Post 430 Promise, Progress and Patching

I managed to capture a little bit of this flight of galahs on Wednesday evening on the way to have dinner with friends. They were over the West parklands - a flock, I would guess, of a couple of hundred. 

It was a day of friends. In the morning, I met Panayoula at Jim's grave at Centennial Park. She wanted to visit and pay her respects so we met there before going for coffee on King William Rd.

Centennial Park is as pleasant as ever - lots of bird noise, relaxing and peaceful. Lovely to visit with a friend.

The flowering gum has produced another marvellous crop of  gum nuts. I collected a few. They might embellish some future project. 

Panayoula and I had, as always, a relaxed and empathetic catch up over coffee. My dinner with friends was similarly renewing and strengthening. 

I finished the third bag-from-jeans on Thursday morning (details in embroidery blog. I used up most of my green perle threads in working it, so called at Create in Stitch to replenish them before Pilates.  

I took the bags to show Samela, because she had allowed me to have the last copy she had of Beautiful Botanical Embroidery,  and most of the threads came from her shop.  She asked my permission to photograph the bags and use in her newsletter, which she did on Saturday. I'm very flattered. While it looks as if there are six bags, there are only three embroidered on both sides. 

I registered for a postal vote for our upcoming Federal election as I did not feel comfortable queuing on election day in our current Covid situation. The ballot paper arrived earlier in the week and I filled it out at friends' place on Wednesday night - fulfilling the requirements for a witness to view my blank ballots, then watch me fill them out and insert into the provided envelope. I registered and mailed it on Thursday and got a receipt from the Commonwealth Electoral Office yesterday. Yay!

Friday was Jennifer's birthday, and three of us went to Fino at Seppeltsfield in the Barossa for lunch. It was a bit cold and wet, but the sun came out in the Barossa.     

 Seppeltsfield gives the impression of no change - but has been continuously adapted to the demands of customers over decades. Lovely setting, delicious  food and good company. Can't ask for more.

Of course, we visited the Jam Factory at Seppeltsfield where there was an exhibition of funky Australiana pottery in the Gallery. 

I bought myself a pair of earrings - made from Indigo fabric from a Thai village that has produced it for centuries, and aluminium sourced from discarded baking pans! 

As I drove home from a most satisfying day, there was promise of things to come.

On Saturday I made two moussaka, one for Monday night and one for a Sunday evening meal with friends. I had run out of whole nutmeg to grate over the top so had to resort to the ground variety when none were available on Sunday morning. I also made the cheese sauce using pecorino instead of kefalograviera but got some of the latter on Sunday and added to the top. It was a pretty good result - and I have a couple of nights of left-overs!   

Over several years now, I have been patching some favourite pants for a friend. Bought in Bali and made of cotton, they have split several times and I've patched them with Indonesian batik. This is the latest.  My granddaughters reckon the patches are an improvement! My friend is happy - and I have enough batik to continue until they are covered.

Yesterday my broken blind was cheerfully removed by Mark, who assures me it can be successfully re-corded and explained the complicated process. The bad news is that it is likely to take weeks in the current labour conditions. Since it's Winter and the sun is to the North, I'm hoping I can sleep without a blind for a few weeks. First night was OK. I have a backup plan involving a curtain, but I'd need to install a couple of hooks and a spring cord at the top of my balcony door - too high for me to try. So I'll need to find a handy person if I can't manage for a few weeks.

My Vergola controller still doesn't work and my air conditioner hasn't been serviced. Both companies are impacted by staff shortages because of Covid and will get to me some time. 

Today I saw my ENT to have wax removed from my ears. He hasn't seen his family in Malaysia for 2 years and worries that some of them will die before he sees them. My coffee catch up with a couple of friends this coming Friday is  off as one has Covid.  However, my ears are terrific, my ENT remains cheerful, the two companies are working on providing the service I need  and this afternoon my neighbour and I moved our surplus furniture and equipment out to the curb side for pickup by the Council tomorrow.  There was a gentle sunset.

I spent several hours sorting the folders of embroidery and knitting patterns, notes and articles I've collected over a couple of decades. I haven't quite finished, but there is an emerging order. I've also labelled the files in my filing drawers.

I've also started a kit of Jenny McWhinney's Arabian Dilly Bag - a gift from a few years ago.

One foot up and one foot down, that's the way to London Town...

406 Getting sorted

The sunset on Wednesday was striking, ahead of a bit of a storm; more in the distance than over Adelaide, although there was some rain. It was Alison's birthday. 

I had a ticket to  an 11 am performance of Eureka Day by the State Theatre Company but our lift was out of order until midday. I could have gone down the stairs but our borders had opened and we had three Covid positive arrivals.  The theatre,  still surrounded by a building site, had full seating, no hot drinks, no food. I didn't feel comfortable and the experience lost its attraction. I gave up. 

Instead I finished the scissor fob for the Leadlight Counted Set. My head has been out of this for a few weeks and by the time I realised I should work both sides of the fobI had positioned it badly on the fabric, so I used a small piece of Ink and Spindle linen for the back.               

This finishes the set.

The doves now visit as soon as I open the door. They look lovely against the trees and amongst the portulaca.

On Thursday I came home after Pilates to wait for a courier delivering my Christmas cards from the printer. I then went to the Guild and picked up the wool for my Viking Embroidery workshop , came home and added it to the kits.  I arranged to call in at the Guild on Saturday to find the Appleton's wools in the required colours from the trading table.

That turned out fairly well. I should have looked for gold wool as well as the brown, blue and cream I focused on. I've put together bundles of thread and added them to the workshop packs . I've substituted but will keep an eye out for gold. While I was at the Guild, I scanned a folder of articles about Lagartera, which Margaret A had generously brought in for me to borrow. It's a precious folder and better I don't take it from the building. Job done. Many thanks Margaret. We now have quite a bit of information for a session at WES next year.

On Friday I went to Seppeltsfield with three friends to celebrate a birthday.  It was a pleasant day of around 20C, lovely food and great company. I only took one photo - of the roof of the restaurant - a sure sign I was too busy enjoying myself.

On the weekend I checked all my Christmas gifts and made a few bags. I also  went to Frewville to buy a couple of Enzo's lasagna for Monday. I didn't like the look of the Enzo's ones available so settled for two other local brands. Only one was needed. Fionn was at football training until 7.30 and the girls had netball training at 6.30. I served the lasagne with salad at 5.30 for those who could make it. It was thick and creamy. The second one is in the freezer.

There were fireworks in Rymill Park around 8.30 pm on Sunday, visible from my eastern balcony. Apparently they were the culmination of a four day car rally. I also discovered that the New Year's Eve fireworks this year will be from Rymill Park, which means I should see them. Not easy to photograph though!

Monday was a fruitful day. The service men from Burns for Blinds arrived just after 9am. Efficient and cheerful,  they quickly determined that my two controllers had flat batteries and brought a fully charged one from their van. As soon as they used it, the roller shutter descended. It was then I discovered that the battery charger on the wall was not, as I thought, hard-wired, but plugged into a loose cord I thought belonged to a lamp. The connecting plug on the charger is tiny , not visible unless you look underneath, which I had not though to do. My feelings of inadequacy and idiocy were secondary to my overwhelming relief, joy and gratitude. 

It is 33C today and the shutter is down, improving the heat control. 

After the shutter fix I went shopping for bread and stamps. My overseas Christmas cards have gone, and the Australian ones ready to post tomorrow.  I was home, waiting for the girls to arrive when I had a visit from an abseiler. He buzzed from the entrance and came up at my invitation - a very large man in full abseiling gear, pockets and cords attached at every imaginable point. His company, it seems, has the contract to clean up, repair and paint the outside of the building next door and will be abseiling over my back balcony for the next couple of months. He was here to persuade me to a) close my Vergola roof b) refrain from going on to my balcony during the day while they are working.

Somewhat surprisingly, I agreed quite readily. I think I was still euphoric over the shutter result and inclined to assist polite, informative tradies.  I don't spend much time on my balcony, except to hang out washing and water the plants. I spend a lot of time looking out from inside. I have his phone number to let him know if I am going on to the balcony. 

They have put up boards and covers (most of which, of course, I can't see because the Vergola is closed) and have been working this morning, making quite a bit of noise on the roof while getting set up. My only real concern is that I can't see to take photos of them working.  They will remove their cover each weekend.

It is an imposition - but I figure helpfulness won't hurt me. Bizarre though.

Today I changed over to my summer quilt. It looks as if the cold nights are over. I washed the winter one, and hung it out after 5 to keep my promise to the abseiler. I prepared some lamb shanks and some duck legs - my meals for the rest of the week - and went to Unley to buy milk, post cards and deposit a cheque at the bank. That was a learning experience, involving envelopes like mail voting and a postal slot. Surprisingly the notice of deposit into my account was on my phone by the time I got home.

I also phoned the nephrologist's rooms to follow up on my question about vaccine booster. It seems he meant 'mrna' rather than 'Moderna'. I can have the Pfizer vaccine. At the moment the clinic I used for the first two vaccines isn't taking bookings into January and I can't have it before 8 January. So I wait.

While getting organised for Christmas, I decided to reduce my kit stash by making up some ballet bears as gifts for my Pilates class. That's occupied my stitching time this week.  This is a Bucilla kit I bought years ago. I liked them so much I bought several kits.  

There are six bears per kit. I had one full kit and one with four remaining. I've now made up those four. I need one for each of my three fellow students, one for the instructor and one for the receptionist, 5 in all. 

I pondered overnight if I could adapt one to a male bear for the one male in the group.  Late this afternoon I created some tissue templates, dug out some felt scraps  and cut them into the shapes. 

I have just finished putting it together. I think it will do the trick nicely.

One way and another, a getting sorted kind of week.

Post 374 Vikings and a Winery

Autumn has been in the air - cool mornings and evenings, mostly pleasant days, but rain on Saturday when the girls were playing and umpiring netball matches. This was my sunrise view when I opened the blind on Sunday.

Sunday was my brother's birthday, falling this year on Mothers' Day as it did the year he was born, a 12lb 8oz baby.  It is a bit of a burden to carry - the story told each time the dates coincide, as they will again in 2027, 2032 and 2038. I'm not a fan of Mothers' Day - it's better as Jim's birthday!

I began my reporting week with a visit to my doctor for my flu shot and to discuss my recent test results. A urine test revealed no protein, which is a good sign. I am now waiting for an appointment with a nephrologist to check whether there is any action I need to take beyond my GP's care. Bone density good, mammogram and bowel cancer test in the coming week. I am also trying to reduce my sugar intake, which involves cutting back the quantity of fruit I eat - as well as buns and icecream!. I need to reduce my chances of developing diabetes.

It's  been a week of frequent dove visits. The pair who have adopted my balcony spent a couple of mornings hanging around the door near the seed container, grooming each other to fill in the time. They are more puffed up than they were in Summer - insulation I presume.

There have also been a couple of crows around - too swift to photograph and no appearance on my balcony - at least when I can see.

The Permin linen I had ordered for the Fisherton-de-la-mer workshop arrived and I cut and tacked it ready for the class next month. I'm glad I made the effort to get the recommended linen. I can see why the Jobelin I had tried was not going to work easily. Some of the stitching is difficult enough without adding issues with the linen. It was also easier to match Perle 12 DMC thread to the linen - though I still haven't worked out which of the two is the best match!

After the class, if I am happy with the result, I might make another in the Jobelin, which is an attractive deeper blue.

Thursday last week was Jennifer's birthday. She, Susan B. and I went to lunch at Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley to celebrate.It's a long time since I've been up to the Barossa - a drive with which I was once familiar. There have been numerous road changes so I was a bit nervous. With navigation help from Susan it turned out to be a very smooth and easy drive. 

I did not, of course, attempt any photography while driving, so photos only reflect our destination!

Seppeltsfield is a very large, fine old wine estate at the Northern end of the Barossa Valley, between Nuriootpa and Tanunda. The grounds are extensive, with a family mausoleum, an art gallery, Jam Factory fine art shop and a restaurant as well as cellar door sales. 

The colours were spectacular.

The estate is full of little historical touches. I rested while on Geoff Hood's seat while the others were still shopping.

We had along, pleasant, relaxed meal in Fino's, the Seppeltsfield restaurant.

Around 3pm we headed to the other end of the Valley and winery spectrum to Nelly's Mill About Vineyard to return her Bulgarian embroidery collection. Again, it was a lovely drive. I'm afraid I was concentrating on the route and the embroidery return (I hadn't been there before) and forgot to take photos. It was however, great to see Nelly's lovely garden and to see the embroidery safely home. We got mildly lost on the way home, but it in no way spoiled a lovely day.

We were back stitching together on Friday afternoon. Saturday brought dinner a Katherine's place with plenty of food and stories of netball and football. By Monday evening the injuries were largely healed and no one was the worse for wear or weather.

Much of rest of my week was occupied with my Viking embroidery presentation. I have been constructing a PowerPoint presentation as I've been reading. Silk for the Vikings was very helpful. There is a lot of evidence and analysis of Viking textiles from archeological excavations. . It makes an interesting story I think. This week I've been reading Ed West's book as a refresher course in a period with which I was once familiar and well-versed. It's a fun way to remind myself.

  

I have also added a bit more to my family history story from the amazing research of my new-found researcher friend Melanie in Portsmouth.  I've begun to write up something of the family story of my maternal grandmother.   It is going to be a challenge to organise it in a way that does justice to her, her lineage and numerous side stories of connected, but not direct, relatives.

My knitting is coming along nicely. It looks as if I might be able to turn this into a cloak! I have used two-thirds of the yarn, so it is going to be substantial. The ruler is 40cm long, so I think the finished piece will reach around 80 cm.

We are privileged to be able to travel to lunch with friends. We have overseas-contracted Covid cases in hotel quarantine and a couple of community cases in Victoria and NSW believed to have been contracted from hotel quarantine. It's a discipline to manage quarantine, distancing, contact tracing, vaccination and the economy. The danger is that we will tire of the discipline. I remain cautious.