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It was a pleasure on Wednesday to take advantage of slightly lower temperature and go to Frewville to get more salad supplies. I was totally out of everything except a slice of capsicum. From the activity in the aisles I wasn’t alone in that. Again, I added a few prawns and another box of iceblocks for good measure, correctly anticipating a few more days of above 40C coming up. As I was buying the fresh prawns in the deli section I noticed they had some Wakame seaweed salad, so I got a small serve to try. Turns out it is delicious. Wish I’d bought more.
There was a bit of a pleasant breeze through the apartment until mid-afternoon, when the temperature passed 30C. I closed the doors and put the aircon on until the sun set around 8.30pm when it was once again cool enough to open up. I’m glad I made the most of that small window.
I indulged in some afternoon screen time, watching the movie Kangaroo Island on Netflix. I’m not quite sure what I made of it. It took a roundabout, if at times predictable, route to its central message about family, connection, place, continuity and change. There are a couple of strands I didn’t understand - but I’m not going back to unravel. I also read - or at least skimmed - Jane Harper’s Last One Out which seemed to suffer from a similar problem.
Although it breached my only-two-serves-of-fruit-a-day rule I added mango to my salad. It goes really well with prawns and was delicious. The mango was huge, and served me for three days.
Thursday and Friday passed inside, avoiding the heat, 39 and 42C respectively. I read a second BookClub choice, The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell, which I really enjoyed.
Thursday’s sunset was pointy and the Cathedral lights have competition.
I’m very pleased that so far the frangipani I bought a couple of weeks ago has continued to bloom. Watering is now a daily task.
On Saturday morning, before breakfast, I did some gardening. The forecast was only 32C and the first market of the year was on at St Margaret’s Woodville. I got a couple of large biodegradable garbage bags and emptied pots of dead plants. Unfortunately this included both the Lemon Fir I had bought as a Christmas tree and the Bay tree I had bought hopefully a couple of weeks ago. I now have a lifetime supply of bay leaves.
I took a bag of empty pots to John, the plant seller at St Margaret’s and bought a bag full of plants, including a peppermint geranium, which I’ve been looking for for several years. One of the parish’s locum priests had grown it, unbeknown to John. I’m delighted and have settled it in a water well pot with high hopes. It has some promising new growth at the centre.🤞
The rest were geraniums, sword ferns and a syngonium, plants with which I've been successful.
Now that the temperature is back in the 30s, the bats are back to feed on the Moreton Bay figs in the Square each evening. More than 500 of the Adelaide colony died in last week’s 40+ heat, so I was relieved to see at least a couple of dozen returning on Sunday evening.
As I was going to bed late last night I caught a glimpse of the rising moon - 99.3% gibbous. The photo isn’t perfect, but I like the colours and composition.
A few books caught my attention this week - none of them new. I’ve order 3 from various sources, The Life St Brigid of Kildare by Cogitosus, A Divine Calling: One Woman's Life-Long Battle for Equality in the Catholic Church and a book written some 15 years ago by an old university friend, God, the Best, and Evil. I guess there’s a theme. The ordination of the Archbishop of Canterbury revives memories of old battles.
I stuck with fried rice, with lemon and honey poultry (duck and chicken) last night. Although we were in a 28C heat break, I'm still not prepared to have the oven on for 3 hours.
It looks as if the Uni timetables will support us continuing our Monday dinners, so there will be chances for roast pork when the weather cools in a month of so.
I've managed to finish outlining all sections of the main drawstring bag pattern. I only have the red border line to go before I take it out of the hoop and work the drawstring casing. I do love the effect, although the black backstitch outlining has been time-consuming.
Panayoula and I spent a couple of hours catching up over coffee this morning. Sustaining.
The temperature is hovering in the low 30s this coming week, not high enough to bunker down, but too high for much outdoor activity during the day, so I should get the bag finished, if nothing else.
I'm also exploring options to return to swimming.
