Post 654 A lot going on

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Umbrella in hand, I managed to get myself to the ASO concert on Wednesday morning, meeting neighbours, who also happened to be going, at the bus stop. We were in plenty of time and parted company to go to our respective seats. My usual seat is in the front row but this time was half way back, on the midway aisle which is also an exit row. I enjoyed the wider, holistic view. 

The conductor was Nicholas Braithwaite and the highlight of the performance was the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor Op.23, with soloist Tienyou Ma. It was superbe. The sound was excellent and my seat was certainly good for exiting at the end! ! I was home for lunch.

Thursday began well with notice from the Festival Centre Foundation that Jim's plaque had been corrected and was ready to be installed.  While the grammatical error had been corrected, unfortunately the plaque now read " Donated by" instead of "Dedicated to". It has gone back again to be redone.

On to Pilates where the light plaster cover I still have on the two biopsy sites on my cheek  presented no impediment. My knee didn’t take well to the first 10 minutes spent exercising on the vibrating platform so the program was modified to accommodate. It seemed to work as my knees improved considerably.  

Friday was a regular lunch with friends, this time at Jolley’s Boathouse Restaurant on the riverbank. I hadn’t been there since it underwent some renovation with new management and I was keen to visit . I arrived early because parking is uncertain and the city loop bus currently doesn’t stop anywhere nearby. I needn’t have stressed . Parking was easy. The food was really good. The only negative was the noise level - better once we convinced them to turn the sound system right down. When the weather warms up they will open the doors on to the riverbank and conversation noise from the inevitable birthday groups will dissipate. We managed, nevertheless to have a really good catchup.

The rain has continued on and off.  While it has delayed me washing clothes, the back balcony has benefitted. The large Flapjacks Kalanchoe has suddenly shot up a stem and is about to flower. The wall garden is also filling out nicely.

There was a lot happening on Saturday.  In the morning there was a Thanksgiving Eucharist at the Cathedral for the ministry of Chris MacLeod as . National Aboriginal Bishop over more than a decade. Chris’s part time ministry in addition to his role as Dean of the Cathedral, is being replaced by two full time positions, one National Aboriginal Bishop and one National Torres Strait Island Bishop - a testimony to the hard work Chris has done.

 

During the ceremony Chris was presented with a carved walking stick and the cathedral was presented with the Stolen Generation Cope, a gift from the Archbishop of Canterbury (photo from Susie McLeod's  Facebook page). It is handpainted on silk.   

 

In the afternoon I attended a concert at the Cathedral while family members were at a bridal shower for a cousin/niece. The combined choirs of Queen's College Melbourne and St Peter's Cathedral sang responses to each of Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ played by a String Quartet. 

It was an interesting concept which did, for me at least, elevate the Haydn piece.  The highlight for me was the Faure In Paradesum  sung against the Quartet's rendering of Today you will be with me in Paradise.

Once again the concert coincided with a football match at the Oval, making parking a stressor. I was fortunate to find a single parking space outside and to get away well before closures around the Cathedral.                                         Brigid and I both made it to dinner that night and it was fabulous to see her. She has finished and cast-off her first complete blanket square - another milestone amidst the demands on her time from Uni, work and the end of the netball season. 

On Sunday I turned the Gardener embroidery into a pouch before helping with a neighbour's lost keys and shopping for Monday's dinner.  The pouch has already found a home. The three  kits I bought over the last 6 years are now finished! To give myself a break I have briefly returned to a knitting project - from a hexipuff quilt  pattern, that I bought and  started, I think, in 2019. 

You knit little pockets in the round on 3 dpns, stuff them and join  them up. I had made six before putting it aside. I've now added 8 more. It's great for using up odd bits of wool. I have no intention of making a quilt. but have identified a use for a cushion. While I don't yet have the measurements of the seat, I suspect I'm about half way there.

We had a full 7 for dinner last night - a great time even though my attempt to recreate the icecream cakes I used to make for children's birthdays by tipping 2 litre of icecream from its container on to a plate and pouring melted chocolate over it was not as neat, tidy and easy as it used to be. It did, however, get eaten. 

This morning was a bit of a rush to get ready for cleaners, followed by a long phone catch up with my brother who is just back from 6 weeks in, mostly, Britain, before getting to the surgery to have my facial stitches removed. That bit went well but unfortunately the pathology results on the biopsies were not back. The surgeon will ring me when he has the results, so patience is called for. 🤞. 

Tomorrow is WES group. We have a few fine days forecast so I have a load of washing ready to hang out before I go. 

Around 3.30pm this afternoon the painters contracted to paint our shared areas arrived on our floor, laying and taping plastic ready for an early start on our foyer tomorrow. It will probably be good to be away.

One foot up and one foot down....