Post 487 Plenty to celebrate

Today is Fionn's birthday. We celebrated last evening with his choice of dinner - his mother's Mulligatawny Soup and apricot cake. I contributed rice and popadoms.   

It was a lovely evening of sharing, celebrating a fabulous young man. I am so privileged to have him in my life.

We are still doing Covid candles - and I for one cannot see myself reverting to previous practice. Blowing over shared food for 70 or so years? Once I stopped to think about it ....

Daylight saving finished on Sunday morning and the extra hour included a morning chill that prompted me to change over to my winter quilt. There were sufficient hours of sunshine to wash the summer one and get it dry, so the symbols and the housekeeping aligned.

I did enjoy the last few days of 7.30 sunsets. It's a good time to take in the loveliness. It's now dark by 6.30pm.

It was a neighbourhood kind of week. I worked steadily all week on my Glazig project and treated myself to a late lunch after Pilates on Thursday at A Prayer for the Wild at Heart along the Square. It was a bit windy sitting outside, but still pleasant and the food is excellent. It's pleasing to see how much the jacarandas, planted a couple of years ago, have grown this summer.

I arrived home to a call for help from a neighbour who is booked into hospital for a pacemaker fitting in April. The online registration form sent by the hospital had discombobulated them. It took us 2 hours to complete the online forms. I was very happy to help. It was convivial and we had a few laughs. It concerns me, however, that such a complex process is expected of patients. Many would fall at the hurdle.

On Friday Susan and I assembled the hap stretcher. It was an easy, if slightly awkward process. We didn't, in the end, use it to block her shawl, which eventually blocked flat on the table without pins. We did, however, learn a great deal. The stretcher will work well with any shawl with two sides at, or close to, a right angle.  Fully extended, it is 2metresx2metres but it can be assembled in many smaller sizes. If you enlarge the photo, you will see four square holes along each side. These are the positions for reducing the size.

My back-up duty for JEMS on Saturday turned out to be an easy gig.  It was a small group of 4 students, enjoying each other's company. One used the sewing machine to assemble her cushion and insert a zip. The others needed little help.

My major stitching achievement for the week was to finishYah Zour, my Glazig project. I am delighted with the result, which is detailed in my embroidery blog. I feel as if I am in the swing of this now, and might work a couple of small samples for my May WES presentation.

I am now concentrating on Brigid's jumper - a cable fantasy which will challenge me until I am into a rhythm with the 5 charts that are repeated in a sequence of 7 across each row. A day of so should get me into the rhythm.

Yesterday we had information that the abseilers engaged to undertake the much delayed painting of the western wall of our apartment block, including balconies, will begin their work at 7.30am this Thursday. I am sceptical, given the following day is Good Friday - but I will still have to clear the balcony in case (sigh). 

        

Also related to Easter, yesterday morning two young women buzzed my apartment. When I answered, one explained, My friend and I are inviting everyone to a party tomorrow. It's free. Can we leave an invitation in your letterbox?.  Having no interest at all in parties, but  being polite, and assuming they were locals preparing neighbours for noise, I agreed. 

The invitation turned out to be a Jehovah's Witness Easter Memorial Service some 12km away! Both ethically and theologically dodgy!

I hope your Easter experience is peaceful, personal, profound - and honest!

Post 486 Autumn

I tried another vegetable bake with chipolatas last night. This time I left out the lemon juice and baked it at 200 degrees in an attempt to get it a bit more crispy. I cooked it for about 100 minutes and mixed it around several times during cooking. It worked fairly well. Nothing burned, and about one third of the contents were to some degree crispy. I think that's OK. Everything is cooked, and it provides a bit of a choice of soft or crispy. I meant to add the lemon juice back in at the end, but forgot (likewise the photo). Next time.  I think the higher temperature worked. 

I finished the multi-coloured baby cardigan and delivered it to the Guild shop to go with the crocheted blanket. It was well received and completes their current need. The next round of demand is expected around October. I need to finish the second crocheted blanket I am working on - then take a six-month break from  baby bundles. It's been a useful stash buster - and I enjoy it. There are, however, a couple of other things calling.

Before I seriously moved on to them however, I attended the Guild's Certificate Course workshop on Rumanian Braiding and Needle Lace with Christine Bishop, who had generously as always, worked lengths of braid for us in advance so we could work on the needle lace and weaving.
I really  loved it. It is a great design. I finished it off at home, but haven't quite mastered the braiding yet. It's much easier with a lucet but this does give a more decorative result. I'll keep trying from time to time. I haven't quite decided what to do with the finished piece. 

My next knitting project is Brigid's jumper, the wool for which arrived last September. I have gathered my tools (lots of stitch markers!) and cast on. I need to refer to three charts to progress, so am waiting for a few uninterrupted hours to get into the swing of it. Hopefully tomorrow.

My embroidery priority is Glazig. I need to prepare for a workshop on this in May, so I have started working on the kit Genevieve so kindly sent me last year, Yar Zour (Beautiful Chicken in Breton). It is proving to be most interesting - more detailed and varied than I had anticipated. I hope to have this finished this week and will write about it in my embroidery blog. I'm learning heaps.

My progress on Yar Zour slowed today. I had originally planned to go to the Cinema, to see Fisherman's Friends 2. It is only showing once this week. I really enjoyed Fisherman's Friends 1 which I saw twice, once in England with Pen and Mark. I haven't been to a cinema since Covid arrived and thought I might venture now that I've had my 5th shot. However, on reflection, I demured. I read several critical reviews of the film, and lots of luke-warm comments. Since Health authorities have warned of an infection peak this month in Adelaide (Mad March), it seemed a silly time to relax my risk management, especially if I am likely to be disappointed in the film itself. Looks like I wait for it to be streamed, or buy the DVD. 

That left me free today to finish the bag I have been making for my hap stretcher. This is quite a saga - details in my embroidery blog. 

Daylight saving ends next weekend. 22C today. This afternoon I needed a singlet under my cotton top - always my sign that Autumn is here. The day began with rain but finished with sunshine - perfect for my plants, most of which are looking very happy.  I fertilised them about 10 days ago. The forecast has been amended to rain for most of this week. Plants 1, washing 0. We don't complain about that in Adelaide!

Post 485 Job list

My chair is back in place in my sitting area. The Guild Exhibition closed on Sunday, and I picked the chair up today. My old luggage wheels did good service once again. I have my apron back as well, put aside for someone needing to protect clothes.

It's been a week of catching up on jobs. I finished the baby cardigan that the Guild shop wanted to go with a greeny-blue blanket, part of one of their Welcome Baskets for newborns.  I got a bit carried away with an idea for a bag to go with it. I got out my Inktense pencils. These are used with water, suitable for fabric, and dry permanent.

sea colour blanket

  

crochet blanket 

This has now been added.

At the same time, I delivered the crocheted blanket I talked about last week, also in a  bag. 

It is waiting for the matching cardigan I am working on, made from a cone of Coats/Paton yarn, 70%wool, 30% acrylic, that belonged to my mother and has knitted up surprisingly well. 

I'm hoping to deliver this by the weekend.     

Last week I realised I had put a big toe through the upper of my Mary Janes - the shoes I wear constantly when sandal weather wanes. I tend to alternate between two pairs of shoes in summer, and another two in Winter and I haven't bought shoes for several years. I finally did a bit of a shoe audit and decided it was time to replace 3 pair. Lana Lang had sandals on special at the end of the season, so off I went after Pilates.              

I ended up with three new pair. The new Mary Janes have leather uppers and my toe will not penetrate. The ankle boots are grey and very soft. 

The saleswoman also suggested getting the damaged Mary Jane repaired on Hutt St - quite close to me. I took them there this morning and yes, they can be repaired. So, in spite of good intentions, I have ended up with one more pair than I started with.

My big excitement of the week was the arrival of my hap stretcher from Paparwark on Shetland. I  have wanted one for a while, and made enquiries about having one made locally. When Paparwark modified their design so it packed in 1 metre, rather than 2 metre lengths, I took the plunge. It took just over three weeks to arrive. I picked  it up from the PO last Friday but didn't unpack it until yesterday. This is the package - and the product.

It is a beautiful item and such a neat design. I'm very impressed. I had expected to have to store it in my carpark locker, but it is so neat that I have found a corner for it in my apartment. I haven't erected it but can see how it is done. I don't have a shawl to stretch  erected. This morning, after picking up the chair, I headed to Spotlight and bought some padded, quilted cotton to make a carry case for it. I'm part-way through making it. It will, I hope, make it easy to carry and transport, so that shawl-making friends can borrow it, erect it in their own home and stretch their shawls.  I will report next week on completion.

Last Saturday JEMS met in the midst of the Exhibition, a lively, interested group. Older members and visitors get pleasure from them being there.

I spent several days establishing my status in relation to the Working With Children Certificate now a legal requirement for volunteers. I had assumed, incorrectly, that my 2019 Police Clearance covered me. There have been a series of administrative changes of which I was unaware. I have now, with Katherine's help, applied for the correct clearance. The Guild has updated procedures. I found the process of sorting this out quite stressful.

Finally, while sorting yarn for the blanket, I came across some gauge samples and worked them into a peculiar bag. The story is in my embroidery blog. 

Post 484 It's Mad March in Adelaide

This morning I went for a walk in the Pakapakanthi Wetlands. I haven't been for a couple of months. There is a lot of council work going on and, interestingly, not much water in the creek. There's a lot of fallen timber, cut up and left for wildlife to make homes.

Also, a lot of new life emerging in seemingly dead wood.

The week began with Exhibition duty at the Guild in lieu of our WES meeting. It went well. I was Day Coordinator. We had 20-30 visitors and a lot of interest in the exhibits. After worrying that we were short of volunteers, an appeal meant we ended up being able to send some home. Those on duty were great. I enjoyed the day.

It was a long weekend in Adelaide - Adelaide Cup Weekend. It is also Mad March - Festival, Fringe and Womadelaide all underway. After Exhibition duty, I did a lot of stitching and reading. 

On Friday I went for a walk on the Grange Jetty before Sit'nStitch. The tide was way out and there was a class of boys practicing ball skills on the beach. 

On Sunday I walked  to A Prayer for the Wild at Heart for a late lunch. It was quite windy, but still pleasant sitting outside, looking over the Square.

This time I tried the Gnudi -  which was really fantastic. Very glad I went.

I spent some time reading or knitting on the back balcony. My latest dove friend visited and seemed comfortable moving around while I was there. The Almanda Blue is slowly spreading really well and my visitor appreciated the water tray responsible for its health.

Most of my effort has gone into the baby blanket - detail in my embroidery blog. While stitching in the daytime I have been listening to Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art, by Rebecca Wrag Sykes. It's an almost perfect audiobook, interesting and full of new information that the pace of listening gives me time to digest somewhat. Much of it applies to ancient - and contemporary -Homo Sapiens,  as well as Neanderthal life. 

In between, when not stitching, I am trying to cover the recommendations for our Book Club next Sunday. I've just started Kerry Greenwood's Murder in Williamstown, which I picked up at Kmart this morning for $A8. Haven't read a Phryne Fisher for a while - so far so good, and a copy to loan to friends and family. 

I'm still avoiding crowds, events and poorly ventilated venues. I wear a mask if in doubt.

There's plenty to keep me happy!

Post 483 One season following another....

Monday 8pm

This week's weather has swung from heat wave - with low of 22C overnight, to storms, rain and a 20C maximum today.  I guess autumn has arrived.

Sunday 6pm

That certainly doesn't mean the end of the hot weather, but I live in hope.  Forecast 29C next weekend.

This week I managed two lunches at the Grange Hotel, couple of hours helping to block a couple of shawls for another friend, a couple of hours at the Guild Exhibition on Saturday afternoon while some JEMS helped out with visitors, a visit to Adairs to buy a 60cm pillow, a Sit'nStitch, grocery shopping, 5 books read, some knitting, some embroidery and a little crochet.

Last night I made Osso Bucco for the family dinner. That worked well. Half a bottle of wine seems to do the trick.  I wanted to try making potato cakes to go with it. Ideally these should be made and served straight away. That's fine for a couple of people, but too much of a challenge for potentially 5-7 with limited time. I've checked out recipes for oven-baking them, but none get the same effect as cooking them in a hot pan. Yesterday I got brave and experimented. I grated 10 potatoes, added 5 eggs and cooked batches of potato cakes in a hot pan before anyone arrived. I placed the hot cakes into a basket on a tray (bought, I am pleased to say, from the Innovations catalogue, of which I am controversially a fan). This I heated in the oven for half an hour before dinner. They were a success! The potato cakes on the top and the bottom of the basket retained their crispness. The layer in the centre didn't. They were eaten anyway, but the answer may to to make fewer, so there is no middle layer.

I delivered this baby cardigan on Saturday to Christine for her Welcome Baby Packs. She has requested some coloured ones, so I have started on an aqua one to match a blanket she is using a the base of another pack. 

I enjoy making these, they are being put to use, and it's good to be working in colour. The gift packs have also prompted me to revive the crocheted baby blanket I started a couple of years ago - using the same cotton yarn.

Ecru border

 I had planned to make the blanket as big as my yarn would allow (until I realised that would probably cover a sports field!). I think I have enough squares for a baby blanket, so I am now putting a consistent border around them and joining them up. With a bit of luck this can also be put to use by the Guild.                       

I tried ecru cotton to border and join them. It seemed the best I could do with the yarn I had. OK, but a bit dull. Then I remembered some white cotton yarn with pastel variegations that I had in a drawer, so dug it out and worked another sample.

This is much better.  I hate undoing work, but I think this is the solution, rather than the ecru. I have about 250 gms of the variegated cotton, which should be more than enough. So I'm on to it! 

These projects are making a dent in my 4ply cotton, but there are a good few  cardigans to go before it's gone. I'm giving myself another week or so before I move on to the Glazig embroidery. 

Finally, I'm very pleased with the second Banksia cushion I finished on Sunday. It's harmonious, comfortable, and looks good on the couch. Details, as usual, in my embroidery blog.  Along the way I also ran up another 5 gift bags from fabric I found lying around.

I'm very satisfied to have made progress on reducing some of my stash and works in progress - but I have been less successful in reducing my weight. While I've continued to restrict my sugar intake and quantities, I have put some weight back on and need to reverse that. Looks like carbs need to be eliminated - and a bit more exercise would assist.

Tomorrow WES Group is on Exhibition duty, and I am the coordinator for the day. We are short of volunteers for the day, so maybe I'll be busy enough to burn some calories!

Post 482 Pass with a Push

Wednesday began with my experiment to get my Crewel chair into my car. Before breakfast (nothing but reading happens before breakfast!) I measured the chair and the hatch opening. When the results were promising I worked out how to put down the back seats in my car. This involved reading the manual (a first), turning the engine on, putting the car into Park, and pulling, not pushing, the buttons on the seat backs. Success!

I then found the old wheels we used to carry with us when travelling, to mount suitcases before they were conveniently made with wheels. The attached bungee cord didn't reach all the way around so had to be held in my hand, but the device worked well enough for me to get the chair down in the lift and into the car.

I'm grateful to Fionn and to Margaret, both of whom offered to help. The chair is now safely delivered and receipted, along with the reversible apron.

Before leaving home I had attempted to retrieve something dropped behind a cupboard and in the process knocked over a standard lamp, breaking the shade. After dropping off the chair I went to a light shop with the neck of the broken shade to find a replacement. They didn't have one that fitted, but directed me to an antique dealer. 

When I visited later in the day, she turned out to have the most extraordinary collection of light shades - thousands. She found 3 that matched the size. I chose one. When I got it home and tried it, I  it fits, but not snuggly. The rim on the original, I realised, had been trimmed with a glass cutter! Untrimmed it wobbles slightly, but won't fall off. I don't use the lamp much so I'm hoping it will pass muster (or, as my mother would have said, 'pass with a push').

From the antique shop I dropped into Create in Stitch, 10 minutes before closing time, and grabbed a packet of the appliqué pins they advertised that day. I then used my phone to book myself into a Covid booster at the Central Market Pharmacy. It seems the vaccine, which was approved as a fourth booster from this week, is in short supply, and only a few pharmacies have it. My regular one doesn't have it. It's a while since I used the Market Pharmacy, which has expanded. They were efficient, meticulous with checking, recording, delivery and follow up.  The temperature was by this time 37C so I went home, made a coffee and stitched, very pleased with myself. 

On Thursday morning I discovered that the vaccine I received doesn't cover the very latest variants. A vaccine that does should be available in a couple of weeks time! I am very annoyed at the poor public information. I had planned to begin swimming again. Now I'm not sure.

The temperature reached 41C on both Thursday and Friday. It was still 31C at 6.50am on Friday when I took this photo. Relief came around 6pm with a cool change off the sea just as I was leaving a friend's place at Grange. I arrived home in time to open up the apartment as the change moved through the city.

I had been to the Grange Hotel for a Salt & Pepper Squid lunch, so had a bowl of carrot salad for dinner and a long talk to my brother about one of his latest research projects. Most of Saturday was followup.  It's been lovely to have the place open again,  breezes through, less plant watering, more energy, reading, research and stitching.

I've finished another cushion for Brigid and another baby's cardigan for the Guild. 

Brigid's cushion has inspired me to start another for myself - using up the last Dijanne Cevaal panel I have.         I need to start the Glazig embroidery soon ready for WES in April.

I've also booked into two Guild classes later in the year - and to three Adelaide Chamber Singers concerts - a toe into the waters of pre-Covid activity.

I'm enjoying the  cooler weather - mid 20sC this week. Along with great company, it made for a pleasant dinner last night. 

I tidied my pots and replaced a few plants today, inspired by this morning's eastern sky, and perhaps also by the gardening theme in the cosy The Village Mysteries I am reading.  

Encouraged by the progress of the plants in clay beads, and the advice of a friend, I'm trying one in water - in a bottle Jim bought many decades ago.  

Here's hoping - and experimenting.

The western sky at sunset bookends the day.