Post 575 Vaccination, Viking Hoard and Visitors

I spent a quiet day inside stitching and reading on Wednesday. Around 5pm I had a message to say our lift was out of order. It had not been fixed on Thursday morning, so I allowed myself good time to get down the stairs for Pilates, for once arriving on time! On the way home I stopped at the Jura coffee shop to replenish my supply of beans and filters. As the lift was still not operational I took myself down to A Prayer for the Wild at Heart for a very late lunch. Once again, the trick worked and the lift was fixed as I finished eating, around 3pm. I did not appreciate the comment, as I paid, that they should make sure the lift was out every day!

The lift fix lasted through Friday but Saturday morning saw it out again. I had planned to shop for Monday dinner, before heading to exhibition duty at the Guild, but postponed shopping in the hope the lift would be fixed and I could avoid carrying the results up the stairs. It’s becoming too frequent for comfort. 

I had debated shopping on Friday morning, but couldn’t bring myself to settle for the pork roast I had planned for Monday, given it was forecast to be 30C, and the roast requires the oven to be on for close to 4 hours. I thought I’d wait another 24 hours, and instead decided to stop off in the city on my way to Sit’nStitch,  to investigate a new perfume. I have used Samsara, by Guerlain, since it was launched in 1989. It has finally been discontinued, all online supplies now gone, and I am on my last 1/2” in my last bottle. Unfortunately, my plan was again thwarted by roadworks in the city which made stopping to park unwise. Plan C was to stop at the West Lakes shopping centre, which I did. The obliging women in the David Jones cosmetics section narrowed my choices to 3 and provided me with a sample of narcisco rodriguez for her, due to be launched this weekend. It was certainly the best of the three, so I've been trying it. It seems appropriate to find another perfume at the beginning of its life!

 

I had agreed to be on duty at the Guild exhibition on Saturday afternoon. The lift being out in the morning thwarted my shopping plans again but it was fixed just as I was leaving. There were plenty of helpers at the Guild and JEMS were meeting. I sold 2 books, handed in my raffle tickets, talked to quite a few people and got some stitching done. I got away promptly and dashed to Unley to get what I needed for an easy Monday dinner, getting it upstairs and put away while the lift was working. Phew!

The exhibition is looking good. A surprising amount of framed work. Photos are not allowed, so I can’t provide a taste. 

It's pomegranate time again, and Katherine's tree has a decent crop. Looking good. 

On Sunday I had my 9th Covid vax at my busy local pharmacy; pretty straightforward. I waited about 10 minutes without ill-effect, before moving my car a couple of blocks, near to St John’s Halifax St., when I had booked for a concert an hour later. I walked back up to Hutt St where the two cafes I had planned to check out had just closed their kitchens. 

I settled for a pizza margarita at Ballaboosta- noisy and crowded, but great pizzas. A total break with my carbohydrate limit which I will need to walk off.

I walked the two blocks back to St John’s in time for the concert. 

Entry was slow and the queue long. The one man checking tickets was seated at a table in the entry, without the capacity (or willingness) to scan the QR codes issued as tickets. Instead he had a list, which he couldn't read. We each had to find our name on his list and point it out to him. He was very happy to take cash from anyone without a ticket and to explain and sell programs - slowly.

 

            I really enjoyed the music, especially the Mongolian, Ukrainian and Irish, but left at interval, feeling tired, perhaps the vaccine kicking in.

I finished the fourth Evil Eye kit  and am now working on my birthday sashiko kit. 

The suggestions for this a fairly generic - circles and straight lines, so I marked a few circle outlines and then filled them by eye. I seem to have mislaid the magnetic clip somewhere along the line so in the end ordered a couple to be delivered from Spotlight. I could have made a 15-20k round trip to pick them up but in the end rated my time above the $10 delivery charge.i also realised that I have a full set of sashiko needles in the harp I made with Jenny Aiden Christie back in 2018 . They would probably benefit from use!

Anticipating both the heat and the likelihood I may not feel too brilliant on Monday, I had bought a ready-made  Lasagne for 8 and Chicken with Bacon Pasta Bake for 4 for Monday dinner. In fact I have had very little reaction to the Covid shot: my arm is barely sore but I am tired. I’m also still following instructions for my finger which is still a little sore and red. It’s now 5 weeks since the operation and the therapist said it would take 6-7 weeks to heal with treatment, so I think it’s on schedule. 

Consequently, I  had a relaxing afternoon yesterday. All my effort went into a Greek salad and turning on the oven.  There were only 5 of us for dinner, so  plenty of time to catch up and a bit of food left over, but much less than half. Next Monday is a public holiday. Perhaps in a fortnight it will be cool enough for roast pork. After loading the dishwasher I finished stitching the sashiko tote panel while watching a couple of episodes of Death in Paradise series 13. I’m now in the process of constructing the bag. The replacement clasp is due on Thursday.

Today was a bit of an adventure. I set off on the city loop bus just before 10.00 for the SA Museum, where I was meeting a NSW friend, drawn here by Writers’ Week, for lunch. I went early so I could visit the Viking Treasures exhibition. I’m so pleased I did. 

This is the Galloway Hoard, discovered in 2014, acquired by the National Museums of Scotland in 2017, exhibited in Scotland in 2021-2 and subject of major research 2021-24. The excellent 2021 book on the Hoard by Martin Goldberg and Mary Davis for the National Museums of Scotland has been reproduced by the SA Museum. The story is told clearly and simply with excellent illustrations and acknowledgment of the unknowns and complexities.

Most of the hoard is silver. While most individual pieces correspond to exact weight measures, their beauty and workmanship tell a story beyond greed and commerce.  I was, of course, especially interested in the textiles in which some items, especially this jar and it’s content, had been carefully wrapped,  These are too fragile to travel with the retrieved and cleaned silver, but photos, videos and 3D models tell much of their story. 

This pectoral cross had its chain intact - very rare indeed. It is pretty extraordinary to have this in Adelaide. According to the National Museums of Scotland this is the beginning of a world tour, although there are no other locations mentioned. If it pops up near you, don’t miss it,

I left the exhibition with plenty of time to meet my friend for lunch, so checked out the shop and settled myself in the cafe with a lime milkshake and lemon polenta cake and read the book on the hoard. Bobbi brought her travel companion along with her for lunch and we had a long, leisurely catch up afterwards. The heat outside was a bit of a shock, but I was home around 3.15 and out of it. 

Since then I have read the book on the Hoard and prepared my other birthday kit, a Japanese cross-stitch Nordic Square. I put it in a wooden stretcher frame with drawing pins but only worked the corners. Once that was done the rest of the embroidery can be done in a 12" seated hoop - much preferable. I'm now ready to progress it tomorrow while being Desk Hostess at the Guild. It's been quite a week - again!