Post 153: sunrise, sunset

Today's first achievement is the completion of the frame around the owl. That leaves the heart medallion at the top to be completed. I still haven't decided on colour. Do I blend or contrast?







Work on the building site next door began at 7.30 am again this morning, just after sunrise. It was background noise - but plenty of it in the first few hours.

By the time I was up and having breakfast, the road in front of the building site - right next to my apartment - had been blocked off.  I think we can assume this is now months of serious building activity. Unless it came today (I didn't check my letterbox) there has been no notification of road blockage, which, I understand, is a requirement.

I am not getting up in arms about this. So far this has not impacted me greatly



although, I was somewhat taken aback when I went into my sewing room this afternoon to use the sewing machine and found a humungous piece of machinery being parked just outside my window. It was 4.30pm, and this seems to be the corner of the block used to store the pile driver overnight.












I needed the sewing machine to stitch the batch of masks I cut out yesterday. I managed to construct 7 more, to the point where the elastic gussets are ready to stitch down.

Yes, there are only 6 in the photo. I have unpicked the seventh, which needed an adjustment to the shape of the outer layer.













Tomorrow's job will be to stitch down the gussets and insert the elastics. The bamboo T-shirt fabric seems to have worked well. I should, perhaps, have constructed one fully and done a breathing test! It should, however, work.


The most notable event today was a nice long phone call with my friend Vivienne in Canberra. It's these conversations and connections that keep me sane. They help make sense of it all as well as maintaining a thread of friendship, continuity and identity.

I managed to finish the outside border of one side of the bag from Christine's class on the weekend.






Yesterday's sample paid off and I worked one side of the Breton stitch without a hitch.

I'm pleased with my progress on this. It's about as much as I can do before my eyes give out, but it's fair progress.


I took a break from it to finish the frame of the owl, shown above.

I was interested today, in the contrasting Covid news bulletins on my television. The Australian news was focused on Aged Care facilities where the majority of new cases and deaths are currently occurring in Victoria. There is a realisation that not only are workers in much of that sector casual, under or untrained and poorly paid (so reluctant to take time off if they are unwell) but that facilities are not set up for medical treatment and infection control.

The UK news here today was focused on cancellation of flights to and from Spain and the varying responses to that. We have plenty of stories of annoyance and resistance to restrictions in Australia (a few people in Melbourne refusing to wear masks, or sneaking across State borders that are closed or having a birthday party) but interestingly, we are, I think, generally accepting of having our international border closed. As an island nation we have a long history of quarantine restrictions, mostly plant and animal, to keep disease out. While Australians travel a lot, we can't just nip over a border to another country. The tyranny of distance is also a protection. 

It was another gently, colourful sunset this evening - a bit like my day.