This is the first post since Feedburner's deadline for turning off its email service. I have attempted to test whether the service is in fact turned off with a post from my embroidery blog. and will be sending email notices manually to those subscribed. I forgot, in the experiment, that I am not subscribed to the email service for that blog, so I won't know the result! I'll repeat it for this post.
I'm not sure if this photo of sunrise last Thursday is more appropriate than the sunset at the end, but I'm going with a beginning rather than an end!
I spent much of the early part of the week working on constructing a couple of samples of motifs from Vala Georgieva's work in preparation for the Certificate Course workshop in September next year. I know this is obsessive, but the bookmarks I was working gave me an idea, and I wanted to follow through. I have written in more detail in my embroidery blog. notes and PP - need to test. 
It was the charting of the designs that gave me most concern. I am not practiced in this. I have charted a few knitting patterns, but only for my own use. I'm hoping an experienced Guild friend will cast an eye over it for me. All the more reason to give myself plenty of time to make adjustments. The motif I used on the back of the pouch is an Elbetica - symbol of the four directions of the compass and the whole world, held together in the centre. It also captures the four seasons. I chose a simple version. 
Nelly tells me that Vala Georgieva is currently working on this version in Bulgaria. Rather more challenging than mine! I look forward to seeing it.
I have composed the PowerPoint for the workshop and also a set of student notes. I can adjust these if there are changes to the projects, but it is good to know that I have it in hand.
I am still waiting on wool fabric from Sweden for the Viking embroidery workshop, which is in February. It has reached Sydney - but postal services are drastically impacted by the current Covid outbreak, so it may take quite a while to make the rest of the journey.
It was good to Sit'nStitch again on Friday afternoon after a break of a couple of weeks. We are all still working on the projects from last time. Susan's baby floor mat is going to look fabulous.
On Friday evening I went to dinner at Estia's at Henley Beach to celebrate the birthdays of two friends. The 4 of us enjoyed a lovely meal and catchup. I had a big plate of whitebait on salad and the others shared a range of Greek dishes. It was a treat, and I came home feeling relaxed and content.
Saturday was a JEMS day. I did a bit of shopping for Monday's dinner, and Niamh and I had milkshakes at our usual place, my second since 27 June - about my only dietary indulgence.
I opened my eyes on Sunday morning to this vivid pattern on my wardrobe door. The photo (taken when I has barely awake!) does not do justice. It was the light coming through the thread holes in the blind and only lasted a couple of minutes.
No, I do not intend turning it into an embroidery pattern!
On Monday the Aida bands I had ordered from the Crafty Frog in Canberra arrived. They had taken 11 days. Until this recent outbreak mail from Canberra was arriving within 4-5 days, and Express mail overnight. I'm grateful, however, to have them at all.I immediately dug out some scraps of silk that might make good lining. I've been sorting some designs from the Celtic Backstitch book and am looking forward to using some of these terrific designs on these inspiring bands.
In the meantime, I had a play with a strip of Aida left over from the pouch above. This is a Celtic continuous chain design from the Celtic Backstitch book.
The only downside was that I had to stitch the edges, because they were raw and would unravel. I tried a couple of stitches, but in the end buttonhole was the only one likely to work. It did the job, but is a bit rough. I used 6 strands of cotton, and 4 may have been better.
I lined it with a piece of vibrant blue silk.
On the whole I like it. I may try it again on the white Aida band that has a pale blue edge.
Dinner was a very flexible affair, interspersed with parent-teacher interviews by phone for Niamh and Veronica. No hassle, we are all pretty adaptable. On an impulse I made a batch of Anzac biscuits to help between calls. I haven't made them since April 2020. I scraped together the ingredients (only just enough Golden Syrup). Pleased to say they worked! So pleased I forgot to take photo.
I had cadged more chicken seed from my Adelaide daughter. The doves were hanging out for it. We had a storm on Thursday night and the lid blew off the seed container. I found one of the doves perched on the edge about to have a feast. I rescued the lid and saved the seed, but rewarded the doves, who certainly made the most of it.
Today I took in my entries for the upcoming Guild Exhibition at the Hamra Gallery. The exhibition is being hung tomorrow afternoon, after our World Embroidery Study Group meets. That's a good thing, because I realised at the Guild that I had left one entry behind. Hopefully I can add it tomorrow.
This morning I had been preparing this with headphones on, listening to ABC Classic FM to drown out the noise coming from the apartment 2 floors below. New owners are moving in and making changes to the kitchen and floors beforehand. The work is happening this week. Because kitchens and bathrooms are in the centre of these apartments, so the living and sleeping areas on either side have the windows and light, noise carries up the services shaft in the centre. I am not complaining. The new owners have been good about letting us know, and it will be over in a few days. I might want to do something similar myself one day. The earphones, which I haven't used since my days of frequent air travel did quite a good job.
From the Guild I went on to the Yarn Trader at Port Adelaide to pick up a gift kit. The new shop is fabulously roomy with lots and lots of tempting yarn. It was a sunny day, with quite a cool breeze, so I decided to stay away from the noise a bit longer and go to Grange Jetty Cafe for lunch.
I sat outside. The breeze was a bit chilly, but lovely to be near the beach, getting a dose of ozone and feeling the sun. I had my usual calamari salad, but with soda water rather than a glass of wine. A happy place.
I am, after all, back on netball drop-off duty this evening - the last for the season, I'm told. I am planning to post this early so I can test the automated email at a reasonable hour before sending manual emails. Here's to managing change!
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