Post 461 A way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert

One way and another it has been quite a week, even though much of it was spent at home, on my own. I photographed this little flower on a walk around a nearby block - so cheery. The jacarandas , including

the one behind our building, are now in full splendour. I love the combination of colours, especially when the sun is out, as it has been much of the time. I've had occasion to close the Vergola roof on a couple of days, but also to have it open to enjoy some sun.

It  now seems the painting of the Eastern side of our building can't happen before April, and, since that isn't the best weather for painting, we will probably delay until Spring, in September-October. So I have put the planters back on the balcony rail, replaced the chair and replenished the plants.

The chair could do with a repaint. It was originally black. I painted it white and upholstered  armrests and cushions in the late 70s, then removed the upholstery and repainted in the 90s. I'm not sure I have the space (or the energy) for another makeover. 

The doves seem to sense something is afoot, and come back to explore, casting long and interesting shadows.  

I bought portulaca, alyssum, petunias and coleus to fill in spots where annuals or spent plants were thinning. After all the rain, it is surprisingly dry and I'm trying to keep them watered daily.

The Unley Village Shopping Centre also had a bonsai nursery pop-up stall. This ficus caught my eye and I bought it.

It's elegant. I'm not sure what I will do in 2-3 years time when it needs repotting. Maybe the shop will pop-up again and I can ask them to do it for me. If push comes to shove I could probably learn.

The Adelaide 500, an annual (except for Covid) 4 day Supercars event has been on this week. It is a street circuit, so roads are closed on the Eastern side of the city and traffic diverted. There are lots of people heading towards the venue at various times, and plenty of noise. The cars themselves provide a kind of background drone, and the nightly concerts would probably keep me awake if they didn't finish abruptly at 11pm. There are a lot of helicopters - probably both news photographers and safety monitoring- and a daily jet fly-past. It was manageable for a non-car enthusiast resident, but I might consider going away for those 4 days next year. 

On Sunday I decided to take a break and find somewhere out of the city to have a (very) late lunch. I had the same thought on Saturday, while my Adelaide family were at a very long and special wedding, but got distracted.

It was very warm but I took a risk on driving to the beach around 3pm, thinking I'd have a walk and late/early meal at the Grange Hotel. I hadn't reckoned on the parking - which was impossible. Eventually I drove back home and had a 4pm meal at the pub on the Square, sitting outside and ignoring the helicopters.

The squid was good, the salad a bit too much chilli for me. The chips were fine, but I limited myself to half of them.

There was a 6pm Evensong at the Cathedral on Sunday to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women in the Anglican Church. The first Adelaide ordination of women was on 5 December 1992 when 5 women were ordained priest. While I had followed the work of the Movement for the Ordination of Women at the time, I was not a member. I was, in those years, heavily involved in affirmative action for women and change within education and couldn't fight on two fronts. I had friends in Sydney who were members, and I kept my eye on it.

It was very much part of my development - and my disconnection from the church -  so I did want to celebrate the achievements of 30 years.

The Cathedral wasn't packed, but it was a decent crowd. I joined Katherine, Anthony and the girls. On display were some of the original banners (or replicas thereof) celebrating the long line of women leaders in the church.

Four of the original five ordinands were at the service, 

One, Susan Straub, spoke graciously of the time - and those in Adelaide who supported the struggle.

Bishop Denise's sermon was the gentle and useful perspective of one who, as a New Zealander, did not claim the same struggle as those 5 women and pushed us to 'go and tell' - essentially 'get on with the job'.

The anthem, music by Rachel Bruerville was a powerful rendition of Isaiah 43:18-19 Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old, I am about to do a new thing. Make way.

The Diocese had produced a 32 page booklet to commemorate the event, outlining the history and reproducing photographs - a sensible and creative thing to do. 

There's still a way to go, but it is encouraging and timely to mark progress. Adelaide and Sydney were the hold-out dioceses in relation to ordaining women. It is a privilege to be in Adelaide to celebrate 30 years on.   I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

When I got home, not hungry after my 4pm lunch, I watched Pilgrimage to the Scottish Isles on ABCTV. It seemed appropriate - six people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs trying to understand St Columba's original journey from Ireland to Christianise the Scots - well before Augustine was sent by Rome. Adoption and adaptation, recognition of connectedness - interesting themes in belief as they are in education or embroidery. 

Last Friday I took 7 knives to the Guild, carefully wrapped in a tea towel inside a wine-bottle bag. I wasn't going to make it to yesterday's general meeting when Mr Knife was coming to sharpen any scissors or knives for members. My knives were in need of sharpening and I didn't want to miss the opportunity, so I dropped them in with the money. As a consequence, I gave up my plan for roast pork for Monday night's dinner, since I would not have a carving knife. Chicken Maryland had to do. I joined the Tuesday stitchers today and collected the knives. I'm almost too scared to unwrap and wash them. As if the warning isn't enough, the band aid is really putting me off!

While waiting for family to arrive yesterday, I got out the Christmas decorations and decided to adorn the large ficus on the front balcony. There are a few historic items - the decorated felt boot made at playgroup sometime in the 70s, wooden soldiers and sparkly stars - as well as felt figures of gingerbread people and Wizard of Oz characters I've made in the last decade (relevance to Christmas? seemed like a good idea at the time.)

The Yukka branch now hosts an angel and a Christmas Cactus, given to me by a dear friend in Tucson after 9/11, while the pewter horn and reindeer acquired  at a Christmas Fair at Mt Vernon, now make shadows from door handles.

I'm quite pleased with the UNESCO snowflakes and Katherine's suggestion for one of the lovely paper fold-out balls works best of all above the etching of a melancholy former Treasurer, Paul Keating.            

I really love these balls, which seem to have sold out, so I can't provide a link. 

I've always been a bit of a sucker for fold-out paper shapes. In any case there was  a bit of a touch of Christmas about the place by dinner time yesterday. This is the last week of term and I am unlikely to have visitors between now and Christmas, but I like the touch. The pennants, somewhat faded, proclaim the season to the street. After dinner, Anthony and Veronica tightened the legs on all my dining chairs. Many thanks!

I've been stressing for more than a week about the fact that the medical for my driving licence, duly filled out and sent registered mail to the appropriate department 3 weeks ago, had not arrived. The tracking information said it was delayed. My query to Australia Post resulted in a response today that basically said 'we don't know what happened to it but it probably arrived' so I bit the bullet and rang the department. After only about 15 minutes of listening to messages I spoke to a pleasant woman who checked. Lo! it has reached the department! It has not been assessed and added to my record, but yes, they have it! I am absurdly pleased and relieved. I will follow her advice to ring in a week's time to check it has made its way into my record. My contingency plan of organising a new form and repeating the process is on the back burner!

Finally, I got my Christmas cards organised in November this year, since last year, some posted in the first week of December did not arrive until February! I'm pleased with this year's card, and posted the overseas ones a week ago.  Each year now I spend more time checking that friends I haven't heard from are alive and able to receive cards, especially since Covid has made communication really difficult for some. A long newsy email from my friend in Watford had me on a high for days.

I held the Australian cards back until today, taking them with me to post on the way home from the Guild. Unfortunately, the coffee cup I took with me was not properly secured and leaked on the cards. I cleaned up as best I could. One card needed replacing. I think the others are OK.  My mother's voice says for an intelligent child you can be very stupid at times but I'm ignoring that in favour of no use crying over spilt coffee.