Post 607 It never rains but it pours!

 

I snapped this photo of what I think is the Peace rose at the Guild as I left on Wednesday. It was looking really good. Our meeting had, once again, gone swimmingly. We learned a lot about the English embroiderer Louisa Pesel, who organised, in the 1920s, the stitching of 365 kneelers and other works at Winchester Cathedral, where they can be seen today, many still in use. We are also well on the way to having our 2026 program in place.                          

 

Back at home, encouraged by the response of the group, I cut out a bag from my remaining piece of face-to-face fabric, and pencilled in the names of the current Australian female Anglican bishops and the Canterbury Archbishop elect, ready to stitch. I know I said I would wait until I'd finished the carrdigan and tapestry - but I really wanted to see if the female bishop idea would fly.

I did finish the back of the cardigan. As can be seen by the colour change (left, not as obvious in the garment as in the photo), it took the best part of 3 balls. I have left the remainder of the third ball attached (top, just left of centre) to add the band). I've started a front.

 

On Friday I prepared the project, notes and publicity for the Evil Eye Certificate Course Workshop I have agreed to give at the Guild in January. In the middle of it, my printer spat the dummy, giving me a series of instructions that I followed to no avail. I had fortunately managed to print the first draft of the notes for participants, so sent a final draft off to Officeworks to print. I also ordered some items from the Guild Museum to be delivered on the day of the workshop. This was a bit of a challenge as the expectation is that you will print the form, fill it our by hand, then hand it in at the Guild. I edited it online in Word by creating text boxes for every line -then emailed it.

I've also sent off the publicity for the Guild newsletter and created both paper and plastic templates for participants to use, along with stitch suggestions. They are ready in a tote bag, along with the relevant books and examples - a good job jobbed.

I seem to be dealing with technology breakdown on multiple fronts. My bathroom scales, an essential part of my weight management regime, have been giving me multiple and inconsistent readings across a 3kg range. The result differs from minute to minute and from bathroom floor tile to bathroom floortile. When I searched for an answer, battery failure was suggested. I thought this unlikely, and indeed, a change of battery made no difference.

The most likely cause was a need for recalibration. This requires a specialist service, whose charges are way more than the cost of a new set of scales. More research suggested the most reliable brand (not mine!) so I sourced one at OfficeWorks and bought it. To my horror, using it requires an app, a registration process, a set-up and a whole series of recording and reporting functions I do not want. I did the minimum required to stand on it and obtain a reading. When I did this, it, too, jumped around for a couple of minutes, trying to make up its mind. When it settled on a number, it was at the upper end of the old machine's fluctuations. On Sunday I returned the new machine to OfficeWorks - who were totally obliging. The old machine is now back in the bathroom, along with an even older machine I had stored in my wardrobe, so I can compare. So far there seems to be a consistent 0.5kg difference.

In the evening I finished embroidering the names of four of the Australian bishops. I find the Quaker stitch effective but a bit tedious. Getting the letters legible is difficult. Progress, however, is encouraging. One side of the bag is now embroidered.

Sunday was the first of a two day Carol Mullan workshop at the Guild, to make a canvas work needlecase. It was a lot of fun and both my eyes and my back held up. I was pleased with my progress, even though I left early to be home for the arrival of Sean the Geek to install my network backup, returning the scales on the way.

Sean installed and calibrated back up storage, gave me advice on the TV installation and also examined my printer. He located the problem. Replacing the problem part is likely to cost more than a new printer so I spent an hour or so exploring options. Do I need a printer? Does it need to copy? Does it need to be coloured? The answer to all three questions is probably no. It is, however, convenient to be able to print a page from a pattern book. Forms often have to be printed before filling in. Maybe a black and white laser printer would do the job if I photograph the book page? 

The back up disk is still loading data.

While all has been going on, I’ve been negotiating what seem to me exorbitant delivery and installation charges for the new television. In the end I have limited choice and need to accept the inevitable. I should have required these charges before I purchased. I can only hope the final product, when installed in November, lasts a decade.

Today I spent a pleasant 3 hours catching up with Panayoula and hearing about her very recent month-long trip to Greece to attend a family wedding, with side trips to Estonian and Helsinki. There were lots of photos to view.  While I was out, I had a message that a book I have been waiting for from the UK had been delivered - but when I got home I couldn’t find it. I spent an hour or so contacting Australia post who are now investigating, but it looks as if the address was incomplete - just "16 Hurtle Square”  Checking with PayPal it seems the error was on the order. 

I am now enquiring of my neighbours, however two of the 4 apartments at 16 are on the market and empty. The owner of a third travels a lot. It seems it never rains but it pours - or the universe is testing me in some way. So far I’m sticking with nil desperandum, but it’s an effort! 

I began this post with the Guild's Peace rose . I'm choosing to conclude with a pelargonium I admired at the Guild on Sunday. 

There is such joy, and peace, in family, friends and flowers.

Post 303 Largely plant based

After two late nights I made up for lost sleep last night. Breakfast was definitely brunch!

The hopeful visits from the young dove pair and from Turtle went without reward while I played around with the PowerPoint I've been working on. Only when I finished it did I venture out to water the plants and refresh the seed.

This section of the wall garden is doing particularly well.

The purple petunias have come into their own, making up for the greening of the jacarandas, 

although there is still a tiny patch of purple on the one behind us, above the geranium flower against the roof.

Around town, at ground level, agapanthus have taken up the purple cause, but I don't have a photo.

Katherine, Niamh and Veronica called in this afternoon after their shopping trip to finish off the Great Bedding Change. Good to see them. 

After their visit I managed to transfer the philodendron they gave me for Christmas into its pot. 

While dealing with dirt I removed a dead pelargonium from its pot on the front balcony. Disposing of the old soil and dead plant is tricky from a balcony. It took 4 recycling bags and a bit of mess to dispose of one dead plant. I had planted it directly into a ceramic pot - a mistake. It’s easier to dispose or replant from a plastic pot placed inside the ceramic one. 

There are two more I need to deal with, but not today.

Yesterday I watched Stan Grant's One on One interview with Poh Ling Yeow the Adelaide-based  artist, presenter and chef who came to fame through Masterchef. Much of the interview is about identity - Poh's insistence on working out for herself who she is, without reference to expectations or stereotypes of a Malaysian-born woman. I was struck by an image that Poh carries with her, of being in the playground of her first school and seeing the sun glint on the blond hairs of another girl's arm, turning them gold. Poh carried this with her as an image of what she wanted for herself and was never going to get - golden arms. 

It is a fabulous interview, a profound insight into how we can construct and evolve identity with integrity - and the struggles that involves. Both Poh and Stan Grant contribute to our understanding.  For Poh, that moment and its retained image is a realisation of difference. It strikes a chord with me because I hold an image from around the same age - visiting the Botany Post Office with my mother. She was holding my hand as we arrived. At the same time another mother and young girl arrived, similarly holding hands. I think I was 4 years old - prior to going to school. Suddenly, seeing that girl and her mother, I had a flash of insight - that girl was like me, she had a life, could think, feel,  move and do.  The world wasn't me interacting with my family and the places I knew. There were other beings like me in the world. I still hold the image of the four of us converging at the Post Office.

I'm interested in that notion of image, place and revelation.

I caught up on the news while working another crocheted square.

I added a leaf and some stem to the Crewel while watching The Kominsky Method which was OK. I tried Jessica Jones but didn't last 15 minutes. 

I'm heading to bed at 11pm, hoping to get myself into an earlier pattern of sleep.

Post 179 Another hospital visit

It wasn’t quite as cold as yesterday in Adelaide, but still quite cold. No rain.

Once again I opted out of the Crime Book Club meeting in a Norwood coffee shop. There is no evidence f community transmission of Covid in Adelaide at the moment, but I’m not keen on situations where social distancing is difficult. To assuage my guilt I spent the time reading Ovidia Yu’s The Ironbark Tree Mystery. Ovidia Yu creates a convincing world of Singapore between the World Wars, with the nuanced details of the racism and supremacist assumptions of colonialism. 

Even though the building work is quiet over the weekend there were no visits from my avian friends. The succulents, however, are gradually bursting out of hibernation. The lachenalia is developing what might turn out to be another stem.















The flower stem on the sedum has one tiny flower beginning to open. The flower stem is about 45 cm high. You can see how small the individual flower is in the circles area.

This is the zoomed view.



Around 1pm I went to North Adelaide for vegetables., stopping on the way at Calvary Hospital to see Lorraine. She is feeing better than when I last spoke to her and hasn’t had any more episodes of passing out. But there is still no explanation and she hasn’t been standing up quickly or moving very much. She is really counting down the time until she goes home on Tuesday.

Back at home after shopping, I got stuck back in to the Icelandic Endless knot. I enjoy a design that uses only one stitch. It reminds me of the New Mexico colchas,  a different stitch, but the same notion of using one stitch only. It makes for speed, efficiency and, oddly, creative freedom . 

The other plant thriving on my eastern balcony is this almost black pelargonium. It’s such a great colour.