Post 566 Here's a hand, my trusty friend

Like Bilbo Baggins' road in The Hobbit, this blog, originally for a single journey, goes ever on. I am now in the weekly rhythm and it helps me reflect, not only on auld lang syne, but on my here and now. I try to keep both the blog and my actions on a comfortably shaded path, not unlike this one as I entered Pakapakakanthi, or Victoria Park, this morning for a walk.

It was very quiet. The usual flocks and families of birds were elsewhere, leaving a lone Rosella to forage undisturbed.

The carpenter ants, however, were busy on the native Blackthorn bushes and there were park rangers, dog walkers and a few families about. I paused for a while on a log. 

It was, I suspect, more comfortable than the elegantly carved chair that I haven't noticed before.

Back at home, the letterbox held more lovely, newsy cards and I hung out the last washing of the year, a clean start to 2025.

Christmas morning brought photos and messages from family in Canberra before I thoroughly watered plants inside and on both balconies, closing screens and blinds before heading to lunch as the temperature hit 34C.  It was a relaxed (for me at least!) and joyful time. As you can see, we ate inside, where the temperature was pleasant. Outside it reached 37C, remaining well above 30C into the night. 

This was the centrepiece for our Christmas table, carefully arranged by Niamh and Veronica for the feast of lamb, pork, potatoes, carrot, parsnip, broccolini, beetroot, eggplant, pavlova & Yule log. 

The crackers from the Leprosy Shop were (apart from paper hats, which I doubt were naturally dyed!) eco-friendly and met with approval. The ‘favours’ were wooden. A spinning dice (Yes, No, Maybe, Never) got a good run. My scoop (1 teaspoon) now has a home in my Psyllium as my morning measure).

Fionn made a stunning focaccia with a complex dip for us to enjoy while opening presents. I limit my bread, but had 3 pieces. 

Everyone enjoyed their presents. Cookbooks and cooking equipment seemed to be the most popular.

I did well with hand and lip cream, amazing earrings and a book about Vietnamese costume, which I can already see as a hit at the Guild. The bag in which they came is a lovely example of Vietnamese embroidery. Best, however, is a hat! I’d planned to buy one of these, sponsored by the cancer council, but hadn’t braved the parking at the one shop I know sells them.

Yay! I've been wearing it whenever I go outside.

I got home around 5pm, in time to watch the Together at Christmas service at Westminster Abbey, which I really enjoyed, singing along to the carols and getting teary at the stories. The temperature remained high all night and was 31C when I woke on  Boxing Day. Oddly, it cooled down around 9am, after which it was deliciously cool and overcast with occasional bursts of sun. It remained thus for a couple of days.

While most of my balcony garden has done well through the heat, the Almanda I ‘saved’ from the blackbird did not make it.

The one given to me (left of the blue pot) is thriving as is the remaining one taken from it (right of the blue pot). I shall now start another for the friend to whom I promised one.

Over the last few weeks I’ve had a bit of trouble unlocking my letterbox. I have several keys, all cut from the 2 originals given to me by the previous apartment owners. I figured there was some wear on the one I use most regularly and swapped them around. On Boxing Day not even the original I used would work. I was mildly panicked. At this time of the year my chances of getting a locksmith are diminished. I had one original untried so overnight devised Plan A and B. On Friday morning I went downstairs armed with all keys, pen, paper and a large tape dispenser. Plan B involved taping over the letterbox slot with a note to take mail to the PO. 

After a couple of failures, the original key opened it. I have now locked it open. Whew! I can get mail! Yes, anyone else with access to our apartments can open it.  That’s a risk I can live with, unlike the risk of not getting my mail. I can now work out with our Strata rep how to get it fixed.

This slim volume arrived last week from the Book Grocer.- another one for passing around WES group. Imagine if it were stuck in my letterbox, its wrapping visible through the slot, out of reach!  

Shopping hours in South Australia over this holiday period are complex. Most businesses are closed on Christmas Day with the exception of convenience stores and a few hospitality venues. The day after Christmas Day is officially Proclamation Day, the day Governor Hindmarsh disembarked his shipload of free British settlers at Glenelg and declared a British Colony in 1836. 

In other states, this is Boxing Day. Under peculiar  and frequently amended restrictions, supermarkets are not allowed to open on this day, but other shops are, so Boxing Day sales go ahead, even though we don’t have Boxing Day! 

I did not venture to the shops until Sunday, when I replenished my butter supply and a few extras. The mince pies and Christmas puddings had disappeared, replaced by, yes, really, hot cross buns. I can only shake my head.

This is a very quiet time for me. The Guild is closed, families are on holiday and most services suspended. I take the opportunity to catch up on reading, trying to make up the gap in my Goodreads goal for the year. I began December nine books short but made up the shortfall. I am now one book ahead, having cleared up The Serpent and the Goddess, a couple by Ann Cleeves, and been captivated by new series by Abbie L Martin, set in the Adelaide Hills, beginning with The Ghost of Lilly Pilly Creek. I'm not a fan of ghostly cosy crime, but I loved these. There are four in the series. I read all four and want more!

Yesterday I took myself on a walk around the Square. The Sulphur crested cockatoos were out in force, silent for a change as they extracted seeds from the fallen pine cones. 

They shared the space peacefully with a couple of unusually coloured pigeons, while further away, in the sun, an ibis dug for insects.

I was home in time to take delivery of my order of 3 embroidery kits of Evil Eye deterrents. My WES talk on Evil Eye embroidery is not until the last quarter of 2025, but I thought I’d get started on an example or two. They look like fun. 

                                                       

It’s also a spur to finish the Aquile, which is coming along slowly. I'm planning to do more tonight, but can't finish it this year. It's quite challenging, and far from perfect. I hope to post the completed photo next week.

As I finished writing this, I could hear the 9pm Adelaide New Year's Eve fireworks but couldn't see them. This year they are back on the river, and Calvary Hospital blocks my view. 

I can only offer the view from my balcony. The white dot high in the centre of the sky is Venus, the Evening Star, associated with harmony, love and beauty.  What more could I wish for?

Post 47 Pigeon and parrot

A leisurely beginning to the day. It was a sunny morning So I took my breakfast out on the balcony. I moved inside when I’d had enough sun and in time to take a call from my brother that moved from phone to FaceTime so I could see the apple crumble he was about to take out of the oven. It did look good! 

I must have left crumbs from my breakfast on the balcony because I had a visitor. She was very persistent, coming back twice to check for more. In the four years I've lived here I've had birds sit on the balcony rail, but haven’t seen a bird walk around the balcony like this. Odd that it should come now - an anti-isolation bird!

I observed the pigeon from a chair just inside the balcony door. It’s a favourite of mine. From here I can see the balcony and sky, but also some favourite art works. I love the play of light on them






The two paintings at the top are of the Fauldings factory behind the West End Brewery in Adelaide. They were painted by Holly McNamee, an artist and art teacher in Adelaide in the 1980s and 90s. She has now moved back to the Maitland area of NSW where she grew up.  I bought the one on the right at the opening  night of her exhibition at the Greenhill Gallery in North Adelaide in 1987. I was principal at Gepps Cross Girls 'High School at the time, and a few days before the exhibition,  a fire in the early hours of the morning had caused over $1 million damaged to the school. I had been called in at 4am and was taken into the burning building.

These paintings of Holly’s seemed to be a symbol of all that had happened that week. We couldn’t afford both of them, but I bought the one on the right, and years later was able to buy the other one.





I bought this Wangina by Waigan Djanghara at an Elders auction in 2018.. Wangina are cloud and rain spirits in the Kimberley region of WA. I love the simplicity and solidity of this one.





This Sepik River story board Jim and I bought in 2011 or 2012 at the StrathalbynAntiques Fair. Tim Wannacott opened the Fair and as fans of Bargain Hunt we went to catch a glimpse.


In the afternoon I followed the sun to the Western balcony. I don't like moving my Lowery frame with the Crewel work parrots out on to the balcony, and I wasn't in the mood for the concentration of  Fair Isle, so I picked up a project I've been working at the Guild's Basics to Beyond Group. I can't see that group meeting for months, so I progressed the counted work I'm doing there.

I'll explain more about it one if and when I take it further.



My brother and sister-in-law had been asking me about how people were exercising in Adelaide.  I get a bit of an idea from my balcony.  One woman walked her dog around the Square, then sat on a bench and let the dog walk in circles around the bench on its long lead.











This young woman did resistance training in a harness against the pull of her partner. There was much mirth.













It was hard to photograph this group of five who formed a very wide circle, 2-3 metres between each participant, and did exercises with ribbons. Unfortunately, there was a tree in my way but if you look carefully you can see three of the five participants.

From time to time a parent would cycle or walk around the Square with children on scooters or bicycles.

It was certainly not crowded and everyone appeared to be practising distancing.



Margaret sent me the photos of her lectern fall in place in the Glenelg Catholic Church on Saturday night's video vigil. It looks even better in situ.

Earlier in the day Andie, a member of the World Embroidery Study Group, had sent me the PowerPoint she has prepared on Embroidery for book binding.  I'll send it to members in a few day's time.





It was a bit of a Disney sunset tonight, whether viewed from outside










or in.


I've been working on the left Parrot and nearly finished it tonight. There are a few bits to finish which I think will be better done in the morning.

I wonder if the pigeon will be back then too.