Post 504 Quite a week.

There was a fabulous rainbow over the city early on Wednesday morning. I just caught it after Robyn, my sister-in-law, noticed and drew my attention to it.

I reckon the pot of gold was somewhere near the police barracks that are about to be moved!

We went on to have brunch with Niamh, Veronica and Fionn at the Queen St Cafe. A happy time.

I had  a postal vote in our upcoming referendum and posted my ballot paper well in advance of closing date. I now have my Electoral Commission receipt.

My brother, staying with me for much of the week, is not keen on marmalade, which is pretty much my only(occasional) jam, so I opened the last jar of the crab-apple jelly I made from our crab apple tree in West Hindmarsh. The end of an era, and, yes, about time it was used!

It was a  relaxing time with my visitors. We've got a working plan for the book I'm helping my brother with; he edited another of his publications and Robyn has her lessons planned for the next term. They watched Niamh's football match (in the cold) and we had several relaxed meals, one with all the Adelaide family here on Friday night. It was a really good time.

They went home on Saturday. A  spectacular sunset rounded off their visit.  A rainbow and a spectacular sunset - the gods clearly approved of their visit.

On Sunday Katherine and I went to the Finale of the Festival of Choirs, on in Adelaide over the weekend. Five choirs, one each from Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, NSW and Queensland have been performing in 5 concerts. We only went to the last, which was at St Peter's Cathedral in the afternoon. 

It was a varied and interesting program. I enjoyed hearing Rainforest again. My favourite from the individual choirs was the Sydney Choir's Kirie and Gloria from Missa Rigensis. 

The final combined choirs piece, however was a stand-out, with the five choirs enclosing the audience on three sides, each with its conductor taking signals from Carl Crossin in the middle of the central aisle, surrounding us with sound. It really was fabulous, though not easy to photograph. These are some of the combined choirs processing to take up their places around the cathedral.

For the last couple of days the sun has been shining and the temperature is rising a little. I've caught up with washing and begun an advent calendar commission for Brigid. The honey eaters have been active, swooping around the balcony even as I was hanging out washing!

A message from my friend Ken almost stopped my heart. It said " I think we are close to 'end of life treatment'. It was only when I opened it and saw the attached photo that I realised, with relief, that he was referring to  another split in his favourite travel pants! 

Nowhere near end-of-life if I have my way.

Today I kept to my plan of returning to swimming when my back was healed and I'd had my 6th COVID shot. I got myself organised (no hearing aids, small bag with keys, cards & phone for front desk to mind, towel, pool shoes and toiletries) and fronted up for a 45 minute Aqua Fitness class at Unley Swim, a pool in the Unley shopping centre. I haven't used it before. The group was friendly, the instructor clear and helpful, and the session fairly vigorous. I managed without difficulty and really enjoyed it. I am now tired and feeling a few muscles. I have signed up for a 10 week block and it's in my diary indefinitely. 

I'm behind in my reading, and discovered I need another 28 row pattern repeat on the shawl, so nothing much to report there. With about 350 stitches on the needle now, each round takes a while. I'm unlikely to be finished by next week.  Still,

One foot up and one foot down, 

That's the way to London Town 

- or maybe 

Stitch by stitch (don't let them fall!), 

Very soon you'll have your shawl.  

(You can tell my brother's been staying with me!)

Post 503 Preparing, Relaxing, Enjoying.

It began as a week of getting jobs done, catching up on things I have been putting off. On Wednesday I went to the hairdresser, hung the photograph I had framed a few weeks ago, and prepared my tax.

Many thanks to the friends who provided advice on carpet cleaning. That was helpful, supportive and useful. I haven't as yet acted, but I will. Next week I plan to visit Bunnings to investigate further. At the moment I am favouring buying a small carpet shampooer. 

On Thursday I took the plasters off my back and got back to Pilates (not in that order!). On the way I called at Bunnings and bought potting mix, some dianthus, a couple of wheel platforms for pots and some wall hooks that hold weight and don't require tools to install. I haven't heard back from my former picture hanger, so decided to see if I could do it myself. 

The mirrored mosaic I bought a few weeks ago weighs 4.2kg. I used a 7 kg hook for plasterboard walls and followed the instructions. 

 It's holding up firmly.  The lovely pinky watercolour visible in the left of the photo is by Brigid. I moved it to where it now is so it can be seen from the corridor. It goes well with the Ruth Tuck watercolour above it.

It was formerly on the corridor wall where I have now hung Colleen's Green Parrots and Ginger Jar (above left). I think it all works - and I did it myself! 

I also made adjustments to a bark Wandjina painting that hangs over my bath. A couple of the hangers (removable adhesive so as not to damage the tiles) had fallen off, so it hung askew. My efforts were not of a high standard, as I did not want to climb in the bath while on my own, but I did manage to support and straighten it.

The two books on Mexican embroidery that I ordered after seeing the Frida and Diego exhibition arrived (separately) this week. I'm hoping that someone in the WES Group will be inspired to investigate and tell us about it sometime next year. The Guild Museum has a decent collection of Mexican embroidery.

The Goodman book has a lot of very helpful information about stitches.

Birds are still active and I am trying to resist too many photos.  I can't claim to have been successful in that.

I finished off the Christmas bags - adding the ribbon to the last one. I also stopped off at DK Fabrics on Thursday and bought some black zips, one of which I used to turn the embroidery from Christine Bishop's Romanian Braid and Needle Weaving workshop in March of this year, into a pouch. I found some raw silk, from a suit I once had, to use as lining, so it could be used for storing pearls, or other jewellery. 

It was a long weekend in much of Australia, our State included. My brother and sister-in-law arrived on Sunday for a week's visit - the first since COVID hit, so much of the early part of my week was taken up with preparations. They had a busy week (including two surprise birthday parties in 48 hours) before their (inevitably delayed) flight. 

It is fantastic to have them here. We have been catching up with each other and visiting the Kilkenny mob. Katherine hosted a family lunch for 10 yesterday which was fabulous in every way, from the conversation, shared experiences and empathy to Anthony's wonderful lamb roast, vegetable smorgasbord and Katherine's pavlova.  

I now have an advance copy of Jim's latest book, which is to be released on 30 October. I'll provide more details closer to the date.

Meanwhile, Margaret is making the most of the hap stretcher, stretching a navy shawl she finished a year ago for herself. It is even more complex than her last. I hope she will wear it to our December WES meeting when we discuss knitting.   

For those following the progress of my latest shawl,  I'm now on to the 7th of the 8 required 28 row patterns. 

Finally, two more books arrived today from Can Do Books. Textile Portraits looks a bit ambitious, but Japanese Knitting Stitches looks as if it has some achievable, interesting stitches - to add to my list of things to try!

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.