Post 560 Bird battles, books, 'broidery and bottle tops

Home from a very successful WES group meeting on Wednesday, I wrote up and posted the summary before discovering the smallest of the Almanda Blue plants I had been nurturing had been decimated, along with a succulent I had struck from a cutting. They were sitting in a large saucer of water, along with a recently acquired pot of Baby's Tears, which was untouched (left).

The Almanda had been doing well, beginning to spill over the pot. Right is a photo of what it had looked like seven weeks ago.

Soil from the disrupted pots was scattered nearby. Soil from the disrupted pots was scattered nearby. I was annoyed. Nesting on my balcony is one thing, destroying rare plants is another. 

My suspicions were strengthened the next morning when I found a blackbird strutting around the balcony and the remainder of the Almanda on the ground, seemingly in the process of being shaken free of soil. Circumstantial evidence, but unless there are leprechauns about….

I rescued the Almanda and tucked it away on the front balcony, rarely visited by birds. It isn’t looking good. 

I admire Mr Blackbird’s industry and ingenuity, but the line is drawn. 

Our WES Group meeting focused on Manila Shawls. Maria had us entranced for the best part of an hour, learning how these originated in China, were taken up by traders in the Philippines, transported around the Pacific on galleons, across Mexico and back on galleons to Seville, where they are now produced in a nearby village. 

We admired Maria's collection and asked many questions. 

I was also able to organise for a member to represent us at the upcoming opening of the Art Gallery's Radical Textiles Exhibition this coming Friday, using a ticket kindly sent to me by a friend's interstate daughter who is a donor to the Exhibition.  Satisfaction all around.

On Thursday I had a 6-monthly optometrist check-up. My eye condition has deteriorated a little, so we have increased treatments and will check again in January. 

As my optometrist is not far from Centennial Park Cemetery, I checked on Jim's grave. The succulents had nearly taken over (left), completely obscuring the plaque (right), 

I cleared that but encouraged the growth.

I also took the opportunity to visit Lorraine's grave (left), as yet unmarked. I suspect the original memorial to her son is being re-engraved to include her name.

Although the plants on Jim's grave were mostly from my garden, I brought some stray pieces home and put them in empty pots. A continuous exchange       .

Thursday to Saturday was a supermoon, the last for a while. 

On Friday I managed to get a couple of good shots with the DSLR, not always achievable when holding in my hand.  

In the second one I have adjusted the light, with the surprising effect of appearing to bring the moon to the foreground.

This week  I also emptied another milk bottle, enabling me to confirm my friend's contention that, with a push, the milk bottle tops will fit inside the bottle. This one is now in the recycling so I have disposed of my backlog of lids and started a new bottle to which I can add as I go and dispose of efficiently. Yah!

All four grandchildren are in the midst of exam or study days, so I caught up with some on Saturday but there was no family dinner last night. No preparation gave me time for a few jobs.

On Sunday I designed and ordered my Christmas cards for this year, a process I enjoy.  The number needed dwindles each year, but, as I only send them to people I don't see regularly, I remind myself that the number of friends I don't send to is a growing number (there is logic in that!). 

On the weekend Create in Stitch advertised kits for the 2 projects being taught at their Barossa Retreat next May, along with wooden tea storage boxes designed to take the embroidery in the lid. I was smitten but unconvinced the kitchen benches of my tea-drinking family members would accommodate an embroidered box (mine certainly wouldn’t!) so I checked. Kitchen benches won’t, but work desks will - so I ordered and picked up the kits yesterday - the last two in the shop. These should be more fun to embroidered than the vegetable bag I am working on!

However, when I unpacked the boxes, they were so beautifully made that I am hesitant to cover either lid with an embroidered panel. I think I need to consult further. 

Today I have been to the post office, had my eye prescriptions made up and done a big sort through the piles of books and magazines all over my living area. Some are now shelved, a few in the bin, and quite a few in the car to be delivered to a charity.  Only one pile remains unshelved and unread. There are, of course, some shelved and unread (not to mention what's on my Kindle and Kobo) but I'm planning to reduce this pile without adding to it.

The incentive for such industry was the coming of my cleaners, now recovered from Covid. I enjoy having them here. Some pleasant conversation, stray threads, crumbs, soil, petals and leaves gone, sun shining, a neat pile of books, a coffee and only four more vegetables to embroider on the vegetable bag.

 

I made myself a prawn salad for dinner  and I'm now onto those four vegetables.

Post 559 When in doubt, stitch and plant

I arrived at the Guild on Wednesday to do my usual, quiet, uneventful hostess duty to find the place abuzz. A group from the Mildura Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild of Victoria, on a bus trip to Adelaide, were due to arrive for a visit at 10.30am. The Museum team were on hand, as were organisers of the shop and trading table. Around 30 arrived, inspected the Gallery display, shopped, visited the Museum, had morning tea, lunch and departed at 1.30, just as someone arrived with a stunning set of embroidered Chinese garments to offer the Museum. In between directing people to the Museum, I sold some books, brought in the bins and stitched the Irish harp (see embroidery blog).

It was, as I anticipated, a good choice of project for the day. The visitors were interested in it, it was relatively straightforward, and it didn’t take long to finish once I got home. 

On Thursday morning I made it into a bag and today added a minor embellishment. It will be a gift bag for someone who, will, I hope, continue to use it.

I launched straightaway into a vegetable shopping bag, which I had bought as a kit from the Royal School of Needlework shop.The RSN is the retailer, not the designer of the project. It has proved difficult. The stitches themselves are easy and, made of sturdy canvas with faux leather pockets, it will be a really useful bag.

The canvas, of course, makes it difficult to embroider. It is hard on hands: I need to wear my left-hand brace and use my long nails to push the needle through above, and a thimble on my right-hand ring finger below. It’s going to take a while.

I did not try to work on it at our Sit'nStitch on Friday, instead knitting the Rowan shawl. It was a busy day. Panayoula and I caught up over morning coffee for the first time in months, since her trip to Greece earlier in the year. I then did the shopping for Monday's lunch at Frewville. It is my go-to place for pork roast but they appear to have changed their butcher or butchering. I usually buy a 3kg slab but the largest I could get was 2kg, trussed differently. 

Sunday was the Guild's Stash Sale - a variation on the usual Christmas Market. This time, members could lease a stall to sell  surplus supplies. The Guild gets the stall rent fee and the seller keeps  what they sell. The Guild, of course, also has trading table, library, shop and Museum sales. I had decided not to go. The last thing I want to do is add to my stash, but I relented and called in on my way to Bunnings for some plants. I spoke to a lot of people but didn't buy anything, resisting the offer of a beading kit with instructions in Russian.

At Bunnings I bought a couple of decent blooms to sit in empty pots, and some small plants to be transplanted - including one for a precious mug I broke a week or so ago. Now I have to keep up the watering!

Our full quota of 7 for Monday dinner. Exams seem to be under control. I added some duck and fennel sausages to the pork roast and there was plenty. The roast on its own, however, would not have quite made it.

Today I resisted the temptation to visit Create in Stitch for some of their William Morris colouring merchandise (but will probably succumb before the end of the week) in favour of  a bit more vegetable stitching and reading Murder in Verona, the latest in T A Williams' Armstrong and Oscar series. 

I'm gathering my energy for tomorrow"s WES Group and learning about Manila Shawls. 

Post 558 Floe and Flow(n).

On Wednesday morning I caught a glimpse of the two blackbird chicks waiting eagerly for their food delivery which my presence at the window had delayed.  The father had arrived but flew off as soon as I moved to take a photo.

On Thursday morning I looked up from my breakfast to see one chick standing high in the nest. I snapped a quick photo through the glass.  Within seconds it flew away.

My photo caught the beginning of the flight - not an award-winning photo, but nevertheless a captured moment. There did not appear to be another fledgling left in the nest.  The flight took the young bird well clear of my balcony, in the direction of the trees behind.

It seems I captured his/her flying the nest. They have not been back and the nest appears empty. There seems to be some expert disagreement about whether or not they will use the nest again, or come back to the same area. Guess I'll find out.

To complete the transition, within a couple of hours, a magpie visited for water. Soon the doves were back. The coast, it appears, is clear for other birds.

After successfully swivelling the mattress on my new bed as recommended, I spent most of Wednesday (in between checking the balcony for any activity in the nest) completing the gift project I began last week. Now it is in the hands of the intended recipient I can reveal it is Floe, the penguin doorstop from the cover of Inspirations No 123.  It's been a great project to work on. Details, of course, in my embroidery blog.

On a 'complete-a-project' roll, I finished the embroidered flowers I  began several months ago on Ink and Spindle linen for  yet another tote bag (bottom left in composite photo). On Thursday I ironed several lengths of linen, and cut out lining for 3 bags that I had in pieces.  Over Friday and Saturday I stitched them. The Flannel Flower one in the lower right is embroidered a little on both sides, the other two, only on one side. The blue bird is a Nicola Jarvis design repurposed from a worn out bag. I experimented with this one, creating a bag with a zipped top and a shoulder strap. Again, details in my embroidery blog.

 

A completely different 'complete-a-project' involved recycling plastic bottle lids I have been collecting for 3-4 years. I had intended to take them to an Adelaide City Council recycling station, but when I checked, they no longer had a  specific collection box for plastic lids. Further investigation revealed instructions to place the lids inside a plastic milk container and put the full container into the regular recycle rubbish collection. Sorters can see the lids in the milk container and easily direct them appropriately. This seems an ingenious solution for the smaller soft drink lids, but I couldn't see it working for the milk bottle lids.  It didn't take me long, however, to work out that if I used my faithful Stanley knife to cut a triangular flap in an empty soft drink bottle, I could fill it with the larger lids (which are used by several charities to make a variety of recycled plastic products). I was hoping I'd found a solution that is convenient to the recycling depot as well as me. A friend, however, assures me the larger lids can be forced into a milk bottle, so I'll try that next time I have an empty milk bottle.

The 'replant the empty pots' project continues. 

I was able to eat left-over Chicken and fried rice on Tuesday and Wednesday, so visited the Queen St Cafe after Pilates on Thursday for a milkshake and very late lunch. The lunch special was Marinated Rindless Pork Belly with Gingered Hoisin Sauce and Mango Salsa.  It was excellent. 

The jacarandas are in full bloom all around the city. I am intrigued as to why there is such variation in the colour, coverage and timing of the transitions from flowers to leaves. The explanation seems to lie in soil type and water, yet it’s hard to see how these two, side by side in a city street, could have such different conditions. I need to talk to one of the City Council gardeners! 

On Saturday morning while the Christmas Pageant was taking place in the CBD, not far from me, I did a big shop, mostly for the ingredients for Monday night's dinner -Crispy Gnocchi with Sausage and Broccoli - a  recipe from the New York Times suggested by Katherine, which proved to be a success, and will join the Monday night meal rota. 

Sunday was BookClub. We tried meeting in a cafe again, but didn't like it. The noise level in a popular cafe is not conducive to group discussion. We were agreed that The Death of Dora Black was interesting, but would have been better as history than fiction. Our second book,  In the Blink of an Eye is a really interesting projection of the use of AI, in the form of an avatar, in police crime solving. Next month we're retreating to a home.

I’ve finished another Galaxy Dreaming panel. It’s been my ‘grab and go’ while the more ambitious projects were happening. I have two more to go before making a tablecloth.

I’ve moved on to an Irish harp by be Alice. I could finish it tonight, but decided it would be a good project to work on tomorrow while performing my hostess duties at the Guild, so I’m back to knitting up the leftover Rowan wool.

My cleaners have COVID so today I vaccuumed. The making of bags and penguin had left a trail of threads, fabric scraps and crumbs (yes, a girl needs coffee and a biscuit while on a stitching binge) throughout the apartment - and repotting hadn’t helped.  Although it has rained on and off all day, the front balcony doesn't benefit, so I put the hose on again, this time pulling too hard and wetting the carpet in the sitting area. My brother had also requested some specific research, so that is what I was doing while the Melbourne Cup was being run. This bit of the nation, at least, was not stopped by the race.

There is also a curb-side pickup scheduled for tomorrow morning, with unwanted goods to go out from 4pm this afternoon. I'd been saving a few things in my carpark storage, so had to get them out and package them for leaving out with the threat of intermittent rain. It was fine at 4pm, so my old vacuum cleaner, mop, mattress protector (containing polyester which isn’t accepted by charities) and defunct light box are now all awaiting collection in the morning (mine circled). So far it hasn't rained since 4pm so they might stay dry.

I am still processing the recent deaths and illnesses in my small community.  This week there was an unexpected death in my extended family, a friend travelled to New Zealand for a funeral and a Book Club friend is having her bladder removed to counter a cancer diagnosis.  It feels a bit like an onslaught. 

I am fortunate to be alive, supported and in reasonable health. I am trying to make the most of every moment. 

Carpe diem.

Post 557 New Life.

On Wednesday I asked Bill, my cleaner, to leave the back balcony untouched because of the nest. He insisted on climbing on a chair to see into the nest (father having flown away). He could see two chicks. 

On Friday I heard them for the first time, and on Saturday managed to snap a blurry photo through the glass of my bedroom. Today I watched the adult male blackbird feeding them and snapped a few photos without going outside and scaring him off. The photos are still not brilliant, but good enough to show.

The chicks have grown in six days, and there is a bit of a flurry when food arrives, the two young competing to get fed first, and the adult trying to serve both in turn.

I'm not sure what it is he is feeding them, but it doesn't go down in one gulp!

I had intended to go the Certificate Workshop at the Guild on Saturday, but ran out of puff. I had shopped on Friday for Monday dinner (7 of us for Chicken Maryland with haloumi and fried rice), because I also had the second day of the pulled whitework sampler on Sunday.

However, with a concert at the Cathedral on Saturday afternoon and dinner on Saturday night, I decided to skip the workshop. Instead I tidied up and worked on a project for Christmas - which I can’t write about just yet.  

The concert was terrific. Called Organ Fireworks,  it featured a couple of organ solos and numerous organ duets by Anthony Hunt and Joshua van Konkelenberg. A treat. Nothing like the sound of a pipe organ in full throttle. The day was rounded nicely by meeting Max in the evening, the 8 week-old son of family friends, who visited for dinner.  The blessing of new life beats most things.

I had spent hours during the week working on the pulled thread work sampler, taking breaks and sitting in chairs that support my  back while allowing me to get close enough to see to count threads. Carol's instructions were clear enough for me to follow on my own, so I planned to leave the workshop at lunchtime this Sunday. The plan worked and I turned the finished sampler into a bag on Monday morning. Details in my embroidery blog.

On my way home from the class I stopped at Bunnings and bought some plants to refill the pots I emptied last week. I will do it gradually. This afternoon I connected the hose to my kitchen tap for the first time in about 7 months to give the Western balcony plants a good water, and repotted two of the empty pots, one Veronica painted and gave me probably 8 years ago. Until recently it held a Tradescantia Zebrina. I've made several new plants from it, but the original finally died, so I've planted a cheerful daisy in the pot. It will probably need replacing but will look good for months to come.

While I have numerous very happy looking snake plants, this one looked insecure, so I've given it a new pot and position.

Tbere are another half a dozen plants to be potted up, but I shall take my time.

Many of the established plants are thriving on warmer days.

This morning I had my haircut, having put it off for a couple of weeks because I was enjoying the length.

My next appointment is on Christmas Eve - not sure that was a good idea, but provided the City Loop bus is running I should be OK.

On the way home there was a blackbird feeding on a young jacaranda in the Square. Was it, I wondered,  the nesting blackbird? Would it fly over the building? Chances are, it's not, but interesting to speculate.

I was home in time to open the door for the postman to deliver my copy of my brother's latest book, which is, I think, a winner.

Although it's over 500 pages, it contains 110 self-contained stories, making it easy to pick up for 10-15 minutes at a time. Some are very short indeed. Most of them are worth talking about, many worth reading aloud. 

Both Lee and Lorraine would have liked it, which makes me sad, but there are others I'm looking forward to sharing it with.

It's been a week of new life, new growth, new projects, as well as completions and sorrows. C'est la vie.