Post 612 Projects Galore.

It's jacaranda time again in Adelaide. The best views are driving along streets lined with purple trees, but I can't photograph while driving, and stopping is not usually possible. This is the tree visible from my back balcony. It's slightly to the left of me, behind Di and Theo's apartment.

The native frangipani directly behind me is still attracting a pair of rosellas.  I certainly have a lot  of photos!

Wednesday was another World Embroidery winner. Pat Grummet brought along a wealth of records and photos of an installation, Monday Blues that she and  Richard Brecknock performed as part of the Fibreworks Collective  in Gawler Place Adelaide, and again in Wellington, NZ, in the early 1980s, as an example of textiles as storytelling. They began by installing a clothes line on a vacant city lot, to which they pegged 7 white and 4 blue items - knickers and nappies. Over 10 days they constructed tents, dyed underwear, nappies and cloth (largely sourced from charity shops), adding both tents and clothes each week to show the growth of the family and the work involved.  They printed a leaflet explaining the project to hand out to the public. Pat did all the dyeing, on site. I remember the vacant block. I worked next to it in 1985 and 1986, but missed the installation. I borrowed the photo of the last days of the NZ installation from Pat's presentation. WES Group also provided me with advice on my female bishops bag -  and we have a draft program for next year.  

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As a result of the bag advice, I went to Spotlight after Pilates on Thursday and bought some plain purple quilting cotton and iron-on wadding, both for lining the bag. On a whim I continued to Grange Jetty for a late lunch. I haven't been for a few years, as it stopped taking bookings and is often crowded.  At 2.45pm on Thursday it was fine and the fritto misto was just what I wanted.

I worked solidly on the bishops bag on Friday and Saturday, finishing it. It has been a bit of a passionate experimental project, and I'm not quite finished with it yet, having ordered a photo-based spin-off print bag, that I may take further. Detail in my embroidery blog.

On Sunday I worked for a bit on Christmas cards before visiting my local Chemist to sort out a couple of prescriptions and buy a new set of simple bathroom scales. The old scales with which I have been persevering no longer give a consistent reading from second to second. It's a bit scary to start again. I had to wait until Monday morning at my usual weigh-in time to see the damage. It looks as if I am about half a kilo over what I've been guesstimating from the old scales - not too bad!

On Sunday afternoon the cold returned and rain set in. I had the heating on again. I returned to my knitting. I'm making progress on the left side of the cardigan. Looks like I was right to order the extra yarn.

Project Christmas Cards got a bit of a boost on Monday. Each year this becomes an exercise of mixed emotions. As well as the list getting shorter, there are checks on those I haven’t heard from, and dread at what I might learn. There are also warm memories. 

I calculated the stamps required and headed to the PO to buy them, as well as posting a parcel.

Back at home I extended the Christmas connection exercise by working through my gmail address book, which I have never culled. I found no new names to add to the card list, but I reduced the number of entries from around 1200 to 530. The vast majority were the contacts of the last 12 years of my paid work with a few old personal business and trades contacts. Most were also entered twice, automatically indexed by both first and second names. Again, it was a sobering exercise. So many people  I was once in regular contact with, and have lost track of, even forgotten. Jobs and organisations that no longer exist. A world that has gone.

Meanwhile, the Kangaroo Paw is blooming on the front balcony.

As Monday dinners at my place are currently off I've had projects spread everywhere. As a number have reached completion I had a bit of a tidy-up. That pile of hoops and frames on the spare bed is now packed. into bags or units and stowed away, left over threads distributed with others of their kind and cards in piles. 

I had also neglected my Book Club picks in my project frenzy, and we meet next Sunday, so I’ve got 2 books to read this week. I was already reading Daffodils and Deadly Deeds, so finished it yesterday and read Garry Disher's Mischance Creek  today, for Book Club. I'll try to get on to the other, Melaleuca, tomorrow. I am ignoring the piles waiting for my exploration of Anglo-Saxon Embroidery, and Women in the British Secret Service! 

The cushion backs arrived today and were all I hoped for: quality linen and easy to apply. The time taken to add the border paid off. The size is good. I had a spare plump filler, and the cushion now provides company for the Elsa Williams crewel bluebird I completed in 2014

Once the cushion was in place I took myself down to my Podiatrist to deliver her the last of my Voices of Women bags, following our recent conversation about life choices. When I got there, the place was closed. Curious, until I realised it was lunchtime. 

The Greek restaurant is a few doors away, so I treated myself to their lunch special - crisp barramundi on a fabulous salad of heritage tomatoes, capsicum and olives., after which the podiatry clinic was open and I delivered the bag.

Now that the Annual Christmas Pageant has brought Santa to Adelaide our Christmas box is back in the Square.

At the eastern end of the apartment, the silhouette of a rosella echoes the shape of the bluebirds.  

Post611 Creativity and Helpfulness.

 

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I was just getting out of the shower on Thursday morning when I caught a glimpse of colour and movement in the native frangipani tree outside. I grabbed a towel and my DSLR and managed to get quite a few shots of a single Adelaide Rosella feasting in the flower-laden native frangipani. 

They don’t come often, so I was in luck.

Early the same morning I woke to a brief pre-dawn glow which I also captured. 

Just before I left for Pilates I had another request for phone help from my neighbour. We caught up when I returned in the late afternoon. By then the problem, whatever it was, wasn’t evident. She thought she was missing phone calls. We spent a pleasant hour catching up without finding a problem. We did solve the problem of her fearing my personal files had somehow leaked into her email. She had clicked on the website link in my signature!

She had bought me a bunch of flowers for all my help. The look fabulous in the shell vase - such a vibrant colour! She has also bought herself a little counted Aida embroidery kit, so I don’t think this will be the last call for help, although she does seem to understand charts.

On Friday Simela called to say the slate frame I had enquired about had just arrived.

 I had planned to go grocery shopping but went straight to Create in Stitch and picked up a 60” slate frame, coming home to set it up and move the needlepoint on to it. I mounted it with the whole canvas visible as I was working a border. I spent most of the weekend working on it, blocking it around 6pm on Sunday. Detail in my embroidery blog.

It was wet on Monday. I began sorting out my Christmas cards, went looking for a glue stick, and ended up sorting out all my embroidery hoops and frames. I identified all the pieces  of the first stand I ever bought, a large oval one from Victoria House in Berrima. I haven’t used it in decades but it was a very good tool. On the pillow is another large wooden stand superseded by my Lowery. In addition to the slate frame, there are a couple of lap stands and a variety of frames and hoops. Some are now organised in bags and I'm looking for bags - which i intend to label - for the other piles. I had three roller frames, which will go to the Guild trading table tomorrow. a small reduction. It seems I need to do this exercise a bit more frequently to stay on top of my possessions. 

The apartment is looking like a messy studio. In addition to frames, hoops, stands and a blocking cushion, there are Christmas cards, a half-knitted cardigan front measuring against the finished back and a tote bag. One of the things about living alone is that the your lliving room is shared only when you have visitors. I have another week before I pack it all away. 

Today I dashed out to Create In Stitch to pick up a copy of Crewel Work Then and Now, but the copies weren't in. I've put in my order and can wait. From there I had a podiatrist appointment which resulted in a serious discussion about the pros and cons of political involvement and ambition. My feet have improved.

I have delayed posting this again tonight as I wanted to finish the names of the female bishops on the second side of the tote bag.  It's done. I have some unexpected questions about it. Do I add a row of mitres and crossiers? Are the faces too unhappy? Do I have copyright issues if I photograph and print from it? It's WES Group tomorrow. They'll help.

I received news this week that my last remaining uncle (aged 91) had died. It's good to be surrounded by creativity and helpfulness.