Post 457 Birds, beach, balconies - and a blood moon.

This week's bird is the Noisy Miner, managing to dominate the native frangipani for much of the time, although the lorikeets are not too deterred, sometimes insisting on staying while the miners are screeching. These belong to the same family as Bell Birds - Bell Miners - but are not as pretty, nor as melodious.

 

I had a plumber come on Friday morning at 8am. He did a great job, fixing the mixer tap that had come apart, installing a new water filter under my kitchen sink and cleaning out the bathroom sink that was draining a bit slowly. He was done in under half an hour. I decided to roll with the early start and wrap my balcony wall pieces in plastic. 

It looks nothing much but took me over an hour. The  smallest are covered in tape, the others have plastic over them, tucked right under the edges ( handy to have long nails!) and the edges taped.

The Balinese mask on the back balcony looks a bit creepy.

I also moved all the pots on the back balcony into the middle, and added any tools or supplies into the spare bathroom.

I ended up doing quite a bit of cleaning - including  a dish of shells and stones that act as a water source for the birds. and the brass candlestick that belonged to Jim. The brass is taking quite a bit of cleaning to restore its shine. My Brasso was ancient. I did try it, but have assigned it, unfortunately, to landfill. I'm currently trying vinegar. I've added three brass pins and a brass hook to the soak. There's a way to go to get them all into a shiny state!

I invited Theo to inspect and advise, which he did on Sunday morning.  He thinks it's all OK. He brought his ladder and covered the dish mounted too high for me to reach.

 

Saturday was a JEMS day. I had promised to help, and Niamh was able to attend for the first time in several months, since netball has switched over to the Summer program and she no longer has a clash. There were nine JEMS there, five in the younger (8-10) age group - lots of activity, lots of requests for help, lots of sharing. Really good - but I reckon Margaret, the convenor, will have slept well on Saturday!

Afterwards Niamh and I went down to Grange. I had left a bag behind after Friday's Sit'nStitch (ditsy!) and wanted to retrieve it, which I did. As we were there we had our milkshakes at the Jetty Cafe. It was a lovely day. I'm not sure the milkshakes are as good as those at Queen St Cafe, but they are larger, and you can't fault the view.

Katherine was away at a hen's weekend for the wedding of a friend. Anthony got back from Queensland on Saturday morning, but still managed to shop and cook a barbecue, for which I stayed. Great to catch up with everyone. It's exam time.

On Wednesday the wood rounds I had ordered from Stringybark Supplies, arrived. They were much better than I expected. The ready-made set of Christmas ornaments are really bright and cheerful. 

Most exciting, however, were the plain rounds. These are made from radiata pine, old plantations which are now being removed and the land restored to native forrest. An enterprising farmer is creating these rounds from the radiata pine, sanding and selling them - and in some case printing them for corporate merchandise - or as tokens or souvenirs of special occasions.

I found them inspiring, and, by Friday had created 8 of my own, using photographs of lorikeets and Adelaide Rosellas.

I traced the outline of a bird from a photo on my ipad screen, resized it on my printer, then retraced it on to the wood. Then I used either coloured pencils of fine line pens to colour and contextualise the birds.

 I found it utterly addictive. I just wanted to keep going. I was a bit restricted in the birds I could use, because I didn't have a good white colour in either medium, so couldn't try a magpie, or seagull, or raven. 

I have played with Brolgas, to pick up on John Wheeler's The Carol of the Birds. which I learned in Primary School. The white pencil almost worked. I might try acrylic paint.

I've left some with Veronica to see what she can make of them. I am tempted to order another box.......

Monday morning saw me preparing potatoes, broccoli and chicken Marylands for dinner before heading off to the Guild to talk about Bulgarian Embroidery, dashing to buy the bread then home by 2.30 when Niamh arrives from school.  

The painters were already at work - hosing the front balconies down at about 8.15 am.  By the time I got home around 1.30pm  they were working on the overhang above the apartments. To my surprise they had finished my balcony. They apparently painted the ceiling while the first coat dried on the wall, then did the second coat.  I could, the boss told me, remove the plastic sheeting. So I did! 

I was prepared for 5 weeks, and it took 1 day! There is, of course, the back to do, but they now say that won't happen till January! I've reconnected the hose! I might also remove the plastic from the mask.

The Guild session went very well (apart from a few glitches with the technology - fault of the Guild computer setup which needs attention) and there was a lot of interest in both the information about Bulgarian embroidery and the pieces acquisitioned by the Museum.

The footpath outside our apartment entrance has been blocked off - very confusing for visitors, but easy to navigate when you know how. I waited outside for Niamh and Veronica to help navigate. 

Today I was up early to begin the move back. I washed stands and pots as I moved them and (repeatedly) washed the floor. At 10.30am I stopped and went to the Guild to finish labelling Maureen Holbrook's folders. They were in Margaret Morgan's car boot, and she was stitching there today, so it was a good opportunity. I got the job done and had a good time with the group. The folders are now  in my boot, ready to be handed over to Christine in a fortnight's time.

Back home around 1.30pm, I tackled the rest of the balcony restoration. It was fairly heavy work - moving and cleaning a lot of plants. The windows are very dirty, but my efforts with Windex mostly resulted in smears so I think I'll give up on that for a while. 

Probably best to wait and get a window cleaner. I'm now very tired . I'm not used to being on the go all day - and it's 33C today. The plants need a good water (so do I) - and I'm back at the Guild for WES Group tomorrow. 

I watered the plants, had dinner and a big drink before photographing the beginning of the luna eclipse. The blood moon will be at its peak in half an hour - and beyond my photography skills.

A calm end to a busy week.