Post 588 Nature and Nurture

 

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Sadness and reflection have lurked, kept at bay by routine activity, many conversations and flora. My sincere thanks to friends and family for sustaining messages of support. 

When the window cleaner left on Wednesday, the 11th anniversary of Jim's death, I visited Centennial Park Cemetery. As ever, the gardens are beautiful and the bird sounds around his Banksia Court area are uplifting and life-affirming.

The tree over Jim's ashes (right) is thriving as are the succulents. I take a couple of extra cuttings from my pots each time I visit. Some strike, some don’t.

The tree is laden with gumnuts.

I spent a bit of gentle time helping Barbara with forms, also with my daughters remembering times we spent with Ken and sharing photos. Health permitting, we will attend his funeral later in the week. 

Routines continue. My airconditioning unit was serviced - more thoroughly than ever before, every outlet checked, as well as motor, valves and electronics. The serviceman also checked and clarified how the bathroom extraction fans operate. When his report arrives I shall pass it on to the electrician who is still working on quotes.

On Friday I had Xrays and scans on a lump that has developed on my left foot. It turns out to be a ganglion. Benign - leave alone unless it rubs on shoe, when it can be injected. I seem to be prone to these. I had one removed below my ear when I was about 9 years old as well as the one recently removed from my hand for the second time.  At least I don't stitch or open jars with my foot.

I gave embroidery priority to the Kasia Jacquot bags, written up in my embroidery blog.

I have several more of these to go, and am really enjoying them.

I also bought a yarn pack for this year's Shetland Wool Week beanie. I had resolved to try it in two colours only, but when Yarn Trader offered a Jamieson and Smith pack I quickly grabbed one, but haven't started it.

I have been asked to be the after dinner speaker at the Guild's Country Conference, being held at Guild premises in the city in late July. Organisers are interested in the World Embroidery Study Group talks, so I've provided a list and agreed to do any of them. 

The last Saturday of the month is the St Margaret's Church Market so I headed off early in that direction, but a bit further, to West Lakes, to buy a double contour latex pillow recommended by physiotherapists (and hard to find in Adelaide) before calling at the church for plants. 

I haven't filled all my empty pots, but these (left )went some way towards restoring the balcony garden afree our hot summer. I had to empty old soil into compost bags and dispose of them before I could repot. 

Adding a couple of pots of blooms from a nursery (right) also helped. These have yet to be planted. There's a lot more to do over coming weeks, but recovery is well underway. .

There were interesting discussions at Book Club on Sunday, in particular relating to The Thrill of It by Mandy Beaumont. This is fiction 'loosely' based on a court case in which a man was convicted of murdering 6 'grannies'. The author has said she wrote it to give a voice to the victims and their surviving descendants. I ( and others in the Book Club) thought she gave a much more powerful voice to the perpetrator. I have always opposed censorship. If I had an incinerator I would have burnt my copy of this book. I felt contaminated by it. I do not want to be inside this man's head. I certainly don't want even a fictionalised version of him inside mine. Fictionalising true crime raises many issues.

I had time to think on it as I made moussaka on Sunday afternoon. I used pecorino in the sauce rather than kefalograviera. Pecorino isn't easily available in supermarkets, but kefalograviera is much harder to find. I also decided my usual 6 eggs was over the top, and settled for 4. While most of the dish disappeared, I think it was a bit sloppy. I'll return to 6 eggs in future. It was great to have a full 7 at dinner, and I extended the table with help from Brigid. I had a great conversation with Fionn about what he learned from his recent work placement.

This morning my fortnightly cleaners did their usual thorough and efficient job, before insisting on moving the extended table and quite heavy chairs to remove creases from the rug beneath. They don't like imperfection, and worry about me tripping. What service!

A dove is visiting again, choosing the only eastern balcony planter that needs a new plant. Maybe I should leave it free for doves.

At the hairdresser today, prompted by a discussion about unsolved Adelaide crimes, I explained my feelings about our recent Book Club read. 

My hairdresser's suggestion, which I came home and enacted, was to tear the book up and put it in the recycling to be transformed into something else. A few pages went into the compost bin, the rest to recycling. Job done.

It's been a week full of greenery and flowers. These flowers arrived from the Attorney General’s Department at the beginning of the week to thank me for the beanies. They are lasting really well, brightening my extended table - and my extended contemplations. 

Gratias.🙏

Post 558 Floe and Flow(n).

On Wednesday morning I caught a glimpse of the two blackbird chicks waiting eagerly for their food delivery which my presence at the window had delayed.  The father had arrived but flew off as soon as I moved to take a photo.

On Thursday morning I looked up from my breakfast to see one chick standing high in the nest. I snapped a quick photo through the glass.  Within seconds it flew away.

My photo caught the beginning of the flight - not an award-winning photo, but nevertheless a captured moment. There did not appear to be another fledgling left in the nest.  The flight took the young bird well clear of my balcony, in the direction of the trees behind.

It seems I captured his/her flying the nest. They have not been back and the nest appears empty. There seems to be some expert disagreement about whether or not they will use the nest again, or come back to the same area. Guess I'll find out.

To complete the transition, within a couple of hours, a magpie visited for water. Soon the doves were back. The coast, it appears, is clear for other birds.

After successfully swivelling the mattress on my new bed as recommended, I spent most of Wednesday (in between checking the balcony for any activity in the nest) completing the gift project I began last week. Now it is in the hands of the intended recipient I can reveal it is Floe, the penguin doorstop from the cover of Inspirations No 123.  It's been a great project to work on. Details, of course, in my embroidery blog.

On a 'complete-a-project' roll, I finished the embroidered flowers I  began several months ago on Ink and Spindle linen for  yet another tote bag (bottom left in composite photo). On Thursday I ironed several lengths of linen, and cut out lining for 3 bags that I had in pieces.  Over Friday and Saturday I stitched them. The Flannel Flower one in the lower right is embroidered a little on both sides, the other two, only on one side. The blue bird is a Nicola Jarvis design repurposed from a worn out bag. I experimented with this one, creating a bag with a zipped top and a shoulder strap. Again, details in my embroidery blog.

 

A completely different 'complete-a-project' involved recycling plastic bottle lids I have been collecting for 3-4 years. I had intended to take them to an Adelaide City Council recycling station, but when I checked, they no longer had a  specific collection box for plastic lids. Further investigation revealed instructions to place the lids inside a plastic milk container and put the full container into the regular recycle rubbish collection. Sorters can see the lids in the milk container and easily direct them appropriately. This seems an ingenious solution for the smaller soft drink lids, but I couldn't see it working for the milk bottle lids.  It didn't take me long, however, to work out that if I used my faithful Stanley knife to cut a triangular flap in an empty soft drink bottle, I could fill it with the larger lids (which are used by several charities to make a variety of recycled plastic products). I was hoping I'd found a solution that is convenient to the recycling depot as well as me. A friend, however, assures me the larger lids can be forced into a milk bottle, so I'll try that next time I have an empty milk bottle.

The 'replant the empty pots' project continues. 

I was able to eat left-over Chicken and fried rice on Tuesday and Wednesday, so visited the Queen St Cafe after Pilates on Thursday for a milkshake and very late lunch. The lunch special was Marinated Rindless Pork Belly with Gingered Hoisin Sauce and Mango Salsa.  It was excellent. 

The jacarandas are in full bloom all around the city. I am intrigued as to why there is such variation in the colour, coverage and timing of the transitions from flowers to leaves. The explanation seems to lie in soil type and water, yet it’s hard to see how these two, side by side in a city street, could have such different conditions. I need to talk to one of the City Council gardeners! 

On Saturday morning while the Christmas Pageant was taking place in the CBD, not far from me, I did a big shop, mostly for the ingredients for Monday night's dinner -Crispy Gnocchi with Sausage and Broccoli - a  recipe from the New York Times suggested by Katherine, which proved to be a success, and will join the Monday night meal rota. 

Sunday was BookClub. We tried meeting in a cafe again, but didn't like it. The noise level in a popular cafe is not conducive to group discussion. We were agreed that The Death of Dora Black was interesting, but would have been better as history than fiction. Our second book,  In the Blink of an Eye is a really interesting projection of the use of AI, in the form of an avatar, in police crime solving. Next month we're retreating to a home.

I’ve finished another Galaxy Dreaming panel. It’s been my ‘grab and go’ while the more ambitious projects were happening. I have two more to go before making a tablecloth.

I’ve moved on to an Irish harp by be Alice. I could finish it tonight, but decided it would be a good project to work on tomorrow while performing my hostess duties at the Guild, so I’m back to knitting up the leftover Rowan wool.

My cleaners have COVID so today I vaccuumed. The making of bags and penguin had left a trail of threads, fabric scraps and crumbs (yes, a girl needs coffee and a biscuit while on a stitching binge) throughout the apartment - and repotting hadn’t helped.  Although it has rained on and off all day, the front balcony doesn't benefit, so I put the hose on again, this time pulling too hard and wetting the carpet in the sitting area. My brother had also requested some specific research, so that is what I was doing while the Melbourne Cup was being run. This bit of the nation, at least, was not stopped by the race.

There is also a curb-side pickup scheduled for tomorrow morning, with unwanted goods to go out from 4pm this afternoon. I'd been saving a few things in my carpark storage, so had to get them out and package them for leaving out with the threat of intermittent rain. It was fine at 4pm, so my old vacuum cleaner, mop, mattress protector (containing polyester which isn’t accepted by charities) and defunct light box are now all awaiting collection in the morning (mine circled). So far it hasn't rained since 4pm so they might stay dry.

I am still processing the recent deaths and illnesses in my small community.  This week there was an unexpected death in my extended family, a friend travelled to New Zealand for a funeral and a Book Club friend is having her bladder removed to counter a cancer diagnosis.  It feels a bit like an onslaught. 

I am fortunate to be alive, supported and in reasonable health. I am trying to make the most of every moment. 

Carpe diem.

Post 552 "The road goes ever on and on...

Although a couple of key members stayed away with colds (thank you!) from WES Group on Wednesday, 14 of us had a fine time hearing Barbara talk about the embroideries of four villages in Gujarat, which she visited several times, and examining a selection of the treasures she brought back.  

We also discussed at some length what we might do to record some of our memories of Lee to ensure her legacy is not lost. No decision as yet, but some possibilities to be further explored. It certainly helps to talk about it. Her funeral is on 27 September.

Nesting season is upon us. There are articles about avoiding being dive-bombed by Magpies (basically stay away from them for the next 4 weeks or learn to speak Magpie) but my balcony is host to less aggressively protective species.

The doves are puffing up to keep warm or feasting on the kalanchoe and a Rosella found a spot of sun above my balcony for a brief rest.

 

On Thursday  after Pilates I grabbed some lunch at Queen St Cafe before helping a friend with an insurance claim and staying for dinner. It was a good day - with more food than usual and great company.

On Friday I finally bit the bullet and got my tax information together. By cob I could email my accountant to request an appointment  (still no reply!) It's not an onerous task, just time-consuming and tedious. As I was on a roll, I spent Saturday sorting the wooden tray of receipts and to-be-filed documents. 

Before heading to family for dinner, I took a break to progress the Shetland beanie, only to discover I had skipped a section of the pattern, so undid the whole 5 rows I had achieved!   

Spring is very evident in Katherine's garden.

Sunday being a new day, I was  a woman on a mission,  summoning energy to don mask and gloves, open doors and pour chemical cleaner down my bathroom hand basin drain, following the instructions carefully, before heading out to the Jam Factory just after it opened. The basin has been draining slowly for a while but it was only after listening to the plumber working at the Guild a couple of weeks ago that I realised what I needed to do. As I had neglected this for years, I needed to leave the solution in the pipe for several hours before clearing with hot water, so figured I was best right out of the way.

At the Jam Factory I was in time to nab one of their four on-site parks,  find the gifts I was after, and visit the current Julie Blyfield exhibition, some of which I really liked, especially her pieces based around corals, a stunning combination of stitching and metal. It's the last week of the exhibition.

Back home I filed the results of Saturday’s sorting, prepared a package to be taken to the shredder, boiled rice to dry out for Monday’s dinner, had a long phone catchup with a Canberra friend, finished the drain process and knitted some correct pattern rows on the beanie. Amongst the discoveries in the filing are the beginnings of an inventory of my paintings, furniture and notes for a book I promised to help my brother with. At least they are now in a safe and accessible place (oh no, not that safe place again!).     

The small dot towards the top right hand corner of the sunset photo (above), taken at 6.50pm on Sunday, is, I'm fairly sure, Venus, the Evening Star, which, of course, put me in mind of Lord Tennyson. An appropriate sign at the end of the last couple of weeks. 

Meanwhile, today’s lunar eclipse occurred during the day here, so wasn't visible. The moon was particularly clear last night (right), while tonight (below) is the  glowing beginning of a super moon.

 

I’m curious to see what the Harvest Moon (northern hemisphere language: should probably be a Planting Moon!) on Sunday - the girls’ birthday.

Today I waited for postal deliveries before visiting friends. One was a Bothy Threads kit for - dare I say it - another cushion cover.  This one is of Bluebirds, for which I have a weakness. I sang Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover and Bluebird of Happiness all the way to my friends' place.

The second package,  Christmas decos, by First Nations artists again frustrated me. The two small boxes would safely travel in an envelope to go through a letterbox, but came in a box big enough for dozen such boxes requiring me to be home. Sigh.

I like the native animal ones best.

 My day concluded with a phone call with a Sydney friend, catching some images of the moon, posting some photos of my father, who would have been 105 today. and getting the Shetland beanie back to the decrease row that I thought I had reached on Saturday. The photo doesn't capture the subtlety of the five colours!                                         The road goes ever on and on...

Post548 Birds, blue moon, blanket and bookmarks.

It has been mostly cloudy with periodic rain showers  all week, but the doves seem to find a happy balcony place in the short bursts of sun. On Friday they spent more than an hour making the most of a rare break in the gloom.

 

It was, however, pleasantly warm on Wednesday at the Guild. 

We had a very successful WES meeting, in which the 5 of us who had entries in the Guild's SALA Exhibition talked about our pieces. All had multiple pieces, three involved fabric hand-painted and dyed , using both acrylic and watercolour paints. One black  background involved bleach. All were really creative. Most involved some form of recycling or working with waste materials. Photos are not allowed, so I can't show.

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After Pilates on Thursday I dropped in on the friend newly out of hospital. Great to see him in recovery mode, looking much as normal as he prepares for the next round of treatment.  I visited again on Sunday and stayed for dinner.

I did my shop for Monday dinner at Frewville on Friday, timing it so I could have a very  late lunch at Mr Nick's, a very generous, freshly grilled flathead.

Family travel meant I stayed home on Saturday night. In the morning I made what I thought would be a quick trip to BigW at Cumberland Park to pick up  some Revlon lipstick on special for loyalty card holders and three recommended books. 

The lipstick was relatively straightforward (allowing for all the missing testers!) but,  as usual, I eventually needed help to find the books on the stands labelled by price, or by genre, or by popularity. My librarian brain was itching to impose a single organisational method and alphabetical order. I guess their ability to discount price depends on no employment of an organiser.  Maybe I need to pay more at a bookshop.

I thought I had well adapted to my new coffee machine. It is simpler to use but, on its maximum cup size settings, my double shot flat white ends up around 300 mls compared with about 400 mls in the old one. The taste is great and caffeine content  equivalent. For years now, while on my own, I have used about 5 of the coffee mugs I own - those that will hold 400 mls. Suddenly I can rotate through a wider range. It is uplifting to drink from mugs with memories, like this one, which was one of a pair given to me (I’m pretty sure, for my 21st birthday, but possibly wedding) by a friend whose name was very similar to mine, resulting in confusion when we collected our teachers' college pay cheques!.The pair of mugs were once used daily, which is how one got broken. I’m very glad this one survived.Others bought while travelling are also triggering happy memories.  

This morning I failed to notice the machine was out of beans, which triggered a symbol to add ground coffee. I eventually obeyed and drank the result but went into a mild panic when I couldn't get rid of the ground coffee mode. After reading the manual (no help) turning the machine on and off, walking away and returning a couple of hours later, I figured it out. Phew!  Living alone as I age seems to involve a frequent panics until I work out when I need help and when I can find my own way through a change. 

I've been racing to advance the healing blanket for my friend before he enters the next phase of his cancer treatment. I've aimed for 2 squares a day but have only managed that once. I am now managing 1-1.5 per day. The photo represents the halfway mark. The two columns on the right are stitched together but the left column is work in progress. The pattern dictates each motif is worked in only one colour and the placement is very regular. At the moment I am maintaining the colour sequence, but varying the motifs within each colour. It makes it more interesting to knit, and, I hope, for the user. I have completed two more squares since the photo was taken. I'm blocking each one as I finish.

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There were 9 of us for dinner last night and all managed to dodge the rain. There was, however, no chance of seeing the Super Blue Moon at 6 pm, even if conversation had been interrupted.

Today has remained fairly gloomy, but there was a cloud break tonight in time for a moon shot.

I was cheered by the arrival from the printer. of my latest bookmark efforts.  The Agave one on the left is for my Pilates classmates. The others are pure indulgence - for myself and anyone interested!

(Now how would that moon go as a bookmark?)

 

Post 547 Early signs of Spring

 

It was relatively busy at the Guild on Wednesday when I did 'hostess' duty. The SALA exhibition is on in the Gallery, staffed today by 3 members of the NoLimits Group. They directed visitors to the Museum display in the house, so showing them around, or directing them to the display, fell to me. To be a good example I embroidered at my station, rather than knitting, finishing another flannel flower centre for (yet another) bag (top). At home I finished another for the back of the bag.

Several visitors (including Lori, a wonderful ex-member of WESGroup) asked about the Ink&Spindle linen and I promised to send them the link. When I got home and checked it out, I&S had several bag-sized remnants on sale. Do I need to say more? 

These arrived on Monday. There's enough for 7 tote bags. I hope someone, somewhere, wants one.  I counted the pieces I already had earmarked for bags. With the new linens I now have 20 bags to make. 

I seem to have joined the ranks of those who undertake an activity because they can. Even so, I promise to buy no more linen.

I spent an hour at the dentist on Friday morning, with both dentist and hygienist working on and checking my teeth. I am full of admiration of their professionalism and thoroughness. A chipped filling was repaired and 3 ‘watch’ items added to the dentist’s notes. Afterwards I went for a walk in the nearby Himeji Garden. It is a beautiful, peaceful and contemplative place, always providing new points of interest.

This group of trees will look very different soon.

I've been following the dermatologist's instructions re the abscess diagnosed last week. The course of antibiotics is finished and seems to have had the desired effect. I'm still using antibacterial solutions and exercising caution.

Because of this, I have been at home a lot of the week.  This has enabled me to finish one of each of the 6 blocks in the healing blanket. I blocked them and put them together in the order recommended.  There will  be two more horizontal rows added below these, and five more vertical rows. It's good to get the schema clear in my head.

I have finished  and blocked two more since. 

The weather is warming and the first signs of Spring - increased bird activity - are evident.  Rosellas were active outside the dentist on Friday but I didn't manage to photograph. 

Around my eastern balcony the doves are very active.

I'm keeping an eye out for budding on the sticks behind. The lorikeets and rosella will spot them before me!

The town is abuzz with SALA (South Australian Living Arts) which occurs each August. Local artists exhibit in any available space, halls, shops, streets, businesses, studios, foyers. It has been a bit sparce during COVID but has returned this year with a vengeance. The A3 catalogue has 63 pages, listing 10598 artists over more than 700 venues. It's a  bit overwhelming. 

On Saturday, on the recommendation of a Guild member who is exhibiting there, I visited the backyard studio of textile artist Alli Symons. Her work is varied and very interesting - dolls from her own clothing fabric, collages, felt works, embroidered fabric. I spend the best part of an hour talking to her. 

That left Sunday as very much not a day of rest. I changed the bedding, did the washing and hung it out, prepared a moussaka and cleaned up the kitchen afterwards before falling in a heap. In short breaks I managed to read the lengthy Strata AGM agenda, email a question to our rep and work out what I now think I need to do to replace my bed. There's a way to go with the latter, but I think I now know the questions to ask of salespeople. 

Having made the moussaka on Sunday, Monday was fairly relaxed. Niamh arrived with a request to alter her winter school uniform. We worked out a new hem length and some tucks to reduce the waist size. Luckily I had brown thread in the machine, so did the tucks, shortened the lining, cut off the hem fold-over and overstitched the new edge. It was then easy to turn a new hem and stitch it by hand. Job done well before it was time to set the table for dinner.

This evening I ran up a fairly crude pencil case from the off-cut.

After a podiatry appointment this morning I returned home to tidy for the cleaners and go over my preparation for tomorrow's WES Group. We are going to discuss the group's SALA entries, on display around us. I need to remind myself of the detail of the lives of my Early Women of the Book.

I expect to take down my balcony sign tomorrow, when my friend goes home from hospital with instructions to build strength for chemotherapy in a few weeks time. It feels unlucky to take the sign down before he leaves the hospital. 

My other friend with cancer, is in respite care and a fair bit of pain.

It's been dry and fairly warm so far this week, but that's about to change to rain and lower temperatures in a few days, so we are all making the most of it. 

It's almost time to fertilise my plants. They are beginning provide a lovely cheerful display of colour on the eastern balcony. 

Now back to tomorrow's notes - and knitting!