Post 502 A lot about nature

The big event of my week, stitch removal, went smoothly, except that while I had assumed  I could resume Pilates immediately,  the nurse requested another week for fear of disturbing the wound, dislodging the dissolvable stitches which are underneath. I also need to delay my return to swimming. The wounds are still covered, but can get wet.

In lieu of Pilates, I managed a visit to Colleen Morrow's SALA Exhibition at the Hughes Gallery. Colleen is primarily a printmaker, but also a long-term textile and craft collector. She was the convenor to the World Embroidery Study Group before me. Her exhibitions always include opportunity to buy jewellery and textile treasures she has collected on her travels. I managed to resist adding to my own collections, but since Friday was the twins' birthday, I added a couple of necklaces to their gifts - and a couple of containers to put them in. When I got home I had another hard look at my walls, and found a space where I could hang one of Colleen's prints. I went back the next day and bought Two Green Parrots and a Ginger Jar. I have put out a call to my picture hanger, but have a fear he may have retired.

I needed to pick up the print as the exhibition closed,  midday Saturday, when I had planned to be at the Guild's Certificate Course workshop. Fionn was also playing in his team's football final at Campbelltown in the mid-afternoon, all a bit of a squeeze.

In the end I worked around picking up the print, calling at the Guild after I had done so. The roses were putting on a show - and scent- and the cotoneaster is at its best. I'm not so sure about what I assume is mistletoe decorating the palm tree in the adjacent property. It looks good but maybe isn't helping the tree.

Although I willed Fionn on, I missed the football. His team won and he kicked a match-changing goal. The story will be retold for decades to come.                                             

Saturday night dinner was at The Greek to celebrate the twins' 16th birthday. It is such a privilege to be part of their celebration. 

Sunday was Book Club. We found a new venue, after finding, on arrival, that the coffee shop we had booked was closed. More stimulating discussion when we adjourned a couple of blocks away.

Over the weekend I made time to stitch up the 15 Christmas gift bags I had cut out a couple of weeks ago. I needed a little bit more plain  green ribbon to finish the last 3 bags and got that today. They look splendid. 

I also dug out what fabric I had left with motifs for kids - pirates, kangaroos, sheep, chickens and vehicles - and turned it into bags. Someone will use them and I am unlikely to use the fabric otherwise. 

My other project of the week was constructing a needle holder from a used lipstick. The absurd detail is in my embroidery blog (it is, after all, an embroidery tool). As the blog post suggests, this is not the solution to too much plastic.  The process, I suspect, uses too many resources to be justifiable. A couple of friends have suggested easier ways of cleaning out the last lipstick smears.  I have another lipstick almost used up. I might have another try. However,  the really sustainable footprint must be found at source. I will continue to reuse, but try not to buy  products that take forever to break down.

Today my carpets were meant to be cleaned. This involves a lot of preparation on my part. All small furniture and all rugs have to be removed -  quite a lot. These also have to be put back afterwards. My family were going to help remove them after dinner last night. The company that cleaned the carpets last year had inundated me with rebooking calls in June. Eventually I made a booking, via email, for September 26. The rebooking calls continued. I stopped answering.

On Monday I phoned. After several recorded messages I got a person, who knew nothing. His supervisor checked the records and discovered they did have the work allocated, for half an hour later than the original booking. She realised I was annoyed and offered to cancel. I accepted. I will not use them again. There has to be an easier way. I have checked  out the pros and cons of buying a carpet shampooer  and worked out where I could store one.  

This morning, mulling the decision over in my mind as I hung out a blanket I had washed, I heard bird arguments. A noisy miner was trying to discourage a couple of lorikeets from feeding.  No chance. As I grabbed the DSLR, the noisy miner gave up. The lorikeets were well hidden in the leaves. I concentrated on one of them, angling through what gaps I could find in the tree, contorting almost as much as the feeding bird. I took 68 shots, expecting to discard most of them. I ended up keeping 54.

Some of them, like the one below, are interesting for the patterns they form, rather than the bird itself.

There's an art work in there . 

As I convinced myself enough was enough, I noticed a dove on a lower branch, taking a rest from the quarrels of the bird world.  

It woke,  looking a little as if it were contemplating the challenge of bringing peace to the world.

 A drop-off I had promised Veronica was in the same direction, as was Spotlight, so I did a round trip, picking up the ribbon I needed at Spotlight and finally the book in Port Adelaide.       

I'm hoping the book might be of sufficient interest to the World Embroidery Group to make it the basis of a meeting next year.

I decided not to stop off and buy the carpet shampooer on the way home, but I may well buy it later in the week. I suspect cleaning my carpets myself, section by section, over several weeks, might prove less stressful than the big invasive clean. 

The best news came at the end of the afternoon. My Guild friend Margaret has 1) recovered from Covid and 2) mounted the Shetland shawl she has just knitted for a new baby in her extended family, on to the hap stretcher. She managed to fix the wonky screw. She sent me the photo this evening. Isn't it fabulous! It's 1.4 metres square. It is a real treasure and heirloom. Exactly what the hap was made for. So good to see it in use.

As I brought the blanket in, the whole flock of lorikeets were partying in the trees. This time I took 133 photos and kept 48. The shutter speed got longer and longer as the light faded rapidly.

It has been a strange, unpredicted week. I learned a bit about myself, my tolerances, expectations, limitations and priorities.

I can meditate on that while knitting.

Post 501 Plenty to do this week.

A big advantage of a macro-lens camera on my phone is that I can take opportunistic photos - like this ladybird on the Kalanchoe next to where I was sitting, reading in the sun on Friday. Within minutes it had flown away (home) - no time to get my DSL and attach the macro lens.

I am channeling my mother, who was an observer of  nature and her brother, who was a photographer.

Wednesday was our monthly World Embroidery Study Group meeting. We had a lively discussion about cruelty-free and sustainable silk, focused on three examples - the golden orb spider silk from Madagascar, the wild silks of India and the cocoon silk of Madagascar. The last, whilst the one most reliably cruelty-free, is the least adaptable, with embellishment rather than garment as an end point. Cocoons are collected after the moth has exited, then beaten into fibrous sheets which can be dyed and stitched. This is Margaret's photograph and work using one of the cocoon sheets to paint and embroider butterflies. 

After the meeting a few of us had lunch at a cafe around the corner from the Guild. We sat on their courtyard veranda, eventually becoming aware of a silent watcher above the magazine rack tucked into a corner. I'm hoping the teddybear was put there by the cafe for bored children, and not left behind by an adoring child. It certainly won't be cuddled by anyone any time soon!

The surgeon rang on Thursday with the pathology results for the 2 moles I had removed, one benign, one pre-cancerous, but they had got it all. I skipped Pilates in deference to the stitches, which come out next Thursday. They have reached the itchy stage, so I'll be glad to have them out.

I called at the Guild to return a key. On the way I picked up a copy of Richard Osman's newly released The Last Devil to Die as well as more basic provisions.

The Frida and Diego Exhibition at the Art Gallery was finishing last weekend.  I am so glad I made a concerted effort to get there on Friday. It was fabulous. Most of it comes from the endowment of the Jacques and Natasha Gelman. As well as their paintings, there are many interesting photographs of Frida and Diego, together and separate.   I bought the excellent catalogue for more leisurely perusal. The exhibition included a display of Mexican dresses which set me off on another World Embroidery tangent. By the end of the day I had sourced and ordered 2 books on Mexican embroidery. 

Surely someone will be interested in following up?

On Saturday, after a quick supermarket visit, I helped out at JEMS. There were 7 girls there, stitching a variety of things. The conversation is lively, not so different to adult stitching groups. I just made up the required supervision numbers, but it’s a rewarding gig.  I took last week's pouch along, as I had promised, to show how their advice had panned out. They were pleased with the result (genuinely,  I judge, although they would hardly have said otherwise!).

I spent much of Sunday making moussaka- and cleaning up afterwards. It was warm work, helped by listening to the very long ABBA Gold compilation album.  Only later, after I had cooked and eaten chicken livers for my lunch at 2.30 pm, fixed the printer that has been on strike for days, showered and sat down to catch up on news, did I discover that not all the heat had come from the kitchen. The outside temperature had reached 31C.  Looks like Spring is here. I removed the cotton blanket under the quilt on my bed.  Maybe it’s time to wash my woollens.

It was evident on Monday evening that the ragu for the moussaka could have done with a bit more reduction. but we had plenty of bread to mop up the liquid. Fionn's football team has made the final, so lots of speculation about their chances. Not sure if I can make the match on Saturday, but I will try. 

While the moussaka was heating, I tried to photograph the sun going down, sitting as a big golden globe on top of a building. I couldn't capture the globe, but produced an interesting photo anyway. It looks as if there was a dragon breathing fire from one of the apartments.

Today I had a podiatrist appointment and lunch with a UniSA Alumni officer. We discussed a range of Uni issues, from the proposed merger, to fund-raising and social justice. I really enjoyed it.

Afterwards I picked up a parcel from the PO - two sets of cards I bought from Can Do Books.  I was curious, after my experience with the cards that Pascal Jaouen's Glazig school produces. I'm pretty impressed with the two sets that came today. They are produced in England and more expensive here in Australia than they are in either the UK or USA. A good idea though, and very clear.

This morning I finished  The Last Devil to Die. I think it is extraordinary - compassionate, insightful, engaging, entertaining, moving. It reminds me a lot of the Ealing comedies I saw as a child with my parents at the Botany Empire Cinema (or Theatre, as it was signed) - a kind of intelligent high farce.

I have completed four of the eight patterns required for the alpaca shawl - 112 rows done, 112 to go.  Unfortunately, this is nowhere near half way because each row increases by 2 stitches. 

Might be worth trying to finish it before the hot weather sets in.

Post 500 Not bringing home the bacon

The Adelaide Show was on last week. I didn't go, but did catch glimpses of the fireworks at 9pm each evening - a bright spot each night. 

On Wednesday I had the appointment with the dietitian my GP had recommended back in March. She was not taking new patients until September, so this was the first appointment I could get. She lived up to my GP's praise in most ways. She listened, gathered data, was supportive and non-judgemental. What I was after was help with how to maintain a reasonable weight in the long term.

It was going great guns until I mentioned that my nephrologist recommended injectables. To my surprise she became excited and enthusiastic. Not what I expected. She showed me the epipen for injectables. It has a sliding dosage measurement. You begin on the lowest dose and only increase if your body isn't responding with weight loss. You need to inject every day, recommended initially for a year.  Evidence suggests you can wean yourself off, but weight will gradually go back on.  She is very keen. I am not,  even before factoring in the cost. I've decided to give myself until I see my GP in November to maintain weight loss sans injectable and discuss with her. Nothing I have read, before or after my appointment, suggests this is what I am looking for. 

I treated myself to lunch at A Prayer for the Wild at Heart, grilled whiting (within my food allowance) and a flat white coffee that made me smile.

Thursday was my mole excisions. Two in the middle of my back. The procedure went smoothly. I rested for a day, kept them completely dry for 66 hours and mostly dry thereafter. The stitches come out in a fortnight and someone will be in touch if the analysis raises any problems. So far so good. The stitches pull when I stretch in any direction, so I've cancelled Pilates this week. 

I entertained myself on Friday by advancing the Christine Bishop Pulled Thread Mat and reading, in between watching the birds. There was a bit of a competition between a noisy miner and the resident dove for domination of the budding tree. Quiet persistence seemed to win out for the dove.

This evening I had a phone call from a friend in Darwin, who  had an encounter with a similar dove at almost the same time and decided this was a message to get in touch. I'm glad he did.

On Saturday, an email from Create in Stitch sent me scurrying to the shop in pursuit of a set of large stretcher bars to make a repository for my earrings - an idea I had been pondering.  In my usual madwoman obsession, I had it finished by late afternoon - and was exhausted. The full story is in my stitching blog (although, in the end, there was no stitching required). It is 28" square and hangs on my bedroom wall.

On Friday I bought some chicken livers, mushrooms and parsley to cook with bacon for my dinner - a favourite of mine. There were enough for 2 meals, and I planned to repeat the meal on Sunday but ran out of bacon. 

On Sunday morning, I bought more bacon, but when I came to cook the meal, realised I had lost the package of bacon somewhere along the line, probably in asserting my independence by packing my own bag at the checkout. 

I have been making this for years, never without bacon, which I regarded as an essential ingredient. After searching the car and my shopping bags, my make-do instinct came good, and I made the meal using broccoli and beansprouts instead of bacon.   Worked a treat! I'll do it again.

The second alpaca shawl-in-the-round is coming along. It is a 28 row pattern sequence, worked 8 times, increasing by 2 stitches per row. I have begun the third sequence. It is difficult to calculate yarn requirements because of the increase, but it seemed likely to be touch and go. Only the black is still available, so I have ordered some more as backup.

It's an interesting and fairly easy pattern, an 18 stitch repeat with only one colour per row. The trick is in which of the 18 stitches begins each row.  One-colour-per-row should make for an easier steek finish than the last shawl.

It was a lovely 24C today. Feeling tired, I stayed at home, tidied up a bit, checked over tomorrow’s WES presentation, did a lot of crosswords and sudoku and got some Christmas bags started using the fabric from Missy Rose. 

Five are stitched into bags and 10 folded and ironed, ready to stitch. That’s enough progress for today. 

I will sign off my 500th post to return to my knitting.

Post 499 Buttons and Birds

Spring arrived with a fanfare of birds this week. On the third level of an apartment with trees in front and behind, their noise is constant; chattering, calling, warning, arguing, as they seek out the emerging buds barely visible to human eyes. 

On Saturday evening it was a flock of lorikeets - the noisiest of them all.

It was in contrast to the almost monochrome moonscape as I tried to capture the super blue moon on Wednesday and Thursday nights. This was as close as I came to the golden glow, but I was pleased, nonetheless. Moonshots are difficult and at least I got a few decent shots, even without the gold.

I got some help on Saturday from JEMS for the jewellery pouch I had decided to make from last week's Certificate Course endeavour. I worked on the sample all week, unable to resist the temptation to play with the stitches and design. I couldn't decide between two pieces of fabric for the lining and back. The girls at JEMS worked it out - the velvet for the back because it matched the outer edge I was still working, and the shiny pink, which everyone loved, as lining. Later that night, Veronica added, sensibly, that the red necklaces I was planning to put in it would be hard to see if I used the velvet as lining. Good advice all round.  The pouch is now finished - detail in my embroidery blog. I've promised to take it back next month to show the JEMS.

A side activity at JEMS was button sorting. The JEMS button collection was being sorted into bags by colour and size. A button sort is irresistible, and I got a bit hooked. It's the result of a call for buttons for the children's dresses made by the Guild's shop team.

Sunday was sunny, with a stiff breeze in the morning, so I took the opportunity to throw my sheepskin slippers in the washing machine. The second load of washing was dry in an hour. The slippers took longer, but were clean and dry by the end of the afternoon.   I'll wait at least a couple of weeks before I wash my woollens - reckon I'll need them  yet.

On Sunday afternoon I took myself off to an Elders Art Auction to bid on a bark painting - the last item in the auction. It turned into a battle between an online bidder and myself. I allowed myself two bids over my notional limit, before bowing out. I'm now waiting for a photograph to come back from the framers before organising for my picture hanger to come and hang the botanical mosaic I bought a couple of weeks ago.

I've spent a bit of time on the western balcony in the late afternoons, stitching, reading or writing.  Once summer arrives with a vengeance the balcony will be much too hot.

I further refined the vegetable-bake-with-chipolatas recipe for Monday night dinner. This time I baked the vegetables on a high temperature for about 40 minutes before adding the chipolatas and lowering the temperature for another 30-40 minutes. This produced firmer vegetables without over-cooking the chipolatas. Once again, I intended to add lemon juice before serving, but forgot. Maybe next time I'll remember.

                                               

On Wednesday some fabulous fabric arrived from Tessuti. Need is certainly not the driving force here, but this presented too many bag possibilities to be ignored. I now have Christmas fabric for gift bags, quite a few linens from Ink and Spindle for totes, as well as this one. 

I need to make room in my life for a bag making binge.  

Two books on Australian women artists also arrived this week, in preparation for helping my brother with his next books. I’m also gearing up to write more family history and to document my own paintings, as well as prepare for several Guild presentations. 

I might have to slow down my knitting, although this will be a challenge. This is the beginning of the next alpaca shawl in the round. I  knitted the first few inches back and forth until there was enough to join in the round without dpns. As this one is mosaic knitting,  alternating 2 full rows in each colour, there is less reason I can see for the steek, but I am persevering.    

I also got another knitting book in today's mail - with some very attractive bag patterns.

After the book was delivered, I took myself off to the Tuesday Stitchers group at the Guild for a couple of hours to catch up with news and work on the Christine Bishop Pulled Thread mat. I was home in time to hear, then see, the flock of noisy New Holland Honeyeaters visit my balcony.

A single lorikeet also visited this morning. The buds that attract them are now visible to human eyes.

I'm having a couple of excisions of moles later this week, so may get time at home to observe while healing.  

Post 498 Flying.

A magpie was in the Guild garden on Saturday, watching the carpark activity from a safe vantage point  as I was leaving, taking off as soon as a car moved.

Birds have been active all week: Spring is on the way. The Adelaide Rosella appeared on the seemingly still bare tree at the back of the apartment but flew off before I could grab the DSLR. The early buds must be swelling. The doves have visited every day and the honey eaters make swift forays to check out my plants. 

I had my 6th  COVID vaccination on Wednesday before juggling car parking spaces with my cleaners. I had no adverse reaction, but was tired for a couple of days during which I had time to work up a list of jobs I have been putting off and the courage to tackle a couple of items on the list. 

So, on Friday, I plucked up courage and disposed of the lamp whose shade I had replaced in February . The shade did not fit properly and I had removed it in fear of it falling off. I like the lamp, but I don't use it and it deserves to be used and appreciated. At the risk of coming across as completely mad, I took it to a restoration centre, along with the shade and offered it to them free. My fall-back was to buy a shade that did fit and take the working lamp to a charity. The two assistants in the shop were wary of agreeing without the owner, who was on his way to the shop. When he arrived, he agreed immediately but asked me to accept a bottle of wine in exchange! Done.

The restoration centre is across the road from Nordic Design Furniture so I took another chance. The hap stretcher I bought from Shetland has a problem with one of the 4 connecting knobs that screw the sides together. A screw on one was too short, and would not hold the corner firm. I had researched repair centres and handymen, but found no-one who did such repairs. I took the set of connectors into Nordic Design Furniture and asked Daniel if he had any idea of a service that might fix it. He took it from me, got a tool and some glue, explained the problem (part of the screw had disappeared into the wood) and affected what may only be a temporary fix. He also explained that this side of the connector (lower in photo)  is designed to remain fixed. The connector should only be unscrewed from the side with the brass surround. This made sense, and may mean the temporary fix can be permanent if I undo it correctly. It was a generous response.

I came away from these two encounters on a high. It was uplifting to be shown such kindness in these contexts. A madwoman comes into your business with out-of-left-field, unprofitable requests. Both men responded with kindness and empathy. I felt affirmed and successful. 

I had a late lunch at A Prayer for the Wild at Heart to celebrate, trying the really lovely whiting special instead of my regular gnudi.

Saturday was a Certificate Course workshop taken by Margaret Adams on Canvas Stitches on Linen . There was a lot of information and stitches I have not worked before. I worked on a looser weave linen than most participants, so I could see more clearly what  I was doing. I had a great time and kept working on it when I got home, even though I had other things to work on.  

This is where I am up to (it's a 15cm hoop).

The reason I can work on this, is because I finished and blocked the alpaca shawl during the week. It was a long and, at times difficult, process, but worth it. I have written about it in detail in my stitching blog in more detail than all but knitting nerds would want.    

There is no shortage of things I want to do. I mended a couple of shirts for Fionn over the weekend, ordered a couple of books to help with work I've agreed to do for my brother's next book, while some Christmas fabric I ordered months ago for bags arrived, and I have agreed to give a workshop on Glazig embroidery for the Certificate Course next year. 

My priority is finishing the Canvas stitches above, then the Christine Bishop drawn thread mat - before I embark on another shawl.