Post 50 :

I did wake just after sunrise this morning, but, after taking the photo, read and dozed until, around 9.15,  I found a message from my son-in-law telling me there was a ‘small delivery’ at my door. It took me a few minutes to work out it was not an addition to my muesli, but some seeds for the visiting dove!

I sprinkled a little on my balcony before doing anything else. 

I don’t share much family information in a blog. I don’t believe I have licence to share much about others’ lives. On the other hand, today I feel the need to acknowledge the life and loss of my Canberra  daughter’s much loved  18 year old cat, Kalia. She was a vital part of their lives. She has been ill in recent weeks and this morning died peacefully at home as her Magpie frenemy appeared and sang her to sleep. I’m grateful for having known Kalia, and for the joy she brought to those she graced with her presence. Her loss will be long felt. 

I sang a quiet lullaby to mark Kalia’s final sleep and within a few minutes my dove appeared, enticed, it seems, by the seed. In between cautiously pecking at the seed, she went back several times to the balcony rail to check out the scene. She also drank from a bowl of stones I keep there.

Not long after, I received unwelcome news. My friend Jennifer in isolation in Perth had tested positive to Covid19 last weekend. Since then, she has been admitted to hospital and is now in an ICU. Her partner has been released from hospital back to the isolation hotel.  It is a serious situation. 

Jennifer is in good hands. Western Australia is currently listed as having 33 Covid19 patients in hospital and 11 of those in ICU. The hospital system is equipped and coping. We wait, hope and pray. 

The news was enough to prompt me to take my Lowery stand out on to the balcony to catch some afternoon sun. The showers forecast are some way off. The spider has added several layers to her web. 















The sun provided great light, which showed up where I had missed a stitch or two, which I can now rectify. My stitches are meditations on healing.

It was a very gentle sunset.

I have continued working on the foliage around the parrots. One or two more long sessions of stitching and I will need to roll the frame on to the bottom half of the linen. It’s been quite a day. 
Our national Covid 19 figures are trending in the right direction, but there is no room for complacency - and the story strikes a sharper note when the statistics take on the face of a friend. Each one is a face, a friend, a relative. 

I stay home and stitch in tribute to life and in hope of health and healing.