Post 524 A lot happening.

 

On Wednesday I had coffee with Panayoula and an early dinner with Lorraine. Lots to discuss with both. Lorraine and I went to Noi, Vietnamese restaurant at Glen Osmond and it was excellent. I want to go again.

With no causal connection, on Friday I spent a couple of hours at Looms of Greece , an exhibition at the Cowandilla Community Room of West Torrens Council, talking to a couple of the organisers about the weaving, Greek embroidery, community museums and conservation. It was a really interesting exhibition and there are lots of shared interests and concerns to follow up on. This example of the border of a weaving was a rare example of embroidery, done in satin stitch, some of it single, some double sided. I’ve promised to try to find out more. I sent Panayoula off to have a look at it on Saturday, its last day.

At Sit’nStitch we farewelled Jennifer, who is moving back to her home state of Queensland where she will be in the heart of her family. We’ll miss her, but now have multiple ways of staying in touch and sharing our interests..

Back at home, I plugged away to finish the Pulled Thread Mat from Christine Bishop's 2022 class, putting the last stitches in on Friday night and ironing on Saturday. I originally had the good idea of making 4-8 of these as place mats. As much as I like it, I will now settle for one.    

Appropriately enough, Friday's sunset drew a line in the sky. 

On Saturday I was woken from a dream at 5.18am by the door buzzer. I scrabbled my way out of bed,  for a moment fearing it was Monday, when our Strata tradesman was coming at 8am to look for balcony leaks. By the time I answered there was no response. A passing hoaxer? A visitor looking for another residence? I’ll never know. I went back to bed but not to sleep. It did ensure I got to the supermarket in time to do a big shop, with just time to unload and put it away before having my 7th Covid shot, an easy matter at my local pharmacy, followed by a sore arm and bouts of overwhelming tiredness for a few days. 

I rested and read the latest Dan and Oscar book Murder at the Leaning Tower until it was time to meet up with family at The Red Ochre Grill for an enjoyable meal with plenty of discussion. Food was a bit slow coming, but we had plenty to talk about. I was shocked to discover Brigid and Veronica had only just arrived in Sydney, where they were staying with my brother and going to Monday’s Taylor Swift concert. Storms in Sydney on Friday had delayed flights all over the country and their Friday flight had been cancelled. They ended up flying via Tasmania (!!) on Saturday, missing an afternoon performance at the Opera House. So stressful!  They are clever, independent, resilient young women, now safely in Sydney in time for their main event. Still a shame for all concerned.

My drive home after dinner was interesting. The Festival and Fringe are in full swing: there are road closures, diversions and swarms of people out and about. Strange to remember the days when I would have been one of them! However, my arm was sore, my eyelids drooping and I fell into bed even as the moon lit up my bedroom balcony.

Sunday, fortunately, was recovery day, watering (still over 30C), a bit of food preparation and project organising.

          

Having finished the Botanical Bee cushion, I had dug out the Duftin Cockatoo punch-needle bag kit I had bought a couple of months ago. I loved the bold cockatoo and thought that, if the punch-needle didn't work I could embroider it anyway.  

  

I got going with enthusiasm. The cockatoo figure is printed on the inside of the bag and the flowers (embroidered) on the outside. I dug out needling equipment and got going, working several hours before I realised that what I was doing was needle-felting, not punch-needle! It was too late to go back, too hard to undo, so I had to work out how to turn what I had - a kind of fluffy crested alpaca- into a cockatoo. What an idiot!    Still hearing my mother's voice For an intelligent child you can be very stupid at times.

I did work it out, but had to finish needle felting the whole bird before I could stitch evenly over it. I must say it would have been harder to cover the dark blue background without the layer of white felting. I'm glad to have it almost finished (bit of repair needed on the tail feathers) so I can put it into a hoop and move on to the flowers. 

Christian, our strata tradie came as arranged on Monday morning, quickly deciding my balcony tiles needed re-grouting. It is a day’s work and they will do all the necessary moving, clearing and replacing of pots and furniture.  Hopefully this will fix the problem of water leaking through the ceiling of the balcony below - unless there is another unseen problem, like no waterproof membrane or leaking pipes. 

 

Monday dinner was a quiet affair. With 2 grandchildren in Sydney for Taylor Swift and 2 at football training we had a quiet meal for 3. I tried out the Chicken with Haloumi recipe using duck. Part of my second order from ArteOtomi arrived - the dress. It’s lovely, and very much a statement. It can be worn with or without the accompanying belt. Without a belt I need to wear a heel. 

Today I picked up a collage poster for Brigid’s 21st from the printer. I managed to repeat one photo in my haste to get it done on time but otherwise it’s pretty good. Tomorrow I will try to get cork board to mount it, but failing that I’ve worked out I can pin or staple it to my blocking tiles. I picked it up before Aquafit, which was again vigorous, and rushing home to reserve a parking space for the cleaner, then shower, dress, change the bed, wash sheets and grab food. It reached 36C by 2pm, so aircon now on. For privacy reasons I am only posting this view of the poster laid out for blocking.

Another busy week coming up, with Brigid's 21st Birthday Party, family to stay, friends visiting for the Festival and Writers' Week, window cleaners, JEMS - and temperatures in the 30Cs.  I also have a Glazig workshop for the Guild's Certificate Course coming up in April, which means I need to have a project and requirements ready for the Guild newsletter by 25 March. I have ideas but no firm project, so better get to it this week. 🙄

Post 490 Mostly hanging out at home

Last Thursday was chilly. Not raining much, and not the coldest day we've had, but enough for my latest dove companion to take up residence, all fluffed up, on my balcony rail, for several hours. I left him/her there when I took myself off to Pilates around 12.30.

I came home with enough energy to make a batch of zucchini and corn muffins for my dinner - having sampled one straight out of the oven with brie inserted. Yum.

I was feeling pretty pleased with myself, because, on Wednesday, when I had my thumb checked by the nurse and surgeon, they had pronounced it on the way to successful healing ("you have given yourself a skin graft!"). Although it can now be exposed, they warned me not to get the edge caught on anything (like clothing) as it will rip the skin off and we will need to start over. On the side of caution, I have it protected by a woven dressing. I will wait until the graft is a bit more advanced before inflicting a photo on anyone. I go back again this Thursday to have it checked again.

There is quite a bit of bird activity at the moment. A little honeyeater hopped and fluttered around my back balcony on Saturday.  These are small, about 10-12 cm long. It came very close to the window and I took photos through the fly screen.

Eventually it took up position on a pot on the balcony rail so I could get a better shot.

Once it left, the dove returned to make sure there was no damage. I feel privileged.

 

I stayed close to home most of the week. My brother is fighting a writing deadline and I was able to check a few things to help out. 

By Friday I could hold a regular sewing needle, so paused my knitting to do a bit on the Christine Bishop Pulled Work Mat I started back in April and set aside, first to finish St Brigid, then because I couldn't hold a sewing needle. I am slowly working my way around the border. 

I also had time to think about the stocking stitch samples I had worked and mounted. The detail is in my stitching blog. This is not a post that would be of interest to any other than committed knitters, but those who fit that description may find it of interest. 

          

While I got gradually more able throughout the week, a horrible thing happened. Brigid had her handbag and car stolen. The car was later found abandoned with considerable damage. She worked and saved for so long to buy it.  It casts a pall.    Family and friends have rallied, she is strong, resilient, and will triumph. It's still horrible.

Sunday was Book Club, again good discussion and lots of recommendations. My reading has pretty much been comfort rather than challenge this week.

A couple of long-standing family friends joined us for dinner last night, which was great. 10 year-old Ed is a clock expert and filled me in on a number of items on the upcoming Theodore Bruce Jewellery and Timepieces auction as well as a couple of my late father's watches. A very happy time.

I  have begun a shawl with the alpaca wool I bought from Adagio Mills, using the Knitting Wraps in the Round book. It certainly has a lovely feel and the 8 row pattern is becoming familiar enough to need only a reminder at the beginning of each row. 

There is, however, a long way to go - about 150 ever increasing rows.

As I wrote this afternoon, the sun came out. I enjoy even the grey Winter days, but there is nothing quite as cheering as when the sun breaks through.

A lift.