Post 485 Job list

My chair is back in place in my sitting area. The Guild Exhibition closed on Sunday, and I picked the chair up today. My old luggage wheels did good service once again. I have my apron back as well, put aside for someone needing to protect clothes.

It's been a week of catching up on jobs. I finished the baby cardigan that the Guild shop wanted to go with a greeny-blue blanket, part of one of their Welcome Baskets for newborns.  I got a bit carried away with an idea for a bag to go with it. I got out my Inktense pencils. These are used with water, suitable for fabric, and dry permanent.

sea colour blanket

  

crochet blanket 

This has now been added.

At the same time, I delivered the crocheted blanket I talked about last week, also in a  bag. 

It is waiting for the matching cardigan I am working on, made from a cone of Coats/Paton yarn, 70%wool, 30% acrylic, that belonged to my mother and has knitted up surprisingly well. 

I'm hoping to deliver this by the weekend.     

Last week I realised I had put a big toe through the upper of my Mary Janes - the shoes I wear constantly when sandal weather wanes. I tend to alternate between two pairs of shoes in summer, and another two in Winter and I haven't bought shoes for several years. I finally did a bit of a shoe audit and decided it was time to replace 3 pair. Lana Lang had sandals on special at the end of the season, so off I went after Pilates.              

I ended up with three new pair. The new Mary Janes have leather uppers and my toe will not penetrate. The ankle boots are grey and very soft. 

The saleswoman also suggested getting the damaged Mary Jane repaired on Hutt St - quite close to me. I took them there this morning and yes, they can be repaired. So, in spite of good intentions, I have ended up with one more pair than I started with.

My big excitement of the week was the arrival of my hap stretcher from Paparwark on Shetland. I  have wanted one for a while, and made enquiries about having one made locally. When Paparwark modified their design so it packed in 1 metre, rather than 2 metre lengths, I took the plunge. It took just over three weeks to arrive. I picked  it up from the PO last Friday but didn't unpack it until yesterday. This is the package - and the product.

It is a beautiful item and such a neat design. I'm very impressed. I had expected to have to store it in my carpark locker, but it is so neat that I have found a corner for it in my apartment. I haven't erected it but can see how it is done. I don't have a shawl to stretch  erected. This morning, after picking up the chair, I headed to Spotlight and bought some padded, quilted cotton to make a carry case for it. I'm part-way through making it. It will, I hope, make it easy to carry and transport, so that shawl-making friends can borrow it, erect it in their own home and stretch their shawls.  I will report next week on completion.

Last Saturday JEMS met in the midst of the Exhibition, a lively, interested group. Older members and visitors get pleasure from them being there.

I spent several days establishing my status in relation to the Working With Children Certificate now a legal requirement for volunteers. I had assumed, incorrectly, that my 2019 Police Clearance covered me. There have been a series of administrative changes of which I was unaware. I have now, with Katherine's help, applied for the correct clearance. The Guild has updated procedures. I found the process of sorting this out quite stressful.

Finally, while sorting yarn for the blanket, I came across some gauge samples and worked them into a peculiar bag. The story is in my embroidery blog. 

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 479 Doves return to the new normal

In the last few days I have been sitting out on my back balcony for a morning coffee. I haven't done this before - preferring to sit inside looking out. However, the morning sun, the more comfortable chair I moved there in November when the painters were working on the front balcony and the summer plants have finally drawn me out.

As I was sitting there yesterday, one of the doves arrived and stayed for a good 20 minutes. I couldn't resist taking photos, some closeup, some against the sky.

It is  a privilege to be so trusted. If I were a marketer I might call it my coffee experience!

The week has sped past, with a return to some routines - Pilates last Thursday, a quarterly lunch with friends, JEMS on Saturday, and the return of Tuesday Stitchers at the Guild.

The lunch was at Sho Sho, on King William Road - really lovely food and great company. JEMS seems off to a good start, and the proprietor of Queen St Cafe was very pleased to welcome Niamh and I back for our milkshakes afterwards.

My big achievement of the week was the completion of a tote bag for a friend's 90th birthday. Her celebratory lunch is this Friday. The bag has ninety embroidered stars and the details are in my embroidery blog. I've ordered some more of the fabric since it worked well.

Since finishing it, I have embarked on another baby cardigan, this time choosing the smallest of the 7 sizes in the pattern. I did have a 200gm ball of slightly off-white cotton in my knitting bag, ready to use, but have mislaid it somewhere along the line. I'm hoping it will turn up, but in the meantime I'm using ecru.

I've finished the back and one front, and am  working on the other. It is a LOT smaller than my first effort, which had 13  rows of motifs, compared to 9 here!

I had coffee with Panayoula in my diary this morning, but she had it in her diary for tomorrow, which is WES Group - so now we are meeting on Thursday!

We have a bit of reorganising to do tomorrow at WES, since our program for the year did not take into account the March Exhibition, which will close the Gallery for a couple of weeks. The request is that we staff the exhibition for that morning. Tomorrow will tell if we agree.  

I began another embroidery project at the Guild today - an idea that occurred to me this morning - but I'll save that to next week.

I will finish as I began, with the pleasant coffee corner on my back balcony. I should, of course, have taken the photo without the washing!