post 434 It's raining, it's pouring.....

I'm conscious as I write this of family members, friends and friends of friends who are ill and in the hands of doctors and nurses working long hours and applying all their skills to find answers and treatments. While I can't tell their stories, they put my week's trivia into perspective. I  hope their persistence prevails. I'm treasuring moments each day.

Much of the early part of my week was spent getting my blanket project set up and embroidering horses. I am slowly moving from the 'dapples and greys'. I've written about it in my embroidery blog.  It's a pleasant project to work at the moment, because it's cold. Although I keep the apartment heated, it's very cosy stitching the blanket spread over my legs. 25 horses to go.

In Adelaide the rain has kept on coming. There are dry spells in between, but even then it is mostly overcast and grey.  Some evenings the sun sets behind cloud and the light simply fades, but some nights there has been enough sky to provide a show. 

Early in the week some plants I had ordered from Melbourne Bushfood arrived - four native herbs and a couple of succulents. I was waiting for a couple of tiered containers I had ordered to plant them. These arrived on Saturday morning They were simple to assemble - quite natty. They are on wheels and pushing the wheels into their slots was the hardest bit - that just required a bit of strength.  

Netball is preventing Niamh from going to JEMS at the moment, so I had plenty of time to go shopping for Monday dinner items and then to the nursery for potting mix and more plants. 

It took a while in the rain, but I now have one on each balcony, bush plants facing West and flowers facing East - both wheeled to where they will get rain. I'm hoping most of the plastic will be covered with plant before too long.

Also on Saturday, I took possession of my Adelaide climate scarf by Sandy Lepore. Sandy is making a limited number of scarves of annual climate change to raise money to mount and tour the project. I'm privileged to have one- a wonderful talking point.  I've promised her a photo of me wearing it. 

On Sunday morning I had an email from the Heart Foundation promoting their Walk for Heart Health program. Out of curiosity I filled out their questionnaire and received a 6 week exercise plan based on my answers. The first week involves 3 x 20 minute walks, so, in a break in the rain, I walked for 20 minutes along Pulteney Street and around the Square. On the other side of the square there were 3 Adelaide rosellas having a fine feed in a street tree. They let me get quite close. The photos, taken on my phone, are  not the best - the phone doesn't too well on zoom.

They still give a sense of the size. I might just take my DSLR next time! I also noticed for the first time that the orange trees planted in the small front gardens of our apartments have fruit on them.

I'm still restricting my fruit intake, but I do hope someone picks and uses them.

There are lots of leaves about - and more apartment blocks going up on the opposite side of the Square.

The rain continues relentlessly. No one got wet getting here on Monday after school. One of the girls commented that our grey sky was her image of England until she learned it wasn't always like that (Midsomer Murders has a lot to answer for!). Two weeks of grey skies is unusual in Adelaide - but there's no sign of it clearing.

Yesterday I also visited Nordic Design Furniture and ordered two cabinets, one for storing family memorabilia and the other to replace a sewing cabinet that no longer fits comfortably in my living room. I've thought long and hard about these. The main game is to store items I have from my grandparents, my parents and a few from my late husband. I've debated whether to include document boxes, but in the end restricted it to realia to keep the size manageable. I want it to sit beside a sofa as an end table, replacing this trunk. The new one will have generational drawers and a glass top under which I can display an unfinished embroidery of my mother's.  Their current build time is 22-24 weeks

Today Panayoula and I met for coffee at Muratti Cakes and Gateaux on Prospect Road.  While we both resisted the cakes on offer, she brought me a gift of two sweets from her recent family celebrations. We cut our time short when she had a distress call from another friend.

There were plenty of people out and about along Prospect Rd, many with their dogs.

I detoured past Create in Stitch on the way home, getting back in time to eat the slice of lemon syrup cake above (delicious) before cleaning my teeth very thoroughly and heading out on foot to visit my periodontist down Pulteney St. This clocked up two more walks - 18 minutes one way and 14 the other, but quite a bit of waiting at lights. Don't think I can count these as one of my three! 

The sky was pretty gloomy to the East, but the sun struggled through over Calvary Hospital (a view to the Southwest this time, as opposed to the Northwestern one from my balcony).

Andre, my periodontist was very pleased with my teeth and dental hygiene - so I won't see him for a year (provided the Good Lord is willing and the creeks don't rise). 

Before I set to work to finish the 25 horses on the blanket, I wanted to complete the design I started at the Guild's Certificate Course workshop a week ago. I finished it yesterday and am pleased with the result. The detail, as usual, is in my embroidery blog.

My shawl is progressing slowly. I put it aside for embroidery projects - but it is moving along.

I also finished a roll of paper towel this week, and the cardboard roll in the centre was a strong one - so I used it to make another roll to keep embroidery-in-progress. I have 3 of these, and they are really useful. I had a long Japanese fabric waiting for just this opportunity, so I took it.

So now it's back to where I started this week - amongst the horses.

Post 433 Rain, an anniversary, book club and stitching.

It's been raining in Adelaide for most of the week and set to continue for another. We  get most of our rain (such as it is in the driest State in the driest continent) in Winter and this is a little early - and a little more than we expect. Just north of the city there has been wind and rain damage in a tornado-like pathway. 

Here in the city traffic has been slow and tricky, the weather squally. The clouds are moving swiftly, making varied patterns and effects, especially around sunset.  I love the effects.

Saturday was the eighth anniversary of Jim's death. While I think the last year has been a transition of sorts for me in adjusting to life without him, the loss will always be profound. I remain grateful and increasingly amazed at our good fortune in meeting and living the life we had together for 45 years. 

It's quite a legacy.  

There were a few quiet achievements and pleasures that marked the week. 

I saw my renal specialist, who is delighted with my weight loss and improvement in test results. I see him again in a year's time. I need to keep on top of it. I want to stay well - and it would be a betrayal if I didn't take proper care of my remaining kidney.

My repaired blind has been returned and reinstalled by Mark, who took great care and explained the process. For the first time since I moved in, there are no knots in the cords and both heavy and light options work smoothly. I'm still waiting on Vergola repair and carpet cleaning.

I cooked lemon chicken on Monday night, and also tried a recipe for zucchini fritters which was a bit of a success. The fritters need to be eaten within an hour of being made - but they were good. 

I also made another batch of Anzac biscuits. I'm a glutton for punishment, as my mother would have said, but I was determined to produce a good batch. It worked. As usual I was too busy to photograph them when first made. This was what was left after the family went home on Monday.  No black edges, and quite a chewy texture - which I prefer.

It's good to have a bit of energy for cooking - but not so good for my weight program. No weight loss this week. 

Saturday was a Guild Certificate Workshop on Crewel Work Battlement Trellis, taken by Di Kirshner.  Di structured it to encourage experimentation and student design. I tried for a moon motif  using intersecting circles, aiming for a form of goddess symbol - waxing, full, waning imagery. It began well, but came adrift a bit in the middle. I ended up doing a lot of unpicking.

I was reasonably happy with the finished product, but I now need to work out some elements around it. It's proving to be a challenge to keep to my moon concept and stay within the Jacobean crewel tradition that was the basis of the workshop.  I'm playing with some ideas, but in the meantime, have moved on to Brigid's blanket.

While I can't photograph the whole blanket, which now has the words 'when you wake, you shall have, all the pretty little horses, dapples and greys, pintos and bays, all the pretty little horses" around the edges. I've printed the horses Brigid drew as a child on to Sulky Stick'nStitch Solvi and begun embroidering the horses. Here the first horses - dapples - are in place. I've removed the Solvi from two 'dapples' and begun on a 'grey' The dapple doesn't show up well in the photos. I will move into colour soon.

Our Crime Book Club met on Sunday morning. It was a very engaged and interesting meeting. My choice of three books with the title A Spoonful of Murder  worked a treat (whew!). We welcomed a new member and Kerrie's facilitation led to good sharing. 

I also had a post-election debrief meal with friends who go back a long way - and many elections, as well as a Friday Sit'n Stitch, Saturday night family dinner and quite a bit of texting and phone calls with family and friends. All strengthening.  

Tomorrow is officially the first day of Winter. It feels as if it is already here. Not a problem as far as I am concerned.

Post 432 It's all about the photographs

While it has been a busy week on several fronts - an election, blood tests, visit to a friend, cooking up a storm, two projects finished and a new one started as well as household tasks, I couldn't resist getting out my camera and snapping up some Autumn colour and opportunity.

My pick of the week is this cobweb on my front balcony.  

I'm also pretty happy with this photo of a ladybird on one of my plants - the only one I've seen in my garden of pots three storeys off the ground.

  

There have been a few pleasant discoveries. Usually, when the doves leave my balcony, they seem to fly straight down and disappear. On Sunday I managed to see where they landed in one of the trees in the apartment's nature strip - and to get a photo. I think it is just a resting place, not a nest, but I am very pleased with myself for finding them somewhere other than my balcony.

I've been trying to capture the black trunks of the trees in Carrington Street as they lose their leaves. I love the sight of their stark trunks emerging. I am usually driving when I think of it, but can't risk trying to drive and photograph. On Saturday I pulled over and took some photos.  

I've also tried to capture the light through the leaves as I've spent some time in the warmth of late afternoon sun on my western balcony, or the morning light on the aloe flower - before the honey eaters get to it. 

 

Maybe these will translate into embroidery one day.                

Today I visited the Adelaide City Library to see Sandy Lepore's monumental crocheted 100 Year Climate Yarn Project. It is so interesting, with several different ways of looking at the temperature in Adelaide over the last 100 years. The stripes on the left show yearly temperature averages over 100 years, with 1920 at the lower edge and clear movement to higher temperatures as it reaches the top.

There's a lot more displayed. I had planned to include more about my visit here, but it would have made this post too long, so I have posted in more detail on my stitching blog.

Turning to my embroidery this week, I finished the Arabian bag, which is a nifty little hold-all for embroidery necessities. Again, detail is in my stitching blog.

My other finish involves some fabulous tapestry fabric a Guild friend gave me this week. We spent an afternoon at her place talking, eating, planning and tossing around ideas. I didn’t want to add the fabric to my stash, so got stuck into it the next day. It has made four bags of varying sizes, one(top) to hold my laptop. I have a couple of finishing touches before I write it up in detail. 

I’ve now launched into a blanket I conceived about 15 years ago. The blanketing and drawings have been waiting and are now being turned into the article. More on this soon.

 

A friend gave me 4 persimmons recently. In the past I’ve made granita or eaten them raw, but as I’m trying to restrict my fruit intake I thought I’d try something I can share so made a batch of persimmon biscuits. They are slightly cakey in texture and contain  walnuts and raisins as well as persimmons. Quite a contrast to Anzac biscuits.

Last night I cooked lamb shanks and 2 potato rösti cakes - something I’ve been wanting to try for a while. I was too focused for photos☹️ as I made them.  This is a left-over. The meal was enjoyable and well received but I’d like to experiment a bit. The potato rösti were made in springform tins, crisp on top and bottom,  but smooth in between. I might try a shallow baking tin next time to try it more crispy. 

It’s a busy time of year for my sporty grandchildren - netball, football, umpiring, coaching, injuries to be managed and timetabling challenges.  They are amazingly skilled, persistent and resilient. Above all, however, they are thoughtful, perceptive and engaged in the world around them. It has been so interesting watching election results with them and listening to their questions and analysis. 

I am constantly grateful for the privilege of knowing them. 

Post 431 There's a lot of Covid around. I stay cautious and busy.

Wednesday was WES Group. Lori, who is taking a break from the Guild over the next year, has been researching Pockets, an interest initially triggered by Jan Messant's book Celtic, Viking and Anglo-Saxon Embroidery. As usual, Lori had worked examples of what she was learning. She had put together a PowerPoint presentation, but unfortunately we couldn't get the Guild laptop to talk to the projector. Two regular members, with experience of the IT setup, were  last-minute apologies for the meeting - one on her way to get a PCR test for Covid. I was opposed to any fiddling with the laptop settings. In the end Lori worked from her notes. It was a terrific session, with a lot of engagement. 

I had planned to farewell Lori but was a bit distracted during the meeting. As well as the IT failure, the member with Covid (the PCR test proved positive) had returned the day before from leading a textile tour in Central Australia. Another member of the group, who was at the meeting, had been on the tour. She found out about the potential infection when I told the group. She was horrified. She has since tested positive. Most members were wearing masks and we were appropriately distanced. No-one's fault, but it was a bit scary. To add to it, I had a sore throat that night. I cancelled my Pilates class on Thursday and took a PCR test after 24 hours, which was negative. My symptoms didn't develop. 

Coffee on Friday with two old work friends was cancelled because one is in Canberra with Covid. I had hoped to get to Sandy Lepore's 100 Year Climate Project exhibition at the City of Adelaide Library on Friday, but got a phone call from my AirCon service company to say they had a cancellation and could perform my service later in the morning. It's done and in good order. Now all I need is my repaired blind returned, the Vergola repair investigated and my carpets cleaned. 

Admittedly the lack of a blind is not keeping me awake at night and, if I wake up in time, there are some fine sunrises.

While isolating on Thursday and Friday I took all my folders of embroidery and knitting notes and patterns out of the boxes and folders into which they have been shoved, then sorted, rearranged and labelled them. It is good to reacquaint myself with what is there. 

On Sunday I emptied my trunk of family records and treasures to reacquaint myself with what's there. I have idea for a small set of generational drawers to hold these. It makes me very sad to handle some of these and I choose not to dwell on many of them.  This one, however, given to all school children in primary schools in NSW in 1953, just makes me smile and shake my head (the boys, of course, got blue ones.)  

I  think I'm on the right track with the drawers. I had been thinking very small, but now think they need to be a little larger. I'm on to it, however slowly.

I recovered equilibrium by making a batch of Anzac biscuits. I used a recipe provided in 2021 by Peter Malinauskas who was then leader of the Opposition is SA. It seemed a bit moist so I added extra oats. I also didn't pay close attention to the time. I don't think I can blame the tools for the fact they were overcooked. They taste OK - and have mostly been eaten. I need to go back to my method of three weeks ago!

That night there was a rare opportunity to photograph the moon in the East. Not sure why the photographs worked this time - usually I can't hold the camera still for long enough. 

 

Monday's dinner was another vegetable & sausage bake. It was a bit on the fly because of footy practice and parent-teacher interviews. I made way too much, but it got us through. I had quite a good time, hearing stories from the kids and just serving food. It's a very laid back and privileged position. 

Today I had a hairdressing appointment - just a cut and blow dry. I enjoyed talking to my hairdresser, who is feeling old at 30. I also picked up a parcel from my local PO and another from a gym in the NW corner of the city. Delivery had been attempted while I was shopping yesterday. There was a closer pick-up point but the courier dropped it off at the gym - probably where he stays fit! I grumbled a bit, but it was interesting to visit an unexplored part of the city.

In between I've been working on Jenny McWinney's Arabian Bag.  I've finished the embroidery. 

Since taking the photo, I have added some gold lines and a the single line of sand under the buildings. This afternoon I have begun the construction. I've struggled a little with some of the instructions, but the bag will emerge before next week's post.          

One of my parcels this morning contained a new shawl pin from Scarf Pins and Rings. I couldn't resist a wombat.

I'm hoping all my Covid positive friends are recovering fully.