Post 620 Birthday Boost.

I spent all of Wednesday and Thursday inside doing some family history research for a family member with convict pedigree and working on the bag to the left. The temperature reached 43C and on Thursday 44C. I had thought of visiting the supermarket, but had enough food to keep me going so stayed in. Wednesday’s overnight low was 22C and Thursday 23C. I had the Aircon on each day from around 9am until 10pm and a fan on overnight, remaining quite comfortable. I had tuna(in oil, from a tin ) salad for dinner both days, so the stove didn’t go on. Even with solar panels, I clocked up $60 in electricity use over the two days, not something everyone could afford and certainly not sustainable over long period.

Friday got to 32C. By 9am the buzzer system was restored- a simple reset taking 10 minutes max. 🙄.

My granddaughters and I went shopping for silk at Eastern Silk. This is the choice we had. The girls each have a length or two and are working out what to make with it. Although we can all sew, we will plan a visit to a dressmaker when the initial design phase is over. Afterwards we repaired to the Queen Street Cafe for lunch.

On the way home I stopped at the Brickworks to pick up a newly-released book set in New Zealand. It had reached 32C so I did my shopping there, including a good supply of ice blocks, stopping only to mail a parcel on the way home. Around 5pm the temperature was down to 28 and there was a breeze, so I opened up the balcony doors and turned off the aircon. Such a relief! It made for an impressive sunset.

I skimmed the book on Saturday - well written but not my kettle of fish - too slow, too noir, too many voices.

In addition, I spent several hours doing some very specific research for my brother.

As the weather cooled down on Saturday and Sunday I decided to prepare my next knitting project,  the manteau capelet, with the beaded yarn I bought back in September. 

As it was in skeins the first task was  to wind it into balls.

It is knitted from the top down, so it didn't take long to knit the beaded top border before returning to my embroidery.

I haven't knitted with beaded yarn before. It is progressing and proving lovely to knit with.

Yesterday was my birthday - the last in my 70s. I had reluctantly agreed to a visit from the window cleaner at 8.30am. Adrian, who runs the business, had been trying to organise a visit since November, always at short notice and never when I was home.
 I was happy to be able to say Yes at last. By the time the young man actually arrived it was 9.20, and I had taken two birthday calls while alert for the buzzer (now fixed). He did a very good job. When he left I went shopping for milk and fruit, grabbed a Vietnamese salad lunch and settled at home to advance the Ania embroidery. and take more calls and messages.

Just after 6 I headed out to Sammy’s, on the Glenelg Marina for dinner with Adelaide family. We shared a dozen oysters, ate a variety of seafood and had a good time. I was privileged to open a variety of birthday gifts, photographing the totality when I got home. The spectacle case in the front is cork, purchased by Fionn in a Brisbane market - very rare. The wool is grown, spun and hand dyed locally - as soft as down. The bag is made by a local Guild member, the silver pin by a local artist, the pincushion by Niamh herself, the necklace by a Ghanan migrant in Canberra and the felted ball earrings by a Canberra artist. Amazing and brilliant.

Today I took things easy, prepared for a big clean - it's been 4 weeks since the last one because of Christmas, I did a lot of plant tidying and plenty of watering throughout the week. With the heat and watering the mandeville is flowering. I'm a bit worried about the Mulla Mulla. While the stems still have some green, the leaves have died. It has evolved to deal with heat but may not have been well enough established when the heat hit. I can only wait and see.

I finished off the Ania bag this afternoon.Detail in my embroidery blog.

It reached 31C today, a far cry from a week ago. I'm still enjoying the afterglow of the time spent talking to and dining with, family and friends yesterday. Thank you so much to all of you who have been in touch and given me so much friendship and love.

Post 526 Mad, Mad March.

On Wednesday I went on a gallery crawl with a friend visiting from Sydney for Writers' Week, a chance to reconnect, catch up on a few years, and share our  interest in beautiful things. We began at Art Images Gallery at Norwood where, along with their current Leunig exhibition,  I discovered a few Jane Burbidge plates. 

I bought a bowl from her Lotus collection and a plate from her Seafoam collection. The bowl matches the mugs I already have and makes a useful addition to my breakfast crockery, while the plate will serve a tart or pie. From there we headed up to Crafers and Atelier, for very early afternoon tea and more browsing. 

We were tempted by, but resisted, some lovely damask dresses, but I did succumb to some coral earrings and an Erica McNicoll pot plant holder.

Our last stop was the longest, at Aptos Cruz Gallery in Stirling. There is so much to look at there and I haven’t been for a while. There are always treasures. 

I bought a portable LED light which sits at three angles and recharges via usb. I have numerous lamps, but no power near my stitching chairs. This can be positioned beside me to focus on my hoop. It is also elegant. 

To my surprise and joy, they had a new supply of the champagne flutes I had bought as oddments several years ago. Only one remains of the 3 I bought. I now have 5.

They currently have a very large stock of Japanese crockery.

My final purchase was a single dinner plate.  I now have 3 to use when, as usual, I dine alone - and before I need to run the dishwasher. 

Sadly the deconsecrated church building, in which Aptos Cruz is housed, is up for sale. The owners are retiring. It has been a very special place from which I have had a lot of pleasure.

On our return we met up with another friend for dinner at A Prayer for the Wild at Heart - a truly fabulous day.

As the temperature climbed, Thursday was a chance to catch up on washing, Pilates and to read Jane Casey's The Burning pretty much in two long sittings. 

Friday required a visit to an Endodontist in the cbd. He was detailed and thorough in his assessment. I have a weakness in a crown. Replacement is risky. Options are do nothing or an(other) implant. I see my referring dentist next month, so will talk it over with her.  I have huge respect for this set of dentists and their evidence-based approach. So professional. I caught the city loop bus both ways, getting home as the temperature hit 37C and made myself a ham salad in my new plate.

On Saturday I managed to get to Frewville Foodland before 10am, well before the temperature hit its 40C maximum, and buy plenty of salad stuff, iceblocks and prawns to keep me going through a hot long weekend. It has been Adelaide Cup weekend - and a lot going on, Festival, Fringe, Womad, Writers' Week - with temperature each day over 39C. I caught up with Kilkenny news at dinner on Saturday night, then bunkered down with books and the cockatoo bag, venturing out only briefly for petrol on Sunday morning, while the prices were at the low end of the cycle.

I had the aircon on for 3 days, something I haven't done for a couple of years. It will cost me - but less than going away for the weekend.

The plants are coping, with daily watering. Some, like the Durante, have bloomed again. A few need replacing once the heat has retreated.

I met my neighbour while heading out for petrol. Theo is recovering well with help from a visiting physio.  I've stayed out of their way but Di says he'd like a visit, so I'll see what I can do when it's a little cooler.

I finished the cockatoo bag embroidery on Sunday night and on Monday found lining fabric and blocked the bag. I’ve really enjoyed this one, in spite of stuffing up the punch needle. Detail is in my embroidery blog. What I didn't mention there is that in the construction I made good use of the elegant pincushion Niamh made for my birthday this year.

I found some glass pins that match her French knots and it provided exactly what I needed to create the gussets.

While at the machine I affected another repair to my friend’s orange leisure pants. Voila!

Our current heat is producing lots of cloud. Today, after a cloudy sunrise, and slow start,  I ventured out to Aquafit. I nearly didn't go. Although it's a little cooler (37C rather than 39C!) I was temped to bunker down, but I'm glad I went. It was lovely in the water, the exercises mild and flowing.

In spite of the heat, I've been working on the Kaffe Fassett Aztec cardigan. Getting the many colours right is going to be a challenge once the labels are removed from the balls, so I've set up a colour card to help me. 

There's still warm weather to come, so I might alternate with Sashiko.