Post 335 Chair and Birds

 

I began the morning reading Catherine Aird's The Late Phoenix, the fourth in her Inspector Sloan series set in the fictional village of Berebury, West Calleshire, England around the end of the 60s or early 70s.                                                                                                                                                                                            This is the first I have read and so far it's promising.                                                                                                                        Eventually I dragged my self away from the book to have a go at adding the Phoenix and Lady Ann's Flowers to my chair before going to Pilates.

The chair is here tipped on its side so I could pin the pieces on.

I got the cover off fairly easily. The tricky bit is manoeuvring the awkwardly shaped cover around under the sewing machine and keeping the panels quite flat. I did need to undo a few centimetres at the end to adjust, but it went as smoothly as I could have hoped.

More surprisingly,  I got it back on the chair without much difficulty.  

The remaining space is for the Aesop Frame.

From the sewing machine, I could see black tips reproaching me for the absence of seed. He flew off, but I hastened out to water the plants, fill the water bowl and put out seed, before rushing off to Pilates.

Martine was ill today. Even well established routines are usually a bit more demanding with a new instructor and it was so today - a good thing.

I went on from Pilates to Unley Village, posted a parcel, got my moisturiser, pasta and meat.

The first floor was being poured on the building site next door - a big job. The floor covers the whole site, so the pourer crane and the cement mixers were going constantly. I didn't find the noise (which emanates from the engines at ground level working the crane and mixer) too bad at the back of the apartment, where I was working. One floor down, seven to go.

The philodendron given to me for Christmas has developed new leaves. Outside, on the Western balcony  a few plants were drooping in the 31C heat and needed water. 

I phoned the periodontist rooms today and asked them to put me on the waiting list for any 50 minute cancellations in 13 days until my appointment. The ache in my tooth is intermittent and bearable but it seems sensible to accelerate the extraction if possible. The receptionist was helpful. 

I am now working on my Nicola blue wren.  So far I've used Madeira silk and Madeira metallic threads, a little Cascade House silk and some DMC Etoile.

There's a way to go. Tomorrow is Sit'n Stitch. Maybe I'll take this along. I want to finish this one before I start Aesop.

Post 334 Lady Ann’s garden grows

 

I thought I would take the plunge this morning and attach the Phoenix and Lady Ann's Garden panels to the chair. I pinned them on to the chair and realised that it would be better if the edges of the two panels aligned.   

I sketched in an extension of the pattern, making sure the additions would cover the border line on the linen.

Over the course of the day, with the help of a 3" hoop, I stitched the areas I had sketched in.  It took four moves of the hoop.

I had to make do with the colours I had. At one stage I thought of going to Create in Stitch to get a couple of colours I had used up, but the lift maintenance crew had arrived to replace the rollers, and the lift was out of use, so I gave up that idea.

Unfortunately, I couldn't put the finished piece on the chair without re-blocking.  So at the moment it is once again drying on the blocking board.

The addition is a little sparse but I didn't want to add more than necessary. I'm pretty sure it will now fit the space more comfortably.

I had a catch-up call with my brother and brought the guest beds sheets in from the washing line before the sun went down with splendour. 

I did try to capture the flights of birds returning to roost - but they were too swift for me.

I hadn't counted on spending so much time today on the crewel work, so worked this evening on three more pink crochet circles. I now have 5 finished - half the target.

Pilates tomorrow, but there might be time to stitch the two panels on to the chair. The tooth I am booked to have extracted in 2 weeks' time is beginning to ache a little. I'm hoping it lasts two more weeks. 

Fingers crossed.

Post 305 Mostly birds and bras

It began with a visit from Turtle. He walked around a bit, drank water and pecked at the seed. Before long, Black Tips arrived and did the same.  Turtle retreated to the rail and ignored the intruder.

When Turtle flew off, Black Tips replaced him on the rail, keeping watch.  The flapping sheets were ignored.                                                                

 Then Blush arrived.

It was a bit of a rendezvous. Blush and Black Tips kept their distance and silence, eventually dropping down to drink and eat seed before one flew off. Thoughout the day, one or another came back for a relaxed walk around. Do they just like the view and ambiance or are they nesting nearby? Why did Turtle tolerate Black Tips? Are they related? 

In the early afternoon, a Magpie Lark visited briefly, hopped around the rail and flew away. They eat insects and worms so have no interest in either the plants or the seed. After I'd taken the photo I realised Black Tips was also there, eating seed, seemingly uninterested in the Magpie Lark.

There is a great deal about the bird world that I don't understand.

A parcel arrived this morning, two bras I had ordered online from Taking Shape. They didn't fit. When I was managing The Orphanage Teachers' Centre in the 90s, the female staff were very amused that I ordered bras online. I should have learned my lesson, but it's worth trying something again after 30 years!  

I needed to go out to get the milk and grapes I couldn't get yesterday, so went to Unley and returned the items to the Taking Shape shop for an in-store credit. The sales assistant was most helpful. The best bra-fitter in the State, she told me, is Kaz at the Taking Shape Mount Barker store. She fits most of the Taking Shape workers. The idea is to go to Mount Barker to be fitted, choose the perfect bra, then order online thereafter. Sounds like a plan if I feel like driving 34km to Mt. Barker.

It was another really lovely day in Adelaide and I spent a good deal of if working on Lady Anne's leaves. This was the progress by dinner time. 

I had, by then, moved from the Eastern to the Western end of the apartment, not before I'd captured a bit more of Blush's exploration and Black Tip's drinking.  Oh, and I did bring in the washing.

Tonight's moonrise was more interesting than sunset.

This is where I got to just before I finish this post and head to bed.. No crochet today.