Post 145

I forgot to take photos today. The moussaka looked great and so did the Greek salad, but I didn’t take photos. Fionn had footy training after school and then went to the football - Crows vs St Kilda at Adelaide oval with a 50% crowd. The moussaka was a hit with the adults. The youngest girls were polite, but, I think, unconvinced.

I went shopping at Frewville this morning to get the salad ingredients - and some of Bulla’s Murray St ice creams - my new favourites. Today was the first of term 3. Brigid had her first trial Yr 12 exam today so arrived early. She was fairly happy with the exam. Niamh and Veronica also had good days. Niamh was very excited to get the news that JEMS (Junior Embroiderers) is starting up on 1 August.

By Julie Edgley - Flickr: Whoof?, CC BY-SA 2.0,
 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12842383

I spoke to my neighbour this afternoon. She told me of a bird drama on their balcony one night recently. An owl attacked and killed a magpie on their balcony, leaving the mangled corpse behind. I was shocked. I didn’t realise owls preyed on other birds as large as that. I did a bit of research. Apparently barking owls attack and kill medium sized birds like magpies and cockatoos. They are more common in bush settings  but not unknown in cities, including Adelaide. Horrible. It happened in the time when the doves didn’t show up for my seed. No wonder! It's a dangerous world out in the trees.

In between these activities I worked on the shawl. I finished the main colour with little to spare. I doubt it would have covered two rows, so I am glad I made the decision to reduce the rows in the previous band. 

I am now on the final band, with about ten rows to go. There are explicit instructions for blocking. Given the length, that’s going to be a challenge. I am, however, much happier with this now I can see the dark bands emerging. The alpaca is lovely to knit. It feels really smooth on the hands. It is, however, much harder to keep even than lambs wool. It’s not as firm - but will be so soft to wear.

I heard from Frankie today at The Crewel Work Company. It seems the extra linens for my chair will be in stock soon and on their way to me. I’d better get on with the ones I’ve got after I finish the shawl - tomorrow I hope.

The news, which I followed during the day as I knitted, was focused on the spread and control of the virus in Victoria and NSW. Victoria is trying to pull back an outbreak and NSW to get on top of two or three clusters before they become outbreaks. The rest of our states have no current community transmission and are trying to stop people coming across our borders from those two states. While there are people trying to sneak around the restrictions, we are not seeing many people outright defying or rejecting them. Governments have made mistakes, but are taking their advice from medical experts, collaborating and working hard to stay on top of it. It’s scary - but not yet out of control. I'm proud of our leaders. On both sides of the political fence they are working hard, listening to experts and making hard decisions responsibly. Thanks be.