Post 429 Bookended by lunches.

There were plenty of birds present at the beach on Wednesday when our quarterly lunch group met at HNLY restaurant.   My order of Yellow Fin Whiting got messed up - maybe I said 'tuna' when I ordered (quite possible), maybe the waitress got it wrong. In any case I ended up with battered fish and chips, which I enjoyed!.

  

It really was a lovely day at the beach - pleasant breeze, sunny without being too hot. 

The birds were enjoying it.

I finished the second bag-from-jeans and have started on the third.  As usual, there is more in the blog link.

I spent a few hours organising my new furniture.  My books are now in some sort of order and findable. I have sorted and labelled the containers in the sewing room cupboard. I still have the files in the filing drawers to cull, sort and label.  I had planned to do it yesterday but when I couldn't find a tube of ointment in the bathroom, I was distracted into cleaning out and reorganising the bathroom drawers and cupboards.  Definitely on a roll!

After the files I have to tackle the boxes of papers and folders of  knitting and embroidery notes in the spare bedroom - and my family history archives. 

Sunday was book club and we had a very productive and engaging time sharing our reading.  It's stimulating, supportive and sustaining. Outside the home in which we met there was a jacaranda tree laden with inspiring seed pods.

I'm the book chooser for next month and have chosen three books called A Spoonful of Murder.  I began with one by JM Hall, a UK school deputy principal whose recently published first novel was recommended of Prof. Pat Thomson who has worked with him. While I was trying to source a copy in Australia I came across the same title by Robin Stevens and another by Connie Stevens, so got all of them. It will, I think be an interesting exercise.

Over the weekend I also made my first pot of soup for the year. It's a variation on those my mother made - the Christmas ham bone defrosted, swede, turnip, parsnip, carrots, pulses, tomato and celery. There's a lot of it! It will help boost my vegetable intake this week. 

I've had a few challenges in the last few days. The cover of my mini iPad is disintegrating. The Officeworks replacement I bought yesterday after much discussion with staff  turned out not to fit.  This morning one of the 5 cords in my 180cmx250cm bedroom blind broke, producing a kind of hernia in the blind, and there was no signal on my Vergola controller so I couldn't open it. I find all of this stressful, but took a deep breath, returned the iPad cover (easy, no hassle), ordered another one from Apple online,  and made phone calls to Vergola and to a repairer of blinds. One impact of Covid is that such businesses are short of staff and take longer to respond and to deliver.

Someone is now coming to collect the blind next Monday and the Vergola people are scheduling a service visit - all organised before  11.45 a.m. when a friend picked up me and a kitchen chair, and drove us to Nairne, in the Adelaide Hills to visit another friend who had prepared a delicious, healthy lunch of cold rolls, soup and lemon drizzle cake with strawberries. The chair matches others she has. We had a brilliant time - relaxed, loving, renewing, nurturing. I came home feeling renewed and very connected. 💪.

I didn't take photos in the Hills, where autumn is very much on display, but this is the evidence around the corner from my apartment. Lovely pleasant days in Adelaide.

Although it appears from this post that I am a 'Lady who Lunches', I, and most of my family and friends, are still operating 'from an abundance of caution' - avoiding crowds and events, wearing masks indoors in social settings, eating outside, monitoring ventilation, socially distancing. Covid cases are slowly increasing in Adelaide, as are hospitalisations and deaths. Schools returned today with masks mandated, although they are not mandated more generally. I've just refused an invitation to a 70th birthday bash.  With only one kidney, even with 4 vaccinations, I will do as much as I can to avoid any contact with Covid.  

For the most part, I am sticking to my knitting and embroidery.

Post 428: Vaccination, vaccination, vaccination

On Wednesday I saw my doctor and had my flu shot and a pneumonia shot. I wasn't aware I was due for the pneumonia one, but my doctor keeps good records and is on the ball. I also got a referral to my ENT to have wax removed from my ear. Good job jobbed, and no reaction other than a sore arm from the pneumonia one.  My doctor does not do Covid vaccinations, so that had to wait a few days.                                                                                                                                                                                                         

On Thursday, as I was getting ready for Pilates, three honey eaters arrived on my balcony, attracted to the aloe. I was lucky enough to be able to grab my DSLR and get some shots, first through the glass, but then, very carefully opening the screen door, through the open door. I was pleased with a few of them. We used to get a lot of these in our garden at Hindmarsh, but its the first time I've seen them here on my balcony. A good sign, I think.                                  

On Friday my new pieces of furniture were delivered. I was worried about the delivery, as they are large pieces and our lift is small. They would be awkward to carry up the (fairly narrow) stairs. Parking outside is also at a premium. I needn't have worried. The deliverers were fantastic.  They found a parking place, checked out the apartment, disassembled the furniture in their van, carried the long top plank up the stairs, and the rest in batches in the lift, then reassembled them in situ.  They took such care and were so skilled and adaptive.

It took 2 1/2 hours, but they just kept on until done. 

Above is the bookcase in my living area. There are now probably twice as many books on it. Left is the cabinet in my sewing room. It is more cluttered, but absolutely fit for purpose. The open shelves at the end are for books. At the moment the books to go there are in the containers - aids for the Viking, Celtic/Anglo-Saxon and Bulgarian presentations I have yet to do this year at the Guild. Eventually they will be books rather than boxes.

It was a long weekend here, as Monday was Anzac Day. Top priority was getting my 4th Covid jab on Saturday, which went well. With my Australian Government sponsored bandaid on my arm I awaited signs of the aching joints and overwhelming tiredness that followed the 3rd jab, but none appeared. I stayed awake and entertained throughout the family dinner and slept well.

On Sunday I was up to making the Anzac biscuits and alert enough not to burn them!

I managed to get the bookshelves sorted between my now 3 bookshelves, so that I now have a very good idea of where I can find any book I want. A breakthrough!  This photo merges views of two sides of my small sewing room.  I can move around, find what I need and stitch something quickly on my machine. I've removed the rug that was on the floor. There are still files and containers to go through, label and reduce, but I can see and get to everything.

On Monday, Anzac Day, I got up at dawn to light a candle and remember those in my family who went to war, from the top of this photo, Ted Ray and James Haynes, my grandfathers serving in WWI, my father, Len Haynes on HMS Formidable in WWII and Lionel Dellit, my late husband's uncle who died when his plane was shot down over the Timor Sea in WWII.  It's more important than ever to remember what they did. And the cost.

My friend Susan called in on Monday afternoon to see my new furniture. It was lovely to be able to share it over an Anzac biscuit and coffee and also to discuss our current projects, hopes and fears. 

This is the progress I had to show on the next bag-from-jeans. I'm now working on the other side.

Now that my furniture is in place I have contacted a carpet cleaner who is coming in the morning to quote, and Artic Air who should have serviced my Aircon this month. I also applied a clove oil solution to mould on the hinges of my bathroom door. Seems I'm Spring Cleaning in Autumn.

Post 427 Eastertide

It has been an odd week. I've spent much of it emptying a cupboard, desk and filing cupboard in readiness for my 2 new pieces of furniture. That has been quite physically demanding but satisfying. It has, of course, been Easter. Our Covid restrictions were eased at midnight on Thursday, in time for the weekend. Masks are no longer required except on public transport, aged care facilities, hospitals and gyms. Our schools are on holidays and no decision has been made yet about masks when they return.  

I am not changing my cautious habits. No music or food festivals,  or even movies or theatres for me.  

I did a bit of shopping for the weekend treating myself  to some prawns for Good Friday, and yes, I did buy, and eat hot cross buns (in lieu of lunch). 

Some of my succulents burst into Easter bloom. 

There are promising buds on one frangipani, so I haven't given up hope yet.

The doves put in several appearances on Easter Saturday. I don't have seed for them at the moment, but it doesn't seem to deter them.  I keep the water dish topped up and they do drink each time they come.   

I made my usual chocolate crackle nests, my mother's tradition, to take to Katherine's on Sunday. This year I found some tiny chocolate-filled candy-coated eggs.  

We had a wonderful, relaxed and delicious late lunch on Sunday. Absolutely fabulous pork and vegetables followed by two of Katherines' amazing chocolate deserts. The only photo I took was this distant one of her chocolate and apricot tart. I suspended my diet long enough to have a tiny slice.  Worth it!

There was a gentle sunset over St Francis Xavier's Cathedral as the moon rose at the other end of my apartment. 

I have prepared the sewing room for the incoming long cabinet. Delivery is Friday afternoon. I'm nervous about the delivery. Both pieces are quite long and may not fit in the lift. The deliverers (contractors) will then decide whether one or both have to be brought up the 3 flights of stair or taken apart, brought up in pieces and reassembled. I'm trying not to stress. 

I have piles and a trolley of files and plastic containers in the spare bedroom, ready to go into the new cupboards and shelves. I have slightly rearranged my living room in readiness. I managed to move the old desk and filing cabinet down to my carparking area by myself but needed help with the cupboard. Late on Monday my neighbour called me to ask if she could have the desk! In return, her husband Theo got out his shifting trolley and moved my cupboard.  This can now stay in front of my car until the curb-side pickup, when he will help me move it out.

The desk has come back upstairs and is in Di's workroom next door. My friend Susan helped me assemble this from a flatpack I bought online, so I'm really pleased to find a good home for it.

In between shifting, storing and sorting I have been working on my bag-from-jeans. The first one is finished and has been a lot of fun to work on.

One side, with a tilt to the Housman poem, is wearing white for Eastertide.

The other side is simple summer fare. Both owe their design and colourway to the Beautiful Botanical Embroidery book. Details are again in my embroidery blog.

I've started on the second one.

Today I called at the Guild to pick up some more of the white cotton from the trading table and to catch up with a committee member. I went on to Bunnings to drop a magnifying lamp into their electrical recycling. 

Of course, the postie came while I was out so I had to visit the PO to pick up my copy of How to Knit Beautiful Bags.  Good to know that I won't run out of ideas for bags when I finish the ones from my old jeans!

To complete the week, here is the Easter moon about to set over Adelaide this morning.

Post 426 Books - and Aesop is now a fabled chair

After breakfast on Wednesday I replaced my summer quilt with my winter one, put the summer one into the washing machine and settled down to work on the peacock on my Aesop Frame. There was clumping on the roof and before I could get started on the peacock, my light disappeared. A drop cloth was manipulated over my Vergola and down over my balcony. A hasty challenge brought an apology from the painters (of the building next door!) who promised to finish the work and have the cloth gone by the end of the day. I ended up telling them to work safely and taking myself to the other end of the apartment with my embroidery.  

They kept their promise. The darkness disappeared around 3.30pm. This, as the time on the clock testafies, was taken at 11.30am.

On Thursday morning I set off around 9am to Dillon's Bookshop in Norwood. I had phoned them on Wednesday to see if they had this book in stock, which I had stumbled across in Garland Magazine.  They had 2 copies. First thing in the morning I can usually get a 15 or 30 minute carpark on the Parade, time enough to go in a pick up a book or two. I was in luck. 

It was expensive - a (very) heavy coffee-table book, but really, really interesting. I had time for quite a good read before heading to Pilates.  

I was on a good luck roll -  my linens also arrived from Ink & Spindle about 20 minutes before I had to leave.  They are fabulous - all I had hoped for.  The botanical designs I purchased last week are going to work so well with them. 

I got Brigid to her last water polo session for the season after her last Uni lecture for the day - timing didn't allow for public transport - and managed to finish the Aesop Frame embroidery (yes!).  I blocked it before I went to bed and worked out how I was going to do the lettering. As well as blocking and adding it to the chair, there is the business of sorting and putting away all the tools and left-over threads - in this case quite time-consuming. 

However, on Friday I put off the putting away and got on with the serious business of cutting out 3 bags from the jeans that are now too big for me. This is the project I've been thinking about since I saw the Botanicals book. These three bags are now cut out and ironed. I've experimented with transferring designs to stitch on them ready for when I finish Aesop. I'd like to work these before I get to the linens.

I did consider whether is would be better to recycle these by giving them to a charity rather than cutting them up, but given the amount of clothing that ends up in landfill decided I'd rather recycle these myself.

I was scheduled to have my 3rd booster shot at a local pharmacy on Saturday. However, on Friday that appointment was cancelled and I was invited to rebook for two weeks time.The pharmacist who told me two weeks ago that they had a week's leeway on the four month requirement from booster 2 was mistaken. The rule is now not one day earlier than 4 months. Fair enough. I'm now booked for 23 April.

I used the time I save by having coffee on the balcony in the sun, enjoying the view before tackling the lettering on the Aesop Frame, reading, and talking to my brother.

The Quaker stitch lettering on the Aesop Frame was tedious but effective.  I was, of course, itching to move on to the next project so  put in a big effort over the weekend and finished the chair!  The full story and glory can be found in my embroidery blog. I was so keen on Sunday to get the panel on the chair, write it up in my blog and to complete the first stage of cooking Monday's dinner, that I didn't make my bed. I cannot remember another day when I haven't made the bed.  An auspicious day!.

I tried a new recipe for Monday night, Slow cooked pork with cider and sage hotpot from BBC Recipes. After a bit of research I substituted low alcohol beer - which I had in the fridge. The apples in the cider would have helped the pork. This is what it looked like before dotted with butter to go in the oven. I liked the way the potato cooked and the gravy formed with the meat underneath. The diced pork shoulder should have fallen apart more than it did (after 4 hours of cooking!). I think it would have been better with pork belly.

There have been some charming, low-key sunrises this week - contrasting with that view of the covered balcony at the top of this post.

I came across a couple more enticing books on Saturday and ordered them from different sources. Magical Britain, by Rob Wildwood is mostly available on backorder (although only published this month) but Jamie Lang's Anglo Saxon Paganism should be here in time to help with my WES presentation. 

Having bought several books this week I chased up the bookshelves and cupboards being made for me, lest the shelves are filled before they arrive! Serendipitously, another local council curbside pickup has been announced for 11 May - so I can dispose of the  cupboard, filing cabinet and desk I need to remove to put in the new. Today Nordic Furniture rang to say I can view the finished pieces tomorrow afternoon.  Guess I will be spending Easter packing up the existing contents and preparing the space.

I ironed those bags-from-jeans and marked them with adaptations of the designs in Beautiful Botanical Embroidery.   Today, after visiting the podiatrist, I've started the first.

These are my next projects, along with the third Nightshift shawl - this one for me. 

Post 425 Mostly botanical

It's been a slightly cooler, and overcast week here in Adelaide - appropriate for the end of daylight saving and a change of State government. 

Our Covid numbers and hospitalisations continue to rise - as predicted. More hospital beds are found, plans are hastily made to find more frontline workers and promises of fewer restrictions are reiterated. 

I remain cautious where I go. I wear my mask and keep my distance. 4 days to my second booster.

I saw my optometrist on Thursday. I had reduced the steroid cream to every 36 hours. The inflammation had reduced but not gone. The young optometrist has had experience of the problem through previous work with an ophthalmologist. She is knowledgeable and an excellent communicator. It seems that the risk of permanent damage from the inflammation is, in my case, greater than the risk from the steroid, so I am now back to steroid cream twice a day and monitoring every three months for any sign of glaucoma - which can be fed by the steroid. I feel very grateful to have access to this expertise - and to be able to continue using my eyes as much as I do.

The plants on both balconies are having a bit of an Autumn fling and keeping me cheerful

Making the most of being out and about, between the optometrist and Pilates I called at Create in Stitch and managed to nab a copy to this very inspiring book. I've got some ideas for it - including cutting up the jeans that are now too big for me.

The medical monitoring continued yesterday with an annual (more or less!) audiology appointment. I found it challenging to listen for the 'beeps' over the sound of my breathing while wearing a mask. The audiologist was alarmed at my holding my breath! There is a slight decline in my hearing of high sounds and my hearing aids were adjusted accordingly. Again, I'm fortunate.

It's been a busy week too for grandchildren. Both Brigid and Niamh umpired Netball matches on Saturday, meaning Brigid didn't get to play in her team's final and Niamh left JEMS a little early. Yesterday we celebrated Fionn's birthday with an excellent dinner at NNQ, all converging there from school, tutoring, football, work and dashes home to get changed. 

Katherine and I also did a little catching up with knitting on Saturday evening.

I've done a bit of reading and think I've found the books to recommend for my Bookclub next month. I won't give it away just yet! I stumbled over another book about sugar control, and managed to source a copy in Adelaide. It reports an interesting piece of research  suggesting the sequence in which we eat particular foods in a meal can improve metabolism - always beginning with vegetable fibre ahead of protein and carbs, reserving sugars  (if we must!) until last.

As I wrote this the abseilers were at work - clumping around on the roof rather than abseiling most of the time. There seems to be a lot of detailed finishing happening in the newly built apartment block.

I've watched quite a bit of Norse-Celtic related television while stitching this week, including Britain's Secret Islands and Exploring Northern Ireland. I'll soon need to start organising my reading and thoughts for the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic Embroidery discussion I've undertaken to lead at WES later this year. It all helps.

That extra hour on Sunday was put to good use (several times!)  with the Aesop Frame.I'm particularly pleased with this corner of fox and owl. 

I'm now working on the peacock after which I'll write up my progress more comprehensively in my embroidery blog before the last step of blocking and applying it to the chair.

By then the new washed linens I ordered from Ink and Spindle will have arrived - and together with that Botanicals book above there will be no end of projects in the pipeline......