Post576 Festival, food, fabric, friends and fixing.

As I’ve been writing this all week, I have been following the progress of Cyclone Albert as it approached and made landfall on the north east coast of Queensland and NSW. We are relieved, and grateful that our numerous family and friends in the area are all safe, though some will be dealing with flooding and cleaning up for some time to come. 🙏🏼   In comparison, Adelaide news is insignificant.

I wasn’t really needed as Desk Hostess at the Guild on Wednesday but was glad I’d gone. The library team were there and we caught up on a few books. There was a steady dribble of exhibition visitors, good sales of fiction books and trading table activity. It was good to be around the action and I got the central motif of the Japanese Nordic cross stitch done. 

As I was largely redundant, I left around 2pm and went to West Lakes to buy the perfume from the department store that had given me the sample. I left with a 100ml bottle and 2 samples of other perfumes. The women who had originally served me were not there, but I left messages of thanks.

The sunset was a distraction, but by the time I went to bed the basic Nordic design  was clear. I was oddly buoyed by the sense of community at the Guild.   

The replacement magnetic clips for the sashiko bag also arrived, carefully wrapped in a complete pattern for a child's dress! Clearly Spotlight are clearing out their patterns and using them as packing. I applaud their recycling effort, especially the use of the complete pattern. It could certainly be used to make a simple child's dress.  Will I ever need that? Possibly. I will enquire about use at the Guild.

It’s good to be back to Pilates. My finger was sore and a bit inflamed at the end of the session but had subsided by the time I’d eaten as much as I could manage of a potato omelette with rocket and pear salad at Queen St Cafe.  

I was therefore able to construct the sashiko bag when I got home. Very pleased with it.

It’s still hot in Adelaide, well over 30C all week. Watering my balcony plants is a daily must. The Festival is now in full swing, along with the Fringe, Womadelaide and, last weekend, the Motorsport Festival, at Victoria Park, a couple of blocks behind me. It provided a background soundtrack from 8.30am to around 4pm.   On Friday I missed most of it by taking the City Loop bus to the Art Gallery to meet a couple more friends over from Sydney for Writers Week, which finished on Thursday. 

Oddly, the car noise wasn’t evident travelling along Hutt St, between the apartment and the race. Maybe there was a pause.   Street trees and surrounding parkland provide shade and a sense of tranquillity, one of the advantages of Adelaide as a Festival City.

My friends were visiting the Radical Textiles Exhibition which I've already visited twice. I spent a while in the main gallery, where preparations are already underway for the Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890-1940 Exhibition in May. It’s going to be interesting.            

I was also taken by this bark canoe filled with painted snail shells.  

The main business, however was a long lunch with friends I see at most years at this time when they come for Writers Week, although from 2017-2020 I was visiting the UK at this time of the year for Embroidery Retreats (the origin of this blog!) and 2021-3 were interrupted by Covid. This year the city seems in full recovery. After lunch we drove to catch the Guild Exhibition. Another grand day.

The heat persists. Yesterday reached 40C. Thankfully it's down to 30C today. Most of Saturday and Monday was spent inside ,allowing me to finish stitching the Nordic Cross Stitch project. I'm in the process of working out how to construct it.   

A couple of small dramas interrupted my stitching calm. Firstly, I had to cancel tomorrow's WES Group meeting. I had not adequately recorded it on the exhibition roster. I had checked the arrangement with the President, but not with the exhibition organiser, and a group is travelling from the country to staff the exhibition on that day. It's my stuff-up. I didn't communicate clearly.

The other drama reached me around 3pm yesterday via a phone call  from our Strata Pod Rep. She had just interrupted our carpark burglar of a month ago breaking into my carpark locker again. She came through the door from our foyer into the carpark to see the man, recognisable from the original break-in CCTV footage, at my locker, cutting the padlock with bolt cutters. She screamed, trying to attract attention. He waved his hands, as if to say 'I mean no harm' and ran through the carpark and away. There was no one around to hear her. He had cut through the new padlock on my storage cage, but got no further. Although he had stolen a carpark entry fob in January, he gained entry yesterday by following a car through the door. Nevertheless, our fobs are being reprogrammed on Thursday. It is a bit creepy that he came back to 2 lockers, one of which was mine,  I presume for the boxes I carelessly marked 'Personal Treasures' and 'Treasures from Asia'. 

Yesterday was, perhaps not coincidentally, a public holiday in SA. Hardware shops were open and I was tempted to rush to Bunnings for more secure locks, but decided to wait and contact Adelaide Locksmiths this morning.

I’m glad I did. They were, as usual, fabulous. We spoke by phone, I sent them photos and then visited them after the cleaners had gone. After much discussion, we settled on a heavy chain and lock that can only be cut by a grinder. The links fit so snuggly in the lock shaft that it can't be cut.

 

The chain comes in metre lengths, so he cut it in half for me and I bought 2 locks. The storage cage is now secured towards the bottom and above the bolt lock. I will probably also  put a simple lock back on the bolt.

Overkill? Probably. It certainly makes me feel good. I have my don’t mess with me dander up. A couple of pod reps came by as I finished installing it amd were impressed. We laughed a lot - a great sign.

This afternoon I've had to change a couple of medical appointments due to doctors moving practice. I have had such help and cooperation from receptionists along the way. It makes such a difference to my day. 🙏

I'm now starting on the last of the Evil Eye mandalas in the set of 5. The next week's forecast is still consistently above 30C. Tomorrow I  now have time I hadn't counted on to stay cool and get on with stitching this one. 

While I'd prefer it to be cooler, this weather certainly produces some great sunsets. This is tonight's.

Post 575 Vaccination, Viking Hoard and Visitors

I spent a quiet day inside stitching and reading on Wednesday. Around 5pm I had a message to say our lift was out of order. It had not been fixed on Thursday morning, so I allowed myself good time to get down the stairs for Pilates, for once arriving on time! On the way home I stopped at the Jura coffee shop to replenish my supply of beans and filters. As the lift was still not operational I took myself down to A Prayer for the Wild at Heart for a very late lunch. Once again, the trick worked and the lift was fixed as I finished eating, around 3pm. I did not appreciate the comment, as I paid, that they should make sure the lift was out every day!

The lift fix lasted through Friday but Saturday morning saw it out again. I had planned to shop for Monday dinner, before heading to exhibition duty at the Guild, but postponed shopping in the hope the lift would be fixed and I could avoid carrying the results up the stairs. It’s becoming too frequent for comfort. 

I had debated shopping on Friday morning, but couldn’t bring myself to settle for the pork roast I had planned for Monday, given it was forecast to be 30C, and the roast requires the oven to be on for close to 4 hours. I thought I’d wait another 24 hours, and instead decided to stop off in the city on my way to Sit’nStitch,  to investigate a new perfume. I have used Samsara, by Guerlain, since it was launched in 1989. It has finally been discontinued, all online supplies now gone, and I am on my last 1/2” in my last bottle. Unfortunately, my plan was again thwarted by roadworks in the city which made stopping to park unwise. Plan C was to stop at the West Lakes shopping centre, which I did. The obliging women in the David Jones cosmetics section narrowed my choices to 3 and provided me with a sample of narcisco rodriguez for her, due to be launched this weekend. It was certainly the best of the three, so I've been trying it. It seems appropriate to find another perfume at the beginning of its life!

 

I had agreed to be on duty at the Guild exhibition on Saturday afternoon. The lift being out in the morning thwarted my shopping plans again but it was fixed just as I was leaving. There were plenty of helpers at the Guild and JEMS were meeting. I sold 2 books, handed in my raffle tickets, talked to quite a few people and got some stitching done. I got away promptly and dashed to Unley to get what I needed for an easy Monday dinner, getting it upstairs and put away while the lift was working. Phew!

The exhibition is looking good. A surprising amount of framed work. Photos are not allowed, so I can’t provide a taste. 

It's pomegranate time again, and Katherine's tree has a decent crop. Looking good. 

On Sunday I had my 9th Covid vax at my busy local pharmacy; pretty straightforward. I waited about 10 minutes without ill-effect, before moving my car a couple of blocks, near to St John’s Halifax St., when I had booked for a concert an hour later. I walked back up to Hutt St where the two cafes I had planned to check out had just closed their kitchens. 

I settled for a pizza margarita at Ballaboosta- noisy and crowded, but great pizzas. A total break with my carbohydrate limit which I will need to walk off.

I walked the two blocks back to St John’s in time for the concert. 

Entry was slow and the queue long. The one man checking tickets was seated at a table in the entry, without the capacity (or willingness) to scan the QR codes issued as tickets. Instead he had a list, which he couldn't read. We each had to find our name on his list and point it out to him. He was very happy to take cash from anyone without a ticket and to explain and sell programs - slowly.

 

            I really enjoyed the music, especially the Mongolian, Ukrainian and Irish, but left at interval, feeling tired, perhaps the vaccine kicking in.

I finished the fourth Evil Eye kit  and am now working on my birthday sashiko kit. 

The suggestions for this a fairly generic - circles and straight lines, so I marked a few circle outlines and then filled them by eye. I seem to have mislaid the magnetic clip somewhere along the line so in the end ordered a couple to be delivered from Spotlight. I could have made a 15-20k round trip to pick them up but in the end rated my time above the $10 delivery charge.i also realised that I have a full set of sashiko needles in the harp I made with Jenny Aiden Christie back in 2018 . They would probably benefit from use!

Anticipating both the heat and the likelihood I may not feel too brilliant on Monday, I had bought a ready-made  Lasagne for 8 and Chicken with Bacon Pasta Bake for 4 for Monday dinner. In fact I have had very little reaction to the Covid shot: my arm is barely sore but I am tired. I’m also still following instructions for my finger which is still a little sore and red. It’s now 5 weeks since the operation and the therapist said it would take 6-7 weeks to heal with treatment, so I think it’s on schedule. 

Consequently, I  had a relaxing afternoon yesterday. All my effort went into a Greek salad and turning on the oven.  There were only 5 of us for dinner, so  plenty of time to catch up and a bit of food left over, but much less than half. Next Monday is a public holiday. Perhaps in a fortnight it will be cool enough for roast pork. After loading the dishwasher I finished stitching the sashiko tote panel while watching a couple of episodes of Death in Paradise series 13. I’m now in the process of constructing the bag. The replacement clasp is due on Thursday.

Today was a bit of an adventure. I set off on the city loop bus just before 10.00 for the SA Museum, where I was meeting a NSW friend, drawn here by Writers’ Week, for lunch. I went early so I could visit the Viking Treasures exhibition. I’m so pleased I did. 

This is the Galloway Hoard, discovered in 2014, acquired by the National Museums of Scotland in 2017, exhibited in Scotland in 2021-2 and subject of major research 2021-24. The excellent 2021 book on the Hoard by Martin Goldberg and Mary Davis for the National Museums of Scotland has been reproduced by the SA Museum. The story is told clearly and simply with excellent illustrations and acknowledgment of the unknowns and complexities.

Most of the hoard is silver. While most individual pieces correspond to exact weight measures, their beauty and workmanship tell a story beyond greed and commerce.  I was, of course, especially interested in the textiles in which some items, especially this jar and it’s content, had been carefully wrapped,  These are too fragile to travel with the retrieved and cleaned silver, but photos, videos and 3D models tell much of their story. 

This pectoral cross had its chain intact - very rare indeed. It is pretty extraordinary to have this in Adelaide. According to the National Museums of Scotland this is the beginning of a world tour, although there are no other locations mentioned. If it pops up near you, don’t miss it,

I left the exhibition with plenty of time to meet my friend for lunch, so checked out the shop and settled myself in the cafe with a lime milkshake and lemon polenta cake and read the book on the hoard. Bobbi brought her travel companion along with her for lunch and we had a long, leisurely catch up afterwards. The heat outside was a bit of a shock, but I was home around 3.15 and out of it. 

Since then I have read the book on the Hoard and prepared my other birthday kit, a Japanese cross-stitch Nordic Square. I put it in a wooden stretcher frame with drawing pins but only worked the corners. Once that was done the rest of the embroidery can be done in a 12" seated hoop - much preferable. I'm now ready to progress it tomorrow while being Desk Hostess at the Guild. It's been quite a week - again!

Post 574 In Adelaide it's all about the Arts!

It's been a busy week, with lots of photo opportunities! On Wednesday I had coffee with Panayoula, with lots of news to catch up on both ways. Back at home I stitched away, trying to progress the Huckaback on Aida piece before meeting friends at the Botanic Gardens for Arc en Ciel, a concert in the Bicentennial Conservatory. It was a great experience. Four musicians, Casper Hawksley. guitar, Celia Craig, Oboe, Harrison Smith Flugelhorn and Thomas Marlin, Cello improvising on the upper walkway while the audience sat in a single row of seats around the lower level path alongside the Chihuly glass sculptures as it gradually got dark.

We sat in front of the purple candles.

I like this photo (right) of the ethereal oboist  playing amongst the trees. 

Overhead the light shone through the ferns, creating shadows as the musicians wove their magic and birds called both inside and outside the building.

The sculptures were lit from below and glowed.

It was exactly an hour, In the heart of the city, only the sounds of music and birds, contemplative.

Towards the end of the hour, the bats began to leave the park, heading, no doubt, for the Moreton Bay figs in our Square! Groups of them were silhouetted agains the roof, but impossible to photograph at the speed they move.

On the way back to the car I managed one shot.

There was also a duck sentinel. unmoved by the passing concert-goers or bats overhead. 

I'm really grateful to the friends who picked me up and dropped me home. It was a magic time out.

Back at home, I got stuck into the Hamsa and finished the piece just before midnight. It was satisfying to take it off the hoop before going to bed.

It meant that the next morning I could prepare my three entries to the Guild Exhibition, ironing, packing and filling out forms, then dropping them off on the way to Pilates. Good job jobbed! Details in embroidery blog.

While I was away, the two extra Evil Eye mandala kits I had ordered were delivered. Unfortunately, I had made an error and ordered one I already had, so I have now put in the correct order.🙄. 

I was almost late to Thursday evening’s concert because I assumed it was at the same time as Arc en Ciel, the previous night and it was half an hour earlier. Fortunately, I was planning to leave early, and Katherine messaged me she was on her way. Parking was difficult, but I made it just in time.  Just  as well. It was fabulous.

A huge contrast to the night before, in setting, program and performers - three choirs, Schola Cantorum from London, the Festival Statesmen Chorus and the Cathedral scholars with a stunning program culminating in the Faure Requiem with the organ and combined choir in a big sound filling the packed cathedral.

We are so privileged to have such a range of music available to us. It was a highly appreciative audience. I'm not sure how the young members of Schola Cantorum managed. They arrived in Australia on 10 February, performed in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and flew home on 21 Feb,  the day after our concert! They also gave a concert at St Peters' Boys' School in Adelaide . It's a punishing schedule, especially factoring in rehearsals with other choirs.

They appear to want to come again for longer! Hope that works out.

Now that my exhibition contributions are in, I had a bit of a stocktake to decide what to prioritise next. There’s a lot to choose from! Two kits for shawls from Blacker Yarn, in a wool-silk mix arrived this week, along with two more fabulous remnants from Ink and Spindle to add to the pile already waiting to be made into tote bags.

I've also readied the two kits I received for my birthday for stitching. I can't however, find the sashiko needles I think I have somewhere.

While getting sorted, I progressed another Galaxy Dreaming panel, The Evil Eye kit won and is now well underway.

On Friday I stopped for lunch at Grange on the way to Sit'nStitch. It was a lovely day, sitting outside and watching what must surely be the fattest pigeons in the State, cooling themselves in a dish of water left out for them by the Grange Hotel.

On Saturday I made a scheduled visit to the dressmaker to pick up my altered Otami dress, but it hadn’t been done. Disappointing, but no big deal.

 My Library Association t-shirt arrived, so I wore it to stitch on Friday and to the very productive and pleasant Book Club meeting on Sunday. It’s very comfortable! I might make it my Book Club uniform. The March meeting is at my place when we will discuss the Lilly Pilly Creek series, Elly Griffiths' Frozen People  and Laura McCluskey's The Wolf Tree.

The t-shirt also served me well on Monday, when the window cleaners arrived at 8am (in fact, it’s fast becoming my wear-for-getting-things-done attire!).

I had most windows (there’s a lot!) clear of plants and furniture. After they left around 9.30, Shane arrived to try to fix the leak of water into my wall cavity. It rains so little in Adelaide that the leak is only discernible a couple of times a year. After about 3 hours on the roof he had, it seems, found and fixed the problem, to do with the length of screws used in capping the roof, and the way a couple of sheets of corrugated iron meet at the top of the pitch. I really admire and enjoy the way an experienced tradie goes about solving such problems. I now have to wait for a downpour to test it has worked before my ceiling is repaired. No big deal.

While all this was going on, I prepared a vegetable and sausage bake, and made zucchini muffins. I had yogurt to use up, so found a recipe that used it. There’s no way the kids will eat them, but I certainly will! I might make another batch later in the week.

The vegetable bake with sausages worked well: a bit better,  I thought,  than the last efforts. I tried a recipe that adds a tablespoon of marmalade in the last half an hour. I’m not sure it made a difference, but it was less liquid- a definite improvement. As usual, I was too busy serving it to take a photo of the result. There were 8 of us, so not too much left over - a meal for me tonight!

Today I called at the dressmaker's for my altered dress. I'm very pleased with the result.  It's a big improvement, and I feel quite comfortable wearing it without the strange pointy sides. It was, however, only when I tried it on that I realised I should have told them to reinstate the pockets! 🙄

I took the left-over bits home with me, and this afternoon cut 2 straight pieces and added pockets to the outside near the hips.

They are barely visible against the black and will serve to hold a phone, car key and small, flat necessities. Problem solved.

While I was out this morning I went on a hunt for sashiko needles and eventually found some at Riverlea Quilts. I'm stowing them safely in my needle box, ready for the next project!

It's been an eventful week, with a lot of music, colour, reading, creating, family and friendship.

The Adelaide Festival doesn't start until Friday but the Fringe got underway last Friday. There's certainly plenty going on.

Post573 Mostly Textiles and Light

As predicted, the temperature on Wednesday, when WES Group met at the Guild, soared to 42C. Inside the Gallery we stayed cool and totally engaged as one of our members showed us her work of the last 30 years with cloth and paper.  The photo to the left shows two scenes she created in layered and embroidered cloth as well as the book she subsequently made from a photograph of one of them.    

The quality and quantity were astounding and we spent more than an hour examining them in detail and asking questions.

When I got home I spent the rest of the day in my chair, blinds and curtains drawn, fan and aircon on, writing up the meeting summary, reading and stitching. No point in being outside.

Thursday began well. The temperature had dropped by some 10 degrees. My new mouth guard was ready. Xrays and tests on a tooth that has begun to ache indicated a root canal problem, and I managed to get an endodontist appointment in March. From there I visited the dressmaker, who had muddled my appointment, so we rescheduled for Friday.  I filled in the time before Pilates with lunch at the Queen St Cafe. Atlantic salmon is becoming my go-to meal when eating out. I do think this is my favourite version!

It was good to be back at Pilates. My recovering finger gave me no trouble.

The dress fitting went well on Friday morning. We pinned the hem and I picked up the finished article on Saturday morning. It looks stunning. This is the birthday fabric from Harran in Turkey. I'm very pleased I went for a cream lining rather than pink. The gold motifs really shine. As yet I have no event to which to wear it, but it will happen!

It was lovely to wake to a temperature around 20C on Friday as the bats were returning to the Botanic Gardens to roost, even though they evaded the photo.

They were back as usual in the evening to feed the Moreton Bay Fig in the Square.

The drive to dinner on Saturday  was eventful. My route through the centre of the city was blocked at Victoria Square by building work on Flinders St. Traffic, including two empty long-loaders leaving the building site, was diverted around the Square. Slow progress, especially with the long-loaders making several tricky right-hand turns.Beyond the CBD, traffic banked up again, first for the Laneway Festival at Bonython Park (Niamh and Veronica in attendance!), then for the Adelaide United soccer match at Hindmarsh Stadium, then for a breakdown. It seems Mad March is already upon us.

Monday was Brigid’s birthday and we celebrated with dinner at Olive in the city. A really nice meal and great company.  Such a fabulous young woman.

I had a haircut booked today and moved it from early afternoon to midmorning so I could go on to the Art Gallery for another look at Radical Textiles. It was a pleasant thing to do. The exhibition is too large to take in at one visit. I wanted to check out some of the weaving, and take a couple of photos so I can ask a Guild friend how it is done. 

This time my favourite was this knitted piece - a triumph of design and graphing. 

The dress is a close runner up. 

I had planned to also visit the Museum two doors down, to see the Viking Treasures Exhibition, but decided to leave that for another day.           

                                               

The Gallery shop has a wonderful collection of goods related to the Textiles exhibition. I couldn't resist this kit.

It’s getting towards the best time of the year in Adelaide, especially along North Terrace. 

 I enjoyed the excursion, and the chance to look around the city.

I wasn't, however, sorry to get home and get down to stitching again.   I finished the border on the Huckaback on Aida on Thursday (written up in my embroidery blog ) and have begun work on a  motif in the centre ( yes, Evil Eye related).

I'm hoping to have this finished for the Guild Exhibition, which means finishing it in the next 2 days.  If I had stuck to the basic pattern I'd be finished by now, even allowing for a complete change of colour (originally in 22 shades of blue and white). I'm fundamentally adapting as I go, and keep adding colours and flames. The whole background of the hand should be filled in with a flesh colour, but I think it might have to remain blank for the exhibition.

I need to even up the flames before I go to bed tonight and my recovering finger needs breaks, so time to post.