Post 562 Out and About

 It’s been an event-a-day week.

On Wednesday I had a subscription ticket to Jack Maggs at the Dunstan Playhouse. I left myself plenty of time to get there on the City Loop bus. Just as well, as the two anti-clockwise buses were out of kilter, giving me a slightly longer walk. Once again, I met up with a couple of women walking from buses and we laughed our way through the maze of building work and lack of signage. The escalators weren’t working and it was raining. Fortunately, this time the Festival Centre Galllery was open and we could use their stairs inside the building.

It’s ironic that 11am performances, surely originally targeting school groups, are now given over to the elderly. We wait patiently, on every available seat  in the foyer, for the doors to open. Some of us had coffee. The only food available is packets of chips. No one seemed to go for the canned drinks.

When we were given entry, the actors were on stage, warming up with elaborate stretching. The staging and setting were excellent, as was the acting, although it felt as if lines were being shouted. There were times when I found the surtitles useful for words I had trouble distinguishing.

I appreciate the questions being raised, about transportation, criminality, Dickens and humanity. It has the touch of opera, an exaggerated theatricality that, I admit, bores me a little. I just want to know what happens.

I’m very glad I went, but I left at interval, 90 minutes in, with 45 minutes to go, and made my way home to think about it. I could see how I'd teach it.  I seem to be making a habit of leaving at interval. Maybe I'm valuing my time differently. On the other hand I did walk out of Bambi  when I was 4....

The postman had delivered the RSN’s 200 Essential Embroidery Stitches (I let him into the apartment foyer from my phone 10 minutes before the performance) for the Guild library. It’s a great publication, the instructions and diagrams every bit as clear as the Stitchbank from which it is taken.

On Thursday I had lunch with the son of a Sydney friend, here project-managing a contract. We had a pleasant lunch at Louca’s, chowder for him and Tommy Ruffs for me. On my walk I home I paused to photograph the Norfolk Island Hibiscus in full bloom in the Square. It’s huge, and I’ve never seen in full bloom before. As I was photographing it my neighbour came by and we walked the rest of the way together. Theo has lived here longer than I have, and is far more observant. He also hadn’t seen the hibiscus bloom before, nor had he seen the flame tree bloom until this year. Very curious.

On Friday, instead of sitting and stitching, Susan and I visited the Radical Textiles Exhibition at the Art Gallery. It’s as good as the reviews suggest. A real stunner. We spent a good hour looking at it before retiring to lunch. My sciatica had well and truly kicked in by then, even though I sat down a few times while looking at the exhibits. I’m very pleased I had not gone to the opening. I reckon, however, I will visit again, maybe more than once, before it finishes next year.                                                                          

I bought the catalogue to fill in some of the detail. It is a beautiful production, with a cloth cover, printing that cleverly wraps around the bottom edge and up the back cover, concluding with a textured eye (from an exhibit) on the back.    

      

It is possible to get very close to the exhibits and we had many questions about techniques, especially in relation to some of the woven works. A lot are answered in the catalogue. I didn’t take photos. If you live in Adelaide don’t miss it!                                                                                                                    Saturday was the last monthly market of the year at St Margaret’s Woodville so I headed off, eventually found parking and bought five plants, which of course, had to be planted. Yet another snake plant found its way into a vacant pot. The others were smaller, including a very attractive, potbound succulent, and more ground covers for the wall garden and tumbling pot.  

A Christmas parcel seems to have arrived in our Square, presumably courtesy of the City Council. Although there's a seat inside, I doubt anyone will be sleeping in the park while it’s there!         

                                

Our Strata had a lunch gathering in the Square on Sunday. Our instructions from our Pod Rep, who couldn't attend herself, were to meet outside our entrance door at 11.00 am, with folding chair, finger food and drink but no breakable drinking vessels.  We haven't done this before. I only know people in the six apartments in my own pod.  3 of these were apologies  After some thought I decided to go for the first hour, and take party pies, pasties and sausage rolls to share along with a coffee for myself.     

I was organised, with my folding chair, food heated and on a paper plate and coffee in a take-away cup, at the door by 11.10am. There was no-one in sight, neither at my pod nor the other three pods. I waited until 11.25 and gave up.                                                     

Back in my apartment I hung out the washing, drank my coffee, ate a couple of party pies, and checked email, When I looked over my balcony around 11.50am, there was still no activity. 

When I checked again at 12.30 rhere was a gathering. I don't yet know if we were given the wrong time, or whether everyone just came late. I could not see anyone from our pod in the group and decided against wandering down on my own, with or without reheated pies and pasties. I can't stand on my feet for more than 10 minutes anyway, without sciatica kicking in. I had begun lacing the Very, Very Berry embroidery, a process better not interrupted.  

When that was finished, I began writing my Christmas cards, finishing the overseas ones in time to attend Evensong at the Cathedral, an Advent Procession and Carols service supported by the Cathedral Music Foundation. Katherine was processing and reading the eighth lesson.

I manage Anglican sitting and standing better than standing at either exhibition or neighbourly socialising. I liked some of the carols, most of the hymns, the readings, the ritual of lighting the candles and the community of clergy, choir and laity. It hung together as a service telling a story, if a little elaborately.

As there is no current plan for David Mitchell's Ludwig series to be shown in Australia, I bought the only option, a Blu Ray version, unthinkingly assuming it would work in my DVD player. Of course, when I attempted to play it on Friday night, it didn't work. It's a while since I played a DVD, so I wasn't sure whether the problem was the disc or the player. It took me a while to find my small collection of DVDs but when I did, I  grabbed the Chieftains' Down at the Old Plank Road  to test. It worked fine. So no, my DVD player won't play Blue Ray discs. Another challenge. In the meantime, I enjoyed stitching to an hour or so of the Chieftains. 

Yesterday. I bought a BluRay player - a cheaper option than having the disc converted to USB. Having assiduously deleted all the ‘Black Friday’ rubbish that has invaded my email for weeks, I did unwittingly benefit from buying this week. 

I haven’t as yet set it up.🤞🏼

Most of my Christmas cards are now sent or ready to send

The tea box is finished and now in its permanent home. Details, of course, in my embroidery blog.

Now back to knitting.