Post650 A lot went wrong- and got fixed

A very pleasant, relaxing sunrise on Wednesday. 

Unfortunately the day hit a roadblock or two. After I made my breakfast coffee, the machine indicated it needed descaling. As soon as I had finished breakfast, showered and dressed, anxious to find out if the machine was really  fixed,  I got out the instruction book and assembled what I needed for descaling. To assist the dissolving of the required tablets I put on the jug. Nothing happened. I checked the plug and switch. All OK. I then checked the coffee machine. No power. At the switchboard one lever was off and would not turn back on. At this point I checked the whole apartment. Power in bedrooms and ensuite but nowhere else. 

I rang my faithful electrician. He was working at Roseworthy, about 90 minutes drive away. He offered to interrupt what he was doing to come, but we agreed it could wait until he finished the job. 

He arrived, bless his little cotton socks, just before 5pm, checked everything and determined beyond doubt that the jug was faulty and had blown the circuit. Fortunately, the stove and fridge are on their own circuits. I had managed to grind coffee in my bedroom, boil water on the stove and make drip filter coffee.  I use the jug less than once a week, since I rarely make tea. It was last used a week ago and showed no signs of trouble.

The next issue was persistent deafness in my right ear - the one I’d seen the audiologist about a couple of weeks ago. Her diagnosis of mild wax deposits which would be dissolved by spraying twice a week  was not working. so on Thursday morning, encouraged by one of the doves who stopped by to see how I was going.  I set off for the walk-in clinic, I have used before. Unfortunately this time, their walk-inservice was not available. I accepted an appointment for Friday 14 August. 

I checked Choice recommendations and, also on Thursday, bought the jug they most recommended. I could only find one retailer with stock in Adelaide and I seem to have snagged their last one. It works, and doesn't, at the moment,  blow fuses. 

When I eventually got home after Pilates and lunch at A Prayer for the Wild at Heart, I set about descaling the coffee machine, stepping through the 45 minute process with instructions in hand. At the end, the old problem re-emerged. When the process concluded, the machine still tells me it needs  descaling! I shall just use it, as I did before, and take it to be serviced in six months time.🤷🏻‍♀️

My hearing was dropping in and out all evening. It even varied with my jaw movements while eating - the wax theory strengthened. I managed to watch tv with the volume slightly up while knitting after dinner, but wondering if I should try to find another wax removal service with an earlier appointment.

When I visited the bathroom during the night (in the pitch dark) the toilet didn’t flush. It seemed everything wass going wrong! I tried it again, still no flush. I returned to bed working out how early I could call a plumber and reminding myself to use the other bathroom. When I rechecked around 7.20am in daylight, the flush was working - silently! I was deaf. 

Straight on to my iPad. By 7.35 I had an appointment  at a wax removal clinic less than 1km away. By 9.15 the wax had gone and I was hearing clearly. At home I put in my hearing aids. Left one fine, but the screeching noise is back in the right one. It's still miles better than before the wax removal. I'm guessing that my return to swimming earlier in the week did not help. I now have an appointment with my audiologist in 3 weeks time to try to solve the hearing aide problem. I can hear reasonably well without the right aid.

My Adelaide family was in Carrickalinga for the weekend, celebrating a birthday. I had been invited to go, but after checking the weather forecast and my to-do list, I declined. The drive from Adelaide has some tricky hill sections which I was, I admit, wary of navigating in wet weather and poor light. I opted to stay home and prepare a meal for their Monday return, experimenting with a new recipe for Crispy Potato and Pork Pie.

In between I read a book, knitted another tound of the shawl, and, with some trepidation, got my new ipad mini working. That was a relief, and achievement.  

For most of the weekend the rain bucketted down. 

While the four of us assembled for dinner on Monday consumed half the Crispy P&P pie, it was not a success. The collective view was it needed spicing up. My view is it also needed something to bind the meat mixture into a ragu. Hopefully the Kilkenny chickens are enjoying the other half.

I’ve spent much of the last 48 hours reorganising tomorrow’s WES Group meeting in the wake of severe illness and sudden study opportunity amongst a few key members. We are managing the Guild’s SALA exhibition during our meeting ttomorrow. Hopefully we now have it sorted.

I also followed up on whether or not the installation of Jim’s plaque in the Dunstan Playhouse was complete. The Philanthropy Executive went to check and took a photo for me today, discovering as he did so, an error in the wording (you can pick it). He has ordered a replacement!

This afternoon the sun was out and tempted me out on the balcony.  I only managed a few stitches of the shawl before the sun disappeared and I came inside. The shawl  advances.

A final piece of good news is that the fee for my upcoming tour group talk has been agreed and paid to the Guild. I can finalise my plans!  That's the job after tomorrow's SALA effort.

Post649 Friends. Family and a Plastic Surgeon to the rescue

 

Wednesday turned out to be a great day, in spite of rain. I began at 9.00am with my annual dermatology appointment, this time with a new dermatologist as my regular one is on maternity leave. I had a few things to check, one of which, on my face, turns out to be a basal cell carcinoma. I made an appointment with a plastic surgeon for today.

Back on Wednesday I was home well in time to catch the bus to my ASO lunchtime concert but when I reached the bus stop it was raining and cold. I had not thought to bring an umbrella or waterproof coat, so I checked the program and abandoned the concert. Pathetic, perhaps, but I was expecting a granddaughter for a knitting lesson at 1.30 and getting ready for that was more enticing.

We had a good time. She made half a really even, neat blanket square. I really enjoyed myself. Within minutes of her leaving the rainbow appeared.

The same night I managed to capture the waxing gibbous moon rising, just a few hours before it turned into a full  buck moon - a term we have apparently adopted in Australia although there’s no chance of deer losing antlers in July!

On Thursday I called at Anaconda for a range of sinkers to try in the felt kangaroos. I wasn’t ready to start one, but if I don’t have the sinkers on hand I’ll never start. I was inspired by Friday evening to cut out another kangaroo, but have not as yet started stitching.

Instead I got out my swift and wound 3 balls of the Blacker yarn I bought a year ago to make a shawl (To be precise, the Balvraid Hap). It has a central triangle in garter stitch to which is added a wide lace border. 

The triangle has a looped border to which the lace is added, made by beginning each row with a yarn-over. I haven’t come across this before. It promises to be effective.

Quite early on Friday morning I had an email from the company hosting my website to say they had taken it offline because the email contact link had been hacked and was being used to distribute spam. The instructions for a fix were beyond my ability, so I contacted the friend who has done occasional admin and maintenance work for me over the last 6 years.

I have neglected the site for the last few years. It began as a  communication channel for the consultancy company Jim started and we ran together until his death. I added tributes to him and finally, the Baby Boomer Teacher interviews. Once I published those in book form I regarded the site as complete. I wanted it to remain online as a legacy.   The software has not been updated but the content remains.   My friend removed the contact form for me altogether. I had added it in case old friends needed a way to contact me, but it has not been used for that for several years. Once that was done the site was once again live, but the hosting company suggested the subscription widget might also be a problem. 

I realised I had installed that myself and should be able to remove it. It had no purpose since I am not adding to the site. While I was having a go, trying to remember how to add and remove content, it disappeared. Turns out my friend got there before me! I’m extremely grateful and the shawl I’ve started will be hers when finished. The website needs a serious update and backup, which I think is a bit beyond me and which I’m reluctant to impose on her. Another thing to think about. At least the hosting company has confirmed the site is no longer generating spam!

I managed to do a load of washing, hang it out and shop for Monday dinner while waiting for my friend to be free to work on the website. My census form had arrived on Thursday, so I logged on and completed it. 

I relaxed along the way by knitting another Scales of Justice beanie, which is waiting for its pompom.

On Saturday I thought I should add a simple embroidery project to my current mix, and chose a Kingfisher from the Quaker Museum. It turned out to be far from simple. It is worked on the heavy textured natural wool fabric woven for the Quaker tapestry. The preferred method begins by using a light board  to trace the design on to the supplied calico backing. I couldn't find my light box. The search resulted in my cleaning out 2 cupboards and a bookshelf, sorting Christmas card, linens, photograph and a scanner. Some went into the bin, some into tidier, more logical homes. The light box did not materialise although I found its charge cord.  On Sunday I went to OfficeWorks and bought another. This one will be stored in its red  box, where I can hardly fail to find it. 

I traced the design with an archival pen and followed the instructions to tediously work the outline in stem stitch through two layers in the colours that correspond roughly to the finished image.

The method dies work. Enough of the outline shows up on the right side - and starts to look attractive. At that point I returned to knitting the shawl.

A  message from an interstate friend reported that there is interest in at least a dozen of the printed Bishop Bags amongst members of an organisation supporting the ordination of women. I have ordered them. Printing and delivery takes about 3 weeks. Each one will need to be slightly adjusted using an archival pen, so I will have a job to do towards the end of the month. It’s gratifying to see them being put to use.

After assembling the sausage and vegetable bake for dinner, I was just about to head out shopping yesterday when the window cleaner arrived. Communication isn't the business's strong pont! All was well. I got organised quickly and he did a good job. Meanwhile I had a message to say my replacement iPad Mini was ready to pick up. 

When the window cleaner left I dashed out to buy bread and picked up the iPad Mini, a cover and pen. I haven't set it up yet: I might get uninterrupted time to do it tomorrow ..

Uni is back and dinner was a chance to hear about this semester's courses, challenges and excitements. I love being part of it. 

Today I ticked two important boxes. Around midday I donned one of my new bathers and ventured back to the pool. It's the full six weeks since my ear-piercing repair so I should be well over the risk of infection. I swam 650 metres and walked another 100. I'm  back!

Late this afternoon I saw the plastic surgeon about the BCC on my face. As the dermatologist also explained, a biopsy would determine whether this is superficial, in which case it could be treated with cream diligently for six weeks, with blistering, weeping discomfort, but no resulting scar. I chose the alternative, to proceed straight to excision which will leave a crescent shaped scar. How big the scar is will depend on how extensive the cut. 

It will take about half an hour, I can drive home and need to keep it dry for 24 hours. It's happening on 1 September - I begin Spring scarred but hopefully bcc free!

I've progreessed the Balvraid Hap. I've just changed to a longer cord connecting the needles. It now has 150 stitches on the needle. Increasing one stitch per row, I need another 35 rows before I can begin the lace border. Better get on with it.

Post 648 A few boxes ticked.

 

While I was stitching the next tea box lid on Wednesday the doves were reserving their energy on bare winter branches nearby. I hope they moved around more than I did. My knees protested strongly by the end of the day.

Thursday was a runaround day. I dashed out to Port Adelaide to Yarn Trader before Pilates and afterwards called at the Guild to drop off my SALA exhibition contributions (3 bags) and discuss a couple of things with Christine before heading to the greengrocer. It was all go at the Guild. My knees are giving me trouble, the result, no doubt, of the hours I spent sitting and embroidering. My Pilates program was adapted to assist recovery.

Although not very clear in the version to the left, the sky in the sunrise photo I caught on Friday morning is full of bats returning from their overnight feeding to their roosts in the Botanic Gardens.

I’ve cropped and enlarged a section to try to show it. You can just see the tiny dots.

My copy of the Laine Anniversary Edition arrived this week. I'm having a fine time browsing it. There are some great patterns.  Stonewash is my favourite jumper. I'm very attracted to several of the sleeveless pullovers. Unfortunately, I don't find them personally very useful in my current situation. My arms get cold. I'd love to knit Wild Rose which has an embroidered rose branch on a lovely subtle knitted diamond backbround, Pael and Snowgum are also pretty interesting. 

I skipped the St Margaret's monthly market on Saturday, partly because I'm not ready to do serious work on the balcony plants, but mainly because I needed to shop for Monday's dinner, and wanted to finish the fourth tea box lid so I could deliver it on Saturday night.

The embroidery had been blocking overnight and was dry, so I could step my way slowly through the process of cutting a backing board, padding it and carefully stretching the fabric over it. pins everywhere as I laced and stitched. This one fits tightly - I must be improving - and only needed a little reassuring double-sided tape on the corners. The recipient is happy.

Our Book Group met on Sunday and in the afternoon I reduced the pile of mending - two around-the-house trousers and a pyjama bottom are now wearable.

Throughout the week I have been stressing about the talk I have agreed to give to the tour group in August. While I now have the talk prepared in a format that I believe does not breach copyright, I have been concerned about how to get to and from the venue (a city hotel without on-site parking) at night.  I had finally made an arrangement for a Guild member to pick me up and drop me home from the venue at 9pm, when my fabulous daughter and son-in-law came up with a date-night plan that includes getting me there and dropping me home. I'm feeling both supported and blessed.

My window cleaner, who had arranged to come yesterday morning, had a change of plan. The afternoon didn't suit me, so we try again next week. In the meantime, the Guild sent out a message to say our SALA Exhibition was short of entries, so I spent much of the day, in between cooking Honey-Lemon-Soy Chicken and fried rice, making another Library Kangaroo, which I managed to deliver to the Guild this afternoon. It turns out the Barossa Valley Branch of the Guild delivered over 40 entries, so the call was unnecessary. The Kangaroo was on my to-do list regardless. Details in my embroidery blog.

It's wet and grey today and likely for the rest of the week. Tomorrow is dermatologist, ASO lunchtime concert and knitting with Brigid. 
The photo above left is the top of my balcony wall garden, now covering the containers holding it in place. The section below that on the right is less verdant and needs some work. A job, I think, for Spring.

Post647 Things bright and beautiful

In spite of the rain (or perhaps because of it!) it has been a week of beauty and busyness. With the benefit of rain, a number of cacti are beginning to bloom on the back balcony. It won't be long before some are covered in bloom.

A couple of doves have paid very brief visis. As the weather is mild it is  possible many are nesting. So far the count of H5 Avian flu, which has finally reached Australia, is 17 cases in wild birds. Hopefully it does not become a local issue.

Last night's dinner was Osso Bucco.  On Friday the butcher only had three pieces of shin-of-beef on display but was happy to cut more, so I asked for 8 pieces. They turned out to be huge - weighing in at 4Kg. We ended up with 6 people for dinner, and consumed a good portion of it. I'll have a couple of meat meals from the remains and some pasta sauce.

The girls came to dinner straight from an Escape Room experience which they had all enjoyed, managing to complete the game with a few minutes to spare. They are fast becoming experts.

I spent most of the week working on the tea box lids. Two of them were gifted on Monday night. The Stars of Winter had been finished last week but I didn't want to reveal it until it was in the hands of the owner. Detail is in my embroidery blog. I love the subtlety of this one. It feels calming and reflective.

The Galah proved tricky. I adapted it to fit a box lid, making it twice the size of the kit design.  I got some advice from the recipient along the way and once again, am pleased with the result. Again, detail is in an embroidery blog post.

Nevertheless, I am a little relieved that the third granddaughter chose the Jewels of Summer design, rather than the Galah. While still requiring meticulous concentration and stitching, it is not quite as challenging.

 

On Saturday, when I received notification that the 12 ply wool I had ordered for my granddaughter's blanket  would arrive on Monday, it occurred to me that she would need a knitting bag for this enterprise, so on Sunday I set about making one. I had plenty of acid-free wadding from the bundle I had bought for the tea box lids so I dug out some bright cotton and made a barrel-shapped bag. I had planned a zip closure, but miscalculated, ending up, fortunately, with an overlap, which I secured with wooden toggles and buttonholes. 

When the wool arrived on Monday, I was pleased with that outcome as it better accommodates the bulge of  1300 gms of wool!

I didn't have any plain fabric to line the bag, so used a piece of batik fabric. It blends fairly well on the inside but is not the best colour match on the edging. It is at least bright and cheerful. I knitted a test square in the new wool. We are both excited about starting this poject in a week or so's time.

On Monday Shane arrived just after 8am to check on the drips I heard  last week. There was about 4 litres of water in the drip tray, but no sign of overflow or uncaught leaks. We concluded I had heard water hitting on the surface of the drip tray once the sponges became saturated.  Shane went on to clean the vents on the ceiling of my balcony. They were very clogged, with, we suspect, about 15 years of dust, certainly 10.. The vents help to circulate air through the ceiling to cool it in Summer. The plan is now to clean them every 2 years.

Once again, I''m impressed with Shane's professionalism, knowledge and communication. He explains each step and reasoning in terms I understand, so I end up with a much greater understanding of how the maintenance system in my apartment works.

This morning, a couple of hours after sunrise,  I had the call I'd been waiting for from the organiser of the Embroidery Tour in August. I now have the date and time of my talk, which is a relief. As he wants a summary to use as an introduction, I will now tidy and finalise the presentation. 

Once again, I've been aware of the rhythm of sunrise and sunset. It's lovely to live where I can observe these on a daily basis.

New every morning is the love my waking and uprising proves.

Post 646 Stars and squares

I should have known from the complex, colourful sunrise that greeted my opening eyes on Wednesday that it would be a challenging day. It was the day of my presentation on Anglo-Saxon Embroidery to WES - a preparatory run of the one I have agreed to give to a tour group in August. To my relief it went well. There was a lot of interest and a couple of useful suggestions.While I was giving it, two messages came into my phone, one from my Pilates tutor asking me to change my booking for the next day, the other from the coffee machine service mechanic. 

At the end of the session I managed to message Pilates and cancel for this week. 

Returning the coffee machine call proved  complicated ( if your call is about….) so I called in briefly on the way to the audiologist.

My machine had a new part and was working.  After a discussion with Henry, the serviceman, I suspect the chipped interior part he found had been the cause of the malfunction for the last 7 months, since, in fact, they last serviced it! I left Henry to make one more check and dashed to the audiologist, where my hearing aid turned out not to be broken. On the spot, the brilliant Rada wired me up, determining that the problem had been a small deposit of wax blocking my eardrum and creating an echo! The wax has now moved of its own accord. Recommended treatment is to syringe my ears twice, rather than once, a week and kept using the hearing aids! I went back and collected the coffee machine. By now I had too much gear for a single trip from car to apartment so began with the heavy bag of books from the WES presentation. That’s when I discovered the message that there was a parcel waiting for me at the post office! 

 

By the time my brother called around 4pm, I was slumped in a chair, the coffee machine operating and the Wordle done. I also knew that the Australian-made, merino wool trousers in the parcel would fit me and that, with no Pilates the next day, I might be able to take up the just released OfficeWorks trade-in offer on Apple devices to replace my much-loved but dying iPad mini!

I finished another JusticeNet beanie before falling asleep.

My hopes for an easy resolution to the iPad demise was short-lived. The trade-in message had been poorly worded. The offer is only online, and my local OfficeWorks does not have any iPad minis in stock. I did get helpful information however. I now know how to delete all data from my tablet and how to go about getting a trade-in, regardless of how I buy a replacement. I also confirmed that the manufacturer recently upped the prices of the current product range by $200 an item!. That seems an odd way of preparing for the new range release in 3 months time! I'm better informed, but still not clear what to do, so for the moment I keep using the old one. In the meantime I began the next tea box lid, opting for The Stars of Winter.

I made steady progress, so on Friday, having used up my archival supplies on last week’s tea box, I did a round trip to OfficeWorks to pick up some acid-free backboard, to Spotlight (slowly, through the roadworks on South Rd) for acid-free wadding, then the butcher, greengrocer and supermarket for supplies for Monday’s moussaka. 

Saturday morning therefore, was taken up making the moussaka. It rained on and off so, in between showers, I made time to finally plant the lobelia I had bought for the wall garden so it could benefit. I had just finished cleaning up the kitchen ( messy business, moussaka) when our Pod Rep rang to chat and tell me I could go ahead with cleaning the balcony vents.  When we hung up, half an hour later, I returned a call I’d missed from an old work colleague, long retired from the Federal Public Service, wanting to consult me on a paper he is writing. Hearing from him was a joy and occupied another 35 minutes, after which coffee was called for and I returned to those Winter Stars.

I finished the embroidery o n Saturday and blocked it on overnight, mounting it on Sunday. It's not yet delivered. When it is I will post more details. There was a lot of rain, and, unfortunately, my ceiling drip returned. The inspection is scheduled for Monday of next week with Shane, who will also clean the vents on my balcony verandah.. 

I switched briefly to knitting, to create a few samples. A granddaughter wants help to knit a blanket so I am experimenting with a few chunky yarns.. I'm going to suggest 12 ply (top 2). 16 ply (lower) would be faster, but is not machine washable. A garter stitch produces a larger sample than stocking stitch, so there is a lot to take into account. Today I order several more balls of 12 ply in various shades of green. 

This was a welcome break this evening. Earlier in the day I had begun the embroidery for the next tea box, this time the Anna Scott Galah Ripe for Picking. 

I have doubled the size so it will fit the tea box lid more substantially.  It's quite slow-going and fairly compicated. I have just started on the needle lace body of the galah. It's hard on my eyes, and is likely to take a while. You can see why I took a knitting break!

The rain is benefiting the back balcony  There are numerous spots looking lush and verdant.

My eyes are feeling the strain of today's embroidery. I think it's time for bed and an eye mask.

Post645 All sorts of mending

There’s been quite a lot happening with friends and family this week. For the most part I’ve been at home stitching my thoughts, hopes and wishes into several projects. My major outing was a lunch with friends at Ammos Restaurant at North Adelaide, delicious, plentiful Greek food and great company.

It was 6C on Sunday morning at 8am. That’s cold for Adelaide. I had spent much of Friday finishing my presentation on English embroidery in the Anglo-Saxon period for WES tomorrow. Hopefully, with minor adjustments, it will also serve for the embroidery Tour Group I have to talk to in August. 

It has bothered me, because the topic needs  visuals but I'm troubled about possible breach of copyright using photographs from books or the Internet. I now have a visual presentation in which every photograph has the origin or link acknowledged in full. Even so it will never be seen other than in the physical presentation. I spent all of Sunday writing a paper (9 pages) telling the story of the presentation, with no illustrations, but links or detailed references to every source. That way, anyone wanting a copy can have the paper and follow the links. I printed it off on Sunday night and edited it on Monday morning from the printed copy, transferring changes on Monday afternoon while finalising the lamb shanks, potatoes and broccoli for dinner. I’m finally satisfied. Tomorrow WES Group can critique it and offer suggestions. Whew!

While I was in getting-things-off-my-list mode, I tackled the huge pile of mending on my sewing machine table.  It turned out there were two jumpers, two brooches and a necklace to be mended and a lot of bits of fabric looking for a home. I found the right drawer or storage bin for the fabrics and mended the jumpers  - or so I thought until I wore one and found another hole, now also mended.

The brooch was a greater challenge. Bought at a craft fair many moons ago, it was a mixture of beads and wire. The simple pin had been inadequately attached with a single loop of the wire, evidently at the end of the making process, and had come away.

I could see the problem. The structural wire was very tightly woven, giving no hold to attach the pin. I had been using waxed thread to lash the embroidery for the tea box, so threaded some up in a needle and poked and wrangled until I had secured the pin. Neither artistic nor professional but I’m hoping it will hold. I wore it for a day and it held 🤞🏼.

The finished tea box went into the mail on Thursday and has been well received. 

As relaxation I knitted Justice beanies. I can now do these from memory, once I get clear in my head which wool ply I am using. A few more will be required next year, so it’s a liesurely job. 

It is now three weeks since I had the repair to the piercing on my right ear and this morning, as instructed, I removed the stud and inserted a sleeper. The problem was that, no matter how I tried, I could not close the loop. In the end, I jumped in the car and returned to Essential Beauty and Piercing who had done the repair where, with some difficulty, the duty assistant closed it for me! It has to stay in place for another three weeks. That should be OK. After that I may need to find a different solution when not wearing regular earrings!

Additionally, one of my 8 year old hearing aids is emitting a loud noise whenever switched on. I have an appointment with my audiologist after the WES meeting tomorrow and I'm guessing it will result in replacements. 

This afternoon, after a lovely long phone conversation with a friend, I began the next tea box while watching the sun go down. A nice contrast with the way the week began.

I am so grateful for friends, family and the opportunities afforded to us.

Deo Gratias.