We've had a fair bit of rain this week and in between showers my dove pair have dropped in to remind me to put out more seed.
On Friday he (assuming the larger is male) stood very close, waiting as I hung out the washing but backed off when I got within about half a metre of him.
I spent most of last week buried in BookWright software reloading, editing and finally uploading the book to Blurb. I found it an intense and stressful time. It required numerous adjustments to get the pages to fit and run smoothly. I was expecting it to crash any minute. I figured out that one of my problems was not saving regularly. I have become accustomed to software which saves automatically and realised I needed to manually save after each change. When I thought I had it done and began to upload I got a message to say trade books needed to be in page units of 12, or extra pages would be added to the end of the book. As I didn't want 8 blank pages at the end I had to do another round of adjustment. I'm happy to say I got there.
As recommended, I have ordered one print copy to check. I'm waiting anxiously for it to arrive before I make the link to the print version live. There is a free ebook version available here for anyone interested. I'll report on the print version as soon as I have it.
I'm very grateful to my friend Pat Manser who jumped through hoops to access and read a copy for me. She found a quite a few typos and two clangers which I need to try to correct. I think I've figured a way to do that relatively safely.
It was the Labour Day long weekend here. I had a really lovely evening at Katherine and Anthony's place on Saturday but spent the rest of the weekend at home, either engaged with the book, stitching or playing with family photos. Left is me, my mother Sylvia, her mother Nell and Nell's father George Bearcraft.
Right is me, my father Len, his father Jim and Jim's mother Caroline Parker.
The exercise, especially in a week where I have worked so hard on a book, has given me the opportunity to reflect on what my lineage has given to me. Words and photographs stand out. These photos are only with me because of the Box Brownie camera given to my uncle for his 15th birthday four months before the family left England for Australia in 1928. His parents could ill afford it, but he used it to photograph all their family before they left. He also went on to become a photographer in Sydney - not an easy journey. The family valued photography. However, both my parents valued words above most things - Dad, though himself a reserved man of few words, through a commitment to books and 'the classics' as a path to understanding, Mum through story, poetry and recitation. I see her now as a bard - creating knowledge, clarifying ideas, maintaining values, shaping our world through story, repeating, adapting, adding, interpreting. It was a huge gift to my brother and I - and to our descendants. I would have it no other way. I've begun to think of an embroidery design that encapsulates some of this.
A couple of lorikeets were back on Friday evening. I was only quick enough to catch one on camera.
My balcony flowers, easier to capture, are responding well to the rain.
In spite of my intention to only work on embroidering the lapels of my purple coat at B2B, I decided to move it forward. Because it can't be worked in a hoop I needed to wear my wrist brace on the left holding hand. I decided to stop pushing the needle through with my finger nails after I pushed the wrong end of the needle and put it right through my nail.
I did make good progress though, and finished one side on Sunday night. That, of course, was incentive enough to keep me going. It's not, I decided, a good project to put away for a month at a time.
I now have all the purple and some of the green done on the second side. I shall write this project up for my embroidery blog once finished.
This week I was grateful for the Australia Post rescue service. My copy of Rowan Knitting 69 finally arrived - inside a large AusPost plastic bag. The original paper packaging envelope inside was in a sorry state and open on 2 sides. The contents had been put inside another plastic bag along with a letter from the Netley PO depot in Adelaide, telling me the package had arrived in this state, had probably been soaked in water and providing contact details for compensation. Inside the second plastic bag were two sheets of corrugated cardboard taped together (by the shop) and inside that was - another plastic bag containing the magazine.
I'm torn between gratitude for an undamaged magazine and horror at the plastic it took to get to me - from Sydney. Better make sure I make something from it.
Today was the day our electricity was to be out while our solar panels were being connected. I decided against going away and settled in to read and stitch. I made a thermos of coffee before the 8 am starting time - my base level requirement. It was a sunny day, lovely to have balcony doors open. Not sure that the solar panels will begin working until tomorrow - when rain is forecast!
The best news of the week is that all four grandchildren have now had their first vaccine. Fantastic. I'm looking forward to lunch with them tomorrow.
