since it is now December, and Advent, I got down the box of Christmas decorations, made a selection, and hung them on the tree I bought last week. It is neither colour-coordinated, nor themed.

I also hung the Wise Men, star and bird in the mesh of the western fly screen. I don't have a hanging Holy Family, so have sourced one today from Melbourne. It may not be the best crafted, but it will arrive in time for Christmas. I didn't think the blank space was appropriate!

I had some tinsel ropes that now adorn the balcony rail in a haphard fashion. I haven't been down to the Square to see what they look like from below. I’m still finding and trying to remove the prickles in my hands and arm frombrushing on the cactus.The bendy Santa is climbing through the Snake Plant. You may be just able to see the Christmas Spider clinging to the leaf above his head on the right.

It's fairly restrained. I've been selective in choosing ornaments, just enough to capture a bit of history, memory, strength and hope.  There's not much bling.

Until I turn on the candles.