Post 416 Between the Balcony and the Guild

This has been a quiet week. Wednesday was Australia Day - fraught with debate about recognition of First Nations, colonialism and nationalism. It's never held meaning for me or my family.  This year I stayed in, read and stitched. I did manage a session on my Everfit  vibration plate

Thursday was Pilates Day.  I was pleased to go, and enjoyed it - four of us, each on our own piece of equipment in a very large space. Afterwards I called at the Guild to pick up the three portable lights I had left to be tagged.  Two were successfully tagged. The third, a small expanding light with a USB plug, was not.  

I realised that what gets checked and tagged is the plug and connection, not the item itself. I had not included the plug. Damn! 

Never mind. I can manage easily with the other lights.

I did a bit of survival shopping on the way home.

The day was topped off by some great sunset visuals - including (above) the returning bats.

A friend had given me a scented candle for Christmas. I'm wary of candles in the apartment, but thought it appropriate on Thursday night to light it on the balcony for a while in recognition of Holocaust Memorial Day. Lest we forget.

Roughly a third of the girls at the high school I attended from 1959-63 were Jewish, many the daughters of the 31,000 holocaust survivors who settled in Australia after the War, or as pre-War refugees. While we did not actively explore backgrounds or culture through our education, I am grateful to have known them, made friends, learned together,  and grown in understanding. It was a rich experience.

Friday should have been our Sit'n Stitch but was called  off because Susan is isolating as a close Covid contact - still, thanks be, clear! I spent the day reading a section of my brother's latest book-in-progress and gathering the requirements for Saturday's Certificate Course Workshop (two this month because there's a fifth Saturday!), which was on Gingham Lace with Carol Mullan.  Detail is in the link, which is to my embroidery blog.

I've done quite a bit of this. I love it and have more to learn.  Carol encourages experimentation. I worked and extended a motif she provided. I've continued to play with it, using white, mauve and a darker purple thread and varying the dominant colour in the fabric.

White thread remains my preference, but the variations are all interesting.

After our plentiful meal on Saturday, eaten outside while the cats relentless pursued a tiny mouse through the bushes, Katherine and I caught up on the week while most of the family was glued to Ash Barty's Australian Open match. It's a good story and a much needed lift to spirits in a tense time of rising Covid infection and death. The joy is as much in Ash Barty's generous and sane attitude as it is in her tennis.

We had notice that SA Water would be working on local infrastructure all day Sunday with likely water cut-off from 9-5. I had jugs, watering cans and sinks full of water in case needed, but if the water was off I didn't notice. There were diggers, men, trucks and noise in the street for about an hour but the tap worked each time I tried. 

In the early afternoon, I was on the front balcony with a glass of soda water which appeared to shatter in my hand. I wasn't aware of dropping it, but it broke, hit the ground and smashed everywhere. I had bare feet and managed to step back through the door in one movement to put shoes on. As I was doing so, I found blood running down my leg. It seems one piece of glass had penetrated my shin. There was a lot of blood, but the cut wasn't deep. Once I'd stopped the bleeding I managed to get the glass cleaned up and disposed of. After a lifetime of going barefoot both inside and in the garden, I have been unusually careful, since living here, to put shoes on when going onto the balconies. The lapse cost! 

On Monday I had coffee with Panayoula - picking up, as always, where we left off, ever on the same page. I went on to Unley to get some fruit and veg, and then to Barrow and Bench to get some potting mix and plants in preparation for Tuesday, when Fionn came to help me for a few hours with a bit of a mad idea.

First we went to Adair's and bought a replacement plant stand. Then, back at home, we dismantled the electric barbecue I bought about 3 years ago. It sat on my balcony. The last time I tried to use it - at least 18 months ago - it blew my fuses. I haven't tried it since and tossed up between getting an electrician to look at it, or getting rid of it. At the time I bought it, it seemed like a good idea, but I don't really need it, and the safety issue bothers me.

I now have a new plant stand on my front balcony. When the creeping ficus grows it will hang over the edge, and the geraniums should give a burst of colour.

We cleaned up and removed all the dead plants,  replaced them with yesterday's purchases and cleaned up the mess. The balcony is looking pretty good.

I'm hoping for no bursts of temperature over 40C this month.  

The lid of the barbecue is now  on the back balcony, on the replaced stand, full of salvia and geraniums, and we've added another low bowl of the same. Again, we removed the dead plants.

As a result, I have several empty flower boxes on this balcony, so can buy a few more pots of instant colour.

I'm really pleased with this morning's work. I had expected it to be more difficult. We took the electrical components of the barbecue to Bunnings electrical recycling bin. 

Fionn also helped me turn my mattress - a job I simple can't do on my own. Our annual fire alarms checks were today, after the gardening. All good.

I've been trying to capture the bats returning on and off this week. Tonight I sat with my DSLR after sunset waiting for them. The photos were total rubbish. The bats are much faster than my camera at dusk. This one with my iPhone is the best.

I have made some progress on the second side of the Fair Isle bag. I'm nearly half way through and should have it finished within the week. I think I have worked out how the pattern should be knitted to achieve the product illustrated. When this is finished I might have another go, trying it as I suspect it was intended. 

If I'm not enticed away by another project.