Post 612 Projects Galore.

It's jacaranda time again in Adelaide. The best views are driving along streets lined with purple trees, but I can't photograph while driving, and stopping is not usually possible. This is the tree visible from my back balcony. It's slightly to the left of me, behind Di and Theo's apartment.

The native frangipani directly behind me is still attracting a pair of rosellas.  I certainly have a lot  of photos!

Wednesday was another World Embroidery winner. Pat Grummet brought along a wealth of records and photos of an installation, Monday Blues that she and  Richard Brecknock performed as part of the Fibreworks Collective  in Gawler Place Adelaide, and again in Wellington, NZ, in the early 1980s, as an example of textiles as storytelling. They began by installing a clothes line on a vacant city lot, to which they pegged 7 white and 4 blue items - knickers and nappies. Over 10 days they constructed tents, dyed underwear, nappies and cloth (largely sourced from charity shops), adding both tents and clothes each week to show the growth of the family and the work involved.  They printed a leaflet explaining the project to hand out to the public. Pat did all the dyeing, on site. I remember the vacant block. I worked next to it in 1985 and 1986, but missed the installation. I borrowed the photo of the last days of the NZ installation from Pat's presentation. WES Group also provided me with advice on my female bishops bag -  and we have a draft program for next year.  

I

As a result of the bag advice, I went to Spotlight after Pilates on Thursday and bought some plain purple quilting cotton and iron-on wadding, both for lining the bag. On a whim I continued to Grange Jetty for a late lunch. I haven't been for a few years, as it stopped taking bookings and is often crowded.  At 2.45pm on Thursday it was fine and the fritto misto was just what I wanted.

I worked solidly on the bishops bag on Friday and Saturday, finishing it. It has been a bit of a passionate experimental project, and I'm not quite finished with it yet, having ordered a photo-based spin-off print bag, that I may take further. Detail in my embroidery blog.

On Sunday I worked for a bit on Christmas cards before visiting my local Chemist to sort out a couple of prescriptions and buy a new set of simple bathroom scales. The old scales with which I have been persevering no longer give a consistent reading from second to second. It's a bit scary to start again. I had to wait until Monday morning at my usual weigh-in time to see the damage. It looks as if I am about half a kilo over what I've been guesstimating from the old scales - not too bad!

On Sunday afternoon the cold returned and rain set in. I had the heating on again. I returned to my knitting. I'm making progress on the left side of the cardigan. Looks like I was right to order the extra yarn.

Project Christmas Cards got a bit of a boost on Monday. Each year this becomes an exercise of mixed emotions. As well as the list getting shorter, there are checks on those I haven’t heard from, and dread at what I might learn. There are also warm memories. 

I calculated the stamps required and headed to the PO to buy them, as well as posting a parcel.

Back at home I extended the Christmas connection exercise by working through my gmail address book, which I have never culled. I found no new names to add to the card list, but I reduced the number of entries from around 1200 to 530. The vast majority were the contacts of the last 12 years of my paid work with a few old personal business and trades contacts. Most were also entered twice, automatically indexed by both first and second names. Again, it was a sobering exercise. So many people  I was once in regular contact with, and have lost track of, even forgotten. Jobs and organisations that no longer exist. A world that has gone.

Meanwhile, the Kangaroo Paw is blooming on the front balcony.

As Monday dinners at my place are currently off I've had projects spread everywhere. As a number have reached completion I had a bit of a tidy-up. That pile of hoops and frames on the spare bed is now packed. into bags or units and stowed away, left over threads distributed with others of their kind and cards in piles. 

I had also neglected my Book Club picks in my project frenzy, and we meet next Sunday, so I’ve got 2 books to read this week. I was already reading Daffodils and Deadly Deeds, so finished it yesterday and read Garry Disher's Mischance Creek  today, for Book Club. I'll try to get on to the other, Melaleuca, tomorrow. I am ignoring the piles waiting for my exploration of Anglo-Saxon Embroidery, and Women in the British Secret Service! 

The cushion backs arrived today and were all I hoped for: quality linen and easy to apply. The time taken to add the border paid off. The size is good. I had a spare plump filler, and the cushion now provides company for the Elsa Williams crewel bluebird I completed in 2014

Once the cushion was in place I took myself down to my Podiatrist to deliver her the last of my Voices of Women bags, following our recent conversation about life choices. When I got there, the place was closed. Curious, until I realised it was lunchtime. 

The Greek restaurant is a few doors away, so I treated myself to their lunch special - crisp barramundi on a fabulous salad of heritage tomatoes, capsicum and olives., after which the podiatry clinic was open and I delivered the bag.

Now that the Annual Christmas Pageant has brought Santa to Adelaide our Christmas box is back in the Square.

At the eastern end of the apartment, the silhouette of a rosella echoes the shape of the bluebirds.