Post 601 Books, Bags and Bats

 

Until today it has been cold and wet.  I spent Wednesday indoors, preparing for my Book Club picks. Around 2.30 I headed to pub for calamari then settled in to knit the back of the water lilies bag.

As I headed out to Pilates on Thursday, I encountered a neighbour unpacking his storage locker in my spare carpark space. He has been away for the 10 years I’ve been here, but has returned to live and is rediscovering his stored treasures. He wanted to show me the family bibles and photos he had found. I was pleased to meet him, but also anxious to get to Pilates. 

View from my sewing machine.

To make matters worse, it was bucketing down, very bad driving weather, both front and back windscreen wipers going and lane markings very hard to see for most of the way. When I finally got there, I went around the block twice before I found parking. I was 20 minutes late. As I was put my sticky socks on, the sky cleared and sun came out. It was hard to believe it had been raining - except the studio artificial lawn remained under 2” of water. 

Back at home I attempted to reduce the pile of unread books, launching into Ovidia Yu’s The Cannonball Tree Mystery before a nice long phone catch up with a friend. After the evening news and QI I watched the Thursday Murder Club on Netflix - the day it was available. Great acting in keeping with the genre I remembered nothing of the plot from having read the books.

On Friday my GP was happy with my blood tests: my creatinine steady and normal, blood pressure good and sugars below the pre-diabetes range. As with the dentist, we are moving to six monthly checkups rather than 4.  I was home in plenty of time to meet a friend for lunch at A Prayer for the Wild at Heart. The weather remained foul. It was pleasant enough inside with good company, but even there, draughts found their way in.

Book Club went well on Sunday, and my choices for September went down well. My choice of lamb roast for Monday also worked. Today, after catching the bats returning at dawn, I spent a lot of time checking car park spaces outside, worried that Will, who was coming back at 3pm to finish installing my bathroom cupboard would not be able to park. At 1.15pm someone left a space directly opposite, so I dashed out and parked in it. Will arrived at 3.35 and managed to park in the 30 minute spot for tradespeople, so I moved the car back inside. The work took about 40 minutes, so I hope he didn't get fined. He is so diligent and meticulous. I need to repeat the process tomorrow, with the electrician coming at 10am.

Two things I've been waiting for arrived in today's mail. I think the book will be of interest to WES Group. It might end up as a topic for next year. I haven't read it yet. It's a substantial hardback. When I went downstairs to collect it I could also see a green envelope in my letterbox. That could only mean one thing - my Be Alice kit had arrived from Ireland.

Sure enough, it was the kit I tried to order at Christmas but was out of stock. It will need concentration, but fun.

I finished knitting the Water Lilies bag last night and spent a lot of time today on the felting process. The pre-felt version is left and the post-felt right. Details in my embroidery blog.

I still have a lot of wool to use, but it might be time to return to an embroidery project as the weather warms.

Post 600 - Still going 5 years later!

My annual dermatology appointment on Wednesday morning went well. No change in moles and no reason to stop washing my hair every day. I wore the shawl I had finished the night before (need easy to remove clothing for dermatologist!). Another patient, then the receptionist, admired the shawl and asked where I got it, seeming astounded I had made it.

I missed a parcel delivery. After picking it up late afternoon I visited the Hameji Gardens, where an elderly man (about my age!) also exclaimed What a lovely shawl! to which I replied Thank you! I only finished it last night! He then asked if I’d mind him telling his 3 companions. He called out to them and explained. They asked what wool, and were full of congratulations. As we parted, the man thanked me and said I’d made their day!  There was much the same reaction at Pilates the next day.  It is cosy and easy to wear and to shed. I’m quite glad I kept it!

The parcel I picked up was  new detergent, made by an Australian company. The top box is full of laundry sheets and the lower one of dishwasher tablets made in Australia and naked  i.e. not encased in plastic. I figured them worth a try. The tin is designed to keep the sheets from sticking together. I’m currently using up a tub of laundry powder. The sheets I've been using for my dishwasher do stick together if they get damp. Here’s hoping.  

Left-over lemon chicken served me on Tuesday and Wednesday last week,  so I had lunch at Queen St Cafe after Pilates on Thursday. The Crispy Salmon is still  really good, as is the lime milkshake.  I had been late again to Pilates, having run into neighbours in the lift foyer as I was leaving. They wanted to discuss the top floor balcony inspections that took place on Tuesday morning to determine the cause of water leakage. Mine was the first inspected - squeezed in before my dermatologist. I was  delighted when the tradie doing the check decided immediately there was no waterproof membrane below the tiles and replacing grout would do nothing. A fix means clearing the balconies, taking up the tiles, inserting a membrane and re-tiling. Yes, it's inconvenient, but I'm all for fixing the problem, rather than bandaid solutions. I'm not sure my neighbour agrees. As we are on the top floor, leakage is not a problem for us, but it's a major problem for apartments below. It won't happen quickly. There will be quotes, budgets, approvals.

My second medical appointment for the week was on Friday with my very thorough periodontal hygienist. We have agreed I can return to two dental checkups a year instead of my current three. On Monday I was up early for a fasting blood test, in preparation for my GP appointment this coming Friday - part of the single kidney monitoring.  I am privileged to have a routine of medical monitoring - sometimes seems like a treadmill, but it keeps me connected to knowledgeable people and aware of my health, not something that comes easy to me. I am managing to keep my weight steady, so hope readings are OK.

I skipped the Certiricate Course Workshop at the Guild on Saturday. I didn't want to find myself with another project to finish! Instead I did my supermarket shopping and worked on my next knitting project, based on Water Lilies Tote, a pattern from the most recent Piecework magazine. Using up more left-over wool, and finding the instructions a little complicated, I adapted as I went, and working it flat, so I could have the pattern on one side only. I finished this main panel today. It's approximately 42cm square, deliberately larger than the pattern. Now all I have to do is knit a back, sides and handles, then construct and felt it! It's been a nice challenge so far.

I also wrote up the Sashiko tablecloth in my embroidery blog.

I had a bit of a scare on Sunday evening as I prepared to boil rice. As I pulled open the exhaust fan over the gas cooktop, there was a popping sound and no light or exhaust. The gas flowed but would not ignite. I eventually found matches to light the gas, but there was no exhaust fan action. The electician was supposed to get back to me after his Easter holiday about replacing the fan. In the morning I worked out the fuse had blown. Flipping it back on solved the gas ignition and the exhaust fan, but not the light over the gas burners. I eventually got on to the electrician, who has apologised and organised to come in 2 weeks time, conveniently on the day my Guild Hostess duty has been cancelled because of a change in Guild office hours. Another disaster hopefully averted!   

Thanks to the readers who have stuck with this blog for 5+ years. Quite a bit has changed since I cut short my UK visit to get home before flights were cancelled due to COVID.