Post656 A few things need fixing.

 

It wasn't until Friday that I managed to get back to the pool. Perhaps it was the beginning to the day, waking to the balcony plants throwing shadows on the windows in the slightly golden light, that inspired me to plan my day around a pool visit. It requires both planning and disciple to be prepared to don bathers in the middle of the day, remove hearing aids, and pack all the necessaries for a pool visit. 

I managed to be in the water at 12.30 and out at 1pm. I even took enough clothes to respectably visit the Frewville supermarket afterwards. I usually make do with a cover-all until I get home. Hopefully I've broken the run of avoidance and can get back into a swimming routine.My body certainly needs it. I was tired by the end of the day and unusually asleep by 10.30pm.

After Pilates on Thursday I had lunch at the Queen St Cafe. I haven't been for a while. The Vietnamese  pork belly salad is still fabulous.

The remainder of my days have been spent either reading or advancing projects. The first Beekeeper's Cushion is finished and delivered. I'm now focused on the Bicycle embroidery for my neighbour. 

On Friday I finally had notification that the Japanese silk remnants I had ordered were waiting to be picked up at the PO. I'm still not sure what went wrong. I'd been emailing the retailer for over a week with no reply. She had, in fact, replied several times. These eventually turned up in my spam file, which I had checked. The Australia Post deliverer had left a card, but on the same day as another delivery for which i had a text message, assuming when I picked it up that it was the same parcel. Because both the retailer and the PO persisted, I finally got it. The silk is lovely, and should make 23 bags when I have a bag day.

On Sunday morning as  I watered plants on the back balcony, I disturbed a dove who had been hidden in foliage of the wall garden. It flew off as I watered the top row of plants. I was immediately suspicious - it was the same spot in which a blackbird had built a nest two years ago. Although I had added plants to the spot to discourage nesting, there appeared to be a space at the back of the tub. 

I do not want a nest on my balcony - especially at the moment when there is an infection affecting wild birds. It is not yet in city birds, but is expected. I placed an empty pot over the space to discourage a return. Over the next few hours the dove kept returning, investigating and trying to burrow under the pot. Eventually, around 4pm, when I checked, the dove flew out from under the pot, where it had managed to burrow! I feel very sad about this. I can't get up high enough to look into the space, but clearly there must be eggs. I'm confident there are not yet young birds. I have replaced the empty pot with one filled with soil that will be much harder to dislodge or burrow under. The visits appear to have stopped.

It reminded me that my mother, who was no lover of cats, and chased them out of her garden, was horrified that my maternal grandmother, a tough woman whose children found her hard to love, had drowned the kittens of stray cats found hidden on their plant nursery property (and home) in the 1930s when my grandfather couldn’t do it. I saw this as strength rather than heartlessness. What was the alternative?  Stray cats were destructive to the young plants their livelihood depended on. 

There are many reasons why hatching birds on the balcony is a very bad idea. I feel conflicted and sorry for the dove. I think, however, it was the best thing to do. Maybe I need to put some gravel in the pots at the top of the wall garden.

Today is the birthday of two of my granddaughters. We had a joyful time at dinner last night. I declined an invitation to their dinner tonight. I have failed to keep my 13 hour overnight fast  several nights this week, and my weight is edging up, so I got permission to stay home.  Nevertheless, my day did not turn out as I had anticipated. 

We had been notified of a fire alarm check of the whole apartment block, beginning at 7.30am, so I was up, dressed and ready. The technician works his way through the 27 apartments from one end to another, checking each alarm with a metre on a rod, before checking the sound alarms from the mains board in the basement carpark. As our pod is at the very end of the building, we are either the first or the last to be tested. This time we were last. The tester arrived at 9.50am, 20 minutes before the cleaners. The alarms sounded in sequence just after they arrived. No problem, all in order.

The drama, however, did not end there. For a while the flush on the toilet in my spare bathroom has occasionally failed to switch off. A gentle reflush has done the trick, but I've been aware I need to get it checked. Today it did not turn off when the cleaner  flushed it and he attempted to lift the lid of the cistern to fix it. Unfortunately, the cistern lid is not made to be lifted and dislodged the buttons completely, so the flush does not stop. I now have water running continuously into the cistern, into the bowl and down the drain. I immediately called my plumber who has rearranged work so he can get here at midday tomorrow. He was very helpful. I had tried to turn the stop-cock off, but can't do it. He says this is normal - they seize up due to underuse. So I am wasting water. Fortunately, I have my ensuite. I had a medical appointment at roughly the same time tomorrow which I hope I've cancelled by leaving numerous messages. 

By then it was too late to go swimming, so I went to the pub for a late lunch then sat on the front balcony in the sun. The nasturtiums are beginning to fulfil my hopes of coverage. 

I  managed to advance the cross stitch bicycle for my neigbbour. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow. It is hard on my eyes. It will, I hope, make my neighbour happy. The beekeeper cushion is a success, and I am really looking forward to knitting the next one - much easier on my eyes, and relaxing.

Finally, my TV Internet connection has just failed. Restarting the router, as directed on the screen, has not worked, so I've sent a Help! message to my Geek. Not my best week!