Post 87

I'm not sure where I got this succulent. I'm pretty sure it was at a fete or market stall. I moved it to a pot on my Western balcony a few weeks ago and I love the way it has turned into a little tree. I hope it continues to grow in such an upright form.

I always think of Jennifer on my front balcony. So many of the plants there came from her. She called this morning. The plan is for her to fly home on Wednesday - directly to Adelaide from Perth- and self-isolate at home. She will need to keep up her physio exercises at home, where she does not have the same walking spaces as in her current hospital, but she will, I have no doubt, find space for a circuit. Her leg muscles need to recover.

She has a job for me. She finished knitting her shawl and needs it blocked. Can't wait!

Turtle Dove had to wait this morning until my cleaner had finished around 10.30. The balcony gets mopped, and there was no point in putting out seed before that had been done. When I finally emerged, Turtle flew down and waited for me to open the container. I have never stood out on the balcony at the same time as a dove.  This photo shows my foot - about 1.5 metres from the bird. The Covid distancing message has reached the dove network.

While distributing seed I checked out the pending yellow flower on one of the succulents. I returned when the dove had gone to photograph the lovely pattern on the slowly maturing buds.  They are tiny - maybe 1cm in length.








Before settling down to writing I made a selection of threads for my Nicola Jarvis bird. It's a first basic selection. I can add to it as need dictates.

What do you think?




I've got writing and hexies to do before I get to it, but it doesn't hurt to get organised.

I spent probably 6 hours writing today. It is preliminary, and will need quite a bit of reorganising. Frustratingly, my laptop is only holding battery power for about 3 hours. The laptop's battery check tells me this is normal but it's not. I might have to think about a new battery - or a new laptop. It's frustrating when working on a writing project and I don't want to sit near a powerpoint. Still, breaks every three hours are probably a good idea!

It also gives me a chance to stitch.  The hexies are also slowly progressing. This is today's effort.

I only have 7 more ready to sew together.  This will give me 60. I need to check again, but I think I need 75 to finish covering the edges.  I might, however, applique this 60 to the quilt before cutting more fabric into 2" squares. I'm looking forward to seeing the impact on the quilt, even if it still has gaps.

And the Nicola Jarvis Adelaide Crimson Rosella is calling.

Post 86

Today was a visually boring day. I spent most of it buried in books and articles to get my head around the story I am researching and drafting for my brother. I don't have much to show for it, but I nearly know roughly where the story is going. I have written some background notes. When I do start to write the story, I think it will flow fairly smoothly.


It was a dull, cool and wet day.  It didn't deter either dove this morning. They were both there as soon as the grain went out and back again at least twice. He, in fact, didn't move from the rail when I opened the door and took a step outside.






I made a big pot of soup while reading and writing. I had made the stock yesterday with two smoked ham hocks and let the fat settle overnight so I could skim it this morning before adding the root vegetables to boil for a couple of hours and then the pulses.





By the end of the day there was a lull in the weather as the sun went down and I took a break to take photos.











By 7 pm my brain and eyes were protesting, so I had my soup and switched to hexies.













I managed half a dozen, bringing my tally of constructed 'flowers' to 48.  I think I have about 15 more ready to be stitched.








Just out of interest, for anyone who has tried unsuccessfully to post a comment on one of these blog posts, I did a bit of investigating. It seems to me that you need to be using Chrome as your browser to be able to post a comment. As blogger is a Google product, it looks as if they
have only tested on their own browser.

My cleaner will be here at 8.30 in the morning and I have some tidying up to do. There are books, paper, hoops and bits of embroidery from one end of the apartment to the other,  so I'll need to be up more promptly than has been my habit this week.

Better get to bed!

Post 85: today we have naming of parts

The Adelaide Crimson Rosella was once again on the roof when I opened the blind this morning. I managed to grab a photo before it flew away. It's not the best photo in the world, but good enough.

One of the doves was also on the roof, just out of the photo.

I put out some seed, but it was a while before there were any takers.

Eventually the pair arrived together again and worked their way in a dance around the seed.

The fascination with the door continued for the male.












Yesterday Melody suggested that the doves need names, and one of my daughters agreed. Melody suggested Myrtle and Fred. It hadn't occurred to me to name them, but I spent a bit of time considering possibilities. I quite liked Myrtle, but rejected Fred. My brother's instance response was Myrtle Dove and Turtle Dove. Of course!

So I now give you Myrtle and Turtle of Hurtle Square.

I had a dental appointment around midday. This was an appointment postponed from early April because I was in self-isolation and the dentist was closed for all but emergencies. It was an examination at the end of a mouthwash trial in which I had taken part. The result indicated effectiveness in all but one area of my gums. I now have another bottle to try to concentrate on that area for another month. It tastes foul, but in the interests of science I will persevere.

While I was out, I went to the North Adelaide Village to get some fruit, cheese biscuits and ham hocks for soup.  The supermarket is easy to manage. I needed to dodge a few people in the greengrocer but the supermarket was very easy.









I've also found where they keep their hand and trolley sanitiser.

Back at home I  met my neighbours heading out for their walk. This morning Di watched the dove - Myrtle - gathering sticks as if she were making a nest. It's the wrong time of the year, but might fit with the sudden appearance of both of them together on my balcony. No doubt we will find out.

I made 2 chicken sandwiches with the fresh bread and half a cooked free range chicken I had bought at the supermarket and read more history of WA.



This is a little treat I saved from yesterday. My Guild friend Junette is working on a panel for the Australian Quaker Tapestry. The project is k for 40 panels. 17 were displayed in Adelaide about 3 years ago.

Junette sent me this photo of the echidna she has been working on for quite some time, and has given me permission to use it in my blog.


You can get some idea of the size from this larger panel view. I really love it and look forward to seeing the whole panel when finished.








This afternoon another treat arrived in response to yesterday's blog post. My friend Christine in Watford had attended a workshop with Nicola Jarvis on one of the birds I had mounted in a hoop yesterday and was kind enough to send me a photo of her finished version.  How inspiring is that!

Her stitches and embellishments are going to be so helpful as I begin work on mine.

This morning I decided I was going to begin on the larger of my two enhooped birds and base my colours on the Adelaide Crimson Rosella. I think that will work. This is a photo I took last year from my balcony. I think I can find threads and embellishment in these colours.  I don't want to slavishly recreate the bird, but I think I can create the impression using appropriate colours. Worth a try. I may also look at the Australian Robin I used in my bird quilt for the Guild Exhibition in 2016 for the second of my Nicola birds. It's so helpful to have Christine's finished work to see the possibilities.

I haven't yet chosen my threads. I spent many hours today reading about the European settlement of Western Australia. I do not have this background at all - and need to get it. My only stitching progress was three hexies tonight.

Susan rang today to tell me that Jennifer has been cleared to fly following her aircraft simulation lung capacity test. She will need to fly with a respiratory device, possibly CPAP (continuous positive air pressure)  but that is not a problem. Health workers are looking at a direct Adelaide flight sometime next week. There is some discussion as to whether she should spend 2-3 days in a rehab ward in Adelaide before she goes home. Susan is very relieved, not only that Jennifer will be coming directly to Adelaide, but that the staff in Perth are now making the arrangements, which should mean backup and assistance at both ends.

I'm late finishing this tonight, so will alter the time for email delivery in case I miss my slot!

Post 84 Bunkered Down

I had my Vergola roof closed last night because it was wet and windy. When I opened it this morning, an Adelaide Rosella was sitting on the corner of the roof, unperturbed by the movement of the slats. Unfortunately it flew away before I could take a photo.

Within minutes the dove arrived to survey the scene. As soon as I cast some seed it flew off, returning with a companion. 

The companion is considerably smaller than my original dove, although this is not so obvious from photographs. My original dove has a white patch on one side of the end of its tail, so I know it's her. I've been saying 'her', but it now seems likely to me that this is a breeding pair and the smaller one is the female. I wondered if the second one was a young adolescent bird, but the Animalia website tells me young birds have a dark grey collar rather than the distinctive black and white.




The original bird was very bold this morning, (perhaps showing off, or made bold by backup),  coming right up to the door, which, of course, returns a reflection rather than an interior view.


They returned several times together during the day.



As it is Wednesday, I sent an email out to the World Embroidery Study Group. I had planned on sending something from Piecework magazine, but a member of the group kindly put together a presentation of embroidery and knitting from her visit to Peru some years ago. First hand is always better.

I also spent a bit of time following up something my friend Susan had told me. Some readers may recall that Susan had been very worried that her Covid infection had returned. Before she left Perth she still had a dry cough. Doctors did a range of tests to convince her she was quite normal. While she was convinced enough to return to Adelaide, she remained worried until she had another drive-through test last week and got the negative result. The basis of her fear, she told me, was a childhood memory of her mother telling her about Mattress Mary, who infected hundreds of people with a fatal disease. She couldn't remember the details, but she knew she did not want to be a Mattress Mary.

It turns out that Susan had merged two stories. Mattress Mary was the name popularly ascribed to Mary Kelleher who spent 15 months in prison for poisoning her husband,  3 children and 2 other relatives in 1907 in what was known as the Boston Poisoning Case. In 1910 she was exonerated after it was established that the mattress on which the family successively slept in relays was filled with fibres containing arsenic.  Her acquittal was reported in Australia by the Broken Hill Barrier Miner, 6 April 1910.

The other story was of course, that of Typhoid Mary. Mary Mallon was an Irish cook who migrated to the USA in 1883 and worked as a cook for wealthy families. In 1906 it was suspected, and soon confirmed, that she was the carrier of typhoid to the households for whom she cooked, even though she herself did not appear to have the disease.  She was quarantined for a period, then released on condition she didn't return to working as a cook unless she had her gallbladder removed, which is where doctors had worked out the disease was located. She refused the operation. After working as a laundress for a while, she returned to work as a cook under an assumed name. She was discovered and spent the rest of her life in forced isolation. She is thought to be the first known asymptomatic carrier, in a time when very little was understood about the transmission of disease. Debate still continues as to whether she was a victim or an agent.

My brother and I both remember our mother telling us in the 1950s about Typhoid Mary as an incentive to practice good hygiene and hand washing.  Mattress Mary was new to me. It's no wonder the name stuck in Susan's mind. The good news out of this is that Susan is not a carrier of Covid19 so will not become known as Spreading Susan - but it testifies too, to the power of those stories our mothers told us to reinforce desired behaviours!

I'm not quite sure where today went. It was cold and wet (for Adelaide - didn't get above 15C!). Discussions with Susan, with my brother, a bit of reading, the World Embroidery Study Group, emails - and a few more hexagons.

These are good for doing in front of TV or while in conversation. I am, however, itching to do something that also engages my mind.







So I've mounted two of the Nicola Jarvis birds in hoops ready to go. I need to work out colours and threads over the next couple of days while I finish my hexies.

Anticipation is at least as good as arriving!

Post 83 Deliveries & Research

I've been watching this succulent on my balcony get ready to flower. The stem has expanded and developed a cluster of tiny buds. It won't be long before these are yellow flowers. What I noticed today is that the leaves at the base of the stem are turning yellow and falling. It seems the flower is taking all the energy.

It is only because I am spending so much time at home that I notice such things.


I had notification that two parcels were being delivered in today's post, one needing a signature, so I settled to do some reading where I would be sure to hear the buzzer. When the call came and I let the deliverer in, it turned out to be the two cartons of wine I mentioned yesterday.


I'm very pleased to have them, but I do wish the winery would send me tracking information. I managed to reorganise cupboards to fit in 2 dozen bottles.  That's me stocked up for the next few months.

The parcels arrived not long after with the post woman and my neighbour brought them up for me.

One was a book and the other was the fabric I had ordered from Ink and Spindle.  It was as good as I had hoped.

This is the fabric I ordered after finishing the bag with the Anna Scott songbird. I liked the bag enough to think of doing another one.











This time I thought I might embroider a couple of Nicola Jarvis birds and applique them on. Last year I bought several of Nicola's birds at the market evening of the Crewel Work Company Retreat. I had planned to use them on clothing, but I think they'd go well on a bag.

What do you think?

I also ordered some of their plain Oatmeal linen. It comes in three weights and I ordered the lightest, which is Belgian linen. It was out of stock, so they suggested the medium, which I accepted. I'm glad I did. It's lovely - and a great weight for embroidery.  It is eco-linen

I don't have a specific plan for this - but I have a range of narrative embroidery projects milling around in my brain.

The third  part of this order was a bundle of offcuts. These are of various sizes, relatively small - good for lining projects or making small bags.

I'm itching to get started on the bag - but not before I'm closer to finishing the hexies.





These are the books that arrived yesterday and today. They are for some of the research and writing I'm doing for my brother, relating to the colonial history of Western Australia, about which I know next to nothing. It is quite a different story to that of colonial NSW.

I'm finding it very interesting, if a bit hard on my eyes. I find back-lit tablets are much kinder than sustained reading on printed paper.




I've been resting my eyes on hexies, while watching Rosemary and Thyme and Inspector Morse.  Another 9 completed. I think that only leaves about 30 more to go!

It's now raining and that's forecast to continue for several days. Might get those 30 done in between reading and writing.

Post 82 Sunrise, sunset

It was a calm and chilly morning in Adelaide but warmer by the afternoon. I spent much of the day listening for a buzz to give access to postal or courier deliveries, since I had several notices from Australia Post to say deliveries were likely today, tomorrow or Wednesday, and my  delivery of 48 rolls of toilet paper from Who Gives a Crap was somewhere in Adelaide.

One book arrived in my letterbox and in mid-afternoon a confused courier rang to say he was nearby. I met him at the street entrance and managed to stash my year's supply of toilet paper and hand towel in my storage space near my car park space. 

This is the quilt that my friend Christine from Watford has been working on in between other projects. I think it is really lovely.

It was given to her in pieces by a friend whose husband died some time ago. The friend had always wanted a quilt and her husband had been helping her by cutting out the papers. When he died his wife could not bear to work on it nor to use it if completed, but asked Christine to finish it and find it a good home. She gave Christine several carrier bags of fabric left over from sewing projects in the 70s and 80s and partially constructed blocks. None of the blocks were sewn together and there were lots of single hexies.

Christine is committed to finishing it .

It is a thing of beauty.

I spent a good deal of time proof reading and minor bits of research.

I also had calls from both Jennifer and Susan. Jennifer is having physio to regain her strength and feels she is progressing. She hopes to be able to take the lung capacity flight test late this week. Until she has that clearance she is unable to organise a flight to Adelaide. She is, however, hopeful of being able to further recover at home in Adelaide within a couple of weeks.

Susan's recent Covid19 test was negative and she now feels confident she is not a carrier.

There were once again a couple of golden hours this afternoon when I sat on the balcony and read my book before settling into hexies and evening television. I have now tacked what I think is sufficient to cover the edges of my quilt and have commenced stitching them into 'flowers'. I think I have about 40 to make, but haven't counted what I have.

The day finished much as it began - with a quite soothing, peaceful sunset.

The forecast is for wind and rain late tomorrow. I think 2 more parcels will arrive tomorrow, so I need to pay attention to the buzzer. It's also a week since I order 2 dozen bottles of wine from Chain of Ponds, and I haven't had any delivery information, so I had better chase them tomorrow.

In between hexies and a bit of writing.

Post 81 Hexies all day long

The dove came down to get her seeds this morning before I had closed the door to go back inside. I was in the doorway, but both the glass door and the fly screen door were still open. I managed to slowly get my phone and take a photo. She pecked until I quietly closed the door, during which action she hesitated, but resumed once the door was closed.

Either growing trust or desperation.

I had a 10 am Zoom book club meeting. This is a local Crime Book Club that I have recently been invited to join. For a few years the meeting has been held in a coffee shop in an inner city suburb and there are hopes that this habit can be resumed in 5 week's time. There were a few technical hitches with the Zoom, but once underway it was an interesting and relaxed hour. Today's books for discussion were Australian, Boxed by Richard Anderson and The Portrait of Molly Dean by Katherine Kovacic.

I particularly liked Boxed.






It was another lovely Autumn day here so after the bookclub meeting I did a bit of watering and tidying on my balconies. The aloe flower is looking good.

Jennifer will be pleased to see that our aspidistra is looking fresh and healthy.

I was caught up in bits of research for my brother when I realised there was a message from Katherine to say that Veronica was making cup cakes and inviting me to afternoon tea. I abandoned the research and headed off to catch up on family news.


The cupcake was delicious. It is, I think, a clever assignment. Students have to cook something and make a video explaining the process in Spanish. No food has to be taken to school, and the food does not have to be Spanish. It is an exercise in using Spanish to explain a process.

During the bookclub meeting and the cupcake visit I was able to keep tacking hexies.
At the time of writing I now have 15 hexie "flowers" ready to applique to my quilt, 39 bundles of 6 individual hexies tacked ready to stitch together into "flowers" and a further 7  bundles of 2" square fabric ready to be tacked (not in the photo). This should give me enough to finish edging my quilt. I might have found this a daunting but this morning my friend Christine in Watford sent me her hexie story which puts my task into perspective. I'll share that story tomorrow.




I'm hoping that I might tack the last 7 bundles tomorrow and begin stitching the remaining "flowers" together.  I haven't decided whether to begin appliqueing when I have enough to finish one side or wait until I have all 60 finished.


At the end of the day, as I was closing up the balcony door, the dove returned to clean up the remaining seed. Once again, it seemed that my presence was the signal.

130 years after Pavlov's observations with dogs. I think I might have further evidence for classical conditioning.