Post 519 Productive - but too sedentary!

On Wednesday I had lunch with friends at Balaboosta, a long block away from my apartment. I hadn't been there before, but it is highly popular, especially for wood oven pizza. Our carpark door was once again being repaired, so cars couldn't be moved in or out between 9.30am and 3.30pm - a good incentive for me to walk, rather than try to find street parking all day.

It was a chance to admire the gardens on the way. I especially liked this crepe myrtle. 

I loved our catchup lunch. We sat just inside - a bit noisy, but we managed to talk non-stop. 

The bookmarks I had ordered in honour of my Canberra trip arrived on Thursday before Pilates. I'm delighted with them. The water dragon one is spectacular.

I've been working on my presentation on Mexican Embroidery - which is, of course, a huge topic. I am attempting a very broad overview, with a general history of the culture - and a hope some WES members will be interested enough to take up specific components (or even plan a visit!). The Guild Museum has several relevant items, which I'm hoping the Museum team will have time to ferret out for us.

Friday was a roughly quarterly lunch with a group of long-term work-related friends, this time at Sean's Kitchen in a large, now unused, section of the Adelaide Railway Station.The company and the food was terrific. The service was good. The noise level, however, was disturbing. There are a lot of tables, and several large groups ( some associated with the West Indies test cricket match on in Adelaide at the moment) but none of them were talking loudly. The acoustics, probably related to the hard surfaces and the huge vaulted ceiling, would have been great for a choral concert, but terrible for a restaurant. It didn't stop us catching up on the numerous travels and adventures of each of us, I rarely have an entree these days but I couldn't resist the Whipped Cod Roe. I love roe, and rarely find it on menus. I wasn't disappointed, and my Orgy of Mushrooms, with ricotta gnocchi was fabulous.  The Maple ice cream (first ice cream in 3 years) topped it off.  I paid the price in a 1kg weight  gain the next day, which I have now managed to lose.

I went to and from lunch on the City Loop Bus, giving me a chance to photograph the hub of the Tour Down Under as we detoured around one of the road blocks it has occasioned. 

As we returned to the Square I could see that the young Norfolk pines planted a few years ago have thrived. It won't be long before they match the older trees.

Vivienne has given me these Sashiko table pieces over my last two birthdays. Last year we both bought the mats, while she has finished hers, I've been distracted. Inspired, I have now started on mine and have figured out how to create a full table setting. More will be revealed, but many thanks to Vivienne. 

I get by with a little help from my friends.

It's really lovely to see the change as you stitch Sashiko, It's like a landscape emerging and changing. Soothing.

In the early part of the week I remade a skirt into a bag for my daughter - the kind of project I love. Details in my embroidery blog.

Late on Saturday I paused my Sashiko (and my knitting) to take up, for the presentation, a Mexican-inspired sampler which is a free download on the V&A website. The design is by Xinyi Li, MA Fashion Curation, London College of Fashion University of the Arts London. Although the instructions are to transfer the patterns on to linen, they are clearly meant for even-weave counted work, so I used a piece of 25 count linen - producing a larger sampler than the instructions. I don't think I need to work all the designs for the purpose of my presentation, so I have made a selection. I marked out the space with tacking, not easy when the stitches on the diagram don't correspond to the graph lines! A pattern, however, is emerging nicely.

In an effort to avoid a completely sedentary weekend, on Sunday I finally unpacked the carpet shampooer I bought weeks ago. It has been sitting in its unopened box just inside my door. To my surprise (call me Prepared for the Worst) it assembled really easily and quickly and within about 20 minutes I had the water solution in it, rugs folded back, carpets vacuumed and was shampooing carpet! I didn't achieve the 20sq metres on one water tank it claims, but I was getting the hang of it and being thorough. I did the areas of my living room that get the most traffic - probably about 12 sq metres - on a tank of water. 

I had a sugarless lemon soda to recover, then refilled the water tank and did the most trafficked areas of my bedroom. Similar result. It was easy, the used water very dirty - and the carpet looks clean! 

The tank is now empty and clean. The whole machine is stowed in the back of my wardrobe out of the way until I use it again. I reckon if I do the main areas every 2 months the carpet will look (and be) clean. So much easier than getting in carpet cleaners and moving all the furniture at once. Thank you Pat for assuring me it would work!

While Saturday was very hot, Sunday was pleasant at 27C and a breeze. The Mandevilla is looking splendid (a lot of water). It kept me company briefly on Sunday while I read a little more of The Gilded Page. I'm enjoying the stories of the workers behind the earliest English manuscripts, especially the women, whose contributions have been lost, ignored or, in some cases, deliberately erased from the record. I've ordered a copy of The Book of Margery Kempe and am considering pre-ordering a copy of the paperback version of The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscript Club which it seems will be available in August.  Seems I'm down a manuscript rabbit hole.

While I've really enjoyed spending so much time embroidering this week, I've been getting pain in my back and thighs, related to sciatica, and I suspect piriformis syndrome, partially caused by sitting too long, so I have been using my Everfit vibrating plate, cold compresses, and made an effort to get out yesterday, 

visiting Barrow and Bench hardware for a stick-on hook to replace one that fell off (after 8 years) and to buy a few replacement balcony plants, in spite of 32C. 

 

I was fortunately home to receive the delivery of wool for Kaffe Fassett's Andes cardigan. It's a bit hot to begin it at the moment, which will give me time to finish the projects I'm working on.

Today it reached 42C. I managed an 8 minute session on my Everfit vibration plate and an Aquafit session. Before driving home from the last, I got  a message telling me our apartment lift wasn't working.

I was expecting a parcel in the mail and didn't want to walk up and down the stairs twice, but fortunately, as I parked at home, the postman arrived with the first of my ebony knitting needle sets, so I walked up the stairs prepared to stay put for the rest of the day. Within ten minutes of my getting into my apartment the lift was working again! 

Je ne regrette rien! I'm in the cool, I have the latest Inspirations magazine, my lovely needles in their Khadi silk case (a handwoven cotton/silk/wool blend  trademarked by the Indian Government and lovely to hold),  I've done more exercise than usual and the temperature is forecast to drop tomorrow. In spite of the heat  I've  almost finished the knitting the prayer shawl - about 10 rows to go.  It will look a lot better when blocked - hopefully in the next day or two.

Post 438 Satisfying but Tiring Week.

It's been a busy week one way and another.

On Wednesday the much awaited lunch actually took place! John, being the gentleman and caring friend he is, brought flowers as well as champagne.

The moussaka was excellent and the gingerbread well received. There were little bears as well as angels. I invoked the angels to make sure we did get to meet this time! 

Cathy bought me a plant, an Almanda Blue, a form of lobelia I had admired at her place. I don't have a photo, but it is on my eastern balcony in a tray of water as it needs to be kept damp. Here's hoping I can grow it into its full glory.

It was a relaxed and sustaining afternoon and lilies have opened, providing continuous interest and joy. 

My Thursday optometrist appointment brought some sobering news. The eye treatment we have been following has modified the condition but not prevented it advancing to a stage of beginning to damage my cornea, so I now have an appointment with an eye surgeon in ten day's time to see if further intervention is required.  My Pilates class was taken by Leanne, the owner, because my instructor's teenage son has Covid. Leanne is always interesting - she always varies standard routines with additional challenges very specifically focused on each individual.  

Inevitably, the wine I had succumbed to ordering from a promotional phone call arrived while I was at Pilates, so was taken to the Post Office for me to pick up. Ironically, I'd have been home to receive it if I hadn't stopped at the PO on the way home to send a letter by express post!

I also had a phone call from the agency that supplies my cleaner, to say they are branching into carpet cleaning. Since I still haven't heard back from the carpet cleaner who visited my 2 months ago, I made a booking, which was today. 

This is the first time I have lived in a carpeted home - and the first time I've had the carpets cleaned - so I could only follow instructions to prepare. I was up early this morning to move all my indoor plants, small furniture, ornaments and sundry bits on to the balconies, bathrooms or kitchen. When Matt, the carpet cleaner arrived, we moved chairs and a bit more furniture. He cleaned all my carpets - 3 bedrooms, hall and living room and the arms of my 3 seater lounge. 

After getting him settled, I went out and came back when it was dry.  It took about an hour to move everything back in but it looks fresh and clean. I now need to do this regularly.

While it was being done, I went to the State Library to meet Michael, a man who went to Teachers' College with John, my lily-bearing friend above. Michael runs a weekly program on community radio, in which he interviews people and tells their stories. He has done several hundred broadcasts. When Michael asked if he could interview John, the latter deflected him to me - arguing my Baby Boomer Teacher book would be of interest. Michael meets with his subjects 2 times to get to know them, before recording an interview. I agreed to meet him today - and ended up spending two and a half hours sharing stories. Our second meeting is next week. John will keep!

While I was on this organisational roll, I ordered a Sutton Hoo Beastmaster kit from Tanya Bentham. This is an indulgence, but I plan to talk about Sutton Hoo in my Anglo-Saxon embroidery presentation later this year, and this looks like a good example, not of Anglo-Saxon Embroidery, but of Anglo-Saxon design being repurposed to a different craft form. Left is the Sutton-Hoo original in metal work and garnet and right is Tanya's embroidery kit version.

My Guild mate Margaret Morgan finished her knitted Shetland Shawl. The size isn't discernible from the photo but it is around 90cm square. I love the work and the colour.     

I finished the horse blanket (perhaps I should call it the pretty little horses blanket!) and consulted with Margaret about washing out the solvi. Her advice was sound, nothing ran the folds came out, solvi dissolved and the blanket is clean and ready to gift. It is very hard to photograph. I will publish a bit more detail tomorrow in my embroidery blog.

I managed to add the pocket to the second of my summer dresses that I dragged out last week. It's called spot the pocket!

Yesterday the fire alarm went off in our apartments just before 2pm. I evacuated down the stairs with my handbag, meeting up with 11 other residents on the footpath as the fire brigade came within minutes, blocking the road when they could find no parking space. 

After about 15 minutes of checking, they concluded it was a malfunction caused by pressure in the water pipes in our carpark - presumably related to sprinkler systems.  

I was pleased to back inside in time to turn my oven on for Monday dinner! It is reassuring to have such prompt service.

I'm a bit late posting this. I haven't had a lot of time to pull it together today. It has been that kind of week!