Post 543 My chair is back!

The big event of the week was the return of my chair - re-overed, comfortable, clean and smoothly delivered to its customary place by 9am on Friday. It even has removable arm covers, neatly held in place by an inconspicuous swivel button on each outer arm.  It's great to have it back. It is the most comfortable and supportive chair I have.

The idea of the matching cushion was to replace one, a kantha embroidery on a green ikat background, that clashed a bit with the maroon cover on the couch. 

Once the new cushion arrived, I almost immediately set to work to remove the embroidery from it's ikat background and washed it ready to transfer. It took a while to dry, but before I went to bed I was able to pin it on. 

On either sofa or chair it was going to work! I went to bed happy. Over the weekend I stitched the Kantha on to the cushion by hand. It was a bit awkward to do, working with one hand inside the cushion cover. I had a bit of undoing to keep it straight.  I think it works on either chair.

I used the last of a roll of thread I inherited from my maternal grandmother. It was in her sewing kit when she died. This is the cardboard cylinder in the centre. The company seems to have been taken over by Coats, still in Seven Hills. My grandmother would, I think, be pleased to know her thread was useful in my home.

Wednesday was World Embroidery Study Group day at the Guild. Arrienne, who is a long-term member of the Guild's Museum team, talked to us about the Signature Cloths, in particular, a History Trust project the Guild undertook a few years ago, to catalogue Signature Cloths in South Australia. Over 150 were identified and catalogued, containing some 37,000 signatures, Most are held in local museums, belonging to organisations, families of local councils.  A spin-off from autograph collection, Signature cloths were used for fundraising, memorials or celebrations. Invities signed their names on fabric and a needleworker embroidered over the ink signature with thread. 

This is a sample of signatures on a 1901 cloth from Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills. The catalogue and photos are available on the Guild Museum Website

It was an engaging and informative presentation. Few of us had any idea of the scope of the project and its cultural significance.

The Agave at the Pilates Studio has opened a bit further at the lower levels.  The bees are loving it.

I took the opportunity to visit Queen St Cafe for a lime milkshake. The chef had left for the day, but the owner made me a ham and cheese croissant. 

I accepted the quote for my fabric blind. It's likely to take about 6 weeks to make.

Late on Friday afternoon we got a message to say there was no free-to-air television coverage in the building, presumably caused by damage to the rooftop aerial. Someone was booked to fix at at 11am on Monday. 

Fortunately I can access live television via my Apple Box.  I nevertheless watched 3 episodes of British Gardens in Time on Britbox. I found them surprisingly interesting. I really like history through a specific lens, and this proved to be just that. The aerial was restored yesterday. I watched the final episode last night. I recommend it to anyone interested in social history (or gardens!),

In my little patch of garden things are responding to the rain. The poinsettia that blew right out of the soil is justifying its rescue..

There were 4 of us for dinner last night. Anthony was at home dealing with urgent aircon issues. The vegetable and sausage bake proved pretty easy to prepare and to eat. This time I used potato, carrot, parsnip, capsicum, fennel, brussel sprouts, an apple, some broccolini and a sprinkle of fetta before serving - a bit of a combination of recipes. One of the benefits of this dish is the choice it gives individuals. Katherine and I ate the brussel sprouts! 

We had a wide ranging conversation, and it was only this morning, after I woke up for the 5th morning in a row with lower back pain, that the significance of the discussion about beds hit me. I've been focused on  my sleeping position and hadn't considered that the bed might be the problem (duh!). It doesn't seem saggy but must be close to 20 years old.  It's queen size, and I have only turned the mattress once in the last few years, because I can't do it on my own, and it's never convenient or on my mind when there is anyone here to help.  To see if I could somehow swivel the mattress, I moved the bed on its castors away from the wall, Only then did it occur to me that, while I couldn't lift or swivel the mattress, I could swivel the  bed! 

That done, I remade the bed the other way around. It means no valance at the bottom of the bed (since I can't lift the mattress to change the valance). The quilt isn't long enough to cover it, but the cotton underblanket is - and I'm not that houseproud anyway. Looking at  it anew, the side on which I have been sleeping is noticeably lower than the other.

I am working out the logistics of buying a new mattress, but in the meantime, I will be interested to see how my back is tomorrow morning.

I have undertaken to talk to the World Embroidery Study Group in September about Phoebe Anna Traquair, whose embroidered panels, now in the Edinburgh Museum, were the subject of a class at the Crewel Work Company's Embroidery Tour of Scotland I attended in 2015. It's been a while since I thought about this, so I've been revisiting it, reading the two books I have (thank you, Christine, for one of them - it has been put to very good use, and brings back memories of some good times we shared).

I got entirely absorbed in it for hours today. My PowerPoint is underway and I am enjoying refreshing and updating my understanding. 

Last, but by no means least, the knitting!  I'm not as advanced as I would have been without Phoebe Anna, but I am now on the final reduction for the raglan part of the sleeeve.  The photo shows the current piece, on the needle, against the other sleeve

About 60 rows to go, but they are reducing rapidly. I should be well into the front edging by next week. 

My comfortable, supportive chair will hopefully get a bit of use.

Post 482 Pass with a Push

Wednesday began with my experiment to get my Crewel chair into my car. Before breakfast (nothing but reading happens before breakfast!) I measured the chair and the hatch opening. When the results were promising I worked out how to put down the back seats in my car. This involved reading the manual (a first), turning the engine on, putting the car into Park, and pulling, not pushing, the buttons on the seat backs. Success!

I then found the old wheels we used to carry with us when travelling, to mount suitcases before they were conveniently made with wheels. The attached bungee cord didn't reach all the way around so had to be held in my hand, but the device worked well enough for me to get the chair down in the lift and into the car.

I'm grateful to Fionn and to Margaret, both of whom offered to help. The chair is now safely delivered and receipted, along with the reversible apron.

Before leaving home I had attempted to retrieve something dropped behind a cupboard and in the process knocked over a standard lamp, breaking the shade. After dropping off the chair I went to a light shop with the neck of the broken shade to find a replacement. They didn't have one that fitted, but directed me to an antique dealer. 

When I visited later in the day, she turned out to have the most extraordinary collection of light shades - thousands. She found 3 that matched the size. I chose one. When I got it home and tried it, I  it fits, but not snuggly. The rim on the original, I realised, had been trimmed with a glass cutter! Untrimmed it wobbles slightly, but won't fall off. I don't use the lamp much so I'm hoping it will pass muster (or, as my mother would have said, 'pass with a push').

From the antique shop I dropped into Create in Stitch, 10 minutes before closing time, and grabbed a packet of the appliqué pins they advertised that day. I then used my phone to book myself into a Covid booster at the Central Market Pharmacy. It seems the vaccine, which was approved as a fourth booster from this week, is in short supply, and only a few pharmacies have it. My regular one doesn't have it. It's a while since I used the Market Pharmacy, which has expanded. They were efficient, meticulous with checking, recording, delivery and follow up.  The temperature was by this time 37C so I went home, made a coffee and stitched, very pleased with myself. 

On Thursday morning I discovered that the vaccine I received doesn't cover the very latest variants. A vaccine that does should be available in a couple of weeks time! I am very annoyed at the poor public information. I had planned to begin swimming again. Now I'm not sure.

The temperature reached 41C on both Thursday and Friday. It was still 31C at 6.50am on Friday when I took this photo. Relief came around 6pm with a cool change off the sea just as I was leaving a friend's place at Grange. I arrived home in time to open up the apartment as the change moved through the city.

I had been to the Grange Hotel for a Salt & Pepper Squid lunch, so had a bowl of carrot salad for dinner and a long talk to my brother about one of his latest research projects. Most of Saturday was followup.  It's been lovely to have the place open again,  breezes through, less plant watering, more energy, reading, research and stitching.

I've finished another cushion for Brigid and another baby's cardigan for the Guild. 

Brigid's cushion has inspired me to start another for myself - using up the last Dijanne Cevaal panel I have.         I need to start the Glazig embroidery soon ready for WES in April.

I've also booked into two Guild classes later in the year - and to three Adelaide Chamber Singers concerts - a toe into the waters of pre-Covid activity.

I'm enjoying the  cooler weather - mid 20sC this week. Along with great company, it made for a pleasant dinner last night. 

I tidied my pots and replaced a few plants today, inspired by this morning's eastern sky, and perhaps also by the gardening theme in the cosy The Village Mysteries I am reading.  

Encouraged by the progress of the plants in clay beads, and the advice of a friend, I'm trying one in water - in a bottle Jim bought many decades ago.  

Here's hoping - and experimenting.

The western sky at sunset bookends the day.

Post 335 Chair and Birds

 

I began the morning reading Catherine Aird's The Late Phoenix, the fourth in her Inspector Sloan series set in the fictional village of Berebury, West Calleshire, England around the end of the 60s or early 70s.                                                                                                                                                                                            This is the first I have read and so far it's promising.                                                                                                                        Eventually I dragged my self away from the book to have a go at adding the Phoenix and Lady Ann's Flowers to my chair before going to Pilates.

The chair is here tipped on its side so I could pin the pieces on.

I got the cover off fairly easily. The tricky bit is manoeuvring the awkwardly shaped cover around under the sewing machine and keeping the panels quite flat. I did need to undo a few centimetres at the end to adjust, but it went as smoothly as I could have hoped.

More surprisingly,  I got it back on the chair without much difficulty.  

The remaining space is for the Aesop Frame.

From the sewing machine, I could see black tips reproaching me for the absence of seed. He flew off, but I hastened out to water the plants, fill the water bowl and put out seed, before rushing off to Pilates.

Martine was ill today. Even well established routines are usually a bit more demanding with a new instructor and it was so today - a good thing.

I went on from Pilates to Unley Village, posted a parcel, got my moisturiser, pasta and meat.

The first floor was being poured on the building site next door - a big job. The floor covers the whole site, so the pourer crane and the cement mixers were going constantly. I didn't find the noise (which emanates from the engines at ground level working the crane and mixer) too bad at the back of the apartment, where I was working. One floor down, seven to go.

The philodendron given to me for Christmas has developed new leaves. Outside, on the Western balcony  a few plants were drooping in the 31C heat and needed water. 

I phoned the periodontist rooms today and asked them to put me on the waiting list for any 50 minute cancellations in 13 days until my appointment. The ache in my tooth is intermittent and bearable but it seems sensible to accelerate the extraction if possible. The receptionist was helpful. 

I am now working on my Nicola blue wren.  So far I've used Madeira silk and Madeira metallic threads, a little Cascade House silk and some DMC Etoile.

There's a way to go. Tomorrow is Sit'n Stitch. Maybe I'll take this along. I want to finish this one before I start Aesop.

Post 277 Farewells, Finishes and Fabricated walls

  

I've chosen to start with the (interim) finish today. It speaks of hope and promise as well as history.  The Oak Apple blocking was dry this morning so I took the cover off my crewel chair and arranged the three small pieces on the skirt. I had always intended to use the machine to attach these. It took a bit of manoeuvring, but wasn't too difficult.  

I had originally intended to stitch the feathers around the top by hand,  but decided to try machining them, for strength as much as speed.         

It was an awkward task. My machine is not built for the thickness of upholstery. I got it done  by the end of the day.   The hardest part is getting the cover back on the chair. It's a very tight fit, and no stretch or give in the fabric.. 

 

It's now ready for the last three pieces on the back. Two of those are on their way from The Crewel Work Company, and the last, the Aesop Frame, is ordered. Maybe I can wait till all three are finished before attempting to add any more to the chair. That way I'll only have to take the cover off once more!                              

The most significant part of today was the private farewell to Susan Monks, a gathering of 20 or so family and friends at a White Lady Chapel. Jennifer had prepared cards as a memento and thank you - a lovely gesture and a fine photo for the purpose. 

Jennifer spoke briefly, there was a comfortable Quaker-like silence and we placed gum leaves on the casket.

Vale Susan, friend and colleague.

I had a long conversation with my brother as he drove home from a gig. There's always so much to talk about. How fortunate are we after more than 70 years! 

The building work next door is gaining momentum. Walls are going up - some of them very close to my Eastern balcony. It this corner goes up the full 9 storeys of the building it will block part of my view to the South East.

There is nothing I can do about this but I can change the view I have to the South East from the chair just inside my bedroom, looking over the balcony. I spend time in the chair in the mornings when the light is excellent.. I've worked out a way of shifting a couple of pieces of furniture so my view from the chair is to the North, East where, if it progresses in that corner, the building will not be in my view. I might see if my mattress-turning granddaughters  are up for furniture shifting.

In between these activities today I have plugged away at the sashiko panel I started yesterday. I really love the way the patterns emerge. Even though you can see the printed pattern on the fabric, the intricacies don't emerge until you stitch. I especially like the way the star points emerge at the centre of the figures, and sometimes you see circles and sometimes flowers.

I have a couple of ideas about how to use it. I’ll sleep on it.

Post 266 A strange and sad day

There was a line of cloud over the Hills this morning. Perhaps an omen.

It has been an extraordinary day on many fronts. 

I had a wonderful 2 hour phone conversation with my friend Deirdre in Lismore, NSW. We have been friends since high school and remain on the same wavelength. There was a lot to catch up on and the time flew by. Somehow we get to the things that really matter.

By the time I got off the phone, South Australia's Premier had announced the end of our lockdown from midnight Saturday. The exercise and dog-walking restrictions have been lifted immediately. There were three more positive cases today and still more expected. What has changed is the admission by one of the original contacts, that he lied to contact tracers. Rather than buying a pizza from the transmission hub, he had in fact been working there as a chef. The contract tracing has been highly effective and swift, but the level of contagion from that hub was a major factor in the lockdown. While this gives contact tracers another whole set of data to collect, it is no longer the level of contagion feared.

This has, of course, caused both rejoicing and recrimination. From midnight on Saturday we go back to our previous level of restriction - 4 square metres of space in restaurants, 100 at religious gatherings, 10 in homes, etc etc. My Sunday morning book club is back on. 

I'm really grateful that our State government has been open and upfront about this. It is terrible that businesses and workers have lost money and been restricted, but good it has been curtailed in the light of this information. It's also good that our contact tracing has been so professional and thorough and based on the best available information. Presumably the lie was related to how legal the employment arrangements might have been - and that needs to be addressed in a number of ways. 

I haven't, to date, discussed Covid arrangements and the debates around them in this blog. This extraordinary development  dominated today to such an extent I couldn't ignore it.

Within, it seemed, minutes of the announcement of the lifting of the outdoor exercise ban, there were people walking and riding in the parks, beaches and streets - but keeping distance and mostly wearing masks. The traffic, however was very quiet for a Friday night.

While following the developments throughout the day I finished the Stag. I'm pleased with this piece. I tried it where it is to go on the chair, along with the Rabbits piece of the same size.

I have started on the Oak Apple Tree which is to go between these two pieces. Once this is done, and these pieces attached, I am only left with the two pieces ordered for the back of the chair- and any gap filling required.

This was where this post was going to end. There was, however, further unexpected, un-ignorable development. 

Jennifer's partner, Susan Monks, died unexpectedly this evening. She had been admitted to hospital earlier this afternoon and had a fatal heart attack tonight. Jennifer was with her. She is, understandably, distraught.  Susan was an extraordinarily intelligent and capable woman and educator. 

It has been the worst possible year for Jennifer. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Post 237 Foot and mouth

This fabric arrived yesterday from Tessuti fabrics in Sydney. I had ordered it last Thursday when I got their newsletter with new fabrics. It is Italian linen, called “Moroccan tiles”. I thought it would make another lovely tote bag, with a hexagonal embroidery in the middle, so ordered half a metre. It was sold out within 24 hours. Described as medium weight, it is lighter than I anticipated. I’m not sure if it is heavy enough for what I had in mind. It will certainly line something or complement an embroidery.

I had two appointments today, podiatrist at 10.40am and dentist at 3.45pm. After the podiatrist I went to Unley shopping centre to drop off my soft plastic recycling and do some grocery shopping. From there I went on to Barrow and Bench hardware to check out their plants and buy a small broom for my back balcony. They had some tubes of white and red pig face which I thought would fill a gap in my wall garden, hopefully they will spread and fill the gaps.  I also bought this sunflower that’s beginning to flower.

There wasn't really enough time between the two outings to get seriously stuck into stitching. Read a little of The Ghost It Was,  a recent reprint of a Golden Age crime novel by Richard Hull, and did a little jewellery mending.

I have been wearing this necklace given to me by the girls. It goes really well with the top I bought a week or so ago. Unfortunately, the tie-off of the thread on which the beads are strung is tied off with protruding ends that stick into my skin. I went hunting for crimps amongst my bead supplies, but no luck. I will get some at the bead shop in Norwood when  I am there on Sunday.

Amongst my beading things was a shell and greenstone necklace needing a replacement link so I fixed that one. Some progress anyway.

Luckily for me, the postman delivered a parcel before I went to the dentist, saving me a trip to the post office, since the parcel didn't fit in my letterbox. These are Snag tights, made by a Scottish company, but seemingly distributed in Australia from Melbourne. I can't work out where the parcel originated. The label had been pasted over another. I suspect it originated in another country, was sent to a depot in Melbourne, relabelled and mailed to Adelaide, travelling via Sydney. They are great colours, and claim to be vegan friendly and made sustainably but there is no information about origin on their website. I'll try one pair out on Friday for Pilates. 

It was a mild sunset, no bats when this was taken. The wide tree on the right is the top of the Morton Bay Fig where they roost. The twin Norfolk Pine looked like needle lace tonight.

I spent several hours working on the oak stem tonight, awkwardly stitching through the chair cover. Some of the stitches are hard to achieve without a hoop and the capacity to stab rather than scoop.  I'm satisfied with the result. I think I will need to dampen the cover and put it into the cushion to dry - a form of blocking

The Crewel Interest Group meets tomorrow at the Guild and I plan to go. Now this is finished (except, of course, for the two Rabbits at Dawn panels along the front face of the cushion!) I will work on the last Tumbling Feather