Post 623 a little cooler

 .- l

It was a pleasure on Wednesday to take advantage of slightly lower temperature and go to Frewville to get more salad supplies. I was totally out of everything except a slice of capsicum. From the activity in the aisles I wasn’t alone in that. Again, I added a few prawns and another box of iceblocks for good measure, correctly anticipating a few more days of above 40C coming up. As I was buying the fresh prawns in the deli section I noticed they had some Wakame seaweed salad, so I got a small serve to try. Turns out it is delicious. Wish I’d bought more.

There was a bit of a pleasant breeze through the apartment until mid-afternoon, when the temperature passed 30C. I closed the doors and put the aircon on until the sun set around 8.30pm when it was once again cool enough to open up. I’m glad I made the most of that small window.  

I indulged in some afternoon screen time, watching the movie Kangaroo Island on Netflix. I’m not quite sure what I made of it. It took a roundabout, if at times predictable, route to its central message about family, connection, place, continuity and change. There are a couple of strands I didn’t understand - but I’m not going back to unravel. I also read - or at least skimmed - Jane Harper’s Last One Out which seemed to suffer from a similar problem.

Although it breached my only-two-serves-of-fruit-a-day rule I added mango to my salad. It goes really well with prawns and was delicious. The mango was huge, and served me for three days.

Thursday and Friday passed inside, avoiding the heat, 39 and 42C respectively. I read a second BookClub choice, The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell, which I really enjoyed. 

Thursday’s sunset was pointy and the Cathedral lights have competition.

I’m very pleased that so far the frangipani I bought a couple of weeks ago has continued to bloom. Watering is now a daily task. 

On Saturday morning, before breakfast, I did some gardening. The forecast was only 32C and the first market of the year was on at St Margaret’s Woodville. I got a couple of large biodegradable garbage bags and emptied pots of dead plants. Unfortunately this included both the Lemon Fir I had bought as a Christmas tree and the Bay tree I had bought hopefully a couple of weeks ago. I now have a lifetime supply of bay leaves. 

I took a bag of empty pots to John, the plant seller at St Margaret’s and bought a bag full of plants, including a peppermint geranium, which I’ve been looking for for several years. One of the parish’s locum priests had grown it, unbeknown  to John. I’m delighted and have settled it in a water well pot with high hopes. It has some promising new growth at the centre.🤞

The rest were geraniums, sword ferns and a syngonium,  plants with which I've been successful.

Now that the temperature is back in the 30s, the bats are back to feed on the Moreton Bay figs in the Square each evening. More than 500 of the Adelaide colony died in last week’s 40+ heat, so I was relieved to see at least a couple of dozen returning on Sunday evening.

As I was going to bed late last night I caught a glimpse of the rising moon - 99.3% gibbous. The photo isn’t perfect, but I like the colours and composition.

A few books caught my attention this week - none of them new. I’ve order 3 from various sources, The Life St Brigid of Kildare by Cogitosus, A Divine Calling: One Woman's Life-Long Battle for Equality in the Catholic Church and a book written some 15 years ago by an old university friend, God, the Best, and Evil. I guess there’s a theme. The ordination of the Archbishop of Canterbury revives memories of old battles.

I stuck with fried rice, with lemon and honey poultry (duck and chicken) last night. Although we were in a 28C heat break, I'm still not prepared to have the oven on for 3 hours. 

It looks as if the Uni timetables will support us continuing our Monday dinners, so there will be chances for roast pork when the weather cools in a month of so.

I've managed to finish outlining all sections of the main drawstring bag pattern. I only have the red border line to go before I take it out of the hoop and work the drawstring casing. I do love the effect, although the black backstitch outlining has been time-consuming. 

Panayoula and I spent a couple of hours catching up over coffee this morning. Sustaining.

The temperature is hovering in the low 30s this coming week, not high enough to bunker down, but too high for much outdoor activity during the day, so I should get the bag finished, if nothing else. 

I'm  also exploring options to return to swimming. 

Post 601 Books, Bags and Bats

 

Until today it has been cold and wet.  I spent Wednesday indoors, preparing for my Book Club picks. Around 2.30 I headed to pub for calamari then settled in to knit the back of the water lilies bag.

As I headed out to Pilates on Thursday, I encountered a neighbour unpacking his storage locker in my spare carpark space. He has been away for the 10 years I’ve been here, but has returned to live and is rediscovering his stored treasures. He wanted to show me the family bibles and photos he had found. I was pleased to meet him, but also anxious to get to Pilates. 

View from my sewing machine.

To make matters worse, it was bucketing down, very bad driving weather, both front and back windscreen wipers going and lane markings very hard to see for most of the way. When I finally got there, I went around the block twice before I found parking. I was 20 minutes late. As I was put my sticky socks on, the sky cleared and sun came out. It was hard to believe it had been raining - except the studio artificial lawn remained under 2” of water. 

Back at home I attempted to reduce the pile of unread books, launching into Ovidia Yu’s The Cannonball Tree Mystery before a nice long phone catch up with a friend. After the evening news and QI I watched the Thursday Murder Club on Netflix - the day it was available. Great acting in keeping with the genre I remembered nothing of the plot from having read the books.

On Friday my GP was happy with my blood tests: my creatinine steady and normal, blood pressure good and sugars below the pre-diabetes range. As with the dentist, we are moving to six monthly checkups rather than 4.  I was home in plenty of time to meet a friend for lunch at A Prayer for the Wild at Heart. The weather remained foul. It was pleasant enough inside with good company, but even there, draughts found their way in.

Book Club went well on Sunday, and my choices for September went down well. My choice of lamb roast for Monday also worked. Today, after catching the bats returning at dawn, I spent a lot of time checking car park spaces outside, worried that Will, who was coming back at 3pm to finish installing my bathroom cupboard would not be able to park. At 1.15pm someone left a space directly opposite, so I dashed out and parked in it. Will arrived at 3.35 and managed to park in the 30 minute spot for tradespeople, so I moved the car back inside. The work took about 40 minutes, so I hope he didn't get fined. He is so diligent and meticulous. I need to repeat the process tomorrow, with the electrician coming at 10am.

Two things I've been waiting for arrived in today's mail. I think the book will be of interest to WES Group. It might end up as a topic for next year. I haven't read it yet. It's a substantial hardback. When I went downstairs to collect it I could also see a green envelope in my letterbox. That could only mean one thing - my Be Alice kit had arrived from Ireland.

Sure enough, it was the kit I tried to order at Christmas but was out of stock. It will need concentration, but fun.

I finished knitting the Water Lilies bag last night and spent a lot of time today on the felting process. The pre-felt version is left and the post-felt right. Details in my embroidery blog.

I still have a lot of wool to use, but it might be time to return to an embroidery project as the weather warms.

Post 513 December in the Rain

There was a spectacular sunset on Wednesday night, before the clouds descended on the city (in fact, on the State) on Friday, blotting out the sun, hosting electrical storms and then floods.

Much earlier in the day, after breakfast with Panayoula,  I had a hairdressing appointment in the CBD, to which I caught the city loop bus.

As it crossed the Square, the bus was stopped at the lights, giving me an interesting view of the back of the Cook Island pine in the sunset photo.  I'm not sure what has given it a hair cut, but it looks as if the tree has a mullet!

I do hope it recovers.

My hair looked good when I left the hairdresser. No mullet in sight.  

It's much less sculpted now, but manageable! 

While monitoring the rain  I finished the third Buggieflooer Beanie from the Jamieson and Smith wool. I'm pretty pleased with the results.  As usual, detail is in my embroidery  blog.

The Yarn Trader advertised some classes in Shetland knitting in 2024, with MJ Mucklestone, and I was tempted by a one-day class in beanie design. At the same time, Morris & Sons advertised a preorder on Rowan Magazine 74 and a blanket kit by Martin Storey.  I went for the magazine and kit, and ordered MJ's books on Fair Isle and Scandinavian designs, instead of the classes.  I've got plenty to do while waiting for the Magazine to come out, and the rest will likely not arrive until after Christmas. 

The rain and thunderstorms have continued. I have spent a lot of time staunching the leak in my back window, eventually coming up with a temporary fix using flexible putty.  I realised that my leak had localised  at one end of the window, so dug out some putty strips and applied them to the spot. A second application largely stopped the leak, but some water came in at the other end in one of the torrential storms. It is, however, very much better than it was. I've washed and dried (in the drier, not on the line!) 8 towels and there are still two in place.

Sunday night's storm brought down a lot of branches and these were piled outside our carpark entrance Monday morning when I returned to the podiatrist to have new moulds taken of my feet, and ordered a new pair of orthotics. I'm pleased to have done this. A test of my current orthotics indicated a need for more tilt on the inside, so the old moulds would not have sufficed anyway.  I will take care where I store the new ones!

At Unley shopping centre there was competition for car parking so exiting a space was a challenge, with a car positioned for a full 5 minutes to take my place.  Good job I had placed a Christmas decoration on my rear vision mirror to keep me calm in such circumstances!

My reliable Barrow and Bench garden centre had sold out of red poinsettias so I settled for a pale one with red tinges, which won't go astray. They are getting more red ones later in the week, so I shall return. I could get red ones in the supermarket or greengrocer, but Barrow and Bench usually have more advanced specimens. 

On Sunday afternoon Katherine and I had a very calming couple of hours at the Adelaide Chamber Singers performance at the Cathedral. The program was too detailed to photograph as a whole. For musical friends, this is the first half of the program. The second half was a performance by the ACS, Rising Voices and Baroque Ensemble of Messe de minuit pour Noel H.9  by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704). Just the thing for a wet Sunday in December.

Monday's moussaka went down well. I had forgotten to buy additional milk for the cheese sauce and used almond milk I had in the fridge, which was fine. Brigid was working, Football was cancelled, so the rest of us stayed dry and full.

The bats were also very active last night.

This morning my phone rang at 7.10am. I was still in bed. It was the roof repairer, due at 10am,  who had arrived to do other jobs in our building, but the access key was not in the box. He wondered if I could let him in, so he could inspect my leak and access the roof from my balcony. I hastily threw on some clothes and complied. He had a plumber and a ladder with him. He said it looked as if the leak was coming through the seal. Yes, I say, but the water is coming from the roof, not the sky. It shouldn't be running down the wall. Plumber agrees with me. Flat roofs are difficult, says the roofer. Hmm.  When he discovers I have a Vergola over my balcony he changes his mind about accessing the roof from there.  They turn down an offer of coffee and leave. Before long I hear them on the roof. Is it fixed? Who knows? I doubt it, but if the plumber is helping out, maybe. 

I  made the first of my Christmas hats in record time. I'm very pleased and am now on the second one. Details, of course, are in my embroidery blog. I had to work out the pattern for myself, helped only by a chart of the head repeat. Doing so gave me confidence, and reinforced my decision to buy books rather than enrol in the design class next year.  I'm sure I would learn from it, but I'd rather mull over a book and experiment.    

The rain continues, along with bursts of clouded sunshine and periodic electrical storms. I thought I would miss Aquafit today as the Council's huge mulching machine was blocking our carpark exit door when I tried to leave. The workers, however, were on the alert, stopped mulching and moved the cumbersome equipment to let me out. Not easy working in this environment. Unlike the Arkansas fiddler, repair workers go on, rain or shine. 

The last of my Christmas shopping arrived today, along with a free NZ fantail decoration, bamboo on acrylic. It joins a few other treasures hanging on my plants this week. I bought the pewter reindeer and dragonfly at a market at Mt Vernon the day before 9/11. 

Later in the week I will begin the bagging of gifts and a final check. Can't rely on my memory, but I haven't lost the list I made!

In the meantime, it’s time to open the panettoni and stick to my Santa knitting as the sunset shines through the NZ fantail!

Post 466 Mostly blooms, bags, books and bats

 Plenty of hot days again this week, so I've been watering every day in the hope of keeping the blooms coming.

It has worked so far, but I'm not sure what will happen while I am away next week. 

At least this precious Almanda Blue, propagated from one of John Walmsley's original plants and given to me by a friend, should be OK in its saturated pot and saucer filled with water.   It has quite a way to go before it creates the ball for which it is famous, but it's well on the way. 

I've been bunkered down reading and stitching. I have a chapter to read for my brother, but have not given it my full attention yet. I've read The Maid, for Book Club, another in the Cathy Ace WISE Detective Agency series and 3 more in the G R Jordon Highlands and Islands series. I think I still have enough between my Kindle and my Kobo to not run out while at the beach next week.

For several weeks now, the toilet sistern in my bathroom has been dripping and occasionally refilling suddenly. I have tried to pretend it will fix itself and told myself there is no point in calling a plumber over the holiday period. Yesterday morning I bit the bullet and called the plumbing company I use. They promised a plumber around 3pm. Scott arrived at 1.15, borrowed a screwdriver, investigated, explained what he was doing, went and bought a replacement part, returned, installed it, tested, demonstrated - and left just before 2pm. I've never had anything but fabulous service from them. No more drips. I always stress about calling up a service - and I always end up happy and relieved. Slow learner! 

On Friday, while walking around the Square to clock up a few steps, I glanced up and realised that my Christmas bunting was still on display, but my neighbour's string of lights had disappeared. Checking the date ( I lose track at this time of the year) I realised I had missed my mother's 5 January deadline to remove Christmas decorations. I hurried back and went about restoring them to storage. For this year I am now following the tradition that says the Twelve Days of Christmas begin on Boxing Day and  end on 6 January, rather than my mother's Anglican tradition of beginning on Christmas Day and finishing on 5 January (which happened to be my parent's wedding anniversary). I was brought up in the belief that it was unlucky to leave decorations up beyond that date. I hope I've squeezed in by switching dating tradition! In southern parts of England, Twelfth Night is 17 January.  Maybe none of it works Down Under.

The 125 extra bags from the green and checked fabric purchases from the Guild are now completed and stowed away. I've begun work on a sampler apron for the Guild Exhibition in March. This is using up some seersucker I bought to make nightdresses but which proved to be rather too pink.

                     

It's a project with enough challenge to keep me interested. I have embroidered the front to the right of the centre line and  now have to embroider a mirror image on the left side Each column is a different stitch.

It has slowed down my baby cardigan knitting, but not by too much.  I'm now on the first sleeve. I've also borrowed a copy of Vintage Knits, from Katherine, which has a couple of baby jacket patterns without lacy holes. I might try those as well.

I spent today at a friend's place entering another set of data into a database for the Embroiderers' Guild, this time an amazing collection of samplers, mostly associated with the Guild's Certificate Course. This is the work of one retired member (now sadly suffering from dementia) over some 15 years,  8 variously sized folders of samples worked to illustrate every aspect of the certificate course, probably 150 beautifully worked samples or samplers. They form an extraordinary resource for others doing the course, or just interested. It was a two person job to sort, categorise and enter the details. Hopefully the database will make the samples accessible. We completed 6 of the 8 folders and will hopefully finish the job before the end of the month. We are in awe of the skill and persistence that went into this collection. It is hugely satisfying to work on a project like this for a whole day, both of us focused on the task and the joy of handling such skilled work - becoming part of its imparting.

The bats have been very active of late, flying in just after sundown and making a terrific racket feeding on the figs. The sounds are apparently echolocations, guiding others to the food. In the heart of the city! I took these photos last night.

The bats are arriving again as I write this. I'm resisting the urge to take more photos. 

This time next week I  expect to be writing from Carrickalinga where I will be staying with family. It has been difficult for interstate family to get leave and my fingers are crossed for smooth travel in difficult times. I am so looking forward to seeing them.  

The wifi isn't good at Carrickalinga, but I hope to be able to post. Until then.

Post 462 Christmas is coming....

On Wednesday I ventured to Hahndorf to meet my brother at Otto's Bakery during his lunch break. He was in Adelaide for the day on a cruise ship, accompanying a tour group. Very sensibly, he took them to The Cedars, the Hans Heysen house in Hahndorf. He has done this before and we take the opportunity to catch up in his lunch break. I wish I had taken a photo - but I was living in the moment, enjoying the rare chance to meet in person. It's not gourmet food - but an easy and pleasant place to meet. A rare and treasured opportunity.

On the way to Hahndorf, I took the opportunity to stop off in Crafers at Atelier - a gallery with a shop selling local crafts (and food). I hadn't been before but had found online that they carried the ceramics of Jane Burbidge (Just Jane Ceramics), whose beautifully shaped and sized coffee mugs I have used for well over a decade. From at least half a dozen, I am down to two with handles - and I wanted replacements. The gift of the Claire Unger mug a fortnight ago only made the loss more acute.

The ones I am replacing are no longer available but I was hoping she had retained the shape and size in her current Ginko range.  My hope was realised. The gallery ( a great find - I'll go back!) had two of her Ginko mugs (right), good size and very pleasant shape to hold. They also had a range by Indigo Clay, slightly different shape, and a rather more 1970s colour and texture, but still promising. Of course I bought both. I am now enjoying my first coffee from a Ginko mug and have retired the most recently broken original (centre) to service as a succulent pot.

The basket in the photos above was another find at the gallery, interestingly made with a sewing machine and washable. I reckon it works well for my Big Red Geranium.

I couldn't resist trying for some more bat photos. I can't get closer versions. They are too fast for me using my DSLR. A bit of distance does show their size against the landscape.

As a follow-up to my saga of sending a registered medical report to the Dept of Infrastructure & Transport, I had a feedback request from Australia Post, so I politely pointed out that yes, the letter had been delivered, but no, I did not think the matter was resolved until I understood why I had no tracking or delivery advice. Within 5 minutes I had a phone call to explain that registered mail to departments that receive mail in volumes is signed over in large batches, not individual letters. Great for the department and Australia Post, hopeless for senders. I have now suggested they place "Not Suitable for correspondence with Government Department" on the registered letter form.

Saturday was the Maggie's Mart Footpath Sale of Goods  at St Margaret's Woodville and I went along to stock up on plants, which are always good there. For $50 I got a load of succulents and daisies to fill gaps on my balconies. I resisted the very healthy looking frangipani.  As much as I love them and these looked very healthy, three frangipani trees are enough for any balcony!

Over the weekend I placed them into spare spots, these ones on the front  balcony

and a few on the back. 

        

During the week I also soaked and prepared the clay beads and planted a succulent and a begonia in the chipped glass and the handleless mug.

I'll  be interested to see how these go. The ones I bought from my Pilates Studio are doing very well, but they were well established when I bought them. 

There is now an array of Just Jane planters on the front balcony - and I have plenty of coffee cups! 

I managed to get to Grange in time to find a parking space and have lunch at the Grange Hotel before Sit'nStitch on Friday. It was a lovely day, a relaxing time at the beach and also at stitching. It is now very busy at Grange (and other beaches) as the weather has warmed up.  Not everyone swims or fishes. Many just meet friends, walk their dogs and, like me, soak up the wonderful sky and sea.

On the way home I managed a photo of Carrington Street in full Jacaranda glory. A few days later, the purple is being overtaken by the green leaves. That's also a good look, but I am pleased to have captured the purple at its best.

I've still been knitting, but yesterday I played around with some striped plisse that I had originally purchased to make nightdresses for granddaughters, but abandoned. The Guild exhibition next year has a theme of 'It starts with a Stitch' and I decided I could use this very pink fabric to make aprons with sampler-type stitching down the stripes. I think it could work, so I used an apron I had bought for the purpose as a pattern and cut out one apron. 

I'm not quite ready to start stitching. The next couple of weeks are mostly spoken for but but it won't be long. Hope it works. 

Today I spent 3 hours having coffee and lunch with a past neighbour. It was good to catch up. She gave me a very pretty necklace which also serves as a a pendulum for divination. She also suggested my granddaughters might like to borrow it sometimes. 

On my way home I stopped at Bunnings to buy secateurs. I also bought 2 air plants on impulse. By next week I will have them sorted.

Earlier in the morning I made my gingerbread biscuits for Christmas. They look a bit pale here, but they are done, and taste good. There is sugar and golden syrup in them, so I am not going to add more by icing them. 

Finally today, I am sad to learn my sister-in-law's mother died last night after a long illness and decline. A big loss and sadness. Rest in Peace, Wenda.