Post 512 It's Advent!

My breakfast meeting on Wednesday morning was postponed for a week, so I was able to focus on preparing for cleaners, begin the preparation for writing Christmas cards and take a couple of phone calls. One was from the tradie who has been assigned the contract to fix the roof above the window of my spare room, and one from a Sydney friend insisting I rush out and buy a copy of Hilary Mantel's A Memoir of my Former Self. The roof fixed is booked for two weeks' time, and on Thursday I did as I was told and bought the book.

Also on Thursday, before Pilates, my carpet shampooer arrived. It is still in the box, unopened. I've had a lot to do this week, without shampooing carpets. I will get to open the box soon. 

A book on buttons also arrived. This is written by Lucy Godoroja, a Sydney woman who owns a button shop in Newtown, Sydney. I will see if the Guild Library team want it for the Guild library. If not, it will be another resource for WES Group. 

After Pilates I visited the Queen St Cafe for a very late lunch (and lime milkshake) before running some errands.

Friday saw an early morning dash to the Credit Union to sort out some financial transfers of a kind I haven't done for several years. I was nervous and put in a lot of checks, more than most people do, according to the most obliging young woman who got it sorted. Today I had confirmation it has all gone through - a relief, well worth our joint effort, and a boost to confidence.

I then had a long, leisurely lunch with my friend Lorraine. She has been isolating for a skin treatment that involved avoiding sunlight for several weeks. We had a most relaxed and companionable 3 hours. In between I began the business of writing Christmas cards.

That took up most of the weekend. I needed to check addresses, remind myself where each one was up to when we last communicated (frequently, I'm afraid, a year ago!), reply to neglected emails, write on the cards, and, in a few cases, check death notices. I was shocked and very sad to find a June death notice for one friend. I don't, as my neighbours do, regularly check obituaries. At Christmas, however, it is a necessary ritual. Just after, the intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana  came on the radio. I found its overwhelming sweep uplifting and comforting.

My 50 cards were posted yesterday. I would once have sent three to four times that number, but now restrict myself to friends at a distance, with whom I am not regularly in touch and who like to get them. It's a bit of a quaint custom in an age of social media and I continue because I like using my photos, and keeping the communication thread alive is important to me. I've already had a response from two friends.  I hope the photos don't act as spoilers. It has been a rich and sustaining exercise.

Last Sunday, Advent Sunday, was my signal to sort out the various Christmas presents I have been buying throughout the year, made checklists and order a couple of extra bits. I am pretty much on target. I need to do a bit more work on Christmas crackers (the reusable kind). 

This afternoon I added a few Christmas decorations to my plants and the reindeer is sitting back on the bookcase. 

My very washed-out bunting is back along my balcony rail. I made it 12-15 years ago, and only the horror of landfill keeps me using it.

I will add a few more decorations during the week.

There were 4 of us, and a lot of pork, for dinner last night. School is over for the year, uni exams are dragging on, football practice doesn't stop, and it's the time of the year for making a bit of extra money with casual work.

The books keep coming. Some are Christmas presents, but yesterday the first of my books on the Evil Eye arrived. I'm interested to see if this turns into another WES Group session. My problem seems to be that I can buy books faster than I can read them - especially when I have a queue of knitting and embroidery projects.

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A third season of Sister Boniface is now on BritBox, a big boost in the end of year TV famine. I watched the first episode last night while finishing off the second Buggieflooer beanie.  I need to switch to some Christmas projects rather than using the remaining Smith and Jamieson wool to create a third Buggieflooer beanie, but I have ploughed right on.  

I fear that if I stop now I won't come back to it, or will lose the rhythm. 

                                     

Today I had a podiatrist appointment and went dressed ready for Aquafit, in bathers and the coverall I had ordered. It was a strange outfit for podiatry (or being out in public!) but worked  well for getting to and from the pool.  It kept the car seat dry!

My podiatrist offers gap-free (meaning no charge above your health cover)  orthotics in December. I have searched everywhere for my moulds. They are clearly in that safe place, along with my 3 Guild name tags, so I've made appointments to be fitted again next week. It's about time I had another pair.

December is fast filling up with  a rush of appointments, concerts and commitments. That's OK. January is looking pretty quiet. I might need it to finish my Christmas projects!

Post 511 It's all happening here in Adelaide

This week's highlight was a fortuitous visit from Canberra family for  24-30 hours. 5 of us managed to go out to dinner, and all 9 of us met for breakfast the next morning.  It's been a busy, joyous, concentrated time. As usual, I am not posting photos of people for privacy reasons. 

We dodged the Adelaide 500 car race disruption most of the time. The race is over 4 days, partially on city streets, which, along with a number of feeder roads are of course blocked off. The continuous hum of the engines becomes an ignorable background noise. On the other hand, the RAAF  demonstrations of F-35A Lightning II and a Pilatus PC-21 aircraft come as a shock when unprepared. I wasn't sorry when the waxing gibbous moon rose on Sunday night in relative silence. Sound from the concluding concert did not carry in my direction. It takes several days to restore the city, and those who live in Eastern suburbs will be relieved to have their routes into the city restored in a few days time.

I was in luck with the arrival of my latest purchase from the Innovations Catalogue - a bamboo plant stand. It came just after Karl arrived from Canberra, so he helped me assemble it. We were proud of our handiwork. It now adorns my Eastern balcony.

On Sunday I went to the St Margaret's Plant and Bake sale, buying about 8 plants, mostly succulents and daisies. St Margaret's is always a healthy and reliable source. After a bit of food shopping on the way home, I planted them and did a bit of tidying and attending to my balcony gardens. 

I was very tired, but happy, by Sunday evening.

As I signalled last week, my blogging week began at Margaret's place, working on our presentation on Shetland Knitting for the December WES meeting (and eating Margaret's delicious quiche with home-grown spinach!). We are still working on our PowerPoint. This has been a bit of a rush, but I think we've done enough. I have now written about the buggieflooer beanie in my embroidery blog, and worked the same motif on a cross stitch pouch.

The excitement and joy of having family together carried over as they were flying home on Saturday evening, as Anthony drew off his first frame of honey. I am the lucky recipient of a jar, which I’m planning to use for this year’s Christmas gingerbread biscuits.  There is a lot more to come when more jars arrive.

This is the other thing I bought from the Innovations Catalogue - battery operated set of LED lights for the season. An indulgence, but a lot safer than candles, and a reminder. 

I steadfastly deleted the deluge of Black Friday offers in my inbox (hate the import of this custom) except for the carpet shampooer I had been planning on buying and likewise some more blocking squares from The Yarn Trader.  Now, between the Hap Stretcher and blocking squares,  I can block any shape without getting down on the floor to use the carpet (although the carpet will be clean!).  

 My new glasses were ready and I picked them up Monday, after the window cleaner finished at 9.15 am and before I visited my Superannuation company to clarify a few things . The glasses are bit of a change in colour and shape.

Family dinner was delayed to accommodate a school meeting from 6.30-7.30pm , an easy adaptation that accommodated all but Brigid who had a meeting. Exams are in progress - along with the vital planning for dresses for the Year 12 formal early next year - which Year 11's attend, dressed to impress, but not to upstage Year 12s. Tricky.            

My new pool dress/cover-up arrived and I was getting ready to try it out for Aquafit today when  a phone call cancelled the class due to electrical failure. We had a fierce electrical storm this morning, the second for the week. Roads were flooded and apparently 30,000 premises lost power. In both storms the window in my spare room leaked, caused, I'm pretty sure, by a flashing problem on the roof above. This time I got the towels in place in time. I have reported it to the Strata committee and will need to follow up when the rain is over if I don't want to end up like the Arkansas Traveller , a song and moral I remember well from primary school.

It has been a very happening kind of week! No rest for the wicked, as my mother would have said. I suspect the pace will be maintained until Christmas. While very sorry to miss AquaFit, I appreciated having a bit of a breather from activity - a chance to hang the sheets out under cover, wring out the towels and be still for a bit! 

Today was also the 60th anniversary reunion of my school leaving year. There was a lunch and school visit in Sydney today to which I briefly considered going. Pleased I didn't add that into  this week's mix.

I've instead been working the Buggiflooer Beanie pattern in the same set of wools, but using the orange tones as the dominant ones. Not sure yet how successful it will be. At the moment the lighter blue seems out of place.

As I brought the washing in this evening, a couple of honeyeaters were feeding on the jacaranda. The Noisy Miner attempting to intimidate from a higher tree eventually gave up, and left them to it. A small moment of peaceful persistence paying off for the honeyeater. 

Post 510 Busy and Blessed

It's been a busy, lots to do, running around, kind of week - and no sign of it letting up! For the first time, I have deferred other pressing commitments to write this post! There are wind-up events, exams, visits, appointments galore - and the Adelaide 500 car race diverting traffic and blocking off city streets. 

The December WES meeting involves Margaret M and I putting together some examples and information about (mainly) Shetland knitting. It's crunch time for this, so I have been working up an example as well as working my way through my numerous books on the topic, to prepare a summary. I enjoy this, but it is time-consuming. On the weekend I finished the Shetland Wool Week hat in the Jamieson and Smith wool. To link the technique to embroidery, I am working the same chart in cross-stitch. I'm in the process of writing this up in my embroidery blog, so will make do here with a photo of the finished hat. Margaret and I get together tomorrow to organise our presentation.

The basket in the background is one I bought at Gallery M, which I managed to visit last Friday to see the Hand Spinners and Weavers exhibition of braids, Knot just Braids, which finished on Saturday. 

I am so pleased I managed to get there. It was a fabulous exhibition. Janet, a member of WES Group, had a series of Kimono cords, each attached to a spectacular kimono - a very clever idea.      The signature piece of the exhibition was a screen of cords made by individual members of the Guild.                                                                                

The work was diverse. I loved the braided pots - and the drawstring bag.

The final JEMS meeting for the year was on Saturday, with the usual shared food celebration. It's been a good year for JEMS. The group is strong, the atmosphere relaxed, the projects tailored to individual interests and needs.         

Sunday was the Guild's pre-Christmas Market Day. I managed to pick up a few more plants and one of the DMC Motifs booklets. The latter series is always useful for ideas. 

I broke up the large spider plant I bought and added the pieces to my wall garden where they will provide coverage. 

The snake plant has nicely rounded out my indoor window stands. The older one, on the right, needs repotting, as do a few of my plants. Maybe next week.

Unfortunately one small cactus left quite a few prickles in my hands as I placed it in the car. Magnifiers and tweezers seem to have finally removed them.

The 3 year-old jacarandas outside my apartment are coming along, one (right) has a very definite lean - over the road and a parking spot. While the shade is good, it might need a judicious prune before it gets much bigger.   

Speaking of parking, there were loud noises from the street on Thursday night, just after dark. It sounded like an aggressive car alarm. When I eventually went to look (at the end of Would I Lie to You) there was a tow truck trying to pick up a parked car (the leaning jacaranda is in the foreground). The process took about 40 minutes. 

The single tow-truck operator made incremental adjustments to his tray, the car and his ropes, while clearly trying to reassure the distraught car driver. It was skilled,  physical, work in a confined space -  a drama injected into my life. How many life stories did it feature in, and how very different might the perspectives might be?

I got back to swimming today. I've now managed to shift a few things to clear Tuesdays of appointments, so I can prioritise AquaFit. All clear now until well after Christmas.  It tires me out, but is really great to be back in the water. I have ordered a towelling dress to make the journey home a bit drier.  

Last night's dinner was lamb shanks, beans, broccoli and a new potato and cheese bake. This recipe layers potato slices (no mandolin in sight!) with spring onion, cheese, cream, salt and pepper, with a layer of cheese on top. I suspect roast potatoes are healthier, so I will be a bit sparing in serving this one!

Today the last of my bookmarks arrived. I'm pleased with them - especially the silhouetted birds. I might add some tassels to the jacaranda ones.

Alison is in town later this week for work - and it's her birthday week, so there is much excitement and planning for weekend celebrations. It's like a little miracle. So joyful, and grateful.

I have a couple of beanies to replace for Christmas and finally caved in to the recent offer of Cotton Crush from Bendigo Woollen Mills before it sold out. I've been trying to use up the pastels I have had since my grandchildren were babies. I'm making inroads, but have been yearning for bold colour. Now I've got it. 

A couple more books arrived. This one is for me. It is fascinating. The writer is expert in recording and researching marks carved into the walls of English churches - marks to request help or protection, indicate association, or supplication. I rang an old uni friend as soon as I read the introduction. She's ordered a copy too. 

It's been a hard week - indeed a hard year - in relation to road accidents, with some high profile examples impacting a significant portion of a local population, my own family included. Our Covid numbers are also on the rise. One of my Pilates group has been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and at least one of my neighbours is ailing. There is a lot of sadness to take on board. It is sometimes hard to work that through. 

My optometrist appointment last week resulted in a new spectacle prescription and the continuation of my low-level steroid regimen, which is keeping my eyes healthier and functional.  This blog is one way I nurture my mental health. I recognise my privilege. I  endeavour to use it well - and I count my blessings.

Post 509 Lots happening this week

On Wednesday I came into my living room almost ready to leave for WES Group, to find my 18 year old grandson sitting at the dining room table absorbed in his laptop. Surprisingly, I didn’t get a fright, and took it in my stride. He had come to do his last University exam for the year, using my wifi. He had woken to find  Optus, his home Internet provider, had been down since 4am - across Australia! His laptop frequently connects to my wifi, which does not use Optus, so he rushed here, connected and was in the midst of his exam. Enterprising. The outage was major. Train services stopped in Melbourne,  Ambulance services lost connectivity, courts could not access documents, businesses could only deal in cash, students missed exams and internet-dependent health services went down - for somewhere between 12 and 14 hours. Full credit to Fionn for finding a solution - as he always has when the path runs out. What the country needs.

At WES Group, unaffected by the outage, we managed our presentation - Moroccan Textile  Magic, drawing on Keryn's several trips, her extensive knowledge and collection.  Again, the group was very engaged. It always takes me a while to follow up afterwards, sending out a summary and notes. It looks as if the Guild's new office manager will set the projector up for us in future, which will be a great help. Keryn touched on textiles to ward off the evil eye. She corresponds with an archeologist in The Netherlands who has the best  evil eye explanation I’ve encountered. I’ve been following up. A couple more books on the way - another rabbit hole!  I've also been wearing some of my Turbo smaragdus opercula (cat's eyes) which, it seems, are evil eye amulets.

On Thursday I had a fasting blood test, getting to the pathology clinic just after 8am. After Pilates I called at the Guild, went grocery shopping and set about organising the cards and bookmarks I've been having printed.  The container is 30cmx45cm, so I am not going to run out of greeting cards or bookmarks any time soon!  I ended up really tired.

More bookmarks arrived today. I’ve decide on a bookmark for each decade for Di’s birthday today. She’ll like that. 

I had planned to visit Gallery M on Friday, where the Handspinners and Weavers Guild has an exhibition of Braids, but  with the temperature forecast at 42C I decided to stay at home and sent my electricity bill soaring. I got a lot of WES Admin done - and read Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith, which I enjoyed. It reached C40.2 but I stayed cool.

On Saturday Fionn asked if I could mend a pair of his trousers that had split from the waist to the bottom of the back pocket. Because of the position, I could use the edge of the pocket as reinforcement - so a relatively unobtrusive mend. The pocket is still usable, though Fionn assured me he is 'not a back pocket man'. Pleased to be able to help.

While on the topic of trousers....

The promised photos of the travelling pants arrived this week, the first on the flight and the second in a resort. Hopefully, as well as being comfortable, they are lucky pants - keeping the wearer safe while travelling.

There's still a bit more scope for repair if they can't stand the strain.....

Yesterday I bought a copy of December’s The Australian Women's Weekly, the first issue, I think, I've bought in about 50 years. It has a six page article about Sophie's Legacy, the foundation set up by Garry and Kate Putland, whose daughter, a 33 year-old Vet, committed suicide in September 2020. I worked with Garry in the 1990s and am full of admiration, and sadness, for the work of Sophie's Legacy. It's a very good article, outlining what amounts to a crisis in the Vet industry, and the steps being taken to address it.

The hat I was knitting a week or so ago is now with its owner and the detail is in my embroidery blog. 

I've also finished and delivered the alpaca shawl. 

I had thought about holding the link over to next week, since this post is a bit crowded,  but I've put it off for a couple of weeks, so here it is.

I've begun knitting the Buggiflooer Beanie in the Jamieson and Smith wool. It demands concentration because every row is different, but  is looking good. I have undone quite a bit, but I'm using stitch markers between each 34 stitch repeat, so I haven't had to undo more than 33 stitches at a time!

Today I had my annual checkup with my GP. My kidney and sugar readings were OK but still in the keep-on-eye-on range. We discussed weight loss at length, agreeing to rule out injectables at the moment. We've settled on an approach, I've cancelled the appointment with the nutritionist and made another appointment with my GP in 11 weeks time.   I had gone to today's appointment, made months ago, prepared for a 7km dash to my Aquafit class afterwards, but with 8 minutes to make it across town and into the pool, reluctantly gave up. Instead I called at Wakefield Press to pick up a copy of their just-released Adelaide Art Scene. I'm a little disappointed that its 740 pages focus on movements and galleries rather than artists, but it certainly has a wealth of local information for future projects.

I was clearly premature in my fear the jacarandas would not deliver this year. Carrington Street is glorious. 

The lorikeets still prefer the native frangipani. 

More to do in the coming week - to look forward to and be grateful for.