On Wednesday I went on a gallery crawl with a friend visiting from Sydney for Writers' Week, a chance to reconnect, catch up on a few years, and share our interest in beautiful things. We began at Art Images Gallery at Norwood where, along with their current Leunig exhibition, I discovered a few Jane Burbidge plates.
I bought a bowl from her Lotus collection and a plate from her Seafoam collection. The bowl matches the mugs I already have and makes a useful addition to my breakfast crockery, while the plate will serve a tart or pie. From there we headed up to Crafers and Atelier, for very early afternoon tea and more browsing.
Our last stop was the longest, at Aptos Cruz Gallery in Stirling. There is so much to look at there and I haven’t been for a while. There are always treasures.
I bought a portable LED light which sits at three angles and recharges via usb. I have numerous lamps, but no power near my stitching chairs. This can be positioned beside me to focus on my hoop. It is also elegant. 
To my surprise and joy, they had a new supply of the champagne flutes I had bought as oddments several years ago. Only one remains of the 3 I bought. I now have 5.They currently have a very large stock of Japanese crockery.
My final purchase was a single dinner plate. I now have 3 to use when, as usual, I dine alone - and before I need to run the dishwasher.
Sadly the deconsecrated church building, in which Aptos Cruz is housed, is up for sale. The owners are retiring. It has been a very special place from which I have had a lot of pleasure.
On our return we met up with another friend for dinner at A Prayer for the Wild at Heart - a truly fabulous day.
Friday required a visit to an Endodontist in the cbd. He was detailed and thorough in his assessment. I have a weakness in a crown. Replacement is risky. Options are do nothing or an(other) implant. I see my referring dentist next month, so will talk it over with her. I have huge respect for this set of dentists and their evidence-based approach. So professional. I caught the city loop bus both ways, getting home as the temperature hit 37C and made myself a ham salad in my new plate.
I had the aircon on for 3 days, something I haven't done for a couple of years. It will cost me - but less than going away for the weekend.
The plants are coping, with daily watering. Some, like the Durante, have bloomed again. A few need replacing once the heat has retreated.
I met my neighbour while heading out for petrol. Theo is recovering well with help from a visiting physio. I've stayed out of their way but Di says he'd like a visit, so I'll see what I can do when it's a little cooler.
I finished the cockatoo bag embroidery on Sunday night and on Monday found lining fabric and blocked the bag. I’ve really enjoyed this one, in spite of stuffing up the punch needle. Detail is in my embroidery blog. What I didn't mention there is that in the construction I made good use of the elegant pincushion Niamh made for my birthday this year.
I found some glass pins that match her French knots and it provided exactly what I needed to create the gussets.
While at the machine I affected another repair to my friend’s orange leisure pants. Voila!
Our current heat is producing lots of cloud. Today, after a cloudy sunrise, and slow start, I ventured out to Aquafit. I nearly didn't go. Although it's a little cooler (37C rather than 39C!) I was temped to bunker down, but I'm glad I went. It was lovely in the water, the exercises mild and flowing.
In spite of the heat, I've been working on the Kaffe Fassett Aztec cardigan. Getting the many colours right is going to be a challenge once the labels are removed from the balls, so I've set up a colour card to help me. There's still warm weather to come, so I might alternate with Sashiko.
