Post 163 Birthday

Today is Katherine's birthday and we went out to lunch, as we have done for several years now. This time, with a couple of favourite restaurants still closed, we went to the River Cafe, at the weir on the Torrens.

It was the coldest Adelaide Day in quite some time reaching a maximum of 10C at 1pm. I do remember other days with a 10C maximum but, it is not common. The lowest maximum recorded was 8.3C in 1922. There were a few light showers, but it didn't amount to much.

We shared small entre plates of pulled pork balls, salt and pepper squid and flat bread. Katherine had lamb shanks as a main and I had stuffed garfish.

Oh, and there was the Panna Cotta desert.

It was a good place to go, - about 20 diners with at least 1.5 metres between tables, even though they were all along the window. It must hold 90-100.

This morning I read another chapter of The Bird Way, this time about mimicking. Again, much of the research was from Australia, particularly relating to Lyrebirds as well as Bowerbirds, Magpies, Blue Jays.  Birds from other continents, including Mockingbirds, also featured. Much mimicking is to deceive - to protect by creating sounds that cause predators to hesitate or give up. The remarkable thing I learned, however, was that some birds, particularly Lyrebirds, construct individual songs from a medley of imitated sounds.  That is, they compose. Their unique song and dance accompaniment is what they use to attract a partner.  There is also evidence that the sounds they mimic are passed from generation to generation, being evident in generations who have never heard the song of the originator bird. 

A few weeks ago I ordered the kit for the project on the cover of the current issue of Inspirations magazine. Delivery is delayed so the company has offered purchasers a free download pattern from their repertoire.

Today I downloaded this pattern. I have subscribed to Inspirations since about Issue 50,  so chose a pattern from an earlier issue. Not sure if or when I will get to it, but I liked this Jenny McWinney rooster.

 I think Jennifer will like it too. She called me today from Calvary Hospital. She is out of ICU and very pleased to be in a room with a pleasant view, a TV and her iPad. The balloon insertion was not successful because her trachea is curved rather than straight and the balloon will not inflate.  Doctors plan to try a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine on Monday night to see if that helps. Today's angiogram showed no arterial blockages, which means her heart itself has been damaged by the virus. They hope to control the effect of the damage by beta blockers. She will be in hospital until Tuesday. I hope to visit over the weekend.

I finished the Breton stitch border on the third box side. I've come to like this stitch, but now need to fill in the centre.

I also completed another 10 row pattern on the shawl. This time I photographed it with a tape measure to give an idea of size. There is a long way to go - but it is very relaxed knitting and the colours are lovely.