As I’ve been writing this all week, I have been following the progress of Cyclone Albert as it approached and made landfall on the north east coast of Queensland and NSW. We are relieved, and grateful that our numerous family and friends in the area are all safe, though some will be dealing with flooding and cleaning up for some time to come. 🙏🏼 In comparison, Adelaide news is insignificant.
I wasn’t really needed as Desk Hostess at the Guild on Wednesday but was glad I’d gone. The library team were there and we caught up on a few books. There was a steady dribble of exhibition visitors, good sales of fiction books and trading table activity. It was good to be around the action and I got the central motif of the Japanese Nordic cross stitch done. As I was largely redundant, I left around 2pm and went to West Lakes to buy the perfume from the department store that had given me the sample. I left with a 100ml bottle and 2 samples of other perfumes. The women who had originally served me were not there, but I left messages of thanks.
The sunset was a distraction, but by the time I went to bed the basic Nordic design was clear. I was oddly buoyed by the sense of community at the Guild.
The replacement magnetic clips for the sashiko bag also arrived, carefully wrapped in a complete pattern for a child's dress! Clearly Spotlight are clearing out their patterns and using them as packing. I applaud their recycling effort, especially the use of the complete pattern. It could certainly be used to make a simple child's dress. Will I ever need that? Possibly. I will enquire about use at the Guild.
It’s still hot in Adelaide, well over 30C all week. Watering my balcony plants is a daily must. The Festival is now in full swing, along with the Fringe, Womadelaide and, last weekend, the Motorsport Festival, at Victoria Park, a couple of blocks behind me. It provided a background soundtrack from 8.30am to around 4pm. On Friday I missed most of it by taking the City Loop bus to the Art Gallery to meet a couple more friends over from Sydney for Writers Week, which finished on Thursday.
Oddly, the car noise wasn’t evident travelling along Hutt St, between the apartment and the race. Maybe there was a pause. Street trees and surrounding parkland provide shade and a sense of tranquillity, one of the advantages of Adelaide as a Festival City.
My friends were visiting the Radical Textiles Exhibition which I've already visited twice. I spent a while in the main gallery, where preparations are already underway for the Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890-1940 Exhibition in May. It’s going to be interesting.
I was also taken by this bark canoe filled with painted snail shells. The main business, however was a long lunch with friends I see at most years at this time when they come for Writers Week, although from 2017-2020 I was visiting the UK at this time of the year for Embroidery Retreats (the origin of this blog!) and 2021-3 were interrupted by Covid. This year the city seems in full recovery. After lunch we drove to catch the Guild Exhibition. Another grand day.
The heat persists. Yesterday reached 40C. Thankfully it's down to 30C today. Most of Saturday and Monday was spent inside ,allowing me to finish stitching the Nordic Cross Stitch project. I'm in the process of working out how to construct it.
A couple of small dramas interrupted my stitching calm. Firstly, I had to cancel tomorrow's WES Group meeting. I had not adequately recorded it on the exhibition roster. I had checked the arrangement with the President, but not with the exhibition organiser, and a group is travelling from the country to staff the exhibition on that day. It's my stuff-up. I didn't communicate clearly.
The other drama reached me around 3pm yesterday via a phone call from our Strata Pod Rep. She had just interrupted our carpark burglar of a month ago breaking into my carpark locker again. She came through the door from our foyer into the carpark to see the man, recognisable from the original break-in CCTV footage, at my locker, cutting the padlock with bolt cutters. She screamed, trying to attract attention. He waved his hands, as if to say 'I mean no harm' and ran through the carpark and away. There was no one around to hear her. He had cut through the new padlock on my storage cage, but got no further. Although he had stolen a carpark entry fob in January, he gained entry yesterday by following a car through the door. Nevertheless, our fobs are being reprogrammed on Thursday. It is a bit creepy that he came back to 2 lockers, one of which was mine, I presume for the boxes I carelessly marked 'Personal Treasures' and 'Treasures from Asia'.
I’m glad I did. They were, as usual, fabulous. We spoke by phone, I sent them photos and then visited them after the cleaners had gone. After much discussion, we settled on a heavy chain and lock that can only be cut by a grinder. The links fit so snuggly in the lock shaft that it can't be cut.
The chain comes in metre lengths, so he cut it in half for me and I bought 2 locks. The storage cage is now secured towards the bottom and above the bolt lock. I will probably also put a simple lock back on the bolt.
Overkill? Probably. It certainly makes me feel good. I have my don’t mess with me dander up. A couple of pod reps came by as I finished installing it amd were impressed. We laughed a lot - a great sign.
This afternoon I've had to change a couple of medical appointments due to doctors moving practice. I have had such help and cooperation from receptionists along the way. It makes such a difference to my day. 🙏
While I'd prefer it to be cooler, this weather certainly produces some great sunsets. This is tonight's.
