Post 490 I didn't burn the Anzac biscuits!

Today is Anzac Day, always significant in the Australian calendar. It is a public holiday and marked by Dawn Services and marches in cities and towns. I have always marked it, in spite of misgivings about the glorification of war and our involvement in particular conflicts.

My mother always made Anzac biscuits - made with oats and Golden Syrup, reputedly so they would keep on the long journey from Australia to France for soldiers in WWI. I make them too, in memory and habit. I'm inclined to forget things in the oven and have sometimes burnt them. Badly. Not today!

My brother and I exist because of WWII. Our father was a Leading Torpedo Man on HMS Formidable and met our mother in Sydney in May/June 1945 while the Formidable was being repaired after a kamikaze hit in the Indian Ocean.  They wrote to each other when the Formidable left for Japan, where it was anchored as the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They were reunited briefly in August 1945 while the Formidable was refitted before heading to Manilla to pick up Prisoners of War. My father's role changed to projectionist, showing films to entertain the POWs on the return journey to Sydney, where he chose to be demobilised and married our mother on 5 January 1946. I have the 52 letters they exchanged in their 6 month courtship from ship to shore.

Ted Ray, WWI Salonica & France, Jim Haynes WWI France, 
Len Haynes WWII, Atlantic, Nth Sea, Mediterranean, Pacific,
Lionel Dellit RAAF, Died over Timor Sea 22May1944.

Although he marched on ANZAC Day for many years - usually with my Uncle Sid and his mates from HMAS Australia - he had no truck with war or nationalism, and late in his life expressed shame and regret that he and his shipmates had cheered when they heard that the bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, telling me sadly. "We didn't understand". That, it seems, is the problem - and the wisdom of those we served . War is a complex business. Fortunately, Anzac events now include veterans of many countries and cultures - including those who fought against Australian forces. 

I pay tribute to veterans, their response to a duty call, their sacrifice, acknowledging what we owe them - and to the leaders who work to avoid a repeat. 

Katherine, Anthony, Niamh and Veronica have been in Sydney over the long weekend on a well-earned break, staying in a hotel with a view over the War Memorial (which was designed by Bruce Dellit, Jim's 1st cousin twice removed), visiting sites, attending ballet and theatre and catching up with family.  Yesterday they visited my parents' graves.

I spent much of the weekend at the Guild. Saturday was a Certificate Course Workshop on Leftkara and Sunday was the second day of Christine Bishop's Pulled Work Mat class. Leftkara was challenging, to say the least, mostly because we began by trying the original method of cutting first, embroidering second. Once we moved to the more contemporary method of stitching first, cutting second, it became manageable. The damage, however was done. I am pleased to have attended and tried it out, but for once I am not planning to make anything of it. I shall keep it as a sample of my learning.  

The mat, however, is another matter. During the week I worked out the parameters of my mat - adjusting the given thread counts for the linen I was using. I worked a bit of the border to get it right. At the workshop I filled in quite a bit of the tricky reverse faggot stitch. It's satisfying and looking promising. I am itching to finish it, but resisting, in order to progress the St. Brigid jumper. 

The weather has been lovely. The Guild garden is looking good.  I took some photos of the cotoneaster out the front, now at it's best.  

The berries are 1-2cm across.            

There is also a ground cover grevillea in the front garden looking ready to be incorporated into an embroidery design.                

On my balcony, the aloe is blooming again, lovely shapes in the flower, also tempting as a design.    

Rain is forecast tomorrow and for the next week, so I did the washing - just remembering to hang out the last load late today. A stiff breeze got up a couple of hours ago, and it's now dry (10.30pm). 

I had planned to knit for hours this weekend - all day today - to get close to the 200 rows in the back of St Brigid. I thought I might get to 180 rows. Unfortunately, I got distracted today by this post and the ANZAC connection. I went looking for the photos and text of my father's war service that I had incorporated in a book I put together for my father's 90th birthday in 2009. I've been meaning for ages to track down the book and the digital copies of the photos for family history purposes. It took me several hours to find and download them, but it's done.. 

I have just finished 160 rows. It is sometimes slow going, demanding concentration, especially in the central panel. It is, however, looking good. It is now 50cm and there is about a metre of yarn left on the fourth ball. My calculation is holding. I'd like to finish the back this week - but I may not quite make it. I have quite a few commitments but as far as I can, I will stick to my knitting. I shouldn't need to water the plants.