Post652 Quite a lot gets sorted.

On Wednesday my hair was cut and my tax was sorted, both efficiently. I had been offered an appointment to bring my BCC removal forward to this morning but declined because I wanted my hair cut for the talk on Sunday (and didn’t fancy giving it with a plaster on my cheek). The excision isn’t urgent. 

Better still was having the tax completed. Linda, who prepared it for me, was terrific. Until Jim and I opened a consultancy business in the mid 1990s, I had always done my own tax. There are now some aspects with which I struggle, and it stresses me. Linda has alleviated that. 

It’s been a little warmer, with some rain. The birds can clearly feel Spring in the air. I’ve had lots of visits. The doves are also proclaiming something.i can’t help assigning words to the cadence. Did you see it? or It's a good one!  or I think I will. They are also attracted to seed sprouting in the pots.

The honey eaters on the other hand, are primarily after nectar.

After Pilates on Thursday I worked solidly to finish the Balvraid Hap and block it overnight.  It took all day Friday to dry. It is now on its way to the new owner who should have it tomorrow

Just before I went to bed on Friday I quite suddenly developed a sore spot on my left eye, seemingly in the middle of my eyeball. When it was still there in the morning I checked my optometrist's website and found he had a vacancy at 11.30, so booked it. It turned out to be a stye. Following instructions, I treated it for the next 36 hours with heat pads and lubrication. By Sunday afternoon it had almost gone.

That was a good thing, as obliging family members picked me up at 6.30pm to deliver me to the Amora Hotel to give my talk on The Emergence of English Embroidery in the Early Medieval Period to the visiting Needlework Tours group. I had poured well over 100 hours into preparation and thought I had a decent storyline, but the group was entirely unknown to me and the organisational arrangements had been less than clearly conveyed to me. 

When I arrived at 6.45 only the organiser was present, rearranging chairs in the venue - the Ballroom! He told me the audio was not working, asking Is that a problem?  I replied that I could probably summon my school principal voice. 

The tour participants had been released into the city to get their own evening meal and it was uncertain how many would return. By 7.05 pm 50-60 of a possible 102 had turned up and made a very enthusiastic audience.  Around 7.10pm a latecomer put up her hand and asked if I could turn my microphone down! The audience laughed heartily, several around her calling out the audio failure. The poor woman took herself to the makeshift bar at the back of the auditorium and came back with a drink!

The talk went very well. Those assembled clearly belong to the WES tribe!  Around 15-20 stayed back to tell me how much they enjoyed it. One asked for the sequel! Another told me she too was a retired school principal and you never lose the voice! A couple came to assure me you couldn't be an embroiderer without being interested in its history!I was awake and buzzing for hours. 

I'd have been much less happy had I not had the generous transport from family. 

Standing for over an hour on stage to deliver played havoc with my hips and sciatica, and I doubt I'd have been able to walk the distance to a carpark to drive myself home. Hot packs helped, but it still hasn't fully subsided.

Today Panayoula and I caught up for the first time in several months. I was invited to her home to view the recent renovations. A lovely couple of hours and the next catch-up is booked in. She has asked me to make use of the remnants of her mother's crochet work.  They are lovely, and I'm thinking about what I could do that is worthy of them.

Meanwhile, the rain is back and I've started embroidering the Quaker Kingfisher as a break from knitting. It's a while since I've done thread painting but I'm getting back into the rhythm,