Post 632 A lot going on

It's been a week with quite a lot on my mind, perhaps it's the Paschal moon. Wednesday began with a dash to the Guild to have my laptop tagged. It was the annual visit of an electrician to check and tag any machines used at the Guild. We needed to get the portable screen we are now using at WES, and any laptops likely to be used with it, tagged.

There was a bit of shopping to be done to get through the 4 day break. I made a full batch of chocolate crackle nests. 

Last week I was wondering if the shawl I had finished would go with the orange dress. I'm still unsure. I haven't actually tried it on yet. I did, however, find a small orange bag at a the Hahndorf leather shop. I ordered it to be delivered rather than drive up the Hills in current petrol situation. It arrived today. This is the shawl draped over the dress.  The bag will certainly work, with or without the shawl, but I'm hopeful it just might all work. The account of the shawl is in my embroidery blog.

 I moved quickly on to the  North Star Shawl  by Helen Stewart, the pattern I had chosen for the wool for the Chapter and Skein project. I'm very pleased with it, but set it aside over Easter to progress some embroidery.

As is now a tradition, Katherine and Niamh made hot cross buns on Good Friday. Lots of hot cross buns. I went to sample them as they came out of the oven.  Somehow I forgot to photograph the many trays. They were truly delicious. I had to ration myself to keep my weight under contol. 

I would normally have kept my Easter offering for Easter Sunday, but this year, Fionn's 21st birthday fell on Easter Saturday, so the family celebration focused on that, rather than Easter Sunday. I didn't want to confuse the birthday with Easter celbration, so I took my offering on Good Friday - a basket of felt Easter animals and some nests. The full details are in my embroidery blog account.

Late on Thursday I had a phone call to say the cabinet I had ordered in December to go behind my new TV was ready. The caller agreed that if I approved of it once I saw it,  it would fit on the back seat of my car and if I brought a blanket to wrap it in, two of their staff would help me load it, warning that I would need help at my end to unload it.  They were open on Saturday, so before heading out to Fionn's birthday lunch, I picked it up. Two men carried it to my car wrapped it in the doona I had provided, insisting on securing it in the seat belts - and the need for two people to unload at my end.

I had, of course, throught I'd give it a go on my own, but after watching them and their own precautions, I changed my mind and negotiated for Fionn to call in on Saturday morning to help me. 

We got it in place relatively easily. I had designed it so no cords needed to be detached to install it, since there had been a lot of effort to get the TV tuned. In spite of that, when I turned it on, there was no signal. The aerial cord was still connected at both ends but, while I have internet and streaming, no free-to-air TV.  I have contacted B&O and organised for the installing electricians to come next week and hopefully fix it.

The birthday party was a huge success, fuelled by a tonne of food and beverages. I had a lovely time catching up with a few family friends I haven't seen for a long time. It was a a very relaxed afternoon and Fionn, I think enjoyed it. Such gatherings are reviving and uplifting.  

As mentioned above, I switched to embroidery for a bit. I  finished another Kasia Jacquot panel and bag. A joy to work on.  Again, the detail is in my embroidery blog.

Most of Sunday and Monday was spent working on embroideries of Celtic symbols for my talk on the Legacy of Embroidery in the Early Medieval Period.  I am concerned about breaching copyright in using photos in a public presentation, so have drawn and embroidered these myself

I finished four and am well on the way with the fifth. They are quite tricky to draw and embroider symetrically and mine are far from perfect. This last one, in particular, has involved a lot of unpicking.

The weather has been mostly pleasantly in the low to mid 20s. It rained heavily on Sunday afternoon and my drip was back. The blessed Shane is booked to come and do his magic tomorrow week. I'm expecting this time he will install a drip tray.

I haven't swum this week. Too much going on and the pool closed over the Easter break. I'm hoping to make it on Friday. 

I hope readers had a happy and restful Easter.

Post 626 Out and About

On Wednesday I had lunch with old work friend, covered a lot of Adelaide politics. I also called at Pink Carat and picked up a necklace they were repairing and I had forgotten about, even though it has been a favourite. The cord had broken and I had left it at a popup shop they set up in the Unley Village while their shop was being renovated a couple of months ago. I'm not wearing many necklaces at the moment because of the heat but it's good to have it back.

Thursday after Pilates I called at the Guild to pick up some Appleton’s thread a friend left for me. I’m about halfway to the threads for the Crewelwork Bluebird linen I’ve ordered. It was a good visit, a pleasure to catch up with a few people.

It will be a while before the linen arrives, so I’m working my way through the remaining Kasia Jacquot panels. Olga is finished (left) and I'm starting on Kylie  

Our  group of Ladies Who Lunch met on Friday at Yakisan, at North Adelaide. The food, a shared 6 course, was good and suited us. We talked and laughed nonstop for three hours. Service, and signage to find the place left a bit to be desired. It was a relaxed and enlivening three hours after which I went to Frewville and bought the ingredients for a roast dinner on Monday.The forecast for was a mere 28C and I was expecting only 5 for dinner, so bought a smaller piece of pork than usual, requiring only 2 hours in the oven. I’ve put off roasting for several weeks because having the oven on for 3 hours heats up the apartment. It worked well.

Later in the afternoon I finished off the shrug. I think it will prove useful. Details in my embroidery blog.

I spent the evening winding my birthday wool into balls. It took quite a while. I also went hunting for patterns, ending up with a wavy patterned shawl.  This is the beginning.

Our Book Club met on Sunday. My favourite of the recommended books was The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell. I added  another 50 books to our database of books reported on by members. 

By far the best book I've read recently is A Divine Calling. I had no idea of the efforts of Roman Catholic women to achieve ordination within their church. It is an extraordinary account. I couldn't put it down. It is very difficult to find in Australia, so my copy will be in demand. 

Today I swam laps again, managing 750 metres in half an hour. There was no competition for a shower and I got home refreshed, to discover I had left my bathers hanging in the shower! I considered driving staight back, but saw sense and rang them. Ingrid, the receptionist, checked, found it. and hung it over a pipe in their storage area to dry. I can pick it up tomorrow. They are the most pleasant, helpful people imaginable. 

I have been looking for a line dancing group for a while now. Some twenty years ago a work friend and I went line dancing once a week and had a great time. She is now back in her home town, Canberra. The most convenient group meets at the same time as my Pilates group. Another possible group meets on Tuesday evenings. I'm looking for a way to swim, do Pilates and line dance on three different days. Haven't solved it yet, but may have a solution for the middle of March. My focus for the next few days is my talk on Mexican Embroidery on Monday's Guild General Meeting.

Post 621 Darkness and Light

On Thursday I finished the Aurora embroidery, and made the bag on Friday. As my embroidery blog says, I am in love with these panels. 

On my way to shop for Moussaka ingredients for Monday night’s dinner, I swung by Create in Stitch for more threads. The Jacquot panels chew through thread, because they use 6 strands of a limited colour range. While I’ve varied it a bit, the palette works too well to move too far. 

I also bought a couple of packets of 14 count Aida. I find it hard to believe I don’t have a supply of this, but search as I might, none materialised. I really want to have a go at the cross stitch pattern for A Slavic Inspired Purse in the Winter 2025 Piecework magazine. While it recommends 28 count linen I want to try it on Aida. I’ve gridded it up and found the threads, so now it’s in the queue. And, yes, it might have benefitted from an iron, but given the amount of stiffening in it I might wait to see how it hoops up. It’s going to need a wash to remove the stiffener..

We’ve been having trouble with our lobby lights since early Wednesday morning. On Thursday an electrician attempted a fix which was initially intermittently successful, then a total failure.  

As our lobbies have no external light source, they are pitch black without lighting. I resurrected a battery-operated lamp and placed it outside my door before realising there is a power point near the stair door.  I dug out a craft standing lamp and plugged it in. It can be switched on when heading out and turned off when you return,  and replaced with a night light. Pays to be inventive. 

Turns out it was a two electrician job. The booking for a Monday fix was postponed because the electricians were needed at a major fire in a solar panel factory. Today they returned and restored the foyer lights - adjusting the range to significantly improve the coverage from my door. Unfortunately the Exit light over the stair door is still out of action - so they’ll be back.

 On Wednesday I also received notice from OfficeWorks that the two mugs and coasters I had ordered on Boxing Day had arrived. I hastened to pick it up, curious to see if the disappearing picture mug worked. It did! I’m not showing much, as it is personal to a couple of family members, but the mug is initially black. When hot liquid is poured in, the black slowly disappears, revealing the picture underneath. This photo is about halfway through the process.  While the mug is warm, the picture remains, the black returning when it is cold. Magic! 

 

After finishing the Aurora bag mentioned above, I sorted out the remaining panels and bags I have, ironed them  and prepared the next one to embroider,  all detailed in my embroidery blog.

I've managed to make a small birthday bag since then which I'll report on later in the year.

Most of Saturday was spent making moussaka for Monday dinner. I decided to make two smaller rather than one large one - easier to deal with if not everyone turns up. I haven't done a roast for a while, and was tempted, but the temperature is above 30C all week and I'd rather not heat the kitchen up by having the oven on for 3+ hours. While moussaka takes me about 5 hours to make, it's a mixture of oven and cooktop in stages, rather than a constant - and I'm the only one affected.  I was still perspiring by the time I finished.  There were 5 of us for dinner, so the larger of the two sufficed, with enough left for my dinner tonight, and the smaller went home for those who missed out.  

Sunday was Book Club. I now have a data base of the titles we discuss, so take my laptop and add them as we talk. In addition to discussing the 2-3 nominated books, we report on all the other crime fiction we've read since our last meeting. Because that was in late November, there were a lot. I added 70 books to the database during the meeting! I will only attempt to read one or two of them. Today, after my hairdressing appointment, and before stopping at The Grind for 3kg of coffee beans, I called at Dymocks for a copy of Jane Harper’s Last One Out.  The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell is on its way from the World of Books.

That’s enough for me.

While it was only 31C today, its's heating up again, culminating in a forecast 42C on Saturday, which is when I will be giving a presentation and workshop on The Evil Eye in Embroidery at the Guild's Certificate Course Workshop. This afternoon I made a few adjustments and checked the exaample, templates, instructions and construction process.  I've been asked to bring my laptop, so I'm trying to locate a HDMI cable for my Mac. Otherwise I think it will be OK - provided the trading table has a good supply of beads and bling!

I've made a bit of progress on that next Kasia Jacquot panel. With a bit of luck I'll finish it tomorrow. The latest Inspirations magazine arrived today, with a couple of projects I find appealing. I'll take a rain check when I've finished a few more bags - including the Piecework cross-stitch one outlined above.

  

Post614 To hear the Angels sing.

It's been a rainy week again here in Adelaide.  We had almost three times our average November rainfall this year, but the first two days of December have been fine enough for the birds to visit and the coming week is shaping up as washing friendly! I have sheets ready to hang out tomorrow.

Last week I  concluded with a comment that I looked like spending this whole week waiting for service people and deliveries. Au contraire, it all happened on Friday!

It wasn't raining when Shane arrived at 8.20am with an apprentice. to locate the roof leak I  had heard last Saturday. About 3 hours later, after removing my temporary manhole cover, inspecting the roof cavity by sticking his head through the hole, teaching the apprentice  to do the same, then working up on the roof for an hour or so, he reported back to me. He had found and repaired a roof capping and a capping on the top of the cement wall of our lift shaft inside the ceiling cavity (which has to be done from the roof as the ceilings are not load-bearing). He wasn't convinced it was the whole culprit. He was right. In the afternoon it rained and the drip was back! It only lasted about 20 minutes. He is recommending installing an evaporation tray in my ceiling, which should stop my drips. It won't, however, ensure the roof is waterproof. I wrote up a report for the Strata Committee and sent it off on Sunday.

No sooner had the roof repairers gone around 11, than the bathroom scales I had ordered arrived. They are certainly solid - and a bit larger than I expected. The tiles in the photo are 12" square. All the instructions assume they are for a doctor's surgery. I'm hoping they really will be reliable. The scale is marked in half-kilos and a bit hard to read when standing on them, and, of course, it doesn’t stay when you step off, but I can just manage it it with glasses on.

I was meant to go out to lunch when the repairers left. I was looking forward to it, wearing a dress, earrings, tights- even a change of handbag to match the dress. At 11.45am, I found a message from FedEx saying they were delivering a parcel between 10.20am and 2.20pm. This I knew to be the Bishops bags I had ordered from VistaPrint and I was anxious to get them.  I attempted to redirect the delivery to the nearby Pack and Send but got nowhere. Neither could I find out what they would do with the parcel if I was not at home.  I have had some bad experiences with couriers taking parcels to difficult-to-access depots. After several unsuccessful phone calls, answered from who-knows-where, and drawing a blank on their website, I cancelled my lunch attendance. The courier didn't turn up until 3.40pm. I could have gone to lunch.  Grrr.

At least, when the package arrived, the Bishop bags were very good and will serve the purpose I had in mind. The story of all the merchandise is in my embroidery blog. 

Also on Friday, B&O negotiated the delivery and installation of my new television on 12 December. In the various spells of waiting during the day I worked on another tote bag featuring a Kasia Jacquot panel, finishing it in the evening.

I find a lot to like in her designs. The stitches she suggests are simple and limited, but because she uses a full 6 strands of cotton, they give texture and dimension. She also has an eye for colour. I was sceptical about the idea of white around the heart - but it works.

I also had another call from my neighbour to check an email she feared was a scam. We spent a good half hour catching up. A lot was ticked off on Friday (at the cost of my lunch!)!

My hairdresser did go ahead and add my Santons to her window display. She sent me these photos on Thursday. I'm chuffed.

Plants on my back balcony enjoy the rain. I left the Vergola open for the early part of the week and closed it for much of the latter part. I paid a bit of attention to the indoor plants and those on the front balcony, which is covered and not reached by rain. I have a few plants I've struck from cuttings, growing in a range of odd glass jars or glasses in clay balls.  I'm especially pleased with this spider plant that I struck from a pup.

On Saturday I acquired more plants from Maggie’s Market at St Margaret’s. It was the last one for the year, so I dropped off some empty pots and came away with 5 plants, all varieties I’ve bought from them before and managed to grow. 

On the way to St Margaret’s I called at the Guild Stash sale. It was good to be there, catch up with a few friends and see the scope of members’ work. I found the basket in the photo above - good for a pot plant. Immediately after explaining I am not buying any more wool until I’ve cleared my stash, I saw these three odd balls and added them to the basket. It is acrylic, which I never buy, with a twist of metallic sparkle. Suddenly, knitting Christmas beanies was back on my agenda. I found a pattern. and began knitting that evening. After knitting about an inch of the band, it occurred to me I might be able to knit a coronet, rather than a beanie. I’d never seen a knitted coronet, but went looking and found a pattern that made use of the beanie band I was knitting.

By Sunday morning I was right into it. Knitting the peaks takes a bit of getting used to, and I made mistakes. I was planning to go to the cinema for a 2pm showing of The Choral, part of the British Film Festival. I was once a regular film goer, but haven’t been since Covid. I wanted to see The Choral, and I wanted to overcome my attendance reluctance. The Strata committee had planned a lunch picnic in the park which I had thought to attend for about an hour before heading to the film, but I ended up trying to master the peaks. I could see from the balcony there were only about 6 people at the picnic - most likely the committee. In the end I just went over and said hello before driving to the cinema. 

The cinema was crowded. Clearly most Adelaideans my age got over their COVID fears before me. The film was excellent, a bit more serious and thought-provoking than I expected. The music was as I hoped, and it was a tribute to determination, spirit and resilience. It did not gloss over the cost of war and its relentless machinery. That’s, I think, as it should be. 

I had intended to go to the 6pm carol service at the cathedral, but the film somehow left me with no appetite for it. I returned home and finished the test-run crown. The photo doesn’t show the sparkle.

It was good enough to wear, and work out improvements. I've been working on the second one, above in the photo. It works much better in a number of ways. I will repeat this one, but I also want to try a variation.

I’m enjoying knitting, especially when there’s a creative edge, but I hanker for an embroidery project, so I framed up another Kasia Jacquot panel, this time Veronka, which I’ve worked before. This time around I mounted it in snap frames so I could see most of the whole, using the Elbesee clamp in a seat stand  So far that’s working well. I haven't done much of it, but it's there to give me a change from knitting. 

I’ve ordered a couple of Kasia Jacquot’s stick-on embroidery patterns for tops. I want to embroider one to go with the pants I embroidered. Yesterday I went looking for a simple black cotton shirt.    I searched online and narrowed my choices down to a chain store that seemed to have several possibles. I wore the pants and tried on quite a few tops, including some men’s. Only one really fit the bill. It’s a cotton/viscose mix. I've also got a pale green linen shirt that might work.

Since it is now December, and Advent, I got down the box of Christmas decorations, made a selection, and hung them on the tree I bought last week. It is neither colour-coordinated, nor themed.

I also hung the Wise Men, star and bird in the mesh of the western fly screen. I don't have a hanging Holy Family, so have sourced one today from Melbourne. It may not be the best crafted, but it will arrive in time for Christmas. I didn't think the blank space was appropriate!

I had some tinsel ropes that now adorn the balcony rail in a haphard fashion. I haven't been down to the Square to see what they look like from below. I’m still finding and trying to remove the prickles in my hands and arm frombrushing on the cactus.The bendy Santa is climbing through the Snake Plant. You may be just able to see the Christmas Spider clinging to the leaf above his head on the right.

It's fairly restrained. I've been selective in choosing ornaments, just enough to capture a bit of history, memory, strength and hope.  There's not much bling.

Until I turn on the candles.

Post 608 A lot happening

This is not the best lorikeet photo I've taken but the best I managed as several squawked their way through the native frangipani, remaining well hidden in the foliage. 

I had waited in for Scott Constructions to come to inspect the damage to my ceiling from the water leak, and prepare a quote. Patrick,who came to Adelaide to visit 20 years ago and stayed, was held up because they found asbestos in the last section of their current demolition job, and the site was quickly shut down. Unsurprisingly he still has an Irish brogue and talks the leg off a chair. He is, however, nothing if not thorough. He says at least 1 sq metre of the ceiling is water damaged and will need replacing, which, in his view, means the whole ceiling will need to be repainted. This seemed a fine idea until today, when it rained heavily - and the drip is back!

The missing book turned up on Thursday morning in 16b. Maureen, our Strata Rep, had canvassed owners. Danielle, who has moved out and has 16b on the market, must have called in to check on her way to work. I got a message at 7.30 am, jumped into some day clothes and retrieved it. Before and after Pilates I read it. It’s an amazing story. WES members will love it. They will have to wait until next September, when the topic appears on our calendar. A brilliant choice by Margaret. The book is (only) available from the Gawthorpe Textile Collection. 

I had spent a bit of time investigating printers and trying to answer the questions I asked last week. I had more-or-less settled on a black and white laser printer - one of the 3 recommended by Choice. It was not readily available, but appeared as in stock at the OfficeWorks near my Pilates studio. I therefore ordered some printing - 15 copies of the notes for the January Certificate Workshop- and called in after Pilates to pick it up and have a conversation about printers. Unfortunately their website was inaccurate and they only had a show model. The assistant, however, was really knowledgeable. It did look promising. They accepted the old printer for recycling. On Monday there was only one shop left with stock of the chosen replacement. I drove there and purchased one of their last 2 - discounted by 30%. It's still in the box. Hopefully I'll unpacked it soon.

I had booked Ovenbusters for Friday morning.  Braddon, the serviceman, was due around 10.30am, so at 7.30am I parked my car outside the apartment entrance to save him a space. He cleans in the van, so needs it close by, and the van doesn’t fit under our building. I have extension vouchers from the City Council, which means I can park outside for 4 hours. When Braddon arrived he found an easy park one door down, so I moved my car back in.  Brandon did a fabulous job on the oven, including between the glass on the door panel. He had useful tips and information - including that contemporary ovens have a life expectancy of not much more than 5-6 years! Adds to my insecurity.

All Adelaide family members were busy on Saturday night, so I  got stuck into the Kasia Jacquot linens that arrived on Friday. These items had been bought on sale: one, a panel pack that went into my pile of her panels to be embroidered for bags; the other a panel of small designs for ornaments. 

The latter I had bought mainly for the Christmas ornaments the Guild had reqested for the Christmas sale. 

Still on Saturday, a group called Acoustic Beats and Brews had set up in the Square for the afternoon and I couldn't block out the persistent underlying thump of the Bass, but it wasn't constant. By the time I went to bed I had completed four items - all I'm planning for now. Details in my embroidery blog.

I had also been impressed with Kasia Jacquot's embroidered jeans. When Nancy Bird advertised her Sol Pants  in cinnamon last week, I succumbed. These too, arrived on Friday. They fit perfectly and I have now copied the pattern on to one leg and started the embroidery. I know, I know. Yes, the knitting is still going, and I have made substantial progress with the Blue Birds tapestry. I'm not multitasking here, just jumping from one to another.

Sunday was BookClub at my place. There were six of us and we had lots to talk about. The 30C heat had not reached its peak so we were comfortable and engaged.

After the girls and I had lemon chicken and a good time on Monday evening, we were back together again this afternoon when Alison paid a flying visit. I hastily gathered a couple of family pies, bacon & potatoes (in a glass dish, rather than a big brown pot), cheese, salami, bread, salad, nuts - whatever was to hand, and laid it all out so people could help themselves and keep talking, which they certainly did. In the end, seven of us sat down and polished of most of the food with very few silences. Around 8pm school night awareness kicked in and the 5 of them fled. The visitor has a busy day ahead. It is so lovely to see her for a few precious hours. 

I am late posting this so won't attempt more.