On Wednesday early the next layer of the scaffold came down on the Eastern side building next door. I was delighted to have most of my missing view back. There are two levels of scaffold to go.
The rest of the day was peaceful and relaxed. I had a lovely long phone call with a Guild friend and another with a friend of Jim's I haven't heard from for nearly two years. It was terrific to pick up where we left off. I also had a couple of conversations with my brother, trying to rectify the fact that I sent a parcel of books to his long defunct PO Box instead of his current one. In this case, Australia Post were terrific and quickly found a solution.
At the end of the day I was less happy to discover that the West facing scaffold had also been removed and my view of the twin branched Norfolk Pine is now filtered through a balcony on the adjoining building. Admittedly, this is only visible when I am on my balcony, not when I am in my living room - and I can at least see through the balcony. When the rest of the scaffold is removed I will be able to see into one end of a lower balcony as well. It's not terrible, nor too intrusive, but a bit of a surprise.
On Thursday I had a medical day - fasting blood test , then an optometrist appointment before Pilates. The blood test revealed no change in my kidney readings which is a bit disappointing. They are not dangerously high, but higher than desirable. I see the renal specialist next Thursday, so I need to discuss. The optometrist spent 40 minutes examining my left eye which is once again inflamed with Meibomian Gland Disorder . She has upped the ante and moved me to a phosphate-free eye drop at least 4-6 times a day and a steroid cream twice a day as well as hotpacks. After 5 days there is definite improvement.
Friday I did some shopping, went to Sit'nStitch, came home and cooked the ragu for moussaka.
On Saturday I had half my front balcony cleaned. I can't reach much of it without a ladder. My cleaner did a fabulous job, tidying and organising as well as cleaning. It's a big job - grime from traffic and weather has not been removed in more than 5 years. Michael Constantinou's Spanish Mackerel is looking splendid. It was also a JEMS day. It looked like a good turnout. Niamh and I had our regular milkshakes and Katherine and I had a good catch up while stitching. She is covering coat hangers. They look great.
At 8.30 on Sunday morning I took all the front boxes and bits out of my storage locker in the carpark and washed them. Behind the front boxes is a single layer of boxes against the back wall, mostly labelled. I realised all of these are not going to fit on the trolley I bought. There is, however, no real need to move them. With nothing in front of them, it is easy to see the labels and not too difficult to get to them. The trolley will fit in front of them.
Just after 9.30 am Ken arrived and we removed the flatpack for the trolley from the back seat of my car, read the instructions and set to work.
Once we worked out a couple of simple processes it went very smoothly.
By 11 am we had it assembled and began to stack it. By 11.30 it was in place and we had cleaned up. I discovered a couple of bits that should have gone out in the hard rubbish this week, and there are a couple more I can probably do without.
At least now I can see what's there and get to it pretty easily. I now need to investigate archiving some of it.
It is a very good job jobbed and I couldn't have done it without Ken's help.
When I changed into clean clothes afterwards I discovered the jeans I bought last year are now a size too large for me, so I stitched elastic into the waist band - a fine solution and a pleasing discovery! While I was about it I patched a sheet which had developed a tear. Late in the afternoon I popped over to Ken and Barbara's place for a quick dinner. A most satisfactory day!
It's been warm for a few days and on Monday morning I attempted to close the roller shutters on my large back window but nothing moved. I figured the battery had died in the controller. I couldn't get the back off to change it, so took it back to Burns for Blinds. Apparently the controller batteries are not made to be changed and the whole thing needs to be replaced, so they have ordered one for me. By amazing good fortune they are guaranteed for 5 years and this one is two months inside the guarantee, so there will be no charge - but a wait. In the meantime I plugged away at the pincushion in the Leadlight Counted Set and finished one side.
The moussaka was a good one. The ragu was thick and rich - down, I think, to the lamb being minced fresh by the butcher and a new brand of passata (well, there was also the half bottle of wine).
Fionn is preparing for exams, Brigid had a netball committee meeting and the girls enjoying the end of year wind-down without the sadness of last year's transition from primary school.
This morning the scaffold at the back of the building next door was removed. My new view isn't quite as wide as it was before the building, but it's pretty good and much better than looking at scaffolding.
I had intended to go into the city today and collect some restrung jewellery, but it was strata window cleaning day and I had organised for the contractor to clean my interior and exterior balcony windows. He did a terrific job and warned me that water from the plants is staining the windows in a few places. That doesn't worry me too much, but I'm going to try moving the plants on the front balcony away from the windows.
To my surprise, Burns for Blinds rang to say my controller had arrived, so late this afternoon I drove out and picked it up. It is currently on the charger, and I was nervous about whether it would work. If the problem isn't the controller, it may mean a lot more work to fix it. I was right to be worried. After 5 hours on the charger it is still not working, so I need to ring Burns for Blinds tomorrow and ask for someone to look at it. It may mean getting on the roof - and scaffolding!
By this afternoon the scaffolding on the front of the building next door had gone. This is my new view looking south. Left is the view from the edge of the balcony. Top right is the view from my usual chair and bottom right is the view from the dining table. Not too bad.
I've finished the Leadlight Counted Set pincushion. I used a slightly darker cotton for the second side, just for variety. I played with leaving spaces to create a pattern (top left) but stitched over it.
So it's been an up and down week. The roller shutter not working is a worry, but there's quite a bit to be thankful for. I have also reached 14kg weight loss.
Tomorrow is WES Group and on Thursday I see the renal specialist with a list of questions. I'm hoping the week follows the weather forecast, which is mild all the way.
