Post 552 "The road goes ever on and on...

Although a couple of key members stayed away with colds (thank you!) from WES Group on Wednesday, 14 of us had a fine time hearing Barbara talk about the embroideries of four villages in Gujarat, which she visited several times, and examining a selection of the treasures she brought back.  

We also discussed at some length what we might do to record some of our memories of Lee to ensure her legacy is not lost. No decision as yet, but some possibilities to be further explored. It certainly helps to talk about it. Her funeral is on 27 September.

Nesting season is upon us. There are articles about avoiding being dive-bombed by Magpies (basically stay away from them for the next 4 weeks or learn to speak Magpie) but my balcony is host to less aggressively protective species.

The doves are puffing up to keep warm or feasting on the kalanchoe and a Rosella found a spot of sun above my balcony for a brief rest.

 

On Thursday  after Pilates I grabbed some lunch at Queen St Cafe before helping a friend with an insurance claim and staying for dinner. It was a good day - with more food than usual and great company.

On Friday I finally bit the bullet and got my tax information together. By cob I could email my accountant to request an appointment  (still no reply!) It's not an onerous task, just time-consuming and tedious. As I was on a roll, I spent Saturday sorting the wooden tray of receipts and to-be-filed documents. 

Before heading to family for dinner, I took a break to progress the Shetland beanie, only to discover I had skipped a section of the pattern, so undid the whole 5 rows I had achieved!   

Spring is very evident in Katherine's garden.

Sunday being a new day, I was  a woman on a mission,  summoning energy to don mask and gloves, open doors and pour chemical cleaner down my bathroom hand basin drain, following the instructions carefully, before heading out to the Jam Factory just after it opened. The basin has been draining slowly for a while but it was only after listening to the plumber working at the Guild a couple of weeks ago that I realised what I needed to do. As I had neglected this for years, I needed to leave the solution in the pipe for several hours before clearing with hot water, so figured I was best right out of the way.

At the Jam Factory I was in time to nab one of their four on-site parks,  find the gifts I was after, and visit the current Julie Blyfield exhibition, some of which I really liked, especially her pieces based around corals, a stunning combination of stitching and metal. It's the last week of the exhibition.

Back home I filed the results of Saturday’s sorting, prepared a package to be taken to the shredder, boiled rice to dry out for Monday’s dinner, had a long phone catchup with a Canberra friend, finished the drain process and knitted some correct pattern rows on the beanie. Amongst the discoveries in the filing are the beginnings of an inventory of my paintings, furniture and notes for a book I promised to help my brother with. At least they are now in a safe and accessible place (oh no, not that safe place again!).     

The small dot towards the top right hand corner of the sunset photo (above), taken at 6.50pm on Sunday, is, I'm fairly sure, Venus, the Evening Star, which, of course, put me in mind of Lord Tennyson. An appropriate sign at the end of the last couple of weeks. 

Meanwhile, today’s lunar eclipse occurred during the day here, so wasn't visible. The moon was particularly clear last night (right), while tonight (below) is the  glowing beginning of a super moon.

 

I’m curious to see what the Harvest Moon (northern hemisphere language: should probably be a Planting Moon!) on Sunday - the girls’ birthday.

Today I waited for postal deliveries before visiting friends. One was a Bothy Threads kit for - dare I say it - another cushion cover.  This one is of Bluebirds, for which I have a weakness. I sang Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover and Bluebird of Happiness all the way to my friends' place.

The second package,  Christmas decos, by First Nations artists again frustrated me. The two small boxes would safely travel in an envelope to go through a letterbox, but came in a box big enough for dozen such boxes requiring me to be home. Sigh.

I like the native animal ones best.

 My day concluded with a phone call with a Sydney friend, catching some images of the moon, posting some photos of my father, who would have been 105 today. and getting the Shetland beanie back to the decrease row that I thought I had reached on Saturday. The photo doesn't capture the subtlety of the five colours!                                         The road goes ever on and on...