Post 418 Mostly Sky.

Much of my attention this week has focused on the sky.  It began with my attempts to capture the bats as they come at twilight to feed in the large Morton Bay fig tree in the Square. Left is the best so far.

I have also taken time most days to  enjoy the view from my living area as the sun is going down. 

It has mostly been temperate enough to have the doors open , so I can catch the breeze and sounds of the birds returning to roost - an hour or so before the bats. Another photographic challenge! This group looked like geese or cranes.

Coincidentally, there have been some lovely skies - too good not to photograph.

The Scots, I think, are right to use  'gloaming' rather than 'twilight'. It still captures the idea of 'glow' that was in its Old English root word 'glōwan'. 

I've found this time of day relaxed and peaceful this week, a time for reflection and thankfulness. 

While I've been focused on the sky, I have neglected taking photos of activities. At our Friday Sit'nStitch Barbara blocked her shawl on Susan's design wall, but I didn't photograph it. It looked good but wasn't completely dry when we left. 

Sunday was Anthony's birthday and on Saturday we went to the River Cafe for a birthday lunch . It was a lovely meal and a fun gathering in a beautiful setting, but I forgot to take photos. Monday was the first family dinner of the year at my place. It was a privilege to hear first hand impressions of the first day of face to face learning for 2022.   I made an impressive pastitsio in filo, and had every intention of photographing the table but again, forgot at the critical time. Multitasking seems to be eluding me.

The plants I bought last week are looking splendid on the back balcony, as long as I keep the water up. They droop very quickly if I forget, but reward my attention with harmony and cheer each morning.

What's more, it isn't only the evening sky which attracted my attention this week. This was taken at 8.45am on Monday, looking East.

The sky, however, has not got in the way reading and stitching. The first of the Bush Sentinelle cushions is finished. I have recorded the detail in my embroidery blog.  

I have now begun the second Bush Sentinelle, alternating with continuing the Authorised Version of the Mosaic Carpet Bag. 

It looks a lot  more compact than the first version. It will be interesting to see how it comes together in construction when finished.  

I am being very cautious. I know people with Covid or who are close contacts. My doctor's appointment today was  rescheduled as a phone call and postponed for a couple of weeks so I can get blood tests done. I saw the podiatrist and picked up some printing from Officeworks. I'm still treating my eye about 8 times a day.  Two positive milestones: my weight loss hit 21 kg today; and  I now have enough resources to put together something about the long history of Goddess Embroidery for the WES Group. Better knuckle down and do it!

Post 417 A pouch, plants and stitching progress

It's been another quiet week. I like quiet weeks. The most excitement was that Shafaq and Ali arrived back in Australia safely after their flying trip to Pakistan to visit Ali's terminally ill father. They have tested negative to Covid twice since arriving back a week ago. They bought me two of these phone pouches.  I am delighted to know their family is safe and well, and delighted to have the pouches. I spent some time earlier in the week looking for a similar one amongst my bag collection. I thought I had one somewhere and couldn't find it. I had put on a loose summer dress with no pockets, and needed a way of keeping my phone on my person. 

Voilà!

After Pilates on Thursday I called at Bunnings and  bought some more plants for the empty planter boxes on the Eastern balcony. 

I haven't as yet replaced the seed container that blew away in the winds last month.  

One of the doves has resorted to extracting seed from the portulaca.  

I don't think the new plants will help out on that front!

The other bit of good news is that my Vergola is once again operating. The abseilers have gone, taking their coverings with them. The new plants don't show up very clearly - but the idea is blend into the landscape.

I've continued attempting to capture a photo of the bats in flight as dusk. This is the best result so far. 

I've done a bit of checking as well. These Adelaide bats are the biggest in the world, with a wing span of 1metre. They roost during the day at the Botanic Gardens, and feed at night in the Morton Bay Fig tree in our Square. 

Barbara joined us stitching on Friday. We were all knitting. That's a little unusual in the height of an Australian summer, but somehow we've all landed here. 

Susan helped me work out what I should have been doing with the Mosaic bag. I think we've got it sussed.  I have written the story of the bag to date in my embroidery blog  In summary, this is the completed adapted bag. I am now working it as it should have been worked. 

It turns out to be very easy to knit when you know how!

I have not, however, abandoned embroidery.  I've been working on creating some large embroidered cushions using the Bush Sentinels, created by  Dijanne Cevaal during the 2020 bushfires. I am writing more about these in my embroidery blog, since there's a lot to work out, but in the meantime, these are the fabrics, which arrived this week.

I've been on a bit of a roll in the last few days and have  progressed one figure. 

I also finished reading a pre-publication copy of The Way From Here  by Jane Cockram, to review for NetGalley. In spite of it switching back and forth between several time-frames, a technique that I don't much like, I was very moved by and engaged with it. It unravels the secrets of women across three generations. The woman of the oldest generation is Nellie. Part of my engagement came from the fact that I am trying to tell the story of my maternal grandmother, also Nellie, and struggling in the process with her family secrets, some of which she knew and tried to share obliquely with me, some of which belonged to earlier generations and were probably not known to, but undoubtedly impacted, her. Jane Cockram has done an extraordinary job  of creating a world in which many women's experience and secrets are made manifest. My goal is much simpler - to tell what I know of my grandmother. It has helped me immeasurably on many fronts to have read this book.

This time two years ago I was preparing to travel to Stratford for the retreat that initiated this blog. An email this morning from Genevieve indicates I am not the only one missing the gathering of those friends. While we can't gather, I am so grateful for and enriched by the ongoing friendships.

Post 416 Between the Balcony and the Guild

This has been a quiet week. Wednesday was Australia Day - fraught with debate about recognition of First Nations, colonialism and nationalism. It's never held meaning for me or my family.  This year I stayed in, read and stitched. I did manage a session on my Everfit  vibration plate

Thursday was Pilates Day.  I was pleased to go, and enjoyed it - four of us, each on our own piece of equipment in a very large space. Afterwards I called at the Guild to pick up the three portable lights I had left to be tagged.  Two were successfully tagged. The third, a small expanding light with a USB plug, was not.  

I realised that what gets checked and tagged is the plug and connection, not the item itself. I had not included the plug. Damn! 

Never mind. I can manage easily with the other lights.

I did a bit of survival shopping on the way home.

The day was topped off by some great sunset visuals - including (above) the returning bats.

A friend had given me a scented candle for Christmas. I'm wary of candles in the apartment, but thought it appropriate on Thursday night to light it on the balcony for a while in recognition of Holocaust Memorial Day. Lest we forget.

Roughly a third of the girls at the high school I attended from 1959-63 were Jewish, many the daughters of the 31,000 holocaust survivors who settled in Australia after the War, or as pre-War refugees. While we did not actively explore backgrounds or culture through our education, I am grateful to have known them, made friends, learned together,  and grown in understanding. It was a rich experience.

Friday should have been our Sit'n Stitch but was called  off because Susan is isolating as a close Covid contact - still, thanks be, clear! I spent the day reading a section of my brother's latest book-in-progress and gathering the requirements for Saturday's Certificate Course Workshop (two this month because there's a fifth Saturday!), which was on Gingham Lace with Carol Mullan.  Detail is in the link, which is to my embroidery blog.

I've done quite a bit of this. I love it and have more to learn.  Carol encourages experimentation. I worked and extended a motif she provided. I've continued to play with it, using white, mauve and a darker purple thread and varying the dominant colour in the fabric.

White thread remains my preference, but the variations are all interesting.

After our plentiful meal on Saturday, eaten outside while the cats relentless pursued a tiny mouse through the bushes, Katherine and I caught up on the week while most of the family was glued to Ash Barty's Australian Open match. It's a good story and a much needed lift to spirits in a tense time of rising Covid infection and death. The joy is as much in Ash Barty's generous and sane attitude as it is in her tennis.

We had notice that SA Water would be working on local infrastructure all day Sunday with likely water cut-off from 9-5. I had jugs, watering cans and sinks full of water in case needed, but if the water was off I didn't notice. There were diggers, men, trucks and noise in the street for about an hour but the tap worked each time I tried. 

In the early afternoon, I was on the front balcony with a glass of soda water which appeared to shatter in my hand. I wasn't aware of dropping it, but it broke, hit the ground and smashed everywhere. I had bare feet and managed to step back through the door in one movement to put shoes on. As I was doing so, I found blood running down my leg. It seems one piece of glass had penetrated my shin. There was a lot of blood, but the cut wasn't deep. Once I'd stopped the bleeding I managed to get the glass cleaned up and disposed of. After a lifetime of going barefoot both inside and in the garden, I have been unusually careful, since living here, to put shoes on when going onto the balconies. The lapse cost! 

On Monday I had coffee with Panayoula - picking up, as always, where we left off, ever on the same page. I went on to Unley to get some fruit and veg, and then to Barrow and Bench to get some potting mix and plants in preparation for Tuesday, when Fionn came to help me for a few hours with a bit of a mad idea.

First we went to Adair's and bought a replacement plant stand. Then, back at home, we dismantled the electric barbecue I bought about 3 years ago. It sat on my balcony. The last time I tried to use it - at least 18 months ago - it blew my fuses. I haven't tried it since and tossed up between getting an electrician to look at it, or getting rid of it. At the time I bought it, it seemed like a good idea, but I don't really need it, and the safety issue bothers me.

I now have a new plant stand on my front balcony. When the creeping ficus grows it will hang over the edge, and the geraniums should give a burst of colour.

We cleaned up and removed all the dead plants,  replaced them with yesterday's purchases and cleaned up the mess. The balcony is looking pretty good.

I'm hoping for no bursts of temperature over 40C this month.  

The lid of the barbecue is now  on the back balcony, on the replaced stand, full of salvia and geraniums, and we've added another low bowl of the same. Again, we removed the dead plants.

As a result, I have several empty flower boxes on this balcony, so can buy a few more pots of instant colour.

I'm really pleased with this morning's work. I had expected it to be more difficult. We took the electrical components of the barbecue to Bunnings electrical recycling bin. 

Fionn also helped me turn my mattress - a job I simple can't do on my own. Our annual fire alarms checks were today, after the gardening. All good.

I've been trying to capture the bats returning on and off this week. Tonight I sat with my DSLR after sunset waiting for them. The photos were total rubbish. The bats are much faster than my camera at dusk. This one with my iPhone is the best.

I have made some progress on the second side of the Fair Isle bag. I'm nearly half way through and should have it finished within the week. I think I have worked out how the pattern should be knitted to achieve the product illustrated. When this is finished I might have another go, trying it as I suspect it was intended. 

If I'm not enticed away by another project.

Post 415 Stitching all the way.

On Wednesday friends came to lunch - quite an event. The street is now open and, although there were a lot of workers on the building site and parked in the street, there were spaces! Makes quite a difference.

Margaret bought me a birthday present - a lovely Hardanger ornament in an exquisite bag, both worked by her. Wow! The bag fabric is so soft. I've been stroking it while watching TV. So satisfying to have been given such a beautifully worked item.

We had a very pleasant afternoon catching up. Time got away from us - just lovely to be able to do this. 

Thursday began with the dentist and hygienist. My 20-something hygienist has just accepted a job in Western Australia at the end of this month. She was very excited. She has cousins and friends in Perth and was trying to decide between two accommodation offers, one an apartment on her own in the city, the other a shared house near the beach. She plans to drive over (!!) because she is nervous of planes in Covid times, leaving her dog behind with her mother until she is settled. She also has a sister in Adelaide who is 31 weeks pregnant and has been diagnosed with Covid. Her sister's gynaecologist thinks the baby may have immunity from the mother's vaccinations, but if she has any signs of pain, or labour, she needs to drive across the city to Flinders Medical Centre, where there is the only Covid birthing ward in Adelaide!  So Rosie plans to come back to visit when the baby is born. By Saturday, Western Australia had once again closed its border. I don't know if Rosie qualifies for an exemption - but it's an example of the impact on ordinary lives. It's a hard time to be starting in a career.

Alison needed some cushion covers, so on Thursday afternoon we decided on fabric from photographs and I ran these up, posted them Friday and here they are in situ today. I'm so glad I had years of working in online education. Nothing can replace being together, but being at ease with online communication goes a long way to keeping me functional and happy. Photo by Alison.

Susan and I sat and stitched on Friday, both of us are working on knitting projects - Susan's larger (and rather more successful) than mine. She is up to blocking the 5-6 strips for her blanket. I am struggling with the pattern for my bag. The instructions are that each line of the graph represents two lines of knitting - the same pattern row on the right and wrong side. It is evident, however, that the bag in the kit photograph has been knitted with only one row per graph row. I've followed the instructions, resulting in a much longer bag. I'm now adapting. I stopped when I reached the given bag measurement - two patterns short of the graph. I cast off loosely, which may be a mistake, but the bag is lined.  Now I have to knit the other side.

Saturday was the first Certificate Course Workshop for 2022 - Chican Embroidery with Barbara Mullan. I really enjoyed it.  Barbara eschewed the PowerPoint, showed us her books and examples then plunged into the 8 stitches she'd decided we could manage in the time.

I thought I had some cotton muslin, but when I looked on Friday night, all I had was some very fine muslin I'd used for an RSN class which I'd abandoned, so I unpicked it, beads and all, washed, dried and ironed it.  I worked  6 of the 8 stitches in one of the motifs Barbara gave us. It is photographed here on top of some pink lining fabric.

Following a suggestion from Margaret Adams, I turned the sample into (surprise!) a bag, using the lining overlaid with the muslin both inside and out.  

To finish off, I made a twisted cord and added some cowrie shells as stoppers at the end.  I'm pretty pleased with it. The mauve colour is closer.

I also finished off the Hearts and Roses bag. The outside leaves got attached to the double base and a bias strip added, the sides were hand stitched together, then a gusset added for the cord.

This is  the finished product, in various views.

It is quite a piece - but I have no idea what to do with it. I don't think I will really use it - but it's very pretty and I'm pleased to have made it.

Our book club met on Sunday. It was a very engaged and informative meeting - a lot to catch up on - in spite of one of our six members being unable to attend because they are close contacts of a Covid case.

It's been a wet few days in Adelaide and quite humid. Adelaide usually has a dry desert heat. I like the humidity, but most locals hate it and complain loudly ("like Sydney!"). 

I've been concerned about the cover over my Vergola filling up with water. The abseiler came on Monday morning and emptied it. He tells me there's not long to go on the work.

I captured the water-laden clouds just after sunset on Sunday. There are actually 3 bats in the photo - returning to roost in the big Morton Bay Fig on the left.

On Monday my new Kobo arrived. I was a bit concerned it might be too big. It is great! I like the design. The corners fold back so you can see the status, place and page very quickly. The colour is much mauver than the photo. The back light works, it plays audio books, AND it links to Overdrive! Might even rival my Kindle.  My pack of Kim Diehl's Applique Freezer Papers also arrived. 

In between a good phone catch up with my brother, and another with Vivienne, I managed to make this top which I hope will fit Brigid. I'm nervous. It looks as if it will fit a 4 year old but it should be right from the pattern size I used.  I bought the red-back spider fabric from Missy Rose  on a whim- a preorder, then  couldn't think of a anyone who'd like it. 

Brigid rescued me and said she'd wear it as a top, so I found a pattern. Just before posting I received the good news. It fits!

Today I've been to the hairdresser, dropped my portable lights off at the Guild to be tested and tagged then dropped the top off for Brigid. The hairstyle is a little bit Nicola Spurrier, our much loved Chief Medical Officer who has fabulous greying hair - apparently people now ask for hair like hers! I wish.  

Two more Christmas cards arrived today, both from the USA. 

I need to decide on my next embroidery project. Do I return to the Aesop Frame or work on the two Dijanne Cevaal guardians holding koalas ?  I'm tempted by the latter, but am a bit conflicted about a very European spirit figure in an Australian context. Hmmm.

It's still humid in Adelaide, currently 30C.  I've had two messages while finishing this post, one letting me know a friend in NSW is home from a long stay in hospital, and one from an Adelaide friend cancelling dinner tomorrow because one of them has Covid.

A very strange world at the moment.

Post 414 Birthday Celebrations.

This week began with my birthday celebrations. I'm truly grateful to my daughters for ensuring we were together for this auspicious birthday. Birthdays themselves have never really been great events to me. Early January in Australia is when most people are away and difficult to get together. In recent years we have managed to gather at the beach but it wasn't possible last year and only possible this year through the grit and determination of my daughters. Alison especially had to make sacrifices, detailed plans and endless adjustments and inconveniences to come from Canberra. 

She also took this and several other photos, for which I am grateful.

As you can see, I broke out and had a lime milkshake!

My habit of asking a waitress to take a photo of us all at the lunch table at the Normanville Jetty Cafe did not pay off this time. The photo isn't a good one, and I agreed not to use it. 

We therefore have two photos, one taken by Alison and one by Karl, so everyone gets in. I haven't attempted to meld them into one.

After lunch we repaired to one of the holiday rentals for candles and cake - not together. The apples that were blown upon have not been eaten but the icecream cake disappearing. I didn't indulge. 

I was given some really lovely gifts, all so carefully chosen: the SA-made, Celtic style brooch from Brigid (top left), the Canberra-made and designed one from Alison and Karl,(lower right), a necklace from Katherine and Alison, an amazing locally made paperweight from Fionn, a Normanville made clove scented leopard trivet from Veronica (it emits the scent when heated by a dish!). Niamh always makes me a pin-cushion (a much needed continual reminder not to put my pins and needles into the arm of the lounge chair). This year's is a book - cleverly designed and made by Niamh. While it is puffy and solid, pins will not get lost in it. The thickness and shape prevents that happening. It is great. I should have placed all these on the tray cloth my friend Vivienne made for me, but didn't think until too late!

It was a really lovely day. There were also lots of messages from friends. Carrickalinga phone reception is still terrible, but sms and online messages get through. I am really grateful. It was my kind of day. I hadn't thought much about reaching 75 but it now does seem a bit of a milestone - one that Jim knew he was unlikely to reach, and that my mother missed by 9 years in spite of expectations of longevity. I am very, very blessed, and will try to make the most of every day.

On Thursday we were up early to pack so that Alison and Karl could return to Canberra. Their afternoon flight had been brought forward to 9.30am and it's a 90 minute drive to the airport. Sad to say goodbye, but so fabulous to have had the time. I returned the key to the Agent before 10am, then took this photo along the road on my way back. I moved in with Katherine and her family at their holiday rental up on the hill - another blessing. 

On Friday we went into Yankalilla to get a few supplies. Katherine and I visited the Second Hand & Book Exchange. Katherine found the doilies she was looking for. I was looking for Amanda, who runs the shop and was at one stage an active SA Embroiderers' Guild member but she wasn't there. However, I did find some books that I couldn't resist.

None of them are specifically on embroidery or textiles, but they do have significant relevance. I've finished the Viking one, which has proved really useful and dipped into the others. 

I've now done as much as I can without a sewing machine on the Hearts and Roses bag. Once I stitch each of the six outside pieces to their six inside lining pieces there's another round of hand stitching to join the six together. A job for next week.

The weather has cooled down - mostly in the low to mid 20sC. I have no regrets, but I think, although it hasn't stopped them swimming, everyone else would prefer it a bit warmer.

The kangaroos have moved somewhere else for their evening graze in the last few days, or maybe they don't like the cooler evenings. 

On Sunday the paddock was taken over by a flock of galahs, their screeching silenced while they fed. I regretted not bringing my DSLR.  The photo taken with my iPad is live, which improves it, but inserted here they look like stones.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         They were easier to photograph as they flew away! 

By Monday morning they were feeding on the road verge! Presumably they have stripped the paddock of whatever it is they like.

Carrickalinga turned on a smashing sunset for our last night.

I've started on the Marie Wallin Fair Isle Bag I bought as a kit last September.  I brought the kit with me, but forgot to add the needles! Katherine managed to find some for me in Normanville. 

It is proving difficult. I knitted the first section, which is half the base, without realising the whole bag is knitted in garter stitch, not stocking stitch. I swapped over when I started on the wider section, which is the front. 

It is intuitive, and much easier, to work purl rows on the wrong side, otherwise you spend a lot of time moving your working and resting threads from one side to another to avoid carrying thread across the right side. 

The pattern also shows up more crisply in stocking stitch. Since arriving home I've worked the next section in stocking stitch and I'm much happier. I will continue in this mode.

Before we left on Monday, there were some moments where it is obvious why so many artists have painted this part of the SA coast. The light was lovely and the cliff line clear.  I even managed to catch a couple of birds in flight.

I arrived home to find the wind had upset the pot of on my back balcony, and also blown over the container of seed for the birds. The lid was nowhere to be found - no doubt acted as a frisby over the nearby roofs. The spilt seed had not, as far as I could see, been found by birds. Perhaps they were waiting for me to return, because within minutes one dove appeared, ignored the spilt seed, and attempted to get the seed remaining in the container, which I had righted. The dove had several attempts to get to the seed, but couldn't manage the balancing act without upsetting the container, gave up and retreating to the spilt seed. I did oblige by tipping out the seed left in the container!

Today I made two forays into the outside world, one to Ecolateral at Magill to pick up the two things I ordered online in their New Year sale. While I was in that side of town I called at Heyne's Nursery to replenish a few plants. I bought a red Aloha Mandevilla,  The pink one on my Eastern balcony has done so well, I thought I'd try another in the West. I also bought another bowl-shaped pot and some white geraniums to put in it. I dropped these at home, then went out again to Unley to get fresh milk, fruit and vegetables. 

The two trips, a bit of washing and watering took all the energy I had today. I read a fair bit of the Bruce Beckham Inspector Skelgill book I had been saving. Late in the day I did manage to find and purchase some pdf versions of a series of books on goddess embroidery by Mary Kelly. That should keep me busy for a few weeks - once I've read the Celtic book above!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and messages. It's been an awesome week! 

I did, incidentally, maintain my weight loss program. 18.6 kg down now. Thanks for all the help and support.