Post 42: Booze and Balcony

This is a photo this afternoon from Jennifer, isolated as Covid19 positive in a hotel room in Perth. I'm not sure where the chocolate cake came from, but I'm delighted that she is up for it - and that the threads from the Thread Studio have made an appearance. Here's hoping for recovery on  every front!

Settling down to answer emails after my dance session with ABC Classic FM Radio this morning,  a phone call took me by surprise. It was a delivery from Lambrook Winery. I ordered yesterday, but had been given no delivery date. The deliverer had pressed my buzzer, but I was at the back of the apartment with my radio going.

Within a few minutes I he was on his way and I had retrieved two boxes from outside my door. Delivery seems to be performed by young men. Students or apprentices maybe.

Lambrook is offering a 'Four to the Door' package. I have not tried their wine but thought I'd give it a go. I am out of bubbles, and felt there are milestones that call for it. I'm also low on white wine. I opened a bottle of the pinot gris with my dinner and really enjoyed it.

I did a FaceTime catch up with a Guild friend, hung out the washing, then settled myself in the sun on the Western balcony with my Fair Isle. The light was better today for photographing the web. I love the pattern and shimmer. One day I will embroider it.

I turned the frangipani around so I look into the front of the leaves. I just love the colour and the clarity of the markings in the sun.




Even though there is traffic in the street, it is peaceful sitting out there in the sun. Michael Constantinou's Spanish Mackerel shines in the sun

and there are long-held treasures amongst the pots.





I had an email from Sandra, a fellow retreater in the UK. She has made her Ort pot, and is also making wash bags for Health workers.  These bags mean Health workers can take off their clothes at the end of a shift, bag them, take them home and wash them in the bag before touching them. Great idea.


I added about 6 rows to my Fair Isle scarf in the afternoon and this evening have worked another section of the Mellerstain Firescreen. With a bit of luck I will be able to celebrate Easter by beginning the parrots!



This is a very low-key Easter ambition. My Guild friend is trying to finish embroidering an altar fall for  use on Friday!










This mosaic wall plate hangs on my balcony. It sparkled in the sun this afternoon. I'm enjoying having time and weather to admire it.

Day 5: Retreat Begins

I was awake at 4.30 am this morning, having forgotten to take my melatonin the night before. Still, 6 hours sleep overnight is in the right path. I got to breakfast by 7.40am, met up with some mates and was ready in the lobby for our 9am start.

There are 36 students and six tutors. I’m doing Nicola Jarvis’s beautiful insect pillow. We are set up in the guest lounge, overseen by the bard himself (peering over the board) as well as a few actors.

It was quite a sunny day and the light is good in our room (photo taken late in the day doesn’t do justice).

Our goody bags were waiting for us - new bag design this year.

I make good use of my Crewel Work Company bags. I was overjoyed to find a pair of decent scissors inside. My little aeroplane- friendly ones are fit-for-purpose but have their limits.

Our intimate group had a really lovely time.  Each insect in Nicola’s design is named for a Shakespearean character. The dominant one is Titania, the butterfly. The elements are tiny  (we all used magnification) but varied in both stitch and thread. The threads are lovely - silk, cotton and wool, sourced, as always, with care to achieve exactly the effect the design demands. We began on the carnation. I found the points tricky, but got a nice plumpness.

We had made a lot of progress by 5pm when eyes and backs called a halt.

Along the way we had long silences and great discussions. I have gained in confidence about the embroidery I’m considering for the Guild Exhibition later this year. Members of the group reinforced some of my thinking and gave me some great suggestions for elements I’d been puzzling over.  They just get it! 

Lunch was a buffet. The vegetarian lasagna was fabulous.

This year, with Laura's permission, I brought with me some of the Embroiderers’ Guild of SA's Ort Pot kits. I always have one with me and, in the past, retreaters have asked me for the pattern, which I can’t provide, as it is copyright.  Gay Sanderson, who prepares the kits for the Guild, gave me 20 kits to bring, and 20 finished pots. I sold my first - a finished pot- to Nicola!

Before dinner we had a presentation of the program from Phillipa. There are some very promising visits tomorrow evening and on Wednesday.

Dinner was abuzz with conversation and the food was good.

I’m itching to continue Titania!