Lee’s funeral was on Friday. Margaret and I travelled together to the Coromandel Valley Uniting Church and met another Guild member there. We parked in front of this tree with its remarkable ‘birthmark’.
It was a service programmed in advance, in detail, by Lee, with, I think, 8 hymns (1 cut because of time overrun) several readings, prayers, eulogies, a slide show and homily followed by finger food (sandwich filling specified by Lee). I was pleased to be there with friends and to come away with a rounded view of a life, both purposeful and fulfilled. I'm thankful to have known her.
Prior to that, the week was relatively quiet. I spent much of Wednesday finishing off my presentation on Phoebe Anna Traquair for the October WES Group meeting. My memory needed refreshing since my interest derives from a 2015 Crewel Work Company Embroidery Tour. I ticked off a bit off the ‘to do’ list on Thursday, washing, having a prescription made up, picking up hearing aid batteries, Pilates and then a very late lunch at Queen St Cafe - an enormous vegetable frittata.
The Noisy Miner is back, terrorising the doves and strutting briefly around my balcony. Hopefully the lorikeets will arrive before too long and reestablish a less autocratic pecking order.
It's been windy, quickly drying out the plants. A few on the western balcony need repotting, but it's not yet quite the weather to do it.
Instead I went Adairs and bought another plant stand for a large philodendron I bought a few weeks ago. I’ve had it on the balcony but as the weather has warmed it has looked sad so I've brought it inside.
The main purpose of this Saturday excursion was to buy a new stick vaccuum cleaner. The technology has improved significantly since I bought mine in 2015. I had researched and chosen my updated model, which was currently on special. This pushed me into biting the bullet. I had done my research but had not reckoned with the skill of the salesman at The Good Guys, who talked me into a different brand AND the extra 5 year warrantee which I usually steadfastly resist.
My old one, (left) which after much rearranging on my part, fitted neatly into a kitchen cupboard, has a 7 minute working time in between charges. 
The new one, which, with it’s stand of attachments, fits into the cupboard only with a lot of effort, will run for an hour in between charges and is housed in a casing which, on docking, extracts the dust into a disposable bag. I'm looking at alternative arrangements that might make this a bit easier to access. At the moment I'm still a bit scared of it. I managed to charge it and try it out on Sunday after Book Club. It certainly moves smoothly and does a better job than the old on. I'm still smarting from having been convinced by a salesman, but comforted somewhat by checking the new one out on Choice and finding his claims born out and the rating of its previous iteration equal to that of the one I had in mind. The warranty does give me substantial discounts on things I use.
Once I’d taken the plunge on replacing the vacuum, and bought a plant for the Fair Isle rope pot, I continued to a bedding shop and spent quite some time discussing my replacement bed requirements - a job I’ve been avoiding for weeks. To my surprise, I found this far less pressured than the vacuum cleaner experience. The saleswoman took a lot of time to discuss my situation and needs, took my research seriously and suggested only minor modifications to my choices. My big issue was delivery and removal. I chose this company because they will remove the old bed at the same time as delivering the new, and recycle it. Not every bedding company will do all those things - or won't do them at the same time. My worry has been that at least the base of the old bed will need to be carried down three flights of stairs. Other components may go in the lift, but I can't be sure. On Monday I had a call and a quote, with the delivery cost negotiated with the deliverers, who usually change per item, per floor but have compromised. I will go ahead and order.
Book Club was at my place on Sunday. There were only four of us, and parking was no problem. It was, again, an interesting and lively discussion of aspects of the genre as well as the chosen books themselves. I think the format of our meetings is a good one. Discussion of the chosen books is followed by each of us talking about the Crime Fiction we have read since the last meeting. It provides lots of ideas, and also discussion. More books added to the want-to-read list, of course, but also to the books-to-avoid list.
I've managed to borrow one I thought interesting on Libby - which means, of course, I have to move it ahead of others I own on my reading list!
Monday began with a blood test at 8.15am. Amazingly no wait. Home for breakfast, then off to the CBD on the city loop bus to pick up the package of documents from the legal firm they were lodged with 10 years ago. Home again to scan the documents before heading to a meeting with my accountant/solicitor. So much got sorted in just over an hour. My tax return is lodged, my will, Advanced Care Directive and Power of Attorney are with my solicitor and I have both hard and electronic certified copies. Even though no changes were needed to the documents, they are now in the appropriate place and condition. A 10 year check and update was certainly needed. I have a few other documents to add to the deposit.
It was hard to know what to wear for this day of visits. It was sunny but cool when I first left home but quite warm when I finished around 4pm. I settled for bamboo trousers and a brushed cotton top which proved to be the perfect colour for a necklace made by a daughter several years ago. That acted as a talisman (/woman?) throughout the day and saw me through. The shawl I added in the morning was discarded when I shopped for fruit on the way home and bought fresh prawns for my dinner.
Today I found another top that went well with the necklace since the weather is suited to wearing wool against my skin. Today it saw me through hours reviewing my password register, now reduced from over 700 to 350 entries. A printed version is in a sealed envelope to add to the deed deposit. 
Around 3pm two tradies arrived to check out the roof leak. Their inspection, inside and out, hypotheses the problem might be a screw, on a solar panel strut, piercing the roof - but they want to see it in the rain! I'm not hopeful. Steady rain, lasting more than 20 minutes, is rare in Adelaide, and the chances of getting them here in time are not high. However, we make progress, however slow.
These mundane tasks today prevented me making the progress I'd hoped to make on the shawl of left-over Uradale wool. I'm now increasing every row rather than every second in an effort to widen it. I have about another 40 grams to use up and blocking will improve the spread a little. I'm liking the look, and think it will prove useful.
As the sun went down this evening, I felt as if a lot had been, if not put to rest, at least progressed and somewhat tamed.
Tonight I can feel all is well, safely rest.
